It's a Crafty Secrets Cotton Scraps sale

Hi everyone!  I wanted to let you all know that Sharon from The Stamp Simply Ribbon store is having a sale on all of her Cotton Scraps!  Be sure to check out the Specials section and see other fabulous items are on sale -like all the Spellbinders dies and JustRite Stampers inventory!

I thought it would be fun to join Sharon with her walk down memory lane, and share some cards I made using the fabulous Cotton Scraps over the years!  Like Sharon, I am showing you these to give you ideas on how to use the scraps on a card.  Most of the scraps shown below are no longer available.  But there are still a plenty of pretty and fun designs available.

It's fun to see my older cards, I can tell most of these were taken in 2008 because of the cards staged in front of my teddy bear.  Those were back in my early SCS days -OH MY, look at all the layers and framing on these cards!  I didn't even know how to edit much, heehee.

Here's a link to my original SCS gallery upload

SCS gallery link for this one

This one was an old Taylored Expressions sketch!  SCS gallery link

 Last but not least, I made this one for a Crafty Secrets challenge to use punches!  SCS gallery link

Thanks for stopping by and have a great day!!

3 Challenge cards in Gossamer

Hi everyone!  I have 3 challenge cards to share with you today.  All using the amazing new pattern paper, Gossamer from Memory Box!  Sigh, this paper is my new love...  Rachel just started her storewide 25% discount sale and is sold out, but if you move fast I think there are some Spearmint pads left!!

This first card is for this week's This card is for this week's SCS Featured Stamper challenge -to CASE Pat Smethers!! I chose this lovely card of her's to case.

I changed the image, border punch, accent flowers, but kept the same feel to the card.   My card uses one of my neglected Crafty Secret's sets, Wildflowers.  I used the embossed butterfly dies from SU!  and the flower dies are the Beautiful Blooms II #1 from PTI.  I colored the image with Copics and added Kaiser pearls in Chino.

My next card uses Karen's Sweet Sunday sketch and since I had my Wildflowers set on the desk, I used the other sentiment in it. The glittered chipboard hearts are from Melissa Frances and the rose is a Sweet blossom by Zva Creative.  All the pretty pink pearls are from Memory Box and the silk ribbon is from the Stamp Simply Ribbon store. 

 And lastly, this card is for the Card Patterns Sketch #59. I used Verve's Feel the Sun set! Man, I LOVE this set, so beautiful! Guys, see what I MEAN about the paper?  So soft and lovely... happy sigh...  AND, again with the 1/4" silk ribbon!  Isn't it perfect with the paper?  Very delicate and it makes the most beautiful bows!!  You can find it in many colors from the Stamp Simply Ribbon store.

 

Thank you all so much for stopping by and have a great day!

Some exciting news!

Hi everyone! Today I have some exciting news to share. I was invited to be part of the BRAND NEW Stamp Simply Design Team for Sharon's Stamp Simply Ribbon Store. BE STILL MY LITTLE HEART!

If you are new to Sharon's store, she specializes in top of the line May Arts ribbon (sigh, a girl's dream come true!). She also sells the amazing Bow Easy, Crafty Secrets products, stamps from JustRite Stampers, Kaiser pearl and rhinestones AND puts together wonderful accessory kits featuring Websters Pages (shown above) and KaiserCraft 6x6 pads.

Those of you who have followed this blog or my uploads on SCS, KNOW my love for Sharon Johnson. She is my stamping idol! When she asked me to be a part of this team I couldn't reply YES fast enough! Here are the other ladies on the team, talk about TALENT! WOWzers!

Sharon Johnson (Stamp Simply Ribbon Store)

Deb Saanaren
Holly McMillen
Sherry Cheever
Linda Duke
Barb Schram

My card today uses ingredients from the Stamp Simply Lilac Avenue Kit. I. Love. This. Kit. The paper is YUMMY and Sharon has put it together an assortment of ribbon, rhinestones, inks and pearls that will make you squeal with delight!

