Crop Connection 2010

Last weekend was so much fun! Revisiting friends and making new ones were great! Though this was a Crop, I attend so I can have dedicated time to spend making cards. As a matter of fact, I think I'm the only card maker there. Not to say some don't make them, but that's all I do. I was productive in making many cards and am pleased with that. In the next few days, I'll be sharing them as I upload them to my site.

For now, I want to share some pictures of my friends!

Beth and Me

Amanda and Tiffany

Amanda and Me

Tiffany and Me

Fantastic Tablemates: Me, Terri and Caroline

Jo (who is trying to figure out how she can say that SHE made my cards...) Jo worked the Crop and wasn't able to "play" with the rest of us. Glad to get to see her; she's so sweet!

A Little Birdie Told Me

If only I would "practice" more with my Copics. This is a new tool, if you please, for me and I haven't spent enough time playing with them. BUT, every time I do I fall more and more in love with these. They are wonderful!

I got this sketch from SCS somewhere and really liked the layout so I thought I'd give it a try. It really makes a statement and so easy to do. To me, anything layered on even a tad of black makes the layer "pop".


Stamps: Martha Stewart Clear Bird Stamps
Paper: White, SU Apricot Appeal 6x6 DSP (ret.), Black
Ink: Silver Craft
Other: Silver Detailed EP, Copic Markers, Textile EF, tiny blue and clear rhinestones, black grosgrain (SU), foam adhesives

Comfy?

I just love PTI's stamps or have I told you that yet? They are so "me" and I find I reach for those quicker than any other stamp line. Can't wait to get more...I AM making a new list. Waiting for the new sets to be available. Okay, now on to my card.

This one uses the On My Couch set. I paper pieced the couch using SU dsp paper. Using one piece of Apricot Appeal, I embossed the top with the Dotted Swiss folder and the bottom part with the Textile folder. These are my two favorite folders, too. Don't you just love the sentiment?


Stamps: On My Couch, PTI
Paper: Black, Apricot Appeal, White, SU DSP
Ink: Memento Black
Other: White polk dotted black grosgrain ribbon, Labels 1 Nestability, small SU corner rounded, Dotted Swiss and Textile EF, foam adhesive

One More, I Think

Needed another Valentine's card (at least I think one more). The card base is a Pretty in Pink 5x5 card. A smaller piece of white cardstock was embossed using the Dotted Swiss Cuttlebug embossing folder. Hearts were punched out of Martha Stewart's Holidays Punch Pad using her heart punch. The center heart (For You) is raised on foam adhesive. The only stamps used was for the sentiment inside.


Stamps: Sentiment inside (So Many Sayings, Ret. SU)
Paper: Pretty in Pink, White, MS Holidays Punch Pad
Other: Dotted Swiss EF, foam adhesive

CAS

Just a clean and simple (CAS) card for you today. I saw this on Splitcoast and just had to do one. I WILL do more of this soon! It makes such an elegant statement. Thanks for looking!


The base card is 6x6 out of Naturals Ivory. Cut another piece of NI 1/4" shorter around two sides. Repeatedly stamp Damask design in Summer Sun. I wanted mine to look like an aged piece of handwork so I didn't press hard nor did I line up the images "perfectly". Then the Linen stamp was inked with Summer Sun and pressed lightly over the Damask image. Piercing edged this panel and finally I roughed the edges with my scissors. This is my favorite way to distress. I've tried other tools and continually come back to this way of giving a rough look to my pieces. Place plenty of foam adhesive on back and place on main card.

Die cut a scrap piece of NI with the Fancy Tags from Spellbinders. Stamp "Just Because" in Pumpkin Pie. Add pearls. Raise the tag with foam adhesive and adhere to card.

Stamps: Damask Designs (PTI), Linen (SU)
Paper: Naturals Ivory
Ink: Summer Sun, Pumpkin Pie
Other: Fancy Tags (Spellbinders), piercer, Basic Grey tiny pearls, foam adhesive, scissors for roughing edges

Note Cards

These two cards will be for friends I will soon get together with this weekend. I can hardly wait to see them again. These as well as one I posted yesterday are cut using the largest Labels One Nestabilities being sure to leave an edge to make the fold for the card. Double is the word for the first card. There are two Labels One cuts, two hearts and two butterflies. Have I told you how much I love my Nesties!! This one should justify what I mean. Actually, I didn't realize all I used were Nesties on this card until I began describing it! And I certainly didn't realize I had so many doubles, ha! It just happened. The only thing you may not notice is the sponging I did on the white base card inside the larger die.


