With Love on Easter...

Happy Easter!

I know this isn't a very Easter looking card, but Humphrey and I wanted to send you lots of love on this very special day.  After all, LOVE is really what today is all about!

Spectrum Noir Colors:
Humphrey ~ IG1, IG2, IG3, PP5, PP6
Overalls ~ TB3, TB5, CR11
Rose ~ CR6, CR8, CR11

Sweet New Baby...

For January CHA, Gourmet Rubber Stamps came out with a new line of stamps called Truffles.  These small stamp sets include one large image and a coordinating sentiment.  This New Beginnings Truffles set is absolutely adorable and it's the perfect way to welcome a new little one into the world.

The Rubber Cafe ~ Embossed Background Tutorial

Hi There ~ I'm here today with an Embossed Background Tutorial.  First off, I'll show you the finished project.  Bright and fun huh?  The sets I used for this card are Background Basics 1 and Floral Background.

Here's a close up so you can see the embossing behind the floral background.  I also attached some Pearl Jellie Dots to the center of each flower with my Scrap Happy Glue and then I colored them with my Blue/Yellow Copic Markers (B28, Y35) so they would POP. 

Step 1: To get started, grab some white pigment ink & your background stamp.  Stamp the image on white cardstock & repeat as needed to cover the entire card panel.

Step 2: Working quickly, I inked the Floral Background with various shades of green, blue and yellow Memento Ink.  I did the lighter colors first and then added some darker shades in the flower centers (blues) and on the edges of the leaves (greens).  Press the inked floral image firmly over the top of the stamped background on the white card panel.

Step 3: Cover the card panel with clear embossing powder & shake off the excess.

TIP ~ Since I use lots of clear embossing powder, I keep mine in a large flat container that is big enough to dip my entire card in...it's so easy to shake off the excess powder and then put the lid back on rather than try and get it back into a little jar.

Step 4: Heat emboss the image with a heat gun.  The check pattern will begin to appear when finished.

finished embossed piece ~
now you're ready to add some embellishments and finish your card.

Supplies:
Stamps: Background Basics 1, Floral Background 
Ink: Brilliance White Pigment Ink; Memento ~ Bahama Blue, Dandelion, Bamboo Leaves, Summer Sky, Pear Tart; Copic Markers
Embellishment: Pearl Jellie Dots
Adhesive: Scrap Happy Glue
Ribbon: May Arts
Cardstock: Bazzill
Other: Clear Embossing Powder, Heat Embossing Tool

Crafter's Companion Sneak Peek!

I'm sneaking a peek at the new Crafter's Companion Frou Frou Release that will be available April 5th.  These lovely ladies are from the Two of a Kind set & they are super fun to color.  They also have great sentiments that come with the set.   I antiqued the edges of the cardstock with Distressed Ink (Antique Linen).

The pattern paper is the Lucille Collection from Basic Grey & the trims are from May Arts.

Spectrum Noir Colors:
Skin ~ TN2, FS2, FS3
Blond Hair ~ GB8, GB9, CT2
Brown Hair ~ EB5, EB8, GB10
Glasses ~ IG1, IG2
Shoes & Purse ~ TN4, TN5, TN9

Hambo Hoedown Day!

Is that Bailey the Dog hiding in the bunny suit?  LOL! YUP ~ just in time for Easter!  Today's challenge was to use this Bailey Easter image along with a woven element on the card.  My woven element is this cool green woven trim by May Arts that I used for grass.  To color Bailey's bunny suit, I took a Q-Tip and dabbed it on my white pigment ink pad and colored the image on the kraft cardstock.  Then I did the same thing with the pink.  The rest of the images (face and Easter basket) are colored with my Spectrum Noir pens.

Today is my last day on Hambo's digital team for the weekly Hoedowns; however, I'm still the design team.  For the next few months, I'll be working with their rubber and clear stamps & I'm excited to share some of the projects I've already made!  So you'll still see Hambo projects from me & I'll probably still play along on the Hoedown, whenever possible.

A flower for you...

Hi there crafty friends... I've had this sweet SWALK image (Daydream Believer set) from Crafter's Companion colored and sitting on my desk for weeks and finally thought I should get it on a card.  I had a weekend coloring marathon to practice with my new Spectrum Noir pens while watching the fantastic Instructional DVD by Leann Chivers.  It was so helpful & I learned a lot about my new pens.  I have to say that I'm totally LOVING THEM! Here is one of my results from that weekend...

Oh...and did you spot the pretty embossed cardstock behind the image?  Love this new 6x6 embossing folder called Floral Frenzy.

