Stamp Night!

Last night I had my girls over for our monthly Stamp Night! Its always so fun, with a pretty equal amount of chatting and stamping!!  I adore the "Sweet Always"designer paper, its pink, pink and orange for goodness sakes, it just doesn't get more adorable than that!  

I love using my Top Note Die and it makes for a quick, easy and cute little treat topper.  Can you see the almond milk chocolate in there.  Yipes, they came as part of an assortment, and clearly, I'm not eating them... that's the only reason I haven't dug into this little baby and eaten the candy! Giggle.  

I saw an adorable card from Jodi a few weeks ago, and I pretty much cased it to make my last project for the class. 

Instead of the Baroque background stamp, I used the pink polka dotted pattern from Sweet Always and added some of the wide width Pink Pirouette ribbon.  It was needing a little somethin' somethin' so I added some flower punchouts from "One of a Kind" 

finished off with some black brads. Oh how I love pink and black together! 

My stamp club is about 50% veterans, experienced stampers and 50% girls that are newly addicted to the craft.  This month, I finally got my act together and did a photograph of each finished card along with step by step instructions for each station.  I know my "regulars" won't need it and they'll speed through, but I'm thinking it will be a nice reference guide for them after the fact, and will help the newer girls to have a step by step explanation for how to make the cards.  

Have a fantastic weekend everyone! See you on Monday when the MFTeasers will begin for February!!

All You Need is Love

I had some time to kill the other night and got to just sit and play with a new stamp set from Paper Trey Ink called "lOve sOngs."  This sweet set was designed by my friend Lisa Johnson  you may recall just how much I adore her stamp set "Remember." 

Its been really fun working with this set.... I find myself singing all the words to the various songs as I'm working.  Personally, I happen to love Stevie Wonder and James Taylor and lyrics from both of those madly talented artists are included.  My husband, well, he is a ginormous Beatles Fan.  So, I couldn't help but use the sentiment "all you need is love. love is all you need." 

I love that the sentiment fits precisely within my nestie circle - that girl's so smart!!  I stamped a little heart from the set with my Berry Sorbet ink pad and trimmed it out for the center of the sentiment.

This fun little strip of x's and o's reminds me of ribbon!  How cute is that?  I stamped it with the help of my Rock-a-Blocks.  I must say, if you don't have any, they're worth a closer look.  I love them for my larger stamps in particular... gives you a nice even impression - let me just say I've got some blocks that maybe aren't perfectly straight and leave gaps in my images... but the Rock a Blocks took care of that issue! The gridlines also make it easy to make sure your sentiments are nice and straight! The only issue I had to overcome was being careful not to ink the rails that you "rock" on by accident when inking up my image. 

That little "paper diet" of mine came into play tonight, I used Blush Blossom and Berry Sorbet and then I remembered the Perfect Match Pink Patterns paper I had stashed in a box.  The only thing I wish I had was a little bit of that Perfect Match Ribbon, but alas I've used it all up.  Drats. 

Had a big old family dance party in my kitchen last night, my boys share my love for Stevie Wonder and I crack up watching them dance around!  This morning I'm enjoying a little Stevie with my coffee and thinking of all the cute things I can make with this stamp set.  Looking forward to a little more time to play with 'lOve sOngs!"

just a little find: Vermont Nut Free Chocolate

Just a little shout out to a favorite nut free company that has come to our rescue with safe treats!  My son's kindergarten class is celebrating the 100th day of school next week with a buffet of salty and sweet.  Tasty stuff, but of course I panicked madly when I heard that M&Ms are on the buffet.  Now trust me, I love M&M's but did you know that even the plain ones say "may contain peanuts!" eeks!  The issue is that they're all made on the same equipment and therefore cross contamination is an issue.

A quick phone call to my friends at Vermont Nut Free Chocolate and I've got several bags of "Skippers" on the way, along with a few Valentines pops to tuck away for the boys.  

