MWAH! A Brand New CAS-ual Fridays Stamps Release!

It is time for a brand new release from CAS-ual Fridays Stamps! I am SO in love with this release, you guys! For reals. Totally. I can't wait to share it with you over the next couple of days! Be sure to leave your comments here and then head on over to the CAS-ual Fridays Stamps Blog for more inspiration and chances to win the new stamps and dies! Woot! Woot!



This first stamp set is called Mwah! (I know, RIGHT?! SO CUTE!) and the fonts, you guys... seriously...I am loving these fonts so much right now! They are fabulous and so fun to mix and match!



I added just a bit of sparkle to this one using my Wink of Stella over the stamped word and heart. I borrowed the heart from the super cute In the Cards stamp set. But, seriously, you guys - I need you go over to the CAS-ual Fridays Stamps blog and check out what the rest of the girls have done with this set and see the whole set! It is AWESOME! For reals.

Have a Happy!

A Very Chickaniddy New Year!

I am very excited to be guest designing over at Chickaniddy Crafts for the month of January! I love Chickaniddy products and I am so excited to share some fun projects with you over the course of the month! Today is my first post over on the Chickaniddy blog! I created a super fun New Year's card with a vellum pocket shaker feature! SO FUN!



I filled the vellum pocket with die cut pieces from the Jolly Good Die cuts collection. They are numbered and absolutely PERFECT for New Year's! I stitched the pocket shut for a fun accent!



Be sure to head on over to the Chickaniddy Crafts blog!

Have a Happy!

Wishing You and Your Family a Very Merry Christmas!

Have a Happy!

Stamps: WPlus9
Pens: Spectrum Noir

The BFG

Are you a Roald Dahl fan? I am. Of course, I am a fan of children's literature, in general, but Roald Dahl is one of the most imaginative and inventive authors out there. When I found out about today's Anything Goes Challenge featuring DoCrafts at Simon Says Stamp I was unfamiliar with DoCrafts products. And then I found these stamps. ROALD DAHL STAMPS, PEOPLE! HOLY
AWESOME, BATMAN! For reals, though, I was pretty excited. And by pretty...I mean super lots. SUPER LOTS.



This is an image and a quote from Roald Dahl's The BFG and it makes me immeasurably happy. Immeasurably, I tell you! I kept the design super simple to focus on the sweet image. I colored with my Chameleon pens, making it SUPER quick and easy to pull together. LOVE THAT!



And this week we are extending the challenge and giving you TWO weeks to join in! AND..it's Anything Goes! WHAT? Yup. Totally, you guys. For. Reals. And... not only that, but we are offering TWO, not one, my friends, but TWO Simon Says Stamp Gift Vouchers to TWO lucky winners! MERRY CHRISTMAS!

Be sure to head on over to the Simon Says Stamp Wednesday Challenge blog to check out the inspiration and to join in the fun! After all, you could be the lucky winner!

Merry Christmas, my friends!

Have a Happy!

Season's Greetings

Hello, friends! I have a super fast post to share with you today! A pretty Season's Greetings card that I created and just LOVE! I used non-traditional colors for this one to keep it fresh and festive.



I cut the sentiment several times from black cardstock, stacked them, and then heat embossed with silver embossing powder. I absolutely LOVE the depth that this offers! LOVE IT! The snowflake has a bit of Wink of Stella brushed on for a shimmery look, too! YAY!



Wishing you a very Merry Christmas Eve EVE! Tee-hee!

Have a Happy!

Dies: Season's Greetings (Simon Says Stamp), Scribble Circle (Pink Fresh Studio), Snowflake (Avery Elle)

Celebrate!

We had a Hanukkah party to attend this past weekend and I, naturally, created the card for the hosts at the very last minute, which is why this is being posted after Hanukkah. LOL! BUT, I still think it is such a pretty card! I have been using this design quite a bit lately. I just change it up to suit different colors, icons, etc.



The dies are from all over the place. LOL! The 8 is from CAS-ual Fridays, the snowflake is Avery Elle, and the tag is WPlus9. The stamps are all from the 8 Happy Nights stamp set from CAS-ual Fridays. I used silver embossing powder to give the snowflake a dip dyed look and strung May Arts metallic string through the tag.



I know this is a busy week for lots of folks, but I do hope you will stop by when you get a chance! I will have some fun things to show throughout the week!

Have a Happy!

Thinking of You and a Winner!

I am sharing another fun card from the Simon Says Stamp January card kit today. This kit is so much fun! 

For this one I stamped my sentiment in VersaMark ink and brushed the Perfect Pearls pigment over it to create a shimmery look. I used the BoBunny sticker to create a sort of post card look and simply cut triangles from patterned paper for the corners. So easy and so cute!

I wanted to announce the winner of the two sets of Spellbinders dies! The winner is...

Jackie P Neal! Congratulations, Jackie! I will be emailing you shortly! YAY!

Thank you all so much for entering! 

This is a SUPER busy weekend for The Hubbums and I, so I'm keeping it short today! I hope you have a wonderful weekend!

Have a Happy!

Have a Holly Jolly Christmas...

