Finally Friday in a Shadowbox!

I wanted to show the 3D project I made for the Friday night dinner, card and 3D swap at convention we had. It was a lot of fun and good food, too! We had dinner at Biaggi's, an Italian restaurant.

Now, not to pat myself on the back, but this shadowbox really is not as hard to make as it looks. I am absolutely thrilled with how this came out. The most expensive item on here is the shadowbox itself!!! And that I found on clearance at my LSS! The rest is done with scraps and bits of card stock, which cost next to nothing. (I'm not sure exactly how much, but you get the point!) And it didn't take forever to make. I literally completed this on the Saturday before I left for convention. Now I did have the idea thought out in my head, but we all know how those ideas sometimes come out. What took the longest was painting the box, which is painted with buttermilk craft paint. The frame was stamped with the medallion in black staz-on, the decorative accent in Cherry Cobbler and then I spritzed Crumb Cake over it.

The inside is layered with black textured card stock, Very Vanilla and Cherry Cobbler. My thought for this was a collage look, so I used as many different, yet similar, items as I could. The Very Vanilla squares were put through the Big Shot with the new Vintage Wallpaper eb folder, which I inked up with Crumb Cake first and punched with the 1 1/4" square punch and layered on black textured c.s.

The Eiffel Tower was stamped in black staz-on, versa mark and then clear embossed. At the top, middle and bottom levels chunky crystal glitter was adhered with crystal effects. The crown also has a row of the same chunky glitter. The butterflies are from the Beautiful Wings embosslit in Wild Wasabi. These were scraps from my swap card and had been stamped with the Very Vintage jumbo wheel. The black 1/8" taffeta is the body. I used half pearls and 2 of the clear crystals from the now retired Pretties Kit. The crystals are a little difficult to see, but I placed a black brad through the top. The buttons are Real Red from the now retired Playground set.

All of the squares, and many of the items on top of them, are up on dimensionals. I used the thick window sheets for the "glass" so it wouldn't break in my suitcase. The flowers on the "glass" are one of the decor elements items, just cut in half.

Don't be afraid to let your imagination take you on a new adventure! I see many more of these in my future.

Happy Stamping!!!


~~~Ann~~~

Finally Friday & A Window with a View!!

Hello all!!!  Sorry for being a little late today, but I am sooo excited about leaving for convention on Monday, that my days are all running together this week!  The card I have for you today I created for an Inspiration challenge on LateNight Stampers.  And I my card won!!

I'll start with the Bashful Blue background layer. I attempted to try a technique which uses mesh bagging to create the texture. I had a piece from utensils I bought and just found it today while cleaning!! Anyway, I say attempted because it didn't turn out like I thought it would. I used my brayer, a sponge, the ink pad and then a sponge dauber and just kind of rubbed it over the mesh. The effect on here is fine, but I would have liked it slightly more detailed. I did use Bashful Blue ink.

The main image panel was created using Pacific Point, Bashful Blue and Whisper White. My thought/idea was to give the look of looking out of a window, but necessarily from an inside view. Make sense? Not sure I quite achieved that look, but I do love how this card turned out.

The grass was stamped on Whisper White in Wild Wasabi a couple of times, to create depth. I then sponged Bashful Blue over, with a scalloped oval, to create sky and clouds. The sun was actually a "boo-boo", but it turned out ok. The window frame was created by punching four 1 1/4" squares and running it through the Lattice Square eb folder.

The cone flowers were colored with markers and stamped onto Whisper White. I used Wild Wasabi, Daffodil Delight and Chocolate Chip. LOVE that we now have markers to go with former/new In Colors!!! I then cut them out and popped them up with dimensionals. To create even more depth I purposely curved the stems out some and curled up some of the petals. I then wove them through the linen thread, which is wound around the bottom.

My sentiment is stamped with the new Perfect Punches set, using the Round Tab image and the saying is from Teeny Tiny Wishes. Both of these are done with Pacific Point ink.

The butterflies are cut from the Beautiful Wings embosslit in Pacific Point and Wild Wasabi. The entire main image panel is popped up with more dimensionals. To finish this off I used my distressor tool on the Pacific Point and Whisper White panel. Reminds me of looking at a scene on the beach.

The inside was done with the leftover butterflies, stamped some more grass and layered Bashful Blue, Wild Wasabi dsp and Whisper White together.

Happy Stamping!!!  And to all my UDI friends who will be at convention - I can't wait to see you!!!

 

