Whisper Soft Gray Color Challenge

The color challenge this week was to use Whisper White, Soft Sky & Basic Gray, I LOVE this combination! When I saw the colors, I immediately knew I wanted to use my 'Seaside' stamp set. I also knew that I wanted to use Shimmery White CS with the Giant Sea shell instead of Whisper white, just because I wanted that shimmery look.

Do you ever get to a point while making a card, where everything is going great than you think, hmmmm, maybe I will add this or maybe I should add that. Well that's what happened with this card today! Everything was going great when all of a sudden I decided to add some piercing around the edge of the Shimmery white. Now, normally I like the pierced look on my cards, NOT a good idea on this card, I hated the way it looked! So I tried to crop the edges off because I liked the way I had watercolored the shell and didn't want to re-do it. That wasn't a good idea either! I'm thinking to myself, this card is taking longer than it should have! OK now what, well, I decided to re-stamp and re-color the shell, only to have the black ink bleed while I was watercoloring. For PETE's SAKE, I'm trying to get this card done and take a picture while I have good light and before I need to get out the door with my son for his Lacrosse game!!! Why is it not cooperating with me?????? Hey, I think I will cut out the first shell and slap over the top of the bleeding shell, ooooooohhh, I like it! Take the picture and out the door I go! WHEW!

I hope tomorrow's card goes much better than today's! Thank's for stopping by!

Supplies Used: Stamps~ Seaside, Twill, Circle of Friendship.

Paper~ Soft Sky, Basic Gray & Shimmery White.

Ink~ Soft Sky, Basic Gray, Blush Blossom, Pretty in Pink, Palette Black.

Accessories~ Silver brads, 1" circle punch, 1 3/8", 1 1/4" circle punch, ticket punch, aqua painter, blender pen, sponge.

Be Inspired Challenge #6

Have you tried out Beate's new 'Be Inspired Challenge' yet? Well if not, hop on over there and check it out.

When I first saw this bright beautiful skirt, I immediately thought of the brayer technique with my Caribbean Sea Kaleidacolor pad and flowers stamped in black. Well the idea in my head wasn't working out on paper so I had to change direction.

This is what I came up with, not sure if I like it though. Oh well I have three more brayered pieces of card stock to come back to if I get the urge to try again!

Supplies Used: Stamps~ One of a Kind, Stitched, Twill.

Paper~ Taken with Teal, Gable Green, Glossy White.

Ink~ Taken with Teal, Gable Green, Black, Craft White, VersaMark, Caribbean Sea Kaleidacolor.

Accessories~ Circle Ice Rhinestone, Hodgepodge hardware, Boho Blossoms punch, Photo corner punch, paper piercer, Black Gingham ribbon, crystal stone, sponge.

Easter blog Candy winner...

Wow, I can't believe all of the sweet tooths out there!!! It seems the most popular treats are Peeps, Reese's Peanut butter eggs and Cadbury eggs! My favorite, Dove chocolate's, yummmm!



The winner of the Easter blog Candy is #80: Sarah D



This is what Sarah had to say about her favorite Easter Treat~



mmmmmmm chocolate!!!!!!!!!!! need i say more!!!
March 24, 2008 5:49 AM

I agree Sarah! Thanks to everyone for their response, please stop by to visit again soon!

Sarah email me your mailing address and I'll get those yummy goodies out to you!

Easter blog Candy

Look what the Easter bunny left a day early for one of my lucky readers!

I have a sweet tooth and it's been awhile since I've had some candy to give away, so I thought why not give some away for Easter! All you need to do is leave me a comment and tell me what your favorite Easter treat is. All entries need to be posted by 9:00 am Central time on Tuesday 3-25-08. I will draw at random one lucky winner on Tuesday 3-25-08. Good Luck and Happy Easter!!!

Blog Candy includes: Create a Critter stamp set by Paper Salon, Package of Bold Brights CS and 10 yds of May Arts ribbon .

Weekend sketch challenge

I went to bed last night with this idea in my head and was sooooo happy when I woke up this morning to see that it would work for Beate's weekend sketch challenge! How often does that happen? I did have to turn the sketch though to fit my need.


This little chick is just toooo cute! I just had to make one more card with him for Easter. Hope you like!


Thanks for stopping by!






