Gourmet Rubber Stamps ~ Monthly DT Challenge

Hello ~ Hello!!!  Welcome to DT Challenge Day for Gourmet Rubber Stamps!  Today, it's all about the boys ~ so today I used a few images from the May Diners Set called Swingin' Spring.   I think this card will be a perfect card for my dad for Father's Day or his birthday.

I paired up these great images with some fun paper from My Mind's Eye called Dilly Dally.

With Father's Day fast approaching, I know you're gonna want to see some other great cards for guys, so hop along and take a look at what the DT girls came up with today...   

• Deb Felts
• Jeni Allen
• Kendra Wietstock - You're Here
• Kelli Palmer
• Taylor Usry
• Jennifer Ingle 
• Stepanie Lee

Supplies from i{heart}papers:
Stamps ~ Gourmet Rubber Stamps (Swingin' Spring)
Pattern Paper ~ My Minds Eye (Dilly Dally)
Ink ~ Palette
Twine ~ Divine Twine

couldn't be any easier birthday card...

I'm still here ~ just crazy busy with the end of the school year!  WOW ~ I can hardly catch my breath!  SO today I have a quick and dirty 5 minute birthday card to share.  The coordinating HB sticker and paper are both from Bo Bunny & super fun!

I'll see you tomorrow for the Gourmet Rubber Stamps monthly DT challenge!  Have a great day!

Star Student Care Package

Happy Monday!

With the school year ending soon, our older kids are crazy busy with important tests.  Last week my daughter, who is a freshman in high school, had the biggest test of her school career ~ AP World History.  If she scores well, it will be worth college credit.   We told her all year long that whatever happens is fine ~ but she put a lot of pressure on herself to do well.   She's been pretty stressed about this test, so I wanted to make up a little care package for her backpack the day of the test so she would feel some love and support from mom!

Here's the little gift bag.  I made the tag using the pre-made tag and letter stickers from the Elementary collection by Simple Stories.

and here's a close up of the tag

My daughter felt like she did well on the test ~ I think it had everything to do with my little care package {wink}.

Gourmet Rubber Stamps ~ Today's Weekly Recipe

Hey there crafty friends!  Today it's my turn to share the Weekly Recipe over on the GRS Blog.  I have a rather simple, but fun, layout that has endless possibilities!

I've used this sketch in two different ways on my blog today using the great Clothesline Greetings Appetizer Set.   First up is a fun little baby card.   I dug out this cute paper from October Afternoon to paper piece my images.  I added some extra color with my Copic Markers (R85, BG11, YG95, E35).   The fun clothespins are from Canvas Corp and they come in tons of colors as does this great bakers twine from Divine Twine.  I added some cute little letter block beads for the baby sentiment ~ just to change things up a bit.

For my next sample, I used the same layout and set but get my card a totally different look and feel.   For this card I paper pieced the images from the other stamp in the set using some fun paper from Fancy Pants.    I also added some Glossy Accents to the clothes pins and flowers for some texture.  Then I added a banner along the bottom for the sentiment.

Play along on the challenge today and post your creations to the GRS Facebook page so we can enjoy your creation as well.

Strawberry Sweet

SERIOUSLY YUMMY!  That's what I think of this new set called Strawberry Sweet from Gourmet Rubber Stamps & this set {along with many other GRS sets} is now available at i{heart}papers!  OMW ~ this strawberry image just makes my mouth water for some juicy strawberry goodness & I'm super happy with how my card turned out today!  I was inspired by a card I pinned on my inspiration board on Pinterest  that was created by Kelly Rose and I just had to do something similar with this pretty set.

I began by stamping the image three times on kraft cardstock using white pigment ink and then embossing with white embossing powder.  Then I colored my images with Copic markers ~ they just pop right off the card don't they?   The Copic colors I used were  ~ Strawberries: R22, 24, 27; Leaves: YG91, 93, 95, 97; Blooms: R20, 21, 32, Y17.

OK ~ I now need to go have some of the big juicy strawberries that I have in my fridge ~ YUM!

It's time for some delicious new Appetizers!

Welcome to a new week and since it's the 15th, it's time to share two new Appetizer sets from Gourmet Rubber Stamps.  The names are Strawberry Sweet {which I'll have a sample for you soon}, and Happy Independence.  

For my card I used the new 6x6 paper pad from Authentique called Glory & ink from Palette ~ both from i{heart}papers.  I thought with Memorial Day coming up, it would be nice to make a Thank You card to honor those who serve our country.

I thought I'd share an idea I picked up from Pinterest on how to make the perfect banner with a square punch.  So here are a few pictures ...

Boom ~ done!  Easy Peasy huh?