~~~Ann~~~

Finally Friday with Summer Fruits!!

Hello all!!! I hope you are having a wonderful beginning to your summer season. As you know, June 21st was the official start of summer. Except I think Mother Nature has gotten a little ahead of herself! Here in Michigan we've had some horribly hot and humid days already.

I used SC285 over on SCS. The sketch calls for squares, but I used circles instead. So, as I was looking at the sketch,  I thought how my Tart & Tangy set would look on here.

On this card I used a combination of new and old products. The stamp set, Tart & Tangy, has been out for awhile, but is still one of my faves, especially this time of year. The strawberry was colored with the new Riding Hood Red marker and Garden Green. On the apple I used the new In-Color marker, Pear Pizazz and Chocolate Chip. The orange slice was stamped in Pumpkin Pie.

Each of the stamps were first stamped in Crumb Cake and then the colored pieces were cut out and popped up with a dimensional. On the strawberry circle I used the new 2 3/8" scallop circle in Pumpkin Pie and then used my other circle punches for the rest.

On the background piece I layered a piece of the new In-Color, Poppy Parade onto Very Vanilla. The Poppy Parade layer was run through my Lattice Square eb folder. I then used the flower strip from the new Level 1 hostess set, Because I Care, along the the top and bottom edges. The red polka-dotted ribbon is now retired, but I thought looked perfect with this card. I used my "It's Your Birthday" set for the sentiment, which was punched out with the 1" circle and stamped in Riding Hood Red. I sponged the edges with the new Crumb Cake.

A lot of dimension going on here too!! The background panel is up with dimensionals, as is each of the circles.

Happy Stamping!!!!
 
~~~Ann~~~

Finally Friday with a Sneak Peek for You!!!

Hello all!!! I received my sneak peek goodies 0n Wednesday and put together two cards that day. LOVE what I ordered so far. Not a lot of time to play yet, but I will this weekend!


This is using the new set "Studio Sketches" from the sneak peek. The sentiment is using the new Level 3 hostess, a partial. I used the Early Espresso marker to ink up the thank you.

I stamped the image in the new Early Espresso on watercolor paper and used my aquapainter to "smear" the ink. Watercoloring is not my strong point, so I almost didn't order this set. But, I am glad I did.

The pears were colored with the new Pear Pizazz marker, cut out and popped up.

The base card is Crumb Cake and the other colors I used are Pear Pizazz, Peach Parfait and Early Espresso.

The sentiment is from the new Level 3 hostess set, Occasional Quotes. I used my Early Espresso marker to color just the thank you portion.

Happy Stamping!!!!

~~~Ann~~~

Finally Friday with Sweet Memories!!!

Hello all!!!  Friday is finally here, once again, and I am so very thankful for that!!  I'm looking forward to a long weekend.

With the beginning of May, many special days come at us and many special occasions. All of those days give us SWEET MEMORIES! This project was a gift for my mother. Her birthday and Mother's day are just a few days apart and I so I usually combine her gifts with one large one.
Here is my sample for this week. Not too happy with how the pic came out, but I tried to fix it with the "fix-it" program!! As I said earlier, this is for my mother as a combo Mother's Day and birthday gift.

I decided to create a shadow box, with the emphasis on the picture. This is a picture of me when I was 15 months old and the last picture of me before my accident. I took the original picture, which is very tattered and torn, and had it copied at Meijer's. This picture started out as 8x10, but I cut it down to 5x7.

The shadow box came from my LSS and is 8x10. I covered the back panel with a piece of dsp from the Sweet Pea stack, spritzed it with the Soft Suede and Old Olive marker and then used the direct-to-paper technique with the Soft Suede. My intent was to go vintage. The actual picture is matted with a piece of Soft Suede textured and then I used the distressor tool around the edges.

I used a leftover piece of "ruffled twill" I had from another project on the bottom. The flower is made using the Flower Folds die in Cameo Coral and was distressed with Soft Suede ink. If you look closely you can see the flower on my dress and I was attempting to bring that out. Some of the buttons are non - SU!, but are "vintage" looking. The flower buttons are from the Button Latte and I used a flower brad on the other button. I used a Vanilla HPH designer label bracket for the nameplate. A couple of nature "twigs" and it was done!

