Stamp Happy

Many Thanks!

The girls at the store worked extra hard last week helping me prep for the whole Copic weekend, and during all the events, so I wanted to give them all a little something to let them know how much I appreciated their hard work.  One of the shops in the complex where our store is located is having a clearance sale, and I was lucky enough to get a bunch of these Yankee candle samplers for 50% off today!  They're just perfect for my little thank you's!  (The big one in the back is for Brenda, my co-manager!)  I stamped this little thank you tag using an old Gina K set in Bahama Blue Memento ink.  Then I cut out the circles with some punches and Nestabilities, tied on some May Arts ribbon, and added a handwritten thank you on the back of the tag!  Easy peezy!

Hope you're having a great Friday!

Color Throwdown #45

Cathy is our hostess this week for the Color Throwdown, and she has chosen some bright, fun colors for you to try!  Remember, you don't have to use these exact colors, just whatever you have that is similar.  I myself did not have any Green Galore, and very little Pink Passion, so I substituted some Mint Bo Bunny Double-Dot paper, and used Pixie Pink instead.  See what I mean... just use whatever is close!  Post a direct link to your creation on the Throwdown blog (we're working on getting Mr. Linky back!), and if you upload to an online gallery be sure to use CTD45 in your tag!

For my card, I used this adorable Whipper Snapper image that Danielle sent me.  She's such an enabler... this one is going on my shopping list for sure!

Stop by the blogs of the Throwdown designers for more awesome creations! 

Cathy
Barbara
Danielle
LeAnne
Broni

I can't wait to see what you create!  Thanks for stopping by!

Stamps:  Turtle with Frog (Whipper Snapper), sentiment (Hero Arts)
Cardstock:  Pixie Pink, Chocolate Chip (Stampin' Up!), designer paper (Bo Bunny), white (Neenah Classic Crest Solar White)
Inks:  Memento Tuxedo Black, Versamagic Jumbo Java (Tsukineko), markers (Copic)
Accessories:  ribbon (May Arts), Nestabilities (Spellbinders), glitter (Stampin' Up!).

Bellarific Friday and Stamp Simply #89

Emily posted another fabulous Bellarific challenge this week with a fabulous card sketch.  I didn't get my card completed in time to send to her for her blog post, but I've got it here for you to see!  I was showing one of the girls at the store today how to color with Copics and she chose Matilda Muffinbread for me to demonstrate with, so here she is!  After Mary left for the day, I finished my card up while I was working behind the register this evening.  I wish so much that I could take photographs that show the sparkle on cards, but I just can't ever seem to get it right.  I used my clear Spica glitter pen on her wings and cupcake frosting but it's not showing up in my picture.  :(

While I still had some of the cardstock, flowers and paper scraps laying around, I quickly whipped out this card for Sharon Johnson's Stamp Simply challenge today, too!  Sharon's challenge for today is to show that Spring has sprung by filling cyberspace with the fragrance of beautiful flowers!  That's all... just incorporate some of your favorite flowers into your creation!  I just love using flowers on my projects, although I never feel like I have just the right one sometimes.  This flower is actually from Hero Arts Summer Art Flowers, and I just LOVE the vibrant colors this pack comes with!

Check out Sharon's fabulous creation on her blog, and stop by the blogs of the other Stamp Simply designers for more inspiration!

Julie Koerber
Jennifer Buck
Janine Orchard
Becky Oehlers
AJ Otto

Deb Saaranen

Barbara Anders, May Guest Designer

It's going to be an exciting weekend at Toyrifix, so you most likely won't hear from me again until Monday with my card for Kitchen Sink Monday, and the Copic Creations challenge!  Sally Lynn MacDonald flies in tonight, and will be at the store bright and early tomorrow to teach classes for my customers!  She's teaching two Copic 101 classes, and a Prima Card Buffet class!  I can't wait to see what she does in the Prima class, as a lot of the supplies I ordered that she uses in the class are not things I am highly familiar with, so I'm really anxious to see these projects!  Then on Sunday, Sally Lynn teaches the Copic Certification, and there are 32 people registered for that!  I'm looking forward to an incredibly fun, stamping weekend!

Hope your Friday is wonderful!  Thanks for stopping by!

Bella Card

Stamps:  Matilda Muffinbread, sentiment (Stamping Bella)
Cardstock:  Rose, Leapfrog (Bazzill), white (Neenah Classic Crest Solar White), green designer paper (Paper Salon), pink designer paper (Bo Bunny)
Inks:  Memento Tuxedo Black, Rose Bud (Tsukineko), markers (Copic)
Accessories:  flowers, pearls (Hero Arts), Nestabilities (Spellbinders), Cuttlebug embossing border (ProvoCraft), ribbon (Creative Impressions).

