ICS BLOG HOP-SNOWMAN SEASON

Welcome to November's Inspire, Create,Share Blog Hop!!! So glad to be back! We were busy marrying off #2 son to his lovely new wife! Whirlwind of a wedding planned in 6 months! Phew! Now on to my R & R-stamping!!! lol 

So as we approach the holiday season, here on ICS we are going monochromatic! Some of the most beautiful creations are made with only 1 color!  We are using 1 color this month with only Whisper White or Very Vanilla as a base or accent.  I can't wait to see what everyone on this hop has done!!!

So here's my card:

My color is silver! This card is so shiny! I love bling! lol 
I have a cute winter card here because I finally got to use my new goodies from the Holiday Catalog!  And this Snowman Season stamp set is just too cute to sit unused!!! And so exciting that it has a coordinating Snowman Builder Punch to go with! This is gonna be a well-loved stamp set! I wish the photo picked up the shiny from the embossing. It looks dark here, but trust me, it's silver heat embossing!

This beautiful silver DSP is the Feels Like Frost 6x6 DSP Pack. Wow is this stuff gorgeous!!!!!! One side of the stack is this beautiful metallic silver or gold with white. The other side is realistic snow scenes. I just wanna put it up on my wall & enjoy it! lol So pretty! And it coordinates like crazy with these beautiful Silver Foil Sheets! I like this particular dotted piece because it reminds me of snow!

Other items used are the Whisper White Polka Dot Tulle, 

Silver Embossing Powder, VersaMark, Solid White Bakers Twine, 

1 3/4" Circle Punch, 1 3/8" Scallop Circle Punch, 

Seasonal Layers Thinlets.  

This is a pretty, fun, winter card that packs a punch with monochromatic coloring.  To see some more just hop over to Deb's blog & enjoy! Then keep going! Just click on her name or the icon below!

So glad to be back! See you in December!

Happy Stampin'!

   

ICS-CROSS-STITCHED CHRISTMAS

This month on Inspire, Create, Share Blog Hop we are starting our       Holiday crafting with a 3-D item! Lots of fun ideas for the holidays!!!   We are a week early this month as many of us will be traveling to Orlando next week for our OnStage event!!! So much fun ahead!!!

So let me start by saying 3-D items are a real challenge for me! If you follow this blog, you know I'm a real CAS (Clean & Simple) kinda gal! My cards are very linear & simple. I do not usually work with 3-D items! In fact I rarely make them!  I love to look at them & see the great ideas others have, but I'm not great at coming up with something new! But the holidays are all about bling & fun, so I decided to give it a try! My creation is rather CAS, but I think its cute! What dya think?

Here it is:

So I thought what's more 3-D for the holidays than Christmas ornaments? Most people have a tree, so we need the ornaments to hang from them! These came out cute, but they are very simple!!!

My fave stamp set from the Holiday Catalog is the Cross-Stitched Christmas set! I love the multi-step stamping, & I think it's a pretty, crisp stamp set!

These 3 little ornaments sparkle! I used my amazing Stamparatus to stamp the base layer in a color, the second layer with Versamark &                     White Embossing Powder, and the 3rd layer with Versamark &

 Silver Embossing Powder!  I chose these colors because I feel they are "cool" colors-for winter!!!

I am not one for fussy cutting, but I thought the Stitched Oval Framelit made the ornament look like it was in a hoop.   Which is where you would work the cross-stitch! I backed them all with a nice Silver Glimmer Paper.  Just thought they needed some "bling" on the backside!

I fortunately had matching colors in the twine-Night of Navy Medium Bakers Twine, & 2 colors from Nature's Twine!  Add a bit of Glitter Enamel Dots & Basic Jewels Rhinestone bling & it's kinda sweet!!!

So nothing fancy but easy to make & fun to hang on your tree! Great to do with your kids!!!!

Now hop over to Terri's blog & see what she came up with!!! Just click on her name or the icon below & you'll get there! Then keep going!! Follow through this great hop of ideas to get you into the Holiday spirit & ready for crafting!!!

Happy Stampin'!

COLORING DOWN THE LINES!!

Happy New Year! And welcome to our first 

Coloring Down the Lines Blog Hop 

of 2017!! I can't believe Christmas is over & it's already January 4!!! Yikes!!!

