Stamp Simply -- it's still winter!

Hi all! How's the weather in your neck of the woods? Are you having to snuggle in a bit? It was slushy and 50 today! I am trying not to get too excited for warmer weather-- yet!

The weather is what today's Stamp Simply challenge ---courtesy of the fabulous Sharon Johnson --- is all about! That's why it's called - It's Still Winter! (keyword ssnotime69 on Splitcoast). Here's the gist - Let's pull out those snowflake and snowman stamps now that they've had a little rest since Christmas. Make any type of card that says WINTER -- and if you can do that without using a snowman or snowflake, all the better!

Well, I didn't pull out a stamp. I pulled out a stencil and some bleach! Because this is such a fun technique, I decided to break it down for you in a tutorial. EDITED TO ADD: When I posted this, I didn't stress that this technique is not one I came up with. I saw it at my local stamp store! Turns out, it is a technique from Dreamweaver's owner Lynell Harlow herself. So, I really have to give credit where credit is due. She has some AMAZING cards on the Dreamweaver gallery. Click HERE to check them all out!

Here's a peek at the card...
I wanted to create the look of a gently falling snow at night with the moon shining through. Here is how I did it! I started with a trees Dreamweaver brass stencil....

Then, I cut a piece of navy cardstock to measure the same as my stencil - roughly 4 by 5-1/2". Punch a hole in a post-it for my "moon" and create the snow line with a torn post-it down below. Mask it, so it looks like this...

Now, it's time to lay the stencil over top, gently taping it at the top. Fill a small spray bottle with bleach and spritz! You'll want to do this one rather heavy because you want the snow and moon to be pronounced. This is what you want to do....

Once you heat set the bleach, peel off the Post-Its and lift up the template, this is what your "scene" will look like so far!

Now, you want to rest the brass stencil back down trying to make sure it is aligned the same way and gently spritz again. Like this...

This time when you spray with the bleach, you want to make sure you spray from higher up so that your spray is a little more spotty. This is where you get your snowfall look! When you are done, lift up the template and heat set with your heat tool. This is what it will hopefully look like!

After I was done, I brushed on some Angel Wings Shimmerz so that not only did it look like snowfall, the paper glistened kind of like Stardream metallic paper! I love the way it looks in real life! You kind of get a picture of it here...

And, here again is my final product! Mat up the snow scene on some copper paper leaving a small edge mat. Add a tag and string some sheer navy ribbon through. Add a saying (I used the Thinking of you saying from a Flourishes sympathy set), add a little bit of bling and you are done!

Now, before I go-- don't forget to check out the challenge over at Sharon's place! That's where you'll find all the official details! And, be sure to check out the cards from the rest of the Stamp Simply team!

Janine, Jennifer, Tammy, Dee, Becky, AJ, and Deb.

Have a fabulous weekend everyone! I have a ton of fun things brewing!!! Details on a great challenge, a new release from Shimmerz with brand new Blingz that are perfect for Valentine's Day and.... a fun project! So stay tuned!

Don't forget my blog candy HERE! I decided I'll close the Ultimate Valentine's Challenge on January 25th! So, there's still time! Regina's candy is only for a couple more days-- January 11th! So check that out HERE!

Thanks for stopping by!!!

Stampin' A Little Love!

I have to tell you - I got the cutest email today from the fabulous Cambria Turnbow. She was having a heck of a day -- it was a kids almost missed the bus, run around like mad, errand running, CHA planning kind of day! (Where is that Calgon when you need it?) In her down time she started to surf and saw this post from my bud Barb. Cambria said she was inspired! She wanted to help in my mom's challenge to collect 1,000 Valentines for the children at the Children's Hospital of Michigan! You can read more about my mom's cause here at Cards 4 Kids.

AND Cambria wants to give you an incentive to help! This sweet woman offered up one of the new sets from Our Craft Lounge! Here's a peek at the candy! It's Lola Love! Isn't it darling? I also asked if I could show some eye candy that she created to show you just how darling this little gal stamps up! Aren't these the cutest? So, all you need to do is leave a comment HERE and email my mom at Mrsmiley6@aol.com saying you'll donate a card or two to her cause! We would love to shower the children at this critical care hospital with lots of love handmade by artists from all over the country! Can you help? Keep in mind, the Lola Love stamp set would be in addition to the two sets I am offering up, plus the ribbon and embellishment bundle! This is a prize package that retails for well over $50! You can also click HERE to sign up for Regina Easter's candy. She is giving away some fabulous Valentine's Day printables from the Cutting Cafe! In fact, she's giving away her entire Valentine's Day collection!

Gosh ladies, your generosity amazes me! Gotta love that giving spirit! Thanks from the bottom of my heart!

Sharing the love!