The bouquet image is from the JustRite Breath of Spring set. I love the images in this set -very versatile! I colored them with my Copic markers and added Stickles in the centers. See how I added the ribbon to the bouquet? I actually pierced holes on both sides and tied it around the stem into a bow. The 1/4" silk ribbon is the perfect scale for this!! The sentiment is from the JustRite Seeds of Kindness set. I used last week's JUGS19 sketch, I really am sooo drawn to circles!!

Next Tuesday the 23rd will be the Design Team's very FIRST monthly blog hop! There will be some AMAZING blog candy up for grabs! Nothing short of spectacular from Sharon, I tell ya. AND before I go, I thought I would post some of my favorite cards that use JustRite and Crafty Secrets stuff!

These first 2 use Crafty Secrets products, Cotton Scraps and Journal Pages:These next 2 use JustRite Stamper fonts:Thanks for stopping by!

Card Deets:
Stamps - Breath of Spring, Seeds of Kindness (JustRite Stampers)
Ink - Memento Tuxedo Black
Paper - Certainly Celery, white, KaiserCraft Lilac Avenue 6x6 pattern paper
Accessories - Purple rhinestones (KaiserCraft), circle and blossom nestabilities, yellow stickles, Diamond Lace border punch (EK Success)

Verve's project parade and 2 sketch cards

Hi everyone! I have a couple cards to share with you today. AND Saturday is my day to post my Project Parade card over on the Verve blog. This month's theme is Encouraging Words which is quite fitting to many of Verve's stamp sets.

Here is a peek at my project, you'll have to check out the blog (it will be posted in a couple hours) to see the whole card and be sure to comment for a chance to win a Verve stamp set!

Lately, I haven't had time to play along with SCS sketch challenges, but this week's sketch SC249 stopped me in my tracks! I LOVE it! In fact, I made 2 cards!!

This first one is very soft and pretty. I used I used one of my oldie but goodie Verve sets, Floral Whimsy and the sentiment is from Enjoy. The DSP is the retired SU! Pink Pirouette and pieced the vase from the retired Bella Rose.

I added some buttons with silver cord and silver pearls for the finishing touches. I found the silver pearls at Michaels, they are made by Michaels, Inc.

This next card also uses the SC249 sketch and is very different for me and lots of fun to make! I busted out my Crafty Secrets folder I have that I keep my Cotton Scraps, Stickers and Cuts. I REALLY need to use these more often (I need to channel Sharon-LOL) as they are lovely images and no coloring involved. This card uses the Autumn Blessings Vintage Cuts. It comes in the shape of a tag with a blank spot for the sentiment.

I stamped my sentiment on and set it aside. Then, on the disaster area that is my desk, it SMEARED! Warning - Vintage cuts are slightly glossy. UGH! So, I held my tag up to the window and traced the shape onto a piece of cream cardstock and made one of my own. Not as perfect as I would like, but I think it turned out fine. The colors in the tag image screamed for my Basic Grey Ambrosia pad. The rich reds/oranges and deep yellows were PERFECT! I used some Martha Stewart seam binding ribbon in Yellow Dahlia (one of my awesome $1 finds at Big Lots) and gold pearls from Michael's.

Thanks for stopping by and see you tomorrow for another wonderful Cupcake Inspiration challenge!

Card deets:

Stamps: Floral Whimsy, Enjoy (Verve)

Paper: white, sweet blush, kiwi kiss, SU DSP

Ink: kiwi kiss, pink pirouette

Accessories: buttons, silver cord, silver pearls, SU! scallop border punch, paper piercer, mini butterfly punch, White grosgrain ribbon

Card Deets:

Stamps: Many Sentiments (Flourishes)

Paper: White (PTI), Ambrosia (Basic Grey)

Ink: black

Accessories: Autumn Blessings Vintage Cuts, yellow stickles, gold cord, gold pearls, edge distresser, upper crest border punch, Swiss dots cuttlebug folder, paper piercer, SU corner punch, Martha Stewart seam binding

P.S. I get questions all the time about the gold and silver pearls I use. So I took a picture of the front and back of the package so you all can see what they look like. As you can see, they are not a name brand, but rather made by Michael's Inc.