This week we are using blues with snow and a pop of bling!!! You may have noticed that if you came here from Helen's blog! You'll see more great stuffs if you continue on to Lizzy's blog & beyond!!!!

Here's my card:

Here's the inspiration photo:

So trying to do this card without making it a Christmas card was a bit challenging! Especially after making Christmas cards almost exclusively during December! lol But I thought this worked as a nice thank you card for the Christmas or Hanukkah gifts! Appropriate, right?

I decided to revisit an old technique that I loved back in the day. It's called the Brick Wall Technique! I changed it a bit here from the old way though.

So here's the story! I used my Brick Folder Embossing Folder and created "lines" like a brick wall on my embossed and sponged cardstock.  Then I cut along those lines and placed them like a brick wall! Easy peasy, but I think it looks cool!!!

My bling here is the white Heat embossing of the beautiful snowflakes from Flurry of Wishes!!! If you look very closely, you can see the little 

Metallic Embellishment stars in the center of the big snowflakes. Usually the camera picks up the shine, but I couldn't get it to happen this time. When you see it in person though, there is a nice shimmer there! 

Materials used besides the stamp set, and those listed are the 

Dapper Denim Rouched Ribbon, Teeny Tiny Wishes for the sentiment, Snowflake Builder Punch, VersaMark & Dapper Denim Ink Pads!

Hope you enjoyed and that the only snow you see is that here on our hop! I'm not a winter girl!!! lol

HappyStampin'!!!!

ICS BLOG HOP-IMBRINGINGBIRTHDAYSBACK

So this month for our 

Inspire, Create Share Blog Hop 

we are featuring birthday treats! One of our wonderful Stampin' Up! "gurus" and trainers, Shannon West, has started a movement called #imbringingbirthdaysback!  She feels that with all the social media messages, we've forgotten about sending cards.  So she's determined to get back to it and send birthday cards to everyone! She even created a stamp to go with the occasion!!!  Well, we are hopping on her wagon!!! Happy birthday y'all!!!

Here's my card this month:

I think birthdays should be fun!!! So this card is bright & cheery & fun!!!  

I love this Cherries on Top DSP! It's so bright, and it features some of the 

'15-'17 In-Colors!  I love that Watermelon Wonder & Cucumber Crush!!!  These balloons just shout "happy birthday"!!!!

The stamp set is the popular Balloon Celebration-found in the Occasions Catalog! It's such a versatile little set! Balloons can be used for any occasion! I've used them on birthday cards, new baby cards, graduation cards, and even a congratulations card! They work great with the Balloon Bouquet Punch. Perfect coordination there!

The Oval Framelits made the cuts in the center. I like the "framed" look. Here I used the Soft Sky-for obvious reasons-and heat embossed with 

White Stampin' Emboss powder using the cloud stamps from the stamp set! 

The bling on the balloons is some Dazzling Details! I still go for some easy bling on every card!!! lol

The pretty bow is from the Cucumber Crush Dotted Lace Trim! That lace is beautiful! I though it was just the right touch here!

So hope you enjoyed! Now go hop around & see what our coast-to-coast blog hop has to share! Claudia is next!!! Either click on her name or the picture below & you will go right to here blog! Then be sure to keep going! There are a lot of great birthday wishes on this hop! It'd be great if you left us messages too! Then use our examples to create your own birthday wishes & hop on the #imbringingbirthdaysback bandwagon!!!

Happy Stampin'!!

COLORING DOWN THE LINES!

Well here we are in the frozen tundra ready for another

 Coloring Down the Line Blog Hop!! 

It's cold! It's raw! It's wet! It's winter! Yuck!  But hopefully this card will "light" up your day!!! Heehee!!!

Hello my visitors from Lovely Helen's blog.  I'm glad you're here! Be sure to continue on!!! Check the end of this post for the next hopper in line!!!

So here's my card:

Here's the inspiration:

Here are the Stampin' Up! colors presented in MDS:

I thought the inspiration pic with the candles was a good idea! So I went with it! It's time for Holiday crafting!!! But these are surely not traditional Christmas colors!!

Not much stampin' here tho! I simply used the Watercolor Trio from the Holiday Catalog!

 I embossed it with Pool Party Embossing Powder! Then I just cut strips for the candles, embossed them, & added a top & flame! Easy peasy! 

