Life is a Beautiful Ride

Happy Friday stampers!!

It has been one heck of a week for me and I am so, so, SO happy that it is finally Friday.  We have been short staffed in my department at work since October, which means that me and my partner in crime have been working 50+ hours per week for the past 5 months...I am drained!  The good news is that we finally got someone hired!  We've still got a ways to go before she is fully trained, but I can see the light at the end of the tunnel now, which is helping continue to push through these long, stressful work weeks.

It's Friday Favorites today over at Stylin' Stampin' INKspiration and I am using my favorite Sale-a-Bration stamp set along with the Beautiful Ride stamp set.  These two sets go hand in hand!!  The little puppy fits perfectly inside the basket :-)

Supplies Used:

Paper ~ Whisper White, Watermelon Wonder

Ink ~ Basic Black, Watermelon Wonder, Mint Macaron, Tip Top Taupe, Soft Suede, Smoky Slate

Stamp Sets ~ Petal Pusher, Beautiful Ride

Other Supplies ~ It's My Party Enamel Dots, Basic Black/Mint Macaron Bakers Twine

The sentiment I used on this card really made me stop and think.  Even with all of the stress, long work hours, time away from my family (and stamping!), my life is still pretty amazing and really is a beautiful ride.  There are so many others who are going through much harder times in life, yet still keep plugging along.  I sent this card out today to a former boss and dear friend who had surgery this week and is going through some very hard times.  It is my hope that this will bring a smile to her face and make her day a little happier.

Here's to an amazing weekend!

Happy Stamping!



Fancy Fold Flower

Happy Thursday stampers!

 

It's a Fancy Fold kind of day over at Stylin' Stampin' INKspiration.  I've been eyeing this fold for a while now and finally gave it a try after Pinkstampagne so kindly posted her measurements for her beautiful card!

I also gave the whole "line-less" water color technique a try.  This is super simple and the end result is amazing!  All you have to do is stamp the image in a very light color (I used Sahara Sand, stamped off once).  Then all you have to do is paint over that lightly stamped image with the color of your choice and you now have an image that looks like you painted it free-hand!

Supplies Used:

Paper ~ Crushed Curry, Very Vanilla, Basic Black, Typeset DSP

Ink ~ Sahara Sand, Crushed Curry, Basic Black

Stamp Sets ~ Friends & Flowers, Balloon Celebration

Other Supplies ~ Festive Flower Builder Punch, Botanical Builder Framelits



I love how this flower turned out and can not wait to share this technique with my class!

 

Be sure to check out the rest of the Fancy Folds from our fancy design team members!

 

Happy Stamping!

Hello Baby Boy ~ Project Life



Birthday Bouquet



Peek-a-Boo Sweet Pea



Welcome back to Monday Montage!!!  We are back with another fabulous hop!  Make sure you click on the links below so you don't miss any of the creations...you are sure to love them all!

I spent over 3 hours deep cleaning my craft room this week...it was LONG overdue!!!  It felt good to purge, sort and organize all of my supplies and actually have space on my craft table to work on!  It made creating todays card so much more relaxing and fun!

'Tis the season for babies...it seems to happen every year right around this time! I have two friends who are expecting their first babies in the next month, so I decided to get a head start on some new baby cards.  I've had this idea in my head for a while and finally put in on paper today. 

Supplies Used:

Paper ~ Blushing Bride, Whisper White, Vellum

Ink ~ Blushing Bride, Calypso Coral, Basic Gray, Old Olive, Pear Pizzazz

Stamp Sets ~ Friends & Flowers, Suite Sayings, Balloon Celebration

Other Supplies ~ Balloon Bouquet Punch, Old Olive Bakers Twine, Tree Builder Punch

 

Isn't that little sweet pea adorable?!? 

  

Next stop on the hop is Cathy...I can't wait to see what she has for us this week! Or if you want to hop backwards, you can hop on back to the amazing Amy...I just love her style!

  Thanks for hopping along with us today!

 

Happy Stamping!

 





Happy Birthday with a Cherry on Top

Happy Friday stampers...TGIF!!! 

 

I'm kicking off what I hope to be a weekend full of stamping with a happy card for this weeks Friday Mashup Challenge.  The challenge this week is to create a birthday card using stencils.  I'm also playing along with my girls over at SSINK where anything goes.

I'm kind of lacking in the stencil department, but I do have the fun Dots & Stripes stencils.  The polka dots gave this card a fun little splash of color behind the balloons.