I'm going to pick up the pretzels and popcorn for the buffet and all the other items will be safe for my son and his little friend (who also has allergies to both peanuts and treenuts.)

A salty, sweet, and safe buffet - what's better than that for little people, or really, lets be honest, big people too!

You can find Vermont Nut Free Chocolates HERE

Fish and Flowers

Today I have two cards that I made for the Gina K release last week that I shared during the launch party, but never did share over here.

The first is the full view of my fish card that I made for last week's Get Messy Challenge.

I stamped the seaweed and bubbles from "Best Fishes" on the light blue cardstock, then crumpled it up, flattened it out and painted it with Shimmerz to give the feeling of movement under the water.

Then I added a fish that I'd stamped separately and colored with Copics.  The little worm on the hook is dangling off of a linen thread.  

This is where my little "Paper Diet" began, I just loved this blue cardstock from Scenic Route, combined with a piece of striped cardstock from a different Scenic Route collection.  Kiwi Kiss carstock from Stampin Up was my choice for matting and ribbon, and of course, I adore my Gina K Pure Luxury Cardstock for bases!  

The next card is intentionally just clean and simple.  This is a piece of October Afternoon patterned paper with a kraft matting all zig zag stitched with my Janome.  The main image is from "Tropical Flowers".  I inked the blooms first in Soft Sky, then deepened the edges with Baja Breeze.  The stems were stamped in Kiwi Kiss ink.  Baja Breeze was used for both the scalloped matting and ribbon.  

The sentiment is from the new "One Free with Three" set titled "Taglines."  This set has sentiments for just about any occasions, and they all fit within the Spellbinders tags dies. 

Oh this color palette just makes me itchy for Spring.  But, Mother Nature isn't cooperating with me on that one...its snowing like crazy today. Oh well, at least I can get some extra stampy time this afternoon?

Happy Stamping everyone!

Tutu-rific!

I had a wonderful weekend with my family skiing, but I will admit, I was very happy to get back to my stamp table! 

Card Positioning Systems is sponsored by My Favorite Things today and tomorrow so naturally, I was thrilled to be able to play along. (In linking this up,  realized that they featured Gina K Designs the other day, so you can bet I'll be giving this sketch a try again....)

Last week, this adorable set Paperdoll Sayings of sentiments for Isabelle Paperdoll was released, and I hadn't yet had a chance to play.  So, as soon as I saw this sketch, I knew this sweetie with the sentiment "tutu-rific" would be a perfect match.

Isabelle is stamped in Memento Ink, then colored with Copics, and given all over glimmer to her tutu with Shimmerz.  

I'm on a new "paper diet". I've got loads and loads of paper in my stash, on my desk etc etc.  I'm not buying any new paper for a while and having fun rifling through to see what I can come up with.  In this little card I've got two papers from Pink Paislee in here, and one scrap of Scenic Route.  Usually I stick to papers all from the same collection - but I've done a few cards lately mixing among brands and collections and its been fun, so I'm going to try to mix it up and see what I come up with. 

I've got a little paper diet disclaimer to announce.  I do have a little Stampin Up paper on order which will be here soon, and two pieces that I've already had held aside for me at my LSS.  But, aside from that I'm going to give this diet a try and see how good I can be with the existing paper in my collection. Which seriously, is a LOT.

I hope you'll come play along in the CPS fun this week!  

Enabler Alert - Sale at Polka Dot Plaza

Just a quick enabler alert! My friends at Polka Dot Plaza are cleaning house to make room for new goodies!  You can receive 20% off your entire order of $40 or more by using this code JAN09 at checkout. 

Guess what' they've got Nesties Labels One and Two in stock as well as my very favorite thing - the Ribbon Tags dies too!  Basic Grey 6x6 pads, Doodlebug Flock, and lots of Just Rite stamps! 

Happy Shopping!

Tailor It!

