The Smilin' Stamper

Christmas Gifts

2012-01-14T19:26:00.003-06:00

Here are two pictures of some of the Christmas gifts I made. I've seen this type of thing at craft shows and thought they were sooooo cool, but I never liked the price. I decided I could do it myself! One gloomy Sunday afternoon (cloudy days are great for photos!) in December, I dragged my friend Angie around Hesston with me so she could help me "see" alphabet letters.

"GRACE" was for my daughter's birthmother and birthfather. Her middle name is Grace.

"FAMILY" was for my other daughter's birthfamily, and I included a framed photo of all of us together at a picnic in September.

I also made "FAMILY" for my mom. Funny thing, though...I had envisioned it on the wall with the family portrait and the frames with all the grandkids' school pictures. When I got to Mom's house for Christmas, though, she had taken them all down!!! She said she had to when her carpet was put in, and she wasn't sure if she'd hang them all back up or not. Oh no! After she opened this, though, she said she'd put them back up. Whew! :-)

I did "LOVE" in sepia tones for my mother-in-law. Forgot to snap a pic. Maybe I'll post that soon.

Give-Aways!

2011-12-20T08:23:00.001-06:00

Melissa over at Creating From the Heart has some wonderful Christmas presents to offer! All you have to do is comment and spread the word! Go visit her! :-)

Click HERE.

Bake Me a BIGGER Cake

2011-12-05T04:31:00.000-06:00

Once again you're seeing "Bake Me a Cake" from Lawn Fawn. Instead of paper piecing, I decided to color it with Copics this time. It's REALLY hard to see, but the cake layers are a very light purple.
After I posted the pictures I realized the Stickles don't look dry yet. Sigh...maybe I'll come back later and post another picture with dry Stickles so you can see what it really looks like.

I was going to add a big white bow, but it just didn't look right. Ended up leaving the ribbon and removing the bow. Not sure what I think, but it does look better than with the bow! It was just too much.

I Baked Another Cake

2011-12-04T04:25:00.001-06:00

It never ceases to amaze me how much different paper/colors can totally change the feel of a card! Yesterday's post used Catelynne and had a more casual look. Today's uses Genevieve and has a more formal look. Once again I used the "Bake Me a Cake" set from Lawn Fawn.

The twine isn't exactly twine, but I'm not sure what it is. It came wrapped around the stamp package when I got it in the mail. After I put the cake together I realized that it matched the twine pefectly!!!

I hadn't planned to add the pearls either, but after I dedided to put one at the top I just kept going! These pearl strips were EXACTLY the right length for each of the cake layers! Who would've thought?!?!?!

Bake Me a Cake!

2011-12-03T16:20:00.003-06:00

Yesterday Lawn Fawn's "Bake Me a Cake" set arrived in the mail so today I headed to my craft room. Fun times! I'd been wanting this set for a while and kept my eye on it. On Black Friday I noticed that Lawn Fawn was offering free shipping so I ordered it. :-)
It's probably the most versatile set that I own! It has 35 bits and pieces to make cakes and cupcakes and all the decorations to go with. This is the first time I've ever done "surgery" on clear stamps by cutting words apart, but I got brave and did it. The sentiment came with Happy on top of Birthday, but I wanted it to be versatile too. :-)

The paper is from The Angel Company's Catelynn collection. The flames are Stickles.

More Bundles of Joy

2011-11-21T05:34:00.002-06:00

After making such light-skinned babies on the image in my last post, I knew I needed some babies with darker skin. So...here they are!

The paper is Kaiser double-sided. I wanted to add a touch of whimsy with the safety pin to represent a diaper pin. They boy card is obviously boy, but I decided the reddish-colored one could go either way so it just says BABY instead of "boy" or "girl."

I need to color more with those Copics to stay in practice! :-)

More Baby Cards

2011-11-20T05:26:00.001-06:00

Since I needed more baby cards, AND I felt like using my Copics, I decided to pull out this image from a retired TAC set. Again, I paired it with sentiments from PTI's Inside & Out: Baby.

I decided to stamp the girl's image in gray Momento (London Fog) to make it softer and a bit more subtle. The twine is from my friend Diana at Latina Crafter.

Not sure what the paper is on the boy's card. I had one or two sheets of it in my stash. The yellow is Scrapper's Floss.

Smallish Things

2011-11-19T11:21:00.003-06:00

TAC + PTI = Baby Cards. I always need baby cards so I recently bought Papertrey's Inside & Out: Baby set. I combined those with some little Onesies from two different retired TAC sets, and the results are below.
Those scalloped ovals are frames around the Onesies. I thought that gave it a more interesting look than just layering ovals.

On the boy card I colored the duck with a glitter pen, and on the girl card I used Stickles on the flower.

Ppaer for the boy card is TAC's Toodle Loo, and the girl card uses TAC's Catelynne.

More of Verve's New Mercies

2011-11-07T06:04:00.001-06:00

When I decided to CASE another Verve New Mercies card, I decided to go with a color scheme that I don't normally use. I'm not thrilled with my outcome, but I'll post the card anyway.Now that I look back at the original card, I see that I used WAAAAY toooooo much of the tangerine color! I wasn't thrilled with the effect, and now I know why! I guess sometimes less is best, and this would have been one of those times. sigh...
I really like her patterned paper and color combo sooo much better! This was the closest patterned paper I had, though. Since it didn't have any yellow, I just couldn't make myself think I should add yellow cardstock. The tiny little pearls are from Amuse Studio and are a GREAT size!

Maybe I'll try this one again...

CASEd Sympathy

2011-11-05T05:55:00.001-05:00

I've been busy with my college classes lately--doing lots of detailed lesson planning and teaching. That has kind of messed with my stamping mojo, but I wanted to take time for some cardmaking. What to do? CASE, of course!
These stamps are from the Verve set New Mercies--same set as this post. The card I CASEd is this one on the Verve website.

Mine is much plainer, but that's okay. I tend to stay on the simpler side of things. This close-up doesn't look like the ribbon matches the ink, but I promise it does in real life! :-) Embossing folder is Tim Holtz.

Encouraging Words

2011-11-03T06:04:00.000-05:00

I made this card with a special friend in mind. She has undergone treatment for colon cancer and is now waiting to heal a bit before having surgery.
The pocket is made from TAC's Natalee Accordian Album kit, and the Scripture stamps are all from Verve. I'm loving those!

I kept the inside blank so I could write her a little note.

After she received it, she told me she's going to put the tags where she will see them often. What a great idea! I hadn't even thought of that!

Pretty Twine!

2011-10-31T19:34:00.003-05:00

My sample pack of Twine arrived today from my friend Diana of Latina Crafter. It looked so pretty all rolled up with the colors laying side by side. It inspired me to make the card below. Now that I look at it, I realize that I have the twine panel upside down. :-( I wanted the teal on the left and gray on the right. Oh well...

I decided that "Celebrate" would let me put something else inside later and customize it for the occasion.

Aren't those yummy colors? :-)

Christmas Stamp-a-Stack

2011-10-29T05:40:00.000-05:00

October 22 was my annual Christmas Stamp-a-Stack. Even though The Angel Company is no longer in existence and I'm not with another company at this point, my customers still wanted some Christmas fun. It was almost 80 degrees outside, but inside we were in the Christmas spirit with Christmas music, snacks, prizes, and my Santa earrings.

Every year at the end of the afternoon I ask the ladies which card was their favorite. Usually one card is the obvious winner. This year the gals said they had a hard time choosing because they liked them all. When I *did* make them choose, though, they were really divided on a winner.
This card was inspired by the sample in the Amuse Catalog using this set. I changed it up quite a bit, but it is still obvious that it was the inspiration. The background stamp is Bit of Burlap from Market Street Stamps, and the trees/sentiment are Amuse Studio's Cool Yule. It's hard to see, but the red tree has glitter pen on the swirlies.

It was tought getting a photo to show the Stickles on the peppermint, but still show the red coloring! Oh well... This is a very old TAC set, but there are peppermint stamps everywhere so I went ahead and used it. Paper is from TAC's Reece collection.

Another TAC oldie is Mini Wreath. Since there are so many wreath stamps available, though, I figured I'd go ahead with this one too. It's actually three different stamps layered. The twine is from The Twinery. MUCH thanks to Jennifer for sending me a few more yards when I ran short! :-)

Card #4 was the purple version of the card in this post. I always try to do one card in non-traditional colors.