Paper: Basic Grey Two Scoops, Bravo Burgundy, Pretty in Pink, Vellum, White
Other: Nestabilities: Labels One, Hearts, Butterflies, foam adhesive for the butterflies

I just love the softness to this next one. Pink, pink and more pink. Delicate, feminine and whimsical. Turning the card on its side made this a landscaped card. The base was lightly sponged in Pretty in Pink with tiny flowers stamped in second generation PIP. A couple of Martha Stewart leaves (one of my favorite punches) were punched out of PIP. A Labels Three was punched out of PIP to "house" the main image. An Oval was punched out of white c/s, stamped, sponged and placed on top with foam adhesive. Only two of the three layered stamps were used from the Cutie set of Stampology. The first layer is in PIP and the outline was in Rose Red. This oval was edged in PIP. The small flower of the Flourish Accent Spellbinders die was cut, embossed and then stenciled in the Rose Red.


I hope you enjoy these little cards. Thank you for your sweet comments!

More Valentine's Cards

I Love the Martha Stewart's Holidays Punch Pads for Valentine's Day. The DSP is shiny and the red strips are reflective as well. I punched out 3 hearts from the heart page and added pink rhinestones.


Stamps: So Many Sayings (Be Mine, row of hearts) SU, retired (used inside)
Ink: Real Red (inside)
Paper: Martha Stewart, white
Other: MS heart punch, pink rhinestones, MS heart border punch

The next card was cut in the shape of the largest Labels One Nestie being careful to leave a little outside the cutting line to make a fold for the card. Pretty in Pink and So Saffron was sponged inside the template. The cup was stamped onto designer paper, cut out and raised with foam dots.


Stamps: Coffee with Friends (Flourishes)
Paper: White, Basic Grey Two Scoops
Ink: Pretty in Pink, So Saffron, Real Red
Other: Labels One Nesties, foam dots

So Much Fun!

Well, yesterday was a fantastic day of card making for me. FINALLY.... I got my mind together and made several cards and had the best time in a loooonng time! The first two I want to share are for a couple of challenges.

I love Cindy Haffner's cards and her challenges (though I've not participated in any lately). This one is for FTTC52A


I loved the pinks, red and white colors. I used some new paper from Martha Stewart's Holidays Punch Pad for the dotted squares as well as the pink sparkle strip along the bottom. Nesties are my favorite tools now and I used my new Labels Three and layered a red and pink Octagonal embossed shapes on top. The double heart is from K & Company, Wild Raspberry adhesive chipboard set. It had the pink rhinestone on it and I added clear rhinestones in the corners of the Label Three pink piece. This piece along with the octagonal piece are raised with foam dots.

"Hugs & Kisses" is from SU's retired So Many Sayings Set. I used SU's oval and scallop oval punches to cut the sentiment out; this was raised on foam dots, too.

Stamps: SU So Many Sayings (ret.)
Paper: MS Holidays Punch Pad (dotted and pink paper, pink sparkly strip), textured pink c/s (unk.), white (base card), Real Red, Pretty in Pink
Ink: Real Red
Other: Nesties (Labels Three & Octagons), SU Oval and Scallop Oval punches, double heart (K & Company, Wild Raspberry adhesive chipboard), clear rhinestons, foam dots

The next card is so soft. I used Bravo Burgundy I think for the very first time. It seems soooo dark but seemed to go well with the Basic Grey cupid sheet from the Two Scoops pad. This card is for SSNOTIME124.


Using three Nesties made this card come together quickly. The Labels Three piece was sponged with Pretty in Pink.

