back in the saddle

It's been way too long since I've posted here on my blog! The holidays came and I found myself way too busy. I always hope to avoid that predicament, but somehow I always find myself saying, "Yes!" I have to work in that trait. 

Thankfully, it was time to put a Stamp Camp together. That never fails to get my creativity flowing. Or at least it forces me to spend gobs of time searching Pinterest for inspiration! 

One of my favorite techniques with paper, is to crumple up a piece of card stock like crazy, and then peel it into two identical pieces. The inside if the paper is so soft and fuzzy! That's what I did with the Rich Razzelberry mat. Love how it looks!

Happy stamping!

Custom orders

I love filling special orders! I was asked for some thank you, sympathy, and friendship cards by a customer. So I got right to work today and cranked a bunch out! Nine cards for my customer, and one for me.

I borrowed a tried and true layout for the thank you cards. I love making the background paper with the water misting technique I blogged about here:
http://www.somethingaboutstamping.blogspot.com/2013/07/making-mess.html

For me, sympathy cards are tricky. I try to keep them clean and simple.

And I had some fun with the friendship cards! My customer doesn't like coming up with what to write on the inside of a card, so I stamped some simple friendship verses inside these, but forgot to take a picture of them!

Don't forget that I'd love to work with YOU on a custom order! Leave a comment and we can work out the details.

Happy stamping!

Crisp and clean butterfly

Today, I had some fun with clear embossing, and sponging with Riding Hood Red, Calypso Coral, So Saffron, and a bit of Soft Suede around the edges of the butterfly. I've been playing around with negative space lately, and this card is my favorite so far!

I used Stampin' Up's Beautiful Butterflies Bigz Die and cut the large, complete butterfly from a piece of copy paper. I laid  the negative outline of the butterfly down  over a piece of Whisper White card stock that I had stamped with VersaMark ink and embossed with clear embossing powder. I sponged some color inside the negative space. And, voila! A beautiful butterfly emerged. 

I love how well the colors blend together! 

Happy stamping!

Addicted to circles

I admit it. I'm using this circle technique way too much! But I can't help it! It's so cool! 

This time I added patterned paper and a couple of butterflies to change things up a bit. 

Happy stamping!

Merry Christmas

Here in the northeast, it's the height of summer. Or is it? I'm so confused because the temps have been in the lower 70's and at night, it's been downright chilly! My best friend has been posting on Facebook about sweaters, and hot cocoa, and scarves and gooey chocolate chip cookies. 

I'm the first to admit that summer is not my favorite season. I know. Crazy, right? I much prefer crisp autumn nights, apple crisp and home made bread in the oven, curling up under a blanket with a good book. And I go nuts for the first snowfall of the season! So, with the cool temperatures, my brain had wandered all the way to December. 

I stamped the leaf image from Simply Sketched in VersaMark ink. Then I embossed it with white embossing powder. I sponged on some Real Red, Always Artichoke, and Pear Pizzazz inks, and added some ribbon and mats. I had an old package of rub-on greetings and that was the finishing touch!

Merry Christmas in August and happy stamping!

A quilt in a day

Years ago, I bought myself a make-a-log-cabin-quilt-in-a-day book. I bought six different fabrics, matching thread, a rotary cutter and self healing mat. I spent a day cutting out the strips of cotton, perfectly straight and square. I spent the next day painstakingly sewing the strips together to make squares. I spent the next day ripping them apart because when I tried to piece the quilt top together, nothing lined up right. I guess my squares weren't as "square" as I thought! 

Needless to say, my quilt wasn't done in a day! I did finish the quilt, and it turned out beautifully. I even made a few more. Realizing that quilting was not going to be my forté, I passed the book on to my Mom. She has gone on to become a truly gifted quilter. At the last quilt show that she entered, she won a ribbon for her stunning piece! 

This is the closest that I'm going to get to quilting again! A little bit of work for big instant gratification! Mom's birthday isn't until March, but I'll be saving this beauty to give to her. I know she will just love it!

Happy stamping!