Happy Stamping!!!

~~~Ann~~~

Finally Friday with Sun, Flowers and Butterflies!!!

Hello all!!!  I hope you are enjoying a beautiful Friday.  The sun is out and the flowers are blooming here in my corner of Michigan!!!

I want you to look around at your surroundings. What do you see? Is there a picture you have that you have thought many times would make a nice card, or do you have an awesome view from your windows? Whatever may be around your home that gives you inspiration, that is what I want you to use for this week.

My inspiration came from the new "Welcome" mat I recently purchased for my front door. Every time I come home, I look at it and think "That would make a neat card." Well, today I sat down and created it!

I started with a card base of Kraft (soon-to-be Crumb Cake) and layered that with Whisper White and Gable Green. I am trying to use as many retiring colors I can now so I wont have a ton left over come the new catalog year.

Since the mat has white polka dots in the background, I ran my Gable Green layer through the Big Shot with the Perfect Details texture plate. I then colored all of the dots with my white gel pen. They're a little difficult to see on the the Gable Green.

I used another strip of Kraft/Whisper White across the bottom and covered it with a piece of the Melon Mambo polka dotted gg, except I flipped it over. Way too many polka dots! My flower comes from the Pretties Kit and place a large white grommet in the center and filled it with clear chunky and pink fine glitter. I also ran the Melon Mambo pad around the edges of the flower to make it pop a little more.

The butterflies were made with the awesome Beautiful Wings embosslit using Razzleberry Lemonade dsp. And for a little more bling, I added two of the small rhinestones from the Eggcellent Easter Egg kit on my sentiment panel.

Not sure who this will go too, as I have my mother's day card already made, but I do have many friends at work who are mother's!!

Happy Stamping!!!!

~~~Ann~~~

Finally Friday with Pink, Brown & Flowers!!

Hello all!!! How are you this fine Friday? Ask I type this, I am in Harrisburg, PA at the 2nd Annual Remarkable Retreat - Hot City Lights!!! Put on by my upline, Janet Wakeland. Last August was the first retreat and oh what fun we had! I will be here until Sunday and then will head home.

My creation for you is the name tag I made for the SCS 2010 Michigan Mingle. This is an event that is held each year for any Michigan stamper who would like to attend. We have a name tag challenge, among other fun challenges, and this was mine. I even won the contest! How cool is that??? I received a $15 Archivers gift card, which is already gone!!

When I put this together I really didn't have a specific idea and I was putting things together to take with me while I was gone for work.

The scalloped circle is cut from chipboard, using my Big Shot. Boy, that tool can cut through anything!!! I covered it with the Pretty in Pink dsp from the Sending Love speciality dsp in the Occasions mini. Hard to see in the photo, but this dsp has glitter already on it.

The second layer was cut from the Top Note die, from chipboard, creating a medallion from the Top Note. The dsp I used on here is Pink Pirouette (which will be back as a core color in the new 2010 - 2011 catalog!!!) and Sweet Always dsp. The Pretty in Pink strip was in my scraps and I already had embossed it with the Perfect Details texture plate.

I cut my name using the Timeless Type alpha and my Big Shot. You can do so many wonderful things with this gadget. If you don't have one yet, I urge you get one. This layer is popped up with many dimensionals!!!! Didn't want it to fall off.

My ribbon flower was made using Regal Rose gg. I stitched along one edge with linen thread and then pulled it into a circle shape when I finished. After that I just played with it to get the look I wanted. The center is 3/4" circle punched from the same dsp I used on the scallop circle and then a Chocolate Chip epoxy brad in the center. This is popped up on a thicker pop dot. Actually, this flower is really where the idea for the whole name tag started from. I cut leaves with my Little Leaves sizzlet from Kiwi Kiss.

The ruffled ribbon behind the scallop circle is made the same way as my small ribbon flower, but I used the 1 1/4" Pink Pirouette gg and the double stitched Chocolate Chip. Once I had the look I was going for, I adhered it to the back with sticky tape. A length of the Chocolate Chip poly twill served as my lanyard.