Stamps: MS Small Christmas Phrases for "Love", Row of hearts from SU's So Many Sayings (ret.)
Paper: Basic Grey Two Scoops, white,
Ink: Pretty in Pink, Bravo Burgundy
Other: Nesties (Labels Three, nested Hearts, Labels One, Dotted Swiss EF, white ribbon, clear rhinestones, foam dots

I hope you enjoy these. I'll be uploading more in the next few days. Thanks for looking! Your comments are always welcomed and appreciated.

Crazy!?!?!

That's the best word I can come up with. I'm just about to go crazy over here! [No comment on the normal status!] I've bought SEVERAL things lately and am dying to jump in and use them. To begin with, I've been trying to re-organize my stamping room and since I can't work in chaos I'm trying really hard to get finished along with doing many other things at one time; i.e., cleaning the house, increase my running (time consuming), going through a huge amount of daily e-mails, updating ALL of our blogs, etc., etc., etc.

I'm also beginning to get ready for a large crop weekend in less than two weeks. I'm the only card maker/stamper there, but we share all the same tools and I love to be with other ladies. It is 3 days of never ending fun, food, creativity, laughter, making new friends and visiting with old friends!!! I'm going to take some things to give away as well as try to sell a few tools I've upgraded from.

Now, for the dilemma: I've recently got some new things: Nesties (my most favorite tool evah!!), a new paper trimmer (this is different from any I've had in the past and is a learning curve as it does several things), new stamps, new punches, new papers and some new embellies. I can hardly wait to get it together enough to actually do something. With bated breath, I'm anxiously pushing to get through this needed change of cleaning out, reorganizing and straightening so I can starting creating again. As long as things continue to go as in the previous couple of days, it won't be long before things return to normal ... is this really possible??

Great Find!!

I went by Michael's yesterday and boy did I find a treasure! They were having a huge sale AND 30% off on all Martha Stewart scrapbooking things!!! I was beside myself. So off I went to get a buggy 'cause I KNEW there were new punches in my near future. I love her punches. They are so pretty and some are so elegant. I ended up getting 10 of them!! I even got some of her stickers, paper, and clear stamps. And, no, these weren't all Christmas items like you'd think. Some of my punches are pop-up ones, some border ones, some embossed ones, a couple of regular ones and even one that had 3 stamps with the punch of that stamp. It was a bird stamp/punch. Each stamp is a little different and when you punch it out you have three completely different ones. So cool!! I'd never seen these before. Now, I wanted more (I love punches - Ü) but restrained myself. I had so much fun...wish you had been there with me! Off I go to finish working out, getting lunch and playing with these for a while. See ya soon ...

Still Alive

To those who might be wondering...I'm still alive. We have been so very busy since Christmas, there's not been any "play" time for me. Right now I'm decorating an SU calendar I got several years ago. I've used it from the beginning but never decorated it. That's right...it's been naked (blush, blush). This is one of the reasons to get one of these kind...to decorate it. Okay, so I'm late. But it really is a cool calendar to have. It is not a true calendar as you know one, but a page per month with the dates down the side. All you do is place the name and event next to the number (date); it is reuseable every single year. I change the person's age or anniversary in January to reflect the present year's age. I hope to get back soon with some card making. Got a few birthday cards to do. Actually, February and March are huge months for birthdays in our family. So just because I haven't made anything lately doesn't mean that the buying has stopped!! Oh well...see you soon...and keep on inking that rubber!!

Christmas Card

Here are a few cards I made for Christmas. I just LOVE these images. Supplies are as follows:
Stamps: Winter Wonderland Kit (don't remember who makes it; got it last year)
Paper: SU
Markers: Copics
Accessories: SU ribbon, Star Dust Stickles, Sparkly Fluff (got from CHA-no brand listed on container), CB Snow Dots EF








Stickles were used on the snowballs, snowdrifts and ground. The fluff was used on mittens, the little ball on the end of the caps and the band on the little girl's hat. You probably can't tell, but the sparkly fluff really makes it. This was the first time I used my new Copics Sketch Markers. What do you think?

Surprises!

I was so excited to see find some things in the mail recently! Let me begin by the great little package I received from my friend, Olga. Just look at all the cute things she sent. I love, love, love it! Thanks so much!


Then there were a couple of handmade birthday cards received from ladies I've never met! Aren't they cute?