 

Supplies Used:

Paper ~ Whisper White

Ink ~ Pool Party, Cucumber Crush, Watermelon Wonder, Crushed Curry, Basic Black, Stampin' Chalk Marker

Stamp Set ~ Party Pants

Other Supplies ~ Circle Framelits, Balloon Bouquet Punch, Cherry on Top Washi Tape, Whisper White Bakers Twine

 

Don't these bright balloons just make you happy??!? 

 

I hope your weekend is very happy and you get some stamping time in too!

 

Happy Stamping!



Ice Cream for the Birthday Girl

Happy Thursday stampers!  We are inching our way towards the weekend...woohoo!  My birthday celebration is carrying over to this weekend with another fun dinner with friends...I might as well just make this whole month a celebration :)

 

I have another cute birthday card to share with you today.  #imbringingbirthdaysback is keeping me busy in the birthday card department and I love every crafty minute of it!

 

The Honeycomb Happiness Sale-a-Bration stamp set pairs up perfectly with the Birthday Bouquet DSP.  And of course I have to add in some bling with the fancy Pool Party Glitter Ribbon!

Supplies Used:

Paper ~ Whisper White, It's My Party DSP, Birthday Bouquet DSP, Blushing Bride Glimmer, Soft Suede, Blushing Bride

Ink ~ Blushing Bride, Soft Suede, Mint Macaron

Stamp Set ~ Honeycomb Happiness, Hello(retired)

Other Supplies ~ Greetings Thinlits, Pool Party Glitter Ribbon, Blushing Bride Sequin Trim, Itty Bitty Accents Punch Pack

 

So super cute, right?  The ice cream cone looks good enough to eat!

 

Thanks for stopping by today!  Be sure to come back again tomorrow for another fun birthday card.

 

Happy Stamping!

 



Winter Blues

With Valentine's Day and all the rest of the winter holidays behind us, I am SOOOOO ready for spring to hurry up and get here.  Sadly, we still have a few weeks of cold, gray, wintery weather to suffer though before it's starts to warm up. 

The amazing design team over at Stylin' Stampin' INKspiration are fighting off the Winter Blues with some pretty shades of blue to cheer brighten your day.  While my grass is still ugly and my flowers have yet to bloom, I can still create some pretty flowers with paper and ink and pretend it's spring time!

Supplies Used:

Paper ~ Pacific Point, Very Vanilla, Typeset DSP, Gold Foil

Ink ~ Basic Black, Pacific Point, Pool Party, Old Olive, Pear Pizzazz, Crushed Curry, Gold Wink of Stella

Stamp Set ~ Birthday Blooms

Other Supplies ~ Greetings Thinlits

 

I created the soft Pool Party background by "smooshing" my ink pad on a piece of Window Sheet then spritzed it with some water and "smooshed" it on the Very Vanilla paper.  I love how this creates a soft watercolor background! 

 

I hope this pretty card helps YOU beat the winter blues and INKspires you to create something beautiful today!

 

Happy Stamping!

Put Your Party Pants On...

...there are new Sale-a-Bration items to make your Tuesday a HAPPY day!

 

Two super cute new stamp sets and Metallic Glitter Tape, in addition to any of the other items in the SAB catalog, can be yours for FREE with each $50 purchase between now and March 31st!  Place your order soon so you don't miss out on any of these awesome products!

 

I'm still busy working on all of my #imbringingbirthdaysback cards, so I just had to use the new Party Pants SAB stamp set!

 

This first card went out in the mail today one of my favorite February birthday friends.  Though we are no longer in the same state, we still celebrate our birthday month together, along with a few other awesome friends.

Supplies Used:

Paper ~ Whisper White, Cucumber Crush, Pool Party

Ink ~ Bermuda Bay, Crushed Curry, Soft Sky, Cucumber Crush, Tangelo Twist, Basic Black

Stamp Set ~ Party Pants

Other Supplies ~ Balloon Bouquet Punch, Metallic Sequins, Whisper White Bakers Twine

 

Wondering how I made the background for the balloons?  I simple took one of my D blocks, made stripes across it with my Bermuda Bay Stampin' Write Marker, spritzed it with a little water and stamped it right on the card front.  Fun and easy way to add a little extra detail to a clean and simple card!

 

Next up is a card I made on the day of MY birthday :-) I was ready to put my party pants on and have an awesome day!  (And by party pants, I mean my favorite leggings with a slouchy tunic to chill at home all day!)

