Happy Halloween

Happy Halloween!

In my house, today it is going to be crazy busy!  Early dismissal, then an after school dance (his first one) for the boy, soccer scrimmage for the girl, dinner, errands, and then taking the boy trick or treating.  Somewhere in there, I am going to run to Starbucks, because this mama doesn't have time to get tired lol.  I hope you have a fun and festive day today!

Here is an elegant and fun Halloween card.  I paired some Lawn Fawn stamps and a few Spellbinders die templates, to create this card.  Sometimes, I forget how fun it can be to make a nice card full of dimension.

Materials Used:
Lawn Fawn Heebie Jeebies
Lawn Fawn Happy Haunting
Lawn Fawn Hats off To You
Spellbinders Fleur de Lis Squares
Spellbinders Pinking Circles sm
Spellbinders Standard Circles sm
Authentique pattern paper
Want2Scrap bling
American Crafts this to that foam tape
WorldWin black cardstock
Colorbox ink

Holiday Cheer

Today, the Avocado Arts designers are doing a project share using the November stamp set called, Bring on The Holiday Cheer.  I wanted to make a fun & trendy card and tag set, so I used the chevrons from the Thankful For You set...don't they look so cute with the pin-wheels (or candy mints).  I didn't use any fancy tools or products to make this, just good ole stamping.  

Head on over to the Avocado Arts website to check out this months set.

Visit the other designers to see what Holiday fun they are sharing today!

• AJ OTTO
• BECKY OEHLERS
• JULIA STAINTON
• KIMBERLY CRAWFORD

materials used:
Avocado Arts stamps (Sept & Nov sets)
Red cardstock
White cardstock
Colorbox ink
Want2Scrap black bling
Twinery twine

A few Lawn Fawn cards.

It is starting to feel like fall here.  The mornings are crisp and the sun is going down a few hours earlier and Pumpkin Spice lattes are available (my favorite drink at Starbucks).  I really wish I had more hours in the day to create, spend more time on learning photography and blogging more often.  Actually, that is kind of not true.  Right now, I love doing all of those things, but I love being a Mother more.  So I only create a few days a week when they are at school.  I'm perfectly okay with that.

Here are a few Lawn Fawn cards I made this past week.  The first one is is for sketch 240 over at Card Positioning Systems.  I used the On the Mend stamp set, the little smiley faces on everything seriously make me so happy.  I mean a cup of soup and bandaids with smiley faces...adorable!  With cold/flu season coming up, I'm sure this will not be in my card basket for very long.

This next card, is a project I did for the A-Z Stamping over at Two Peas in a Bucket.  This was for the day for "L".   The things I used for L were, Lawn Fawn stamps, a Spellbinders Label, and I did some layering.  A-Z stamping is still going on, so head on over and check it out.  I paper pieced the pumpkin and leaves from the Harvest Season set, and created the sentiment using Harold's ABC's.  

Spellbinders & Unity 2 day blog hop

Welcome to day one, of the two day hop!

You should be joining me from Jessica’s blog, if not then head to the beginning on the Unity Stamp Co. Blog.
With all the blog-swaps that are happening out there lately, I can't think of one more exciting than when the amazing women of SPELLBINDERS™ get together with the rock stars of UNITY STAMP COMPANY!

We can't wait to show you a special line of coordinating products featuring SPELLBINDERS dies and SAMANTHA WALKER for Unity Stamp Co. rubber stamps!   

Not only are we thrilled to be collaborating on such a special 2-day event, but ONE of you will win ALL of the coordinating stamps and dies from the Samantha Walker collection!  We will also have 1 winner each day from the comments that will receive 1 Samantha Walker stamp set and coordinating dies.
So be sure to enjoy our hop both days, leave comments on all of the blogs each day and check back to see if you won!

(winners will be posted on Wednesday, October 19^th on the Unity Blog and Spellbinders Blog)

Here is my project that I made for today's blog hop.  I paired stamps from the Unity Blossom Stackers with the Spellbinders Blossom Tags & Accents.  The Blossom Stackers stamp set, is a HUGE set, so it took a little bit to have my OCD mind settle on one theme/idea.  What I really am drawn to about this set, it how it works for both scrapbookers & stamper/card makers.  Now add all that awesomeness to the fact that there are dies that perfectly coordinate...perfection!  

I am not talented enough to mix lots of pattern paper together, as much as I would love to have that talent, it just isn't my forte.  So, I new this would be layered, but clean looking.  I didn't do anything too fancy, I stamped, I die cut, then layered the pieces with foam tape. These sets are that easy.

click below...

