Stamp Happy

Funky Birds

Here's a card I actually made yesterday morning before I left for work.  I got it done, and brought it to work with me thinking I'd take my picture and upload once I got there because the light from the window is always so good at my desk.  One problem, though... it's hard to take a picture at work when the camera is sitting at home!  *smacking forehead*  So, this one had to wait until today for uploading!

I just love how this turned out!  Those funky birds in the background paper are just too silly, and went perfectly with my images from Cornish Heritage Farms!  I made this card using the sketch from Card Positioning Systems #87, and the Color Inspiration challenge from KWernerDesignBlog.

I couldn't really decide where to put a sentiment on the front.  Nothing seemed to fit anywhere, so I put it on the inside along with a few more of the funky birds!  I actually had an idea after I had this photographed for something else on the inside.  I might add it, and retake the picture, so stay tuned!

I hope you have a wonderful FRIDAY!!!  My week has been a long one, and I have to work tomorrow too so I hope today goes quickly!  I have a Copic Marker demonstration from 2:00 - 4:00 at the store today, so if you're in Northeast Ohio head on over to Toyrifix today and say HI!

Happy stamping!

   

Stamps:  Pretty Birds, The Landing Pad (Kim Hughes collection for Cornish Heritage Farms)
Cardstock:  Riding Hood Red, Chocolate Chip, Barely Banana (Stampin' Up!), designer paper (Pink Paislee)
Inks:  Momento Rich Cocoa (Tsukineko), markers (Copic)
Accessories:  twill ribbon (Creative Impressions), brads (Gary Burlin), Swiss Dots Cuttlebug folder (ProvoCraft), red Baker's String (Martha Stewart).

Caramel Apple Kit

For my New Product Showcase at the store last week, I wanted to create a few projects for displays.  When I saw this Caramel Apple Kit several weeks ago on Michelle Wooderson's blog, I knew I was going to have to create my own version of it for the Showcase.

Inside this little pail is a pretty fall apple, and a little individual serving of caramel apple dip!  YUM!  I LOVE that stuff!  We could buy that in bulk at my house this time of year!

For the pail topper, I used the Baking Stamp Ensemble from Just Rite Stampers, and to make the "Caramel Apple Kit" words, I used the small letter set.  This apple stamp from Kim Hughes' Making the Grade stamp set from Cornish Heritage Farms was perfect for this project, and the words fit perfectly inside it!

 

I used the Nestabilities to cut out the scallops and circles for the lid of the pail, and used Bazzill cardstock and papers from Scribble Scrabble.  (Sorry for the blurry picture on this one... just couldn't get the camera to cooperate with me!)

This was so fun to make, and I'm sure thankful for all the cute ideas Michelle comes up with on her blog, as this was a perfect display item on Thursday night!

By the way, I'd like to take a moment to thank Feedblitz for NOT sending out a feed on my post yesterday!  I don't know why, but I'm assuming it never went out as I usually receive one too, and didn't.  If you want to see my Color Throwdown card from yesterday, you can click here.  I was really pleased with how it turned out, so I'd love to know what you think, too!

And if you'd like to see some of the other things that were made at the Toyrifix New Product Showcase last week, you can click here for the Stampendous projects, and click here for the Just Rite Stampers projects. 

Thanks for stopping by!

Another Color Throwdown (almost!)

On the Color Throwdown team, we pick out our colors combos for each week as far in advance as possible so that anyone who wants to work ahead can do so.  So I actually chose the colors for today's challenge about 2-3 weeks ago.  Imagine my surprise when I check out the Color Challenge on SCS yesterday and saw how similar they were!  Emily and I must be on the same wavelength or something!  Since I already had some Kiwi Kiss and Tangerine Tango papers laying out, and had thought about using this flowered paper on my Throwdown card I decided to do the SCS Sketch Challenge today and make a quick card!

I'm pleased with how it turned out, but I think it's missing something.  I should have done a row of piercing across the top or added some dew drops or something!  Maybe I should just make my watermark darker across the top, then no one will notice that lonely space!  LOL

Thanks for stopping by!  Have a great day!

 

Stamps:  The Landing Pad, Pretty Birds (Kim Hughes collection for Cornish Heritage Farms)
Cardstock:  Tangerine Tango, Kiwi Kiss (Stampin' Up!), Mocha Divine (Bazzill), designer paper (Fancy Pants)
Inks:  Momento Rich Cocoa (Tsukineko), markers to color bird (Copic)
Accessories:  Cuttlebug Birds and Swirls embossing folder (ProvoCraft), Nestabilities die-cut label (Spellbinders), olive brads, Kiwi Kiss ribbon (Stampin' Up!)

