Waltzingmouse Stamps Blog Hop!

Thanks so much for hoppin' on by my blog! I am so thrilled to be participating in the first ever (EVER!) Waltzingmouse Stamps customer blog hop! Claire and her designs have inspired me so much, I wouldn't think of missing it! If you just happened by, the first stop on the hop is Claire's blog, and I really suggest hopping along for the whole thing! There are a lot of really talented crafters out there!


I used my new Spring Baskets and L'il Buddies stamp sets for my card. The weather has been really nice here lately, and it has been staying light later and later in the evening - could Spring have, well, sprung?

The first thing I did was select the base card color (my favorite retired "Soft Sky" from Stampin' Up!) and the lovely "Girl Friday" stripes from Cosmo Cricket. Next I stamped the cute flower image with Staz-On so I could watercolor them in the same colors as the striped paper. I ended up turning the scalloped edge upside down from the way I usually attach it. Doesn't it kinda look like a tulip or a flower when turned that way? Then I punched some little butterflies, added some blingy rhinestones, and finished off the front of the card with a sheer blush ribbon.

The stamps were so darned cute, and I couldn't find a place for the little bee on the front so decorated the inside, too!

Thank you so much for stopping by! Hop on over to see what goodies Tiffany has to share!

Supplies:
Stamps - Waltzingmouse
Cardstock - SU! "Soft Sky", "Whisper White"
Ink - Staz-On
Designer Paper - Cosmo Cricket "Girl Friday"
Watercolors - SU!
Rhinestones - my stash
Punch - Martha Stewart
Ribbon - Crafta

Two'fer

I am fascinated by the phenomenon that occurs when I "clean." That phenomenon is that I usually make a mess ten times bigger than the one I started with and need eons to even return to that original messy state. Thus is what happened to me when I started to "organize" my craft supplies.

Long story short, I found WAY more supplies than I ever knew I had (I am officially not allowed to buy any more designer paper. Okay, I mean REALLY but only after the American Crafts "Dear Lizzie" collection I just bought...) and need to start thinning them out in a big way. It is kinda cool to shop in my own home - saves gas and I don't have to put makeup on!

Okay, I digress again... I've issued myself a throwdown since finding all of these supplies and it is simple... USE THEM! So, whenever I get out a piece of cardstock and cut it in half to make a card, I use both sides and make two. I also try to use up as much of the paper as possible to eliminate the creep of my ever-growing scrap drawer. It has been fun and these two cards are the result of my first try!

Cattitude

I've been dying to share these cards with you and finally had a chance to get some pics uploaded this evening.

I've recently been promoted within my company and will be leaving transferring to another department at the end of next week. I've been wanting to make a set of cards for one of my co-workers for some time and knew I'd better get it done quick! She has been a great resource for me over the years and I will miss her.

Since Karen adores cats, I knew I'd use my Inkadinkado stamp set and found the papers from a DCWV stack I've recently purchased. I really like the color combo of the blues and browns, too!

Supplies:
Stamps - Inkadinkadoo "Cattitude"
Ink - SU! Chocolate Chip, PTI Tea Dyes
Cardstock - SU! Soft Sky, Chocolate Chip
Ribbon - SU!, Crafta
DP - DCWV "The Green Stack"
Rhinestones - Michaels
Die Cuts - Cuttlebug, Nestabilities
Distressing Tool - Making Memories

Clueless!

This week over at the Cinema Saturday Creative Challenge, Brooke and Sankari offered up "Clueless" as the movie of the week and "a touch of plaid" as the challenge. I love this movie (I think I've had a crush on Paul Rudd ever since!) and was so sad to see the downward spiral of Brittany Murphy over the past few years and her untimely death last month.

Yes, I know green doesn't seem very "Clueless" (a nice pink would have probably been easier...) but here's the scoop on why I did what I did...

You see, I've been challenging myself to unearth long-forgotten supplies with the requirement I use them for whatever I am going to get involved with in a particular week. Whether it is new paper, a stamp set, or embellishments, I pick something and stick with it! Sometimes it is so hard!! Anyway, this week, I picked a great ombre sheer ribbon with a beautiful yellow to green gradient. Little did I know how difficult it was to find plaid paper in my stash that would match but I did and my simple, little St. Patrick's Day card was born.