Thanks to all of you who are so gracious to take the time to make someone else's day...me!!

Shelby's Cards

I decided to put Shelby's cards on a separate post.


Recipe:
Stamps: Flourishes Drummer Boy
Paper: Real Red, White
Ink: Memento Black, Pretty in Pink
Accessories: Bold Bright Markers, CB Textile EF, foam tape, sponge for shading

Don't know if you can tell, but there is light PIP sponging along the edges of the main image for a softer look.

Although all of her cards are done well, I thought she did an excellent job on this one; but I'm so partial to the aging and distressing looks.


Recipe:
Stamps: Flourishes Drummer Boy
Paper: Creamy Caramel, Close to Cocoa, Chocolate Chip, Naturals Ivory
Ink: Memento Black, Creamy Caramel
Accessories: CB Distressed Stripes, Earth Elements Markers, foam dots

The EF went well with the Creamy Caramel aging sponged on the main image. This is my favorite of all she made.

Here is the last one. (I sure hope the recipients do not check this blog because I'm sure she wants these to be a surprise; but she wanted me to put them on it anyway.)

Recipe:
Stamps: SU Snowflake Spot
Paper: Cool Caribbean, White
Ink: Tempting Turquoise Craft
Accessories: Clear EP, CB Snow Dots EF, Circle Nesties, foam dots

My Time with Shelby

Shelby came to visit with us this weekend and we had so much fun. She is the sweetest granddaughter in the world!! (We're on the parade route and it was so cold and windy. I NEVER wear a hood.)


She made several things. As usual, I showed her how to do something new. This time it was embossing with pigment ink and embossing powders. She did a great job! First off, she began making some peppermint treat bags for some of her friends.


Recipe:
Stamps: SU Snowflake Spot
Paper: Real Red, White, Silver
Ink: White craft
Accessories: White EP, SU Ornament Punch, Labels 1 Nestabilities, Foam dots

After filling the little bags, staple a large red Labels 1 piece on it. Place the next smaller Labels 1 white piece over it attaching it with double sided tape to hide the staple. Emboss a snowflake in white on a piece of Real Red cardstock. Punch out with SU's new Ornament punch (I love this punch!!). Using the ornament punch, I took some scrap silver paper and punched out just the top part. Trimming it if necessary to fit the red ornament already punched, I used some liquid glue to attach it. Raise the ornament with a foam dot and put on to complete.


This one is a close-up of the first one she made, but then decided she wanted to go red and white.

She, also, made snowman cupcakes and wanted to share these with you, too. The head is made with a large marshmallow on top of the already iced cupcake, iced, and decorated. She had so much fun doing these.



Here she is holding one that is decorated only with the gel icing. She's the prettiest thing, don't you agree?

Thanksgiving Treats

I made a couple of things for my parents that I thought they might enjoy. Being hard to buy and do for, I try to make little things along the way I think they might like...fingers crossed here! This is for Thanksgiving.

I decorated an SU box that I recently got. These boxes are real good quality and hold a good bit. This is the first time I've tried the cracked glass technique and really liked it. I will be doing more and hopefully they will get better each time I do it. This is my first time to do the Cracked Glass technique.


Stamps: Lovely as a Tree, Graceful Words (SU ret.)
Paper: Naturals Ivory, Close to Cocoa
Ink: Close to Cocoa and More Mustard, Old Olive, Pumpkin Pie for sponging on tree, White Craft for distressing the tag, Ranger Walnut Stain for "cracking", Versamark, Gold Encore
Accessories: Suze Weinberg's UTEE, Gold EP, Oval and Scallop Nestabilities, MS Butterfly and Leaf Punch, Basic Grey Copper Opaline Pearls, foam tape, heat gun
Technique: Cracked Glass

After stamping the main image in Close to Cocoa, I used fall colors (listed above) to sponge the tree. I then took Old Olive and lightly sponged around the image. Cut out using the Oval Nestabilities.

TIP: I always do my stamping before I cut them with the Nestabilities. I find if I emboss the edges first (which I do most of the time) that my image has a complete impression and doesn't show a "hiccup" at the border. There's no correct way, it's just the way I do it.

