Cardinal Christmas!!

Here is a card I did for a swap last month with a Christmas theme. It may just be my Christmas card. And yes, I have gone insane to consider coloring ALL those cards-our list tops 100! I'm afraid to get the list out and take a look just yet! Every year seems like we add a few but can't take very many off!

Aside from the coloring this didn't take too long. I cut the Naturals Ivory cardstock with the Top Note Die. Next I stamped the Cardinal in Jet Black Stazon near the bottom & the Merry Christmas above it. The card base is Riding Hood Red. The Cardinal is colored with Riding Hood Red using the classic ink and a blender pen. I went over him lightly once, then a second time on the head/back/tail areas to make it darker. The leaves are Mellow Moss done the same way, lighter once then darker on one side. Branch is Close to Cocoa, feet & beak are More Mustard. I added a piece of the 1-1/4 Riding Hood Red/Very Vanilla Grosgrain ribbon (from the Holiday Mini Catalog) underneath the Top Note and & Vintage Brad on each side point. Oh, it's hard to see but I stamped the solid branch from the set on the Riding Hood Red in Riding Hood Red on each of the four corners. Sorry my scanner is still toast & the camera doesn't pick it up well.

Enjoy! Hopefully I'll be back soon, but no promises. This time of year is always so busy! I started the new job last Friday and it went well. Lots to learn. The days at home go sooooo fast though-I have yet to get very much accomplished! Thanks for stopping by!

Still here!!

Wow, where has the time gone? Lots of things have changed around here since I posted last! We were enjoying nice warm fall weather until the last 3 days. It's now cold and windy. Not near as cold as it can be, but a definite difference from last week! Last weekend was warm, sunny, light wind in the low 70's. Today is overcast, very windy, high in the 30's. YIKES!!

Here is something else that's happened-Harvest! This was taken here a week ago Wednesday. I love to see the farming going on around here! It only happens a couple days a year. The corn crop was great this year due to our wet spring/summer. Soybeans did OK but not as well as the corn due to hot/dry conditions in July & August. We usually have about half corn and half beans, rotating crops each year. Corn is tough on the soil so we only do it every other year! Didn't know you were going to get farming lesson from a stamping blog did you?


We now have hot wire fence around this field and 8 head of cattle wandering around in there. This is right in front of the house. We can also see traffic going down the road for the first time in months. And we'll be able to see the deer hunters who are attempting to shoot from the road. I wish I were joking but I'm not. It's a real problem we have here. We have a great stand of trees through the middle of our property that is the perfect home for deer! We do have the number handy for the Game Warden!

OK, on to stamping! Time to share club samples from October-which seems like forever ago! Below is a swap card I received that I thought was really cute. I don't like to copy cards exactly, and I didn't have the same paper so I changed it up.


The swap card is by Cherri Gustafson. She used the Frosty Day DSP paper. My version is below using the Holiday Treasures dotted paper. Base color is Baha Breeze. Other colors are Ruby Red, Chocolate Chip & Old Olive. Mr. Twigster is stamped in Basic Brown and colored with Blender pens. We used 2-way glue to add Dazzling Diamonds glitter. The Curly Label Punch Bundle was also used. We stamped the Merry Christmas stamp in Ruby Red and punched it out. We stamped again in Baha Breeze and cut out the Merry Christmas. We attached it to the Ruby Red one with Dimensionals.


Next is a sample using the Top Note die. Again I received inspiration from a swap received. This one was created by Kathy Morgan and her version is below. The DSP she used is also from the Holiday Treasures pack. She used Always Artichoke for her base, Riding Hood Red behind her Top Note, wide Old Olive grosgrain ribbon, and a felt flower with Rhinestone brad.

I stayed within the same paper pack, but varied the colors a little. I used an Old Olive card base. I used a piece of DSP under the top note and a narrow Chocolate Chip grosgrain ribbon. I used a Baha snowflake from the Little Felt Flurries set in the Holiday Mini Catalog.

The possibilities are really endless with a pack of DSP! Each piece is double sided, and the colors all coordinate!

