Country Living Magazine and Stampin' Up in Kahootz

I just found out that Country Living and Stampin' Up has joined together to bring you a good thing as Martha would say- they are offering a year of their magazine subscription for only $12 -that's 75% off their usual rates and when you sign up you will also get this special edition double sided stamp, and an ink spot and 4 white note cards and envelopes to boot! It really is a steal of a deal. Stampin' Up will be featured in a 21 page spread in their December issue with a Holiday promotion with unique stamps and projects so look for it - I've seen the preview and the projects are darling! Can't wait for me to order mine! Check out Country Living's website to sign up:

https://subscribe.hearstmags.com/subscribe/countryliving/17890?src=de

Have a nice weekend!

sparkly Inspired by Nature

This was one of the new sets given to us at Convention- Inspired by Nature- such a beautiful stamp- I have so many color ideas in my head- can't wait to try them all- This was a little challenging with Kiwi regular dye ink pad on the stems then with pretty in pink and rose red craft stamping spot - dauber'ed to make the transition soft - then stamped in 1 fell swoop onto 3x6 " WW cardstock then embossed with iridescent ice- which only sticks to the craft ink and gives the flowers a sparkle- tie old olive 5/8" ribbon in a knot in the center and tape down the ends and use curly label stamp and punch for the corner accent onto pink pirouette paper with ridinghood red ink- mount with dimensionals. The base card is 8 1/2 x 6" ridinghood red cardstock scored at 3 1/2, then 7". The left over 1 1/2 " is folded over and taped on the sides to make a quickie gift or check enclosure for any occasion- I will have to do a tutorial on some of these things I have taught in class- but let me get a little better hang of this blog thing- the envelop is one of those plain white security envelopes from Target- less than $1 for 80 of them and fits this size card perfect- so stamped a little flower in the corner using regular dye ink in same colors.

Flight of the Butterfly- yet another!- double sided paper argument

Are you sick of this yet? This was the other card I made for the swap- - really simple so

I will be doing this in my stamp camp this weekend- Flight of the Butterfly in pink pirouette then outlined and worded with ridinghood red, mounted on pink pirouette then ridinghood red CS- a circle punch with gold brad to add that little something then mounted on Kiwi CS with designer series - double sided paper folded and punched with scallop border punch and holes pierced with Crafter's Tool Kit.

Now about those double sided papers- those of you who know me know how I hate to waste anything and using double sided paper on one sided projects seem like such a waste in most applications- although some papers have both sides so cute that I hate covering the one side up, many papers have such an ugly side that I cannot see how I would use it at all- but to fold a little piece over to get a peek- seem so sexy I can't help but love this- I did not much care for the big polka dots on this one but with the little flowers stamped in kiwi inside - just darling- and with creative cutting and mounting, I got 18 cards out of 1 12x12 sheet to boot- what's not to love?-

I am doing a swap with some of my local stampin' friends and I was assigned flight of the butterfly so here is another one for the swap- same as yesterday's post for the butterfly and the scallop flower except use bashful blue for the base card and ink for the butterfly and the word that trail it- scallop fowers in pink pirouette with ridinghood red 1 3/8" circle and white CS stamped thank you in Kiwi ink with rose red brad in center. Stamp grass from inspired from nature in kiwi ink on WW and then use the little flower from flight of the butterfly to stamp in ridinghood red ink and stamp 3 times before reinking to get the 3 shades- mount scallop flower with dimensionals then butterfly with sticky strip in center only.

Flight of the Butterfly

This is a variation I did on my stamp camp card from last month- stamp the words from flight of the butterfly in artichoke ink on Whisper White CS-- stamp butterfly in celery ink stamped off- then with the dot outline- cut out butterfly and mount with sticky tape put only in the middle to let wings flap free- punch small flower and scallop from apricot CS- stamp thank you from seeing spots with artichoke ink. 1 1/4" Circle punch the thank you and 1 3/8" circle in artichoke CS- mount the white and artichoke strip onto apricot CS versamarked with bojo background. punch a small hole and tie 1/4" celery ribbon to simulate stem and leaves- mount the scallop flower with dimensionals.

Blossoms Abound- retired- sigh!

Love this set and so sad that it retired-this card is CASE'd from Rebecca Oehlers SCS card- looks so fresh with the new In-Colors- Blossoms Abound stamped in pretty in pink and then pink passion craft stampin' spots on whisper white CS- then with Iridescent Ice embossing powder then heat set for that extra sparkle- hard to see here in my poor picture- stamp leaves in celery and then old olive inks- stamp Heard from the heart in black and then punch a little 1/8" hole above and tie a red gingham ribbon around- mount on riding hood red CS then on Kiwi. Sigh! Love this card but can't demo it anymore...

an Abalone thank you

One of my dearest patients brought me a fresh abalone the size of a salad plate caught over Labor day- I am a total sushi and sashimi fan and over the next few days went on the devour the whole thing one slice at a time- This was a little thank you to the lovely couple - hope they think it's cute- crab and company stamp in Staz-On black and color in watercolor markers with aqua painter on white CS- stamp thank you from stampendous in black ink - mount on kiwi CS- punch hole and set rose red eyelet and loop natural hemp thorough and tie a knot for that NAUTICAL touch! mount on rose red CS and then on white 81/2 x 5 1/2 folded in half.

sock monkey wish

another sock monkey card- love this guy- same technique to make the monkey as yesterday's post- but cut a window out of tangerine CS - size has to be big enought to let the scallop border punch in backwards- mine here is 5x 3 3/4"- outside dimensions- inside cut out 4x 2 3/4"- - flip over the punch to punch and you get this cute patterned border- stamp bananas in versamark on summer sun CS and the sentiment from Heard from the Heart in chocolate chip and mount on very vanilla CS - mount the monkey with dimensionals.

Sock Monkey Birthday

This set is one of my favorites from the 2008-2009 Fall/Winter Stampin'Up catalogue- who can resist that cute mug- I am always calling my kids little monkeys so had to have the set- made this little card for my swap for convention- stamp hat - mask and then the Sock Monkey on very vanilla CS in choc chip ink then mask the cheek, legs and butt and stamp again with canvas background stamp- here's the hardest part for those of us who flunked scissors 101 in kindergarten- cut the monkey out - and color in the hat and butt with pumpkin and rose red and bordering blue- stamp balloons on pacific blue, Baja blue and ridinghood red CS and again- cut out- -mount monkey on tangerine CS and balloons with dimensionals and draw lines of the balloon with black marker- sharp end- stamp cumcakes all over on 8 1/2 x 11 summer sun CS folded in half with tangerine ink and stamp just for you in black ink and punch out with word window punch- Voila the card is finished!

My First Post

Hi, everyone- finally decided to take the leap and start a blog for my friends and family. I will try to maintain it up to date with all the goings-on in my life: my family, my Stampin'Up activities, and of course pictures of all the fun crafts for which I keep digging my self deeper and deeper into my pocket ( I curse stampin' up and Michaels for that!). Please have patience while I try to navigate the technical world of blogging........