I pressed my Versamark onto the main panel real good then sprinkled the UTEE over it.

ANOTHER TIP: Use a tray or something with edges when using UTEE before applying the heat gun. This is where it can get out of hand if you don't. Trust me, I know...don't ask!! (Let's just say I'm still finding UTEE all over my workspace.) Insert a blushy grin here.

Slowly...and I do say slowly...heat the EP until it melts. Do not rush the melting NOR put your heat gun too close to the powder until it begins to melt. While it is still wet, pour more UTEE over it and repeat the process. I don't know if there is a magical number of times to do this, but I stopped at this point. Then I placed it into the freezer for 15 minutes. While it is still cold, start bending the panel until you get as many "cracks" as you want in it. This is the fun part of the technique! Now take the Walnut Stain and run all over the panel. It will sink down into the cracks and resist the "glass" part.

The Banner: Emboss "blessings" in gold using gold EP on a piece of Naturals Ivory scrap. Sponge some Close to Cocoa all over it. This can be done first or after embossing. Rub the White Craft ink over this piece to give it a more aged appearance. Take scrap pieces of Chocolate Chip and Close to Cocoa cardstock and punch out the butterflies and leaves. Place them on the banner. Add the pearls for a dressy but not girly touch. Add foam tape in three places on the back; place it in such a way to make it appear as though it has a little movement to the top of the box.

Wah-lah!! You're done. I placed some mixed nuts in the box. I mean, what man doesn't love nuts, huh? It's kinda like chocolate and women. Okay, we both have our vices...

For the next little gift, I made a cone of chocolate kisses with a cute little tag. It is simple and I think you can follow it okay. I'm not as pleased with this as I'd like to be. My recipient loves Kisses and you can't find fall colored kisses where I live, except for Halloween, which has all been cleared off the shelf. So I elected to go ahead with these and use Christmas Kisses. I used PTI's Fall Elegance stamps for the tag and my scalloped rectangle Nesties.


And lastly, here are the little placecards I made for our small family. I thought it would be good to have words describing this "thankful" season instead of names. I used PTI's beautiful Fall Elegance set which fit perfectly inside the Spellbinders Fancy Tags. I saw this basic idea here. (Thanks Kimberly!) These are real easy but a little time consuming...at least more than I anticipated but I love the end result. I only decorated the front of the clip so it would stand up at an angle.



Stamps: PTI Fall Elegance
Ink: Always Artichoke ink and marker
Paper: Pumpkin Spice, Naturals Ivory, Old Olive scrap piece
Accessories: Oval Nestabilities and Spellbinders Fancy Tags Die, MS Leaf Punch, Copper Stickles, Pumpkin Ribbon (Hobby Lobby), Large Dimensional Glue Dot, Medium Binder Clip, double sided tape, adhesive

Cut a Fancy Tag from the NI cardstock. Stamp the words in the center of them. Place a dot of the Copper Stickles at the points and set aside to dry. Cut 5 ovals from PP cardstock. Go around the edges with the AA marker and fold them in half. Place a piece of DS tape on each side and lay one on top of the other. When finished you will have a circle that will make the "pumpkin". Punch out 3 leaves from OO cardstock. Cut an 8" piece of ribbon. Now you're ready to assemble.

I found it better to go ahead and tie the ribbon on the clip first. Apply a little glue to the leaves and add to the back of the pumpkin. Place the large dimensional glue dot on the front of the clip then press the pumpkin into it and hold just a second. Be sure that it doesn't fall below the bottom of the clip or it will not stand properly. You want it to be at a small angle so you can read it without picking it up. Add the tag to the top of the clip. If you have any questions, please feel free to let me know.

More Stamp Camp Pics

Here are a few more pictures from the Stamp Camp outlined in the post below.






Hope you enjoy looking at these great projects today and yesterday, even half as much as I did making them! What do you think?

Projects at Stamp Camp

Here are some of the projects that we did at Faith's Stamp Camp last month. It was a barrel of fun and totally non-stop!! I'd have never believed that I could have stamped from 7:00 in the morning until after midnight both nights with very little stopping. It was soooo much fun. Sweet Faith had tons of projects for us to do...2 at a table, mind you. Then there was our frenzy on the last day. I didn't get around to doing all of them so they are not shown. I plan to do them later. I quit counting at 55!!! Thanks, everyone, for very nice projects! I learned several new techniques and tried some I've not ventured out to do. I'll always treasure our newfound friendship.