New Mercies

2011-10-27T05:59:00.000-05:00

This card is a little unusual for me because I normally don't create "scenes." When I started on this, though, it just sorta took on a life of its own!

I started with the Verve sentiment and knew I wanted to use the sun but I wasn't sure how. Then I realized that the colors of TAC's Miss Moxie were just what I wanted. First I realized the round tag would work, then I discovered that my circle punch was exactly the size of the sun if I'd stamp it on patterned paper. I found the blue/green piece (part of a Rockin' Roxie Matchbook Kit) in my scraps and thought it looked like grass and sky. The rest just sort of happened!

The rays of the sun have glitter pen, and I used Orange Peel Stickles for the insides of the paper-pieced flowers.

Elegant Birthday

2011-10-25T05:32:00.000-05:00

After making the card for yesterday's post, I got the idea to change it up a bit and make this card.
The sentiment is another new stamp from Verve. The black carstock looks shiny in the photos, but it's not. After I made it and thought I had changed it up from yesterday's card, I realized that it actually looks more like the original card that inspired me in the first place! LOL

It's not an exact CASE, but I'm sure I must have still had that card in my mind. :-)

Give Thanks

2011-10-24T06:40:00.001-05:00

As I was just dozing off for my nap, this card just sort of came to me. No, I didn't get up and make it right then, but later that day. To be honest, I realized later that the inspiration must have come from this card that I had seen earlier in the day.
I'm wishing now that I had snipped of those little bits sticking off the end of some of the points on the doily. Oh well... The Scripture stamp is one of my new Verve stamps! :-)

Butterflies and Leaves

2011-10-23T05:55:00.001-05:00

Yesterday was my Christmas Stamp-a-Stack. You'll see those cards later. For now, you get this one. :-) These leaves from Amuse were just begging me to emboss them. First I tried copper on yellow--UGLY!! I ended up using white embossing powder, then Cognac Palette ink over that. I used a cosmetic swab to go from the center out, then I used a rag to wipe the ink off the leaves themselves. I must have been in a yellow/green mood because I designed this card the same day I did the one in the previous post. :-)

The paper is from The Angel Company's Emma collection, and the butterfly is a Tim Holz die called Mini Butterflies.

Happy Anniversary

2011-10-22T09:37:00.000-05:00

When I designed this card, I had my other two cards (this one and this one) in mind, figuring I'd sort of combine the two.

Overall I like the result, but now that I really look at it, I'm thinking I should have lowered the flower down into that bare spot of leaves instead of having it stick way out the top. I may do it again--maybe not. We'll see...

I'm LOVING the Vintage Labels and coordinating dies from Amuse!!!!!! So easy to use, and they look so fantastic. :-)

More Holly Jolly

2011-10-21T06:37:00.000-05:00

This card is from the same set as yesterday's post, but the ornaments are bigger this time. I sorta CASEd this card in designing mine.

It was tough for me to use such bold paper. I'm just not used to that!

Too bad my punch was just a hair too big to use on these ornaments! I ended up cutting by hand. sigh...

Holly Jolly

2011-10-20T06:28:00.001-05:00

Holly Jolly from Verve is SUCH a FUN set to play with!!!! I have to also admit that the clear stamps make it even easier to line things up than if they were rubber. (I do think I still like rubber better, though!) These two cards were inspired by this card.
In the photo below you can kinda see the sparkle on the sentiment. I used Brilliance black that almost looks like silver over black. Very cool.

New color scheme for the card below. Not sure which one I like better. What do you think?!!??!

New Stamps from Verve

2011-10-18T06:24:00.000-05:00

My Verve order arrived Saturday so I just HAD to play! Here's a quickie card that I colored with Copics and a red Stardust Glitter Gel pen.

The red piece is embossed with an Impressie--don't know if you can see it very well.
This was quick and easy. I'm thinking I'll keep it even cleaner and simpler the next time!

Market Street Block Party

2011-10-16T21:12:00.002-05:00

These cards are for Market Street Stamps Anniversary Block Party. That's a mouthful...all you basically need to know is that I used Market Street Stamps on these cards. :-)
I stamped the main image in Momento Rich Cocoa and colored with Copics. For the background, I used Bit of Burlap and stamped off before stamping my "real one." After embossing the die cut, I saded lightly to bring out the white core of the paper from The Angel Company.
None of my twine matched so I used Sew Easy floss and twisted one of the aquas and one of the browns together! Voila--two-toned twine! :-)

Dessert Blog Hop, Part 2

2011-10-15T06:20:00.002-05:00

This card is actually from a few years ago, but I know I've never posted this photo--it was from before I joined the blogging world. I decided to add it to the Dessert Blog Hop. okay?

The set is the same as yesterday's post, but I used different pieces of the set and a totally different color scheme. Instead of Copics, it was colored with watercolor pencils and a Dove Blender.

You can't really tell, but there is glitter pen on the cake. It sparkles in real life! Looks like my bow was doing something funky too. Oh well...can't change that now...

If you haven't already, be sure to check out all the other desserts in the hop!

Dessert Blog Hop

2011-10-14T05:26:00.003-05:00

Once again my Angel friends and I are having a blog hop. This time the theme is Dessert(!) because October 14 is the official Dessert Day. I'm not so thrilled with how this turned out, but I'm posting anyway. :-)

While coloring I could tell that I'm pretty out of practice using my Copics! I better do more coloring and remedy that right away {wink}. I went with these colors because there's an ad on one of the sites that I visit that has a chocolate cupcake with teal icing. I always think it's so pretty. Besides, this could be a masculine card too.

I'm going to post another one for the hop tomorrow. Same set--totally different look. Come back and visit again!!!

Hello, Gorgeous

2011-10-11T10:15:00.000-05:00

My husband and I are godparents to a beautiful young lady who is in high school now. We don't live in the same town, but we are Facebook friends. When I was looking at her recent pictures she posted, I realized that she is truly growing up into a lovely young woman. She doesn't look like a little girl any more!

So...I knew I had this stamp sentiment and decided to make her a card with it--just wanted to let her know I'm thinking about her and noticing how she's growing to be so beautiful.

The doily (that's only one cut in half) and sentiment are from TAC's Beautiful Lace. The label stamp and coordinating die are in my new goodies from A*Muse. Not so sure the card is my fave, but it conveys what I wanted it to. :-)

More fun with new stamps

2011-10-07T06:08:00.000-05:00

Once again, this is Beautiful Botanicals 2 from A*Muse Studio. I used Versamagic inks and purposefully wanted to leaves to be light and "sketchy." Not only did I ink sparingly, but I also stamped some of them off.

The flowers are in Versamagic Purple Hydrangea and Thatched Straw. Leaves are Hint of Pesto. I realize the ribbon (from TAC's Emma collection) should be a bit higher, but I was trying to hide a boo boo and didn't want to start all over. :-)

Isn't this set just awesome?!?!?

Yippee!!! New stamps!!!

2011-10-06T05:56:00.001-05:00

Mr. Brown (UPS, if you don't know what I mean) brought me a box of goodies from A*Muse Studio today! I couldn't wait to get to my craft room and play. I got my homework done before I made this card, though. :-)

The Harlequin Background is an old TAC stamp that I inked up with Versamagic Jumbo Java. I then "kissed" it with Market Street's Bit of Burlap (same stamp I used here). The label and die made to fit are soooooo cool. I've wanted these for a while now! The branch of berries is from a fantastic set called Beautiful Botanicals 2. I kept tellin myself I didn't *need* them, but Heather kept posting cards using them! Then Seleise had to go and post this card using a similar set. I was roped in and added it to my order. :-)

It's hard to see here, but the label is popped up on pop dots. Now that I see this close-up, it also looks like I should have lined it up better. Yikes!

Stay tuned tomorrow for another card with my fun goodies...

Breast Cancer Awareness Blog Hop

2011-10-05T04:12:00.005-05:00

October is Breast Cancer Awareness Month, so my (former) Angel friends and I are having a blog hop! This first card is one to send to a friend who is undergoing treatment. It lets her know I'm thinking about her, and that with God all things are possible!

The set is a very old TAC set that came out after 9-11. Unfortunately I didn't record the name, and I can't remember for sure. I'm thinking it's called "Awareness Ribbon." For this card, I made a window in the darkest pink piece and adhered the smaller white piece onto the card base in the middle of the window. This gave me a nice little place to tie a pink ribbon!