Spectrum Noir Colors:
Medium Fair Skin ~ FS2, FS4, FS8, FS9, CR3
Eyes ~ CG4
Chestnut Hair ~ TN9, TN7, FS2
Pants ~ DG2, DG4
Top ~ DR1, CR10
Flower ~ CT2, DR1
Grass & Stem ~ CG2, CG4
IG1

GRS Color Challenge

Hi All ~ it's the 25th, and that means it's time for a color challenge from the Gourmet Rubber Stamps team.    I used the gorgeous set called Rustic Floral with ribbon & twine from May Arts and pigment ink in Chestnut & Moss Green from Clear Snap.  

Here's the pretty color palette...

Now it's time to hop around and see what everyone came up with ...

GRS Blog

Deb Felts

Jeni Allen

Jennifer Ingle

Kelli Palmer

Kendra Wietstock

Stephanie Lee

Taylor Usry

Melissa Cash

and Jeanne Streiff

Let's Go For A Ride...

Just popping in for a quick post today to share my newest card using my Avery Elle Stamps.  This set is called Roll With It and the sentiment is from All Squared Up.

Have a great Sunday!

The Rubber Cafe ~ Daisy Picture

Hi Everyone ~ I'm sharing a new project using some great sets by The Rubber Cafe and I'm super excited about this card!

First I stamped the photo frame from Pictures Framed stamp set with Tuxedo Black Memento Ink on white cardstock.  Then I took a simple grid designed pattern paper from Pebbles Inc and stamped both the photo frame & the Daisy Bouquet on it.   I colored the flowers with just three Copic markers (BG01, R46, G43) & used the blue to outline the photo frame.  I trimmed the pattern paper and attached it to the photo frame. 

Next I wrapped some twine and a button around the frame and then I stamped the polka-dot washi tape image from the Dont' Be Wishy Washi stamp set with red ink.  It was a bit long for my photo frame, so I trimmed both edges with my pinking sheers.  I popped up my image on the card base with Kool Tac Foam.    Finally, using red ink, I stamped the sentiment "Say Cheese" from the Remember the Moments stamp set, at the bottom of the card base.

I just love those daisies and the photo frame together ~ they are so much fun!!!
Hope you enjoyed my project today ~ see you soon!

Daisy Days...

TGIF!!! Do you have a great weekend planned?  Not much going on for me here... but I'm sure a little bit of crafting will be happening & some blogging as well for sure!

Today, my card uses one of the new images from the Laura Hunter Series ~ Daisy.  This image is great because it's so easy to create a cool card!  I added some gorgeous paper from My Minds Eye & a bit of color to the daisies using my Spectrum Noir Pens.

Crafter's Companion ~ March Vintage Challenge

Today's bit of vintage is brought to you by some lovely images from Crafter's Companion.  I just ADORE the Stamp-It Australia Collections because there are so many wonderful illustrations and I love the travel images.  This month on the Crafter's Companion Challenge Blog, the subject is VINTAGE!  So this is my entry!

Supplies:
Stamps ~ Crafter's Companion (Stamp-It Australia Collection ~ French Travels; Travel Script; Time in Paris
Ink ~ Vintage Photo Distress Ink; Spectrum Noir (TN1, TN2), Memento Dew Drops ~ Tuxedo Black, Rhubarb Stalk, Desert Sand.
Cardstock ~ Bazzill
Ribbon ~ May Arts
Pattern Paper ~ My Mind's Eye

Hambo's Hoppin' Hoedown!

OK ... QUICK... POP QUIZ!   What colors do you think of when you think of EASTER?  Pink, purple, bright green...yeah, me too!  So what did I do when it was time to make an Easter card?  I picked some unconventional colors for this adorable Bunny Basket digi image by Hambo Stamps.

Today's challenge is to use your favorite embellishment on your card...along with this fun bunny (or another Hambo image).  My favorite embellishments are ribbon or trim & pairing it up with a sweet little button with a twine bow...it just put the finishing touch on any card!

Hop on over to the Hambo Hoedown Blog and make sure you enter your challenge card so you can get this great image next week in your Inbox!

Supplies:
Image ~ Hambo Stamps (Bunny Basket Digital Image)
Cardstock ~ Bazzill
Pattern Paper ~ My Minds Eye
Trim & Twine ~ May Arts
Button ~ unknown
Dies ~ Spellbinders
Spectrum Noir Markers (Bunny: TN1, TN2, TN3, CR5, GT1, GT2; Basket: TN7, EB3, EB5; Eggs: OR1, OR2, OR3, CR7, CR5, GB2, GB6, BT4, BT5, GT1, GT2; Grass: CG3, CG4; Chick: GB2, GB6

A Day in Rome!