Now it's time to hop around and see what lovely creations the other Gourmet Girls came up with... I know you'll love their creations.  You can see the full sets on the GRS Blog & i{heart}papers.

• Deb Felts
• Jeni Allen
• Kendra Wietstock - You're Here
• Kelli Palmer
• Taylor Usry
• Jennifer Ingle 
• Stepanie Lee

Happy Mother's Day

Have a wonderful Mother's Day!

Alaska Project... End of Book #1

Whew...what a week!!!  It has been a crazy busy week & I just didn't have time to play along on the OCL Challenge that is starting today.  BUT...go take a look at the fun challenge today over on the OCL Blog.   I'm hoping to get a project done this weekend for the challenge so I can play too.

So for today, I wanted to show you the final pages of Book #1 (of 2) for our Alaska Pre-Cruise vacation.  Today's pages show our adventures on the tour boat in Resurrection Bay (in Seward, Alaska).  I have to say, {and you'll see by the photos}... the day was PERFECT!  Gorgeous blue sky, sunshine and wildlife sightings like CRAZY!  This day ranked as one of our TOP 3 favorites in Alaska {maybe even from both trips}.

We boarded a tour boat early in the morning and we were delighted that our group of about 15 people was the only group that day ~ WOOHOOO!  It was like a private tour!  We could get up and go anywhere on the boat without worrying we might be in the way of someone else.  It was rather cool on deck; however, the views were SPECTACULAR!  The captain of our boat, handed out Wildlife Guides so we could identify animals while on the trip.  I wanted to be able to look at it again, so I made a photo pocket to keep it tucked in for our album.  I also purchased a few postcards of the area we visited for my album.

Another exciting thing about today was that we saw our ship for the first time since our arrival to Alaska ~ M.S. Radiance of the Seas.  We would board her later that day...

I didn't do much to this page because I wanted to include the fabulous shots of the kids and of the sea otters.     NOTE:  these pictures weren't taken with any zoom features on our cameras.  YES, the otters were THAT CLOSE!  They just swam along side for quite some time ~ it was great!

I'm sure you can see why I said this was "our favorite day so far"!!!

We saw many bald eagles & some were even nesting (top center), humpback whale, and sea lions ...lots and lots of sea lions.  We also saw a dozen Dall sheep {with babies} and puffins ~ oh so sweet. 

Not only did we have great views of the wildlife, but the scenery was AMAZING!

Everything was just CRYSTAL CLEAR that day!

Once again for my pages, I used the Destinations Kit from Simple Stories & stamps from Unity, Technique Tuesday & Hero Arts.

Mother's Day ...

That special holiday for Mom is coming up this Sunday & I just realized I haven't put my cards in the mail ~ YIKES! I sure hope my cards arrive on time.  My mother passed away almost 8 years ago; however, I always pop cards in the mail for my sister, sister-in-law, my Dad's wife & my mother-in-law.  I have THE BEST mother-in-law in the world ~ I just couldn't ask for a better one.  She is my mom and I lover her dearly ~ I can't wait to see her in June when we go on vacation.  

So here is the pretty card I made for her this year...

I used the Garden Inspiration & Fanciful Flourishes sets by Gourmet Rubber Stamps along with the new Mother's Day sentiment in the Mother Knows Best Appetizer set.   I stamped the flourishes on cork in vanilla pigment ink & then stamped the flowers on pattern paper from My Minds Eye ~ I love how it turned out.

OK ~ off to get this in the mail...hoping it get's to North Dakota before Sunday!

i {heart} CUPCAKES!

Happy Tuesday!  Whew...what a weekend!  I was so busy that I never even got a blog post done for Monday ~ oh well...here are a few new cards I made yesterday.

I haven't had a {real} cupcake for a very long time!  HOWEVER, I'm lovin' the new cupcake in the Cupcakes and Candles Appetizer stamp set by Gourmet Rubber Stamps because it's super cute and calorie free!  Gotta LOVE that!!!

The papers and sentiment stickers are from the Bo Bunny Ad Lib collection which I've had laying around for quite some time.  While I was making these cards, I just felt like doing something a little off the wall.  I think I accomplished my objective ~ LOL!

See you tomorrow!

OCL Challenge #116...National Scrapbook Day!

Welcome back to the OCL Challenge for this week.  Today I'm excited to share another scrapbook layout for the challenge.  Tomorrow is National Scrapbook Day, so it's only appropriate that we do a scrapbooking {or at least a photo} challenge.