The card below is just a note card that could be sent to anyone. If I choose to send it to a survivor, though I can because I stamped "Be Strengthened, Be Encouraged, Be Comforted" very faintly in the lower right corner by stamping off. I CASEd it from this card by the designer of Beautiful Lace, the TAC set the the doily comes from.

No, that's not real stitching--it's a stamp. And...since I didn't have lace I used a lacey-looking punch on vellum to give a similar effect.

Now visit the other blogs!

Elegant Birthday

2011-10-02T19:34:00.000-05:00

This card uses another new stamp from Market Street Stamps--Bit of Burlap. Don't you just love the added "oomph" that it gives? The ribbon is from Ribbons and Bows, Oh My. It's double-faced so making bows look good is really easy. :-)

Pretty simple card. Not really much to say about it, except that I made it for a friend at church who is turning 30. Her surprise party was last night. Happy Birthday, Chas, and may God bless you abundantly in the year ahead.

Masculine Cards and Copics

2011-09-29T06:12:00.000-05:00

After spending an evening making feminine cards, I was in the mood for something different. I felt like coloring, too, so I stamped these images from Peace, Be Still by The Angel Company.

I really didn't know what I was going to do with them when I started coloring. After I got this first one done, I knew I wanted to put blue and brown behind it. When I looked through my Cuttlebug Embossing Folders, I saw this one and figured it could look just like crashing waves! I embossed DCWV paper, then sanded it lightly.

Ok, I'll admit that I was clueless as to how I wanted to begin to color this image so I cheated. I looked at Debra Miller's card on page 88 of TAC's last catty. She colors so beautifully, that I just sorta went with what she had already done. Mine's not exactly like hers, but I'm please with how it turned out. The sentiment is from that same new stamp set that I can't put down. Don't you just love a great vertical sentiment?!?!? :-)

Maggie Floral Vase

2011-09-28T08:00:00.000-05:00

Remember that new stamp Market Street Stamps set that I first showed you here? Well, I just can't quit using it! The flowers are supposed to look kind of like those blue-ish, purple-ish hydrangeas that you see, so I used watercolor crayons to color on the stamp before misting with water. It's interesting that the acrylic stamps don't react the same way as rubber with this technique. It took about six attempts until I was happy with the results.

The other coloring you see is with Copics, and the paper is from TAC's Maggie collection
I wanted to show you the inside of the card because the sentiment is such a good one and it's pretty too! Me likes the way the font ties the outside and inside together. :-)

Variations on Floral Vases

2011-09-26T06:54:00.000-05:00

I've always loved the simplicity of this vase and flower set so it was fun to pull it out and play with it again. If you haven't yet, you might want to go back and look at yesterday's post--it has the first two cards I made the other day while using this set.
I used the Swiss Dots Cuttlebug embossing folder but did not use Glossy Accents this time.

I'm honestly not too sure about the card below. Something about it doesn't seem right to me? Is it my experimental brown dot background instead of the usual blues? Is it the color palette (I pulled them all from TAC's Juliette, though)? Is it just a bad layout/design? If you have any suggestions, I'd be happy to hear. I'm leaning toward teh fact that the brown dot background looks so busy to me...

First Day of Fall Blog Hop

2011-09-25T16:50:00.008-05:00

Yep! You're getting two posts in one day! The other one was pre-scheduled, and then my former Angel friends announced a blog hop to celebrate the first day of fall. This stamp set is the same one that I used in this post, and I thought these flowers looked like the wild sunflowers that grow along the roads here in Kansas in the fall.
I colored the image with my copics and left off the Glossy Accents this time. The card base is brown (even though it looks black in this photo), so the colors have a true "fall feel."
Now hop on over to the blogs of my Angel buddies!

More Floral Vases

2011-09-25T12:03:00.000-05:00

If you read yesterday's post, you know that I'm a softie for floral arrangements in vases. While I was waiting for my new stamps to come (see yesterday's post), I pulled out this really old TAC set and played with it.

I colored with Copics and added Stickles to the middle of the flowers. To make the vase look ceramic, I used Glossy Accents. I'm still working on my Copic shadows for grounding. :-) Oh, and if you look really close, you can see the little flowers on the bottom half. It is a single flower that I stamped repeatedly with Bordeaux.

After doing the first card, I decided to see what wold happen with the solid vase. Would you believe I had NEVER used that part of the set before?!?!? After stamping it, I used Copic markers to give it depth and a shadow along the right side (kinda hard to see in the picture). I used the Stardust Clear Gelly Pen in the flower centers.

Again, Glossy Accents on the vase. Brilliance Moonlight White added the textured look I wanted.

Come back tomorrow for 2 more cards using this set.

New Stamps!

2011-09-24T07:33:00.002-05:00

For some reason, I am ALWAYS drawn to floral stamps--especially flower arrangement in "clear vases." When I saw this card by my friend Laurie, I knew I wanted that stamp set. Plus, it seems I'm always needing more sympathy sayings. This set from Market Street Stamps had it all!

As soon as it arrived, I inked it up and made this quick card. I started with these flowers because I didn't have time to do much coloring. One thing I'm not very happy with on this card is how the Glossy Accents turned the vase so yellow. I had never used it on ivory cardstock until now, so at least I'll know what to expect in the future!
I colored the "water" with Prismacolor pencils and OMS. I didn't have much time to color, and I'm still trying to master my Copic technique so I figured this was faster. :-) There are two lines above and below the main image--I did those with my Scor-Pal. Love that thing!

Another Version of the CASEd Card

2011-09-22T12:16:00.000-05:00

Yesterday I showed you a card by Heather, my CASE and another similar card. I made this one at the same time, but if you hadn't seen yesterday's post, you may not realize that it was inspired by the same card. It just kept getting further and further from the original. :-)

For this one, I stamped the flower all three times without re-spritzing the stamp. You can't really see it in the photo, but I stamped several more times to fill in the white space. The die is from the same Tim Holz Mini Butterflies set. I sponged the edges of this one with Bordeaux and glued it flat this time.

Couldn't decide how I wanted to adhere my sentiment panel. I ended up with it overlapping a bit and rounding a corner. Best option? I'm not sure...

CASEd sympathy

2011-09-21T12:07:00.000-05:00

For my next set of sympathy cards, I CASEd a card from Heather Scott but used an old TAC stamp instead of the one from the current catty. I have the newer one, but I was just in the mood to use my VERY old stamps. :-)

This first card is almost an exact CASE. You can see Heather's card at the end of this post.

The technique uses watercolor crayons. I colored on the stamp, spritzed with water then stamped--sometimes more than once before repeating the process. The embossing folder is Swis Dots from Cuttlebug.

The next card is similar, but I changed the direction and colors and added a butterfly using the Tim Holz Mini Butterflies die.

The card below is Heather's original. See why I wanted to CASE it?!?! It's beautiful!
Tomorrow I'll show you another version of this...

Another Tulip Card

2011-09-19T11:53:00.000-05:00

First let me apologize for the funky angle of this photo. It kinda makes the card look like it's a really odd shape. Sigh...

Again, I had the tulip stamped before I ever decided what to do with it. Since I had used ovals on the other cards (posted yesterday), I wanted to use a different shape this time. I also wanted a vertical card since the others were horizontal. Here's what I ended up with.

Both the ivory and green are embossed--hope you can see that! I used Swiss Dots embossing folder by Cuttlebug for the bottom panel.

My next posts will include older stamps again, but not this tulip. Stay tuned! :-)

Old Stamps, New Fun

2011-09-18T11:43:00.001-05:00

Unfortunately I've needed several sympathy cards lately so my stash has been depleted and I needed to make more. Plus, I've been itching to play with some of my very old TAC stamps.

When I started the cards below, I didn't know this is what I'd be making! I simply started by stamping the tulip on ivory cardstock, using colors I thought would be pretty. After I punched the main image oval and put it together with the green and red, I remembered a card I have received in a swap a while back. Voila--the first card came togehter!

I hope you can see the scoring on the card base. I used my handy dandy Scor-Pal. The green label is also embossed, but I'm not sure you can see that very well. Patterned paper is TAC's Penelope.

After I finished the red tulip, I started on the purple tulip. I decided to stick with the same layout, but I scored the lines closer together this time. Patterned paper is TAC's Angelee.