Happy Stamping!!!

~~~Ann~~~

Finally Friday with Peter Cottontail!!!

Hello all!!! Better late than never, huh? This has been one weird week for me.

Do you realize that Easter is only 2 days away??? Do you have your Easter cards or projects done? Well, if not, here's a quick project to the rescue.

How's this for a cute, and quick, goodie bag? I found this idea on SCS in the gallery of Diana Seitz, AKA paperball.

Her goodie bag is made from a 3 x 3 mini envelope, and while this is very cute, I decided to change the size just a tad. I used 4 x 6 envelopes and only put the dsp on the front of the envelope.

It's a little difficult to see in the photo, but the dsp I used is Bella Rose, now retired, and it's the Pink Pirouette damask print. The same print as the Kiwi Kiss dsp, but my camera washed the Pink Pirouette out. Another thing I did different on this bag is the ribbon. On Diana's she punched holes in the sides and tied the ribbon through. Because I used a larger envelope, I used sticky tape on both sides of the ribbon, Kiwi Kiss, and adhered it to the inside of the envelope. A piece of Pink Pirouette gg finishes it off.

The bunny was stamped in Chocolate Chip and Versamark and then clear embossed. Doesn't he look good enough to eat??? The flowers are from the stitched Sweet Pea felt flowers in the current Occasions mini. Not sure if I like the pom-pom on his tail or not.

Happy Stamping!!!

~~~Ann~~~

Finally Friday & All in White!!!

This week we are focusing on the color of white. Now, I don't know about you, but I have a very hard time creating white on white cards. But, last weekend was the VSN weekend on SCS and one of the challenges was to create a card mostly of white. You could add a touch of color, but not too much!

My sample for you this week is that card I created for VSN. I'm actually very happy with how it turned out.

My card base is, of course white. The background panels were run through my Big Shot using the Petals a Plenty and Perfect Polka dots embossing folders. Both of these eb folders are available now!! Once they were put together, I used my distressor tool around the edges. This helps to break up the different layers of white.

The main image panel was punched with the new Scallop Trim border and corner punches now available. The border punch is free with a $50 order during SAB, which ends this month!!!

Once this panel was punched, I stamped my bird, from a A Spring Song, in black staz on. This is a new set for me that I earned during SAB!!! I then watercolored the bird using my aqua painter and ink from the lids of Pretty in Pink, Melon Mambo, Creamy Caramel, So Saffron, Apricot Appeal and Sahara Sand. Watercoloring is not one of my strong areas, but I like how this turned out.

I wrapped the white satin organdy around the end, secured it with a crystal rhinestone brad and added the leaves. You can't tell in the photo but some of the leaves were punched with leftover embossed white and from the Brides dsp.

This whole panel is up on thick dimensionals. And, for me, this is Clean and Simple!!

Happy Stamping!!!!

~~~Ann~~~

Finnally Friday with A Friendly Bird!!

Hello all!!! Sorry I've missed posting the past couple of Fridays. Just really busy and I lost track of the days!!

Ribbon is one of my favorite embellishments to use and I use it often! You can do so many different things with ribbon to create a truly unique card or project.

Here are some ways you can use ribbon on your creations:

* Make ribbon flowers

* Use green ribbon as stems and leaves for flowers

* Make ribbon butterflies

* Use ribbon as a background through "punched windows"

* Use ribbon scraps to create a unique background for your creation

I'm sure there are many more ideas than those I've listed and I would love to hear how you use ribbon!

My idea was to create a "ribbon punched window", but I'm not sure it came out as well as I had envisioned it!!

I started with a strip of Almost Amethyst and used my Boho Blossoms punch for the flowers. Then I took scraps of ribbon from my stash, Old Olive striped and plain gg, White satin, White taffeta and Elegant Eggplant ric-rak. The placement of each of the ribbons was pretty much random and I just put the punched strip over them to see how it looked.

I cut the bird from chipboard with my Birds & Flowers die and covered with Afternoon Tea dsp. I highlighted the wing and beak with a piece of Elegant Eggplant and crystal rhinestone for the eye!

The distressed the edges of the Almost Amethyst strip before attaching. The bird is popped up with dimensionals. The sentiment is from the new set in the Occasions mini: Vintage Vogue.

Happy Stamping!!!!

