Wishing You Peace

Here is my second card for the Featured Stamper today on SCS. Again, still playing with my Make A Wish set.

This is the card from Jenn that cased: http://www.splitcoaststampers.com/gallery/photo/356747?cat=500&ppuser=1037

I don't have any of the Fabriano notecards, at least not yet yet!! There were two reasons why I wanted to case this card; One since I have a difficult time doing one layer cards and Two I wanted to try the masking technique I did on this card. I know this is not a new technique, but it is one that I have not gotten around to trying.

Since I do not have the notecard Jenn used, I went with Shimmery White and placed it on an Elegant Eggplant base card. My oval frame was sponged in Almost Amethyst. The flower is stamped in Elegant Eggplant and Always Artichoke and then stamped three times without re-inking. I also stamped the saying in Elegant Eggplant.

I used the ticket corner punch just for some drama. The ribbon is silver trimmed organdy I bought last year during the Christmas season. I think I finally found the right way to tie a simple, yet pretty, knot in my ribbon. Check out http://www.kwernerdesign.com/ for a video Kristina taped showing how she ties her knots. Awesome!!

That's all for today!! I need to finish up on the project I am teaching on October 6th, which World Card Making Day. I'll post a pics when I finish it.

Happy Stamping!!

~~~Ann~~~

Have a Happy Bday!!

Hello everyone!! It's Sunday and you know what that means!! Featured Stamper day on SCS!! Today the FS is Jenn Balcer. She is very involved with the operations at SCS and a terrific stamper and scrapbooker!! And not only is her gallery filled with awesome and beautiful creation, but she shares pictures of stamping events she attends with other SCSers!! I really like that so I can put faces with screen names and learn their real names. You know where the link is for the FS! Go check it out, you wont be disappointed!

After browsing through Jenn's gallery I decided on a birthday card she made last year with one of the SAB sets. Since I am still playing with my new Gina K. set, Make a Wish, I thought a male birthday card would be perfect. Here's the card of Jenn's I chose: http://www.splitcoaststampers.com/gallery/photo/186666?cat=500&ppuser=1037

This was a quick and easy card to put together, especially since men don't like all the frilly stuff we ladies do. Here's the changes I made from Jenn's card:

*Colors more appropriate for a man: Not Quite Navy, Bashful Blue, Al. Artichoke & Nat. White
*Stamp set - I used Make a Wish
*I used my CB Happy B-day folder instead of a BG stamp
*I added another layer under the CB panel
*I did sponging on all the Naturals White panels
*My ribbon is Navy organdy and is with a pewter swirl clip
*I used my tag corner punch on all the panels

The main images are up on foam tape. I colored my cake image with my Watercolor Wonder Crayons and blender pen. No distressing on this one!!

I'm working on another as I found so many wonderful ideas, and I'll post that as soon as I finish it!!

Thanks for stopping by!! Don't forget the Blog Candy contest! I will draw the winner on Tuesday around 12 noon!!

Happy Stamping!!


~~~Ann~~~

A Pink Pillow Hello!!

For today's Inspiration challenge, Karen presented us with a square throw pillow in pinks and brown with butterflies on it. I was really drawn to this pillow since I love pink & brown together and the butterflies were just the icing on the cake!! Make sure to check out the IC link in the side bar.

I decided to use an old sketch challenge #141 (not to old), but for some reason I wasn't "feeling" the sketch that week, but right away I knew this sketch is what I needed for this card.

Most of the stamping and layering I did here is self explanatory. I used the butterfly from Garden Whimsy for my main image. I inked it in Pretty in Pink and used my Choc. Chip & Regal Rose markers to highlight the wings and body. Light sponging in choc. chip was done on the edges. For this sketch the main image panel is diamond shape and Roxie wanted us to keep it that, but I forgot as I was cutting cardstock so I improvised and used the Choc. Chip panel as my diamond. I distressed the edges on this panel with my distressor tool.

On the base card I used my Whimsy wheel in PIP for a light BG look. The WW textured strips were done using Seeing Spots in PIP, Choc. Chip and Regal Rose. I stamped the CC and RR off once so they didn't overwhelm the card.

I kept my embellishments simple since the pillow also has a simple look to it. One rhinestone square fire brad and silver brads, along with a strip of white taffeta ribbon tied with pink organdy. I really miss the organdy ribbon SU! had. The main image panel is up on dimensionals. I wasn't sure about putting a sentiment on here since that would mean another layer so I almost left it off, but I saw my Happy Hello (from the now retired AYC1) and knew that would be perfect!

Thanks for stopping by!!