Here's the card that inspired me. Is it close enough to calle it a CASE? I'm not sure! Either way, it's a card by former TAC Angel Jeanine Jensen.

Teddy Bear; Take 2

2011-09-17T11:37:00.003-05:00

After making this teddy bear card, I thought that my stamp class ladies might enjoy making it too. Then I remembered that they pretty much despise paper piecing if it involves fine cutting. What do do? Revise it so that cutting is minimal!

This is what I came up with, but I have to say that I think it loses its unique-ness and cute-ness factors.
So...I think I'll give my stamping ladies a choice. They can do either card--paper piecing or not!

I colored the bear with Skin Tone Pencils and used OMS. For the balloons I used Prismacolor Pencils and OMS. The polka dots are from Circles of Love, a Level A Hostess Set in TAC's last catalogue.

Sweet Silhouettes

2011-09-11T00:15:00.005-05:00

Yesterday when I made the teddy bear card for the blog hop, it was the first time I had created anything since TAC closed. That must have got the mojo going again, because today I spent a while in there. Here's one of the things I did before I got distracted talking to my lovely daughter.
The set is called Sweet Silhouettes and was a brand new one in TAC's last catalogues. I've noticed online that the cameo/profile/silhouette thing is kind of popular right now. I stamped the image several times and even refilled my Noir Palette pad, but I'm still not totally pleased with the lack of "solid-ness" of the image. sigh...
In this shot you can see the border punch and the image panel raised with pop dots. I was going for white ribbon and a big bow under the image and to the left a bit, but it was just too much. In this case, I thought plain was better. The pearls aren't quite tiny enough for what I wanted , but it still gives the same effect.

Teddy Bear Day Blog Hop

2011-09-09T10:04:00.003-05:00

September 9 is Teddy Bear Day, so my Angel friends and I are celebrating with a blog hop!
My card is not "typical me"--at least it didn't "feel" like me when I was making it! LOL I was looking through my images to see what teddy bears I had, when the idea for this just popped into my head. The bear, the balloons, and the sentiment are all from different sets that were retired long before The Angel Company closed. I've kept them because they're just so handy.
The twine is from The Twinery, and the punch is ek success. It's hard to tell in this picture, but the teddy bear's hand is up so it really does look like he's holding the balloons. :-)

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New/Uncut TAC stamps for sale

2011-09-07T16:21:00.000-05:00

The following are all Brand New/Uncut. Paypal preferred. Money orders accepted.

Prices INCLUDE shipping:

TAC3268 That Guy $11

T3373 Noble Notes $20

T2800 The First Thanksgiving $7 (rubber only)

T3053 S is for She $8 (2 sets)

T3281 Hope Perches $12

TA3206 Floral Mug $8 (2 sets)

TA3209 Build-a-Background $8

TA3146 Tiny Tidbits $8 (3 sets)

TA3121 Rose Collage $8 (2 sets)

TA3155 Enjoy Nature $8

TA3409 Happy Today $8

TA3239 Swirled Spring Life $8

T2998 ?? $14 (Special Set--script fonts for words Love, peace, Family Beautiful, faith, pray, etc. Plain font for words thanks a, an everlasting, raised on, the essence of life, for you, etc.)

Lots of TAC stamps for sale!

2011-09-06T21:11:00.000-05:00

The following stamps are used and 50% or more off regular price. Postage FREE with $10 purchase. Paypal preferred, MO accepted.

G539 Mini StorRite Storage Portfolio—Never Used--$8

T2672 Salsa Flowers $4

T3349 HedgeHog Happiness $11

TB3124 Floral Fruits $6

T875 Squiggle Hearts $5

T434 Candy Stripes $2

T606 Fresh and Fun $5

T543 Brushed Tulip $7

T2747 Treasure It $6 (missing sentiment)

T2566 Tip Toe $8

T2769 He Said She Said $4

T2746 A God Thing $5

T2604 Autumn Smiles $3 (rubber only)

T3136 Happy Thoughts $6

T3043 What a Hoot $8

T3038 Artsy Owls $10

T3165 Be Square $5

TA3155 Enjoy Nature $4

T2709 Love Doodles $5

T906 Little Tidbits $5

T1146 Fa La La $4

LE of T2745 Rose Garden $2

T2976 Homespun Holiday $11

T2319 Word Plates $4

T 2802 Spring Flowers $8

TA3483 Lovely Butterfly $4

T3132 Joyful Tags $9

T2515 Buggie Christmas $10

TB 2830 Thank You $6

T2270 Swirly Flowers $10

T2215 Christmas Joy $5

T2408 The Arts $8

T2982 Welcome Home $4

T2327 The Buzzz $8

T3311 Autumn Leaves $6

T2706 Holiday Magic $8

T2669 Bold Flourishes $9

T2943 All Occasion Circles $11 (only 2 circles cut out/used)

T3262 Branches in Bloom $10

R2041 Hoppity Skippity $8

T30936 Fruit Collages $5

??? Beautiful Outcomes (I think that’s the name—has flowers in a mailbox, toilet, buggy, etc) $5

??? Hello Sunshine? (It was a SOTM in 2005, I think. Has swirly butterfly, flowers, dragonfly, ladybug, etc.) $5

Farewell to The Angel Company

2011-08-28T20:00:00.009-05:00

Hello Friend. Today's post will be a trip down memory lane. I'm using old card creations and photos to help me say what I want to say. It's a long post, but I'm hoping you think it's a fun way to say Farewell to The Angel Company. (Feel free to laugh at the old cards. LOL) It's also an Angel Blog Hop, so be sure to check out all the other blogs too! (forgive the funky spacing--I couldn't get it to work right.grrrr)

First comes a Thank You to Lori B for introducing me to The Angel Company and then becoming my upline.

When I found out that TAC was closing its doors, I went through several stages of grief, including my own personal little "Hissy Fit."

After the hissy fit, I thought about all the fun times I've had with The Angel Company.

I started to remember all of the friends I have made in the last 7.5 years I've been an Angel. It was fun to think about all of the Angel Gatherings I have been to. It was at this one in 2006 that Awna S asked me to be a part of a monthly swap. Those swap ladies amazed me with their creativity. Leslie L was my first downline to ever go to a gathering with me. :-)

This picture if from my very first Seminar in Kansas City in 2006. My Angel "sisters" Amy K and Karla M had not been to Seminar before either, and we had so much fun! This pic is from opening night, and that's Mischelle Smith to my left. She has always been so "available" to Angels, and that's one thing I always appreciated.

Because Angels wanted a place online to gather every day, A Shade of Blue became our online message board. It was there that many of us became better friends, then met each other for the first time at Seminar 2006. (notice our plan to wear shirts in shades of blue?)

Every year at Seminar, I enjoyed getting together with the teams I was on--such creative women! This pic is Mama Mary's team in 2007. She was always so generous with us! She put me to shame by ALWAYS sending me a hand-stamped birthday card every year!

From the very first time we met, Diana S and I hit it off. We started a tradition of getting our picture taken as "the Dianes" at every gathering where we were together. Here we are flying high (yeah, right) at Seminar 2007.

Oh, and I can't forget to add that Becky C always managed to pop up in our Dianes photo because she wanted to be one of us! Love ya, Becky! (this pic is from Seminar 2008)

In this Seminar 2009 photo, we had welcomed a new "Diane" to our group--Diana M. She's such a sweetheart! (We've got pix from Seminar 2008, but I had to limit this somewhere!)

Remember I said I enjoy my "sister Angels" on my teams? This is Lori B's team at Seminar 2009. I haven't included pix of my own Smilin Stampers over the years because those gals are also part of the other teams I'm on (Lori's and Mary's).

So, bouquets of flowers to Mischelle and all of you other wonderfully creative women!

Thanks for a fun ride these last 7.5 years! (This stamp set "Frazzled" was my very first TAC purchase as Lori's customer.)

To Mischelle and all you other Angels, blessings as you decide what to do next.

(oops this card isn't posting and no time to fix it--trust me it was an oldie but goodie)

(keep scrolling--there's more...)

Remember Prov. 3: 5-6 as you take the next steps.

Even though this is good-bye to The Angel Company, I know it's not good-bye to my Angel friends. Now be sure to hop the other blogs.