Does this look like fun or what??

Pleased with the Elegance

These cards are for a couple of challenges. One for CC243 and the other for Stamping B's Christmas card challenge. Though the sketch was not a challenge, I used the same layout for both cards: one in white and the other in ivory. The poinsettia was cut out using Spellbinders Poinsettia Nesties on vellum. After embossing each layer, I turned the die over and stenciled Ruby Red on it using a sponge. This gave it a soft color yet still delicate. The first one uses Clear Dew Drops, Silver HPH, and delicate tiny Kaiser pearls. A glue dot was used to adhere the top layer of the poinsettia to the second (underneath the Dew Drops so it wouldn't show) and foam tape was used to connect that piece to the bottom layer. It doesn't show at all.


Stamps: SU Fancy Flexible Phrases (ret.)
Paper: White, Vellum
Ink: Ruby Red
Accessories: Silver cord, Silver HPH with silver brads, Poinsettia Nesties, Textile EF, Clear Dew Drops, mini glue dots and foam tape.

The second one was a little more vintage looking using ivory cardstock. Small rectangle Nesties were used to cut out the sentiment. Basic Grey Opaline Copper pearls were used in the center of the flower and top corner of the sentiment piece.


Stamps: SU Fancy Flexible Phrases (ret.)
Paper: Ivory, Vellum
Ink: Ruby Red
Accessories: Poinsettia and Rectangle Nesties, Basic Grey Opaline Pearls, Dark Chocolate Satin Ribbon (unk.), mini glue dots and foam tape

Which do you like??

New MS Punch

I ran across this Martha Stewart Thanksgiving punch the other day at Mike's at 66% off with the Halloween stuff. Don't know why it would be on sale, this holiday hasn't got here yet. But to my advantage, I still needed a couple more cards to complete my Thanksgiving mailouts! So, I grabbed that baby up and flew to the checkout before they realized they made a mistake. I think I probably need to use it with solid paper/cardstock instead of designer paper, but I'm happy with the way it turned out.


Stamps: PTI Fall Elegance
Paper: Cameo Coral, Mellow Moss, Black, Basic Grey Porcelain Papers
Ink: Memento Black
Accessories: MS Thanksgiving punch, Dotted Swiss EF, Grosgrain ribbon, foam tape

Let me know what you think?

FTL66

When doing this sketch challenge, I had to do something Thanksgiving-y. I could just see leaves falling all around. So I pulled out my PTI Fall Elegance set and begin to put it all together. I stamped the background leaves then overstamped it with the SU Linen stamp (one of my all time fave's). I turned the sketch to the side.


Stamps: PTI Fall Elegance, SU Linen (ret.)
Paper: Mellow Moss, Always Artichoke, Black
Ink: Ruby Red, Mellow Moss, Memento Black
Accessories: Scissors for distressing the edges, Olive Green Organdy (SU ret.), foam tape

What do you think?

Fun, Frenzy, and Friends=Stamping Retreat

What a great weekend! Last weekend I attended Faith's Stamping Retreat at Stehpen Foster FCC State Park (that's a mouthful to say the least). Once that thing got kicked off it didn't stop until breakfast 2 days later. Friday and Saturday nights we stayed until midnight or after having the most stamping fun you could have. I stopped counting projects at 60! Yep, there were a few more. I don't know how in the world Faith had time to pull so many together. Having two projects to each table to do (with the exception of only a couple of 'em), we were loaded with new ideas and pretty cards and projects to take away. Not only that, we got a very pretty tote when we signed in. I LOVE it! It has a true bottom and pockets on both sides.

I now have friends from many states having shared fun stamping times together. Here are some pictures taken of the retreat. I tried to get everyone and hopefully did. (If for some reason someone is left out, I apologize greatly!!! It was not intentional.) More individual pictures will be posted on SCS, too.

For pictures of the park, go to our other blog to see the write up and slide.