Blog Candy Alert!!!

In honor of the fabulous Sharon Johnson, there's an all out celebration for her one year blogoversary! Sharon is doling out some candy from the Kitchen Sink!! THIS candy is sure to make you say Thank You! Jennifer Buck has some tasty blog candy over at her place that is sure to bring Unity and Sunday, Tammy is offering up some yummy candy that is one of My Favorite Things! Check it out!


p.s. If you click on each of the links above, they will take you to the WHOPPING 5 different candy give-aways going on right now! You can enter each and every one, but please only enter each candy once! Good luck!

Stamp Simply - Two Steppin' All The Way!

Ok folks! It's time to put on your dancin' shoes and do a little two step! This week for Stamp Simply - we are all going to be Dancin' with Dee and her wonderful, inspiring two-step creations. Dee is a lover of Kitchen Sink Stamps and, if you know KSS, you know they are famous for their multi-step stamps. So kick up your heals and let's get dancin'! Click HERE to visit Sharon's place to find out all the official details!

As I looked through my stamps, I didn't think I had any two-step stamps until I stumbled upon THIS set from Impression Obsession! I love that dandelion and forgot I even had it! THIS card from Dee inspired me to take it out. Now, this card from Dee isn't a two stepper,but I loved it! Love the silhouette, loved the oval tag with the sentiment. It's one of those cards that is just easy on the eyes!! So, I did my take on this card!!


I chose to mix up the colors a bit. I wanted something crisp - like her card - but more on the cool side colorwise. So, I stamped my blue centers first and then went over top of them with the outline stamp. The blue is actually an old CTMH color,the light grey is called, I believe, Stone Grey and is a Versafine ink pad. Add a tag (Sizzix) embellished with a circle and greeting Add a sheer blue ribbon and you're almost done! I used the ticket corner punch and added some blue rhinestones for a little pop.

If you look closely here, you see the flowers have a bit of sparkle. I did add some Shimmerz in the color Angel Wings to give it a little pizazz! I also painted this shimmer on the edge of my blue paper. It looks really sparkly and soft which is perfect for a dandelion!

You might think that the Stamp Simply challenge is all that is going on over at Sharon Johnson's place this week. Well.... think again! It is her one year blog anniversary, so the Stamp Simply Design Crew is helping her throw one heck of a party! Look for games, tons of giveaways (about a dozen), challenges and contests!!! Stay tuned HERE for more!

Meantime, go check out with some of the other Stamp Simply gals did for this week's Dancin' With Dee challenge!! We even have some guest players who are just too talented for words!!

Janine

Jennifer

Dee

Tammy

Becky

Joan

Jerri Kay

Before I go, I have to share some wonderful cards that ended up in my mail box this week!

The first one is from my mom.. the Rubbermaid... I told her I admired the simplicity of this card. So, she mailed it to me. All it is - is an elegant saying, some beautiful stickers, ribbon and decorative paper. I love how bright it is! It's a card that makes you smile! This second card comes from one sweet lady who spends most of her fall out in the fields, farming with her hubby. She took time to make this card and send me some nice thoughts! Thanks Michaelle! See, I told you getting in your stamp room would be good for the soul! She works pretty darn hard!!
Well folks -- TGIF! Hope you can boot scoot and do a little two steppin' with us!! :-)

p.s. I mentioned that I used Shimmerz on my Dancin' With Dee card -- want to win some? Click HERE to find out how!!

I've been spoiled!!!

Wow! After a kind of rough day, I was spoiled! I had a Stampin' Up party last night and saw all my good stampin' buds - it had been way too long! We made a fun card, laughed a bit, had some sugar (gotta have some sweetness) and my friend Laura even brought me some GORGEOUS flowers that she grew herself! (photo coming!)