Happy Stamping!!

~~~Ann~~~

Wishes and More Wishes!!

Hello everyone!! I am completely blown away with all my Blog Candy entries and your wonderful compliments!! I love to visit different blogs and learn new tips or techniques I haven't tried. Thank you again for visiting my blog and your comments.

I have two creations for you today. I am still playing with my new Gina K. Designs stamp set and working on my sample for my class next Saturday.

As you know on Friday's it's Limited Supply Challenge day and Jen gave us a Halloween twist!! For this challenge you are to use a Halloween stamp with a non-Halloween sentiment or words. Since I only have one Halloween set, Booglie Eyes, I decided to use Dracula with the wishing you well sentiment from the Make A Wish set. How many Dracula's do you know who send well wishes?? LOL!

As with all the LSC challenges items need to be limited. We are to self-regulate the amount of embellishments, layers and such. On this card I used two different embellishments: wide black gingham and black button brads.

I stamped Dracula on WW textured in black staz on and used my Watercolor Wonder Crayons. I finished with sponging on the edges in Pumpkin Pie. Of course I had to put googly eyes on him!! The black scallop is the Marvy mega and I punched the holes with the 1/8" handheld punch.

On the Pumpkin Pie piece I used my crimper in the middle and then experimented with my ticket corner punch. I took off the guard and punched a reverse scallop on the ends and used the 3/16" handheld punch.

I used my distressor tool on the Old Olive panel and that's it! This was a quick and easy card to make.

My second card is for Beate's weekend sketch challenge. This week she had a File Folder card to make. Check it out her blog on my side bar.

For this I used the star cluster stamp from Make A Wish. I was going to watercolor my images, but as I was positioning cardstock and such, I thought about cutting out the stars in different pieces of cardstock. The star image panel is up on foam tape. I also used my color spritzer in Old Olive and sponged the edges in Only Orange. My base card is Only Orange, with a Wild Wasabi layer and textured pattern dp by K & Co.

I used twill tape as my wrap and this also keeps the card closed. However, I think the next one I make I will use sticky strip to keep the card closed and the ribbon will only be for added embellishment.

To make the stars on the front, I used SU!'s star punch to punch out two and then used my sponge in Only Orange to stencil them. The "NOW" is handwritten in Old Olive. My idea is this will be for someone who has graduated, gotten their first job, promotion or their dream job.

The insert is Wild Wasabi textured and WW. I stamped a saying from In My Thought's (SU!) and Make a wish!. I stamped the stars after coloring them with SU! markers. The roundtab punch piece is WW textured, sponged in Wild Wasabi and 3 punched stars on top.

I think I may have gone overboard on the stars!!! But I like the end result.

Happy Stamping!!

~~~Ann~~~

Wishing You Well

Here's my card for this week's sketch challenge. I received my Gina K. Designs stamp for Autism: Make A Wish. I almost feel like I am betraying SU! buying this, but for some reason I was really drawn to this set and so I purchased it. And it's all for a good cause.

When I saw the sketch design I knew right away that I wanted to use Basic Grey and Soft Sky. The rest of the card just flowed from there. This is a great sketch for almost any stamp set. I encourage you to check out link for the SC.

The well was watercolored with my Watercolor Wonder Crayons and a blender pen. I have been doing a lot of watercoloring lately and I really like the looks I get.

Don't forget to leave a comment under my blog candy for your chance to win!!

Thanks for stopping by!

Happy Stamping!!

~~~Ann~~~

Thankful Thoughts

Well the color challenge for Tuesday was certainly a combo I never would have come up with!! And when I first read Emily's post, I thought how are those going to look together? The CC was More Mustard, Old Olive and Bashful Blue. Now I have used More Mustard and Old Olive together, but I have not put them with Bashful Blue! Until today that is!

Honestly, I really like how well they went together. I also used one of Beate's week end sketches, thinking it was the one for this week!!, but it was for last week. But I like how the sketch fit this set.

The set I used is Thankful Thoughts, one of the 6 on sale right now with SU! and I want to show some more samples to customers. I was a little leery about how well this set would do, but I've seen many beautiful samples on SCS and they provided much inspiration.

Most of the details on this card are self explanatory except for the embossing over the main image. I received a swap last year when this set was in the 2006 Holiday mini. The creator used only a portion of the large stamp, as I have, colored the images with Stampin' pastels and then stamped Canvas in Versamark over it. She then embossed the image in clear ep. I have wanted to try this for awhile, but forgot about the swap until I recently sat down to go through all of them and found it again. You can't tell from the pic, but the embossed Canvas gives the card another piece of dimension. I watercolored my images with my Watercolor Wonder crayons and blender pen. I love those crayons!! If you don't have any you must get them!

My scalloped circle image is up on thick dimensionals and also watercolored with my WWC.

Thanks for stopping by and don't forget to leave a comment under my Blog Candy post to have a chance of winning some goodies!! Take care!

Happy Stamping!!