Hanna release day and a new weekly blog challenge

Hi everyone! Have you all been enjoying the sneak peeks of the Hanna Stamps release? Well, tonight's the release party and you can see the sets in their entirety!! The fun starts at 9PM Eastern time on the Hanna Forum.


This card is another example of the Mommies to Be set. Love the packages and the cute little umbrella with boy and girl on it!! I stamped the umbrella 2 times and popped it up on dimensionals.



The presents are colored with a pale pink Copic marker and a tiny bit of yellow and adorned with tiny rhinestones on the bows. The black buttons are vintage from my granny's tin. The both the DP and all the cardstock is from PTI. Here is a closeup of some of the details.



This next card is for my friend Rachel's (Hope Stamps Eternal) new challenge. She is starting a weekly cupcake inspiration challenge where she posts a yummy picture of cupcakes! There are some goodies up for grabs this week for her new online store, so be sure to check it out.



The cupcake picture she chose this week seriously made me drool!! So while I had some supplies left on my desk after making my JBelle challenge card (to be posted tomorrow), I decided to do her challenge. The "flower" is from Prima Wild Wood Collection, Mushroom and SOOOOO reminded me of the cupcake icing swirls!! I used a piece of DP from Bella Rose to bring in the soft pink color.

The chipboard is another story -I have had this on my desk FOREVER! One of my stamping friends sent this to me ages ago, and I have been scared to do anything with it. But, I finally took the plunge -I sponged it with Creamy Caramel and then painted it with Golden Shimmerz! I think it turned out really pretty, but I am thinking I could have spray painted it and accomplished the same look, LOL!





The base of the card is made with my new Mega rectangles nestabilities. I have seen my friend, Stacy (Twinshappy) make cards with this shape and was inspired to do the same. I wrapped the flourish piece with some Burlap String and then added a couple pink Rhinestones. Thanks for the challenge Rachel, I hope you like your card!!


Thanks for stopping by and come back tomorrow for my Jacksonbelle Tuesday challenge card.


Card Deets (Hanna):
Stamps - Mommies To Be
Paper - Sweet Blush, Pink Patterns DP, White, Black
Accessories - vintage buttons, pink taffeta ribbon, Labels One nesties, white gel pen, swiss dots EF

Card Deets (cupcake):
Stamps - sentiment from Wildflowers by Crafty Secrets
Ink - Chocolate Chip, creamy caramel (for sponging)
Paper - Very Vanilla, Bella Rose DP
Accessories - chipboard flourish, pink gems, Wildwood flower from Prima, burlap string, mega rectangle nesties, gold shimmerz

Some challenge cards

Happy Wednesday everyone! I have 3 challenge cards to share today.

The first card I uses Julee's FAB MojoMonday sketch found here, and is for my weekly DoubleDog Dare Challenge (DDC). This week my Dirty Dozen Roomie (that means we joined the Dirty Dozen together), Joan challenged us to use an image with a basket -any kind, AND some plaid paper. Hummm, seriously, I HAVE NO BASKET stamps of any kind. Not one! So I broke out my WishRAK image box and searched thru the entire thing -no baskets! What? Then I remembered my Crafty Secrets file and found that one of my Cotton Scraps HAD ONE! Whew! A baby girl image in a basket. And, what's even more perfect is that I need a baby girl card for Friday as one of the moms in my MOPS group just had her girl!

I sponged the white prima with pink and added Angel Wings Shimmerz to it. Here is a close up.

Card Deets:
Paper: pink pirouette, vintage cream (PTI), retired mint melody, misc plaid DP
Accessories: white prima, white dew drops, su scallope edge punch, small flower punch, swiss dots EF, shimmerz

This next card is for today's SCS sketch challenge. First let me say, I didn't really like it. I felt it a bit too top heavy and it was hard for me to find the right balance. But, I had some time to play and need to stock up on my Mother's Day cards for my Etsy store, so I fudged the sketch a bit and added brads at the bottom!