~~~Ann~~~

Finally Friday and Love is in the Air!!!!

Hello all!! I know I have been really bad the past couple of weeks and completely forgot to post!! How could that happen? You know, that thing we call life!

Anyway, can you feel the love that is all around us right now? Valentine's Day is 29days away!!! Are you ready?

I've wanted to try the Herringbone technique in the most recent Technique Junkies newsletter and I just hadn't made time. Well, the other day I was sitting at my table and got the bright idea of trying this technique using ribbon!! I plenty of ribbon scraps in bin, and so I went looking. I pulled out red, black and white ribbons and then just followed the directions.

I started out with a 4 1/2 x 5 1/2 piece of scrap card stock and covered thoroughly with double sided tape. At that point I just started laying out my ribbon scraps in the Herringbone pattern. Once I was done, I trimmed the edges and then cut the card stock piece down to the size I wanted. This is the largest piece. I was able to make three cards with the pieces I had.

My card base is Shimmery White and I then used Real Red and Basic Black. The stamp set I used is Love You Much and the bird is punched using the new 2 step bird punch in the Occasions mini.

I used my distressor tool around the edges of the Basic Black panel, just to add some texture! Both the heart and bird are popped up with dimensionals. I also popped up the bird's wing. Lot's of dimension on this one!!

Happy Stamping!!!

~~~Ann~~~

Finally Friday - Christmas style!!!

MERRY CHRISTMAS!!!!!

I hope this day finds all of you surrounded by family, friends and enjoying the day!! If you must travel, be safe.

This gift set I put together for my BFF, Deb. Are 40 year somethings supposed to have BFF's? Too bad, I do! Actually we have been friends since we met in 1990 when we both started our pre -reqs at the community college for the nursing program. We have since gone through our bachelor's and master's programs together and have watched both of families grow through the years. And I wanted to really give her something from the heart this year as she, and her husband, have been so good to me over the past couple of years when I needed it.

She was just amazed at how everything looked liked you would find it in a store! She kept asking me, “Did you really make these?” She knows I stamp and she buys cards from me all the time!! When people only see the cards you make they don't realize all the other possibilities out there too!!

The picture frame I found on clearance at TJMaxx. I backed it with a piece of groom’s dsp and then laid my card front over it. This actually was a card to begin with, but someone suggested I should frame it and so I did! And I think it made a lovely gift.

The candle I just covered up the label on the front and wrapped some ribbon around the neck and the body. And yes, that is a contraband butterfly punch but the current SU! one is too big and my new butterfly embosslit arrived on Wednesday!!!! (Pre-order for the new Occasions mini & SAB starting on January 5th.)

Then I made a set of 10 monogrammed notecards for her. She loves red, so I used my leftover Riding Hood Red and Bella Rose dsp. I am so happy with how they came out.
And, one of the best parts is this only cost me around $10 to put together! I also put some lotion/bodywash in I bought after Christmas last year on clearance. But, most of all she loved it and that is what makes me happy!!

I also gave her the button wreath card I made for GCA68. She thought the buttons were purchased that way and then I put the bird and branch on it. I think I told her three times that put the wreath together myself!

Happy Stamping and Merry Christmas to all!!!

~~~Ann~~~

Finally Friday filled with snow!

Hello all!! How many of my friends are out in the mob of people today shopping???? Not me! Been there, done that and I am in no hurry to do it again! I would rather stay home and stamp!

The card I have for you today is one I made during my peace and quiet yesterday! I certainly wouldn't want to mass produce this as it took me around 2 hours to complete!

I had an idea for this in my head and I think it came pretty close to what I envisioned. Since I was going for the whole snow and cold feeling, I used Night of Navy, Ballet Blue and Whisper White as my color choices.

The Night of Navy layer was swiped with Whisper White craft ink and left to dry. I was going for the look of snow. How did I do?

On the Ballet Blue Top Note piece I stamped some of the snowflakes from the Snow Buddies set (Level 2 hostess - Holiday Mini) in Whisper White craft and heat embossed with white ep. I then overstamped the other other snowflakes and the star in Ballet Blue to create more depth.

My snow was created with Tombow multi glue, Dazzling Diamonds and Chunky clear glitter. Before I applied the glue and glitter I swiped the pieces, which I tore to create hills, with Ballet Blue ink. Since the Tombow dries clear, the ink shows better than I thought it would.

