The Battle of the Bug

The FLU Bug, that is. Man it's been a few years since I've had a bout of the flu, and I sure hope it's a good long time before I ever get it again! Whew! You can't believe how worn out I am just walking down the stairs. I haven't even checked my email since Friday. Hmmm... maybe I should be doing that instead of blogging. Awww heck, this is so much better than hitting delete through all the junk mail. It's funny how I hate junk mail coming into my real mailbox, and now I get bombarded by junk email too! You just can't get away from it! And I'm going to really hate to see how many emails there are waiting for me. Oh, I'm too tired to deal with that now! Maybe later.....

I had mentioned to my hubby that he could go ahead and post for me while I was sick. He didn't think it'd be a good idea, because you'd all like his postings better than mine and want him to post all the time. Ya'll wouldn't go and desert me now, would you Naw, I didn't think so. Thanks for being patient with me while I was being an impatient patient. Oh well, that's the best I could do with my head all plugged up and not thinking right. lol

Anyway, this is a card I had finished earlier and hadn't had a chance to post yet. It is another one that uses the Autumn Meadow Designer Series Paper. Don't you just love it? I have such a hard time deciding which side of these papers to use, because I just love each one of the prints. Usually there is at least one or two prints I'm not crazy about in each pack (that's why 2-sided paper is such a treasure!), but it always has a reverse side that I do like. This pack of papers is an absolute winner on each side of every sheet!

Stamps: Holiday Best (Hostess level 1)

Cardstock: Sahara Sand, Chocolate Chip cardstock with Autumn Meadows and Really Patterns Rust Designer Series Papers

Ink: Sahara Sand and Chocolate Chip pads and Really Rust and Chocolate Chip markers

Accessories: 1/2" Circle Punch, Build-a-Brad Brass, Large Oval and Scallop Oval Punches, Chocolate Chip Narrow Grosgrain Ribbon, Sponge quarters, and Dimensionals

Well, I hope this keeps you going for awhile. If I continue to recuperate as planned, I should be back tomorrow. If not, pray for a speedy recovery for me. Oh, change that to just a 'full' recovery for me as it's already been too long to be a 'speedy' recovery. lol hack, cough, couch! No laughing now, it just makes me cough! And that really wears me out.

I think I'm going to drag myself back upstairs and lie down again. whew.....

Sharon

Late Night Friday Musings

Whew! What a crazy week with the dizziness all week and and sinus drainage causing a raw throat! Yuck!! Then I was checking some websites tonight to see what others have been doing and I checked the Stamping 411 blog. They liked the sunny butterfly card I made for their sketch challenge!!!! Oh, I'm bouncing off the walls I'm so excited! It just makes my whole week worthwhile after all!

Tonight is also a good one because I had a workshop for Diane. I've got some friends that have been with me since I started teaching shirt painting about 16 years ago. And no, I really don't do that much any more 'cuz stampings more fun! Anyway, it's always fun (and a challenge too) to plan a workshop for these ladies. Thought I'd share with you the cards they made.

Diane makes cards for her church to send out and she needed a Thanksgiving card. This is what I designed for her and we made them first tonight. The picture really doesn't do it justice, because you don't really see how the shimmer paint lights up the teal leaf. It's just gorgeous!

Stamps: Autumn Splendor and Teeny Tiny Wishes

Ink: Chocolate Chip

Paper: Creamy Caramel, Chocolate chip, Taken with Teal cardstock and Autumn Meadows Designer Series Paper

Accessories: Champagne Mist Shimmer Paint, Word Window Punch, Modern Label Punch, Mat Pack and Piercing Tool, gold Mini Brads, Sponge quarter, Paper Snips, and Dimensionals

You can see the shimmer a little better in this picture, but it still isn't good enough. Oh well, you'll just have to take my word for it - it really is gojus! as my friend Janine would say!!

My friend Anita always wants cards that are more 'cutesy-fun' than classic. So that was the direction of the Halloween card we made next. If Janine hadn't shown me so many cute ideas using the Twick or Tweet set, I wouldn't have bought it. But after seeing her creations, I knew I had to have it too!!

So this is the next one. Since no one at the workshop really likes spooky-scary cards, I opted for a lighter touch.

Stamps: Twick or Tweet

Ink: Stazon Jet Black, Elegant Eggplant, and Sahara Sand Classic pads, Sahara Sand and Creamy Caramel markers

Paper: Very Vanilla, Elegant Eggplant cardstock with Pumpkin Pie Patterns Designer Series Paper

Accessories: Distressing Tool, Eggplant Narrow Grosgrain Ribbon

All the edges on all the layers were first messed up with Sahara Sand direct-to-paper. After they looked nice and dirty, the distressing tool was used to rough them up too. The skeleton was outlined with the Sahara Sand marker and the dog was colored with caramel. I also added a little caramel to the skeleton eye sockets because they hadn't stamped solid. Add a little eggplant ribbon and fray the edges and you're done. It was fun and quick to make and hopefully will be just the card to send to someone's little ghost or goblin.