Materials Used:
S5-072 Spellbinders Blossom Tags and Accents
E8-001 Spellbinders Classic Bracket
E8-005 Spellbinders Classic Postage stamp
Unity Blossom Stackers 
Flourishes Ivory cardstock
Helmar foam adhesive
Echo Park pattern paper
Clear Snap Color Box ink (brown & black)
Kaiser Craft lace
Twinery Bakers twine

Autumn Blessings

Today, I am showing a sneak of the Ho Ho's and Holiday Blessings stamps set along with the Bring on the Holiday Cheer set (available Nov. 1st).  I love the tree silhouette.  Do you ever just fall in love with a particular image from a stamp set and can see yourself using it over and over again?  That is how I feel about the tree image.  Kinda super love it :)

For my card, I just did some basic stamping, and then paper pieced the cute little bird (colored with copics).  Nothing too fancy, just card stock, ink and pretty bakers twine...basics of stamping.

Make sure you check out the Avocado Arts blog for all of the latest happenings, along with the other designers to see what they created using this next upcoming set.

• AJ OTTO
• BECKY OEHLERS
• JULIA STAINTON
• KIMBERLY CRAWFORD
• AVOCADO ARTS BLOG
• AVOCADO ART WEBSITE

Swimming for Katie

I am very honored and humbled to be a part of this fundraiser for Katie.  What I can say about Katie is, she is living each day with as much courage, bravery and honesty as someone could possibly have.  As a woman and mother, I very much so relate to her.  I don't know what it is like to walk one step in her shoes, but I choose to support her every step of the way.

From October 10-12 some of the best stampers are joining together to support and encourage our friend and fellow stamper, Katie Renz, who is currently battling inoperable gastric cancer.  If you're not familiar with her, Katie’s cancer story started just before Christmas last year.  This young, beautiful, healthy, vibrant mother of 3 with her infectious smile was suddenly diagnosed with an inoperable cancer, virtually overnight.  A few tummy aches and then stage 4 gastric cancer.  Her first post about it is here.  The idea of “Swimming for Katie” came from her recent post here.

This exclusive stamp used in my sample, designed by Becky Oehlers is available as a clear stamp, as well as a digis or a dig and SVG cut file.  100% of the profits go to Katie's fund to help her and her young family.  Her husband Kevin and her three young children need our help and support.  In addition to the Keep Swimming Octopus, Marianne Walker and True Doodle Designs both also donated digis that are for sale.  Direct donations are also being accepted.  Information central is HERE.  This is a permanent page that will stay active at i {heart} papers with current information and the full 3 day blog hop listing, as well as the donation button. 
Here is my card:

Here are all the items available for sale.

Keep Swimming Octopus
Peachy Clear stamp
$5.50 with free shipping


Keep Swimming Octopus DIGIstamp
$3.00 with instant download


Keep Swimming Octopus DIGIstamp with SVG cut file
$3.50 with instant download


Keep Swimming Mermaid DIGIstamp
$3.50 with instant download


Keep Swimming Ribbon Fish DIGIstamp and DIGIpapers
$5.00 with instant download

I hope you will join me in supporting Katie through a purchase or donation. 

The following is a list of everyone who has projects posted today. I hope you will be inspired by them and moved to purchase or donate. If you would like to send Katie a card her mailing address is:

Katie Renz
PO Box 5913
Bellingham, WA 98227-5913

Amy Heller

Jackie Pedro
Julie Masse
Kecia Waters
Sandie Dunne
Susan Liles
Latisha Yoast
Laurie Schmidlin
Lisa Arana
Lisa Henke
Lisa Silver
Lydia Fiedler
Lyn Bernatovich
Lynette
Maria Gurnsey
Meg Craig
Melissa Bickford
Michelle Woerner
Mona Pendleton
Niki Estes
Robyn Weatherspoon
Sarah Jay
Sarah Martina Parker
Savannah O'Gwynn
Stephanie Washburn
Susanna Boyd
Tobi Crawford
Julie Lacey
Kim Kesti
Shemaine Smith
Danielle Lounds
Debbie Carriere
DoBea A.
Fran Gumprecht
Geny Cassady
Gina K.
Holly McMillen
Jak Heath
Javablustamper/Jacquie
Kimberly Crawford
Jeanne Streiff
Trudy Sjolander

My Cup of Tea

One of my little secret about me (or not so secret) is that I love going out for Afternoon Tea.  Anytime, I travel to a new town, I always check out the tea shops.  It is just something that comforts me, plus they are so girly and feminine...a perfect place to relax with a nice cup of tea, delicious food and great friends.  