And of course some Dazzling Details for dimension in the flames! So a very simple but fun card!

Now head over to Miss Liz's blog & enjoy her creation!!! Let her know how much you love it!!!

 

Enjoy!

Happy Stampin!

COLORING!!!!

This week's Coloring Down the Lines Blog Hop brings us some Wild Wasabi fun!!! Glad you are here to join us!!

Welcome to the hoppers from Helen's blog!!! When you're finished here, be sure to keep hopping to Liz's blog!!! Then keep going!!! They are all great & very inspirational!!!!!

So the challenge this week is:

Wild Wasabi, So Saffron, Perfect Plum

      OR

  Wild Wasabi, Marina Mist, Early Espresso

Added Piece - use a punch

I chose the first batch of colors! Here's my card!

I really love this one!! I think I'm gonna use it in my Watercolor Class this spring!! Or a version thereof anyways!  

This is such a beautiful stamp from the Occasion Mini Catalog! It's called People Like You! The sentiment is beautiful!!!

I wasn't sure about these colors, but after seeing them like this, I really like the combo!

 The added piece, use a punch, is with the Decorative Label Punch! It's great that we learned the trick to make the mat for that punch. Don't know how? Have a class! I'll show you!!!

I used the Aqua Painters for the watercoloring! Hard to tell, but the flower image is heat embossed. It's nice that we can use the new stamp pads to emboss if you work quickly. I stamped with the Perfect Plum & quickly added Clear Embossing Powder! Heated it up & viola!!! It's really a must for watercoloring! Otherwise you get a nice watercolored smear!!! lol!!!

So hope you like! Keep hopping & enjoy the other beautiful creations by some very talented ladies! Be sure to leave them an atta boy! We love comments!!!

By the way, have you seen SALE-A-BRATION yet!!!!!!!

Happy Stampin'!!!!

FALL FRENZY WITH CONNIE & MARY!

Today's post is a combination of 2 challenges: first, Sketch Frenzy Friday 083013, and second, Create with Connie & Mary CCMCfall 13-01. Sketch Frenzy Friday is a design challenge, and the Connie & Mary one this week is a color challenge! 

Here's the sketch:

And here are the colors:

I decided to go with fall today! But not Halloween yet!

Here's mine!

I used the beautiful paper from the Witches' Brew DSP Pack! It's available in the Holiday Catalog!  

Now I wouldn't have thought of black for a fall color per se! But I really like how it works here.

The stamp set is Gently Falling from the 2013-2014 Catalog. I love this stamp set! Its a 2-step stamp set, and the images are sooooooo pretty!

Not sure if you can see it in this picture, but there is a bit of the totally awesome Witches' Brew Designer Washi Tape. Have you tried the washi tape yet? If you haven't, you really need to!!! It's amazing! Adds just that special something with so little effort!!!

 Lots of "zig-zagging" going on here!!!

The outline of the leaves is embossed with Black Embossing Powder!  Pretty, right?

So just wanted to share a fun fall card! I'm still so not over summer yet tho! But I love my Summer Starfruit color!

Happy Stampin'!

COLORING DOWN THE LINES-BLACK!!!

I'm soooo excited for this week's challenge!!! I love black!!! No, I'm not morbid!!! I just love the mystery it brings to a card!!!! So you can imagine how happy I was that this was black week!

 The choices are Basic Black, Cherry Cobbler, Baja Breeze OR Basic Black, Daffodil Deligt, Old Olive!!! I chose the latter because I immediately got a "picture" in my mind!!!

So welcome on over from Helen's blog!!! She likes black too!!! Isn't she cool?

So here's my "mysterious" creation!! lol

 

I couldn't help the glare!!! See, the giant Sunflower stamp is embossed with Black Embossing powder!! It makes it kinda shiny!!!!

 I am trying to use up my DSP Packs. The current ones are discontinued, and the new ones have fantastic new patterns!!!!!

This is  little different for me in that it's a square card! I love the way square cards look, but don't make them as often because they cost extra to mail!  Don't quite get that concept, but it is what it is! I just thought the square worked well for this design! 

There's some paper punching going on as well!!! Throw in a sentiment from the Itty Bitty Banners stamp set & Framelits & you're good to go!!