Well, now that it's after midnight, should I change the title to Saturday instead of Friday? Naw, that's too much work and I'm heading off to bed. Hope this allergy stuff is over soon. It's putting a cramp in my stamping life.

Nighty nite!

Sharon

Dizzy Days

I wanted to apologize for being MIA the last couple of days. Allergies hit big time and I'm swimming in fluids. Oops, that's not quite what the doctor said - there's fluid in both my inner ears. Yeah, that's more like it. And it's made me sooooo dizzy. Maybe a little ditzy too! :-) I've been hanging onto walls when walking and actually scooted down the stairs on my butt yesterday. But once I got downstairs, I couldn't function 'cuz I was too dizzy! Oh woe is me!! I'm doing a bit better today. In fact, I have a card I was working on last Saturday and finished up just now. It uses two different stamp sets and a Deginer Series Paper - all from the new Holiday Mini Catalog. That little booklet is an absolute treasure trove of possibilities! Hope you like the card...

I just love, love, love the new Autumn Meadows Designer Series Paper that's in the new Holiday Mini. It is soooo pretty. Of course that's just my humble opinion, but you really need to get this paper and use it! This card uses some of the colors that are in the papers. The color combo isn't something I would have chosen to put together, but wow! They're really lovely together. Add a little gold embossing and brads for some glitz and you've got a super fab-u-licious card!

Stamps: Autumn Splendor and Grateful Greetings

Cardstock: More Mustard, Taken with Teal, Very Vanilla cardstock with Autumn Meadows Designer Series Paper

Ink: More Mustard Classic ink, VersaMark pad

Accessories: Heat Tool and Gold Embossing Powder, Chocolate Chip 1" Stitched Ribbon, Scallop Edge Punch, Scallop Oval Punch, Large Oval Punch, Gold Mini Brads, Piercing Tool and Mat Pack, Paper Snips, and Dimensionals

Well, whadiya think about it? Don't the colors just play off each other and combine into something fantastic?

There are so many items in the Holiday Mini that I really love, and this card uses 3 of them! It's too hard to choose my favorites from the mini, but these all are right up there at the top of the list. Hope you like them as much as I do. Because we'll be using them this month at workshops and next month in classes. Get ready - here they come!

Happy stamping (and keep those inner ears dry!),

Sharon

Sunny Sunday Sketch

What a wonderful way to spend a Sunday afternoon - doing one of those things I love best! Stamping, of course! Got home and had to look at the Stamping 411 sketch. You know if I don't do that on Saturday, it's the first thing on Sunday afternoon that needs attention. Skip lunch, who cares! I gots to stamp! And stamp I did. When I first looked at the sketch, I figured I needed to make a house-type layer. Then I looked at the operator's samples and decided to just play around with some ideas instead. Lookie what happened...

Now this is a sunny Sunday card if I ever saw one! After praising God in church, this card carries on the theme. Even the sun, flowers, and butterfly praise Him also!

Stamps: Hello Again and FYI

Cardstock: Bashful Blue, More Mustard, Summer Sun, Old Olive, and Whisper White

Ink: Bashful Blue and Old Olive pads, Cameo Coral, Pumpkin Pie, Summer Sun, Old Olive, and Garden Green markers

Accessories: Big Shot with SU! Backgrounds 1 Texturz Plate, Nesting Scallop Dies, Circle Scissor Plus, Word Window Punch, Sponge quarters, and Dimensionals

I don't know if you can tell, but the background on the white cardstock has Bashful Blue lightly sponged to give it some sky. And I really hope you can see the embossed details on the sun. It just looked too plain before that little addition. What a fun and happy card to make. And I hope it'll be a great encouragement when someone receives this in the mail! That makes all this card-making worthwhile - to be able to touch someone's life and make it a little brighter.

Up, up, and away!

Well, I couldn't resist. Yes, I just had to purchase the new Sweet Centers stamp set from SU! Of course, it was only $10! What an awesome bargain! Have you heard about the promotion going on now through November? If you are a hostess and have workshop sales of $250 or more, you can purchase any item from the Holiday Mini Catalog (except My Digital Studio or hostess sets) for only $10!! You can even get the SU! Table Setting Bigz Die! Now that's like $30 some dollars off!!! Wow!! Anybody want to book a workshop?? I'd love to fill my calendar!