Hope you all had a wonderful weekend.  We were skiing all weekend with the boys, and oh goodness, am I dreadfully out of shape. My legs hurt!  After a weekend of family outdoor adventures, I was of course, inspired to pick up this stamp set "Got Snow?"- which was my first ever purchase from Gina K Designs!  

Its Monday, so of course that means another challenge is posted on the Gina K Designs Member Company Forum on Splitcoast Stampers.  This week, I challenge you to "Tailor It"! That is, create a "Tailored Bow"  

Now, we all know I love my usual loopy bow/button combination, but for this card, I went for a flat tailored bow.  

They're SO easy to make, but if you haven't done one yet, here's a quick walk through.

1) Tape a flat piece of ribbon across your cardfront. I placed a dimensional just behind the ribbon where I intended the bow to sit. The bow does get a little heavy, and can cause your ribbon to sag.  So by placing a dimensional or adhesive there, you'll ensure that your bow doesn't cause your ribbon to droop. Cause, that's just not cute!

2) Create a small length of ribbon and form a closed loop (circle...). Secure with a piece of tape, adhesive, staple etc. You can see I used tape, and don't worry, you won't see it once you do the next step. 

 

3) Wrap a small piece of ribbon around the center of that loop and secure with adhesive or a glue dot. This is the "icky back" part with the ribbon end and the glue dot.  Attach the finished bow to your flat ribbon base on your cardfront.

As always be sure to "floof" up your bow to make them purty once they're on your card front.  I'm all about floofed bows.  If you ever get a card from me, or another stamper, that has a bow on it, be sure to primp it upon opening! They get squashed once mailed! 

You can experiment with this bow making several layers of closed loops, adding tails to your ribbon etc.  Can't wait to see your tailored bows! Remember my challenge is open till next Monday at 9am, and one lucky winner will be picked at random to win a Gina K stamp set valued $19.95 or less. See the details and enter HERE.

Happy Stamping!!!

Details: 

Cardstock: Gina K Pure Luxury White, SU Close to Cocoa, SU Ski Slope Paper

Accessories: Prismacolor Pencils, Nestie Circle, Martha Stewart Punch, SU Baja Breeze Striped Grosgrain Ribbon, Glue Dots, Dimensionals

Sugar Pie....

When I saw this adorable sentiment amidst my stamps from Gina K this month, I knew for sure that I wanted to stamp something with this tasty cherry pie image.

I'll admit, my talents do not include baking.  I can follow a recipe for a dinner easily enough, but I seem to always just make nothing but a mess where baking is concerned.  

This darling stamp set is illustrated by Mary Duffek, who is a new artist for Gina K Designs. Let me just say that there are all sorts of yummy, and very very cute treats in this new set.  

I've got another card in the works that I'll hopefully have done for the party tonight, and I've got a preview done for the other set which is being shown today.  And, ahem, I made a card last night with Mel's new set, and the rest of the card that I shared just a peek of on Monday for my challenge.  Alas, I'll finally have something NEW to share at the party!  Hooray!

Don't forget, the launch party is Thursday Night - beginning at 7pm CST. There will be contest questions, challenges, and lots of previews from the design team!  Plus, its always so fun to get to chat a little with everyone during the party!  Get your finger ready to hit F5 like crazy to refresh and see you tonight on the Gina K Member Company Forum.  

Don't forget, I've got a challenge posted this week on the Gina K Challenge Forum - and there's a prize up for grabs!  

You'll find samples from Gina today of THREE new products!  And be sure to spend some time blurfing around to see all the amazing creations from:  

Cammie, Jessica, Theresa, Kurtis, Erika, Donna, Emily, Melanie, Cindy, and our Spotlight Designer this month Mary Anderson!

I'd love to know what your favorite thing is that's been peeked this week from Gina K! What's on your wish list already?  

Feeling Warm and Fuzzy?

I simply adored Asela's "Framed Friends" from last month's release, and was so very excited when I first got a little peek of this month's "Warm & Fuzzy."

