Grateful Harvest Blessings

Happy Friday stampers!  

It was back to school week for us and my little family is exhausted...myself included!  As much as I try, I am never quite prepared for the back to school routine.  This year is even a bit more intense with my twins playing different fall sports at school, fall baseball and soccer for my youngest.  Add in youth group one night a week and I feel like I need to stick an Uber sign on my card!  I know after another week or so, we will totally be back in routine and life will return to normal.  Until then, I will happily embrace a four day weekend!  

I should be getting things ready for our camping trip this weekend, but I took a little detour to my craft room this morning for a little creative therapy.  A clear, happy mind will help me be more productive, right?!?!

I absolutely love farm house decor, so the Country Home stamp set is one of my favorites!  Not only are the images amazing, but they are perfect for coloring, which is just what I did this morning!

For my first card, I pretty much stuck with the colors in the Country Lane Suite. I'm really digging the Mint Macaron and Cajun Craze color combo!  I embossed my Mint Macaron paper with the Tin Tile Dynamic embossing folder, then sponged it with Cajun Craze...love the end result!  After some Stamping' Blends coloring, a little strip of DSP and some Chicken Wire Elements was all that was needed to complete this card.

I took a brighter approach with my next card.   Granny Apple Green, Blueberry Bushel and Daffodil Delight are delicious together!  I added a few splatters of Blueberry Bushel to the white panel of my card front to break up white on white from the tag. I'm wishing I would have added a few more splatters...you can never have too much, right?!?  And the Galvanized Clips...how great are these!  That little clip was the perfect added touch! 

As much as I would love to stay in my craft room all day, I've got to get a few things done to get ready for our little camping trip.  I'm hoping to have a couple of extra hands to help me get ready so I CAN get in a bit more stamping time today!

I hope you all have a fabulous weekend!

Happy Stamping!

A Paper Pumpkin Thing Blog Hop Blissful Blooms

Happy Thursday stampers!  Welcome to my very first A Paper Pumpkin Thing Blog Hop!  I'm excited to join all of these amazing stampers as we showcase some fun alternatives to the Blissful Blooms Paper Pumpkin.

This months kit includes card bases, coordinating envelopes and embellishments to make 10 beautiful cards that are perfect for almost any occasion.  But there are so many other fun options with this months kit if you let your imagination run wild!

My first project is a cute little treat box made using the Clear Tiny Treat Boxes.  I cut a strip from one of the card fronts to create a partial wrapper for the box.  Using the pretty flower stamp included with this kit, I stamped them in Blackberry Bliss and Flirty Flamingo and put my fussing cutting skills to use.  I added a few of the laser-cut vellum leaves as well as a few loops of the beautiful bakers twine and topped it off with a silver foil tag.  Quick, easy and perfect for a tasty little thank you treat for a friend!  

These card bases are AMAZING and almost too beautiful to cut up!  So I decided to use the Stitched Season's frailest to cut just a portion of the card out, leaving the perfect piece for a beautiful sentiment.  I added a small embellishment using the laser-cut vellum leaves again and a fussy cute flower from the card base I cut for the treat box.  Sadly, one of my co-workers lost is mother this week.  This card quickly made it's way to his family with lots of love from his school district family.  

Thank you for joining me for this hop!  I can't wait for you to see all of the other AMAZING creations from the rest of the hoppers!

Happy Stamping!

Swampy Birthday Wishes ~ HSSIC297

Hello stampers!

It's time for an all new Hand Stamped Sentiments Inspiration Challenge and this couldn't have come at a better time! As I mentioned yesterday, we had one epic alligator party over the weekend...yes, I said alligator!  My stampin' BFF, Wendy, drove all the way up to Washington State to get swampy with us, and she just so happens to be celebrating her birthday today!  Happy Birthday Wendy!


Needless to say, this fun challenge inspired a "swampy" birthday card :-)  I love the bright and vivid colors in the Animal Expedition DSP...and the alligator design was perfect for today's creation!

Supplies Used:

Paper ~ Whisper White, Lemon Lime Twist, Animal Expedition DSP

Ink ~ Memento, Stampin' Blends:  Call Me Clover, Shaded Spruce, Soft Sea Foam

Stamp Sets ~ Labeler Alphabet, Lined Alphabet

Other Supplies ~ 2" Circle Punch, Starburst Punch, Glitter Enamel Dots

When you have an alligator party, you must dress up like a bunch of hillbilly swamp people!  Seeing everyone's attire was GREAT!!!  Some of our friends really went all out!