Ok, back to sharing here. Several days ago I happened upon the latest Pals Paper Arts challenge here, and thought it would be fun to give it a try. The challenge was to keep it simple with minimal layers, lots of "white space", and quick. Does that sound like most of my ideas? Oh, yeah! So here goes...

I'm not quite sure about all the "white space" idea. Mine turned sort of cloudy, but it should still qualify. This card has been rattling around in my brain ever since I saw this set previewed. Dimension is fun, and on this card it's really easy too!

Stamps: Sweet Centers and Best Wishes & More

Cardstock: Whisper White, Barely Banana, and Certainly Celery

Ink: Basic Black, Bashful Blue, Certainly Celery, and Ballet Blue

Accessories: 1 3/4" Circle Punch, Cloud stencil (retired about 10 years ago!), Sponge quarter, and AquaPainter

Isn't this idea fun? I punched 2 Barely Banana and 2 Certainly Celery circles, folded them each in half, and adhered them together with Snail. To mail the card, just lay the folded circles flat. Easy peasy!

This was so much fun I might need to make a few more of these to send off. Don't you love these 5 minute cards? It really took so much longer to write this blog than to make the card! LOL

Have a super Saturday - what's left of it anyway!

On to more stamping...

Sharon

Autumn Splendor Swap Snafu

Hi there. Today seems to have been one of those days that just frustrate you. You know how some little thing just seems to go wrong, and then another thing, and then another... Now don't tell me I'm the only one out there that has those days! Please, I need some company out here with me!
Anyway, I thought you'd like to hear about one of those things! Tonight was my downline meeting and we always have a swap. Because of a busy week of classes, I didn't get around to making my swaps until late last night. Today I spent time getting ready for tonight, cleaning up from classes, moving tables around, typing the plan, etc. My sister and downline lives out of state and always sends her cards for swapping in the mail. They came about 4:30 today. I opened the box, and wanted to cry! I had forgotten I'd changed the swap to a Christmas theme, instead of a fall theme. And what had I made? hmmm A lovely Thanksgiving card. Sheesh! I think my head needs examing or something! Anyway, it was much too late to start thinking about another swap idea and get it made. Sooooo, everybody else swapped their gorgeous Christmas creations, and I swapped this:



Not exactly Christmas-y, is it? :-(
Sorry ladies! I'll try to do better next time. OK? I'm so blessed to have ladies in my downline that are very forgiving!

Stamps: Autumn Splendor and Holiday Best (Level 1 Hostess set)
Cardstock: Kraft, Dusty Durango, Old Olive, More Mustard, and Naturals Ivory
Ink: Soft Suede, Dusty Durango, Old Olive, and More Mustard
Accessories: Big Shot with Texturz Plates and Leaves Die, Sponge quarter, 1 1/4" Circle Punch, Chocolate Chip Wide Grosgrain Ribbon, Stylus, Earth Elements Mini Brad, Aqua Painter, and Dimensionals

If you look closely, you can see the veins in the leaves from the stylus. It's a small touch, but it looks so much nicer than plain and flat. Everything was sponged with Soft Suede, especially the graining from the Texturz Plate. Sponging really brings out the texture and gives it more definition.

Please leave me a comment and cheer me up. After really messing up on this, I need some encouragement!

Blessings,
Sharon

Different Style Ornament card

I really do love the new ornament set and matching punch that's in the new Mini Catalog. And I've been playing with this set on a very regular basis since it was delivered to my dungeon. But... there are other ideas for making cards with ornaments out there. And this is one of the projects made at classes this week.

This card looks really involved, and yes there are a few extra steps to make the card, but I think it's all worth it to get something that looks like this. Right? Isn't it cool?

Stamps: Season of Joy

Cardstock: Rose Red, Always Artichoke, and Whisper White cardstock with Rose Red Patterns Designer Series Paper

Ink: Rose Red

Accessories: 1 3/4" Circle Punch, Eyelet Border Punch, Sponge quarters, Gold Cording, Always Artichoke Narrow Grosgrain Ribbon, Mat Pack and Piercing Tool, and Dimensionals

The main idea for this card is making a mask with a circle punched out. All the stamping and sponging is done through the mask. Isn't that a fun idea?

Speaking of fun ideas - I'm starting a monthly class called the Punchy Class. There are so many wonderful, silly, and fun ideas using our great punches. I thought it was time to share some of these ideas with my customers and students. So it's on the schedule for October. If you're in the Detroit area and are interested in classes, get in touch with me and I'll give you all the details. I'm sure you'll have fun and learn something new besides! It's a win-win situation for everyone!

Hope you'll join me!