Supplies Used:

Paper ~ Whisper White, Mint Macaron, Melon Mambo, Crushed Curry, Silver Glimmer, It's My Party DSP

Ink ~ Mint Macaron, Crushed Curry, Basic Black

Stamp Set ~ Party Pants

Other Supplies ~ Metallic Glitter Tape, Balloon Bouquet Punch, Mint Macaron/Basic Black Bakers Twine

 

Isn't this a FUN stamp set?!?!  You want to add it to your collection, right?!?!?  Put together a quick $50 order and it's yours for FREE!

 

Happy Stamping!

 

 



Pedal Pusher Thanks

Happy Monday stampers!  I hope you all had a fabulous weekend...some of you may even be enjoying a long weekend and have today off as well.

My weekend was pretty freaking awesome!!!  My birthday was on Saturday, but the celebrating started on Friday and kept on going ALL weekend long!  I enjoyed some pampering and lunch with my momma on Friday, a massage and pedicure on Saturday, followed by an amazing surprise chef's table dinner at one of my favorite restaurants.  The best part of that dinner was my boys surprising me by dressing up as waitstaff for the restaurant and seating us at our table...they were so proud!  My birthday weekend wrapped up with a yummy dinner made by my momma on Sunday.  

I felt loved and spoiled all weekend long and have so many people to thank for making my birthday super, super special.  I snuck in some stamping time yesterday and worked on some thank you cards to send to everyone who helped to make my day extra special.

Supplies Used:

Paper ~ Whisper White, Mint Macaron

Ink ~ Basic Black, Mint Macaron, Smoky Slate, Crushed Curry, Rich Razzleberry,  Watermelon Wonder

Stamp Set ~ Pedal Pusher

Other Supplies ~ It's My Party Washi Tape, Greeting Thinlits

Are you wondering where this adorable bicycle stamp set came from?  It is a new Sale-A-Bration stamp set that will be available tomorrow!  This adorable stamp set can be yours for FREE with a $50 order....it's perfect for some spring time creations!

Thanks for stopping by today!  I wish you all a fantastic week!

Happy Stamping!

Bee Mine

Welcome to the SSINK February Blog Hop!  We are so excited to share some LOVE with you today!  Valentine's Day is just a few days away and we have some great projects to INKspire you for any last minute Valentine's you may need to create.

 

As you hop along, please be sure to comment and show some love on every blog! We are always excited to hear from our followers! You should have just left stop number 2 on the Stylin' Stampin' INKspiration Blog Hop - Diana of Stampin' Fun With Diana). If so, you are in the right spot. If a link doesn't work or you get off track, you will find the full blog hop lineup below.

 

 I found these adorable little bee chocolates at our local candy store and just had to use them for Valentine's for my youngest.  I don't have many years left of the "cute" Valentine's so I have to take advantage of these while I can!

I CASE'd the design of the card from the annual catalog.  It's a pretty simple design, but a bit time consuming cutting out all of those little hives with the Hexagon Hive Thinlits...thank goodness for the Precision Base Plate!

Supplies Used:

Paper ~ Whisper White, So Saffron, It's My Party DSP, Real Red

Ink ~ Basic Black, Crushed Curry

Stamp Sets ~ Honeycomb Hello, Calling All Heros

Other Supplies ~ Hexagon Hive Thinlits, Lots of Labels Framelits, Itty Bitty Accents Punch Pack

My little guy was a big help in making these.  He helped me crank all of the paper through the Big Shot, punched out all of the hearts and glued on all of the chocolate bees.  He also worked so hard on signing his name on all 25 of his Valentine's!  He still struggles with W's and M's so this was really good practice for him and he was so proud that he did it all by himself!   

 

 

 

Blog Hop Participant List:

 

1. Jenny at Jenny G Paper Crafts
2. Diana at Stampin Fun with Diana
3. Breelin at Craft-Somnia Momma
4. Leanne at Literally My Joy
5. Kim at Stamping with Kim
6. Donna at Geek Squad Crafting



Little Deer

 Hello stampers and happy Tuesday!

 

It's time for an all new Hand Stamped Sentiments Challenge.  This week we have a color challenge that is perfect for your last minute Valentine's or for an adorable baby girl card!

I have a lot of friends who have either had or expecting a baby girl, so I am trying to get caught up on all of my baby card needs.

The Love Blossoms DSP Stack and the adorable little deer from Made With Love.

Supplies Used:

Paper ~ Crumb Cake, Love Blossoms DSP Stack, Whisper White, Blushing Bride Glimmer Paper, Velum

Ink ~ Basic Black, Crumb Cake, Rose Red

Stamp Set ~ Made with Love

Other Supplies ~ Circle Framelits, Triple Banner Punch, Owl Builder Punch

 

That little deer is just too cute and is perfect for any baby card!