Wendy and I went with the cute hillbilly look, but my hubby went all out with the coveralls, cowboy boots and cowboy hat.  I'm pretty sure it's been a good 10 years since he pulled out that cowboy hat...LOL!  And yes, that's a real alligator on the grill and he was DELICIOUS!

Not only is today Wendy's birthday, but it's also the first day of school for my boys!  Time for 1st day of school pictures and getting them all off to school!

Have a happy Tuesday!

Happy Stamping!

Alpine Christmas Greetings ~ Monday Montage

Welcome back to Monday Montage!!!  We are back once again another fabulous hop for you to enjoy!  Make sure you click on the links below so you don't miss any of the creations...we promise you will love them all!

Oh my gosh...what a weekend I had!  We had our end of the summer party on Saturday and it was A-MAZING!!!  And we had an ALLIGATOR!  Check back here tomorrow for more details on the swampy good fun we all had!

Our party may have been a ton of fun, but it was even MORE fun having my stampin' BFF Wendy here for the weekend!  Her trip here in July seemed so super rushed and went by way too fast...so fast that we didn't even have time to stamp!  In between playing with her ADORABLE new puppy and prepping for the party, we made sure to take some time for stamping this time and it was so great!  I loved having Wendy in my craft room with me!  Stamping with your BFF is always better than stamping alone.  (She was even sweet enough to spend some time stamping with my youngest on Friday while I was at work...she's the BEST!)

We thought it would be fun to find a challenge to play along with and we decided on the latest Freshly Made Sketches sketch.  I think we both strayed away from the sketch a bit, but we still had a great time creating together!  I had been playing around with the Alpine Adventure stamp set earlier in the week, but end up with stampers block and could't come up with a design I was happy with.  I decided to pick the pieces back up and put them to work with the sketch and came up with this pretty card. 

 Supplies Used:

Paper ~ Cherry Cobbler, Very Vanilla, Soft Suede, Wood Textures DSP, Festive Farmhouse DSP

Ink ~ Mossy Meadow, Cherry Cobbler

Stamp Set ~ Alpine Adventure

Other Supplies ~ Alpine Sports Thinlits Dies, Softly Falling Embossing Folder

This is the sketch we used to help get our creative juices flowing...simple and cute!

I'm already missing Wendy and her super adorable fur baby Juniper.  I'm counting the days until OnStage in November when I get to see her again!  I am so very grateful for Stamping' Up! for bringing so many amazing friends into my life :) 

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 you for stopping by today!

Happy Stamping!

We've added links to all of our home pages as well so you can hop along in any order you'd like!

Amy O'Neill - Amy's Paper Crafts

Breelin Renwick - Craft-somnia Momma * You are HERE

Cathy Casey - Sugar Shack Designs

Dani Dziama - Dani's Thoughtful Corner

Elizabeth Price - Seeinginkspots - taking this week off

Julie Warnick - Julie Warnick Stampin' Up! Blog

Kaitlyn Zumbach - Create with Kaitlyn - taking this week off

Melissa Stout - The Stamp Doc
Wendy Weixler - Wickedly Wonderful Creations

#tgifc174 Product Spotlight - Feelin' Punchy

Happy Friday stampers!  It's a super happy Friday for this stamper because my stampin' BFF Wendy of Wickedly Wonderful Creations is here to visit for the weekend!  We are bound to have lots of stampy {and swampy} fun! Stay tuned!

Do you know who else knows how to have lots of stampy fun?!?!  The team over at  TGIF Challenges!  We are getting punchy today...in a crafty sort of way!

We are pulling out all the punches for this weeks Product Spotlight Challenge.  Stampin' Up! has so many great punches, many of which coordinate with some of our amazing stamp sets.  As soon as I saw the Spooky Sweets stamp set and coordinating Spooky Bats Punch, I knew I had to have them both!  I love me some Halloween bundles!  Add a few more punches to the mix and some fun color and you've got a fun little Halloween creation.

Supplies Used:

Paper ~ Basic Black, Lemon Lime Twist, Whisper White, Velum

Ink ~ Lemon Lime Twist, Coastal Cabana, Gorgeous Grape, Smoky Slate, Mango Melody

Stamp Set ~ Spooky Sweets

Other Supplies ~ 2" Circle Punch, Starburst Punch, Twinkle Builder Punch, Spooky Bats Punch, Glitter Enamel Dots, Silver Metallic Thread

What do you think of these colorful bats?  When I first started on this card I punched out some black bats, but decided my card was too gloomy and doomy, so I inked up the bats in a few different colors.  And since I always need a little bling on my cards, finding that the colors I chose were the same color as the Glitter Enamel Dots, you better believe I had to add them!

