Medallion cards are back

WOW! Thanks to all of the wonderful ladies that attended my class on Sunday. We had a great time learning how versatile the Holly Berry House medallion stamps were. Since class was a sell out, I did not have any extra kits left over and I have been getting quite a few requests for them or another class.

Good news, I made 10 of the cross cards and 10 of the flower card shown since class and will be dropping them off to Simply at 3pm today. They are almost certain to fly off the shelf. 5 of the crosses are already spoken for. Val has a card making class tomorrow at 11 and I doubt they will be there much after that, so if you want one, hurry in!

But don't despair if you can't make it. I am already planning on teaching another class or two and incorporating some of the past medallion stamps that we have used as well as adding a few new ones. They have a beautiful butterfly that I can't wait to make as a sample.

I have also been thinking of new color combinations...how about a citrus themed card class to get us in the mood for summer? I was thinking lime green , a lemon yellow, and a peachy/pink color. The set I design with the butterfly will likely be pale pink, light blue, and a soft purple....are you getting excited?

Stay tuned to my blog and watch your emails from Simply for class announcements. My last 3 classes have sold out so don't delay in reserving your place. I will post samples as soon as I have them made.

A little communion card

We have to be fair here on the blog...

A few days ago I posted a communion card that I made for a little girl. The card was a proto type for the invitations I am going to make for Abby's invitations. Just in case you have a little gentleman who is celebrating, I designed a boy version of the card. The stamp is actually a digi stamp from Karen's doodles and comes separately or in a 3 stamp set with 2 little girls for $6. The little boy can be used for confirmation or for an older child who is being baptized.

I used a punch from Stampin Up for the background of the circle with the sentiment. The middle punch is from Martha Stewart. Sorry, I never remember the names of the punches.

Happy Stamping!

Oh Baby!

What's a card stash without a baby card tucked away? Even though you probably had at least 7 1/2-8 mos notice that the little bundle of joy was on his or her way, you still never have a card for the shower or the "Congrats Mommy & Daddy" when you need one. I think the gremlins that steal one of your socks from the dryer also must steal from my card stash. Its like I KNOW I HAVE to have a baby card in here somewhere!

So now, you are my witness...I made a baby card...I put it inmy stash, so when I need one and it comes up missing...GREMLINS~!

I actually bought seberal bear baby stamps from Whippersnapper about a year ago with full intentions of teaching a copics class with them...never happened. So now I ahve 3 of them colored and one finally made it to an actual card. I'm not sure what posessed me to use such bright colors when I colored it...that's probbaly whay she never made it to a card. Couldnt find any paper to match.

But finally, the bright colors of Doodlebug papers appeared and forced me to make the crazy colored card. I guess you might be able to use it for other occasions for a litle girl other than just a baby card. Maybe even Easter since she's holding a bunny. I'm sure I'll find some use for it!

Happy Stamping!

Thanks coach! We had a ball!

Another Season of basketball has come to an end. Of course hubby came to me and asked me to make 3 thank you cards for our coaches. I believe his exact words were "I need three SIMPLE thank you cards. They dont need to be all elaborate or anything"....after 10 years of marriage, you would think that he would get me. "SIMPLE" isn't really my thing. You want SIMPLE and boring to go Hallmark. I like cute...and cute takes time...and STICKLES.

I found my sweet basketball girl on the Bugaboo digital site and like the other Magnolia stamps...they dont have mouths! UGGH! I added a mouth again. I just can't help myself! I did all of the coloring with Copics to match the team colors. No Gamsol today. She has 3 male coaches but I still had to sparkle something so I stickled the hair bow and the shirts. I also used a thick layer of glossy accents on the basketball too.

Ever make a card and put it all together and then start with the "I shoulda's". Yes, I had one of those moments on this card. I shoulda put a dark blue border around the basketball textured paper. Something just looks off to me, like it's not finished or something. I'll remember that the next time I make this card. I'm also gonna give an uggh to my scanner. It doesn't pick up my shading at all. My little girl looks all washed out, but in person she is colored and shaded quite nicely.



I'm sure the coaches wives and daughters will like them much more than the coach. Men! Wonder if any will end up in a scrapbook next to the team picture. Oh to dream....

Happy Stamping!

The Bra Facelift

If I went Braless, I could pull all of the wrinkles out of my face!

Oh Stella, how I love thee! You just tell it like it is...
I love this card for that great birthday dig or just a card you can send to a friend for no reason at all. How funny would it be to add "Have a Droopy Boobday" inside a birthday card.

Now lets get to the card making...Stella's hair was first colored with bright yellow Copic and shaded with orange. Still not bright enough, I added bright orange stickles to make it sparkle too.