Featured Stamper

Over on Splitcoaststampers there are tons of really nice ladies, but one that always stands out in my mind is Liz/lazylizard!  She's always so sweet, and is quick to comment on everyone's cards no matter who you are!  Yesterday, she finally got recognized for her cute designs and her wonderful spirit by being honored as the Featured Stamper!

I chose this card from her gallery to CASE, and this is my version!  I used my new designer paper from Scribble Scrabble for this design, and I love those papers more everytime I use them!  Anyone coming to the Stamping Workshop at Toyrifix on October 9th will get to use them too, as well as see them being used on a few projects!

I have a busy Monday ahead of me, so I'd best get it in gear!  Have a great week everyone, and thanks for stopping by!

 

 

 

Stamps:  Making the Grade (Kim Hughes collection for Cornish Heritage Farms)
Cardstock:  Lava, Honeycomb (Bazzill), Natural Ivory, Chocolate Chip (Stampin' Up!), designer paper (Scribble Scrabble)
Inks:  Versafine Onyx Black (Tsukineko)
Accessories:  1" circle punch (EK Success), twill ribbon (Creative Impressions)

Stamp Simply #52 - Cuddle Up with.... ME!

We're finishing off this wonderful week-long celebration of Sharon's 1-year blog anniversary (last Friday) and the 1-year anniversary today of the Stamp Simply Challenges!  Two weeks ago, we went "Red Hot with Julie" with Stamp Simply team member Julie Koerber's design work featured.  Last week we went "Dancin' with Dee" as Sharon and the team members used Dee Jackson's designs as inspiration!  Today, I get to be your inspiration and you get to "Cuddle Up with Tammy!"  (My hubby's favorite thing to do!  Just kidding!)  When looking through my designs, Sharon decided that she saw a lot of cuddly, down-home comfort in my work... machine stitching, use of laces, ribbons and rick-rack and small patterned papers combined with solid papers for backgrounds.  Often I use my Cuttlebug embossing folders, too (but didn't today!)  So I'm thrilled to say that your challenge for today is to use ME as inspiration!

Here are a few samples that you might find inspiring...

Just Because 1

Foreground/Background

Sketches #56

Distressed Flowers

Coffee with Friends

Just Because 2

 

And here is my card for today!  I pulled out one of my favorite Kim Hughes sets to stamp my flowers using markers to color the rubber.  And I just got this pretty paper yesterday from Scribble Scrabble (my new favorite paper company!)  I thought it would be very appropriate for today's challenge since my use of patterned paper was one thing that stood out to Sharon.  This layout with a criss-cross background has become a stand-by for me, and I just love stitching around the edges using what I'm calling a "silly stitch!"  I found this velvety rick-rack in my ribbon jar and thought it was also a good choice for today. 

So, I hope you like my card and I hope you find something in my work to inspire you today!  I'm so excited and can't wait to see what you create!  Remember, if you upload to Splitcoaststampers, please use the keywords ssnotime52, and link your card back to Sharon's blog, too!

 

For complete challenge details, and her fabulous cuddly card, please check out Sharon's blog.  Samples from the other wonderful Stamp Simply team members can be seen by clicking their blog links below.  (Links will be updated and in red print as they become available.)

Julie Koerber

Dee Jackson

Jennifer Buck

Janine Orchard

Becky Oehlers

Stayed tuned for the announcement of the winner of the Stamp Simply Celebration Blog Candy #5 (the new stamp set from My Favorite Things) and also I'll announce who won the Cuttlebug folder today for being comment #3000!

Happy stamping, and THANK YOU for stopping by!

 

Stamps:  Nature's Moments (Kim Hughes design for Cornish Heritage Farms)
Cardstock:  More Mustard, Ruby Red, Very Vanilla (Stampin' Up!), designer paper (Scribble Scrabble)
Inks:  Versamagic Brick Red (Tsukineko), markers (Tombow)
Accessories:  square frame and brads (Stampin' Up!), Nestabilities (Spellbinders), rick rack (Offray).

Color Throwdown #10

It's week #10 of the Color Throwdown challenge, and in recognition of the 7th aniversary of the 9/11 tragedy, the colors for this week are red, white and blue.  I hope you'll find time to participate!  You can check out samples from the team on the Color Throwdown blog, or click the links below for their blogs. 

Cathy Indelicato

LeAnne Pugliese

Kisa Peters

Broni Holcombe

Tracy Durcan

For my card, I decided to use this eagle and "freedom" stamp designed by Kim Hughes at Cornish Heritage Farms.  I actually won these stamps from Kim on her blog some time ago, and had never had a chance to use them so this was a perfect opportunity.  I also used the weekly sketch from Card Positioning Systems for my layout.