On our last day in Rome last June, we had a blast walking around the Piazza de Fiori and the lovely boutique shoppes around the Piazza.  We all enjoyed the many outdoor cafes & open markets as well ~ I have a smile on my face just thinking about it!  As we were loading up our luggage to leave this amazing city, Megan was being silly and posed for a few pictures.

For my page today, I used some pretty paper from the Shades of Gray Collection.   Now I know what you're thinking... this page is anything BUT gray!  Well, that's because I took out some of my Memento Ink (Rose Bud & Tangelo) and sponged color on to the gray and white Silverplate pattern paper to match my daughter's dress.  Then I did a few more scraps and punched out the butterflies.  Such a quick and easy way to make the paper exactly what you want it to be.  Then I took one of the quotes from the Paper Loft Accessory Sheet ~ Star, stamped some light pink butterflies on it and then sponged the orange ink over the entire quote.   The scattered butterfly images on the quote and on the background of the pink cardstock are from the Time to Dream stamp set by Crafter's Companion.

~ Photos ~
Top left - Megan and Matt at lunch.

Middle left ~ fresh fruit cup from the open market outside our hotel, our breakfast each day
Bottom left ~ Uncle Richard dreaming about coming back to Rome

The chipboard letters for my title were the wrong shade of pink, so I took my Spectrum Noir marker (BP2) and colored them to match my pattern paper.

Hope you enjoyed a little "taste" of Rome today...

Avery Elle Monthly Challenge

OMW!  I love the new sets by Avery Elle Stamps & this one is called Petals & Stems.   My new sets arrived in the mail a week or so ago & I finally had a chance to ink them up this weekend.  So fun & TOTALLY MY STYLE!  Then I looked on the Avery Elle Blog and they have a photo inspiration challenge going on, so I decided to play along.    

Here's how I made my card... For the weathered look background, I used a paintbrush and white acrylic paint and just lightly brushed the paint.  Since it is acrylic paint, it drys pretty fast, but I just set it aside while I stamped and embossed the flower and stems with pigment ink.  After I trimmed them out, I attached the stems to the card and popped up the flower with foam dots.  The sentiment is from the the All Squared Up set & I heat embossed that in the same dark blue that I used on the flower center.

Supplies:
Stamps: Avery Elle Stamps ~ Petals & Stems; All Squared Up
Cardstock ~ Bazzill
Ink ~ VersaMagic (Tea Leaves, Night Sky), Versa Color (Atlantic)
White Acrylic Paint 

Happy St. Patrick's Day

I'm not really a St. Patrick's Day person, and I wasn't planning on posting a card today.  However, I started making this card with my new Avery Elle Stamps and it was green and had a "good luck" sentiments, so... here ya go!

I used the All Squared Up stamp set in two shades of green pigment ink and then heat embossed them with clear embossing powder.  The clover is made from the tiny heart stamp in the  Framed Fonts set.  I just stamped it 3 times and drew in the stem.

Have a great weekend & tune in tomorrow for one of my favorite cards that I've made this week ~ LOL!

Having a Ball with GRS!

Yesterday, Gourmet Rubber Stamps came out with two new birthday themed sets!  Today's card features the set called Have a Ball and it's perfect for all those sports fans out there!  I also added in the football image from the Football Truffles Set .  This new set was designed to match the football image ~ pretty smart huh?  

Supplies: 
Gourmet Rubber Stamps ~ Have A Ball
Ink ~ Memento
Twine ~ The Twinery
Spellbinders Dies
Cardstock ~ Bazzill

New Appetizer Sets from GRS!

It's the 15th and that means it's time for new Appetizer sets from Gourmet Rubber Stamps & this month it's a birthday theme!  

My card today is a pocket birthday invitation for the perfect girly party & uses the new set called Magical Birthday.  I didn't want to go with the normal girl colors of pink and purple, so I picked out some pretty blues/greens/yellows.  Here's the outside of the pocket.

And here's a peek at the pull-out.

Take a peek on the GRS Blog to see the new sets & then hop around to see what our fabulous designers came up with!

Deb Felts

Jeni Allen

Jennifer Ingle

Kelli Palmer

Kendra Wietstock

Stephanie Lee

Taylor Usry

Melissa Cash
Jeanne Streiff our fabulous VIP Guest Designer this month!

The Rubber Cafe ~ my first post!!!

Hi There!  I'm super excited to share my very first design team project for The Rubber Cafe with you today here on my blog and on the TRC blog too!  Those of you who visit regularly, know that I love Kraft cardstock and Clean & Simple (CAS) and this project has both!