Thanks Card
Stamps:  sentiment, dragonfly (Hero Arts)
Cardstock:  Leapfrog, Green Tea, Cantaloupe (Bazill), designer paper (Paper Salon)
Inks:  marker to ink stamp (Tombow #098)

Accessories:  flower (Hero Arts), ribbon (Creative Impressions), Nestabilities (Spellbinders), Cuttlebug Swiss Dots embossing folder (ProvoCraft).

Stampin' Out Alzheimers - Making Memories

The big event has finally arrived!  The challenges have begun at the Stampin' Out Alzheimers website, and you do not want to miss all the fun and fabulous prizes!  If you haven't registered and made a minimum $5 donation (which will go 100% to the Alzheimers Association!) you can do so by clicking on the yellow "give" button in the Stampin' Out Alzheimers box on the left sidebar of my blog.  It'll take a little while to approve your membership, and then you're in!  This has been a true labor of love for Jen Tapler, and she's been buried under a ton of work to make this event happen, so don't panic if you don't get instant approval.

The Kitchen Sink Stamps Crew is sponsoring a challenge for this event!  With Alzheimers affecting a persons memory, and this being Memorial Day, we thought a fitting challenge would be remembering those who've touched our hearts.  Create a card, project or scrapbook page to... remember someone you love who is far away, remembering someone you love at a younger age, or in memory of someone you love are just a few examples of what you can do.  You'll see from my project that I've chosen to create something for my Mom to remember an event!

Stop by the Kitchen Sink Blog to see all the inspirational samples from the Crew Members!  When you have your entry completed, upload it to the Stampin' Out Azheimers site, using kss4soa as the "tag" so that all the entries can be put into the same album for viewing!  It's not necessary to use Kitchen Sink Stamps for this challenge, but if you've got 'em we'd love to see what you can do with them!  You have until midnight EST on Sunday, May 31st to complete and enter the challenge.  One random winner of this challenge will win "Everything BUT the Kitchen Sink!"  This prize will contain at least one Kitchen Sink Stamps set, plus some other goodies from the Kitchen Sink Store for a value of at least $75.00!!!

Many of you remember that two weeks ago, my family left early in the morning and drove 3 hours to surprise my Mom at church for Mother's Day!  So for my "Memory" project today, I used the photo taken of all of us at church, and created this frame for my Mom using a sentiment from the 3-Step Daisy stamp set, and my 3-Step Pansy stamp set.  My Grandma Frances' very favorite flower was always the pansy, and therefore my Mom is pretty fond of them, too.  She always plants them at Grandma's grave each Spring, so I know she'll love the little scattering of pansies on this frame.

So, I hope you'll set aside some stamping time for yourself this week, and join in the fun and challenges at the Stampin' Out Alzheimers site!  It's so awesome that even before the event began, we surpassed the goal of raising $2500, so many, many, MANY thanks to all of you for helping to make that happen!  A new goal of $5000 has been set, so let's see what we can do to reach higher!

Any questions about the activities on the site, please don't hesitate to shoot me an email and I'll do what I can to get you some answers!

Stamps:  3-Step Pansy, sentiment from 3-Step Daisy (Kitchen Sink Stamps)
Cardstock:  Velvet (Bazzill), designer paper (Bo Bunny)
Inks:  Lavendar Lace, Vintage Violet, Elegant Eggplant, Summer Sun, Marigold Morning, So Saffron, More Mustard, Mellow Moss, Always Artichoke (Stampin' Up!), Versafine Onyx Black (Tsukineko).

Card Buffet

I set up another Card Buffet at the store this week, just like the ones I had back in January and February so I thought I'd quickly share the cards that my customers are making.  I had a full house of ladies on Tuesday night, and have another full house for this coming Saturday!  Since there are so many pictures, I'm not going to list any details.  However, feel free to ask any questions in a comment and  I'll answer you as soon as I can!

Two minor notes... the "Sending you a cup of cheer" card with the coffee cup was a design idea I saw on Jan Tink's blog.  And the "You are in our prayers" card with the cross was CASE'd from Silke Ledlow on the Our Daily Bread Designs design team!

Color Throwdown #42

Another Wednesday and it's time for another Color Throwdown!  I hope you'll take time to join us this week!  LeAnne chose our colors this week.... I believe she was inspired by some Basic Grey designer paper, as you'll see if you check out some of the other designers cards!  LOL  Stop by the Throwdown blog for all the challenge details, and to leave a direct link to your creation on Mr. Linky!