~~~Ann~~~

500 Hits & Blog Candy!!!!

Well for me this is something to shout from the roof tops!! I started out a little slow in the blogging, but since my discussion with myself (see post in early August) I have been moving like a rabbit!!

So what does this all mean for you? Well, Blog Candy of course!!! Here's what I have for you:

*VersaColor square in Olive

*1 spool of Christmas twill with "Merry Christmas" printed on it (9ft)

*2 wraps of grosgrain ribbon in pinks, browns and corals (not sure how much)

*Pen with SU! logo on it

*2 ounce bottle of Sea Island Cotton lotion from Bath & Body Works (We have to keep our hands soft!)

*Jumbo decorated paperclip, SU! ginormous flower magnet & stamped 3 x 3 note card

*And last, but not least, 1 stamped card by me!! This card uses the Wanted set.

How can this Blog Candy stash be yours?? Post a comment here just to say Hi! or give me feedback on what you like or would like to see me post. Please make sure to number your posts too! On Tuesday, October 2 at 12 noon EST I will draw a random entry as my winner!! I will post the winner that afternoon!! Good Luck everyone!!!


Thanks so much for stopping by and checking out my creations and reading my ramblings!! Off to work on the Color Challenge for this week so I'll have that pic to post later today!


Happy Stamping!!


~~~Ann~~~

Groovy Thank You

The Featured Stamper this week on SCS is StarofMay aka Kristina!! She has an amazing style of clean, simple and elegant cards/projects. I actually "met" Kristina during SU!'s convention this year in Denver. And I put met in quotations since we were swapping, and if you've ever been to an SU! event, you know what a frenzy of activity swapping is! I didn't realize I had one of her cards until later that day in my hotel room.

When I go through the Featured Stamper's gallery what usually draws me to a specific card is the layout. I am always looking for new, different or unusual layouts for my cards. The majority of the time I do not use the same stamp set or colors. This time was different. With the card I was drawn to, Kristina used the Little Pieces set to make flowers!! What a fantastic idea!! You can see her card here: http://www.splitcoaststampers.com/gallery/photo/366962?cat=500&ppuser=87049

On my card I made the following changes:

*Standard A2 size (Kristina's looks like a square size)

*Colors: My base is Groovy Guava, White textured panel, Always Artichoke square, main image panel is So Saffron with WW textured.

*I used similar ribbon, but different colors/width. My ribbon is from Sherbet Originals and Beachfront Originals.

*I added a square Ice rhinestone brad and 2 silver brads.

*I added a circular sentiment using Seeing Spots

*For my dotted BG I used the dot stamp from the Three for You punch box

*I distressed the AA & SS layers with my distressor tool and sponged the both WW textured panels.

*My AA panel and main image panel are both up on dimensionals as is the sentiment.

I really like how this turned out. Again, I never would have thought to use Little Pieces to make flowers! Does this ever open the doors for me on this set!! And I haven't used this in quite some time.

I will be sending this out to very good customer of mine who just had a workshop yesterday that is just shy of $800!!! Haven't had a workshop that high in a long time!! WooHoo!!!

Take care and stop back by soon!! I'm almost at 500 visitors and I am jumping for joy!! So that means I will celebrate with some Blog candy!!! I'll get a pic posted later today or tomorrow of what I have for the lucky winner!

Happy Stamping!!

~~~Ann~~~

True Friend and Thank U

What do these have in common? They are two of the cards I've worked on this week for SCS challenges!! Both cards use True Friend from the Holiday mini collection and one uses Zoofari.

The first card is for the Wednesday sketch challenge. I needed to make up some samples using True Friend to show my customers and club members and this is what I cam up with.

The colors for this card came from the piece of swirly dp (not sure who makes it) which incorporate Choc. Chip, Ruby Red, and Blush Blossom. I hardly use Blush Blossom, but I like how these all go so well together.

I mounted the dp on Choc. Chip and did some paper piercing around the edge. On the Blush Blossom layer I stamped Linen in Choc. Chip/Ruby Red. I stamped off once before putting it on the card, but I think I should have stamped off twice. Oh, well too late now!!

On the vertical strip I layered Choc. Chip, Ruby Red and Very Vanilla with distressing done on the Choc. Chip layer. I stamped the small flower medallion in Blush Blossom and stamped the sentiment in Ruby Red. Some light sponging with Choc. Chip ink and it's done!