Here's how I made my card... First, I trimmed a piece of rustic cream cardstock and stamped this super sweet little floral image called Daisy Bouquet with brown ink and colored the flowers with my markers.  I used some beautiful pattern paper from My Minds Eye (Notable Collection) to make the frame and the banners.  I added the stamped image to the card using Kool Tac Foam squares.  A dark brown button and some kraft twine complete the simple front to the card.

BUT WAIT... THERE'S MORE!!!  

As a fun little surprise, I've added some stamping and a sweet birthday sentiment to the inside of the cards.  I stamped the flowers along the bottom of the inside four times and then colored them with the same markers I used on the front image.  Then I really wanted my sentiment to POP, so I used the large polka-dot image Background Basics 2 stamp set as a background for my sentiment.  I stamped it in a light gold color after first stamping it off on scratch paper.  Then I stamped the Happy Birthday sentiment from the Fabulous Phrases set.  I cut them out with my Spellbinders Die cuts.

Here's a close up of the flowers on the front of the card.

and here you can see the subtle polka-dot background with the sentiment.

Hope you enjoyed my very first TRC project today!

Supplies:
Rubber Stamps ~ Daisy Bouquet, Background Basics 2, Fabulous Phrases
Pattern Paper ~ My Mind's Eye (Notable Collection)
Kraft Cardstock ~ Bazzill
Ink ~ Memento (Rich Cocoa, Cantalope)
Adhesive ~ Kool Tac Foam Squares
Markers ~ Copic Markers

Twine ~ May Arts; Button ~ Unknown
Dies ~ Spellbinders (postage die cut ~ unknown)

Hambo Hoedown Day!

It's Wednesday... Hambo Hoedown day!

Today's sweet image is called The Birdhouse Estate & the challenge is to use SCALLOPS!
I think they made this challenge just for ME because I just LOVE scallops!

Play along and leave your link on the Hoedown blog!

Supplies:
Digi Image ~ Hambo Stamps The Birdhouse Estate

Pattern Paper ~ Pebbles Inc (Family Tree)
Wooden Bird ~ Michael's Craft Store

Markers ~ Spectrum Noir (Birdhouses ~ TB2, TB4, TB8, IB1, GB2, GB3; Tree ~ EB4, EB5, EB6, TN6; Leaves ~ DG2, DG4)

Paper Loft Challenge!

It's time to show you my project for this month's Sketch Challenge for Paper Loft and I LOVE IT!!!  These pictures were taken on our last trip to Icy Strait, Alaska where we did the world longest zipline!  OMW that was tons of fun!  My husband and I went on it 5 years ago, but the kids were too young at the time.  They couldn't wait to do it on this trip.

For my supplies on this page, I used the In The Zone paper collection from Paper Loft.    The strips of pattern papers are: In Synch, Stay Focused, Second Gear, Adrenaline and Automatic.  I used the Accessory Sheet called Fearless & the Alphabet Letter Stickers from the same collection.

Take a peek at the sketch over on the Paper Loft Blog and then play along for your chance to be a guest designer.

a little more vintage...

Well we have another new week & today I have a fun card from Crafter's Companion.  I used some stamps from the Stamp-It Australia line called Birds & Butterflies.   I also used a sentiment from Sentiment Swirls.  I stamped both on kraft cardstock with Tuxedo Black Memento Ink.

Well that's it for today...such a busy weekend and now it's time to STAMP!   See you tomorrow!

GRS Sketch Challenge

It's SKETCH TIME!!!  The designers from Gourmet Rubber Stamps are all having a good time with this one!

For my card today, I used the new Butterfly image from the Laura Hunter Series.  This stamp lends itself beautifully for this sketch layout.  I added a touch of color to each butterfly using my Spectrum Noir Markers (GB5).  I also used the Flyaway Coveralls Background Stamp on the kraft cardstock and used the same tone of Memento Ink in Desert Sand.  The final stamped image is a sentiment from the Bonjour stamp set.

Here's the sketch!

Now I know you'll want to peek around to see who did what with the sketch ~ leave some love along the way because these girls have been working super hard lately!

Deb Felts

Jeni Allen

Jennifer Ingle

Kelli Palmer

Kendra Wietstock

Stephanie Lee

Taylor Usry
Melissa Cash

And our VIP Guest Designer this month
Jeanne Streiff

SP & Company Crop Event!

Hey There Crafty Friends!

For those of you who are new to my blog, WELCOME!!!  For my regular visitors, I'm glad you're back!  Today I'm one of the Challenge Hostesses for the Weekend Crop at SP & Company Stamps.   My challenge for you is...

 Use Border Stamps in Creative Ways!  