So, when the night was over, my demonstrator- Sheila- left me with a bunch of fun ideas that I thought I would share! Most showcase some of the fun new stamp sets! They are simple, classy and fun! This first one is my favorite - Ijust love eggplant with this olive color. It used to be one of my favorite color combos and I've gotten away from it a bit!
Love the popped up butterflies in this one!
Isn't this color combo striking?
What a Christmas card with whimsy!
That last card is done with the stamp and stick powder and glitter - it is so stunning IRL! I love each and every one of the creations!

Now, for the flowers - stunning! I can't believe Laura grew them herself!

I had to get close ups so that you could see how beautiful these Dahlias are! The colors are to die for!


Hope those flowers brightened your day! They sure did mine!!

I'll be back later tonight with Sharon's Stamp Simply challenge -- we'll be doing a bit of a dance with this challenge!! (How's that for a hint!?!)

Happy Thursday!

Bright and Bold Butterflies

Hi all! Hope your week is going well! We're half way to the weekend - YIPPEE!

I did get some creating done this week and I had my eye on some brand new paper that arrived recently in my mailbox! It's the delicious new Basic Grey paper called Ambrosia. I love the bold shades of orange, grey and black. The patterns in this pack are so striking! When I saw the paper, I knew I had the perfect stamp set for it! Don't you just love those Monarch butterflies in that vibrant orange? Well, that is what I thought of when I saw the colors in the BG paper pack! Butterfly Moments!

I stamped the butterflies on a 4-1/2 by 3-1/4" sheet of white, colored them with two shades of orange Copics, added a touch of red and then split and matted my piece on black. Add a black satin ribbon, mat it on the deep orange patterned paper and ... close to done! The word "Butterfly" is actually a part of the sentiment in this stamp set that I inked up and punched out of my white card stock with my Stampin' Up Word Window punch. Can you see all the bling on this baby? All the dots on the butterfly have been embellished with black rhinestones. The corners of the main piece have a red rhinestone for a little extra pop! That's it my friends!

Ok, funny kiddo story. I am sorry. I have to every now and then. If I become like Kathy Lee Gifford with her "Cody stories" - you'd tell me-- right? That's what friends are for-- right???

Well, today I walked Ellie up to Kindergarten and we got there right before the bell. The kids at her school have to stay on the playground until the bell rings. You should have seen all the Kindergartners. They all had big eyes and were all standing in line waiting for their teacher to come get them. Ellie looked at me like - You aren't leaving me here are you? I don't know anyone and the big kids are playing around me and I don't know what to do! Well, I sensed she was uncomfortable - so I found her class and saw this other little girl who looked just as sheepish as she did. I asked her name and in the most professional voice I have heard come out of a five year old, she said, "My name is Mary Kate." I introduced Ellie and said "Maybe you guys could hang out together and walk into school together when the bell rings." As I walked away, Ellie smiled, put her little hands up and mouthed, "Thanks Mom." Oh my! I just bubbled. Too cute! See, I am trying to cut the umbilical cord!! LOL!

See ya back here tomorrow!!
Julie

P.S.Did you happen to catch this fun Flourish news??? I am psyched!

A Contemporary Christmas

Hi all! Happy Labor Day! I thought holiday and thought -- let's think Christmas instead! When I saw THESE trees, I saw a contemporary card floating in my head with a fun geometric look...
This design is super duper simple! It's just decorative paper, rhinestones and some shapes cut out with my circle Nesties! I inked up the large and small swirl tree with olive Vivid! ink and then cut them out. The largest tree was then popped up with some foam tape. That's it!! I wish I knew what kind of dp this was but honestly, it was just from my scrap pile!

Well, in honor of Labor Day - I will be laboring today. We have some home improvement projects to wrap up with a bow.... so... that's what I'll be doing! I do have some wise advice to pass along that I "learned on the job" this weekend. If your husband's idea of a job well done is, "That looks alright." and your's is not - well, maybe you shouldn't be doing home improvement projects together. :-)

p.s. You have until 9pm Eastern Standard Time tonight to head on over on the JUST RITE blog. The top five projects in their Stampin' Champion Contest are being voted on---- by you! I was so excited to see my sewing kit chosen and my good bud Barb Schram has a darling card in the running as well! YIPPEE! Wish us luck!