Remember, if you participate in the challenge, please be sure to leave a comment with a direct link to your card on the CTD blog so we can check out your creations!  And if you upload to an online gallery, please use CTD10 in your keywords.

Looking forward to your creations!  Thanks for stopping by!

 

Stamps:  Proud Eagle, Freedom (Kim Hughes design for Cornish Heritage Farms)
Cardstock:  Riding Hood Red, Very Vanilla (Stampin' Up!), designer paper (Scenic Route)
Inks:  Adirondack Pitch Black (Ranger), Versafine Onyx Black (Tsukineko), markers (Copic)
Accessories:  Nestabilities (Spellbinders), ribbon (craft supply).

A few challenges... Just Because

There were a few challenges on Splitcoaststampers this past week that I managed to participate in, and here's a card I made combining two of them.  On Monday, the Try a New Technique challenge was faux dry embossing.  I was intrigued, and after seeing some samples from those that participated I had to give it a try!  Doesn't that look cool?  Give it a try... you'll love it!  You'll need a Stamp-a-ma-jig (or whatever stamp positioner you use) for this.  On the challenge thread at SCS the instructions are included with photographs.  Believe me the photographs make it super-easy to understand, so rather than babble my way through explaining how to do this, I highly recommend you just go check out the instructions here!  Just click on the thumbnails in posts #1 and #2 and the instructions are there with the photos.

I also used Wednesday's Sketch challenge for this card!

I hope everyone has a great holiday weekend!  I for one am certainly looking forward to the day off on Monday!  Thanks for stopping by!

Stamps:  Nature Silhouettes (Kim Hughes collection for Cornish Heritage Farms)
Cardstock:  Ruby Red, More Mustard (Stampin' Up!), Mocha Divine (Bazzill), designer paper (Basic Grey)
Inks:  More Mustard (Stampin' Up!), Brilliance Moonlight white, Versamagic Jumbo Java (Tsukineko)
Accessories:  round tab punch (Stampin' Up!), swirl punch (EK Success), flowers, mini rick-rack (Creative Impressions), brads (Gary Burlin), brown ribbon (craft supply).

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*Note to readers... what I'm writing below is a non-stamping related issue with my family.  Just letting you know it's OK to stop reading if you're not interested.

I know there are all kinds of problems in the world that deserve our attention.  People are dying from cancer and other diseases every day, people are starving, children are being abused.  The residents of the Gulf Coast are preparing for another hurricane.  The war in Iraq and many other issues.  My aim here is not to diminish anything or anyone that needs a prayer or support.  However, if you are so inclined... my daughter could use just a little bit of lifting up in prayer.  So far, her high school volleyball career has sucked.  Yes, I said sucked.  I could use a stronger word (and I apologize to those of you that find the word I did use offensive.)  I am talking about a talented, beautiful girl who made the Varsity team as a freshmen.  Kaylie has played JO (Jr. Olympic) volleyball every year since she was in the 5th grade.  You don't even make it on to teams like that if you're not good.  I'm mentioning that because I believe every parent thinks their child is good at what they're doing and it's easy for me to sit here and say "My child is good!" but the facts show that she is.  Now here she is, a sophomore back on the Varsity team... a returning letter-winner.  And in the 2 games her team has played this week, Kaylie played a total of 2 minutes.  I could go in to a LOT more details here but I won't go on a tirade.  It's just highly, highly frustrating.  My daughter should not be coming home from practices and bawling herself into a stupor.  Her coach should not casually dismiss her when Kaylie asks for time to speak with her about her performance.  Suffice it to say, my daughter feels completely defeated.  If you have a moment and are willing, if you could say a little prayer it would be most appreciated.  She needs to see the light at the end... she needs to know that she'll regret it if she quits.... she needs to feel some kind of spirit for the game... she needs to believe that if she works at it, it will get better even though it doesn't appear that way now.  If you put a sample of my daughter's blood under a microscope, I'll bet the little white blood cells look like volleyballs... that's how much she loves this game.  (In the spring though, they'd look like softballs!)  Anyway... I'm sorry to go on.  I just feel the need to unload this and ask for help.  It'd be most appreciated.

Thanks,

Tammy 

A few more cards...

While I still had some Basic Grey paper scraps and other stuff laying out on my table last night I decided to do a quick card for yesterday's Ways to Use It challenge on SCS.  The challenge was to tear your cardstock.  So I pulled out a piece of Double Mates cardstock that I recently picked up and tore the bottom edge.  Can you see the 2 different shades of Aqua that show through when it's torn?  I might have to try that more often... it's such a neat effect.