I have two cards to share with this set, and I literally was betwixt and between unable to decide.. so twist my arm, I'll share both today!  

(See, this is why I never have "extras" to share at the release party!)

I wanted to do one card that you could put together quickly, but then also show that you can use these adorable images for more complex creations too.  I have a third one all stamped out, just needs to be assembled, ah ha! Maybe I will have extras at the party after all??

So first, my quick card.   This is a piece of Gina K Pure Luxury Cardstock as my base, and then I used some patterned cardstock from Amuse for my cardfront.  The card itself is 3.5x5.  I cut an oval nestie diecut and stamped the image with Memento ink.  My very favorite ink for Copic work. Fast drying, non smearing and I can get directly to work!

Then I colored the bird with my Copics, and then attached a ribbon bow to the top of the oval.  

The second card uses some patterned paper that I recently picked up from Sassafrass Lass.  I love the fun edges that make for an instant decorative treatment, no fancy punches required!  

I added the sentiment "Love is Warm and Fuzzy" to a Nestie slider diecut - and then used my Copic aircan to spray a little bit of E31 while the diecut was still nestled inside the die, giving it just a warm fuzzy glow.  

Added a bow of what is my very favorite ribbon that I use whenever I get a chance!  Admittedly, these bows aren't exactly mailable, at least not with standard postage and all....

I stamped the image of the doghouse two times.  Once to a rectangular piece for my main panel, and then again to some scrap paper.  I colored over my little dog house with a pencil to give some wood paneling to the dog house. Then I colored in the scrap bird and dog and popped them up one level.  

I hope you liked my little previews today, but don't forget to visit Gina's Blog to see previews of BOTH sets that are being shown today.  You'll also see samples from the following team members:

Jessica, Theresa, Kurtis, Erika, Donna, Emily, Melanie, Cammie, Asela, Cindy

and our spotlight designer this month Mary Anderson.

Freshly Polished

This top post is my Gina K Designs preview for the upcoming launch on Thursday night!  I'll have previews Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday this week!  I have a second post today with my Dirty Dozen Challenge card, as well as a card for Celebrate MFT.  Thanks so much for looking!!

Before having children, I was a maniac about getting my nails done.  My girlfriends and I had a little nail shop off campus that we'd go to each Friday to get our acrylic nails filled, and polished.  The stories that the nail tech used to hear out of us, we were a bunch of crazy maniacs...  Though all the years, and color fads, I have two favorites, Dutch Tulips and OPI Red.  Okay, make it three, I do {heart} a good french pedicure too!

Now, as a daycare provider, and a mom, I haven't been to have my nails done in simply ages.  That is, unless you count accidentally airbrushing my thumb blue with my Copic the other day (seriously, my nail is blue!) 

I do however, simply relish the chance get a great pedicure, for me, its a MUST DO before any vacation and a few times each summer.  I love cute summer flip flops, which of course require a great pedicure job!

Some day, when my boys are older, hopefully I'll be able to sneak out again for weekly manicures, I love just having to sit still for a while.  And, I'm such a busy body that I love all the comings and goings of a salon, seriously GREAT people watching.  Come on, you know you love that too.....

This set "Perfectly Polished" is the latest release from Rupa Shevde for Gina K Designs.  So many fantastic girly images from both the salon and the spa.  I can't wait to blurf around and see what the rest of the team has done.  I stamped my bottles once to the paper, and then again to scrap, to pop them up one layer.  I coated each bottle with my Spica pen for a quick shine.

You won't want to miss Gina's blog this week, she'll have previews every single day, and you know, she's always giving things away during release week!!  

Two sets are being previewed today - you'll find all the samples here:

Perfectly Polished - Jessica, Kurtis, Erika, Cindy, Melanie and this month's Spotlight Designer: Mary Anderson

The Best Things in Life - Cammie, Jessica, Theresa, Kurtis, Erika, Donna, Emily, Melanie

A Busy Day!