I'm gonna say Cher was Irish! That works, right? :)

Supplies:
Stamps - Waltzing Mouse "Irish Blessings"
Cardstock - SU!
Ink - SU! Gable Green, Garden Green
DP - DCWV
Ribbon - Michael's

Part of the First!

I am so excited to participate in the first ever customer bloghop with Claire and her amazing team at Waltzing Mouse Stamps! I just got two new sets today that I can't wait to play with! Make sure to check back here or on Claire's blog on the 22nd!

Happy Valentine's Day!

This week the lovelies at Cinema Saturday Creative Challenge offered up "Sleepless in Seattle" and a big, red heart as inspiration. Perfect for the had-yet-been-made Valentine's Day card for my hubby.
Another card for my hubby? you ask. Well, yes. You see, starting at the end of October (his birthday), it is one special occasion after another for us - birthday, holidays, our anniversary of when we met, our wedding anniversary, and finally Valentine's Day!

I knew I wanted to use my new Sweethearts stamp set from Waltzing Mouse. I don't think I've raved enough about Claire here on this blog. Love! Her! I'm expecting two new sets in the mail sometime soon from her February release. Can't wait to get them and can't wait to use them! Claire just gets it, that's all I can say, and I find myself wishing for an endless supply of money to buy her sets and an endless supply of time to use them.

Supplies:
Stamps - Waltzing Mouse "Sweethearts"
Cardstock - SU! "Whisper White"
Ink - SU! "Riding Hood Red"
Twine - PTI
Key Charm - Meyer Imports
Chipboard Heart - Cosmo Cricket
Glitter - Walgreen's enhanced with Stickles because it was a mess!!

Happy Birthday Papertrey Ink II

Here is a card I made for the CPS sketch challenge as part of the big Papertrey Ink 3rd birthday extravaganza!

Happy Birthday Papertrey Ink

purchase welcome little one

This month we're all celebrating Papertrey Ink's 3rd anniversary! I can't remember how I discovered Papertrey but it was about May or so of last year and I've been awed and inspired by Nichole and her amazing design team ever since! In honor of the third anniversary, Nichole has some amazing things up for grab on her blog - including the challenge of making a card using the reverse embossing technique.

I knew just what I wanted to make for this challenge - a baby shower card for my good friend, Beth. The shower is tomorrow and this challenge came along at the perfect time! I've never used reverse embossing before and was dreaming this card up in my mind all day today while I was at the office. As Nichole says, I couldn't wait to get home tonight and "get inky." I think it turned out so cute and I really hope Beth likes it!

Supplies:
Cardstock - PTI, SU!
Ink - Versamark, PTI, SU!
DP - Martha Stewart
Stamps - SU!
Sponge - Michael's

A Titanic Challenge!

Guess what movie is featured over at the Cinema Saturday Creative Challenge this week? Yup, you guessed it - Titanic! I'm not sure I love the way this card came out but it is what it is, right? I think the flowers need some zhuzhing or something since it seems a bit on the plain side. Man, I really need to sit down at the old crafting table to get my crafty mojo back! It has been a very busy couple of months and I'm very behind!

The challenge was to incorporate navy and silver as a tribute to the Heart of the Ocean and I just love that color combination!! I knew I'd use a navy card base and wanted to try my hand at some more advanced embossing. I am so intimidated by embossing text - it never seems to come out right! This time, I worked hard at lining up my text stamps (they look pretty straight, don't they?), stamped them in Versamark and went for it with silver embossing powder. I still need practice but was happy they were straight and pretty crisp! I then added a couple of fun flowers and some silver leaves to finish it off.

Supplies:
Stamps – Inkadinkado, PTI
Cardstock, Versamark – PTI
DP - DCWV
Ink, rhinestones, silver embossing powder – Michael’s
Button, twine – PTI
Punches – Marvy Uchida