I also got the latest copy of Take Ten magazine yesterday, and so enjoyed reading the feature article about Kim Hughes!  I've been a big fan of her CHF stamps for a few months now.  They also did a little article about the Kissing technique and how she likes to use that for a lot of her card designs, so I followed an example of hers in the catalog and did that on my bird.  The bird was inked with Versamagic Sea Breeze chalk ink.  Then I inked a swirl stamp from Inkadinkado with Versamagic Jumbo Java ink and stamped it directly onto the bird stamp.  Then I stamped the bird on my pink paper.  How cool does that look?  That's another old technique I'm going to have to remember to try more often!  I also stamped the swirl on my Basic Grey paper to tie everything together.  I don't feel like this card is my usual style, but I'm really pleased with the looks of it!

Now that school has started, my girls leave before 7:00 a.m.  so I have a little stamping time in the mornings (except for on the days that I go back to bed after they leave, but don't tell them that!)  So I made this card this morning for the Limited Supply Challenge on SCS, and this also qualifies for Sharon's Stamp Simply challenge.  Click on the link above to see what the Limited Supply challenge is all about and give it a try today!  It was fun to do!

Hope your day is going great!  I am SO glad it's Friday!  :)

 

 

You're Special card
Stamps:  Pretty Birds (Kim Hughes collection for Cornish Heritage Farms), swirl (Inkadinkado)
Cardstock:  Quartz (Bazzill), Awesome Aqua Double Mates (WorldWin), designer paper (Basic Grey)
Inks:  Versamagic Sea Breeze, Jumbo Java (Tsukineko), Creamy Caramel (Stampin' Up!)
Accessories:  oval and tag Nestabilities (Spellbinders), antique brads (Gary Burlin), ribbon (craft supply).

Happiness Always card
Stamps:  Happy Harmony (Stampin' Up!)
Cardstock:  Confetti Cream, True Thyme, Cameo Coral (Stampin' Up!)
Inks:  True Thyme (Stampin' Up!), Versafine Onyx Black, Versamark (Tsukineko), watercolor crayons (Stampin' Up!)
Accessories:  circle and scalloped circle punches (Uchida), ticket corner punch, clip (Stampin' Up!), ribbon (craft supply).

Sketches by Tamara #58

Here is the sketch for the challenge at the Sketches! by Tamara blog for today!  It's a fun layout, and the designers all had terrific ideas for it!  You can check out all our cards by going directly to the blog.  I hope you'll find time to give it a try today or sometime soon!

I made my card for one of the girls at the store.  Today is her last "official" day of work before she heads off to college.  She's going to stay with us as an employee and plan on working during holiday breaks and hopefully next summer, but for now she's heading off into the big world and I'm going to miss her a lot.  She's a very valuable employee and can really be counted on!

Have a great day!

 

 

Stamps:  The Landing Pad, Pretty Birds (Kim Hughes Collection for Cornish Heritage Farms)
Inks:  Versafine Onyx Black, Versamagic Jumbo Java (Tsukineko)
Cardstock:  Old Olive, Kraft (Stampin' Up!), Quartz, Pomegranate Smoothie (Bazzill), designer paper (My Mind's Eye)
Accessories:  oval Nestabilities (Spellbinders), brad, rick-rack (Creative Impressions).

Distressed Flowers

Here's a card I made yesterday in my quest to complete all the Dare to Get Dirty challenges that were posted on SCS last week!  This one is for a challenge to sew on your card, and a challenge to distress your card.  As you can see, I did a zig-zag stitch all around the perimeter of this card.  For the distressing I did a few things.  I used my Tonic distressing tool on the blue cardstock around the outer edge.  I sponged a lot of ink around the edges of the largest layer, and on my flower image.  To color the flowers, I used red and olive green markers, then sponged a tiny bit of brown ink on the inked images before stamping.  Once my flowers were all stamped, I inked the edges up then did a cracked glass technique over it.  Some flowers from Bo Bunny, and a sentiment tag complete my card.  I also used Jen del Muro's weekend blog sketch for this card.

Just a note to say that I'm so appreciative of all the great comments you've been leaving me, and all the new subscriptions that have popped up in the past week!  I'm thrilled to know you like my work!  Thanks for making me smile!

I'll have a few more cards as I get caught up this week, so stay tuned!  Have a great day!

Stamps:  Natures Silhouettes (Kim Hughes collection for Cornish Heritage Farms), sentiment from Punchy Words (Gina K Designs); Cardstock:  River Rock, Blue Bayou (Stampin' Up!), designer paper (Cosmo Cricket); Inks:  Ruby Red, Certainly Celery markers, River Rock, Blue Bayou (Stampin' Up!), Versamagic Jumbo Java (Tsukineko); Accessories:  flowers (Bo Bunny), antique brads (Craft Connection), label tag (Spellbinders), distressing tool, Ultra Thick embossing enamel (Ranger), sewing machine, thread.