Just a quick post to let you know about two other things going on today in addition to the beginning of the January previews for Gina K Designs!

Dirty Dozen and Dirty Dozen Alumni Challenge - Feel the Love Hosted by my friend Jodi!  The rules were fun - a lovey dovey card with some texture to it.  I have embossing, crystal effects, ribbon with embossed polka dots, an eyelet border, lots and lotsa layers and crumpled paper for my paper pieced cupcake liners.  The exclusion this month... no red!

Here's just a snippet of my submission you can see the full card HERE. Please see the gallery on Splitcoast HERE to see all the amazing creations by my Dirty Sisters!  

Its also Celebrate MFT Day - a day just to adore your MFT stamps and get all inky! No special requirements, if you're really feeling the MFT love, use Pink Black and White on your MFT creations. I've got just a snippet of this creation too, to see the rest of my MFT love of the day click HERE.  

I was feeling in a flopsey mood for some stamping, and a pink cupcake -mmmmm.  Since my cuttlebug embossing folder was already handy, I put it to good use on my second card.  I found this adorable ribbon on a local excursion and knew it would be handy for MFT themed cards!  The cupcake is painted with Pink Poinsettia Shimmerz  - looks like a real sugary, tasty treat!  Show your MFT stamps a little love today and upload your creations using the keyword "MFTJAN09" to the Splitcoast Galleries.

Its Finally Here!!! Stampin Up Spring/Summer 2009 Catalogue

I've been craving some new designer paper from Stampin Up, but I'd been holding out till the new catalogue release TODAY!  

To get my fix, I used a color palette picked directly from the Urban Garden patterned paper and then worked to put something similar with what I already owned.

I was able to very quickly put together a set of note cards for my cousin using Very Vanilla, Baja Breeze and Kiwi Kiss, put together with my friend Karen's "Pocket Silhouettes" stamp set.  Thanks K for once again coming to the rescue.

And today the new Spring-Summer 2009 Catalogue is available!! What are some of your favorites?  Personally, I can't wait to get my hands on the following:

Parisian Breeze Specialty Designer Series Paper

Valet Ribbon Originals

Trendy Trees

Thoughts and Prayers - a beautiful get well and sympathy set

For the Bride

Button Latte

Rockability Specialty Paper

Lots of Tags Big Shot Dies

What are YOUR favorite new things?  

If you don't already have an Stampin Up Demonstrator - you can place an order using my Online Business Demonstrator Website -- see my sidebar for a link. Or, simply email me at basilefamily (at) comcast (dot) net and I'll be happy to work with you!

Get Messy!

I'm issuing another challenge on the Gina K Member Company Forum! This week, its all about getting MESSY! 

For this challenge, you've got to either use something rumpled, crumpled or just plain old ripped!  

I stamped the seaweed repeatedly on a piece of light blue cardstock, colored with Copics and then crumpled up the whole piece to give it the feel of movement under water.  Then I flattened it out, and painted a light coat of pearlescent watercolors.  

The fish is stamped separately, then trimmed him out and glued him in place.  Hmmmm...if you're wondering what this fun sweet little fishie is. You'll just have to come back later this week.  I'll be sharing this full card a little later this week!  

In the meantime, I'd LOVE to see you on the Gina K Member Company Challenge Forum!  The challenge will be posted until next Monday the 26th and one lucky stamper will be chosen at random to win a $15 gift certificate to the store!!

Being Prepared

I posted earlier this week on my diligence to keep my food allergic boys safe.  However, that's only half the battle. The other half is being prepared, and knowing what to do in the event of a reaction.  Its so important to have a food allergy plan, and know how to handle a medical emergency. Not deviating from the plan you've put together with your doctor is crucial to making the best decisions for your child.  Ask me how I know? We had to put our plan into action last night.