I used some of my Tres Jolie, Mon Cheri DP I got on clearance last year. The flower images are colored with Copic markers and have Stardust stickles on them. The sentiment is from Verve Stamps, Happy Thoughts (my all time fav sentiment set!).

For some interest, I strung some beads and a heart charm with silver cord and tied them with a bow from one of the panels. Silver cord and brads are from Pinkhedgehog Papercrafts, PrismPapers can be found here.

Card Deets:
Stamps: embrace life, happy thoughts
Paper: Vintage cream (PTI), Tres Jolie DP and Desert Coral Light Prismpaper
Accessories: copic markers, square punch, charm, beads, silver brads, stickles

And lastly, I have yesterday's SCS color challenge card that I paired with Crafty Secret's weekly challenge -which was to do a SINGLE LAYER card! Man, both were tough! The colors were Summer Sun, Pumpkin Pie and Kiwi Kiss. I love those colors, just NOT together! I used the Baby Boy set from Crafty Secrets, some ribbon and buttons.

It's hard to see in the pic, but there are 3 scored lines below the ribbon.

Card Deets:
Stamps: baby boy
Paper: white
Ink: pumpkin pie, kiwi kiss
Accessories: score pal, square punch, stickles, buttons, grosgrain ribbon

Before I forget!! Jacksonbelle is offering up 2 jars of Shimmerz OF YOUR CHOICE as a prize! Check out the JBelle blog post here for the details!

Thanks for stopping by!

Some challenge cards, a discovery and a story

My favorite challenge, SCS Featured Stamper challenge was yesterday and I had a chance to play -a bit late, but I didn't want to pass it up. The featured stamper was k dunbrook. I am new to her gallery, but it is full of really lovely cards. Lots of embellishments and nestie cards. Just beautiful!!

I chose this card to case. I just love how she used the nesties and die cutting DP!! I just had to use my Labels One dies!! I changed the DP used, image, the layout slightly and omitted the oval sentiment panel. My card uses Verve's Plain Jane Comfort and my loved, but NEVER used Bella Rose DP! I painted the red cardstock with Angel Wings for some extra sparkle.

Now on to my second card. This card is for this week's challenge at Crafty Secrets - to make a birthday card in honor of thier having 2 years of challenges!!I used a sticker from their Vintage Stickers collection. LOVE these -so pretty and makes for quick cards!! The patterned paper is actually made from the CHF Pretty Pattern backgrounder. The cardstock and ribbon are from PTI. Oh and do you recognize the sketch? It's PTIs Bitty Dot Sketch from yesterday. I loved it so much I cased my card!!

Oh and I discovered something!! You all may have known before, but I discovered you can color pearls with Copic Markers!! Check out the pearl stamens on this card. They came from the wedding section of Michael's and come in white. I colored them purple and yellow for this card!! Yahooo!


Lastly, I'll share a story, Bill and I finally got a will done. Yep, our oldest son will be 5 (in one week) and we never got a will done- EEK! So my sister referred us to an attorney and last week, we signed everything!! Wellllllll, I mentioned to him that I made cards. He was interested in seeing my work, so I brought him some samples when we signed the papers. He loved them and ordered 10 sympathy cards to keep on hand for his special clients. So, I guess you will be seeing sympathy cards from me this week -LOL! Anyway, DON'T be shy about showing your cards around. You never know who will be interested, and it's a great way to make a little pocket change!! I made enough for a small SU! SAB order!!

Card Deets (FS card):
Stamps: Plain Jane Comfort
Paper: black, ridinghood red, white, bella rose DP
Ink: black
Accessories: swiss dots EF, taffeta ribbon, labels one nesties, black accents, MS branch punch, shimmerz

Card Deets (CS card):
Stamps: pretty pattern BG
Paper: lemon tart, plum pudding, white -all PTI
Ink: perfect plum
Accessories: plum brads, pearl stamens, plum pudding satin ribbon

Mojo fun with felt and Sketch 213

I went to Michael's today... AND WHOA! They have some amazing stuff in stock right now. Their Dollar Section is rockin' and they have a WHOLE new section with Primas -oh be still my heart!