Sharon

Stamping 411 Greenhouse Flowers

Hey there! Hope you're having a great week so far. It was so much fun seeing some of my good friends at class last night. I'm all set for class tonight, so I thought I'd get this post in a little earlier today! Today is the first chance I had to look at the Stamping 411 sketch, and I think it's a great one. This is a layout I've used often because it's basic and works with so many stamp sets. Last Friday, Brenda loaned me her Greenhouse Garden set and is picking it up tonight at class. So I had to quick use it this afternoon. I couldn't borrow it and send it back unused, now could I? LOL Here's the card I made with the sketch and borrowed set...

I love how soft and spring-y (probably not a real word!) this looks. One of my favorite Designer Series Papers is the Tea Party set. This lovely stripe is from that set and fits nicely with the flower colors.

Stamps: Greenhouse Garden

Cardstock: So Saffron, Certainly Celery, and Whisper White cardstock with Tea Party Designer Series Paper

Ink: Pretty in Pink, Regal Rose, So Saffron, More Mustard, Almost Amethyst, and Lavender Lace

Accessories: Stamp-a-ma-jig, Pretty in Pink Narrow Grosgrain Ribbon, and Dimensionals

I suppose these flowers could be stamped quite nicely without the Stamp-a-ma-jig, but why bother? This way you can get the centers of the flowers actually in the center! lol And it's really quick and easy to use. This is a tool I think every stamper should have in their stash of tools. You never know when you're really going to need it.

Thanks Brenda for letting me borrow your set. Wish I had more time with it, like maybe a month or two. Oh wait, I can! I'll just have to get it on my order this month. I just don't want to wait any longer to get it now that I've used it. Oh the addiction! It's really hard to fight the pull. But then again, why fight it?!?! LOL

Have a great week. Hopefully I'll be back again tomorrow with more goodies to share.

Sharon

Mixing Old and New

Today's post will be really short and sweet. I had a stamping class tonight, so spent the day putting all the 'stuff' away, and getting set up. I'm so tickled that a few of my regulars have called and will be joining us this week again. During summer so many drop out because of the many important fun things to do - like vacations, family visiting, doing fun stuff with kids, etc. So now that school is back up and running, some of my friends are looking to get back into our routine again too. And this month's classes are a hodgepodge of holidays - Halloween, Thanksgiving, and 2 Christmas cards. Got to get ready ahead of time, you know! I'll be sharing class projects with you at a later time. Today, I have a card made from leftovers from a calendar project last fall, an older set, and a new catty set.


This is it! Ta da!! My old and new card! I had this lovely heavy striped cardstock left from the calendar project, and it was just to cool to throw away. So, I just designed the card around it.
The spider dude is from the set Batty for You, and the Pumpkin thingy is from Twick or Tweet. Don't they just work fine on here?

Stamps: Batty for You and Twick or Tweet
Cardstock: Pumpkin Pie, Old Olive, and Whisper White with the leftover Bashful Blue cardstock and cardstock sticker strips that came with the calendar set
Ink: Stazon Jet Black, Pumpkin Pie, Crushed Curry, Old Olive, Bashful Blue, and Chocolate Chip
Accessories: AquaPainter, Pumpkin Striped Grosgrain Ribbon, and Dimensionals

So this card again proves why I can never throw anything away. You just never know when you're gonna need it! That little comment is for my hubby who can't understand why I need to hang on to so many little pieces of leftover 'whatever'! We'll never come to a meeting of the minds on this little problem, but we still love each other anyway!!

Have a good one,
Sharon

Dasher and Christmas Cocoa

Don't you just love this new stamp? This is definitely one of my favorites from the new catalog. And considering it only costs $8.95, it's a bargain! I've been using this stamp to make so many different samples lately. I wish you were nearby so I could show you all of them! And when you pair this stamp with the new Christmas Cocoa Specialty Designer Series Paper, you've really got yourself a winner! The card today is fairly simple to make, but I think it looks rather elegant.

Stamps: Dasher and Best Yet (retired)

Cardstock: Real Red, Whisper White cardstock with Christmas Cocoa DSP

Ink: Real Red Classic and Champagne Encore Pigment ink (retired)

Accessories: Champagne Mist Shimmer Paint(new), Sponge quarter, Heat Tool, Clear Embossing Powder, Circle Scissors Plus, Real Red Wide Grosgrain, Large Oval and Scallop Oval Punches, and Dimensionals

The Encore Champagne ink and Christmas Cocoa DSP match so well, you'd think they were made for each other. Funny thing is, SU! hasn't carried the Champagne Encore ink for at least 7-8 years! It's amazing what goes together if you hang onto it long enough! Plus, they have this lovely Shimmer Paint now that adds so much to your projects! It comes in a choice of 3 different colors. You just have to give these a try! The Champagne Mist is very sheer. It was sponged lightly over the background of the white cardstock so it didn't look so plain, and ties the colors together nicely.

