Stamp Review Crew: Life in the Forest Edition

Welcome to the 15th edition of the Stamp Review Crew! We have now been doing this for 6 months now, and I am lovin' every minute of it! If this is your first time hopping with us, welcome! If you have been a faithful follower, we sure appreciate your support :)

This time we are featuring a fun set that really seemed to get popular after the song What does the Fox Say became a hit. The MDS version has been out since 2012, but the rubber stamp version came out in the Occasions Mini this winter/spring and got carried over into the main catalog for this year, woo-hoo!

I am stop #8 this time, and if you are following along in order, you just came from Kerry Willard-Bray's blog, didn't she come up with some awesome ideas?! Our hops are alway set up in a loop, so it really doesn't matter where you start. But if you get lost and need to see the whole blog roll, or you just want to see all of our hops, check out the main blog for our group here.

OK, now it is time to see what I came up with!

For my first card, I wanted to make a funky "You are so unique" kind of card. I thought I had a stamp with that sentiment, but I could not find it for the life of me, lol! So I compromised and used the sentiments from one of the sets from the new catalog :) I used a blender pen to color the mushrooms. I can't wait for the brown Blendas to come out :) I added little white dots on the mushrooms with a white gel pen.
My daughter used to love to go out in the woods surrounding our house and take pictures of mushrooms, among other things. There are some really beautiful ones! And people go morel mushroom hunting in the spring here too. I really love mushrooms, they are so yummy in so many ways!

See the little mushroom on the inside of the card? I think this one turned out the best!

I took us out of the forest with this one and played with one of the new photopolymer sets to create my own DSP. If you can't tell, I made this the day I got my box of new goodies from this year's annual catalog :)
This little hedgehog/porcupine dude is so darn cute! Why do I think cuddly with all of those spikes?! I have sure pulled enough porcupine quills out of our various dogs' faces (and one butt), you would think I would hate them. But it isn't their fault that our dogs have to attack their carcasses! We used to have a neighbor who shot every porcupine he found, then didn't dispose of the bodies. We pulled quills out of one dog thirteen times. THIRTEEN! She wasn't a very smart dog. Protective, and loving, but not very smart. We were really glad when that neighbor moved away (or was arrested-not sure which) and the group home bought that property :)

OK, I know you all have seen the cards with the raccoon acting as a parachute for the mouse, but I just had to do my own version! I really need a "just dropping by" sentiment for this card, lol! Amanda, Geoffrey's girlfriend, loved this card! I love that she is a nerd like us :)I think my daughter will get a kick out of this one too.

It's time to head on over to Lisa Young's blog to see what beauties she has created!

• Stamps: Life in the Forest, Work of Art
• Ink: Real Red, Crumb Cake, Early Espresso
• Paper: Crumb Cake, Early Espresso, Real Red, Whisper White
• Other: Big Shot with Woodgrain and Decorative Dots embossing folders, Ovals framelits, Wide Oval punch, Blender Pens, Occasions Paper Piercing Pack, Paper Piercer and Mat, Signo white gel pen

• Stamps: Life in the Forest, Four You, And Many More
• Ink: Coastal Cabana, Strawberry Slush, Crisp Cantaloupe, Gold Encore, Momento Tuxedo Black
• Paper: Crisp Cantaloupe, Whisper White, Strawberry Slush, Coastal Cabana
• Other: Big Shot with Circle and Starburst framelits and Arrows embossing folder, Essentials Paper Piercing Pack, Paper Piercer and Mat, Signo white gel pen, White Baker's Twine, In-Color Sequins, Dimensionals

• Stamps: Life in the Forest, Just Sayin'
• Ink: Mossy Meadow, Crumb Cake, Early Espresso, Baked Brown Sugar, Smoky Slate, Momento Tuxedo Black
• Paper: Crumb Cake, Mossy Meadow, Whisper White
• Other: Big Shot with Word Bubbles framelits, Blender Pens, Signo white gel pen, Dimensionals

Come on, Everybody is doing it...