Hi all! I have good news and bad news. I'll start with the bad news.... I have nothing from my stamp room to show you today. Here's the good news.... I have plenty of eye candy regardless!

I got these two beauties last week and realized they were cards I didn't yet share! Shame on me!

The first one is from the uber talented Faith Hofrichter. Yes folks - I have a Faith original in the house! I love the way she layers her cards and brings so much dimension to her creations! This one is no exception. Look at the intricate cutting and bling! Ooooo la la! Thanks Faith!

The second is a darling card by the lovely Silke Ledlow. I have had the pleasure of getting to know Silke since she became a member of the Friends of Flourishes Blog Team. Her creations are stunning and her enthusiasm is off the charts! I love it! I absolutely think the card she sent is darling and I love the layout! I might have to take her card sketch and use it myself! Thanks Silke!!

Well folks, that's it for today! I will tell you, I am working on a really fun project that I hope to be able to bring you tomorrow! It's a super duper easy project that you'll be able to savor all year long! (That was a hint!!!)

See ya back here tomorrow!

I can't believe I forgot!!!!

I'm going to blame this one on "holiday brain!" My bud, Barb Schram was last week's Featured Stamper over on Splitcoast. First of all -- what a huge honor! And, second - Barb deserves it big time! She is an amazing stamper! Just look at her gallery HERE! I tell her all the time how her creativity just blows me away!

So, a week ago when the news broke - I didn't walk- I ran down to my stamp room and pulled out some stamps with hopes of CASE-ing THIS beauty! That is the one that popped off the web page for me!

I dug through my flower stamps and picked a Penny Black stamp and a small Impression Obsession saying to create this.....

I grabbed some scraps of fun pinks and purple paper. Grabbed some markers and then colored and stamped my image on a piece of white cardstock. Sponge some pink ink around the edges, mat it up and follow the layout of Barb's card and you're almost done--- The saying was created by stamping on a 1-1/4" circle and matting it on a pink 1-1/2" circle. Add a loopy brad and some sheer polka dot ribbon and you are pretty much good to go!

I did want to make my flowers shimmer so.... I added some Shimmerz! I painted on some pink onto the small pink flowers and some Iced Lavendar onto the purple flowers!


Here is a close up.... It's kind of hard to see in my photo-- but it's there!

And voila.... done!

Hope you are all having a fabulous start to your week! I'll see ya back here soon!

More Blog Candy For Cards 4 Kids!

I got the coolest email yesterday from Regina Easter -- a very talented card maker who said she truly believes cardmakers should be using their time and talents to help others. I agree Regina! She offered up some cards for my mom's mission to collect 1,000 Valentine for the children at Children's Hospital of Michigan AND she said she will give one lucky winner her full set of Valentine printables from The Cutting Cafe as a blog candy. According to Regina, here's how it works-- the Printables are stamp images that she has designed that are downloaded to you through email in the form of a PDF that you print out on your home printer. After you print the image you can color in just like a regular stamp image.

If you'd like to see the sets-- click HERE and HERE! Thanks so much Regina!

So, how do you win? Just email my mom at Mrsmiley6@aol.com and offer up a card or two! That's it! FYI: If you don't want to contribute Valentines, my mom needs cards for birthdays and sympathy cards as well! If you email her, she can then give her addy to you. Now-- keep in mind-- I also have another blog candy giveaway HERE. This is separate! So, if you entered the other one - leave another comment. These drawings will be separate! Two winners--- YEAH!

ETA: Deadline is the 11th of January at 11:59 PM for this blog candy!!

I'm celebrating!!!

Ok, when a bloggin' bud invites you to a party... can you really say - no? I think not! So, when Melanie Muenchinger asked me to help her celebrate her first year as a designer and illustrator for Gina K. Designs -- I said -- "You Betcha!"

For the next few days she and some other fabulous designers will be showing off their creations with Mel's sets!

For my day, I chose one of my all time favorites -- Little Tees! I love just how spunky and universal this set is! In fact, when I was brainstorming an idea, this one hit me..... I hope you can follow me on this idea! There is a couple that my hubby and I know and they just found out the baby they are expecting is a girl! So, when I thought of a congratulations card to send using this set -- it hit me and then I got the giggles! When a couple starts to date, it's all about flowers and sparkly fun shirts. Then, comes the comfy stage where you know he is the "one". Then, one day--- bam -- baby on board! LOL! I think the sentiment -- When a man loves a woman... pretty much sums it up! To get the maternity look of the last tee, I did stamp the top part of the tee and then drew in the flouncy bottom part of the maternity tee-shirt.

Now, on the inside I'll write - "Congrats on your next big adventure!" or something fun like that! I did make this card a 5 by 7" so that all the tees could fit. I used Basic Grey Urban Prairie. I wanted some fun pink prints and this paper pad has them!