Julie
Seleise
Rita W
Donna
Chan
Mary
Angela
Laura
Barbara
Trudy
Shirley
Wendy
Carol
Rita K.
Chelsea
Kim
PaulaKay
Ginger
Teresa
Maria
Angie
Deb
Diana
Betty
Christine
Sandy
Char
Diane
Chris
Stacy
Rita

The Angel Company is Closing

2011-08-23T17:11:00.004-05:00

It is with a heavy heart that I must announce to my stamping friends that The Angel Company is closing its doors. TAC simply could not hold out any longer in this difficult economy. In the last 7.5 years, I have met many wonderful friends and learned more about others, myself and the business world.

I wish Mischelle (TAC owner and CEO) and her family the very best. You can read her message on TAC's site here. Thanks to my friends, family and customers for your support while I was an Angel.

At this point, I don't plan to join with another company just yet. However, I will keep stamping, holding classes and selling hand-made items. It seems as though my customers enjoy the fun, friendship and creativity of classes and events. I know I really do!

For now, I'm thinking this is the way to go. I'd love to hear your feedback, so please let me know what you're thinking.

It's a very sad day in the stamping world. :-(

August Card Class Samples

2011-08-11T20:13:00.001-05:00

For a totally different look, I decided to use my watercolor crayons on the stamp before spritzing it with water. I then cut it out--some people call it fussy cutting. ;-)

The cut out stamp is on a die I cut using "Eyelet Circles" then placed on a card front embossed using the Impressies called "circles." Figured I might as well stick with the circle theme for this one. LOL
The card below is also pretty plain and simple. The dark brown on the front doesn't really look so dark/odd/out of place in person. :-) I wanted to do something different with the sentiment banner, so I did what you see below. I've never seen it done (though I'm sure I'm not *that* original!), and I'm honestly not sure what I think. I might have liked it better if I'd done it like this card where I adhered the two ends and let the middle be slightly raised.

More Clard Class Samples

2011-08-10T19:55:00.001-05:00

It's so much fun to use the same stamps for entirely new and different looks! That's what I was hoping to show by using Lotsa Dotsa for all six cards for the August stamp class--and by posting them here too. ;-)

This one uses the same butterfly as the previous post too. I totally CASEd this card by Nichole Heady (scroll half way down the post). Inside it says, "Thinking about you!" Sweet, huh?

The leaves were made by punching out a circle, then cutting off the "sides" of the circle to make leaf shapes. I scored the middle using my Scor Buddy, then sponged them with the same Momento ink that I'd used on the rest of the card. Stamps used: Lotsa Dotsa, Here I Am, Happily Grateful, Gift of Friendship.

This one is pretty straight forward. I used the Bricks texture plate from the Brick & Woodgrain set with the "mortar" pushed out to look like dripping mortar. A makeup pad with Burnt Umber made the texture really pop. That's Labels 3 you see there, too.

Stay tuned for two more in the next post...

Card Class Samples

2011-08-09T20:42:00.001-05:00

The other day I showed you a sneak peek of the August Card Class cards using Lotsa Dotsa. Now you get to see them up close and personal. Well, maybe not so personal, but at least up close!

It's hard to tell in the photo above, but the butterfly is stamped in black on the card front. I then stamped the same butterfly on black cardstock and cut it out. I glued the body to the card, but left the wings up so it could "fly." I was inspired by this card (scroll to bottom of post) that I CASEd.

This card is CASEd straight from this one here. I thought it was so creative that I HAD to do it! Although her stems are ribbon, I simply used a ruler and black marker to make mine. Much easier to get them straight. LOL

I'll post more class cards later...

A DIFFERENT stamp set!

2011-08-08T14:55:00.001-05:00

Finally something other than Lotsa Dotsa! Don't worry, though, that set will return over the next several days. This stamp is called Lovely Butterfly and is a Level A Hostess set. I decided to try spotlighting without exactly doing the spotlighting technique. I like the overall effect, but I'm not sure I'm thrilled with the color of the butterfly.

I used the Flourishes Impressabilities on black, then went over it DTP with my Starlight Black Brilliance Dew Drop. It was the perfect touch to give it a touch of color and sparkle. In the close-up below, you can see the black gem that I used for the center of the butterfly.

To see more cards with this same image, click HERE. They are done by the owner/CEO of The Angel Company, Mischelle Smith.

On a side note, I spent the fall semester last year teaching 4th grade. We had a unit on butterflies in which we learned the difference between butterflies and moths. This image doesn't really have the complete characteristics of either! I think is a buth, or maybe a buttermoth, or even a motherfly. Bad humor, I know... :-)

Bubble Shooter

2011-08-07T10:19:00.000-05:00

Ok. I admit it. My name is Diane, and I like to play Bubble Shooter. It's mindless, senseless, and great for when I need to chill and escape. The card below comes from a Bubble Shooter "ah hah" moment. Unfortunately I didn't have quite the right colors.

So, I was playing Bubble Shooter and I got rid of all the colors except lime green, turquoise, purple and royal blue. I thought to myself, "Oh, what a pretty color combo for a card. LOL Then the ah hah moment came...you guessed it, Lotsa Dotsa--again! But would you believe I don't have a royal blue ink pad? Nope! I've got oodles of inks, including lots of blues, but not one is royal blue. I had to make due with Reflection Blue (see smallest dots). The other color isn't truly turquoise either, but it'll do in a pinch.
It's hard to see, but I used my Stardust Clear Gelly Pen on the swirl under the sentiment and the exclamation mark. It's also on every dot on the inner ring of the purple and the outermost big dots on the turquoise. In this photo you can just barely see the sparkle. It makes a simple and otherwise boring card not quite to simple and boring. :-)

Lotsa Dotsa Rainbow

2011-08-06T19:48:00.000-05:00

As I was falling asleep the other night, the idea came to me to turn this stamp into a rainbow card. So, here it is! I was going to put ribbon where the rick-rack is, but it was too see-through. When I saw the yellow rick-rack staring back at me, I knew it was just the whimsy that I wanted this card to have.

Once again, the stamp set is Lotsa Dotsa. Surprise, right?!?!! :-) Oh, and it just seemed like a "happy card" so I used the sentiment from Oh Happy Day.

Lotsa Dotsa Make-n-Take

2011-08-05T12:15:00.001-05:00

Oops! The photo makes it look like the Leaning Tower of Dots. It's not really a crooked card. :-) This is the card that the ladies who came to my Open House/Catalogue Premiere had a chance to do as a make-n-take.

You'll notice that it's very similar to yesterday's post, but I changed the colors, no banner for the sentiment, and added the floss that TAC is now carrying. It was fun to see how each gal's card turned out just a bit different. I love that part of stamping with a group!

Don't forget to sign up for my August stamping class--we're using this set!

Lotsa Dotsa Birthday

2011-08-04T12:01:00.002-05:00

This is the very first card I made with the Lotsa Dotsa set. I knew as soon as I saw the new Catalogue that this set would be on my very first order.

The card was for my oldest daughter's birthday--her favorite colors are teal and red. It's hard to tell in the photo, but I used two different colors of the teal ink! The one in the upper right corner was actually a mistake--I had the red ink open and went to that pad. :-(

The heart from our Gems Collection was the perfect touch for my girl! She loves anything sparkly. :-) Note: I could have taken the time to line everything up perfectly so that the centers were truly centered, but I like the "not so perfect" look.

Stay tuned for another Lotsa Dotsa set tomorrow.

Lotsa Dotsa

2011-08-01T19:36:00.001-05:00

Are you wondering what this hodge podge is?!?!? It's the pile of samples for my August 9 Card Class. Wanna come?

These sneak peeks let you know that we'll be using Lotsa Dotsa (click to view full set) in a number of different ways, for a number of different looks. I just LOVE this new set!!!

Class is Tuesday, August 9 at 6:30 p.m. at my house. Register by August 7. Contact me for more info.

Here I Am

2011-07-30T19:30:00.001-05:00

This is a set that I can see as being VERY versatile! Even though I'm imagining great things with this set, this one card is all I've had time to make so far.

I colored all the dots in the middle with a Copic marker. Since I really didn't do any shading, you could use any marker you have and like.

To see the full set called Here I Am, click on the set name. It's actually a background stamp big enough for a full card front. That is so fantastic!

Beautiful Lace, Take Four!

2011-07-29T17:39:00.000-05:00

I finally used some of the other stamps in the set called Beautiful Lace! I'm so in love with the large doily that I had to practically force myself to use the other stamps, even though I really like them.