Indeed, I am seeing this bloom colored with Blendabilities all over the net! It is awful fun to color :) I actually created this card about a month ago, after I got my new toys with the preorder. Then I found myself quite tied up with family stuff and with all of the organizing that goes along with the Stamp Review Crew, and my poor little blog has been so neglected. I don't anybody but me noticed though, as there are so many sources of inspiration out there!
Well, I have a moment now, and thought I better get right on it and post something that has nothing to do with a blog hop, lol!

I love blue and yellow together, you may have noticed that :) The yellow I used here is the new Hello Honey. I really like it! And I think I can find ways to make Coastal Cabana serve any season!
I did color the bloom with the Coastal Cabana set of Blendabilites. Those markers are so easy to work with, I am now looking for more stamp images to color. I used to avoid the line art stamps in general because I did not like how things turned out when I colored them. (Watercoloring does not count- that is so easy and messy on purpose, it all looks good!) But now I like how my projects look when I color them, with the Blendas :) I colored a Simply Pressed Clay Blossom with the Blendas too and as you can see, it took the color very well and is a nice vibrant color!

• Stamps: Blended Bloom, various PTI sentiments
• Ink: Hello Honey, Momento Tuxedo Black, Coastal Cabana, Tangelo Twist
• Paper: Whisper White, Coastal Cabana, Crumb Cake, Hello Honey
• Other: Project Life COrner Rounder punch, Tangelo Twist Satin ribbon, Simply Pressed Clay and Blossoms Mold, Rhinestones Basic Jewels, Signo white gel pen, Blendabilities Markers, Smooch Illuminate Accent Ink (no longer sold by SU), sewing machine and thread

 Here is a peek inside to see the blooms I stamped in the lower right corner.

And how about a peek at my son David and his darling son, Cameron! This is from about 3 weeks ago. Cameron is wearing one of the outfits I bought for him. I went sooooo overboard buying clothes for this little guy! I think I bought a whole wardrobe at first, lol! I had to take a bunch back as he would never have worn it all.
I love this picture because it shows what a handsome man my son is, and who doesn't think a father snuggling with his son isn't the most beautiful thing in the world?!
I promise, I will show you more pictures of this little tike, don't you worry :)

Paper Crafters Sampler: Betrothed

You are going to love all of the beautiful wedding projects in this month's Sampler! Here is what Melanie has to say:

"Our June Sampler is dedicated to all those lovely couples tying the knot.  "Betrothed" offers beautiful hand-stamped card ideas for the wedding couple, creative tablescapes and a special bridal tea ensemble."

 

 

 As you can see in this sneak peek of my project, I got my inspiration from a set of sweet tea cups that I found at my favorite vintage market :) My project is not the "special bridal tea ensemble" that Melanie mentions above, though.

Check out sneak peeks of the other projects, or purchase the sampler here: Paper Crafters Sampler

Curry Island Plum

Since I now have most of my gardens planted and it has been raining for the past several days, I am finally trying to do some challenges again this week! It has been far too long. The new Stampin' Up! Annual catalog debuted on Monday, and there are so many goodies in there! I haven't even place my first order yet. I keep changing my mind about what I want to get first, and how much I want to spend. Demo math may come in to play, lol!

I am using this week's challenge from Nacho Average Challenge, but I did sneak in a little Blackberry Bliss :)

I pulled out one of my favorite sets from the Holiday Mini. This set made it into the annual catalog. Do you recognize it? It is Truly Grateful. I know a lot of people think of it as only a autumn or Thanksgiving set, but it is so much more! I love all the woodiness :)
I randomly stamped the log slice over the card base, then colored some of them in with a blender pen and reinker. I think it looks pretty interesting. I almost hated to cover it up with the main image, lol!

