Greetings from Sea Street

Confession...when I went to take this photo I had to use my sleeve to move the dust off of my table. I've never been accused of being a decent housekeeper. My skills lie in other areas. At least that's the story I'm going with.

I wanted to play a little bit with some of the other new pre-order products I received aside from the Blendabilities. Don't get me wrong, I love the new markers but my new stamps aren't getting any love. So for your stamping pleasure, meet Sea Street. Totally outside my normal collection of images, I think this little octopus and his friends have some potential. I always have trouble with birthday cards for guys. I think this one works quite well. I want to do more with that adorable little lobster and his crabby friend (you haven't met him yet.) I have a scrapbook layout working in my head for this set, too. If I can figure out how to make really cool sand I think I'm in business.

The greeting comes from Sassy Salutations. The Designer Series Paper is also from the sneak peek but darned if I can remember the name. It coordinates with Sea Street so it won't be hard to spot in the catalog :) Colors used are Real Red, Coastal Cabana, Night of Navy and a little Pumpkin Pie for the goldfish accents.

2014-15 In Colors have stolen my heart

It's certainly no secret. I haven't stamped much in a loooooong time. 2014 sucked the stamping life right out of me. When you see a couple thousand dollars worth of stamps & inks and papers floating through your basement it becomes a daunting thought to rebuild it all especially with a broken arm and busted pipes and all the other drama that was 2014 ...but we have. The last year has definitely been a journey for me in trying to figure out what makes me happy and where I wanted to spend my energy.  I rid myself of those who were causing me negativity and filled my life with positive people. I painted my basement with Wisteria Wonder (because it makes me happy) and I got there it down there and started stampin' again!

Especially lately I have to get a lot of credit to Stampin Up in helping me renew my love of all things paper. When I went with my friend patty to the 2014-2015 catalog premiere party, I completely fell in love with the new catalog, the new products, and the new in colors. This is by far the greatest new catalog I have seen in all the years I've been a Stampin Up demonstrator. I got home with my new catalog and started drawing pictures and thinking of all the great things I can make with the new colors and stamps in the catalog. I have spent more time in my stamp room in the last week and I have spent in my room in the last year. I love it!

At the new catalog premier we received a free stamp set. Work Of Art is coming to a catalog near you on June 1st. I really had a good time playing with a stamp set and creating all sorts of neat new designs. This stamp set is all about fun whispy watercolor images.  I grabbed some inspiration from Pinterest to create this card. I use all of the new in colors on watercolor paper. I absolutely love the look of this card.

Expect to see some more creations from me over time. I might not be the best blogger but I'm definitely back in my stamp room. I'm very excited to be back on this journey of creativity. I hope you'll join me in renewing your creativity and stamp with me sometime soon. I miss my stampin' friends. Thanks for taking me back!

Follow the rainbow

One of the things I love about being a Stampin' Up! demonstrator is having access to an awesome website called Stampin' Connection.  Similar to many other online photo blogs about stamping, the projects posted on Stampin' Connection are all Stampin' Up! all the time and it's only accessible to active demonstrators.  I am so often inspired by the beautiful cards and scrapbook pages that I see on this site.  This card, for instance, totally 100% inspired by a card posted by Lisa Kirishian.  I changed the colors a tad, added a couple additional mats, and outlined the little guy with a Bashful Blue marker to help him stand out a little more.  Click on the picture for a larger view.

