Cocoa and a Friend

Ok, I resisted this set. I was not going to get it, I swear! Then I caved. I just saw way too many adorable cards with it! I am not a huge fan of coloring things, so that should have helped, but come on! The images are just too darn cute!

This embossing pattern reminds me of the steam coming off a hot cup of something! Yum! So rich and aromatic. I think I love food.... everything relates to food to me :)
I broke down and ordered the sanding block for the Core'dinations paper because my little white sanding block was picking up ink from DSP and transferring it to the next piece of paper I sanded! Ugh! Now it is much better :)

• Stamps: Wonderful Winterland
• Ink: Early Espresso, Island Indigo, Pool Party, Cajun Craze, Pink Pirouette, Cherry Cobbler
• Paper: Island Indigo, Very Vanilla, Early Espresso Core'dination, Festival of Prints DSP
• Other: Big Shot with Lacey Brocade EF and Apothecary Accents framelits, 2½" Circle punch, sewing machine, Sanding Block, Blender Pen, White Baker's Twine,  paper piercing guide, needle

Sweet Christmas

Who else loves Pinterest? I find so many amazing ideas there and I was inspired by  German SU demo, Jenni Pauli,  for this card. Love all the layers and the bling!

I just pulled out the DSP from the color packs for the colors I used and started making little banners and pulled out this stack of die cuts I had made thinking I would make a garland with, but never got around to. I had enough die cuts to make 6 of these cards and all but one is going to Operation Write Home. Maybe I will actually make some more for me :)

 Again I pulled out a couple of retired sentiments for this card. This is the inside of the card and I refrained from stamping images all over it.

• Stamps: Scentsational Season, Sweet Season, Christmas Greetings
• Ink: Gumball Green, Raspberry Ripple, Cajun Craze, Pool Party
• Paper: Crumb Cake, Whisper White, Gumball Green, Raspberry Ripple, Cajun Craze, Pool Party, DSP color packs
• Other: sewing machine, Big Shot with Holiday Collection framelits, 1" Square punch, Signo white gel pen, Rhinestone Basic Jewels

Peaceful Pines

 So I have been on a mission to fill a box with cards to send to Operation Write Home. I am still working on it. I am starting to think I should have picked a smaller box though! There are currently 75 cards in the box and I could probably get another 50-75 more in there!

I am actually working days this month (11am-11pm) in my new job at Sanford Bemidji ER, but next month I will be working nights. I imagine I will end up doing more stamping when I only have a couple days off. It just doesn't make sense to switch my sleeping schedule for such a short time. Frankly, it is like torture for me! I am not really a night person. I get crabby at home. Ask my family..... sorry guys!

I hope these colors don't look bad together. I keep looking at this and loving it, but I just can't help think that Always Artichoke and Pool Party are not supposed to go together! I sponged the Pool Party first, then stamped the rest. I ended up pulling out a couple of retired sentiments for it too.

• Stamps: Watercolor Winter, Peaceful Wishes, Star-Studded Season
• Ink: Always Artichoke, Early Espresso, Pool Party
• Paper: Always Artichoke, Early Espresso, Whisper White
• Other: Sponge, Signo white gel pen, Early Espresso ¼" Stitched Grosgrain ribbon, dimensionals

I hope I left enough room for a message on the inside, I think I got a little carried away :)

Now, I want some honest opinions about this color combo!

OWH World Card Making Day Blog Hop!

Welcome to another hop of inspiration! If you have never seen anything about Operation Write Home, now is a great time to go check it out. It is such a wonderful way for us crafters to give back in a meaningful way to the soldiers and their families for the sacrifices they make for each and every one of us every day. AND it is World Card Making Day so people all over the world are celebrating the joys of this fantastic hobby! So, join us in making cards, and think about donating them to OWH.

Here is my wintery themed card! Funny thing is, it actually snowed a couple inches the day I made this, which was Oct. 4th, 2012. Yes, just 2 days ago we got snow. I was not really ready for that and I wore sandals, a t-shirt, and jeans to town and had to brush a couple inches of snow off my car at lunchtime. I hope that it has melted by the time this post is live!
But this little snowbunny looks so sweet, I had to use it for this hop. I left this blank so it can be used for anything :) I used the Bonus Sketch from 9-3-12, and I would post a pic of the sketch but blogger won't take PNG files!

