Clean and Simple (CAS)

I've been cleaning and reorganizing my craft space lately. First, I have a good friend coming for a visit and this will be the first time she's been in my new house. Second, I have LOTS of stamps that I don't even remember buying, much less using. That's a bad thing.

When I needed an anniversary card, I thought of my PaperTrey Ink stamps that almost never see the light of day. I started sorting them and found LITTLE LADY. I've also been trying to think out side of the box for cards lately. I tend to do the "same" card over and over. Same papers, same colors, same style.


So I wanted not traditional colors. So I searched through my scrap bin and found this paper. I just love the soft springy colors!


Here's the finished card. No layers. Simple colors. My only "traditional" element was the ribbon. The great thing about acrylic stamps like the LITTLE LADY set is that you can manipulate some of the stamps. The verse is a single straight line. However, the acrylic is pliant enough for me to make it wave. It's a great look!


Stamps: PaperTrey Ink LITTLE LADY
Paper: Neenah Solar White
Ink: VersaMagic TEA LEAVES, AQUATIC SPLASH, ALOE VERA; Colorbox ROUGE, and SU! Bermuda Bay
Accessories: Ribbon

Eddie the Vampire

Here's today's SCS Sketch challenge.


As I posted earlier, I've been in quite a few card kit swaps in the last few months. This is the most recent - Magnolia Card Kits. This little vampire is *NOT* a Magnolia stamp. He's a Hanglar & Stanglar image. They're are almost impossible to get unless you have a friend/relative living in Sweden or Norway. Fortunately, I do!

I just love this little vampire with his garlic rope. I colored him with Copics. Out lining him with the very lightest blue/violet I have (BV000).

After I got him colored, I used one of my long, narrow Nestabilities rectangles to cut and emboss the edges.


All the Copics I used to color Eddie.



This is the inside of the card. I used some of the left over scraps to decorate the bottom edge of the card.

So! One card down for Halloween...many more to come!

Stamps: Hanglar & Stanglar: Dracula med vitlök (Dracula with garlic)
Paper: Paper Studio, Neenah Solar White
Ink: Memento Tuxedo Black
Accessories: Ribbon, Nestabilities rectangles, bat brads, Copics

Birthday Card Fairy - September

I've done a lot of swapping for card kits in recent months. A card kit is 2 sheets of 6x6 designer paper, 2-3 copies of an image, 12" of ribbon, and some embellishments. I have so many card kits now that I decided I needed to start using them. So I joined a group on SCS, that sends birthday cards to ladies in the RAK (Random Acts of Kindness) group. These are the card kits I did up for the September birthdays I was assigned.


This image is from Rubber Romance. I don't know the name of it. The kit included some fabulous graphic turquoise/black papers. I used the SCS sketch (SC242) of the week for the layout. The sentiment and polka dot center circle are from my weekend purchase at the Expo! Both are Denami Stamps.


I don't know the designer of this stamp, but I loved the designer paper that came with it. Those large flip flops are perfect with this image. I cut a tag shape and then put the plastic flowers on the edge of the tag. I used a masking technique to give the feel of sand and surf. And again, I used the Denami sentiment and polka dot center.


This Riley kit was so fun! I masked the surf and sand before punching out the image with my Marvy Giga scallop circle. Then sponged around the out side edge with SU! Not Quite Navy. The brown "sand" paper came with the kit but I used my sand castle punch from EK Success and then sponged brown ink along the border to darken the "sand". The sentiment is by Amuse.


And finally a House Mouse image. I love House Mouse but the images are often so large that there's not much that can be done. Fortunately, this kit didn't need more than the designer paper and the image.

Happy Birthday Adam!!

My nephew, Adam, turns 13 today! He's the baby of the family and the only male (currently, I'll have a nephew-in-law soon). This is the card I sent him.

Stamps: Stampin' Up! EXTREME SNOWBOARDER, Amuse HAPPY BIRTHDAY
Paper: Basic Grey LIME RICKEY, SU! Only Orange & Bermuda Bay
Ink: SU! Bermuda Bay
Accessories: Ribbon, Nestabilities lables, sponges

Easter Card Submission

For the last few weeks I've been working on a magazine submission for Easter cards. It's been rough going because I'm really thinking about Halloween stuff right now. When/if these get published then I'll share the complete cards but in the mean time here's a "teaser".







NOW ON TO HALLOWEEN STUFF!!

"Cat Show"

Today in Colorado Springs was the annual Scrapbook and Stamping Expo. It's a craft fair with multiple vendors where the latest and greatest in the paper crafts world is available for purchase. I *always* find something I "need". My friend, Heather and I grabbed our debit cards and headed out!


When I was growing up, the Corder girls (Joan, Deb, and Laura) had a tradition after a shopping spree to layout all our purchases on a flat surface and have a "cat show". Don't ask me how it got that name. It just is. I didn't buy a lot of items but I'm thrilled with what I got.


We walked by this booth on the first round but I'm so glad we made a second tour! This lady was from Connecticut. She had lots of vintage photos, postcards, and books - mostly French stuff. I got 2 vintage books with gorgeous patine pages for $18.00. One book I intend to keep intact as altered art book. The other is in pretty bad shape, so I will use the pages for ephemera. Yummy stuff!!


And the Denami Designs booth is always PACKED!! This year was no exception. They always have such cute stamps and samples. This year I mostly got "filler" stamps to sets or lines I already had. And took lots of pictures of the samples for reference and inspiration.


This was a vendor, SAR Some-Assembly-Required, that neither Heather or I had run across before. They created 3 dimensional objects in a grid layout. There were a variety of ways to get the pattern: stamp/cut, pre-cut kits, die cut templates, and stencils. I hope to be sharing the pear with you in a few days.

T is for..

...tan, terracotta, tea, teapot, and Tom Petty (aka the Mad Hatter).

I'm hosting a "grunge" tag swap on SCS. Yesterday as I was cutting apart my new Oxford Impressions' CLASSIC ALICE set, I was inspired to create this tag for the letter T.

For the background I used a Technique Junkies technique called DEPTH OF FIELD with the teapot stamp. Then I layered some scrap papers along the bottom. Distressed the edge of the tag and then layered the image of the Mad Hatter (also from CLASSIC ALICE). I finished the tag with chipboard letter, Dew Drops, Grungeboard, and a button.

To blog or not to blog...

I've been debating for months now, whether to blog or not. I have a HUGE gallery on SplitCoast Stampers and have always posted my paper art there. But several friends have been encouraging me to branch out with my own blog.

While I've read/followed/enjoyed reading other blogs, this is new territory for me. So over the coming weeks, I hope to make this site more "me".

So for better or worse....here it is....FRECKLE-FACE PRINTWORKS!!