One more change to mention-I have a new job! I'm finishing up this next week at the local State Farm office and will be starting the following week at the Edward Jones office. I will only be working 3 days a week but it will be challenging work as it's a very busy office! I've done that type of work before so I'm excited to be getting back in that field. I intend to use my days off to get my house caught up (cleaned, organized..) and to do some more stamping! Most days now it's really hard to find time!!

If you haven't signed up for my newsletter (on the left in the sidebar), please do! I'm sending out a newsletter at least monthly with all news SU! You won't want to miss it as it may contain specials you can only get through me! Also, don't forget to tell your family and friends what you want for Christmas this year! They can contact me directly to order goodies for you, or they can order online.

Thanks all for stopping by!

Stamp A Stack

Here are the samples from the Christmas Card Stamp a Stack last week. It was a fun evening and one that we will definitely repeat! probably sometime after the first of the year. I hate to think that it's already time to be thinking about the Holidays-YIKES! Hopefully these cards gave the ladies who came a jump start! They all left with 4 copies of each of these!!

First, was this one using the classic Lovely as a Tree set-a set I don't use often enough!!

To start, I cut a reverse template with the Coluzzle. We used that to sponge Mellow Moss ink through onto the Very Vanilla CS. Then we stamped the background trees with Mellow Moss-leaving the template in place-stamping them off once first to give a very light image. Next we stamped the tree and Merry Christmas with Always Artichoke Craft ink and heat embossed with Iridescent Ice Embossing Powder. Corners are ticket corner punched. Very Vanilla with the trees is layered on Mellow Moss, and then on the card base of Always Artichoke. Very pretty! This is one color combination of MANY that would work with this layout!

Next was this one using the Big Shot Snowflake die. I still have confetti on my floor from punching these out! Quick and easy card though!

Card base is Real Red, strip near bottom is Basic Gray. We stamped 2 snowflakes from the Snow Swirled set, the middle size on in White Craft ink, the small one in Real Red ink. The snowflake is cut from the Shimmery White cardstock. We put a red Rhinestone brad through the center and attached with dimensionals to the card front. The striped grosgrain ribbon is tied around the entire front of the card. It is difficult to see, but the bottom front edge of the card is punched with the scallop punch. The Merry Christmas was stamped in White Craft ink near the stop of the Gray strip.

The last card was cased from the catalog, page 40, using the Big on Christmas set. I did one without an image on the card base but it seemed plain, so I then added the Snowflake wheel in Riding Hood Red. We colored the 'let it SNOW' image using a blender pen and classic inks (Bashful Blue, Basic Gray, Only Orange, Riding Hood Red & Glorious Green). We then applied 2-way glue to the letters and added Dazzling Diamonds glitter for SPARKLE!! The Snow image was stamped on Whisper White, layered onto Bashful Blue an applied over the Bashful Blue Patterns DSP with dimensionals. Vintage Brads were added using the Mat Pack (or Tool Kit) for placement, and Riding Hood Red ribbon tied around.

Thanks for stopping by! I still hope to get on a more regular posting schedule but have been in a bit of a funk lately. Hopefully I'm about ready to snap out of it and get busy again! I still have several recent creations to share so I hope to be back soon!

Recent workshop samples

WHEW!!! It's been a rough couple weeks! Seems like I go from one stamping project to the next, with no time in between. I give up predicting my schedule too. I thought last week would be less busy, but it wasn't! Tomorrow night is my last scheduled event though for quite a while so that should make life a little less crazy! We shall see!

Here are a couple samples from my workshop last weekend. My apologies in advance if these pictures are not the best. I may not have had the scanner set correctly. I will replace them with new scans as soon as I have time!

First is this card using the Snow Swirled set from the Idea Book & Catalog. Colors are Mellow Moss, Always Artichoke. White layer is Shimmery White. Ribbon is Artichoke. For the snowflakes, I stamped the largest in Mellow Moss, the next I stamped with Artichoke but stamped off once, and the little ones are in Artichoke. Scallop punch the edge, tie ribbon around, layer together, & add greeting. Quick and Easy!!