• Stamps: Wonderful Winterland
• Ink: Whisper White, Early Espresso, Crumb Cake, Soft Suede, Pool Party, Pink Pirouette, Raspberry Ripple
• Paper: Whisper White, Crumb Cake, Soft Suede, Pool Party, Pink Pirouette, Raspberry Ripple
• Other: Big Shot with Window Frames framelit, Adorning Accents and Delicate Designs and Northern Flurry embossing folders, 2½" Circle punch, Essentials and Festive paper piercing packs, paper piercer, Signo white gel pen, dimensionals, sponge, Blender Pen

 Now get hopping! (and stamping!)

EEEK! and a Pumpkin

Halloween is coming! Halloween is coming! This is such a fun holiday to decorate for. You can let out all of your inner morbid self, oo-oo, ah-ah! Somehow that just doesn't look as spooky typed as it does in my head, lol!

These are treat holders made with the Petite Pocket die and the Core'dinations Early Espresso cardstock. It would make sense that I love this stuff since I have inked and distresses my way through many a project! These whip up so fast and easy, I could make several in a sort amount of time. I used a couple of embossing folders here on just the front flap after I die cut the pocket, then sanded the embossing to highlight the details, very dramatic. The 2½" circle punch made the perfect curve in the image panel for the spider pocket, which was a fun discovery, yeah!

• Stamps:Spooky Bingo Bits, Teeny Tiny Wishes
• Ink: Early Espresso, Wisteria Wonder,  & Lucky Limeade or Pumpkin Pie, Early Espresso, & Old Olive
• Paper: Core'dinations Early Espresso, Lucky Limeade or Old Olive DSP, Very Vanilla, Wisteria Wonder
• Other: Big Shot with Petite Pockets XL die, Finishing Touches edgelit, Woodgrain & Spiderweb embossing folders, sanding block, Jewelry Tag and 2½" Circle punches, Wisteria Wonder Baker's Twine, Pumpkin Pie 1/8" Taffeta ribbon, dimensionals

Poppies and First Edition

More cards for Operation Write Home! They needed more General cards and so I made some with no sentiment on them at all. I sure thought I needed this stamp set in a hurry this summer, but this is the first time I have used it. Partly because I haven't been stamping as much as I used to as I try to be more active :) But I do need my stampin time too!

I saw something similar somewhere recently, but I can't remember where, and I didn't Pin It so don't know if I will ever find it again :(
I just got some Early Espresso embossing powder, and it is a thing of beauty! I embossed the poppies on First Edition DSP, then colored with Blender pen and markers.
The black Rhinestones are from the Designer Jewels Black Flourish from a couple year ago. You know, you can still order them with in On-line order, just enter the item number (120987) and they are 1.99 last I checked. You can get the Raven Black Lace (120988 for 2.39)  that way too! I use the black Rhinestones for little eyes too. Love them!

• Stamps: Pleasant Poppies
• Ink: Versamark, Raspberry Ripple, Lucky Limeade, Early Espresso
• Paper:  Raspberry Ripple, Early Espresso, Very Vanilla, First Edition Specialty DSP
• Other: Embossing Buddy, Heat Gun, Early Espresso embossing powder, Lucky Limeade Ruffled ribbon, Sticky Strip, Designer Jewels Black Flourish, Blender pen, Corner Rounder punch

 I only colored the poppies in one card, it takes some time! But I found that the Early Espresso ink appears to be waterproof on the Very Vanilla! That is so awesome!

That Old Green Truck.....Again!

So, what do you think? Can we ever use this image too much? I don't think so! I was trying to make a pile of cards this weekend for Operation Write Home and was not feeling very inspired. I am going to let you in on a little secret, I hadn't stamped a single thing from about August 10th thru Sept 14th! I was just not feeling it, and sometimes I just need to focus on other passions in my life. But, I was getting the itch for inky fingers again and needed to get the juices flowing again. So I decided to CAS myself a bit! I dug through my samples and found some stuff I could change up a bit and got to work :)

The inspiration for this card is found in this post. I changed up the colors trying to use colors I haven't used in a while and in the process figured out what colors I needed to reorder ;)

• Stamps: Countryside, Gently Falling
• Ink: Cajun Craze, Wild Wasabi, River Rock, Crumb Cake, Stazon Jet Black
• Paper: Cajun Craze, Wild Wasabi, River Rock, Watercolor paper
• Other: Big Shot with Woodgrain EF, Ovals bigz die, and Apothecary Accents framelits, Signo white gel pen, Wild Wasabi ¼" Stitched Grosgrain ribbon, Silver Mini Brads, Aquapainters, dimensionals, paper piercer

And a simple River Rock truck inside on Very Vanilla. This makes it easier for a soldier to write visibly with a pen or pencil even if they have to use the sand as their table :)