Hope you enjoy this Christmas sample. There will be many more to share with you in the coming weeks. Don't forget to leave me a comment. I love to hear from you!

Sharon

Easy Peasy Halloweeny

Hi all! Yah, I don't think that's really a word either, but who cares. It sounded like it went together nicely! Anyway, my friend Anita loves doing craft things, especially ones that are super quick. She bought a Cuttlebug Embossing Folder and had no ideas for it. So she embossed a piece of Pumpkin Pie cardstock and said "Here, do something fast and easy with it". So that's just what I did. This one's for you, Anita! Hope you like it. It sure fits the bill for fast and easy!

Stamps: Batty for You

Cardstock: Pumpkin Pie and Basic Black

Ink: Basic Black

Accessories: Black Twine (retired), Black Gingham Ribbon, 1 1/4" and 1 3/8" Circle Punches, and 2 tiny googly eyes and a Cuttlebug embossing folder

Since Anita had already embossed the one layer, all I needed to do was add the ribbon and folded card. Then stamp the little bat guy on pumpkin and punch him out. Layer onto another punched piece. And hang it all onto the gingham ribbon.

Can it actually get any easier than this??? And I thought it was darn right cute to boot! I may have to borrow her folder and make a few more of these for the "From Our Heart" group. Wouldn't that be great?

"Hey Anita, can I borrow it for a bit?"

Stamping and sharing the fun,

Sharon

Medallion Sketch

Hi peoples! Hope you've had a great day today. I'm so excited that tomorrow some of my stamping friends are coming over to get some stamping done! We're getting a pizza and having some fun. Doesn't that sound great? I'm hoping to get some cards made for the "From Our Hearts" group. You can get information about them and the wonderful work they do sending cards over to our soldiers in the Middle East just by clicking on the button on the right. If you're in my area and would like to come and stamp for them, give me a call. I'd love to have more people stamping with us!

Anyway, this morning I was checking out Gretchen Barron's blog and she's started her own sketch challenge! This is her first one, and I just had to be part of it. This is the card I came up with. The card size is 4.25" square and folds on the top. I just love the medallion stamp for this type of card. It fills in that circular corner so nicely!

Stamps: Medallion and Teeny Tiny Wishes

Cardstock: More Mustard, Really Rust, Old Olive, Very Vanilla, and Chocolate Chip

Ink: Old Olive, Chocolate Chip

Accessories: Scallop Edge Punch, 1/4" Circle Punch, Chocolate Chip Corduroy Button, Chocolate Chip Narrow Grosgrain Ribbon, Circle Scissors Plus, and Mini Glue Dot to attach ribbon

This card went together easily, except for the little cardstock dots. I tried several different brads there and just didn't like the look. Once I switched to the punched out cardstock dots, it was finished.

Hope you give this little sketch a try. It was really fun and I can't wait to see what other sketches Gretchen posts.

Happy stamping!

Sharon

Your assignment - finished!

Remember way back last month when I was having trouble with a Halloween card that just wasn't right? So many of you were kind enough to leave ideas for me on what would finish off the card. After sifting through the suggestions, and then looking through all my stamps (even the retired ones), I think I might have come up with the finished card. Ta da!! (horns blowing in the background)...

The pumpkin and black cat have been added. I'm still not too sure about the pumpkin. Seems way too orange to me. Now isn't that funny - saying a pumpkin is too orange??!? But it does seem to stand out quite abit from the card, doesn't it? After stamping the Autumn Harvest pumpkin on all my orange-colored cardstocks, I finally chose Pumpkin Pie cardstock and Basic Black ink. Then used a little (very little) Rich Razzleberry for shading. The cat is from the Autumn Apparitions set that was out last year in the Mini Catalog. It was the only black cat I owned. It's stamped on Basic Gray with Basic Black ink and cut out. I put it in front of the pumpkin a little so the cat would stand out more instead of the pumpkin.

Well, what do you think? Is it ok, or should I just scrap the whole thing and start over? I'd appreciate some more input on this card.

And while you're commenting, remember I'll be drawing a name from all the comments made during this month for a winner to some blog candy. My Stampin'Up! anniversary is coming up in October and this will be a fun way to share that with my friends. So don't forget to leave comments each day. The more chances you'll have to win goodies!