What would a boob card be without adding a little oompf to the ta-tas? My dear friend Dolly taught me how to pop out the well endowed Stella. Take a peace of fun foam that you can find for minimal $ in the craft store...sometimes found in the kiddie craft section. Flip your stamped image upside down on the foam. Since I colored in blue, it is easy to see where I needed to pop her out. I took my stylus and pushed gently in a circular motion to push the paper out. When you flip the paper back over her ta-tas are popped out. I love the added dimension.

This raised paper also works great on animal noses and little round bellies.
Happy Stamping!

Gus lost his eggs again!

Happy Easter from our Grumpy Gus!

I told you to stay tuned for more stamps from Bugaboo digital stamps. How funny is this guy...
He just reminds me of a grumpy grandpap but still so cute. Also reminds me of how Ralphie from A Christmas Story might be as an old man on Easter in the pink little bunny suit.
I didnt flock his bunny suit but now looking at the card, I'm seeing that it might be a nice idea to do to give him some texture.
I pulled the paper from my ever growing stash but I believe that its from Doodlebug. I liked that it had some brown in it because that let me pull in some chocolate coloring for Easter.I used my spellbinders to cut the ovals and scalloped edges.

Happy Stamping!

Introducing Stella and Gus

Are you ready for cards that rival the well known Maxine cards from Hallmark? I have found the stamps that will help you create the snappy cards we have come to love. Bugaboo stamps offer Stella and Gus in the digital form and Totally Stampalicious offers them in the standard form. Vicki, from Simply Scrapbooks, is looking to order this line for the store.

I decided to use a combination with Stella and Gus together for their debut...I printed the digi on my HP printer that I believe is an inkjet printer. I didnt have any problems with the ink bleeding with Copics or Gamsol. If you do, try heatsetting with your heat gun before coloring.

I like giving Stella bright orange hair but you can change it to match the couple you are representing.

Inside the card says:
Its great to find that one special someone you can annoy the rest of your life!

Definitely stay tuned for more Stella and Gus...
Happy Stamping!

ooh la la!

The new Penny Black stamps "Mimi in Paris" arrived at Simply Scrapbooks last week. They were selling right of the table almost as quickly as Vicki could enter them into the computer and price them. Penny Black isnt one of the stamp companies that I normally gravitate to but this set was just too cute to pass up. I think it was the two doggies in it that pushed me over the edge. I created 3 cards using the cling set and didnt even use all of the stamps included.

Pink, black, and white is probably my favorite color combination when making cards. I think the poodle inspired me to go with these colors again. I tend to use a lot of the black licorice Doodlebug dot paper when I go with pink/black/white but Simply had the new mini flowers, also by doodlebug, and I went with that for a change.
I guess I didnt totally get away from the dots, since I used the polka dot ribbon.

Nothing crazy or fancy by way of technique. Just looking for some "ordinary" cards to add to my stash.

Happy Stamping!

First Communion!

I literally just finished making this card about 10 minutes ago. How is that for a current blog! I needed to find a stamp for a First Communion invitation. Abby is celebrating hers on Mother's Day this year and I need to get the invites out. Hope I can get reservations for this event, given it's the #1 day of the year to eat out.

So I searched the internet for this "new"...at least new to me...thing called digi stamps....oh man! totally a baaaaad thing! Instead of the rubber stamp/ink..you just pay, download, and print. Yours to keep forever! One of the really cool things is being able to resize them. How many times have you found THE PERFECT card layout but your stamp is too big or too small to do it. This pretty much solves that. Some companies are very small, just a local artist while other well known companies, like Pink Cat Studios and The Greeting Farm do as well.

When I searched for First Communion digi stamps, I found one called Karen Doodles. The thing I like most about digi stamps....instant gratification! Search the net, see it, buy it, down load it and then start coloring right away! No trip to the store...no waiting for snail mail either. That's my kind of world!

Soooo, my little card. Not too much to say really. I sized the image to perfectly fit my card and since the majority is white, not too much to color. I used a really light gray for some shading and a super light pink for a little oompf to the poof. Then I went crazy with the stickles. This card is SPARKLY! Not sure if you can tell from the picture but the card itself is done with 2 shades of pale pink. I didnt use any patterned paper so I embossed the biggest layer using the Stampin Up embossing folder. Layout is kind of simple (my style) with the use of a Martha Stewart punch on the ribbon underlayer.

I'm going to redesign it using purple for my party invites.
Happy Stamping!

Top O' the morning to ya

Oh Fluffles! How I have missed you! I am so sorry that I have kept you tucked away inside a stamping folder for so long.....you chubby, fluffy, little cutie!
I forgot I had this Fluffles stamp by Stampendous until I started looking through all my binders searching for St. Patty's Day stamps.

He was one of the first stamps that I used when I first got the bug. I played with different colored flock before deciding on a pale gray for his fur. He's so fuzzy! Wish you could feel him right through the computer screen.

I'm not really a cat lover...ask my family! I had a bad run in, actually several with my sister's psycho one! RIP Ruger! But I do love this fat kitty stamp.

Maybe he'll bring you some luck!
Happy Stamping!