Blogger Challenge Week 23

I've recently joined a group of Blogging Stampers. This week is my first Blogger Challenge. The goal was to create 2 cards using the same stamp but with two different points of views. The stamp I'm focusing on is one of the SU! level 2 hostess sets.


Card 1 was created using watercolor paper and watercolor crayons. Just mist your rubber stamp and scribble the crayon on top of the wet rubber; then stamp the image onto the watercolor paper. I tried to lighten the image but the cardstock is so dark. The flowers were also outlined with an eggplant colored marker.





For card 2 I just stamped the flower mulitple times to create the background. The base cardstock is Saffron but the ink used was mustard and close to cocoa (the close to cocoa was stamped off once before applying to the cardstock.

Holiday Gold

I'm still working on getting the house set up for Christmas. Sadly, there is not much time left in the day when you get home at 6pm every night.

I call this Holiday Gold. It's one of the displays I have set up on my side table. My original color scheme for this year was going to be blue, white and silver for a winter wonderland, but it seems I've acculated more gold and white peices through the years; so the theme will be Holiday Gold (with a bit of traditional thrown in).

A Charming Christmas

Well, today's the big day of decorating the house for Christmas. It'll take ALL day so I'm making a blog post early as I doubt I'll get back at the end of the day. A great day for being indoors as it's pouring outside.

Lately I've been working on my Flickr account. I have had a Webshots account for YEARS but really love the clean and crispness that Flickr offers, so I'm slowly changing over. I won't be getting rid of my Webshots as there are many who refer to it for ideas, but it's time to move onto something more modern.

For those not familiar with Flickr, it's a site that allows you to upload your photos/projects to share with others. I came across the site back in the Summer (can't remember how...probably due to my continual Internet surfing). It is a place that offers many, many ideas for inspiration and art.

Today I created a mosaic with images from some of my favorite Flickr members. It's called "A Charming Christmas". Many of the photos have a Vintage charm (which is why I selected them). Below you can view the images, but if you select this link "A Charming Christmas", it'll give you access to view the sites where each photo is published. Beware, it's addictive! I've spent hours jumping from one Flickr account to the other. Completely justifiable if it enriches your spirit and brings you joy!

Baroque Cut-out

It's been a very busy day! In fact, I've been busy since Wednesday, trying to cram in as much as I can during my 4 day weekend. Really, is it even possible for a woman to have an EMPTY "To-Do" list?



Tommorrow my day will be dedicated to making Christmas cards and decorating the house for the Holidays. I really should have worked on those Christmas cards tonight but I took a trip to the fabric store and purchase from the 50% off big-bolts (what you typically use for covering pillows, sofas, etc.). I have NO idea what I'm going to do with it...but it's Ga-orgeous and had to have it! We'll see if my husband feels the same way when I show it to him. He's learned to accept my "gotta have it for the future" purchases, LOL, (honestly, if you only knew). Actually, I do have a few ideas for putting the fabric to good use, but it'll have to wait. For now, it's going on the bottom of my "Future Projects" To-Do list.

A trip to the Bead store was fit into tonights outing. I walked into that store and had no clue as to where to start. That is, until I found the "Vintage" beads section. Drooooooool!

Beads from the 30's, 40's and even Germany. I can think of many uses these little beauties, but none of them include using them for jewelry.

Now, on to stamping business. Here's my latest card using the Baroque background stamp. This is one of my favorite stamps of the the year!

I stamped in Artichoke Ink onto Artichoke cardstock and cut out the big flourish. Then I stamped the entire cut-out with the Floral background.

The Soft Sky cardstock was stamped with Soft Sky ink using the Linen background and Finest Flourishes stamp set. The gold lines were created using a gold Zig pen.



The entire cut-out was lifted with dimensionals.

Holiday Shopping ~ $10 in Free product

OK, WHO woke up at 4am to head off to a Black Friday sale? Oh, I know....my husband! Even more interesting...he took my 11 year old daughter with him. My thoughts the previous night, "Don't wake me up on your way out" LOL!

I'm not sure about all of you but I plan on doing as MUCH holiday shopping from the comfort of my home as possible. Now, I do enjoy seeing the decorations, lights and music inside the malls, but I'd rather just look around and enjoy the atmosphere with the kids instead of having the pressures of buying something or standing in those loooooooooooooooong lines! Honestly, you can get anything online now a days and what makes it even more Enticing this time of year; most companies offer Free Shipping and Handling. I know, you're cringing at the thought of paying $10 for S&H but if you think about it, the airlines, UPS and other delivery services are doing all the leg work for you. In turn you're saving the cost of a $5 gallon (or more) of gas to use for the really FUN trips...like visiting family and friends during this time of year. Now, on to my special.