Just after dinner, I looked down at my three year old and noticed his eye was red, and sort of glassy looking.  As I picked him up for a snuggle for a closer look, I noticed that his lip looked sort of puffy.  As I opened his mouth, I noticed that there was a good bit of interior swelling on his lip.  Its a good thing I checked *inside* because from the outside, it looked pretty good.

Allergy plan in effect!  I grabbed my purse, gave him a dose of Benadryl and had my husband dial 911.  I was debating about the Epi Pen, and had it by my side ready to use if necessary.  Our pediatrician has told me that any swelling on the inside can very quickly spread resulting in a swollen airway.  The trucks arrived within three minutes, and they checked his respiration (fine) and his oxygen concentration (fine.)  I could already see the anti-histamine from the Benadryl taking effect.  

However, even though he was doing better, it still was advised that we get a "truck ride" for further observation.  I'm so lucky that my college room mate lives across the street. Before I even got in the truck, she was there to take my six year old so that we didn't all have to go to the hospital. Thank you sweetie, you are truly the best.  Little man and I hopped in the truck where he asked many questions about the equipment and had his vitals checked several times along the way. 

Now, you may ask, if he was doing better and the meds had stopped the reaction, why the truck ride?  We're not sure what caused the reaction.  And if it was the half an apple he'd eaten, then he had half an apple's worth of material to continue to cause secondary reactions.  At the ER he received additional medications, and he stayed for observation for about an hour and a half.  He'll continue to be on medicines to stave off any reactions till whatever it is that he ate has passed through his system. 

I'm not telling you this to scare you but to indicate that even given the best efforts to eliminate any sources of allergic reactions, you can still never guarantee it won't happen.  Whether there was a trace of residue from one of the daycare children's food, or from my kitchen cleanser (for which I'm now looking for a replacement) or if he's developed a new allergy to apple, I don't know yet.  I'll be scheduling an appointment with our allergist to see what the next steps are.  But for now, I'm just going to snuggle with my little brave boy.  

If you have food allergic children, remember to keep your emergency meds close, never leave home without them, and don't ever be afraid to put your allergy action plan to use. While I didn't want to have to use that pen, and I hope I never do, it was ready by my side in case that lip swelling got worse.  Luckily the Benadryl worked fast, and thank goodness for living so close to the Fire Station.......  

Feeling Springy......

Who's that Girl has a little spring in her step today, despite the fact that it is freeeeeezin' cold here in the Northeast!  brrrr.  

Today's Thursday, which means a new MFT sketch challenge!  I've been a bad friend and hadn't made a card to play with Frances and Cindy in a few weeks, so I grabbed my box of MFT's and looked for one that hadn't seen ink in a while.  I chose "Let's Go For a Walk" which to me is one of the classics for My Favorite Things.  

As I mentioned the other day, I've been playing around with the MFT Digital Paper Packages and I just love them!  I couldn't help but use this sweet pink patterned paper with just a touch of black.  Put all my favorite Copics including E31, E33, R11, R20, W1, W2 all to good use.  I don't know about you, but I never like the look of straight black marker, it was just too much for these polka dots, so I softened them by adding a coat with my black gel pen afterwards.  

The dogs are celebrating in style too, they all have Spica pen bling on their hats and on their collars.  

I fussed and fooled around with this for a while, because I really wanted to incorporate the larger grey felt flower along with the white one, but finally succumbed and added a gingham bow instead.  In linking this up, I realized that I sorta blew the sketch by turning my sentiment into one of the embellie placements, but hopefully my girls will forgive me! **wink** 

Splitcoast Stampers Dirty Dozen January Gallery - Now Open!

If its the 15th then you know what that means - Splitcoast Stampers Dirty Dozen Gallery for January is now open!  I've had a blast making my cards for this month's theme.  I won't give away too much here, but lets just say that I've been finding inspiration all around me!

You've seen snippets of my sitting room for the past year, and this is where I love to sit and read, or enjoy a quiet cup of tea. Its the ONLY room in the house where there are no toys allowed.  