So I hope you like this card as much as I do! It's my favorite in awhile!!! So glad this stamp set & these colors are all sticking around in the new catalog! I don't know what I'd do without Daffodil Delight-seeing that yellow is my favorite color!!!

Be sure to tune in tomorrow for Day 1 of the 3-2-1 countdown to the new catalog release on Friday!!! Woohoo!!

So now go say hi to Laura for me! She is just so Lah-Dee-Dah! :) I'm gonna head on over & see what she did with this week's challenge!!!

Happy Stampin'!!!

COLORING GREEN!!

So this week's Coloring Down the Lines challenge is all green! We needed to use Wild Wasabi & Garden Green. Now I'll admit that green isn't my favorite color, but hanging on the coattails of Sunday's leprechaun, I'm down with it!!

Hi there as you hop on over from Helen's blog! Glad you're here! Luvin' her entry this week! So creative!!

Here's my entry!

Tough to get a contrast with these colors because they are sooooo close!  I was glad as I was digging through my supplies that I had some Wild Wasabi embossing powder on hand! I think its a pretty contrast on the Garden Green. 

I used the kind of seaweed stamp from the By the Tide set from the Spring Mini. Luv that set!!!

I also used it on the Very Vanilla using the Hearts a Flutter set. I find I use that set more than I thought I would. I like the banners. They add just enough to a creation!  They also work perfectly with the Heart a Flutter Framelits. Watch for more of those bundles in the new catalog out June 1. My guess is we will be seeing more of those!  The coordinating products are really a big hit!!!

Yes, that is retired 1/4" Grosgrain Ribbon on there, but WHY can't they bring that back?! It's so perfect for everything!

 I also added a Large Pearl Basic Jewel there! Works.

 

No real sentiment here. I guess it could be an "anything" card! I used the  

Ciao, Baby! stamp set-from Shelli's Signature Collection! You can find it in the Spring Mini!  It works perfectly with the coordinating 3/4"Scallop Circle punch-also in the Spring Mini. It nicely layers with the 1 1/4" Scallop Circle punch!

Add a couple of tiny Pearl Basic Jewels for balance, & it's done!

So all in all it works! Now hop over to Liz's blog to see what she did with these green colors! I know she's up for the challenge!!!

Don't forget-only a couple of days left for Sale-a-Bration!!! Don't miss out!! You can order online 24/7!!!!

Happy Stampin'!!

COLORING DOWN THE LUCKY LIMEADE LINES!!!

Welcome to another week's blog hop!!! You're probably visiting here from Helen's blog, Blue Dahlia Designs! I love what she did with the colors this week!!!

So our challenge colors this week were Lucky Limeade, Riding Hood Red, Perfect Plum   OR   Lucky Limeade, Island Indigo, Daffodil Delight. I so love the second color choice, and definitely plan to make something with those colors!!! But AFTER Christmas!!! 

I'm finally totally in the throws of Christmas! Got the card done-if only I could get the shopping done!!! lol 

So anyway, I decided to try a non-traditional Christmas card with these colors! 

So here it is!!!

I have a new favorite cardstock-the Shimmery White!! Wow is that a pretty cardstock!!! I love the "shimmer" in it! I used it for the background of this card! I only wish it came more pieces in a pack like the Whisper White!!! 

So anyway, I "stamped" the 3 blocks for the background using our clear blocks! You just ink the heck out of them & stamp away!! 

 I tried to "glitter" up the larger ornament. It actually is quite sparkly in person! You can kinda see it here!!!

What embossing powder is that you ask??? Well, it's an "embossing powder cocktail"!!! I mixed the Pewter Emboss powder with the Irradescant Ice Emboss Powder! You get both sparkle & shine!!!!

It's a different card, but I like the way it turned out! I wouldn't mind getting that card for Christmas!!!

So now go hop over to Liz's blog Lizzy Stamps & see what fun stuff she came up with!!! She has "spring fever" with such a beautiful card! I know you'll love it!!!

Be sure to stop back this week-or better yet, subscribe!!! Starting on Friday the 14th, I will be posting my "12 Days of Christmas Stampin' Treats"!!! Tune in to see what each day brings! I promise there won't be any maids-a-milking or swans-a-swimming!!!

Happy Stampin'!