Blog Candy Winner!

Well, Saturday's here and it was time to draw the winner of my blog candy! YIPPEE! Of course, I had a little helper! My lil ragamuffin daughter! Don't ya love that wild hair!?! LOL!

We put all the names in a big bowl, Ellie mixed it all up and picked... drum roll please....

Sherri Alspach is the winner!!

Here's the proof!! hehe!

Congrats Sherri! Email me your addy and I'll get your package of goodies out the door on Tuesday!

On a side note, I have to tell you all that your emails, comments and virtual hugs were amazing the other day when I was having a tough time with my daughter's first day of Kindergarten. I chuckled at your stories of your kids' first day and commiserated with those who are in my shoes!! I actually said to my hubby that if I could have had you all over for coffee and a serious stamping session - I could have thrown a heck of a party! Would have taken my mind off things!!! :-)

So, because you were all there "with me," I thought I'd share some pics from the first day!!

Here's Cal on his way to sixth grade..... My hubby still wonders how I got that big smile out of him!! :-) And, here's Ellie -- all smiles--- on her way to Kindergarten!
Ahhhhh. With the first day down, I am sure it is just like ripping off a Band-Aid. It stings for a bit, but then gets a whole lot easier. Afterall, she's got a pretty big smile on her face -- right!?!?

Before I go... the JustRite Stampin' Champion Contest is still going on! I would love it if you headed on over and voted! :-) Click HERE to vote! Voting ends Monday at 9:00 PM Eastern!

Have a great rest of the weekend! I am in the middle of some pretty big home improvement projects-- painting!! ICK! I know it will rock when it is over but for now, well, it kind of doesn't rock!

Take care! I'll see ya back here soon!

Stampin' Champion Contest!

Ok, I was just blog surfing and realized when I hit the Just Rite blog that one of my projects this week made it to the Stampin' Champion Contest! Remember my sewing kit??? Holy cow! I am in great company! One of my bloggin' buds Barb Schram is also in the running and her project is amazing! You might want to head on over and vote!!! All you need to do is click HERE! Voting ends Monday at 9:00 PM Eastern!



p.s. I'll be back tomorrow with the winner of my blog candy!!

Stamp Simply--- HOT, HOT, HOT!

Ok, I am going to start this all out by saying I am - um- kind of embarassed by this challenge issued by Ms. Sharon Johnson. This week's challenge is and I quote - "Julie Is HOT!" What? Are you kidding me? Well, apparently Sharon thinks I use a lot of red and therefore am red hot. I am now laughing so hard I can barely type. :-) So, the goal is to use the color red as the main focus of the card and then add in other HOT colors! For the official deets on ssnotime50 - check out Sharon's place HERE!


This first RED HOT sample is actually a version of a card I first made several years ago. It features one of my all time favorite background techniques. I stamped the Canvas background stamp (Stampin Up) and a diamond shaped shadow stamp (Hero Arts) using Versamark ink. Then, I just rubbed on a few shades of brown chalk over the images. When I had it blended the way I wanted, I inked up the flower (Hero Arts) with red and green markers and stamped the saying (Hero Arts) with Versafine Black Onyx. Add a black satin ribbon, a gold button and mat this segment on a black piece of card stock that I had edged with a gold leafing pen. Mat this on the red card... and voila... DONE!

Here are a few more "RED HOT" simple samples!! ;-)

Want to see what the other Stamp Simply ladies did? Check out.....

Janine
Jennifer
Dee
Tammy

Well folks, wish me luck, today is the first day of Kindergarten for my daughter. There might be a huge case of water works at the school. UGH! My baby is growing up! Might need some "virtual" hugs to get me through today!!! I know, I need to put my big girl panties on and deal -- BUT, it's hard!