My friend, Pam made a cute card using their felt coasters and I just HAD to get my hand on some. I chose the yellow ones (they come 4 to a pack) and got some ribbon to match. I mounted it on white cardstock and put stickles all over it.

I used Julee's Mojo 71 sketch as it had the PERFECT sized panel for the coaster. The sentiment came from Verve's Beautiful You set. The punched butterfly is from Martha Stewart, Royal Butterfly (also bought today). The clear bling are from Kaiser Crafts.

Here is a pic of some of the supplies I used.

This next card uses yesterday's SCS sketch challenge (SC213) and Crafty Secrets weekly challenge (CSSC53), this week to use long lost stamping stuff!

I have had some Crafty Secrets Heartwarming Vintage Stickers forEVAH and never used them. I love how they help make the card easier to make. The prima is from the Sprites collection, the buttons and dotted organdy are from Pinkhedgehog Papercrafts and the BG stamp is Pretty Pattern from CHF.

I painted Angel Wings Shimmerz on the prima for some extra sparkle. I also used a couple of the stickers from the pack to decorate the inside of the card. Here is a close up shot of the flower and buttons.

Card Deets (mojo):
Stamps: Beautiful you
Paper: Summer sun, Lemon Tart (PTI), white
Accessories: MS butterfly punch, clear bling from Kaiser, Ribbon and felt coaster from Michael's, stickles

Card Deets (SCS):
Stamps: CHF pretty pattern BG
Paper: blush blossom, wasabi, celery, celery DSP
Ink: blush blossom
Accessories: Greeting and Sentiments stickers, buttons, ribbon, prima, dimensionals, shimmerz

A couple challenge cards to share

I haven't had a chance to post my Sketch challenge card these last couple days, so today I am posting cards for 2 challenges.

First up, the SCS Sketch challenge. This card was also for the Crafty Secrets weekly challenge -this week was to use NEW things on your card. I like these challenges, cause I love using new things! The images are from CS Birds Galore set. I colored the birdies with prismacolor pencils and popped them up on dimensionals. I used Angel Wings Shimmerz on the birds and the primas. The new things on this card is the DP is my new Basic Grey pad, Granola, the Primas are new from the Youth bottle and the buttons are also from Basic Grey Granola!

Here is a close up of the flowers. You can kind of see the Shimmerz on them.

P.S. If you like this card and have a minute, I would love it if you would post a comment in my SCS gallery on it. There is a little contest going on with the Crafty Secrets challenge! Here is the link to the card.

Next I have a triple challenge card. I started out doing the SCS Ways To Use It challenge. I like these challenges, but rarely have a chance to play along on Thursdays.

Last night I found time and combined it with This card uses Julee's Mojo Monday 69 sketch for the layout. Love Julee's sketches! And lastly, this card is also for a weekly challenge I do with some SCS friends called the Double Dare Challenge (DDC). We would love to have you join in on our Double Dare Challenges every Tuesday. Just create a card using these challenge instructions and post it to your gallery.

This week's challenge was issued by Charlene (LilLuvsStampin), the challenge requirements are:

1. use one or more punches

2. use a background stamp

3. no designer paper may be used

Please be sure to use the Keyword DDC when you post your card so that we can all find it! There is no time limit for you to do this challenge.

My card uses the Boho Blossom punch that coordinates with the One of a Kind set. My background stamp is the retired Simple Stripes. That large brad is from Basic Grey, the Bittersweet glazed brads. LOVE them! Here is the inside of the card.

Card Deets (SC211):
Stamps: bird lovers
Paper: so saffron, night of navy, white DP
Ink: Black
Accessories: primas, buttons, branch punch

Card Deets (WT201):
Stamps: one of a kind, simple stripes BG
Paper: rose red, kiwi kiss, pink pirouette
Ink: same plus Close to Cocoa
Accessories: silver brads, basic grey brads, olive grosgrain, circle nesties, flower CB die, swiss dots EF