Supplies Used: Stamps~ A Good Egg, Twill, Basket of
Kindness (SU-retired).


Paper~ Kraft, Certainly Celery, Barely Banana,

Whisper White, Watercolor, DP-Bliss Blue, Almost Amethyst, Spring Fling.
Ink~ Basic Black, Chocolate Chip, Summer Sun, Pumpkin Pie.
Accessories~ Wild Wasabi Striped grosgrain ribbon, Blender pen, Corner Punch, Hodgepodge Hardware, Pink Brads, paper piercer, sponge, stickles.

Blooming with Love Sketch

When I first saw this Sketch challenge I was thinking, wow, that's really busy. I wasn't sure where I was going to start, but I knew I wanted to use my 'Afternoon Tea' DP (love this paper). After much thought I pulled out 'Bloom with Love' (another favorite) and my blender pen.

I don't know why, but I always tend to use the paper piercing technique with this set. I just like the way it looks I guess!

Thanks for stopping by!

Supplies Used: Stamps~ Blooming with Love, Sanded.

Paper~ Wild Wasabi, Chocolate Chip, Afternoon Tea DP, Watercolor paper, Whisper White.

Ink~ Palette Black, Wild Wasabi, Soft Sky, Groovy Guava, Chocoloate Chip.

Accessories~ Blender Pen, Wild Wasabi Stitched Ribbon, Hemp twine, Tag punch, Antique Brads, Scallop Scissors, Paper Piercer.

Krafty Orchid Shadows

This week's color challenge over at SCS 'Krafty Orchid Shadows' was a little different for my taste. The challenge was to use the colors Orchid Opulence, Sage Shadows & Kraft. When I first saw this combination I wasn't to sure I could make it work, after all I don't use Orchid Opulence or Sage Shadow that much. Let's just say they aren't my most favorite colors to work with!


I pulled out one of my favorite sets for this card, 'Time Well Spent'. I am sooooo ready for spring and the tulips in this set are perfect for a bright spring like card!


Thanks for stopping by!



Supplies Used: Stamps~ Time Well Spent.
Paper~ Kraft, Orchid Opulence, Sage Shadow, Whisper White.
Ink~ Basic Black, Orchid Opulence, Sage Shadow, Summer Sun.
Accessories~ Blender Pen, Aqua Painter, Jumbo Eyelets, Ice Circle rhinestones, Corner punch, paper piercer, sponge, Cuttlebug 'Swiss Dots' folder, stickles.

WSC#39

I've been a little busy the last couple of days with the kids home for spring break. No time to stamp until late this afternoon!

I made this card for Beate's weekend sketch challenge #39. I just love Cool Caribbean and was soooo sad when it was retired. Good thing I bought like 10 packs of it! So I guess I better use some of it up. Right?

Thanks for Stopping by!

Supplies Used: Stamps~ Friendship Blooms.

Paper~ Cool Caribbean, Chocolate Chip, Afternoon Tea DP.

Ink~ Cool Caribbean, Chocolate Chip.

Accessories~ Chocolate 5/8" Grosgrain ribbon, Ice Circle Rhinestones, Hodgepodge hardwareLove & Happiness rub-ons, Photo corner punch, paper piercer, cuttlebug folder, stickles, sponge.

I was featured on Inspirational!!

Wow, I got this email the other day saying that I have been nominated to be featured on the blog Inspirational. I sat there wondering, who would have done that, and what is this site all about? I had never heard of this site before so I had to go check it out to see what is all about. I was impressed with what I saw, this site features projects from stampers all over. COOL!

Well it turns out that my sweet blogging friend Jennifer Buck was the one who nominated me for this card that I did for Beate's 'Be Inspired Challenge'. Jennifer was also nominated for this cool card she made. Check out 'Inspirational' for some really inspiring projects!

Thanks Jennifer!

2 in 1 card

I try not to combine challenges, but some days you just need to if you want to keep up with all of them! Today was one of those days! I wanted to do Julee's Mojo Monday#28 challenge and I also wanted to do this week's SCS color challenge. This week's color challenge 'Basic Pomegranate', was to use Purely Pomegranate, Basic Gray & Basic Black. Here is what I came up with!

Thanks for stopping by!

Supplies Used: Stamps~ Live Your Dream, Sanded.