Hugs back to you!
Julie

p.s. I'll be back tomorrow with the winner of my blog candy! If you haven't signed up yet, the clock is ticking! Look at last Saturday's post!

Polished Pigments

Have you ever seen the Polished Pigments from Luminarte? Well, if you answered no, Nancy Kirk, one of the owners of Flourishes put together a very informative video on how to use them! She shows how to make stunning background, how to mix it with embossing powder, how to make beautiful tiles with it, and how to mix it with the Simple Solution! So, grab a cup of joe, sit back and enjoy! Click HERE to view it!

I wanted to try my hand at using these powders dry without the Simple Solution. It's one of my favorite ways to add a little sparkle to my solid stamps! I just stamped my Summer Botanicals flower with Versamark and then used Blushing Rose, Lemon Grass and Blue Grass Polished Pigments to "color" the image. I just went over the flower with a soft brush loaded with a bit of the color. A little DOES go a long way. And, keep in mind, before you are done, you'll be sparkly too!! After you apply the color, all you need to do is go over your work with a swiffer dry rag. This rag is amazing at lifting off the excess powder without damaging the image you just colored. It kind of "burnishes" it into the Versamark. You really don't need to, but if you want to protect your image, spray it with a little Workable Fixativ (Krylon). I also stamped the flourished border and did the same technique only I used some of the Pure Mica powder in Solar Gold. Both types of powders can be found at Flourishes by clicking HERE!

After you're done stamping and swiffing (I just made that word up!!), the rest is just adding some black sheer ribbon, gold Stardream paper, and a "pretty" with some beads and a saying (Flourished Words). And.... done!

To see what some of the other Flourish DT members did with Polished Pigments check out Susan, Leslie, and Faith!

Hope you are having a great day! See you back here tomorrow with a HOT Stamp Simply challenge from Miss Sharon Johnson!! :-)

p.s. I almost forgot! You'll have to head on over to Laura's place (click HERE). She has some yummy Impression Obsession blog candy and plans to draw a name tonight! And, if you haven't signed up for my blog candy... look at last Saturday's post and leave a comment there! I'll draw a name Saturday!

A sale, an award, and.. oh yeah.. a card!

Hi all! Happy Wednesday! First of all, I would love to direct your attention to the left side of my blog! See the button - Stamps For Sale? Click on it and you'll see my "virtual stamp garage sale" got a WHOLE lot bigger. All of the prices are at or below wholesale prices and shipping is actual shipping. Why? I need room!!! So I am enabling you to click away! If you see anything you like, email me at juliekoerber@bresnan.net.
Now, to a fun, fun, fun award my friend Curt put together himself! It's the "You Inspire Me" award. Oh my! Thanks Curt. My bud Janine got this award and she wanted to pass it along to me too! FUN! Thanks Janine! I would have you on my list too but Curt had to go and start the award and give it to you too! LOL! You know I think you both rock! Now I am supposed to link up to those people that I check in on regularly for inspiration. Well, I am a daily visitor at these hot spots! Just click on their names and you can take a trip to their blogs!

Sharon Johnson, Leslie Miller, Susan Roberts, Linda Duke, Faith Hofrichter, Barb Schramm, Deb Neerman, Debbie Olson, and Penny Hajiantoni.

All of these ladies have their own distinct and very inspiring styles!! They inspire me daily!!

Now for the card! I made this fun little creation for a friend who had a baby shower two weekends ago! The little dress is a retired stamp by Amuse. The rest is just decorative paper, a scalloped edge thanks to my threading water punch, some self adhesive pearls, a sewn edge... and done! I thought they turned out kind of cute. They even took the invite to a woman in town who makes cakes and she did the dress on the top of the cake with a gorgeous lattice pattern around the sides. It was to die for! Wish I had a picture! I am so terrible at that!