NEW HOLIDAY MINI SWAP

So there's a group of demonstrators that gets a swap together every now & then when something new comes out or when holidays are among us! I've participated several times! It's only a 10+1 swap (meaning I make 11 cards total!), so it's not too daunting!

This one was to use items from the Holiday Mini so the demonstrators can demo different stamp sets they may/may not have. Or techniques they may/may not know or show often.

I chose winter holidays!  Here's my swap:

I think I went a little crazy with new items though! lol I love this card, but would never demo it-especially with newbies!!! It has so many materials & so many steps! But it's great for ideas on what to do with different items from the new (and regular!) catalog!

I used 2 stamp sets here-Greetings of the Season (obvious) and Mixed Medley (not so obvious!).  Both are from the Holiday Mini. Mixed Medley is actually one of the hostess sets.  For the sentiment I heat embossed it using a combination of Pewter Emboss Powder & Irredescant Ice Emboss Powder.  

The center is cut with the Labels Collection Framelits & embossed with the Northern Flurry folder-both from the Big Book!  

Now for the brand new stuff!!! I used the new Illuminate Glimmer Watermark Stampin' Pad to "wipe" over the embossed snowflakes to give them a "glimmer" per se! Hard to tell, but it actually does glimmer here!! This is where the Mixed Medley comes in! I used the Illuminate to stamp snowflakes all over the Natural White background. It doesn't show here, but it does in person. Adds a nice dimension to the "white" background!

Then I had so much fun with my new Snow Flurry Bigz Die!!! There are 3 images on it, but I only used the 2 smaller ones. The big one was overkill!  

I cut the larger of the 2 here out of the amazing Glimmer Paper (Silver!) I just love this stuff!!! Works nicely just like the cardstock, but packs quite the visual punch!!! Sooo pretty! It also comes in red & champagne.  I wish there were 20 sheets in the pack!!!

The base cardstock is Pacific Point. I thought that was rather "wintery".  This one seems to cover most winter holidays!!!!!

And of course to finish it all off, I used the new Piercing Pack & templates around the sentiment & the die-cut shape.  It's almost impossible to see on the blue, but it's there. Now, you're probably wondering how I "sewed" all the stitching around the sentiment?!?! 

Well, the answer is-I DIDN'T!!! lol I took my Pacific Point marker, & used the fine tip to "connect the dots"!!! Looks pretty interesting, huh?

So I seriously hope that the gals in my swap enjoy this card! I think it gives a lot of examples from the Mini Catalog & lots of different ideas on how to use the tools!!!

For specifics on sizes, etc., feel free to contact me!!!

Happy Stampin'!

LAYERED LOOK!

Today's card uses a layered look! It is the LNS Challenge this week! We were asked to use several layers on a card! So I did!!!

I think this came out pretty! Simple! 

Ok, so you're getting sick of Lucky Limeade! So am I! lol  But I have a ton of it-long story short-ordered several packs of the wrong color for some wedding invites I was making!  Now it's a beautiful color! But I'm ready for a change!  Since I have so much, however, I figured I'd use it for my convention swaps. This isn't a swap, but it was used the inspiration for one of my swaps! Hint! Hint!  You'll see those next week!

Anyway, so here are the deets!

Card base-Lucky Limeade. Mat-Tangerine Tango. Natural white was used for the front. 

I used the 2 1/2" circle punch to punch out 1 each of the circles.  

The stamp set is Mixed Bunch. I stamped one of the little flowers on the circles (although it's hard to tell here) using the same color ink. Just to give it some definition. I then stamped the big flower with VersaMark & heat embossed with Tangerine Tango embossing powder.  

It was punched out with the Blossom punch.

Now one thing to consider-when heat embossing on the Natural cardstocks, the glue doesn't adhere as well, so the embossing is "rustic". I really like the look! Distressed-like me!!! lol

The sentiment is from Word Play. Talk about getting your $ out of a stamp set! This set gets used soooo much!!! So versatile & the images are so nice & bold & bright! 

Finish up with a "ribbon" punched out with the Dotted Scallop Ribbon Border Punch & you're good to go!!! This is a fairly simple card! It looks nicer in person, but I'd like to receive it!

That's always how I choose my cards. Would this be something I'd like to receive? If I answer yes, then it's a go! If I answer no, it's back to the drawing board! Simple like that!

That's it for now!  Have a great weekend!

Happy Stampin'!