I hope you all have a fantastic weekend!  I know mine will be filled with lots of good times and hopefully a lot of stamping too!

Happy Stamping!

Making Christmas Bright

Hi stampers!  I'm back today with another creation using the super cute Making Christmas Bright stamp set.  I made a bright and colorful card with this set last week and shared it with a friend.  After seeing it, she challenged me to use the same set, but this time using pastel colors, a doily, sequins and twine.  Given the fact that I'm not one to turn down a challenge, I happily accepted!

I pulled out some of the softer Stampin' Blends to color the adorable Christmas lights, added a few strips of coordinating cardstock, a doily, some sequins and some twine...and DONE!  It's a pretty simple card, but simple is good!  This would be a great card for a stamp class.  You could easy step it down a bit or even step it up a bit more!  Either way, the color combo is fun for a little non-traditional Christmas creation.

Supplies Used:

Paper ~ Basic Gray, Flirty Flamingo, Pool Party, Soft Sea Foam, Whisper White

Ink ~ Basic Gray, Pool Party, Flirty Flamingo, Stampin' Blends:  Pool Party, Flirty Flamingo, Soft Sea Foam

Stamp Set ~ Making Christmas Brigth

Other Supplies ~ Iridescent Sequins, Silver Bakers Twine, Pearlized Doilies, Layering Circles Framelits

It's been a bit of a hectic week for me so far and I'm feeling a little overwhelmed with all that we have going on.  Who ever decided that it was a good idea to have 3 kids playing 4 different sports this fall must have been crazy!  Oh wait...that was me that gave that okay.  I know once we get into a routine and they kids go back to school, all will be well.  It's a good thing I always make a little time to escape to my craft room to blow off a bit of steam!

Be sure to check back again soon!  I have more creations up my sleeve!

Happy Stamping!

Dashing Nature Birthday

Happy Monday stampers!  I hope everyone had a great weekend!  It was a weekend full of family fun for us, which means it went by way too fast!  My husbands dad, brother and sister-in-law were in town for the weekend, so we spent as much time with all of them as we could since we don't see them very often.  We managed to get one more of the brothers to join us for a day at the river with everyone, which was the perfect way to celebrate my hubby's birthday!  We were just missing one of the Renwick brother's, but we hope to have them all together at Thanksgiving!

Every year I always look forward to finding a new deer or elk stamp in the Holiday Catalog to use for my husband's birthday card.  He is an avid hunter and making a birthday card with some sort of wildlife is something I always create for him.  

This year's Dashing Deer stamp did not disappoint!  It reminds me of the cute little doe that we have around our property with her two cute fawns.  And don't worry...my hubby only hunts for the big bucks!

Supplies Used:

Paper ~ Soft Suede, Whisper White, Crumb Cake, Nature's Poem DSP

Ink ~ Soft Suede, Early Espresso

Stamp Sets ~ Rooted in Nature, Dashing Deer, Itty Bitty Greetings

Other Supplies ~ Layering Circles Framelits, Detailed Deer Thinlits

It's always fun to pair up different stamp sets and make them work together!  The pine trees and tree ring stamps from Rooted in Nature worked beautifully with the sweet fawn.

Here's to a fantastic week!

Happy Stamping!

Beach Life

Happy Friday stampers!  I hope you have all had a great week and have some fun weekend plans to look forward to!

This was my first full week back to work after having the summer off...and I survived!  But that doesn't mean that I wouldn't love to still be on summer break and living the beach life again!  Our family was able to spend a week at our favorite ocean spot in Pacific City OR.  We have been going there for several years and look forward to our trips every year.  Going to the coast is always a special treat for me...it's a place where I can refresh and rejuvenate and let all of my worries and stress go.  I love to go down to the beach early in the morning before everyone else starts rolling in.  The tide is almost always out, leaving miles and miles of perfect sand to walk on with my pups.  It's also the best time to find sand dollars!  I found several whole ones this trip...I think it's a new record!  It's always fun to empty my pockets and let my boys explore each shell.  

Given how much I love my time at the beach, it only seemed fitting to create a new scrapbook page with one of my favorite photos from our trip.  This will be going in a frame very soon to hang up in my craft room.  

Supplies Used:

Paper ~ Whisper White, Mint Macaron, Sahara Sand, Gray Granite, Soft Sea Foam, Pool Party, Tranquil Textures DSP
Ink ~ Gray Granite

Stamp Set ~ Make a Difference 

Other Supplies ~ Under the Sea Framelits, Silver Bakers Twine, Pinewood Planks EF, Subtle Dynamic Texture EF, Corrugated Textured EF, Layering Alphabet Edgelits

I sure do love all of the textures of our new embossing folders...they are all so amazing! The embossing folders I used for this page were perfect with the wood bench that the sand dollars were on.  