• Stamps: Truly Grateful, Petite Pairs
• Ink: Island Indigo, Crushed Curry, Perfect Plum
• Paper: Whisper White, Island Indigo, Crushed Curry, Perfect Plum
• Other: Big Shot with Deco Labels framelit and Decorative Dots embossing folder., Signo white gel pen, 1-3/8" Circle and 1" Square punches, Blender Pen, Blackberry Bliss Satin ribbon and Gold Baker's Twine, Essentials Paper Piercing Pack, Paper Piercer and Mat, Dimensionals, Candy Dots

 I stamped some more log slices and colored a few on the inside, and finished the sentiment there.

So, what do you think? Too busy, interesting, or just right? I love to hear from anyone who visits my blog! So don't be shy, leave me a comment :)

Stamp Review Crew: Everything Eleanor Edition

Happy June! It is the first Monday of the month, time for another edition of the Stamp Review Crew and for the catalog debut! Every hop, we feature a single stamp set. If you get lost, or want to check out our previous hops, just click on the word bubble banner above and it will take you to the Stamp Review Crew blog with the blog roll for this hop, and with links to previous hops in the archives in the side bar.
The set we are featuring this time is in the new catalog, and we are going to breathe some new life into it :) If you are following along, you just arrived from Beth Beard's blog. Wow, right?!

This is the first card I created. I hated it when I finished it. Then I set it aside and looked at it again the next day, and thought it wasn't so bad after all :) Has that ever happened to you? The card base is actually Naturals White sponged around the edges with Gold Encore ink. Heads up. NOTHING sticks to it now! Ugh! But it does make a lovely shimmery paper without using the gold foil paper. I also used a blender pen to color all of the flowers. I just colored them with the ink that the stamp put on the paper. Then I fussy cut a few to put on the the popped up image. I made little slits at the corners to wrap the baker's twine around. That is where I got frustrated, because I couldn't get anything to stick those fragile little corner down to the card base that I had sponging liberally with the Gold Encore ink!

• Stamps: Everything Eleanor, Memorable Moments
• Ink: Strawberry Slush, Rose Red, Pear Pizzazz, Gold Encore
• Paper: Naturals White, Pear Pizzazz, Strawberry Slush
• Other: Gold Baker's Twine, Rhinestones Basic Jewels, Dimensionals, Signo white gel pen, Blender Pen

Next up, I wanted to think outside the box a little bit. This is a 4"x 6½" card and is created with the thought of needing a card to put a check or money into. I was also aiming for something masculine. I really should have made this a graduation card. My youngest is a junior this year, and has been to so many grad parties this year already that he has wiped out my stash of graduation cards. He still has more parties to go to....
I stamped the Tangerine image on the Crumb Cake, then stamped the sentiment in Early Espresso. Then I thought I should add a star in Mossy Meadow. It wasn't as strong as I wanted, so I trimmed down a piece of the Natural Chevron ribbon, stamped the sentiment again on a scrap, punched out the "a" with the Itty Bitty Shapes circle punch, and punched out a star with the new Itty Bitty Accents star punch. Layered those all up and voila! The gold diagonal stripes are from Perfect Pennants also.

• Stamps: Everything Eleanor, Perfect Pennants
• Ink: Tangerine Tango, Mossy Meadow, Gold Encore, Early Espresso
• Paper: Whisper White, Crumb Cake, Mossy Meadow
• Other:

 And a little peek inside. I will probably add a sentiment in the frame image after I decide who I am going to give this to :)

This last card just popped into my head as I was walking out in the yard. I was inspired by Debra Burgin's "Happy" card from earlier this week. My mom has a birthday coming up and I wanted to send her a card with purple flowers, and I wanted to play with the Blendabilities :)

• Stamps: Everything Eleanor, Countless Sayings 2
• Ink: Momento Black, Soft Sky
• Paper: Whisper White, Naturals White
• Other: Colorless Blender, Rich Razzleberry, Daffodil Delight, and Pumpkin Pie Blendabilities, Aqua Painter, Signo white gel pen, Gold Sequin trim

 I had the brilliant idea to color on the inside of the card too....

....word to the wise, Blendas always bleed through to the back of the paper. Oops!

Now, off to go see what Lisa has created with this set!