This card isn't at all what I expected when I started. It was going to have this smaller doily all over for a background, but it was just too busy. I made lots of other changes as I went, and this is what I ended up with. I like it *okay*, but I feel like it's missing some "umph." Any suggestions?

I have more posts with other stamp sets, so I'll move on from this one for now. I have two lamps and the dress already colored and waiting to be made into card, though. ;-)

Beautiful Lace, Take Three

2011-07-28T17:33:00.000-05:00

Clean and simple seems to be the way I went with most of these. AND...can you tell that the large doily is my favorite stamp in the set?!?!? :-)
This one is CASEd from these cards by my friend Jennifer. She's a talented gal!

Stamp Set: Beautiful Lace

Beautiful Lace, Take Two

2011-07-27T17:28:00.000-05:00

Again, I decided to stick with something clean and simple. It was nice to be able to stamp on the new Bazzill Smoothies paper! I have to admit that I CASEd this from a birthday card I had seen *somewhere* but I can't find it now! If you recognize it, please let me know. :-) The set is once again Beautiful Lace.

Finally--another post!

2011-07-26T17:22:00.004-05:00

The Angel Company's new Inspiration Book is truly inspiring. I've been missing my mojo for quite a while, but when my new stamp order arrived, I went to play in my craft room!

This isn't how this card was going to turn out at all, but I liked it so much I quit here! It was supposed to have one of the lamps from the set--I had already colored it with Copics and everything. When I got this far, though, I didn't have the heart to cover the beautiful doily, and I liked the simplicity of it. Hope you do too!

I used Moonlight White Brilliance on TAC's brown cardstock. In this close-up it almost looks sparkly! The stamp set is called Beautiful Lace (click to see full set) and is by one of TAC's new designers, Nina B.

Time to Say Good-Bye

2011-05-20T10:33:00.003-05:00

Be sure to check out The Angel Company's "Final Farwells" (clickable link). That translates into "discontinued list." Although it's always tough to say good-bye to some favorites, it also means that new and fun stamps are on their way!!! Yippee!!! Stay tuned. The new Catalogue and Idea book will come out at the end of June.

Sydney Envelope Book

2011-03-01T22:20:00.004-06:00

We will make this adorable book/album at our March stamping class. The basic idea came from a project we did at Seminar a few years ago, and I've had it in mind to take it further and never have.

My friend Jennifer did a class similar to this a few years ago, so you can get some more ideas if you look here.

The class will be Tuesday, March 22. Class fee of $16 must be paid in full by March 7 to register. You will get the book and cardstock, patterned paper and hardware to embellish it. If you'd like to add matching accessories, I'm offering those at a special price. Contact me for more details.

Another case of CASEing

2011-02-16T00:44:00.000-06:00

For a while now I've had my eye on a card from Card Creations, Favorite Occasions, vol. 2. I can't post a photo for copyright reasons, but you should be able to see the original inspiration here. As you can tell from my first card below, I hardly changed a thing becaus I loved its simplicity and color.

After doing the first one, I decided to change things up a bit and use Juliette paper and Vintage Plum embossing powder. It looks like I messed up with ink under the sentiment, but it's a fiber in the Aspen cardstock--I promise!

Hey, why not try it with Hemingway paper and Copper embossing powder too? I left the insides blank so I can turn them into cards for anniversary, birthday, just about anything!

Emma

2011-02-15T00:40:00.000-06:00

I just LOVE TAC's Emma double-sided paper and thought it was perfect for a beautiful sympathy card.

The damask image is a Gift With Purchase (don't you just love those freebies??!?!), and I (again) used a card from Paper Creations as if it were a sketch. This one was on page 49 of the Spring 2011 magazine.

Happy Valentine's Day!

2011-02-14T02:40:00.000-06:00

For my January stamping class I wanted to offer a nice Valentine's card that could easily be used for some other occasion. Combine that with the fact that our class was all about glitter that evening, I ended up designing this card with a glitter window.

We used the stamp set Linear Sentiments because it has a flower, star or circle that someone could use instead of the heart. I had never before tried a glitter window but was inspired after participating in a technique swap that another angel hosted. Even though you can't see it well in the photo, there is a stamped image under the ribbon, and the polka dots are with Versamark Dazzle.
Below is the card by Shirley H. that I received in the technique swap. I loosely based my design on hers.

Not sure what to think...

2011-02-13T05:29:00.000-06:00

This time I CASEd my friend Amy K. I saw her card here (scroll down to the Amore card with the green bow) and loved it! I knew I didn't have anything that dainty or delicate to try, so I used one of my victorian images to give it a whirl. I'm not sure what I think of mine, but I LOVE hers and the one she CASEd in the first place!

The rhinestones are from the sewing department at Wal-Mart. ;-)

Birthday and Sympathy

2011-02-12T04:18:00.001-06:00

These next two cards are CASEd from the cover of the same magazine as many of my previous posts. I used TAC's fun Catelynn paper for mine and punched my flowers using two sizes of our flower punch.

My first CASE.

A CASE of my CASE since I'm always needing a pretty sympathy card at the lastminute.

Quick & Easy

2011-02-11T04:07:00.000-06:00

In the Quick and Easy section of CARDS, March 2007 (page 148) there was a square card that caught my eye. I don't normally do square, but I sometimes do tall just to be different. That's where I went with this one. The set is a retired TAC set.

Once again I CASEd my CASE and made the two cards below so I could add to my stash. Not so sure I like the stark contrast of the black/white with the Belle Rose ink.

Instead of using plain white ribbon, I made my own polka dot ribbon with Palette ink and satin ribbon. The stamp is a big square stamp that I stamped repeatedly. I'm pleased with the result and hope you are too!

ok, I admit...

2011-02-10T05:00:00.000-06:00

Remember when I admitted that I'd lost my mojo? Well, I had lost it big time. I did A LOT of CASEing to get back in gear. I had also got a hold of several old CARDS magazines that I browsed and marked the ones I wanted to try. That's where a lot of the ideas for the next several posts come from....

This idea came from a St. Patrick's Day card, which I don't do. I changed it up quite a bit, but the basic idea came from page 81 of the March, 2007 CARDS magazine. I let the ribbon dictate the colors on this one.
Using that card like a sketch, I changed it into another baby card since I always seem to need those. I used Frost Versamark Dazzle just a little bit offset on the giraffes. You can kind of see the sparkle on the first image.

Peek-a-boo

2011-02-09T11:23:00.000-06:00

My nephew and his wife had an adorable baby boy, and I needed a card for them. After making one, I went a little crazy and made a few more for the stash!

My inspiration came from page 13 of the Cards magazine from March, 2007. Mine looks different, but you can tell that's where I got the idea.

This picture shows how the card closes. You can see the scalloped edge with the back of the card showing through. I love how it looks!

Here's one I tried but didn't like as much...

Cup of Love

2011-02-08T05:04:00.002-06:00

Today's TAC blog hop is with Cup of Love. When I was making this card, I knew I wanted to do something with the dog looking out of a window or an opening. I came across a card from my friend Laurie and knew it was the layout to go with. (You can see her card below.)

Is this puppy not the cutest thing?!?!? Of course, I think my two real dogs are pretty cute too... :-)

I colored with Copics. The dog is actually slightly gray, but you can't see that shading here. :-(

Below is Laurie's card. I wish you could see it in person to see the details! She is quite the artist. Even though she's no longer with The Angel Company, I still follow her blog. You should check it out too!

Be sure to check out all the other bloggers who used this set!

A Cupcake For You

2011-02-07T03:32:00.003-06:00

Today's TAC Blog Hop features the set Cupcake Cuties and guest designer Mabelle (she's the stamp designer of this set and all "MRO" sets)! After you view my blog, be sure to check out the others.

This is another image that I've had colored for a while and finally decided to put her on a card. Those green pearls are from the "Bright" Gem Collection and go perfectly with TAC's Lilly Anna paper. See that pink button sitting there for no good reason? Well, there IS a good reason! I accidentally ripped the paper and had to cover it up somehow! :-)
When I did the next card, I had this sketch of Heather's in mind but not in front of me. I wasn't sure of the exact sketch, but I had the idea. Looks like I wasn't so far off! You can see Heather's card here. I colored this with my Copics, then used LOTS of Stickles!
The Dew Drops aren't from TAC, but I'm lovin' them!!!