Purchase an $50 of product and get an additional $10 in product for FREE!
SALE DATES: November 23rd - 27th.

Now, WHAT to purchase? Let me help you with that also! Below is a "Wrapping Up the Holidays" sale on crafting supplies. BIG, BIG savings (my personal favorite is the Satin Ribbon.).

View this special offer here: Wrapping Up the Holidays Special and all supplies listed in the Holiday Mini

Item Number Description Price
112409 Holiday Tag Bundle ~ $4.95 (more info below on this package)
110380 Tags for All Stamp Set* (20% off) ~ $24.76
110264 Designer Gift cards* (30% off) ~ $4.55
109862 Chocolate Chip satin ribbon* ~ Buy 1, get 1 free!
109863 Purely Pomegranate satin ribbon* ~ Buy 1, get 1 free!
108333 Tin 3-Pack ~ $9.95 (empty tins, great for altering or gift cards; see idea link below)
110147 Celebration wrapping paper* ~ $17.95
110228 Hand Selected Accents & Elements (25% off) ~ $8.21

NOTE: There is no limit to the amount you can buy by remember, all items from the Holiday mini are while supplies last.

Wondering what to do with all these goodies? Take a look at these great IDEAS

Holiday Tag Team Bundle: Bundle includes 15 of each of the following pieces (see "Idea" link for images and ideas):

Whisper White card stock
Real Red textured card stock
Soft Sky Prints Designer Series Paper (Dotted Diamond pattern)
Real Red twill tape

The pieces for this bundle make 15 cellophane bag toppers that are perfect for neighbor or teacher gifts. These pieces are from the Holiday Glitz card kit and will come shrink-wrapped individually (for example, all 15 pieces of Real Red twill tape will be shrink-wrapped as one package).

Interested in this special, simply contact ME

Simply Delightful

It's been a non-stop weekend BUT I did get in some stamping time (after spending 6 hours cleaning my studio, LOL). What can I say, I've been on the go with several big events and workshops and the holidays are closing in.

First up, my Winter Bright Christmas Card Class. You can find out details at my website and a sneak peek of the cards below.

All guest receive a package fo the Winter Bright Simply Scrappin' Kit.

Here is a close-up and a few other creations using one of the SU! Simply Sent Kits Simply Delightful. The base for all of these cards uses only the stamp sets and dye pads including in the kit along with 1 pack of the 12x12 textured "In Color" cardstock.



Here's a rather blurry image of a donut card, along with directions on how to make the flower border surrounding the circle.

Le Jardin magnetic easel

These mini magnet photo frames came from Target during Valentines Day last year and I just found them in my 'stash' closet; and here I thought they were all gone!

I've altered it to be a magnet calendar/memo holder. The small round marble has a magnet on the back. The image behind the marble is from the Carte Postale set, the large square stamp. I simply used a Bordering Blue marker in the center of the square, stamped on Vanilla card stock and punched it out with the 3/4" circle punch. The designer paper is Le Jardin and was designed to go with the Carte Postale stamp set.

The calendars came from Vippies (they're the medium self-stick calendars). These are gonna make perfect gifts for someone.

Jumbo Holiday Gift bar

Well, I'm certainly feeling the effects of the "Holiday Crunch" here at home. I've committed myself to 5 must-do events, 3 of which have passed, now to focus on the next two, neither of which includes preparing for Thanksgiving!

Here are some Jumbo chocolate covered Hershey bars wrapped with the festive Dashing and Cerise designer paper from Stampin' up! How quick was this and SOOOOOOOOOOOO festive! My favorite are the polka dot papers. The snowman of course is from the Merry and Bright stamp set but the other round circle images are from the Big Pieces stamp set. I really love that Big Pieces set. Depending on the colors you select, it can be used for any occasion. What makes that set more appealing to me is, the multiple layers you get just by using any of the circle and scallop punches! I could sit for hours just punching out circles and using them for embellishments on cards.

What do you think about that petals in the back of the circle? That was made with the 5-petal flower punch.










For those who were keeping up with my Mistletoe Market blog and adventure, the show was great. I met many wonderful and creative artist. I'll be sharing some photos later, but for now, I'm back to my stamping studio to get some more Holiday projects done.