Well folks, today is the first day of 6th grade for my son! He was ready to kill me today because I made him get his hair cut. I got the MAAAAHHHMMM! That's pretty bad huh!?!

Go take on the day! I'll see ya back here tomorrow!

Sew Fun!

Hi all! Hope life is treating you all well! If you are wondering when I am going to draw a name for my blog candy.... I'll have a winner Saturday! So, if you want to be in the running but haven't left a comment on the post below... feel free! The clock is ticking!! :-)



Ok, I am at it again! This week marks week two of the Stampin' Champion Contest! All you need to do is making something, anything with any JustRite product! You can check out the contest by clicking HERE!

I've always wanted to take a simple sewing kit and alter it.... so I did! I saw this little box full of sewing needs at the dollar store and snatched it right up. It was my intention to alter it into something kind of manly and slip it into my hubby's overnight bag. He travels every now and then for business and you never really know when a button will pop without a wifey around!! :-)

Well, this one got away from me! I thought about sewing words that I could adorn it with using my Monogram Stamper! I actually used the classic wood stamper with the special occassions font with the small letters set. I love the mix of the print with the cursive style letters that I used for the word "sew" I stamped both individually and then used a 1-1/4" punch to cut out the word sew. I punched two little holes for my safety pin that was embellished with some brown gingham ribbon, layered it up with foam tape, matted this piece on a scalloped shape I cut with my scalloped circle Nestabilities. The rest is just covering the box with paper, adding a decorative edge with my Martha Stewart punch, sponge some ink on, add some self adhesive pearls and... done with the outside!

Here's a peek at the inside...

I used some coordinating card stock for the top inside of the box and then embellished it with some darling stamped images from Crafty Secrets called Sew Special!

I love the framed sentiment that looks like a label - "From My Hand to your Heart" That spool of thread is actually a two set stamp - you can stamp the spool and then ink up the thread and stamp over top in any color you like! Pretty cool huh?? Here's a look at all the sewing words. My ribbon is kind of covering two -- stitch and mend.
Well, I think this was a blast to create. Funny, my hubby thought it looked too girly. Maybe I'll have to do another one with a more manly theme afterall. Or, I could just tell him. Take it - your wife made it for you and you just might need it!!! What do you think about that!?! :-)

Hope you are having a great start to your week! Tomorrow is the start of school for us so we are off to go putt-putt golfing or bowling or something! Yesterday we saw - Fly Me To The Moon. Cute flick! The kids loved the whole 3-D factor!

So, until tomorrow - go take on the day!

Show me...... Candy!!

Ok, I reached 100,000 hits and nothing! I promised candy and well, I'm only 44,000 hits late! LOL! Well, I am hopefully making up for it!

Here's what's up for grabs! Two stamp sets, three bobbins of ribbon, a K&Company pack of decorative paper scraps (I use these all the time!) and a pack of mega blossoms with rhinestone brads!

HOW YOU WIN: Leave a comment letting me know what kind of stamp you would desperately love! Is there a saying you would like? Is there a style that you think hasn't been done yet? If you don't have ideas, tell me what your favorite kind is - Florals, sentiments, etc.

BONUS: If you enter this month's YKYR challenge, you get an extra two entries in my blog candy! Make a challenge - get three chances to win!

I'll be back Tuesday with more stamping fun! Until then, go take on the day!

Stamp Simply--- JustRite Style!

I made this for the JustRite Stampin' Champion Contest! I couldn't help it -- I've got the fever! All you need to do is make something, anything with any JustRite product and enter it in the gallery! Want to find out more? Click HERE!

I also kept in mind this week's Stamp Simply challenge, which is to use the same image on the background of your card as you do for the foreground of the card. So, since my focal point is the flower, I used the same stamp on part of my background as well! Just that simple! If you want to find out more on the challenge, take a trip to Sharon's place HERE!