Want to see some more Anniversary fun? Check out...

Carolina

Barb

Donna

Jessica

Lee

Jessie

Rose Anne

See you back here soon!

p.s. If you head over to Melanie's place -- she's got some Scor-Pal goodies up for grabs!

Stamp Simply --- Truly Thankful!

Happy New Year everyone and welcome to the very first Stamp Simply challenge of 2009! This one --- Stamp Simply 68 or ssnotime68 on SCS is all about being thankful for our blessings in the new year! If you are anything like me you have a million thank you cards to send out! So, today's challenge courtesy Sharon Johnson is all about making a Thank You card! That’s it — no other rules!!!

So, I had this sketch idea on my head and -- from start to finish, my card took less than a half hour. That is always a plus when it clicks! I used paper from Paper Crate and stamped the background stamp from Flourishes Stamp Simply Thank You set on my brown piece using Burnt Umber Palette ink. I outlined the brown piece with some gold leaf pen and then stamped the tulip in the set on watercolor paper. Use some markers and a water brush to paint it up, mat it onto some green decorative paper, add a ivory satin ribbon and some gold pearl style gems, add the sentiment in the lower corner and bam... done!

Here's a close up of the flower. I just did a real light watercolor style wash on it.

Before I go... I want to make sure to tell you to visit the rest of the Stamp Simply team! We have a new face on board too! January's Guest Designer is Deb Saaranen who's blog is Dream in Color. She is an amazing artist so it will be great to see what she cooks up each week! You can also check out Janine, Jennifer, Tammy, Dee, Becky, and AJ.

Hope you can make time for some play time!

p.s. The ever so talented Melanie Muenchinger is celebrating a year of blogging and stamp designing over at her blog "Hands, Head and Heart" and I'm hored to be a part of her anniversary celebration! Click HERE to check out cards she's sharing from all her sets released through Gina K. Designs and tune back in here Sunday when I'll have a card using one of my favorite Mel sets! Oh, did I mention prizes will be up for grabs? With great sponsors like Gina K? My Favorite Things? Scor-Pal? Paper Temptress? Even Mel herself? So head on over and check it out!

You've gotta have heart!!!

Oh my gosh! Since yesterday's post, my mom has had a ton of emails from folks pledging Valentine's Day cards for her Cards 4 Kids program. THANK YOU! It's amazing! We might just hit the 1,000 card mark needed for the kiddos at Children's Hopsital of Michigan! Amazing!


Well, I was so inspired by the comments, I could literally think of nothing else but creating Valentines today! So, I decided to make some ATC size ones. I even found THESE envelopes that will be perfect! They are called Mini #17 Envelopes. I can't wait to deck them out too!

I chose some stamps from High Hopes, Gina K. Designs and Impression Obsession! On the back are the sayings and probably comes as no surprise you might find -- "I've gone hog wild over you!", "Some birdy loves you" and "You Warm My Heart!" I know. I know -- sappy-- but it is Valentine's Day afterall-- right!

I have pre-cut several dozen more so I am ready to go again when the moment strikes! I have to wait in the doctor's office tomorrow. It's ok to bring my markers-- right??? LOL! Hope everyone is having a great week! Oh.. I almost forgot!!

HAPPY NEW YEAR!! HERE'S TO AN EVEN BIGGER BETTER 2009!!!!!!

The Ultimate Valentine Challenge!!!!

Hi all! I made this card using some cutie patootie images forever ago... but it is in a stack of cards ready to head to my mom's mailbox! She has her mission - Cards 4 Kids - where she donates hand made cards to the children at Children's Hospital in Detroit. It's funny because when I was a kid, I needed surgery when I was about my daughter's age (5) and -- this is the hospital that took care of me! Now, my mom and I use our time and talents to help the children that spend time there now.

Well, not too long ago, my mom got a call from the administrator of the hospital asking if she could round up 1,000 valentines for the kiddos there. They need blank ones (basically no signatures from us) so that the kids can pick and then send them to other friends and family. When my mom heard this -- she literally started to panic! I emailed a few friends to see if they could help and a couple -- Sharon Johnson and Jennifer Buck -- said count me in! It was Sharon's idea to make this a challenge to see if WE the stamping community could hit 1,000! And, Jennifer said she would not only make cards and post about it -- she'd offer up blog candy! So, here I am! I am not only going to kick up my efforts but I am going to offer up some candy of my own! If you comment here and then pledge some cards by emailing my mom at Mrsmiley6@aol.com - your email will be thrown into the hat for my candy. You can check out Jennifer's offerings by clicking HERE! And, my mom will have candy too! Click HERE to sign up for hers!