Good luck,

Sharon

Autumn 411 Sketch Challenge

Hey there! hope you're having a great day today. It's so cold and rainy today that I'm thinking fall again. I had looked at the Stamping 411 sketch on Saturday, but couldn't seem to come up with anything I liked for it. So of course it needed to get poked at again today. I just can't give up on a sketch when it doesn't work for me. For some reason I need to keep poking at it until I get something I like. And after switching stamp sets and papers, I'm happy with the results!

Hope you like it too!

Stamps: Falling Leaves

Cardstock: More Mustard, Soft Suede, Elegant Eggplant, Naturals Ivory cardstock with Autumn Traditions Designer Series Paper

Ink: Elegant Eggplant, Soft Suede, More Mustard, Always Artichoke

Accessories: Big Shot with Perfect Details Texturz Plate, Eggplant Grosgrain Ribbon, Sponge quarters, and Dimensionals

In case you noticed, I'm not posting that supplies are by Stampin'Up! anymore, because that's usually all I ever use! If I use something from anyother company, that will be noted. Otherwise, just consider that everything I play with is from Stampin'Up! OK?

To make the backgroung layer a little different, I embossed the cardstock on the diagonal so it would look square on the card instead of diamond shaped and then it was sponged to help the design stand out. Also when stamping the dotted leaves, each color was off-stamped before stamping onto the card. I didn't want the leaves too heavy looking.

Hope you enjoy. I always enjoy your comments and I'm collecting them up for an up-coming drawing! Won't that be cool?! So keep commenting, and I'll keep collecting!

Sharon

A Beary Fine Sunday

Hi there! Glad you're back visiting. I had set aside my stamping time this afternoon to play with my new bears - love these little guys!! Have you seen much done using them yet? I haven't noticed anything, and these bears are just too cute to ignore. I thought I'd check out the Stamping 411 blog for a layout idea, but it didn't want to work for this stamp set. So that's on the back burner for another day, or maybe later today. I promised my bears I'd play with them today, and I just couldn't 'bear' to disappoint them! Oh, that was really bad - sorry. :-)

The first card I made was with the little girl bear and it turned into a smaller size card - 4 1/4 square. She just looked so cute that I had to give her a flower to hold and add a border of flowers to match. While watercoloring, I seemed to get a rather dark stripe in her dress, so I went with the idea and added more stripes. Do you like how it turned out? It was easy to load a little ink on the AquaPainter and make a stroke down and then another beside it without re-loading. Then load the brush again and make two strokes again, and so on. How simple is that for adding a striped look to clothing?

Stamps: Beary Best Friends and Beary Nice Wishes

Cardstock: Regal Rose, Apricot Appeal, and Whisper White

Ink: Basic Brown, Creamy Caramel, Close to Cocoa, Regal Rose, Apricot Appeal

Accessories: AquaPainter, White Gel Pen, Regal Rose Wide Grosgrain and Apricot Appeal Narrow Grosgrain Ribbons, Soft Subtle Mini Brads, and Dimensionals

This little guy was stamped up next. I sure wish I had him when I was making a baby card for Brooks (grand-nephew). This would have been a perfect card for him. The colors are bright and cheery and the bear adorable. What more could you ask a new baby card to be? But instead, I added some get well wishes to him to brighten someone's day.

Stamps: Bear Best Friends and Teeny Tiny Wishes

Cardstock: Tempting Turquoise, Gable Green, Only Orange, and Whisper White

Ink: Basic Brown, Tempting Turquoise, Gable Green, Only Orange, Close to Cocoa, Creamy Caramel, and Going Gray

Accessories: AquaPainter, Stamp-a-ma-jig (to line up the balloons), Sponge quarter, Pumpkin Pie Striped Grosgrain Ribbon, and Dimensionals

It's hard to see on the second card, but there is turquoise ink lightly sponged on the background for the sky. Also, I used Going Gray to do some outlining on the left side of the bear and balloons. Again, rather hard to see, but it adds to the finished look of the card in person.

Well, that's it for my little bears today. Hope you enjoyed them. If you don't have them yet, I think you're gonna wanna get 'em as they would say in Boyd's Bear Country. If you do have them, time to get them out for a little play time. They've been cooped up too long!

And, if you'd like to have a Build-A-Bear Workshop with me, let's get started! It'll be fun to make your own bear cards and scrap pages to take home. The B-A-B-W Dies and Designer Papers are on their way to my house right now and are wanting to play. We can even make magnetic dress-up bears! Ready?? My house or yours??

Have a blessed Sunday!

Sharon

Daisy Wedding Card

Today I have a lovely card to share with you that makes your Big Shot shine! The longer I have it and use it, I can't imagine how I spent all those years stamping without it! To me, it has become a necessity! The dies are so very versatile and so easy to use. It seems like I can find a use for the Big Shot on almost every card I make!! Watch out! Hold me back! It's invading all my cards and ideas!!