I made the card by stamping the flower (Summer Blossoms - Flourishes) all over half of the base mat on my card using Rust Adirondack ink, then stamped my flower two times with the rust ink and one time with Momento Bamboo Leaves for the small stem piece at the base of the flower. I colored and cut out different sections of the flower so that I could layer it and make it 3-dimensional. The saying around my floral element was created using one of the Classic Round Wood Stampers (took the mount from my Damask Set) and the Small Letter Set for the Round Monogram Stamper by JustRite. I spelled out "Bloom Where You Are Planted" and made sure to leave some room for my stem to come up through the middle! The rest is just matting, adding ribbon and some self adhesive gold brads!

Here's a close up to show the flower and how I layered up the different parts! It actually reminds me of the paper tole that my mom used to do when I was just a little one! She cut out images she saved. I just cut out my stamped images!

Want to see what the other Stamp Simply gals did this week?
Check out:

Janine
Jennifer
Tammy
Dee
Becky

Flowers From A Friend....

Thanks to my bud Denise G. I think I found my mojo! It was lost for a whopping 48 hours. No joke! It left the building and it took some work to get it back!

I was cleaning up my stamp room when I stumbled upon an image that Denise sent a while back (She told me it was a stamp from Beeswax). I also had some Copics on my desk that I just bought. I have never used Copics but desperately want to learn how! So, I picked up three shades of pink and two shades of green and started coloring away! I have a LOT to learn! I basically started with the darkest color, shaded my image and then went over the whole thing with my lighter marker to pull the shadows out a bit. I am sure I did it all wrong! After I was done, I sponged the whole image with Antique Linen Distress Ink. This piece was bright white when it arrived in my little hands. So, I sponged quite a it of ink on it! I edged my image in gold, matted it onto an olive green and then attached it with foam tape to a label style journaling image from Impression Obsession.

Here's a close up of the flowers....
So I hope my mojo doesn't pull a Thelma and Louise on me anytime soon and take off for a LONG joy ride! :-)

Funny story before I go. My son went over to a friend's house today and so my five year old daughter and I decided to go school shopping - just the two of us. I am stopped at a red light and I hear this beeping noise and say, "What is that Ellie?" She says, "Oh, it's Frankie, he's just texting me." "What?" I ask, completely dumbfounded. Well, she holds up her play cell phone and says, "Frankie just texted me and asked me if I want to be his girlfriend. Should I save it or delete it?" I quickly say... "Delete it!!" (I'm thinking, who the heck is Frankie?) She adds, "Hey, want to hear my new ring tone?" She pushes a button and her play phone plays a little tune. " OH MY GOSH! I am now laughing so hard inside that I am afraid I will bust a gut! I look in my rear view mirror to see she's twirling her hair - it's a dead giveaway that she's a bit tired. I say to her, "Hey Ellie, do you think you might need to rest today? You look a bit tired." She says, "No, mom. I am a kindergartener now. Kindergarteners don't nap. I'll just go to bed a little early. I need my beauty sleep."

I'm speechless. Seriously. Speechless. Don't tell me. I already know I am in for big trouble when she gets older.

Hope you have a fabulous day! See ya back here tomorrow!

It's a JustRite Kind Of Day...

This is one of those ten minute cards that could make up a wonderful gift set! I made it for the JustRite Stampin' Champion Contest!

With Olympic fever hitting strong, the JustRite folks decided to urge stampers to 'go for the gold!' All you need to do is post a project using any JustRite product. You can enter as much as you like too! The contest runs for the next few weeks - you can click HERE to check it out!

For my card, I decided to use just one color of ink. I chose a periwinkle blue ink pad and just stamped my Flourishes Peony all over the the main mat on my card. Then came the monogram. I used the Damask border from the Monogram Stamper along with my initial and then topped it all off with some lucious sheer ribbon and some pretty light blue self adhesive pearls! The main section of the card was then mounted on a piece of pearl paper. The scallop mat for my monogram is also from a piece of pearl paper.

That's it! Hope you enjoy!