As much as I'd love to be living the beach life, I must jump back in to reality and get myself off to work.

I hope you all have a fantastic weekend!

Happy Stamping 

Merry & Bright Friendship

Hello stampers!!!  We've almost made it through the week...which means I've almost made it through a whole week back at work! And I'm still alive :-)  That's what happens when you have a job you love!

What's even better than a job you love?  How about TWO jobs that you love?!?!  I always think of SU as my "fun" job...one that I can do at my own pace, be creative and ALWAYS have FUN!  What could be better than that?!?  

I've been working my way through my box of Holiday Catalog pre-order items...there's a good chance I still have QUITE a bit in that box!  But we'll keep that little secret to ourselves.  The Making Christmas Bright Bundle was another must have for me.  I mean, how cute are those little Christmas lights?!?

Supplies Used:

Paper ~ Granny Apple Green, Poppy Parade, Whisper White, Brights DSP

Ink ~ Mango Melody, Coastal Cabana, Granny Apple Green, Bermuda Bay, Poppy Parade

Stamp Set ~ Making Christmas Bright

Other Supplies ~ Christmas Bulb Builder Punch, Oh My Stars, Twinkle Adhesive Backed Sequins, Silver Metallic Thread

I am loving the Christmas-y color combination of Granny Apple Green and Poppy Parade! With a few other colors from the Brights Collection, you can put together a super bright any shiny Christmas card.  I love the sentiment in this stamp set too!  I'm thinking this may make a great card for an upcoming swap I'm participating in.

As must as I hate to leave my craft room, I must wrap things up and head out to my other job for the day.  I have some more crafty ideas brewing in my head, so be sure to check back again soon for more creations!

Happy Stamping!

Takeout Treats Celebration ~ #HSSCC296

Happy Tuesday stampers!

I am back with the amazing crew over at Hand Stamped Sentiments and we are playing with a fun color challenge this week.

Granny Apple Green is one of my favorite new colors and it pairs amazingly well with Blueberry Bushel and Daffodil Delight. These colors were just the inspiration I needed for a fun birthday card and treat box for a special birthday boy in our circle of friends.

The new Takeout Treats and coordinated Takeout Treats Dies are too cute!  The little takeout box is itty bitty and so darn cute!

Supplies Used:

Paper ~ Blueberry Bushel, Granny Apple Green, Daffodil Delight, Whisper White

Ink ~ Blueberry Bushel, Granny Apple Green, Daffodil Delight

Stamp Set ~ Takeout Treats

Other Supplies ~ Whisper White Bakers Twine, Takeout Treats Dies, Twinkle Adhesive Backed Sequins

Thanks for stopping by today!  I hope these fun colors have inspired you to create something fantastic today!

Happy Stamping!

Frosted Beauty

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!

When ever I get new product, I always make myself leave everything out until I have used it at least once before I put it way.  Does anyone else have fun ways of making sure they use all of their new products?!?!  The Frosted Floral Suite was quick to catch my attention and was a must have in my pre-order.  I love the dreamy watercolor floral images, which is what inspired me to make my first project I'm sharing tonight.

Aren't the flowers so pretty?!?!  And this is the first time I had used Merry Merlot...YUM!  This color is gorgeous!  The Frosted & Cleary Epoxy Droplets are the perfect finishing touch for any project with this suite!

Okay...lets talk about how amazingly beautiful the Frosted Floral Specialty DSP is!  This DSP is loaded with so many yummy colors...the creative possibilities are endless!  And to make it even better, the paper has some "frosted" shimmer to it as well.  So, with this new paper in hand, of COURSE I had to make a new banner!  If you've been following me for a while, you know that cute banners are my way of dressing up my desk at work or my mantle at home.  

I stamped several of the floral images in a variety of colors that coordinate with the DSP and layered them in little mini bouquets on each banner.  I added a few of the Epoxy Droplets and the Iridescent Boxwood Wreath Embellishments for just the right amount of bling.

This suite is one of favorites in the upcoming Holiday Catalog.  Well...one of my favorites!  I pretty much love EVERYTHING in this catalog!