I believe I saw the inspiration for this card on Andrea Walford's blog. I went looking for it again and couldn't find it right off, so don't quote me on that. The colors are soft and have an elegant look to them, so they would be perfect for a wedding card.

All stamps and materials by Stampin'Up!

Stamps: En Francais, and Short & Sweet

Cardstock: Baja Breeze (retired), Very Vanilla, So Saffron, and Old Olive

Ink: Baja Breeze (retired), So Saffron

Accessories: Scallop Edge Punch, Large Oval and Scallop Oval Punches, Big Shot with Flower Daisies #2 Die, and Swirly Decorative Strip Die, Round Ice Rhinestone Brads, Kiwi Kiss/Vanilla Satin Ribbon (retired), Sponge quarter, and Dimensionals

Isn't the large daisy gorgeous? I love the alternating layers of colors. Using the Bone Folder to curl each petal really makes the whole image just pop! And the swirly vines just adds so much. It's so pretty I almost hate to give this card away. No, no! I can't be selfish and keep all my favorites for myself. Just what am I going to do with them all?!? LOL

Hope you have a Big Shot too! Aren't they wonderful to work with and so versatile? If you'd like your own Big Shot, I'd be happy to help you get one. Plus I'll give you one of the Sizzlits Dies on the top of page 106 Free when you purchase your Big Shot through me. Contact me for details. Soon you'll be adding Big Shot touches to all your creations too!

Happy Stampin'

Sharon

ps - don't forget to leave me your comments. I'll be explaining later.....

Pals Color Challenge

Ok, I'm back for the second time today. I ran across another new sketch and challenge blog and couldn't resist doing another post to share with you. It's called Pals Paper Arts and this week they have a color challenge. The colors to work with are Brocade Blue, Crushed Curry, and Ruby Red. So I pulled the cardstock colors out and thought they'd work up easily. And maybe they would have if I had picked different stamps and layout idea. It seemed to be hard to get the right amounts of the different colors to work. I'm still not sure that I like this card, but I've run out of ways to change it up.


Stamps: Pun Fun and Priceless
Cardstock: Brocade Blue, Ruby Red, Crushed Curry, Naturals Ivory, and Very Vanilla
Ink: Stazon Jet Black, Brocade Blue, Crushed Curry, and Ruby Red Pads, and Pumpkin Pie Marker
Accessories: AquaPainter, Word Window Punch, Rich Regals Mini Brads, Dimensionals, and Bluebird Grosgrain Ribbon (retired)

Well, not totally wonderful, but maybe somebody would like this card. Guess I needed to try again. I stayed with the same main stamp set, but switched up the image and the layout of the card. What do you think about the second try?!

This is a tri-fold or gate-fold card with a center strip overlapping both sides of the front. The second picture shows the center opening much better. Now this card worked up so much better, and I'm so much happier with it!! It really is kinda cute! Wouldn't you love to get this in the mail when you're having a down day? It'd brighten you right up! And it was fun to make too. Give it a try!

Stamps: Pun Fun and Sanded
Cardstock: Naturals Ivory, Brocade Blue, Ruby Red, Crushed Curry, and Very Vanilla
Ink: Stazon Jet Black, Brocade Blue, Crushed Curry, Ruby Red, and Close to Cocoa
Accessories: AquaPainter, Flower Trio Punch, 1/4" Circle Punch, Sponge quarter, Mat Pack and Piercing Tool, Black Gingham Ribbon, and Dimensionals

I find it absolutely fascinating how you can use the same set, same colors, and come up with something totally different! I guess that's one of the things I find so wonderful about stamping! There's an infinite array of colors and ideas out there that can be constantly rearranged into something totally fun and new. How can you not love a craft that lets you create everyday and still not run out of ideas???

Whoa! I was getting just a teensy weensie bit carried away there. ;-) But I really do love being part of the greatest stamp company in the world. If you've ever thought about becoming a demonstrator, I'd love you to join my team of wonderful ladies. If you're interested, I can send you out some information right away. How about it??

Happy stampin' and God bless your weekend. Have a safe one...
Sharon

Scenic Christmas Card

I am having such a great time making Christmas cards now. There's no pressure and the deadline is so far down the road that I can really enjoy making them and coming up with different ideas. So much nicer than what I usually do - start sometime after Dec. 1st and finish and get in the mail hopefully before Christmas! How about you? What's your card-making schedule look like? Are you done already?!? If you are, don't gloat too much, ok?