Paper~ Shimmery White, Purely Pomegranate, Basic Black, Basic Gray, Bali Breeze DP.

Ink~ Purely Pomegranate, Wild Wasabi, VersaMark.

Accessories~ Styled Silver Hodgepodge Hardware, Black Brads, Photo corner punch, Large Oval Punch, Pomegranate Stitched Ribbon, Paper Piercer, sponge.

Thank You Allison!!!! Retired List is now Available...

Yesterday I put out a call for help, and Allison from 'Stampin' When I Can' came through for me big time!!! Thank you so much for your expert blog advise Allison. If you haven't been to Allison's blog, you need to go over there and check it out, she has an awesome blog full of awsome ideas and information.

Thanks to Allison, you can now find a list located on my side bar of all the retired stamp sets that I am selling. Click on the link 'Retired Stamps for sale' to see if I have the stamps you have been looking for. WARNING!!! I have been a Stampin' Up! demonstrator for over 10 years, so the list is HUGE! If you would like a picture of any of the sets I have for sale, email me directly and I will email a picture back to you. Also if you would like to buy any of my stamps, please email me directly with your request, do not post your request on my blog. Stamps will be sold on a first come first sereved basis. Thanks & have fun going though the list.

Calling all blog experts!!!

I hope there is someone out here that can help me with a blog question. As many of you know, I have been working on my "For Sale" list, well I finally got it done and now I am trying to figure out how to add the list to my side bar. The list is LARGE and I want to add a page element to the side but not sure how to add a link to my word document. Please email me if you can help me out!

Off to do some stamping!

Thanks for stopping by!

Be Inspired Challenge #4

Well, I thought I would give Beate's 'Be Inspired Challenge' another try. This week's inspiration image was a little more challenging for me than last week's was. When I first saw the image of this textured cutting board, I immediately thought of using the 'Baroque' background stamp and a bleaching technique, but WAIT, one problem, I don't own that background stamp! How could that be? I own almost every background stamp that 'Stampin' Up!' has ever made, why not that one? Well, back to the drawing board for me! Two other sets came to mind, but again, I didn't own them either!! I finally changed my direction and came up with this card. I hope it works!

Thanks again Beate for challenging me!

Supplies Used: Stamps~ Close As a Memory, Stitched, Tre's Chic.

Paper~ Ruby Red, Chocolate Chip, Very Vanilla.
Ink~ White Craft, Chocolate Chip.

Accessories~ Markers-Cameo Coral, Ruby Red, Old Olive, 5/8" chocolate grosgrain ribbon, Photo punch, Slot punch, Vintage brads, Paper Piercer, Marvy scallop and circle punches.

Paris in the Spring - Featured Stamper

After I found out that this week's Featured Stamper 'Paris in the Spring' was another fellow Minnesotan, I knew I wanted to play along!

This is Paris' card that I chose to case. I kept the same layout but changed the stamp set, colors, embellishments and I also decided to place the sentiment below my main image.

Thanks for stopping by!

Supplies Used: Stamps~ Artfully Asian, Sanded.

Paper~ River Rock CS & DP, Chocolate Chip, Very Vanilla.

Ink~ Basic Brown, Blue Bayou, River Rock.

Accessories~ Blender pen, 5/8" Chocolate ribbon, Vintage brads.

If the Halo Fits

Wow, I feel like I'm on a roll lately. I haven't done this much stamping for a long time! Now that the hockey season is over for another year I have found some extra time to get some stamping done, and boy does it feel good!!!

This is my card for Beate's weekend sketch challenge. I love doing Beate's challenges and this sketch was so much fun to do! Thanks for another great challenge Beate!!!

Well off to check out the Featured Stamper (I heard it's a Minnesota Girl, Paris Otremba

Thanks for stopping by!

Supplies Used: Stamp~ If the Halo Fits.

Paper~ Pretty in Pink, Barely Banana, Palette O'Prints DP, Watercolor paper.

Ink~ Stazon Black, Barely Banana, Lavender Lace, Pink Passion, Pretty in Pink, Bliss Blue, Blush Blossom, Creamy Caramel, Certainly Celery.

Accessories~ Blender Pen, Aqua Painter, Paper Piercer, Signo White Gel Pen, Stickles, Ice Circle Rhinestones,SU! Punches ~Scallop, Photo Corner, 1-3/8", Spring Flower Bouquet (retired).