This one was a little more involved, but not terribly difficult. Base layer is More Mustard. Stamp the leaf image with More Mustard randomly around the right edge, top & bottom. Layer on a piece of leaf print paper from the Autumn Vine DSP. Stamp the tree in Chocolate Chip on Whisper White. Add leaves using More Mustard, Really Rust & Sage Shadow. Stamp the verse on a smaller piece of Whisper White. Sponge all white edges with More Mustard Ink. Tie gold cording around tree image & layer tree onto Chocolate Chip. Layer saying onto Really Rust and add a gold brad one each side. layer all together.

I hope to be back with more soon! I have samples from another workshop that are temporarily missing but I hope to find! I have Club samples from last week. And a Stamp-A-Stack tomorrow night with Christmas cards! Fun Fun Fun!!!

World Card Making Day

What a fun day! THANK YOU to everyone who came!!! I think this may become an annual event! I had 4 card stations set up, door prizes, goodies to eat and more! What a great day stamping and sharing among all!

Here is the first card I made. I found the inspiration on SCS, but don't remember who the creator was (if it was you LMK and I'll give you credit!).

The card base is Chocolate Chip. Background layer is Pink Pirouette. On that layer we stamped the Tres Chic background stamp with Pink Pirouette classic ink. We used the Scallop Border punch for the bottom edge, then punched small holes with the 1/16 hole punch (or paper piercer). The white layer is the rose print from the Bella Rose DSP set. We stamped the For You image from the Say it with Scallops set in Chocolate Chip on Whisper White and punched it out with the Scallop Square punch. Layered the square on with dimensionals, tied Pink Pirouette ribbon around the top and layered all together!

The next card I created two versions of. I was inspired by my trip last weekend to the Nebraska Mini Convention where we used this set and the star punches to create several projects.

The color combination is the same on both cards, I just changed the layout a little and put the ribbon a different direction. Card base is Pacific Point. Background is Whisper White stamped with stars in Pacific Point, Baha Breeze & Ruby Red. I used the new large oval punch to stamp through the Whisper White and stamp the 'way to go' in Pacific Point on Pacific Point. To punch the stars, punch the small one first, then the large one. Layer together as desired!


On this one I left the stars whole and just added the smaller ones over. The edges of the Whisper White are sponged on both versions.

The 3rd card was this one using the With Gratitude set in Fall colors. The card base is Old Olive. Background layer is Confetti Cream cardstock. I first stamped the With Gratitude stamp as near the bottom as possible in Old Olive. Next I did random flowers around the edge in More Mustard, Close to Cocoa & Old Olive. The center image was stamped in Close to Cocoa. We then added More Mustard & Old Olive with a blender pen. All the colors blend together for a very pretty leaf! The leaf is layered on Close to Cocoa and a Kraft Taffeta ribbon was tied around. Gotta have that ribbon!!

The last card we did, was the swap card I did HERE using the Upsy Daisy set. Everyone loved it! I did it because my regular ladies have all commented on it. It was also a quick and easy one for everyone!


Hope you had a great Card Making Day! I'm off to do a workshop this afternoon but should be back this week to share more! Last week was a long week getting ready for yesterday (but it was worth it!!). This week should be a little more quiet so I can share some of the things I've promised but haven't made it back with yet!

Birthday Celebration!

Wow, aren't we full of all kinds of news today!! Stampin' Up! is celebrating their 20th birthday all year, but the actual date was during October, so we're having a Birthday Sale! Click the flyer above to see the details. With a $20 merchandise purchase, you can choose from several Birthday sets at 20% off! Cool!! Contact me if you need more information!!

Decor Elements!!

For a limited time only, SU! is offering the Spooky Spider Decor element for halloween. Click the spider above to see the size options and prices! He looks like fun and he's not all that spooky!

And, as of today there are MORE Decor Elements available! Click the photo above to view them! These are a fun, non permanent way to dress up your home!! Contact me to order or with questions!