CAS Ikat

Happy Monday All!  It's March Break here in my little corner of North America and I REALLY enjoyed having my husband and son home today from school!  I always look forward to this week in the course of the school year!  It's always a much needed break in the course of a long winter.  We often go down to South Carolina for the week to warm up and have some fun at the beach but this year we're in the middle of a big renovation project so we're sticking close to home.  I've been spending most of my time cleaning up drywall dust and reorganizing my cupboards so stamping is happening in small spurts.

A few days ago I started a project using this week's CAS - Colours and Sketches colours but just couldn't figure out how to make it work.  Then, this evening, I saw the Techno Stamper Monday Lunchtime Sketch Challenge and everything fell into place.....yay!  I love when that happens : )

Aren't these FABULOUS colours?!!!  Seriously, I've had the ink pads sitting out on my desk for about 3 days....calling to me....

I stamped this Eye-Catching Ikat pattern and used my Banners Framelits to cut it out 2 or 3 days ago but, as I mentioned above, I just couldn't figure out how I wanted to use it.  Here's the sketch that helped me out tonight....

Here is the resulting card....

And look!  I used Designer Series Paper again!  Woohoo!  This is the "Sweet Sorbet" DSP from the current Sale-a-bration brochure!  Only 3 more weeks to Sale-a-brate by the way : )  I had fun using my photopolymer stamps for this card too.  They are SO great!  I especially love that they don't fall off the acrylic blocks.

Here are the rest of the details:

Stamps:  Eye-Catching Ikat photopolymer stamps, Another Thank You photopolymer stamps, Wanderlust photopolymer stamps

Paper and Ink:  Perfect Plum, Elegant Eggplant, Summer Starfruit, Whisper White (White Craft Ink).

Other:  Chevron TIEF, Banners Framelits, Summer Starfruit Baker's Twine (Sale-a-bration Sweet Sorbet Accessories Pack ).

Happy Stamping!

Retro Peaceful Petals

I have a problem.  I LOVE Stampin' Up's Designer Series Paper (DSP) but I just can't bring myself to use it!  I've had this problem for a while now but it's become worse since I became a Stampin' Up demonstrator in 2010!   Now I purchase it thinking, "I've just got to have this so I can share it with others"...but then I can't bring myself to cut up one of those gorgeous 12 x 12 sheets, so it sits in my office, unused!  Does anyone else have this problem?

I've had enough....this gorgeous DSP is meant to be used and shared!  So, here goes....I cut up one sheet of Retro Fresh DSP this evening (after a failed attempt....see previous post) and created a card.  Yay!

 I'm hoping this is the first step in my recovery process!  I'm determined to use up my DSP before Stampin' Up's next catalogue launches in June.  Then I'll have a really good excuse to purchase NEW DSP...I'll have to replenish my stock....lol : )

Thoughts?  Would you add more texture?  Round all the corners?  I'm interested to hear what you would change or leave the same.

Here are all the details:

Stamp Sets:  Peaceful Petals (Occasions 2014).

Ink and Card Stock:  Tangerine Tango, Baked Brown Sugar, Very Vanilla, Coastal Cabana, Daffodil Delight, Black StazOn Ink, Retro Fresh DSP.

Other:  Coastal Cabana Ruffled Ribbon, Banners Framelits, Corner Round Punch.

Happy Stamping!

Black Tie Language of Love

My, my!  I've spent more time in my stamping space in the last 3 days than I have in a while.  Partly because I'm getting ready for my Sale-a-bration Kick-Off party on Tuesday and some upcoming parties and partly because I've got so many fun new stamps that I want to use!

For this card I took inspiration from Freshly Made Sketches  and  Dynamic Duos,

FMS Sketch 120

Dynamic Duos #87

I love the "pop" created by the Melon Mambo.  I think if I was going to re-do anything on this card I'd texture to the black banner but otherwise I'm happy with how it came together.

Here's what you'll need to create this card:

Stamps:  Language of Love (Occasions 2014 catalogue)

Ink and Card Stock:  Melon Mambo, Basic Black, Whisper White, Silver Glimmer paper

Big Shot and Punches:  Perfect Polka Dots TIEF, Banners Framelits (Occasions 2014 catalogue), Hearts Framelits, Small Heart punch

Happy Stamping!

New Year, New Stamps!

Happy (belated) New Year everyone!  Now that the craziness (and illness) of the holiday season is over and my desk is clean again it's time to break out the new stamps.  YAY!!!!!!   Before Christmas I ordered a whole bunch of new stamps from Stampin' Up's annual catalogue and the new "Occasions Catalogue".  There's nothing quite like putting 10+ stamp sets together at one time!

I had a moment of quiet this afternoon during which I was able to sit down and focus for a bit on stamping.   I feel a little bit adrift without an anchor at this time of year in terms of crafting.  I find making Christmas cards so all-consuming that when faced with a blank slate I'm really at a loss.  To get my brain back into crafting mode I took a look through the most recent issue of "Stampin' Success" (our demonstrator magazine) and found inspiration with the "Happy Congratulations" stamp set.  It is a new set out of the Occasions Catalogue and is super simple to use to make a pretty little card.

Simple stamp with a black ink.  I used Basic Black and then used the lower setting on my embossing tool to dry the ink.  Then I stamped the individual lanterns using Bermuda Bay, Crisp Cantaloupe and Crushed Curry inks.  I've been itching to use my Banners Framelits and wasn't disappointed (yes, perfect banners in one easy step!).

Finally, here's a shot of my stamping space....any bets on how long it will stay like this?  Those that really know me know it won't be long....lol : )

Happy Stamping!