So for my page this week, I did something that I NEVER do ~ I did a page about me!  As the family historian, so to speak, I rarely include layouts that are only about me.  Sometimes I grab a photo that includes me, but I'm not usually the main subject of the page.  HOWEVER, this time it's a little different because at the beginning of this year, I decided to make 2012 a year of change of me.  A year of improving myself ~ physically, spiritually, and professionally.  Well I've made some drastic changes in my life {for me anyway}to improve my physical health and they include, eating healthy, giving up soda, exercise.  As a result of the hard work I've put in the last 4 months, I've lost a total of 32 lbs, I've totally given up soda, and I exercise 7 days a week for at least 30 minutes.  I'm so excited to see these results and I feel fabulous!!!

So the other day, I took a new picture of myself with my camera timer {which, BTW turned out to be a rather funny photo session with the help of the dogs and cat}.  Anyway, I finally got a good shot & changed my blog and Facebook profile pictures.  I couldn't believe all the comments I got ~ who knew?  So since the picture turned out pretty good, I thought I'd document my journey on a scrapbook page ...

I used several flowers from the Build-A-Bouquet set with VersaMark ink on the top of the page and then stamped the chevron pattern from the Every Heartbeat stamp tone-on-tone on the blue pattern paper.  I also used the Simple Stories Fabulous collection for the pattern paper and stickers.

Here's a close up of the punched flowers.  You can see the VersaMark flowers and the chevron border in the background.

Here is the journaling block on the page.

And some of the stickers from the Fabulous paper pack to add some texture to the page.

Are you a scrapbooker?  We no worries if you aren't ~ make a project with a photo included & enter your challenge link to the OCL Blog for your chance to win a gift certificate!

SALE ALERT!!!

Our Craft Lounge is having a sale for National Scrapbooking Day!!!  

$10 off order $30 or more {in stock items only/no backorders}.  This sale will run today & tomorrow {Friday/Saturday ~ May 4th & 5th}.  Coupon Code required: NSD2012

Alaska Project ... more photo layouts

Well the week is just clicking along and I decided that I'm going to show you a few more pages from my Alaska Project. This week I finished up the land portion of our trip and now I'll begin the cruise portion next!  I still have some AMAZING photos to share with you!

Today I have more photo sleeve layouts to show you.  I used bits and pieces of journaling blocks, tags, stickers and stamped images on these pages from the Simple Stories Destination kit along with stamps by Unity, Hero Arts, and Technique Tuesday.  

These pages have the last of our stop in Girdwood, Alaska at our stay at the Alyeska Resort, the Alaska Wildlife Conservation Center & our last stop on the land tour ~ Seward, Alaska (where we met the ship).  Next week, I'll share photos from one of our most amazing days while in Seward and Resurrection Bay ~ just before we boarded the ship.

First up is the tram ride to the top of Mt. Alyeska ~ amazing views and our timing for the tram was just perfect because it rained like crazy the day before and it was foggy later in the afternoon.

Here are a few shots from the TOP of the WORLD!

After our lovely stay in Girdwood, we boarded our motor coach for Seward; however, we did have a great stop along the way to the Alaskan Wildlife Conservation Center.  We saw tons of animals close up and got some great shots.  All of the animals here were rescued and are in rehabilitation and most can't be released into the wild because of injuries they suffered.

This was a wonderful place and we enjoyed our visit very much!

A few more hours on the motor coach and we arrived at our last stop on our land tour.  We spent the evening walking around the hotel and then having dinner at the Windsong Lodge.  I added some postcards and the hotel brochure to my page.

More lovely views right outside our hotel room.

Have a great Thursday!  I'll be back tomorrow with a fun OCL Challenge to celebrate National Scrapbooking Day this Saturday!

Hey Hey Daddy-O!

 Time for a little love to all the dads out there with this cute new Appetizer set from Gourmet Rubber Stamps called Daddy-O!   I paired up these great images with the Echo Park paper kit called This and That Charming Collection ~ it's perfect for guy cards!  I just love the saying on this first card ~ LOL!

Next up is the card I made for my father-in-law ~ he just LOVES crossword puzzles!  The crossword puzzle paper is also in the This and That kit along with the letter stickers that I used to make the sentiment.

Supplies from i{heart}papers:
Stamps ~ Gourmet Rubber Stamps (Daddy-O!)
Pattern Paper ~ Echo Park (This & That Charming)
Ink ~ Palette
Copic Markers ~ top card: G21, G94, E27; second card: YR21, YR23, YR24, E00, E50, E51, G40, G20, G21
Nestabilities

New Diner's Club Set!

The new Diners Club set called Swingin' Spring from
Gourmet Rubber Stamps is now shipping &
you can also find it at i{heart}papers!

For a few samples ~ take a peek HERE on my blog & on the GRS Pinterest Board!