This card is so my style. It's going in the pile to make multiples for mailing. It's so clean and crisp, it reminds me of crisp winter days after a fresh snowfall. With just a touch of glitter for some bling and a red brad for pop, it's just right!

All stamps and materials by Stampin'Up!

Stamps: Scenic Season, and Many Merry Messages, and God Bless 2 for the Bible verse(retired)

Cardstock: Old Olive, Real Red, and Very Vanilla

Ink: Always Artichoke

Accessories: Circle Scissors Plus, Word Window Punch, Bold Brights Mini Brads, 2-way Glue Pen, Dazzling Diamonds Glitter

Seems like I'm really giving that Circle Scissors a workout lately. It all started with one little circle, but then I had the extra 'hole'. When I used the 'hole' on this card, I really needed another 'hole' to work with. So then I had an extra circle. So.... What a funny way to make yourself use up those scraps! Except with circles, it never really ends! I still have extra circles and 'holes' left to play with. Wonder what will be next???

Leave a comment on what you think I should do with them. You never know when your idea might just be a winner!

Winner, did you say????

Yes, stay tuned (and leave your comments!). There will be a post about an up-coming drawing soon. And you sure wouldn't want to miss out on winning a freebie, would you?

Check in tomorrow for another great idea and more info on the drawing.

Happy stampin'

Sharon

Mojo Monday with Variations

My favorite thing to do on Monday mornings is going to check out the Mojo Monday Blog to see what's the new sketch for the week. This week was no exception. I even got started on the sketch too. Then I seemed to run into problems, so I started another. Then another! Three days later and the 3rd try on this sketch, and it still doesn't have all the elements as shown on the sketch. Oh well, I'm happy with this one, so this is it for this week! I'm adding the sketch here so we can discuss the changes I made.

When you look at both pictures, you see mine doesn't have two elements on the side as shown. One of the elements was changed to the ribbon instead. Also, the 3 brads were moved from the left up onto the photo corner. With the flower-print background, it all looked way too busy to have all the elements on the left side like that. Hopefully I won't be banned from the Mojo Monday blog because of my disregard for following the sketch. :-( But I did try my best, and really like the new version. What's your verdict? (You might want to leave a message, because I have something in the works!)

Looking at this card again, I'm thinking it would be great for a cheery get well card. Think I'll make a couple extra while I've got everything out!

All stamps and materials by Stampin' Up!

Stamps: Fun & Fast Notes, A Little Birthday Cheer
Cardstock: So Saffron, Real Red, Bashful Blue, and Whisper White with Cutie Pie Designer Series Paper (retired)

Ink: Stazon Jet Black, So Saffron, Bashful Blue, Real Red, Certainly Celery, and Sahara Sand

Accessories: Circle Scissors Plus, Black Gingham Ribbon, Vintage Brads (black), Photo Corner Punch, Mat Pack and Piercing Tool, AquaPainter, and Dimensionals

It's too bad that SU! retired this DSP paper because it's so cheery and fun. It always brightens my outlook when I use it, and hope it will brighten someone's day when they receive it! Hope you get inspired with my take on the Mojo Monday sketch this week. Try it yourself and let me know how your's turns out.

Happy creative stampin!

Sharon

Buggy Today, Worm Tomorrow

Seems today is just a little buggy - actually that was really yesterday. I needed to make a child's birthday card and was trying to think about what an eight year old boy would like. Perusing my stamp wall, I found all kinds of flowers and flowery sayings, but not much that had any boyish appeal. Then my wandering eyes lit on my buggy stamp set. Just the ticket! We were off and running so to speak!

Awhile back, I had seen a cute background someone had made using lots of circles in 3 main colors that were then used throughout the card. I thought that idea would work for this card too, since I had nothing else for that layer. I chose Crushed Curry, Ruby Red, and Old Olive, and the rest is history.

All stamps and materials by Stampin'Up!

Stamps: Cute As A Bug, Delightful Decorations
Cardstock: Whisper White, Ruby Red, Crushed Curry, and Old Olive

Ink: Crushed Curry, Ruby Red, and Old Olive

Accessories: Summer Sun Corduroy Button, Old Olive Grosgrain Ribbon, Distressing Tool, Mat Pack and Piercing Tool, and Dimensionals

What do you think? Does is work for a little boy? Making things for boys is not something I do very often and find myself at a loss most times.

I thought the parade of bugs on the inside of the card would be a cute idea. I'm still working on the possibility of the worm carrying a HB banner. Would that work???

Hope you're having a great day today and turn those things that 'bug' you into a card! I'll try to get some ideas set up to post tonight, as I'll be doing jury duty starting tomorrow. Doesn't that sound like fun?! Oh well, off to enjoy my day stamping. Hope you can too!

Sharon