 

Be sure to check out the rest of the design team creations and join along in the fun!

 

Happy Stamping!



My Greatest Adventure ~ Monday Montage



Welcome back to Monday Montage!!!  We are back with another fabulous hop!  Make sure you click on the links below so you don't miss any of the creations...you are sure to love them all!

This weekend was all about Valentine's crafting!  I just have a few finishing touches on my boys' school Valentine's, cards for family are done and the card I am sharing with you today is for my hubby <3  Our life is an adventure every day, but he is the greatest part of every one!

Supplies Used:

Paper ~ Lost Lagoon, Very Vanilla, Real Red, Vellum, Going Places DSP Stack

Ink ~ Basic Black, Real Red, Lost Lagoon

Stamp Sets ~ Going Global, Sky is the Limit

Other Supplies ~ Circle Framelits, Sweet Heart Punch, Itty Bitty Accents Punch Pack, Lost Lagoon Striped Cotton Ribbon, Flower Fair Framelits, Neutrals Candy Dots

  

Next stop on the hop is Cathy...I can't wait to see what she has for us this week! Or if you want to hop backwards, you can hop on back to the amazing Amy...I just love her style!

  Thanks for hopping along with us today!

 

Happy Stamping!

 





Treats for my Loves

Hello happy stampers!  We made it through another week...I'm doing a little happy dance :-)  I love me a Friday!!!

I've been doing a little countdown to Valentine's Day for my boys, leaving them a little treat each morning.  It's been fun coming up with different ideas and treats to surprise them with each day.

 

Today's Valentine/candy theme over at Friday Mashup Challenge along with the 3-D challenge over at Stylin' Stampin' INKspiration inspired these cute little Ghiradelli Chocolate wraps. 

I'm the queen of procrastination and am usually scrambling early in the morning to put their treats together, so I was super happy that these went together so quickly!

 

Supplies Used:

Paper ~ It's My Party DSP, Red Foil, Silver Glimmer, Whisper White

Ink ~ Real Red

Stamp Set ~ Hello Life

Other Supplies ~ Triple Banner Punch, Bow Builder Punch, Itty Bitty Accents Punch Pack, Basic Black Bakers Twine

 

Super easy and cute...my kind of special treat!

 

I hope you all have a fabulous weekend and get some stamp time!  I'll be stamping my way through the weekend and cheering on the Denver Bronco's on Sunday....Go Broncos!

 

Happy Stamping!



Hip Hip Hooray

Hip Hip Hooray and Happy Birthday!

 

February is a busy birthday month...I have so many friends and family who celebrate their birthday this month, so I've been busy creating lots of birthday cards lately.

 

I love the fun and funky party hat from the Silhouettes & Script Hostess stamp set...it is one of my favorite hostess stamp sets!  Be sure to head on over to Stylin' Stampin' INKspiration today to see more INKspiring creations with other hostess sets!

Supplies Used:

Paper ~ Whisper White

Ink ~ Melon Mambo, Mint Macaron, Crushed Curry, Basic Black

Stamp Set ~ Silhouettes & Script

Other Supplies ~ It's My Party Washi Tape, It's My Party Enamel Dots, Basic Black/Mint Macaron Thick Bakers Twine

 

Have you heard about Shannon West's #IMBRINGINGBIRTHDAYSBACK movement yet?  It is taking off like wild fire and I LOVE it!  She started the year out by asking her friends and family to send her their birthday and address so she could send them a hand stamped birthday card.  After seeing it re-posted by another fellow demonstrator, I jumped on the band wagon and have quite the list of cards to send out throughout the year!  Who doesn't love to get happy mail, especially on their birthday?!?!?

 

Be sure to check back tomorrow for some fun Valentine treats I made for my boys this week.

 

Happy Stamping!



Dinosaur Love

Happy Tuesday stampers!

 

I'm still working on some Valentine's this week and after seeing an adorable card made by Super Stamp Girl on Instagram last week, I just had to CASE it!  Having 3 boys, I am always searching for fun boy card ideas and this one hit the jackpot!

My youngest will love this!  Adding the "I Heart You" sentiment is perfect for a fun dino valentine!

Supplies Used:

Paper ~ Real Red, Basic Black, Whisper White, Go Wild DSP

Ink ~ Basic Black, VersaMark

Stamp Sets ~ No Bones About It, And Many More

Other Supplies ~ Triple Banner Punch, Sweetheart Punch, Itty Bitty Accents Punch Pack, Circle Framelits, Every Day Chic Washi Tape

 

Thanks for the super fun idea Super Stamp Girl!!!

 

Happy Stamping!