Pretty Butterfly!

I think this is one of my favorite cards yet! For this card I again used my Inkadinkado set "Garden Delight". I stamped the butterfly on white card stock and heat embossed it with black powder. I then used my sponges and 3 ink colors to sponge the butterfly. The background image was stamped with a flower stamp from the same set and then I heat embossed the same flower stamp with clear powder to add texture to the background. The sentiment is from the SU set "Butterfly of Happiness". The peach card stock base is the shimmer collection by Bazzil. I LOVE it! I hope all of you are having a good week so far! It is going to be HOT here today so Cam and I are homebound for the day. Stay cool!

Man Cards..

I was talking to my friend Tonya the other day and she asked me if I had any "manly" stamps. I thought about it for a second, and decided that no, I really didn't have any man stamps. I've always liked SU's set Lovely As a Tree, and have seen several very pretty masculine cards made with that set but I don't have it. So, last weekend I was ordering a few things from Joann.com (they had a 40% off sale on all of their acrylic stamps) and I found a pretty set by Inkadinkado called "Garden Delight". I really like it, and I like it even because I bought it for $5.99! Anyways, this is my somewhat masculine card. I used SU's Apricot Appeal, and Chocolate Chip ink, and card stock. For the background I used the same stamp as the main image, and just stamped it several times on the background. I love the simplicity of this card, and I can't wait to try out the other stamps in my new set. Thanks for checking out my blog and have a Happy Monday!

Say Hello To My Little Friend...

I love these adorable Rachelle Anne Miller stamps! Korin at Sweet n Sassy stamps sent this stamped image with my order a couple of weeks ago. Isn't it just the cutest!? I have really been into "coloring" lately, and these stamps are perfect for that. I feel like a little girl with a big box of crayons when I color these stamps. This card is pretty much self explanatory. I used Prismacolor Pencils and OMS (Oderless Mineral Spirits) to color the image, and the DP is from the Prints pack from Stampin Up. Today we are going to our most favorite summertime place, a fruit Orchard in Charlestown West Virginia that has a bakery also. Let me tell you....the apple pie is HEAVEN. I have been looking forward to their opening since last December. (They are open July-Oct. My tummy is growling just thinking about it. I will take my camera and post a few pictures of our adventure today. I hope all of you have a nice relaxing Sunday!

SC52 In Full Bloom

For today's card I used Sketch Challenge 52 from Tamera's Challenge Blog: http://www.sketchesbytamara.blogspot.com/ I love doing sketch challenges sometimes because it is nice to have a layout already sketched and it is easier for me to concentrate on the creative elements of the card. For this card I used the retired SU set "In Full Bloom". I used choco chip ink to stamp the flower and my aqua painters and ink to add color. Again I was surprised that the SU chocolate chip ink did not smear, especially with all of the water from my aqua painters! The cute pink papers are from Paper Trey Ink. They are very nice papers and I will definitely be keeping an eye out for more DP from PTI. Today is quite hot here in Northern Va so we will be spending a good part of the day inside. Today is also Cameron's 7 month with us, and on a much different note it also marks the 8th year since my Mother's passing. I miss, and think about her everyday. I hope all of you are having a nice, cool, weekend.

The Best Things in Life!

The sentiment on this card is so true isn't it? The stamp is part of a line of several stamps with funny, clever sayings for only 1.00 by Inkadinkado. They can be found at Joann's and online at several different stores. Anyways, for this card I used my prisma's and OMS to color the image. Since I am still waiting for my Staz-on ink to get here I used SU's Choco Chip ink to stamp the images and I was surprised to find that they worked great! No smearing at all. I used my stickles to decorate the treats, and as usual you can't tell from the pic but the treats are 3-d. The white brads are from Joann's, and the ribbon was from the Offray ribbon outlet in Hagerstown MD. This was a fun cad to make, and I think it will help to brighten someones day. I like having cards like this on hand to send to a friend. I can't believe it is already Thursday! I know I say this all the time but man time goes by so fast. I also wanted to mention that my baby boy Cam said his very first word yesterday...."Hi". It was so cute!! he is also cutting his first tooth, AND he can almost pull himself up into the standing position. My little pumpkin is growing so fast, but it is a joy watching him learn, and grow. Thank you for visiting my blog today!