 Supplies Used:

Paper ~ Whisper White, Soft Sea Foam, Blackberry Bliss, Pear Pizzazz, Tranquil Tide, Gray Granite, Sparkle Glimmer Paper, Frosted Floral Specialty DSP

Ink ~ Merry Merlot, Petal Pink, Blushing Bride, Soft Sea Foam, Tranquil Tide, Night of Navy, Blackberry Bliss, Mossy Meadow

Stamp Set ~ First Frost

Other Supplies ~ Frosted & Clear Epoxy Droplets, Iridescent Boxwood Wreaths Embellishments, Frosted Bouquet Framlits, Silver & Whisper White Bakers Twine

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 you for stopping by today!

Happy Stamping!

We've added links to all of our home pages as well so you can hop along in any order you'd like!

Amy O'Neill - Amy's Paper Crafts

Breelin Renwick - Craft-somnia Momma * You are HERE

Cathy Casey - Sugar Shack Designs

Dani Dziama - Dani's Thoughtful Corner

Elizabeth Price - Seeinginkspots - taking this week off

Julie Warnick - Julie Warnick Stampin' Up! Blog

Kaitlyn Zumbach - Create with Kaitlyn - taking this week off

Melissa Stout - The Stamp Doc
Wendy Weixler - Wickedly Wonderful Creations

#tgifc172 Sketch Challenge

Happy Friday stampers!  Are you all ready for the weekend?!?

I have to admit, I was a little annoyed with having to start back to work on a Thursday after an amazing summer off, but only having to work two days before having the weekend off is actually pretty great!  While I miss being at home with my family, it's been good to get back into a routine and back with my awesome team of co-workers!

Being that it is Friday, that means it's time for an all new TGIF Challenges and this week we have a great sketch for you!  I will certainly be using this sketch for more than one card, especially since I have a HUGE box of new Holiday Catalog items to play with!

As soon as I saw this sketch, my mind went straight to the Rooted in Nature stamp set.  I hope this set sticks around for a LONG time because I LOVE IT!  Paired with the Pinewood Planks embossing folder, it is even more amazing!

Supplies Used:
Paper ~ Whisper White, Tranquil Tide, Soft Suede

Ink ~ Mint Macaron, Tranquil Tide, Soft Suede

Stamp Set ~ Rooted in Nature

Other Supplies ~ Pinewood Planks Embossing Folder, Nature's Roots Framelits, Leaves Trinkets, Copper Metallic Thread, Faceted Dots, Copper Trim

Don't you just love the font for the sentiments in this stamp set?  I am always drawn to stamp sets with fun fonts!

Thank you for stopping by today!  I hope to be back some time this weekend with more to share. 

Until then...Happy Stamping!

Country Lane Thanks

Hello stampers!  I feel like it's been FOREVER since I've posted anything!  We were on vacation all of last week and had very limited internet service.  While I was a bit disappointed to not post a few times, I will admit that it was so awesome to not have everyone in my family on their devices.  We had a few great days on the Oregon Coast and ended our vacation at the beautiful Yale Lake, near Mt St Helen's.  It was seriously one of the most relaxing vacations we've had, which is just what I needed before I head back to work tomorrow morning.

I was lucky enough to find a spot with Wi-Fi while we are at the beach so I could place my 2018 Holiday Catalog pre-order.  Priorities, right?!?!  I was really hoping it would have been waiting for me when we got home, but I had to wait a couple more days.  I was so happy to see the UPS guy pull up shortly after we got home from the pool...his timing couldn't have been more perfect!  I dove in to the box as soon as I got it inside and could not wait to ink up one of the {many} stamp sets inside.

The Country Lane suite is the first thing that really caught my eye in the AMAZING new Holiday Catalog.  This is totally my style and everything in this suite is the BEST!

Supplies Used:

Paper ~ Blackberry Bliss, Whisper White, Country Lane DSP

Ink ~ Memento, Stampin' Blends: Blackberry Bliss, Cajun Craze, Granny Apple Green, Smoky Slate, Crumb Cake

Stamp Set ~ Country Home

Other Supplies ~ Stitched Shapes Framlits, Braided Linen Trim, Tin Tile Dynamic Textured Impressions Embossing Folder

Did you notice the Stampin' Blends colors?!?  Yep...there are NEW colors in the Holiday Catalog and there is a very good chance I got all of them!  And this embossing folder is the BEST one we have had!  Can you believe I forgot to order the Galvanized Metallic Paper to use with it?!?  You can be certain I'll be ordering that ASAP.  But I may have to hide my next box...my hubby was asking me if the box was part of my stamp club orders or all mine.  Oops!  :-)

Thank you for stopping by today!  Be sure to check back soon for more posts with all of my Holiday Catalog pre-order goodness!

Happy Stamping!