Each of the snowmen were stamped on Whisper White with black staz on and then cut out. Again, I would not want to mass produce this card! What was I thinking??? I then took scraps from the Christmas Cocoa dsp and paper pieced the hats and scarves. The "carrot" noses were stamped on Only Orange and the boots were done in Kraft. I used small pom-poms for the tops of the hats.

I wanted the snowmen to look like they were holding a "sign" and so I used a leftover piece of jute and strung it through the ends and around. Not sure if you can tell in the photos, but I put their hands around the jute. Both of the snowmen are up on dimensionals and the sign is up on double dimensionals.

Happy Stamping!!!

~~~Ann~~~

Finally Friday with a Friendly Elephant!

Hello all!!!  This Friday I have another card to share with you made by moi!!  I have another creation by one of the design team members, but I was having some technical difficulties!!!  Hopefully, that will be sorted out by next week.

This card uses the new set, Animal Stories.  I wasn't sure about this set at first, but I truly love the elephant, whale and owl.  The giraffee is slowly winning me over!

I also used new dsp, Raspberry Lemonade and Dusty Durango card stock.  My other colors are Summer Sun and More Mustard.

The elephant was stamped twice, once in Summer Sun and then again in Dusty Durango, just for the ear.  I popped up the ear with a dimensional.  The flower is from Flower Fusion and the stem is with linen thread.

My sentiment is from the Level 2 hostess set; Wings of Friendship.

Happy Stamping!!!

~~~Ann~~~

Finally Friday - The Charming Way!!

Hello all!!  Here we are agin at another Friday!  I, for one, am quite ready for the weekend!

I have to show you the card I made using a fun and quick technique - Poppin Pastels!! Have you tried it yet? You might want to think about it!!!!!


On this card I did double stamping with the versamark and double usage of the chalks. By that, I mean I first stamped the script BG in versamark and went over it with the Pale Plum chalk. Second, I stamped the flower in versamark over the already chalked BG. (See how versatile this technique is?) I then went over the flower with the Elegant Eggplant chalk, carefully so as not to muddy up my colors. The image on the punched circle was colored with the Old Olive chalk and then a second one was stamped and the middle portion was punched out and Pale Plum was used.

I also did another circle medallion with my Top Note die!!! These are addicting!!

This was my card for FS138 who is NancyRuth this week!!! What an awesome gallery she has to see. You really should take a peek.

My card I chose is here: http://www.splitcoaststampers.com/ga...p;ppuser=42694

My changes:

* Colors & stamp set
* Kept the medallion circle, but used a different style
* used pearls instead of brads
* used my SU! texture plates instead of CB folder
* used chalks to color my images

Happy Stamping!!

~~~Ann~~~

Finally Friday with Basket Weaving!!

Hello all!!!  Finally Friday is here and I am so grateful it is!!  I know this is a late post, but this has just been one of those weeks.  Today our project comes to you courtesy of me! 

Our design team divas work so hard, but sometimes there is more month than divas!!

My sample for you today is one I created for the IC on SCS. I used the picture of the bird on the bag, third one. So in recreating my card I did basket weaving with the Top Note.

I used To The Nines speciality dsp for my "bag" with 2 different patterns and used both sides of them. I ran this through my Big Shot to cut it and then backed it with a another Top Note die in WW. My strips on here are cut 1/2" wide. They can be any size, just depends on the look you are going for. My base card is Sahara Sand textured, layered with WW which I sponged Always Artichoke and Sahara Sand around. The corners were rounded with my corner rounder punch. I cut off the top part to resemble the bag and layered a strip of Chocolate Chip for my top band. Always Artichoke gg was used for the handle.

While making the bird was fun, it was also a challenge!! For the body I used a 2 1/2" circle, cut in half, out of Choc Chip textured. The bill was punched with the medium flower from my Boho Blossoms punch, and then I just played with until I placed it where it looked right! (So technical I know!) The eye is 1/4" circle from Summer Sun textured cs.

Now the fun part!! The tail feathers and wings. My first thought was to use the scallop circle punch and then cut pieces for them. Well, that is what I did for the wings, but that didn't work for the tail feathers. So, I looked at all of my punches and used the large heart in my Heart to Heart punch. For the middle feather I just cut one heart in half. Used my Tombo Mono glue to put them on with and the bird is done! I popped him up with dimensionals. Used the Modern Label & Word Window punch for the sentiment panel, which is also on dimensionals. Two little pearls were used as my accents. Again, used my new fave set Teeny Tiny Wishes for the sentiment.

Don't be afraid to try something new - just gor for it!!

Happy Stamping!!

