Weekend Stamper

It seems like I can't stamp during the week, too much craziness going on. Thursday night into Friday morning was especially terrible this week. I get home on Thursday and something doesn't feel right with the AC in our house...meaning it's about a thousand degrees in my house and if I move I will surely melt. My husband does his best to get things going but no such luck. Off to Home Depot for a new thermostat, gets home still no luck. It's now about 10 at night and we have a choice to make...deal or go to a hotel. We choose to deal and sleep in the home now loving called 'The Furnace'. No biggie, we get thru all that and awake to a new morning.

It's about 6:45 am, we're trying to get ready for work and hear a knock on the door. This is very strange being that it's super early and no one ever stops by. A nice lady had come to our door with my checkbook, she had found it in her driveway on the way to work. Yes folks, my car was broken into the previous night...DRAMA! No it wasn't that bad, luckily my husband had recently cleaned the car and it was spotless. The only things in there was the checkbook because who writes checks and some CD's. At this point I think I'm even a little offended that they didn't take the CD's. What criminals don't like...The Muppet Show soundtrack, John Mayer, Michael Buble or my super fantastic mix of my favorite songs?

Again not too bad because it could have been a lot worse, so here we are waiting for the AC people to show on Friday. When they did get here they proceeded to tell us that he could fix the AC right now but it would only be a temporary fix. Basically we were on borrowed time and it could go out any second...right. Obviously we went for the quick fix and will look for a second opinion. Fine, great the AC is finally starting to work and the slow burn it beginning to wear off. The last kick in the behind was a power outage that lasted about two hours completely shutting down the AC we had just paid to get fixed. All I have to say is thank goodness for Saturday!

N Things II

My sister told me a few weeks ago she was having a small gathering for 'National Night Out'. It was a chance to meet her neighbors and get to know them better. So nothing she does is small, next thing you know the police are sending McGruff, the fire department is sending a rig and her local council person is coming to her party. So my contribution is my world famous sugar cookies, she's been begging for them since her B-Day in May but better late than never. Here's to getting to know your neighbor's, fighting crime and taking names!!!

Bunny Part 2

Being the eternal optimist I felt I had to make a sequel for the other sad bunny card I posted today. In case you were wondering they lived happily ever after. Hooray for Bunny Love!!!

Images: A Muse. Ribbon: Strano Designs. Punches: Marvy Uchida. Ink: Colorbox, Prismacolor. Paper: American Crafts.

The saddest card...

I wanted to work on my masking technique so I pulled out these stamps. After I put the card together I thought this was the saddest card I had ever made. Maybe I'm reading too much into this but the bunny looks so lonely! To redeem myself I created a part 2.

The little cloud stamp has to be my favorite part, it came in a set called 'Bon Voyage' from Rubber Soul...cute!

Images: A Muse and Rubber Soul. Paper: Amuse. Ink: Colorbox, Prismacolor Markers.

Turkey Day

It's still early for Turkey Day but I wanted to try this one out. The turkey was watercolored using my Tombows. I didn't have a thanksgiving sentiment but I thought this one was funny!

Image: Paper Salon. Sentiment: A Muse. Paper: A Muse. Ink: Colorbox, Tombow Markers. Accent: Liquid Applique.

Where it all started...

When every I take on new hobbies, I immerse myself in the 'how-to' aspect of it. So when I took up stamping I bought a bunch of stamping books and began studying. I read a particular book a few times because I felt like I learned something new each time. Each time I read it I always went to the page with this stamp on it. So I hunted it down and bought it but sad to say I never used. So I decided to take it out for a spin. The other thing about this is one is the fact that I finally figured out how to do scalloped edges using the corner rounder punch. I found a lot of great tutorials on SCS but this one was the easiest for me to get. Scallop-border-tutorial

Images: Stampendous. Ink: Colorbox. Glitter: Stickles. Punch: EK Success

The price you pay

of taking care of a sick little one, last week he was sick and this week it caught up with me. Unfortunately kleenex and antibiotics leave no room for card making. Hope to be up and around soon...

A little bird

I found this little stamp in the dollar section of Michael's. Very simple, very quick. I've been experimenting with scalloped edges and different techniques. I picked up this month's 'Stamp of the Month' from my local stamp store, Stamp Antonio and this was my first chance to play with it. Also I love cutting things with my craft knife; I made a mask of this bird in case I ever needed it.

images: Studio G, Sassafrass Border. ink: colorbox. punches: Marvy

Polka Dots on the Brain...

This card was inspired by the tiny polka dot A Muse pretty little papers. I think their dots are farther apart on the design but it comes pretty close to it. It's for a birthday tomorrow, hope she likes it!

Sentiment and Gift Stamp: A Muse. Background polka dots: Hero Arts. Ink: Colorbox. Ribbon: Strano Designs.

Big, Bigger, Biggest

I wanted to play with some new tools I got from Stampin Up, I picked up the slit punch and the word window. I used to the slit punch to scallop the edges of my card and used the word window to punch out the sentiment. The word window was a bit smaller than expected but it'll work. I added red to the inside of the card because I wanted more of a fire look to it. Then I used my faithful Marvy punches for the right emphasis on the grill.