Gnome Sweet Gnome is a stamp set found in the Occasions Mini Catalog.  I'll be honest.  When I saw it, I wasn't 100% sure what I would do with it.  I think this St. Patrick's Day card is an excellent answer.  We made this card during one of my February hostess club meetings.  Great way to get ready for St. Pat's day...being the big card giving occasion it is :)

Stamp Set - Gnome Sweet Gnome, Sincere Salutations
Card Stock - Basic Black, Tempting Turquoise, Lucky Limeaid, Whisper White
Designer Series Paper (Stacks) - Melon Mambo, Tangerine Tango, Daffodil Delight, Lucky Limeaid, Tempting Turquoise, Wisteria Wonder
Ink - Black Stazon
Stampin' Write Markers - Lucky Limeaid, Tangerine Tango, Basic Black, Sahara Sand, Bashful Blue, Blush Blossom
Accessories - Small Heart Punch

Froggie gets some friends

Remember my little froggies?  Well, I finally got around to putting them on cards!  I have a hostess club meeting tomorrow night.  We have a card swap each month and this little guy is my February offering. I made a dozen of these cards which got my fingers a bit inky but I think they were totally worth it.

The background of the card is brayered and inked on Glossy White cardstock. I enjoy brayering on glossy at times because it can be a little more forgiving than just using Whisper White.  I wanted to be able to blend my colors a little more and I find that the glossy cardstock helps me do that.

The water is brayerd with Marina Mist and Tempting Turquoise with the water on the horizon being sponged Tempting Turquoise.  The sky was created by sponging on Bashful Blue with Marina Mist layered on the top.  The lily pad was sponged on using a large heart mat punched out of a sticky note with Always Artichoke and a Garden Green edge.

I say this everytime I brayer a background...I really need to get my brayer out more often! I hope you enjoy my little friends as much as I do :)

Happy Mardi Gras!

We had an amazing weekend at my VFW post.  We threw a murder mystery dinner party on Saturday and had a absolute blast.  Our theme was 1857 Mardi Gras complete with party goers and pirates.  A lot of work went into making this dinner a success and it really turned out beautifully.  The photo to the right is our amazing cast of characters.  I'm the one all the way to the right in the beaded head dress.  I got to play the role of the narrator for the event, guiding everyone through the story.  And I'll have to say, the Goodwill store and area resale shops really made out well with our little adventure. I found a couple new shops  that I'm excited to go back and do a bit of real shopping at some of these stores we found...but not until March, of course!

I had to thank all of the awesome volunteers who made this party such a smashing success.  I pulled out Artistic Etchings.  The crown reminded me of the Mardi Gras king.  Colors used in these cards are Daffodil Delight, Garden Green, and Elegant Eggplant.

I created the background by stamping off twice before hitting the Whisper White card stock.  I wanted to be able to see the colors but not have it as dark as the frame.  Stamping off is a great, easy technique that makes a nice background.

Pretty simple card.  I really enjoyed making them.  Now, I just need to sign them and get them in the mail.  I think that will be my goal for tonight.  Enjoy!!

Fresh Vintage Joy

Ever have one of those days where you get that random creative inspiration but then...nothing.  I sat in my craft room tonight for well over 3 hours stamp stamp stamping, paste paste pasting, rip rip ripping apart.  I was struggling to get "it" out on paper today.  I wasn't feeling the colors, I wasn't feeling the stamps. I just wasn't feeling a whole lot of anything.  And then...

I went up to the Cloud and pulled down some Adele.  Man, that woman has some serious pipes!  Just so soulful, emotional, and apparently rather inspirational.  I grabbed an upcoming Sale-A-Bration set called Fresh Vintage and went to town on a Joy Fold card.  The colors in this card are Lucky Limeaide, Pool Party and Soft Suede.  Soothing, no?  Finally, a card that makes me happy.  Took long enough! Sheesh!

So ultimately, this is a bit of a sneak peek of Saturday's Thank You Uniquely class. Not only is it a Joy Fold, it's also a bit of a One Sheet Wonder. Oh, I also was able to incorporate Stampin' Up!'s new Large Pearls that made their debut in the 2012 Occasions Mini Catalog. So take that Lack-of-Inspiration Gremlin!  I have tunes :-)

Let it snow already!!

It was 60 degrees in Chicago yesterday on the 6th of January.  Seriously? Don't get me wrong.  If this is the worst of the winter, I'm all for it.  But being that I've lived here most of my life, I know darn good and well, we're going to get smacked...hard.  I just really just wish Mother Nature would just get on with it.  So in the meantime, I use Stampin' Up! to help will on the snow and real winter weather.