Another Sarah Kay Card

Did I already say that I LOVE my new Sarah Kay stamps? Well, I'm pretty sure that I did but I have to say it again anyways! These stamps are so darn cute! I am still without any staz-on so I used my regular SU black ink pad and my aqua painter to color the image. I was very careful with the amount of water on my brush to prevent the ink from running. I used another simple layout for this card to showcase the stamped image. The DP is from the SU Prints Pack, and the ribbon is by American Crafts. I've been trying to use a lot of my Hodge Podge hardware since it is retiring, and because SU is having an awesome special on it this month! All HP kits in the catty are 20.96. That is an amazing deal! If you don't have any of the HPH I totally recommend buying some because it would cost a fortune to buy the pieces separately, and no-one even comes close to offering the same quality of metal hardware. (Believe me, I have checked everywhere.) I hope you are having a great week!
Supplies:
Ink - Pretty in Pink, Apricot Appeal, Choco Chip, Close to Cocoa, Basic Black
Stamps - Sarah Kay, Paper Trey
Paper - SU Prints Pack DP, Apricot Appeal, Pretty in Pink, Very Vanilla, DCWV Brown
Embellies - HP Hardware, American Crafts Ribbon
Tools - Petite Ovals nestabilities, Word Window Punch

My Sarah Kay Stamps are Here!

Oh my goodness I was so happy when I checked my mail yesteday! The Sarah Kay, and Rachelle Anne Miller stamps that I ordered from Korin at Sweet n' Sassy Stamps came in! There is going to be a lot of coloring here in the next few days. These stamps are adorable and the quality is awesome! Unfortunately my black staz on ink pad died yesterday so I had a heck of a time getting the stamp juicy enough to stamp all of the detail. I am going to Joann's today to pick up another black pad of some kind. For this card I used my aqua painters and inks to color the adorable image.and the DP is from the SU hostess paper pad. This layout is extremely simple, but I didn't want to add too much and take away from the image. I have several more stamps to play with so be on the look out for more examples of these super cute stamps!

I Will Miss You Wild Rose

Wild Rose has been one of my favorite SU stamp sets of all time and I am sad to see it go. But, just because it is on the "retired" list that doesn't mean I won't use it anymore. I love it! I made this card for a friend of mine to give to her Mother for her Birthday. Her Mother likes roses so I thought Wild Rose would be the perfect set to use. This card has many details to it. I used my Linen BG stamped in Mellow Moss on the Vanilla card base. I then stamped the rose, and flowers and cut them out. Thank goodness for my Stamp-a-ma-jig! The rose centerpiece is raised with 3-d squares, and the dark outline of the flower and leaves were accented using Crystal Effects. I also used my Hodgepodge hardware to fasten the ribbon to the card. I hope that her Mother likes this card!
Supplies:
Stamps- Wild Rose, Sincere Salutations
Ink- Cranberry Crisp, Mellow Moss
Paper - Very Vanilla, Cranberry Crisp, Mellow Moss
Embellies- Hodge Podge Hardware, SU Stitched Ribbon
Tools- Oval Nestabilities, Ticket corner punch

Happy News!

Well, I have happy news, but it isn't "my" news. My dear friend LeAnn in Utah had a baby boy on Thursday! She was not due until July 12th but baby Alex was ready to get out of there a little early! Momma and baby are fine. I am so very happy for them because I know now what an amazing blessing it is to have a baby. It makes me think about the day Cam was born. We could not stop looking at him, and his Dad and I couldn't stop crying! *starting to tear up* Ahhh...memories. Well, back to business..lol. I made this card for LeAnn and her husband and I bought an adorable Carters outfit today to. This card is a very simple layout, but I love, love how it turned out! I used the "kissing" technique with the giraffe using my Linen BG stamp. Thank you for visiting my blog and have a wonderful day!

Supplies:
Stamps- Wild About You, For a Friend, Linen BG Stamp
Ink - Buckaroo Blue, More Mustard
Paper - SU Prints Pack, Whisper White CS, Bashful Blue CS
Embellies: SU Bashful Blue grosgrain ribbon, Joanns baby buttons
Tools - Cuttlebug Swiss Dots Folder, Oval Nestabilities

Happy Everything!

This past weekend I went to a stamp store in Culpeper, Va that I had never been to. The shop owner happened to be working that day so we were able to talk about stamping. I love talking "shop"! I didn't buy any stamps *gasp* (saving my stamp $'s for the SU preview pre-order) but I did buy some pretty papers. The DP for this card is the "Fanci-ful" line from Junkitz. I loved the flowers and colors so of course I had to have it! I also used some of the Bazzil brads I bought for $1. The chipboad flower was covered with paper from the DCWV "Baby Girl" DP. I love the way this card turned out, so girly, and fun!
On a side note SU released the preview catalog to Demos today and I can't wait to put in an order! The new stamp sets will all be die-cut! Sa-weet! I love the in-colors also. So bright and fun. I hope you have a wonderful Tuesday!