For my card, I chose to use this yellow Bo Bunny Double-Dot paper for the background, making this card very bright and sunny!  This card is actually already on it's way to someone... I know she'll be surprised when it arrives!  :)  This is another new Whipper Snapper image that I got recently at the Adventures in Stamping convention.  I just LOVE these cute images!  I think it's time to see if I can carry their stamps at the store!  The sentiment is from Stampendous, and is one of the very first rubber stamps I ever owned!

Check out the creations from the other Throwdown designers, including our Guest Designer for today.... my super-awesome friend Darlene Pavlick!

Darlene
LeAnne
Broni
Cathy
Barbara
Danielle

And don't forget to check out Barbara's fabulous Stamping Idol entry for this week, and take a second to cast a vote for her here!

Thanks for stopping by today, and happy Wednesday!

Stamps:  Cat & Bird (Whipper Snapper), sentiment (Stampendous)

Cardstock:  Black OP (Bazzill), Tempting Turquoise (Stampin' Up!), Mellow Yellow Double-Dot cardstock (Bo Bunny), white (Neenah Classic Crest Solar White)
Inks:  Memento Tuxedo Black, Versafine Onyx Black (Tsukineko), markers (Copic)
Accessories:  brads, ticket corner punch (Stampin' Up!), ribbon (May Arts).

Catch Up!

Hey everyone!  I told you I had a divine day off on Monday, and got some challenge cards done that I was saving to share with you today so here you go!

First for you to see is Susie Squirrel!  Susie is a digital image from Digital Stamp Oasis!  Ellie had actually asked me to join her team about 6 weeks ago, and shortly after that our family decided to take in our German exchange student!  With all the activity surrounding Anne's stay with us, I never got to formally announce my new design team commitment!  So, please meet Susie and be sure to stop by the DSO Etsy shop to see more of the fun images available!  Kelsey was sitting in my stamp room with me last night and helped me pick the colors for this card.  I'm totally surprised, but Kelsey has decided she wants to try out for 7th grade cheerleader next year, so I think I might save this card to give her when the tryout day arrives!

The next thing I had on my agenda this past Monday was the Cupcake Challenge #66 at Taylored Expressions!  I always love Taylor's sketches, but never seemed to find the time to fit them in to my weekend stamping.  But on Monday, I succeeded!  Here's my Cuppycake Huggabugg birthday card!  I just love how this turned out, and as luck would have it this card also works for the Bellarific Challenge this week to make a birthday card!  Woo hoo!  Double-challenge!

Finally, I decided to make some time on Monday to participate in the challenge from the girls on the DRS Designs blog!  My good friend Cathy is a huge asset to the DRS team, and I really wanted to give one of their challenges a try.  This week's challenge is to use your favorite technique, so I chose to do Cracked Glass.  This is something I don't do very often, but I just love the finished results, and thought it would be perfect on this cross trio stamp from DRS.  Our Pastor's mother actually passed away last weekend and so I needed a sympathy card to send.  Normally, I would think that these colors might be a little too bright for a sympathy card but once I had it all together I decided it was OK.  My family liked it, too!

So that's all for now!  Stay tuned for an awesome Stamp Simply challenge tomorrow and have a great day!

 

No supply list today, but if you have any question just leave it in a comment or shoot me a quick email!

Color Throwdown #41

First... a few housekeeping items!

Over a week ago I directed you to the blog of my friend Joan Fricker and asked for prayers for her cousin Mel, who was suffering from the effects of a brain aneurysm that was discovered just days after she gave birth to her third child.  Well, it would appear that God is working a miracle in the life of this young woman, as there are some encouraging signs in her recovery!  Please visit Joan's blog for a recent update, and continue to keep Mel in your prayers!

AND, my wonderful friend Barbara Anders is in the FINAL FOUR of the Stamping Idol contest being sponsored by My Favorite Things!  I want to see her go all the way to the top!  Be sure to take time today to check out her awesome contest submission for this week here, and stop by this forum to cast your vote for her!

NOW, on to the Throwdown!  Danielle is our hostess this week, and she picked this fun color combo for you to try!  I had a GREAT time with it, coloring this sweet little Whipper Snapper image that I picked up at the recent Adventures in Stamping Convention in Akron!

Isn't Sofia a cutie with her kitty in the wagon?  She's bringing a pot of flowers to her Mommy for Mother's Day, I think!

Stop by the Throwdown blog for all the challenge details, and see what the other Throwdown girls have created by visiting their blogs!

Danielle Kennedy
LeAnne Pugliese
Broni Holcombe
Cathy Indelicato
Barbara Anders

My day off on Monday was divine and I got a LOT of stamping done!  I'll have several things to show you tomorrow, so please come back again!  Happy Wednesday!