Shaker Frames (124155) were introduced in the 2011 Holiday Mini Catalog.  I love them.  I think they're pretty nifty.  They are double sided foam adheisve circles that allow you to make neat little shakers like the one pictured on the right.  Cover with a window sheet and fill with your favorite shakey stuff - glittler, beads, buttons.  The sky is the limit!  I wonder if I just sit here and shake this little snow globe enough the sky might actually open up and blanket my yard with a layer of white??

Materials
Stamps - Sweet Snowglobe (120868)
Card Stock - Whisper White, Marina Mist
Ink - Versa Mark, Marina Mist Classic Ink
Accessories - Shaker Frames, 1-3/4" Circle Punch, Silver Stampin' Emboss Powder, Window Sheet, Mica Flakes (Retired), Big Shot, Northern Flurry Textured Impressions Embossing Folder

New Year Faux Tile

Happy New Year, folks!  I hope everyone had a safe and festive ringing in of 2012.  I spent the evening with some great friends and had a truly remarkable time.  As the first day of 2012 winds to a close, I wanted to share a remarkable card that I'll be demonstrating tomorrow during my Technique Notebook 3 class.  This card is made using a technique called Faux Tile.  It's a great techniqe that I've used often to create some fabulous cards.

My Technique Notebook classes run in three month groups.  We learn 4 new techniques each month and at the end of the session, we've got a fabulous notebook we can use as reference for the 12 great techniques we've learned.  We are currently right in the middle of the third technique notebook. Tomorrow is our next class and we'll be learning 4 awesome background techniques, Faux Tile being one of them. Technique Notebook 4 starts in March.

Off to bed with me.  Enjoy a little inspiration today and always.  New year.  New learnings. New adventures!

It's an "IDEA BOOK"

People have asked me in the past...why does Stampin' Up! charge for their annual catalog?  To me the reason is super simple.  It's not just a catalog.  It's an Idea Book.  How many of us pay $7, $10, or even $15 for a scrapbooking or card making magazine at the store?  I know I purchase plenty of them.  But they don't always do much for me because I'm in love with Stampin' Up! However, right under my nose is the best place ever to get ideas for beautiful cards.  It's in the awesome Stampin' Up! publications themselves.

The layout for the card to the right was taken right out of the 2012 Sale-A-Bration catalog (SAB kicks on on January 24).  I changed up the colors to suit my interests but the rest of it is compliments of the Stampin' Up! designers. Super cute, super simple, and the super best reason I save a copy of every Idea Book, mini catalog, or SAB brochure that Stampin' Up! produces.  Trust me, I'm not this creative on my own but don't tell anybody, ok?  I'm trying to keep it a secret cuz who looks at those crazy pictures anyway??

Since I didn't get a white Christmas

I decided to grab my brayer and create a background that reminds me of present day Chicago.  Blue-gray skies, a few sparkles at the tips of the trees, but no snow.  It's kinda crazy if you ask me.  I remember as a kid, we'd be wearing snow pants to school by Thanksgiving and Christmas break was spent building snowmen and riding sleds.  We haven't had a winter start off that way in quite some time.  I suppose I shouldn't complain because as soon as it hits, I'll be the first one to complain!

I haven't used my brayer to do a background for ages.   Since the sky is so gloomy, I made my background match the outside with a little Bashful Blue, Sahara Sand, and a little Night of Navy.  The trees from Lovely As A Tree are stamped in Always Artichoke Craft Ink and embossed with clear embossing powder to give them a little pop.  Finally, even though you can't see it in this photo so well, all of the trees are dotted with Dazzling Diamonds and there are some litte mounds of ice in all that white space.

Now, I'll never admit this to anyone out loud but, I'm kind of hoping we get a little snow sometime soon.  We've missed the Christmas window but maybe we can see some beautiful winter wonderland sometime soon.  Afterall, nature makes wonderful inspiration for art!