What's my candy? Two stamp sets! One called Be Mine from Impression Obsession and another called I Love Roses from Flourishes LLC along with 5 yards each of pink and red sheer May Arts ribbon and some soft pink Kaiser rhinestones! All you need to do is pledge some cards and email my mom at the address above to get her mailing address! I'll keep this candy open for the next three weeks to give you the time to make and send! I'll close my candy on January 20th-- extended one more week! That would give you almost a full month to be able to use these beauties below! Just in time for Valentine's Day!

AND THIS SET HAS BEEN ADDED TOO! Thanks to the fabulous Cambria Turnbow!!!





In the words of Sharon -- Can we do it????? I think we can!

Thanks for all your support! Cardmakers truly have the biggest hearts!

New Stamps For Sale!!!!

Hi all! See that little button on my blog that says Stamps For Sale? Well, I just spent the morning uploading about fifty stamps and sets! My loss is your gain--- all priced to sell!

I am working on a project as we speak and.... a challenge!!! So, check back!

Holiday Wishes From Afar....

I know Christmas has come and gone but it's not too late I hope to share some happy mail I received last week. Oh my, the cards are too fabulous NOT to share! So, sit back and enjoy! Then, if you have some time - pay these fabulous stampers/cardmakers a visit. They are far too talented not to! :-) Thank you ladies! It's so nice to see your wonderful creativity in real life!

I can't tell you how much Leslie Miller's watercolor rocks even more in real life! She is one talented lady with a paint brush!

Latisha Yoast's card is one that dazzles beyond words! She stamped the Damask background stamp from Flourishes with a glue pad (I think) and then covered the whole thing with super sparkly glitter! Oh my! It's a light catcher!

This next card is from one of my new BFFs! Lovely Cutler is a Montana gal too and she is one talented photographer! That's why it's no surprise that a photo of her kiddos takes center stage with her Christmas card! I apologize for the glare -- no matter what I did I couldn't get rid of it! See... I need a photographer to take a picture of the card done by the photographer!

See that little pocket? Well, inside, Lovely stuck a photo of her Christmas cookies! Too cute! See?

Sheila Barthel is also a local gal! I joke with her that she is my SU "pusher!" LOL! I love how she used punches to create her little tree and then decked it out with brads for ornaments! Too cute!

Cindy Lawrence is another lady who knows how to make a stunning creation with some watercolor effects! This one is just so soft looking! The satin ribbon and pearls make this card to die for!

I LOVE this card from Lila Holgate! Oh my goodness -- the color combo, the way she used her nestie dies, the leaves from the bird's mouth with sparkly "berries"--- it's all Wow!

I think this one from Laura Fulcher is just too cute! Love that little Santa stamp... and the buckle? Darling! Just a fun card all the way around!

Speaking of fun.... isn't this card from Diane Lapointe with the sledding penguin just too cute? I love the embossed background and... of course all the bling! This one is also pretty darn sparkly! Gotta love that!

And last, but certainly not least is this stunner from Sharon Johnson! She has a way with creating simply elegant cards! Some dp, some gold accents, glitter glue and a lavish ribbon and bam... gorgeous card! I love how she does that each and every time!

Hope you enjoyed some of the happy mail too! I figure - why not share? It might help you spark an idea or see a stamp you have in a whole new light!

Until tomorrow!

Stamp Simply--- New TOYS!

It's Friday, which means it's time for another Stamp Simply challenge courtesy Sharon Johnson! (ssnotime67 on SCS) This time, it's all about the fun crafty things that the man in the big red suit might have brought..... YOU!

I kind of cheated! I got my hands on this little Lizzie Anne Designs stamp not too long ago and hadn't broken it in yet! So, my card was created with "new toys," just was not a toy that was delivered by Santa! But, that's ok -- Sharon says if you didn't get anything new for Christmas, just use the newest thing you got -- whether it be stamps, paper, tools, embellishments -- whatever!

Well, first things first, I wanted to play with my Shimmerz paints in a new way! I stamped the Lizzie Anne Designs snowmen and then used an Impression Obsession Accent Template that I set over the group and sponged some Sky Blue Shimmerz around the edges and then accented it with some Cloudy Blue Ranger ink. It's a very subtle sparkle but it actually helps it look like it's snowing on the little snow guys!
Here's a close up! You can see I added a little snowflake stamp too! Color the snow guys with some markers and then, of course, add some Angel Wings Shimmerz to their bodies to make them glisten! Mat it up and add a silver ribbon, felt flake and some bling and you are done! A cute card that was .... Stamped Simply!

Want to see what the other Stamp Simply team came up with? Click on the links for a little extra treat!

Janine, Jennifer, Tammy, Dee, AJ, and LeAnne.

Happy Friday!