 

Stamps:  Sofia (Whipper Snapper Designs), sentiment (Taylored Expressions)
Cardstock:  Riding Hood Red, Certainly Celery, Baja Breeze, designer paper (Stampin' Up!), white (Neenah Classic Crest Solar White)
Inks:  Memento Tuxedo Black, Versafine Onyx Black (Tsukineko), markers (Copic)
Accessories:  Threading Water border punch (Fiskars), Nestabilities (Spellbinders), ribbon (Bo Bunny).

Copic Creations Challenge #3

(* If you're looking for my Stamp Simply challenge post, click here!)

Today is May 1st and so that brings another challenge from the Copic Creations team!  For our challenge today, we'd like to see you color some beautiful lilacs or other purple flowers!  Visit the Copic Creations Challenge blog for all the details, and to see some wonderful inspiration from all the team members!

AND one random participant in today's challenge is going to have a chance to win a stamp set from Kitchen Sink Stamps!  Those of you that follow my blog know that Kitchen Sink is famous for their multi-step image stamps.  Well Maria recently designed a cute stamp set called Nesting Dolls, and it's actually the first set ever from Kitchen Sink that can be colored!  So I asked, and she generously agreed to donate that stamp set to one lucky person that participates in challenge #3!  So go find yourself a lilac branch stamp, or other flower stamp and bring on the color purple!  Let's see what you've got!

I did not have a lilac stamp to use, as my customers recently cleaned me out of this fabulous lilac stamp from Impression Obsession.  So I turned to some pansies from Great Impressions for my card!  I really wanted to be able to make the centers of the pansies with that vibrant yellow that you always see with beautiful pansies, and I hope you'll agree that I did a pretty good job of achieving that!

I Googled a pansy image to help with my coloring, and also took some advice from Marianne on the Copic blog on feather blending.  I didn't quite do what Marianne recommends, but her tutorial helped me a lot in knowing what I wanted to do to achieve this look!  I am so pleased with how this turned out, and I hope you are, too!  Please let me know what you think!

Be sure to stop by the blogs of the rest of the Copic Challenge designers, and show them some purple-flower love!

Mary Giemza (our tireless leader!)
Suzanne Dean (and wish her a happy birthday, and fun in VEGAS!)
Jane Wetzel (who I got to meet this past week!)
Claudia Rosa
Jami Bova
Jodi Lee
Karen Witter

Happy stamping, and thanks for stopping by!  I appreciate your visits so much!

 

Stamps:  pansies (Great Impressions), sentiment (Verve)
Cardstock:  Lovely Lilac, Cool Caribbean, Almost Amethyst (Stampin' Up!), white (Neenah Classic Crest Solar White), designer paper (Bo Bunny)
Inks:  Memento Tuxedo Black, Versafine Onyx Black (Tsukineko), markers - BV13, BV17, BV31, Y15, YG11, YG63, YG67, BG10, 0 (Copic)
Accessories:  Nestabilities (Spellbinders), brads (Doodlebug), Threading Water punch (Fiskars), ribbon (craft supply).

Pink and Chocolate Ketto

Hey everyone, I'm back!  Life is resuming normal activity in the Hershberger house (except for the head cold that Kaylie and I both are suffering from!) as Anne returned home to Germany yesterday.  So I'm back in the stamping groove!

I made this card for the Bellarific Friday challenge on the Stamping Bella blog.  I got it sent in a little too late, but that's OK... I had time to stamp and that's what is important!  ;)  I also used Jen's Sketch for You to Try for the layout.  It's changed up just slightly as her sketch called for an oval, and I had already cut cute little Lulu Ketto out in a circle before I looked at the sketch.  I wanted to use my pinking circle Nestabilities around the circle instead of scallops because the Ketto's are more funky and edgy!  Isn't she sweet!  I was excited to find this vintage-y button in my stash too, to add for the embellishment!  It reminds me of Depression glass!

Stay tuned, as tomorrow I'll be rejoining Sharon Johnson and her awesome team for the Stamp Simply challenges!  Oh, it feels so good to be back to my obsession!  If only I could stop coughing my head off, life would be grand!

Here's a quick picture taken at the airport yesterday before Anne headed for her gate!  I heard from her earlier today and she's home safe and sound, and very busy filling all her friends and family in on her experience in America!  I hope our boring family didn't end up being a disappointment to her, and that she truly enjoyed her stay!

 

Stamps:  Lulu Ketto, sentiment (Stamping Bella)
Cardstock:  Mocha Divine (Bazzill), Pink Pirouette (Stampin' Up!), white (Neenah Classic Crest Solar White), designer paper (Bo Bunny)
Inks:  Memento Tuxedo Black, Versamagic Jumbo Java (Tsukineko), markers (Copic)
Accessories:  Nestabilities (Spellbinders), ribbon, button (craft supply).