The My Cup of Tea set from Lawn Fawn, is a cute little mini set that has a couple of sentiments and great tea images.  For my card, I knew I wanted to use brown and pink with ivory.  Those colors together are just really nice together.  I created a background using the spoons, then stamped the tea bags and tea pot onto a die cut, then added a few buttons and twine to finish it off.  To soften the card up a little more, I distressed the edges with pink ink.

Head on over to the Lawn Fawn blog for more inspiration and a giveaway.  Don't forget to see what the other designers cooked up too!

Chan Vuong

Julie Campbell

Lea Lawson
Lynnette Kauffman
Nichol Magouirk
Teri Anderson
Tiffany Johnson

Chari Moss

Sally's ABC's

As a cardmaker/scrapbooker and someone who just likes to craft, one thing I absolutely love to have an abundance of, is alphabets.  I love personalizing projects with a name or sentiment, so when we were given this stamp set (Sally's ABC's), I was most excited.  This set is the perfect mix of elegance & whimsy, so I decided to make a pretty gift bag for a bride.  

I originally had my project as just a tag, but the more I looked at it, it needed something else.  So I stamped the bells from Happily Ever After in orange onto a lighter orange color (I was trying to match the pattern paper in the tag) and applied it to a kraft bag.  Then I adhered the tag with foam tape to the bag.

I should of made a cute little set of cards to go with the bag, but hindsight is 20/20 right?  Thank You cards would be a perfect gift for that new bride.

Take a little hop over to the Lawn Fawn blog for a fun giveaway, and don't forget to visit the rest of the designers:

Chan Vuong

Julie Campbell

Lea Lawson
Lynnette Kauffman
Nichol Magouirk
Teri Anderson
Tiffany Johnson

Chari Moss

Winter Fox

Did you know Florida can have a Nor-Easter?  I didn't either, but apparently we are having one.  It has been raining all weekend (not that I mind it), and it has really put me into a fall mood.  I'm not quite ready for winter, so I will still enjoy the warmish crisp weather.

Here is a card using the Winter Fox stamp set from Lawn Fawn.  I kind of like to just make a card out of card stock, and create my own pattern.  Pattern paper can be hard for me to use sometimes.  So, its easier to make my own.  I repeatedly stamped the sentiment in a green ink, for a tone on tone effect, I would have used Versamark, but it wasn't dark enough. Then I stamped the sentiment in black once to make it stand out.  I stamped the fox onto the die cut, then stamped it again onto white cardstock, colored it in with copic markers, cut it out and popped it up onto the die cut (whew longest run on sentence ever lol).  To finish the card off, I added some black ribbon at the top of the card, and a few black rhinestones underneath the sentiment.

Head on over to the Lawn Fawn blog, they are having a giveaway this week (fun stuff!). Also take a little visit to the rest of the designers blogs, to see what they cooked up with this cute stamp set.

Chan VuongJulie Campbell

Lea Lawson
Lynnette Kauffman
Nichol Magouirk
Teri Anderson
Tiffany Johnson

Chari Moss

Merry Christmas

Every year I stress over how much "stuff" I end up putting on my Christmas cards.  Because, that little bump from ribbon or a brad seems to jack up the price of postage.  Not a big deal, but I like to be able to slap a first class stamp on the envelope and call it good.  

Not all of my Christmas cards will be this simple, but they are easy enough that I crank a few out and not feel burnt out by mass production (which I hate).  I used some Fabriano water color paper as my card base.  I think a simple card looks so classy on that kind of card stock, it makes it feel a little richer.  So I stamped my images, colored them in using Copics, then stamped my sentiment.  It didn't look right, but by rounding the corners it soften it up a little, then I created some score marks using my Scor-pal.  I finished it off my adding a few Want2Scrap rhinestones on either side of the sentiment.

Head on over to the other designers blogs to see what they created with the Ho, Ho's and Holiday Blessing stamp set.

• AJ OTTO
• BECKY OEHLERS
• JULIA STAINTON
• KIMBERLY CRAWFORD
• AVOCADO ARTS BLOG
• AVOCADO ART WEBSITE

materials used:
water color paper
Avocado Arts stamp set
copic markers
rhinestones
colorbox ink