...It's the best time of the year. I don't know if there'll be snow, but have a cup of cheer!

Yup. That's in your head now. You are very welcome, my friends! It's my Christmas gift to you! HA! BUT, it is not for naught! There is a reason I have that little tune singing in my head and now in yours! I am up on the CAS-ual Fridays Stamps blog today with this cute little card and I LOVE these holiday sentiments so much! SO MUCH!



I started by using the Bell Tag Fri-Dies to cut a window in my card front. I then used a stamp positioner to correctly place the sentiment on the layer below. I stamped the holly and colored with Chameleon markers, making it SUPER DUPER easy, since I only needed two pens to get a the perfect look!



I had fun mixing and matching stamp sets on this card! I used the border from Christmas Carols, the holly and sentiment from Merry Kiss-mas, and, of course, the Bell Tag Dies! A bit of May Arts silver string finished it off nicely!

Be sure to head on over to the CAS-ual Fridays Stamps blog for more inspiration!

Have a Happy!

It's the Most Wonderful Time of the Year!

It's the most WONDERFUL TIME of the year! No, really, you guys. It totally is. I love Christmas. I just LOVE it! Today we have a brand new challenge on the Simon Says Stamp Wednesday Challenge blog! We want you to create a project inspired by this Winter Inspiration board!

I love the neutrals and the pops of red in these photos! I decided to pull from that to create my card today. The Design team is featuring Penny Black products this week, and I am super loving this stamp set! Lots, you guys. For reals, though.

I am still in love with the chalkboard technique. It is just such a great look. This stamp was begging for it, so I had to make it happen. I stamped and embossed the sentiment in white and then used Simon Says Stamp white pigment ink to add a chalky look. Love it!

I added a few sequins and some Wink of Stella sparkle to the red bunting in the background. It is happy. I like it.

Now it's YOUR turn! Create something fabulous inspired by the inspiration board and link it up over on the Simon Says Stamp Wednesday Challenge blog. One lucky participant will win a $50 Voucher to the Simon says Stamp Store! YAY!!!

I am also linking this up to the Craft Stamper White Stamping Challenge!

Have a Happy!

Because Bulk Christmas Cards

I have a confession: I dislike creating cards in bulk.

Yup. It's true. I absolutely love creating a fresh, new design for each and every card I make, however, the truth of the matter is, when it comes to Christmas cards, sometimes you just need LOTS and it is a bit quicker to do bulk batches. That being the case, I make a compromise. I create batches of five or ten cards each. I still don't do lots, but five or ten is totally doable. Creating in bulk is a bit of a different ball game, though, to be honest. You have to have a design that is simple enough and yet something that still stands well on it's own. I decided to pull out my awesome deer stamp from Bossy Joscie and a great sentiment from Stampendous! for this batch and I love how they turned out! Easy peasy, folks! For reals, though.



As you may have noticed, I am mildly obsessed with the white and gold color combination. I just think it is absolutely GORGEOUS! It also allows for a strong impact with a simple design. I used gold embossing powder and some gold string to bring some shine to this design. Annnnnnnd....I sorta kinda love it. I do. I really and truly do.



The square is die cut using the Spellbinders Pierced Squares dies. They are awesome. I created five of these in a under an hour or so. They came together quickly, but still totally feel like 'me'.

Do you create cards in bulk at all? How many is your limit?

Have a Happy!

Winter Wonderland

The January 2015 Simon Says Stamp Card Kit has been revealed and it is a good one, folks! First of all.. THAT INK PAD! Seriously. You want it. Trust me on this one. The stamps are absolutely fabulous and the papers? Yup. LOVE those! Seriously, this is such a great kit!



That gorgeous grey-toned snowy paper caught my eye right away! I used that along with the Simon Says Stamp Smoke cardstock to create this fun design. The white sentiment is stamped with that gorgeous white pigment ink. I LOVE how strong the white color is on the grey background! I mixed the Perfect Pearl Pigment with some water in the Mini Mister and added shimmer to the entire card with that! LOVE IT! For reals, though.



You can *almost* see a hint of the shimmer on the patterned paper in this shot, but the truth is, I simply wasn't able to really capture that on camera and that makes me sad. BUT... I can see it in person and that makes me happy, so there's that.

Head on over to the Simon Says Stamp store to check out the kit, along with LOTS of other awesome new stuff!

Have a Happy!

A Deer of an Ornament

I have a super fun tutorial up over on the Spellbinders blog today! Head on over to check out this neat ornament created with embossing folders and dies! See you there!



Have a Happy!

Ring-A-Ling Hear Them Ring

I am up over on the CAS-ual Fridays Stamps blog today with this fun holiday shaker card! I LOVE how adorable this bell looks as a shaker! LOVE IT, I tell you! Love. For reals, though.



I filled it with silver glass glitter and silver sequins to keep a LOT of sparkle in there! I topped it off with some adorable holly stickers and kept the card simple. This one is super fun and I may or may not have randomly shaken it several times since I made it last week. Maybe. Just puttin' that out there.



Head on over to the CAS-ual Fridays Stamps blog for more inspiration! There is LOTS to be had, folks. I promise.