Images and Sentiment: A Muse. Punches: Marvy Uchida. Paper: A Muse. Ink: Colorbox & Tombow Markers

For my husband...

simply said

Okay maybe not so simple, I wanted to talk real quick about what I did on this card. I've wanted to play with the masking technique for a while and it was fun. See how the tree is in front of the fence...cool. This also my first attempt at an A Muse scene card! Also I think I've got my sun issues under control.

Images: A Muse. Sentiment: Hampton Arts. Ink: Colorbox & Prismacolor. Paper: A Muse

Should have been quick a quick one

This was supposed to be a quick card. I had a simple design, just a few elements. What took the longest was finding a stamp I lost! After 30 minutes of searching I gave up, it's lost to the Abyss. I was looking for a stamp that said 'Happy Birthday Little Lady' which I thought would be perfect for this sweet dress. No luck so I used this one, not bad but not was I was going for. Other that I love purple so I tend to use quite a bit.

Images: Stamping Bella. Sentiment: A Muse. Paper: A Muse. Ink: Colorbox & Prismacolor. Punches: Marvy Uchida

A Return Normalcy

My little one is feeling better so I was able to work on some cards. Here's the first of three...

The only thing I felt I had to mention about this card was the fact that I cheated...on the ribbon. I struggle constantly with ribbon issues, the perfect bow always seems to allude me. So I cut a long piece of ribbon and glued it down. Then I tied a bow and glued it down to get perfect placement. I've mentioned this product before but it really saved me with my ribbon issues, I attached the link below. This stuff dries like cement! http://stranodesigns.com/product_p/ribbonstiff.04.htm

Images: A Muse Art Stamps. Paper: A Muse. Ribbon: Strano Designs. Glue: Ribbon Stiff. Punches: Marvy Uchida

Free Goodies

Be sure to check out Simone's blog for some free goodies, all you have to do is leave a comment to be entered into the drawing. There are tons of pictures from the CHA convention last weekend. My favorite item listed was the MM embellishment organizer.

Daily Dose of Spazz

To Sentiment or Not To Sentiment

So let's discuss the obvious first...it's a dark card for a baby gift/shower. I know but don't let the black fool you; it's a great mix of warm and cool colors. Second, I have an insane number of stamps, INSANE, but I could not find the right sentiment to go with this card. I wanted some sort of 'Reatil Therapy' saying but I had nothing! So I choose not to settle and left it blank.

Images: Stamping Bella. Ink: Colorbox, Prismacolor. Paper: American Crafts. Brads: MM.

New A Muse Sentiment

I bought this reindeer stamp last Christmas and used it for my Christmas cards. Once I saw this sentiment from A Muse I knew I had to break it out. Lots of circles, lots of dots!

Images: A Muse art stamps. Punch: Marvy Uchida. Ink: Sakura Gel Pens, Colorbox, Prismacolor. Paper: A Muse

Under the Weather

My little one has been under the weather for a few days and will be for a few more. Since I'm staying at home with him I'm making cards during naps or downtime. This was the first time I've been able to update so here it goes.

I know I shouldn't say this but I love this card, I think it's my favorite card I've ever done. I think it's the colors but it totally makes me smile. I tried something a little different with the background, I used scalloped scissors to give it some flair. Blame on the Marvy punches for me wanting a scalloped edge on anything I do! The stamp is a 'Bella'...sheer gorgiousity! I feel like she needed heels but if she just came from the garden why would she be wearing heels. Other than my sister, she wears heels to brush her teeth.

Last but not least I got the idea for grounding the Bella stamp from Amy Rysavy, here's a link to her site. http://prairiepaperandink.typepad.com/amyr/2007/02/inspired_by.html

Images: Stamping Bella. Sentiment: A Muse. Ink: Colorbox, Prismacolor. Stickles

Beautiful...

I guess after months of talking about stamps incessantly a friend of mine decided to come over and see what the fuss was all about. I gave her a quick tutorial on the basics and she put together this amazing card...she's a natural!

Image: Bella from stamping bella. Inks: prismacolor, tombow and colorbox. Ribbon: Strano Designs & Strano ribbon adhesive. Stickles. Paper: Paper Studio

Is it Friday yet?!

The 'JOB' has been pretty hectic this week so that doesn't leave me a lot of time to feel creative. It does leave me just enough energy to shop though! I stopped by Michael's at lunch today and picked up all 12 of the Studio G $1 stamps. They are a bit small but I could not pass them up, they even had tiny acrylic blocks to use with them. Run out and get em before they are all gone!

Friday's just around the corner...

New Stuff

I just got some new stuff from Stampin Up so I thought I'd take it out for a whirl. There I go again with the huge sun, definetly need to work on that. Other than than I really like the two sets together. Rough day...that's all I can muster for the day.

Images and sentiment: Stampin up, Inks: Prismacolor, VersaMark and Colorbox.