Don't forget to swing by the Splitcoast Stampers Dirty Dozen Galleries to see who the latest two Dirty Girls are (I'm so excited and would love to gush about them both here, but then, I'd ruin your surprise!!!!)  Have fun perusing everyone's creations!  

Here's just a snippet of the card inspired by my favorite room in the house... you'll have to visit the gallery to see the full card!  Ahh, such a tease I know, now --- Get Going!!

Creative Cuts and More

If you know me, you're shocked by the color of this purse. Its purple! I've actually worked on three projects in the past week with purple. I know, I've even surprised myself!

This little handbag came together so quicky and easily with the help of a Creative Cuts and More diecut!  This is the purse die, and you can select what you'd like it made out of, either Bazill papers in a variety of colors and textures or even acetate, chipboard, felt and foam! How fun is that??

I simply folded on the prescored lines, added some tacky tape (not necessary according to the directions, but I'm a perfectionist, and like to be sure!!) and it was all closed up.  

I grabbed a felt flower and a paper flower, added a jumbo eyelet with my crop o dile then threaded some ribbon around the bag, through the eyelet and secured a bow.  Voila a quick and easy shower favor!!  Remember, that season of oohing and aahing at baby and bridal showers is coming!!

Be sure to hop on over to Creative Cuts and More - in addition to dies, they have lots of other products too!  You'll find red line tape, alterables like those fun altoid tins, CD cases, and chipboard coasters too!  

Lovely Heart - High Contrast

I'm so happy that "A Lovely Heart" has made it into the Spring/Summer catalogue from Stampin Up. I bought it out of the mini catalogue, but I hadn't put it to much use yet, and wanted to use it in my upcoming January stamp club.  Hooray!!!  

I thought this fun geometrical pattern within the Riding Hood Prints designer paper would be a good match for the tic-tac-toe board from the set.  I went high contrast on this with black, kiwi and riding hood red.  I hand cut oval mats for the sentiment, and everything is popped up on dimensionals, in fact, lots of dimensionals for all those x's and o's.

I added a little tab with the Curly Label punch, my paper piercer and three brads.  

Not sure if you can see it here or not, but two hearts have been "glitt-rified" for a little extra zing, but I did skip the ribbon making it okay for my girls to give to their husbands for Valentines day.  

Stampin Up Only two days in a row.. I know - I'm on a roll!!!

Stinkin' Sweet

Its been a while since I've broken out my Pun Fun set from Stampin Up, but I'm gearing up for my January stamp club meeting and its all about Valentines!!

I thought it was high time to break out this sweet skunky!  Lots of contrast with the black, kiwi and riding hood red.  

If you can believe it I actually woke up with this combination of colors in my head for a project, and that was before I saw the latest catalogue and the adorable new line of paper with this combo.  What's the chances of that??  Since I can't get my hands on the new paper yet, I thought I'd mimic it with what I already own. 

Hope you're all getting excited!!!  I've got a few more projects to knock out for my upcoming class so you'll be seeing more Stampin Up Only projects the next few days.  Looking forward to a late night stamp night to move everything out of my mind and onto paper!

Gone Digital!

I can't believe it, I've gone digital!  Last year for Christmas (ahem as in one year ago... not a few weeks ago) we got an amazing computer, which came along with a printer. The computer was SO easy to install (it is a mac after all) and the printer, for a long time (gulp.... a year??) was unused because it would just shoot out the correct number of BLANK pages and say it printed.  It would photocopy, so I knew it wasn't a toner thing, but was baffled as to why it wouldn't print.

I fussed around with it but couldn't figure out how to fix it.  About a week ago, I thought how ridiculous am I?  Its brand new, perfectly useable and I'm too lazy (or possibly clueless??) to fix it.  

Harumph, after searching around and downloading some new drivers - voila!  Now, I have a perfectly amazing printer!

And all at last, the things I've wanted to try out in the print at home arena are now available to me as a reward!