In case you can't read it, the front of the card says, "I just read a report that said birthdays are good for you." Inside it says, "The more you have, the longer you live!" :-)
It's hard to see, but I paper pieced the bottom of the cupcake from Catelynne paper and colored the candle with a glitter pen.

Now go check out all the other wonderful creations!

Lilly Anna Mouse

2011-02-06T16:36:00.000-06:00

Once again I decided to use an image that I had colored a while back when I was practicing with my Copic Markers. There's more shading in real life than what shows on the computer. For this card I used a card on page 54 of Paper Creations, Summer 2010 as if it were a sketch. I don't think I can post a picture of it for copyright reasons.

Spring Friends

2011-02-05T17:28:00.001-06:00

I've got spring on the brain! I'm soooo ready for 80 degrees and warmer, lots of sunshine, the smell of fresh air...sigh...

This set is called Spring Friends. The paper is Maggie, one of TAC's newest double-sided papers. It's hard to tell here, but the sheep is outlined with a gray Tombow marker and has pink ears. The flower was colored with Copic markers before I added Stickles.

This post is now part of The Angel Company's Spring Friends Blog Hop. Be sure to check out the other great cards!

Warm Weather!

2011-02-04T16:23:00.001-06:00

Yippee!!! Today's weather was in the 70's! It was like this yesterday too. Tomorrow and the next few days? Freezing drizzle, snow, etc. Dislike. Sigh... (I should let you know that I'm actually pre-scheduling this, and it'll probably be FREEZING by the time this posts!)

This is an image that I had used Prsimacolor pencils and odorless mineral spirits to color a long time ago--shortly after Seminar in June, in fact. I decided it was time to put it on a card.

Since the image is big and colorful, I kept the card simple and bright. :-)

Elephants on Parade

2011-02-03T18:13:00.000-06:00

TAC has great little stamps that are FREE with a purchase. This adorable elephant stamp is one of them. I'd had him sitting there for a while and I wasn't sure what to do with him until I saw this card by Laura. I went a little crazy making elephants one evening! It seems as though I'm always needing a baby card, and I also thought I could use some of these for Valentine's Day.

I used the Swiss Dots Cuttlebug folder for all of the cards above. You can see the hearts on the one below. It's hard to see, but the white elephants are all outlined in either gray or a light pastel color to match the card.
This one uses all TAC--Impressie, Scor-tape, everything!

To change it up even more, I made the one below. Unfortunately I took the picture before the glue dried on the heart. It did dry clear (just like the name!), and I have a purple, glittery heart there now.

We made this card as part of our "Glittery Gala" class in January.

Watercolor Plants

2011-02-03T07:25:00.003-06:00

You're going to get TWO posts today! I have one already scheduled for this evening, but when I realized that today was the day for TAC's Watercolor Plants Blog Hop, I knew I wanted to post this one too!

I'm always needing nice, appropriate sympathy cards so I came up with this one. I used my Aquacrayons on the stamp and misted with water before stamping.

Oh, how I LOVE this stamp set--it is soooo versatile!!! At one event, I used it at 4 different stations to make 4 totally different cards and not one customer even noticed it until I pointed it out! Be sure to check out my previous post using this set as well. Scroll to the end of this post.

If you want to see more beautiful samples, be sure to go to TAC's Savvy Projects Blog and see Holly's samples today!

Brayer Bonanza

2011-02-02T17:11:00.000-06:00

That was the name of my November stamps class--Brayer Bonanza. I was inspired after participating in a technique swap with other TAC Angels. In class we made the cards below.

Faux Suede: All of the lighter brown on this card is the faux suede--done with Liquid Applique, a brayer, and a heat gun.

Bouncing Brayer: That's what gives it the effect of light streaming out of the left side of the card. I'm embarrassed that the eyelets at the bottom aren't straight, but I won't let this one go out the door without fixing or re-doing it. :-)

Joseph's Coat: I'm not thrilled with the overall card on this one, but I like the way the technique itself turned out.

Who would've thought...

2011-02-01T18:19:00.002-06:00

...that the snowflake card in the previous post would be so appropriate when I pre-scheduled it?!?!? It's a blizzard here, so my class tonight is cancelled. School for my daughters is called off again for tomorrow too. Just thought I'd set the record straight. :-)

Back in School and a snowflake

2011-02-01T15:07:00.000-06:00

As of this evening I'm officially back in school for the semester. I'm taking two classes and looking forward to it. Last semester I only took one, so we'll see how well I can keep up with this blog thing...

This card was one we did at my Christmas Stamp-a-Stack in November. I love the way the Scor-Pal adds extra texture. The Snowflake itself was done by coloring directly onto the stamp with Aquacrayons and then spritzing with water before stamping.

To be honest, I'm not sure where all my other SAS cards went!?!?! I know I mailed one to someone, but I'm not sure about the others. Oh well...sigh... :-)

A Fun Little Bear

2011-01-31T20:00:00.000-06:00

This little guy came out in a set in the fall supplement, but I just hadn't used him yet! The set's called Cuddly Christmas, but I love using the images for non-Christmas cards too. (It's the same set as the goose from yesterday's post.)

Sometimes I practice coloring with my Copics and just set the image aside. That's what I did with this one. Suddenly I knew what I wanted to do with it, and voila! The card you see is the result! :-)

All stamps and supplies from The Angel Company.

Building up my stash

2011-01-30T18:50:00.000-06:00

Once the creative juices started flowing, I spent time in my craft room, blasting my space heater and having fun. Below are some of the cards I had fun making. I'm trying to build up my card supply so that I always have a card for any occasion at a moment's notice.

The one below is one that we ended up making at my January stamp class. I colored with Copics--fun! Oh, and it's hard to see, but I added glitter to the Liquid Applique before heat setting. The Versamark on the circle is Frost Dazzle too.

Not sure why this one looks crooked--it's not! The dot stamp is another one of those fantastic TAC Gift With Purchase (GWP) stamps. :-)

Hmmm...I'm starting to see a pattern here...the diamond stamp below is also one of the TAC goodies--it's a PWP!

We ended up doing this one for my January class too, though that's not why I designed it. For class, we outlined the reverse masked layer in a TINY line of glue and added glitter. We just used one flower pearl from the Gem Collection for class. I should have taken a picture of that one so you could see how the two compare. I love the simplistic elegance of this card.
All stamps and supplies from The Angel Company.

Allison's Room

2011-01-29T18:08:00.001-06:00

These pictures pretty well speak for themselves! These are the colors Allison wanted VERY BADLY! It sure makes for a bright room! I like it, though.

I bought an extra sheet for the bed to sew the curtains. I used the cloth case the sheets came in to sew the tie backs.

Curtains open...

Curtains closed...
You can't really tell in this picture, but the sheets are bright pink.

All the furniture had been white since she was a baby. I voted for white; she voted for color this tme. I let her win. :-)

Fabulous February Specials!

2011-01-28T19:48:00.000-06:00

A New Punch!

2011-01-27T22:06:00.001-06:00

For Christmas, my wonderful hubby got me a gift certificate to a local scrapbook store! Fun! I bought some things I wouldn't normally get for myself. :-)

The two cards below use TAC stamps and supplies, except for the punch, brad, pearls and stickles.

I'm not sure what's up with the color. This guy looks a bit yellow on the screen. Trust me, he's really not that yellow!!?!?!

The green branches match the paper much better in real life too! I "kissed" the focal stamps with an open polka dot stamp, then used pop dots to adhere them.

I thought this punch might be too big for cards and may be better for scrapping. I kinda like it, though...

A case of CASEing; part 3

2011-01-26T21:52:00.000-06:00

My friend Jennifer is a talented gal! When I saw this card on her blog, I knew I wanted to CASE it because it is so unlike my usual style. Thanks for the inspiration, Jennifer!

My friend Laurie--another great stamper and card maker--had this card on her blog recently, and I knew I wanted to try it when I had just a few minutes. I think hers is more elegant. It's hard to tell, but mine is actually ivory instead of white. I lightly sponged cognac ink on the squares so the embossing would show up better. It does in real life! Thanks for your great blog, Laurie!

A case of CASEing; part 2

2011-01-25T21:45:00.000-06:00

One of the blogs I keep up with is Heather's. She's a true Angel and is sooo very talented. When I was CASEing, I remembered this card here and came up with the card below. Be sure to check out her blog--you won't regret it!