ULAS - Challenge

I haven't been able to participate in the ULAS (Up Late and Stamping) challenge for a while. I was excited when I saw that a few of my stamping friends threw out this challenge the other night. I decided I just had to play along! Feel free to give the challenge a try too!

The challenge is a color/sketch challenge. Use the colors Buckaroo Blue, Cranberry Crisp & Close to Cocoa along with Julee Tilman's Mojo Monday sketch #27. At first I thought about a western themed card, then quickly changed my mind when I saw the 'Wonderful You' set still sitting on my desk.

Have a wonderful day! Thanks for stopping by!

Supplies Used: Stamps~ Wonderful You, Embrace Life, Sanded.

Paper~ Buckaroo Blue, Cranberry Crisp, Close to Cocoa, Very Vanilla.

Ink~ Buckaroo Blue, Cranberry Crisp, Close to Cocoa, River Rock.

Accessories~ Cranberry Crisp stitch ribbon (retired), Ivory Organdy ribbon, Hodgepodge Hardware Aged Copper, sponge.

Wonderful You

Yeah! I finally got some stamping time in today! The last two days I have been busy taking pictures of the stamps sets that I have been getting ready to sell. Wow, I had no idea how big of a project I was taking on, and I am still not done taking pic's!

I fell in Love with this set the minute I saw it but just didn't get around to using it right away. I think I will have to play with it some more tonight!

Thanks for stopping by!

Supplies Used: Stamps~ Wonderful You, Sanded.

Paper~ Blue Bayou, River Rock CS & DP, Chocolate Chip, Very Vanilla.

Ink~ Chocolate Chip, Blue Bayou, River Rock.

Accessories~ 5/8" Chocolate ribbon, Aged Copper Hodgepodge Hardware, sponge.

Beate's "Be Inspired challenge"

I usually don't participate in any of the inspiration challenges, but I thought I would give Beate's challenge a try. Let me tell you, this was a "CHALLENGE" for me! This card started out totally different in my mind, than where it ended up on paper, but I do like the way it turned out.

Even though it was a challenge for me, I decided that the inspiration challenges aren't as bad as I thought they would be! After all, that's why they are called challenges, right?

Thanks for the challenge Beate!

Thanks for stopping by today!

Supplies used: Stamps~ Enjoy Every Moment, Stitched.

Paper~ Old Olive, Basic Black, Pink Passion, Whisper White.

Ink~ Black colorbox, White Craft.

Accessories~ Clear Embossing Powder, Flower Fusions, Rhinestone brads, Silver brads, Olive 5/8" Ribbon, Paper Piercer, corner rounder punch.

Blooming with love

Have you ever made a card that took hours to make, when it shouldn't have? Well, I made this card yesterday, and I can't believe how LONG it took me to finish it. I know, it doesn't look like it should have taken that long, but believe me it did. Nothing was going the way I wanted it too!

I was really hoping that I had the new styled silver hodgepodge hardware but I don't have it yet so I had to improvise with the large silver brads that I did have. I hope any stamping that I do today goes much faster then yesterday's!

Thanks for stopping by today, hope you have a fabulous day!

Supplies used: Stamps~ Blooming with love.

Paper~ Pretty in Pink, Watercolor paper, Spring Fling DP.

Ink~ Black Palette Hybrid Ink, Various SU Ink pads.

Accessories~ Love & Happiness rub-on, Blender pen, Aqua Painter, 5/8" Celery ribbon, photo punch, Piercing tool/mat, large Bazill silver brads.

Spring Bunnies

I was going though my pictures on my computer the other day, trying to clean up the clutter and I came across this cute Easter card. I had made this card awhile back but I wanted to share it with you as I think these bunnies are just tooooo cute!



Not sure if you can tell by this photo, but the bunny in the barrel "Pops" up and down. This is another one of my slider techniques that I have done.

Thanks for stopping by today!


Supplies Used: Stamps ~ Spring Gifts, Soft Swirls.
Paper~ Whisper White, Tempting Turquoise, Cameo Coral.
Ink~ Basic Black, Tempting Turquoise, Mellow Moss, Creamy Caramel, Almost Amethyst, Pretty in Pink.
Accessories~ Blender Pen, Silver brads, Heart punch, Flower Punch