First off, I couldn't WAIT to try My Favorite Things digital paper packs.  I adore Stephanie Fizer's illustrations, and guess what, now they're paper patterns.  Squeal!!  (can you hear me?) 

The new spring paper pack, is just too cute for words.  Now, Jody has an amazing tutorial on the MFT How'd They Do That which can instruct you in how to download, open and print the pages. Trust me, if me, the loser that couldn't get her printer to work for a year can click, point, open and print these, then I KNOW you can do it. And really, they're just too cute to resist!

In minutes I had my papers printed out and ready to make into a card.  The best part, you can use these files over and over again to just keep creating!  And, you can print on vellum, transparencies, regular paper, colored paper, textured paper you name it.  Just genius!!

With a quick whirl on my Janome the panels were sewn together and I got to coloring.  The owls were stamped on none other than my new favorite, Labels One Nesties, and then I stamped them again to scrap to bump the bodies up one level.  After coloring with my Copic markers, I added a quick shine (and I do stress quick these Shimmerz dry SO FAST!) 

I'm so glad I finally figured out what was wrong with my printer so that I could play with these papers.  I'm off to go download more collections now too!! 

Happy Printing Everyone!!

Kim from MFT this morning made a really fun announcement, its The Weekly WOW! 

This week the WOW is ribbon and really such an amazing offer.  If y 

All FULL SPOOLS of ribbon in the MFT store are on sale for 35% OFF!  That’s right… save 35% on ALL full spools of ribbon (regularly priced $5.95-$7.95).  Most spools include 25 yards of ribbon!  At $5.15, that is only $.21 per yard!
 
WOW!
 
Visit the MFT store HERE to check out the 10 spools to choose from!  Shop quickly for the best selection!  Once it’s gone… it’s gone forever!  Remember this sale is only good for Monday-Friday of this week.

Need a challenge?

I've decided to hold a challenge once a month on the Gina K Member Company Challenge Forum, just a little way to get all those Gina K stamps a little inkier, and to play with the great customers that always come to the release parties.  My favorite card from last month's challenge was made by Brenda Turner and she's sampling for me for this month's challenge!   

You can see Brenda's samples, and find all the details on the challenge here, but the gist of it is to "Keep it Clean."  I'd love to see you over there, come stamp with us!!  I'll be choosing a favorite again this month to join me in sampling for the February challenge!

I used a minimal amount of designer paper for my card, just a scrap of Basic Grey Urban Prairie, and some ribbon I've had for I think a YEAR?  This sweet little snail image is from Asela's "Framed Friends" and they are just darling to color. Even though its a small little image, I used 10 copics on this little image.  Clearly, you can do it with a lot less, but I loveeee to blend.  

I scalloped the bottom edge of my Gina K Pure Luxury Cardstock and added scored line with my Scor Pal - added the xoxo little stamp in a line just above that, then added another row of scoring and paper pierced just above that.  

Lastly, I coated the little postage stamp with my newest Shimmerz which I picked up Friday at Ink About It.  Now, let me digress for one moment to say.....I seriously, seriously love Shimmerz.  They're just the right amount of shine, and super fast drying.  I know that lots of you love another glitter product, but I'm not big on mess, or waiting around for glitter to dry. This stuff stays where you put it, and dries fast.  And that, I love!

Have you tried Gina's Pure Luxury Cardstock yet. Oh my goodness, its aaaahhhhmazing!  I turned my friend Karen onto it, and she's on her second pack already, just enabled her friend Dana on it - who's patiently waiting on hers in the mail.  Its rich, available in two weights, one for your layers, and one for your card bases. This stuff is strong, and while you can't see it here, really holds deep embossing and scoring.  No bleed with Copic markers, so if I'd wanted to make this fully a one layer card, I could easily do that!  If you're not sure what I'm talking about, check out this fantastic review by Jody.

I've also just announced a new swap for the month of January - only one space left, so if you're interested, get going!