Have a Happy!

You're The BEST!

Did you HEAR?! Simon Says Stamp is releasing the Better Together collection today and it is AMAZING!!!! Seriously, you guys, there is so much of this collection that I NEED! I love it. Lots. I got to play with one of the new stamp sets and created a super fun shaker card to share with you today! This is the blocked greetings stamp set and it has coordinating dies available, as well! The dies would be awesome on their own, too! Super versatile!



I loved these fun sentiments and they were just BEGGING to be heat embossed. Of course, THEN I was thinking it would be super fun for them to be shakers, too! YAY!!!! I heat embossed the sentiments directly onto the Judikins Embossable Window Sheets and then used foam tape to create three separate shaker boxes. I filled them with Simon Says Stamp Crystal Reflections sequins. I love the bright colors these sequins add! A touch of washi tape on the edges rounds out the color for a super fun card!



Head on over to the Simon Says Stamp Store to check out the entire Better Together release! You are going to LOVE IT!!!! For reals, though. I can't WAIT to get a few more of these fabulous stamp sets and dies!

Have a Happy!

Because LISTS!

Lists. I love 'em. Really, I truly do. They make things so much easier. And the pure JOY one gets from checking items off a long to-do list is just FABULOUS! Fabulous, I tell you. For reals, though. Sooo...when Joscie came up with the idea for these AMAZEBALLS stamps, I was one hundred percent on board.

Umm... yeah. So, here's the deal. There are two versions of this amazing stamp available at Bossy Joscie. The one shown above, where you can add any name or description you like in the box... like say.... Santa's nice list, My to-do list, Honey-do list, etc.... OR, she has a personalized one available that I needed. NEEDED, I  tell you!



Are you seeing that? Do you SEE how perfectly that fits on a sticky note? Yup. That was on purpose. You can stamp this fabulous list onto a sticky note AND, not only do you have a super cute, ready to go list, BUT WAIT! THERE'S MORE! Yes, my friends, you also get to check off the first item on your list right away because... you did it! You started a new list! Congratulations! I am telling you, folks, this was some pretty genius design work on this one. For reals.

Also, if you haven't checked out Bossy Joscie, you simply must. MUST, I tell you! There you will find a wide selection of gorgeous custom stamp options and flair, both custom and ready to ship!

Wanting to buy an awesome list stamp for Christmas? There are a few of the non-personalized ones in stock and ready to ship. If you would like a personalized one, Joscie will happily print out a card showing the awesome stamp that is in progress so you can stuff that stocking with a fun surprise! Head on over to check it out. Seriously, though. You know you want to.

Have a Happy!

Bling it On!

Hello, friends! It's Wednesday and that means that it is time for another awesome Simon Says Stamp Wednesday Challenge! That's right, folks, it's that time again and we have a fun one for you this week! We challenge YOU to BLING IT ON! Yup. We want to see you SPARKLE! The design team is using fun products from KaiserCraft on our projects this week. They have LOTS to choose from!



I combined the absolutely GORGEOUS papers from the Base Coat 12x12 paper pad with some other awesome papers from Teresa Collins for my card.

Confession: I love the papers. Lots. BUT...I didn't buy them to make cards. Nope. I totally bought that entire paper 12x12 paper pad to use as the backdrops for my card photos. Yes, my friends, my secret is out! I, indeed, do not have all of those cool walls of brick and wood in my home. HAHAHAHAHA! Seriously, though, if you need awesome photo backdrops, this paper pad is PERFECTION.



I used the awesome Simon Says Stamp Holiday Frames Die set and did some hand stitching with DMC gold thread, with which I have fallen head over heels in love. Shhh! Don't tell my husband. K? K. Whew! That was close!

I have good news. YOU, yes, YOU, my friends, could potentially win a $50 Gift Voucher to the Simon Says Stamp store! WHAT?! Yup. Totes, you guys. Totes. All you h ave to do is create a project using 'Bling it On!' as your inspiration and link it up to the Simon Says Stamp Challenge Blog. We know you are awesome and we want to SEE IT! Dude. Do it. For reals, though.

Have a Happy, folks!

The Snowman

Have you ever read the book, The Snowman by Raymond Briggs? It is an absolutely wonderful story of the adventures of a snowman and a little boy. This was a favorite of mine when I was little and I still love it today. It has no words in it. The adventure is displayed in stunning illustrations. When I saw this die that was included in the Crafter's Companion magazine I was BEYOND excited! It arrived yesterday and I had to use it straight away!



I was inspired by this awesome photo from The Cure for the Monday Blues Challenge.

I loved the white and the wood tree, so I used those as my starting point. I stamped snowflakes from the Stamp It! Twinkle collection on white cardstock and then layered vellum over that to soften the background and give it a dreamy feel. I then used patterned paper to create a 'tree' and mounted my colored die cut over that. I stamped and embossed the sentiment (which also came with the magazine) on the vellum.



I used Spectrum Noir pens to color the accents. This was one of those moments where I was VERY grateful for an easy to control fine bullet nibs on my markers! I collect children's literature, so, seriously, you guys.. this one makes me smile. It's just happy making.

Have a Happy!