A case of CASEing; part 1

2011-01-24T21:35:00.000-06:00

To jump start my mojo, I started out by CASEing some cards that caught my attention for their simplicity. All three of the cards below are in my "browsing basket" that I take to classes and such. I've received the cards in swaps. All stamps are TAC, and so are most of the other supplies.

This first one is by Cindy Goebel. She did the purple one, I did the blue.

This next one is by Gloria Albertson. Hers is on the left and mine is on the right. I like hers LOTS better! I didn't have the right pink strip or the right color of button to make it pop.

This last one is by some creative TAC Angel, but I don't know who! I think I received it at Seminar last summer, but I'm not sure. Hers is on the left, and mine is on the right. I like her scallops better!

Thanks, ladies, for your lovely cards. CASEing really helped me get going! Watch for parts 2 and 3 in the coming days... :-)

Hello out there...

2011-01-23T21:28:00.004-06:00

I realize I've been MIA for a few months and I have really good reasons, but you probably don't want to know about them. Let's just say that I've got lots of posts coming over the next several days (weeks?). :-)

These photos are from an altered bag contest that I offered to my Stamp-a-Stack customers back in November. They could alter their popcorn-style bag that their card supplies came in and send me a photo to enter a drawing for a free stamp set. The drawing was totally random--I just put in the names of the ladies and drew one out. Below are the photos I received (not everyone decided to play).

Marcia's bag: front and back

Jana's bag:

Connie's bag:

Cindy's bag: front and back

Thanks to all who played! It's fun to see your lovely art!

Oh, did you want to know who won? CONNIE!!!!!! (and to think I forgot to give you the stamp set at class the other evening!!!) sigh...

Can you say WOW?!?!?!?!?!?!

2010-09-10T17:51:00.000-05:00

www.theangelcompany.net

What a Deal!

2010-09-06T05:53:00.001-05:00

Cling not included.

Corner Bookmark

2010-09-05T22:34:00.000-05:00

Once again I was inspired by a fellow Angel. This time it was Angie's bookmark seen here. We've never done those in class, so I figured it was the perfect "non-card" project for the evening.

Once again, we used the Scor-Pal and Scor-Bug to add texture. In class we colored with Copic Markers, but I made the sample using Tombow Markers so they could see the difference in how well Copics blend (I had samples of both). This sample uses Tombows.

Isn't that smug look on the golfball's face hilarious?!?! :-)

Color Over Technique

2010-09-04T22:27:00.000-05:00

When I saw this card by fellow Angel Trudy, I knew I wanted to try the technique. I've seen it several times over the years, but can you believe I never tried it myself?!?!? So, after a quick consult with Trudy and the inspiration of Debra Miller's layout on page 9 of Serendipity, here's the final result. The ladies in class really liked how pretty and unusual it is, yet it is soooo easy!

We stamped in Brilliance Moonlight White on TAC's brown cardstock. We colored with Prismacolor pencils without blending anything. We just colored!

The lovely pearls are from our Gem Collection, and the beautiful paper is Maggie. Of course the great texture comes from the Scor-Pal and Scor-Bug then lightly sanding with sanding blocks. ;-)

CASEd Card

2010-09-03T22:16:00.000-05:00

Lucky me! I got the second card in this post from Carol in the swap I mentioned in the last few posts. I really liked it a lot and wanted to CASE it for my Nestabilities class--how perfect! I just changed a few things, and voila! A card using Nesties!

Hopefully you ca see the embossed frame around the Nesties as well. I stamped the frame and THEN cut with the Nesties die. Each gal at class got a white panel with the stamping/cutting/embossing already done. It was up to them to stamp the pumpkin image.

We used watercolor crayons on the stamp, then spritzed with water before stamping. It's a great effect! Because the brown Scrapper's Floss wasn't dark enough, we colored the floss with Copics. The background leaves are stamped in Versamark.

Another Swap (and class) Card

2010-09-02T22:11:00.000-05:00

In the same swap I mentioned yesterday, I swapped this card. Again, since it worked so well for a class focusing on Nestabilities, I used it!

I tried to get a few close-ups so you would see the ribbon behind the oval and see the embossed edge of the Nestie. Can you see them?!?!?!

The Thank You stamp is a PWP (only $2.95!), and it fits almost perfectly with our oval Clever Lever Punch. The background is done with 2 images from Damask Backgrounder. I love how the Bordeaux Palette ink matches the Bazzill!

Swap (and class) Card

2010-09-01T22:05:00.000-05:00

A few weeks ago I participated in a swap for Paper Wings. We were to use images from the newly-released Catalogue. I liked the two cards I swapped, so I decided to use them for our August stamp class focusing on Nestabilities. The gals who were there like them too! :-)

If you look carefully on these cards, the dark layer is actually a dark green Bazzill. Oh, and I know I cut off the very tips of the green layered Nestie--that's why I kept this one as my sample. ;-)
I used Copics to color the cattails--made it quick and easy. The main image is from Joy, Found--a fantastic new set. It's certainly a must have.

Tooting my own horn...

2010-09-01T13:30:00.004-05:00

Even though I have a post scheduled for later this evening, I wanted to "toot my horn" a little bit to let you know that The Angel Company (TAC) asked if I would design the projects for the Stamp of the Month for the corporate website this month! Of course I was honored and said YES!

I usually create as inspiration hits, so it was a new challenge for me to be told what stamp set I had to use and given a deadline. I ended up falling in love with the set--it's called "Autumn Leaves," and I found it to be so versatile. You can view my projects here and click on each one for a larger image.

This first card below did not make it onto the TAC website. That's okay--I wasn't even sure I liked it that much anyway! LOL I like the simplicity of it, but I think it's lacking pizzazz.

The close up is so you can see the embossed frame on the orange cardstock. Can you see it?

All the projects below made it to the website so remember to click here to see the full project. I just wanted to show a few details that TAC can't show due to space limitations.

The tag in the photo below is popped up with Pop Dots, and I colored the pumpkin with Prismacolor pencils and OMS (oderless mineral spirits). Later you'll see one colored with Copics, and it gives a different look/feel.

I'm showing you the note cube below so you can see the "rock and roll" technique that I did to add the L'Amore Red and Burnt Umber to the Sunflower ink. Did you notice the ribbon is different on the TAC website? I told them to feel free to change it to brown! I thought it needed more contrast. Because I was allowed to use only TAC products, I had to use the ribbon in this photo when I sent it in--I was completely out of ALL my brown TAC ribbon!!!
This little jar was photographed from the left side, so I figured I'd show you the right side as well as a close up of the pumpkin. This is the one I colored using Copic Markers.

The card below has some dimension that I thought you might want to see.

Hope you enjoy! :-)

Album or Fancy Card?

2010-08-31T21:10:00.000-05:00

Back in June, I posted some paper and a sample album on my blog in this post. I'm a little delayed getting the final product posted. Sorry!

It can be used as an elaborate card or a mini album, or even both! It makes a great gift.

I took the basic idea from Heather's album and stepped it up a notch or two by adding more panels for photos or journaling and adding a super-mini album in the middle.

The above photo shows a close-up of the super-mini album in the middle.

I hope you like the way it turned out. I'm really pleased with the extras and with how the Angelee paper changes the whole feel of the project.

Breaking News!

2010-08-30T21:05:00.003-05:00

These fantastic boxes will contain stamps AND other fun goodies. In the past there has been product such as ink pads, embellishments, paper, tools and more! They are WELL worth the investment. Contact me to purchase yours. You and a friend can go in together and be your own FUNshop--you'd earn a Hostess Set and TWO half-price items!

Wedding Book

2010-08-03T14:39:00.000-05:00

Back in June another gal and I were putting on a bridal shower for a girl at church. Her outdoor wedding was to have a country western theme, with the bride wearing a plaid shirt, jeans and cowboy boots! We found some great tablewear to go with the theme. That same evening I found the perfect sheet of paper at a garage sale for 10 cents! It matched the tablewear almost EXACTLY!!!

That's how the card below came about...

I already had the "denim" looking paper at home so the card came together pretty fast. I was stumped by the advice book I was going to make until I saw this post by my Angel buddy Seleise. The book couldn't be assembled until AFTER the shower, though, since we were going to pass the pages around and let the ladies offer words of advice, humor, Scripture, etc. That's why it's not bound yet...

We also used a few pages at the beginning to write the list of gifts she received that day. I really wish I would have pix of the finished book because I added fun ribbon to the binding. It turned out really cute, and should be something she can hang onto for years to come. ;-)