For my first card, I used the Diamond Background border and stamped it tone on tone.  {By the way, this stamp is on the retired list for $1 ~ what a steal!}  The next creative border I used was the Chevron Chaser Background and I stamped it in green ink on a small piece of kraft cardstock.  Then I stamped the plain tie from the Father's Day Fun Mini set in dark brown ink over the top of the green Chevron pattern.  I made sure to line up the tie so the Chevron points were centered.  I used my markers to color a few stripes in the tie & then I cut it out.  The next step was to stamp the Father's Day sentiment on the cream cardstock and then I added another Chevron pattern to the bottom of the sentiment block.  Once the sentiment was attached to the card base, I popped up the tie with foam dots.  A touch of twine and a few gems completed my cute card!

My second card also uses the Chevron Chaser Background as well as the Large Polka-Dot Background Stamp.

Here's how I made the background: First I selected 4 coordinating colors of ink (2 blues & 2 greens).  Next, I inked the entire image in the lighter shade of blue & then added the darker shade of blue over the top portion of the image.  On a firm surface, I carefully lined up the image so it was straight and pressed the stamp on the white card stock.   Next, I cleaned my stamp and inked the entire image in the lighter shade of green and then added the darker shade over the bottom portion.  Making sure to line the image up straight, I carefully stamped the image at the bottom of the white card stock.

For the letters, I found some fun wooden letters and shapes at the local craft store & decided they would be fun to stamp, color and decorate.  Using my B16 Copic marker, I colored the surface of the wooden letter with my chisel tip.

Next, laying the Large Polka-Dot Background stamp face up, I inked it with black ink.

Keeping the inked image face up, I carefully pressed  the wooden letters on to the inked image.
(note: I also added some white polka-dots with white pigment ink)

Then I added them with glue dots to my card.  I mirrored the Chevron and polka-dot patterns on my embossed pieces as well to pull the whole card together ~ along with some black gems, some gingham ribbon and a pretty little butterfly.

Make sure you play along on the challenges today ~ loads of fun and inspiration out there from the Challenge Hostesses.  You can find out all the details over on the SP & Co Blog or on the Facebook Page.

You can link up your creative border projects by CLICKING HERE!

I'm dreaming of Paris!

A super quick post this morning with a card using several fun products

from Gourmet Rubber Stamps!

Stamps: Bonjour, background from Sealed with a Kiss

Cookie Cutter Stencil: Demask

I'll be back later today at 3pm (ET) with a post for SP & Co Stamps .  I'm one of their Challenge Hostesses for the weekend crop event & have some fun projects to share with you.

Fun Friday ~ New Release!

Surprise!

Gourmet Rubber Stamps has some fun new images being released TODAY and they are from the Laura Hunter Series.

Here are a few samples I made with the new release.  My first card uses the Be Happy image.  I inked each line of the the image with some fabulous inks from Clear Snap called the Cat Eye Queue ~ Jelly Bean.  The inks are cat eye shaped and they are so easy to apply to the rubber stamps exactly where you want the color.  I overlapped the colors for a blended look and then sprinkled the entire image with clear embossing powder and heat embossed the artwork.  I finished off my card with some gorgeous sheer ribbon from May Arts.

My second card uses the London image.  I just stamped the image in black ink directly on the pattern paper from My Minds Eye.  Super simple!

And here is the entire Laura Hunter Series.  There are 8 single images available (each sold separately).

              

Several of our designers have projects to share with you today so go take a peek
and don't forget to give our ladies some love for all their hard work:

Kelli Palmer

Kendra Wietstock

Stephanie Lee

Melissa Cash
Jeni Allen

Ancient Oak Sunset

It's been a busy week at Crafter's Companion and new stamps and today I have a sneak peek of a new set called Ancient Oak.  It is from the Sheena Get Sketchy Colleciton that will be coming out tomorrow (March 8th) and it's super pretty.  It reminds me of a tree in our neighborhood and in the summer and fall I look out my front window to this pretty view.

Here's how I made my card:

1. The image is stamped on white cardstock with Tuxedo Black Memento Ink.  
2. After I let it dry, I added some Cantaloupe Memento Ink to one small area above the tree on the right side.  Then I punched out a circle and lightly taped it over the ink for a mask.  
3. Next, I started sponging on Angel Pink Memento ink from the top of the panel going down, then Rose Bud Pink, and then Lady Bug Red ~ so the colors go from light to dark.  
4. I added some sponged black ink to even out the ground.  Once I removed the mask for the moon, it was a beautiful circle in the midst of the pink sky.

Note: This idea was from Theresa Momber's Blog.