~~~Ann~~~

Finally Friday with stencils!

Hello all!! Bet you thought I forgot to post today, didn't you? It's been a crazy week in my house and a crazy week at work, which meant very little stamping time for me!! I now have the next four days off and I plan to correct that!!

The card I have for you today is one I made, just recently! I attended a stamping weekend in PA last month and one of the techniques we learned was using our Big Shot dies to create stencils! Maybe not an aha moment for you, but for me it was!!

So, with using my new found stencil abilities, I made this card using the Lattice die. The stencil was cut out using our window sheets so I have a re-usable stencil. You can use either a sponge dauber, sponge or brayer to get your ink onto your cardstock. I used a sponge on here.

My colors are Rich Razzleberry ink onto Orchid Opulence cardstock. I used the Asian Artistry hostess level 2 set on my main image panel. The image was colored with my SU! markers and then stamped onto WW. I did take my Rich Razzleberry marker and thump against the flowers, but it's very light.

The pearls are colored with a black sharpie. My butterfly is double layered with one layer using the printed window sheets.

Enjoy!!

Happy Stamping!!

~~~Ann~~~

Thanks in Mambo is Heavenly!!!

Hello all!! While a majority of the Diva's & Dude, are experiencing the awesomeness of convention, the sample for today is from little ole me! Enjoy!

Here is my card I created for this week's IC on SCS!! Stef found us another great site for the IC this week!!

She chose the site Heavenly Hostess, which is filled with tons of gorgeous aprons, kitchen towels and headbands. However, I'm not sure if the person wearing these aprons is the one really doing the cooking!!!

My inspiration came from this apron here:
http://www.heavenlyhostess.com/aprons_lauren.html

I was instantly drawn to the colors, flowers and the contrasting prints on the tie. I tried to recreate that by using a piece of Razzleberry Lemonade, in Melon Mambo, with the small flowers, and then layered two strips of Pretty in Pink I had run through the newest texture plates: Perfect Details. I then took my Melon Mambo marker (love it!) and put a small dot on all the embossed dots.

My bird, from Fun and Fast Notes, is paper pieced with Afternoon Tea dsp and the Razzleberry/Mambo. I used a Fleurette that I dyed with my PIP re inker, a 1/2: circle of Melon Mambo text and a clear rhinestone brad from my Pretties Kit.
The white taffeta ribbon is for the ribbon tie and the silver library clip is just because! I should have moved things up just a titch, because the upper right corner seemed bare - hence the library clip!

And how goofy am I? I haven't used this set in forever, and actually thought it had retired until I saw it in this years new catalog!! How how easily we forget what we have!!

Happy Stamping!!

~~~Ann~~~

Finally Friday - Red, White & Blue style!!

Hello all and welcome to the end of the week! The year is now into it's second half and July 4th is tomorrow!! (I know you know that!!)

For this week the card I have to share with you is from me! I know many of you out there are familiar with a group called LateNight Stampers. It is set up pretty much the same way UDI is, but not everyone is a SU! demo. Anywho, every week they issue a challenge and the challenge this week is make a card using any shades of Red, White and Blue! And your card has to be made with all current SU! products!

My card turned out a little differently than I had planned, but I do like the end result of how the daisies look like fireworks! They were stamped with the Sanded BG in Night of Navy and Ruby Red, lightly, so as not to overpower the card. I then lightly stamped the Sanded BG in Ruby Red, onto the white piece, and then shaded directly from the stamp pad. A large Filigree brad in the center and there's my flower!

My sketch is from 2 Sketches for 4, which is filled with awesome sketches. I also used the new Teeny Tiny Wishes set that is now available!! Love this versatile and awesome set!!

I hope everyone has a wonderful July 4th, be safe, and find time to stamp!

Happy Stamping!!

~~~Ann~~~