The flower was inked in Ruby Red and rock n rolled in Choc. Chip. I used my Always Artichoke marker to color the stem and then stamped onto Very Vanilla. Blush Blossom on Linen was over stamped on the image, more light sponging and I used the ticket corner punch on all 4 corners. The Ruby Red panel has distressing on all the edges as well. Four copper brads completes this panel. This panel is up on dimensionals.

I wanted to put some ribbon on here, but I didn't want to cover up the dp so I opted for a simple knot bow onto a Hodge Podge Hardware clip in Aged Copper. The ribbon I used is the new Chocolate satin from SU! in the Holiday mini. Very soft and shiny!!!

My second card is for today's Limited Supplies Challenge. Today Jen had us using no more than 4 layers and self limiting our embellishments. Since I just had my stampers club meeting on Wednesday night, one of the cards we made fit with a few changes.

This card literally took me 15 minutes to make!! One of the fastest I've ever made! The base card is Groovy Guava with Groovy Guava dp layered on there. We used Zoofari for my club cards, and it was on my stamp table!!, I went with it!

The zebra is stamped in Groovy Guava with sponging around the edges and layered onto Always Artichoke. The ribbon is Wild Wasabi double stitched and Always Artichoke gg stapled on with a green staple.

The 'Thank U' is from True Friend and is stamped in Always Artichoke. Remember when I said I was involved with a large stamping event? Well, these are the thank yous I will be sending out to my customers who attended.

The base card and the middle panel are sponged in Always Artichoke to give it some depth. The paper piercing was a last minute decision and I like how it really makes the middle panel 'pop'!

I've now added a subscription spot if you would like to subscribe to my blog and know when I add new posts.

Take care and Thanks for stopping by!!

Happy Stamping!!

~~~Ann~~~

Fall Colors for Victoria

As you know by now Tuesdays on SCS are Color Combo days!! And the color combo for today is great for creating a fall card with River Rock, Chocolate Chip, and Really Rust. But this Tuesday is a little different as the challenge also includes a request to send your creation to Victoria, a girl battling cancer whose teacher has put out a request for her to receive a card from every state. You can find out more about Victoria, and her teacher's request, by clicking on this link: http://createdbycourtney.blogspot.com/.

So I will be sending this little beauty out too Victoria in just a few days. On this card I used Autumn Fest which is one of the sets on special with SU! until the end of the month. I stamped the maple leaf in Really Rust and rock n rolled it in Chocolate Chip. The oak leaf is also stamped in Really Rust, outlined with the Chocolate Chip marker and the veins outlined in Choc. Chip. After that I stamped it in Versamark and embossed in clear ep.

The acorn tops were stamped in River Rock and colored with the Choc. Chip marker. The main image panel is on foam tape, the oak leaf on thick foam squares, as well as one acorn. Tool distressing was done on the Really Rust panel and the Choc. Chip panel. I also used the Apple Cider dp, Chocolate satin ribbon (yummy!!), aged copper HPH and basic 1 eyelets. Sponging around the maple leaf was done in choc. chip ink.

Thanks for stopping by and taking a peek! Take a moment to stop Courtney's blog to read about Victoria, and if you have moment make a card yourself for her.

Take care and Happy Stamping!!!

~~~Ann~~~

Paint Chip Zoo!!

Here is my card for this week's Featured Stamper challenge on SCS. You can find the link in the side bar. Zindorf is the FS for this week and does she ever have a vast range of stamping talent.

I was drawn to the card I cased due to the paint chip sample she used. I have never used a paint chip before and since I had one I thought I wold give it a try. My colors (Taken With Teal, Cool Caribbean & WW) came from the paint chip and I added in Basic Gray to help break things up.

I went with Zoofari since the paint chip already had the squares punched out and I thought the smaller animals would be cute peeking out of them. They were stamped in black staz on, as was the rhino.

For the rhino I used my WatercolorWonder crayons in Going Gray and Basic Gray. His teeth and horn are in Vanilla. For the sky I used Tempting Turquoise and small splashes of Taken with Teal. The grass was done with Green Galore. All of the colors were blended with a blender pen. Once I was done I thought he needed something added and flowers came to mind. I took the "Happy for You" stamp from Tagger's Dozen and colored just the flowers with my markers and stamped them on the line between the sky and grass. I then scribbled a darker line for some added definition.

My white BG panel was stamped with the Sanded BG stamp in Cool Caribbean with touches of Basic Gray and then sponged on all edges in CC. The tag corner punch completed this panel.

Since I made this with my niece in mind for her upcoming birthday, my sentiment had to reflect that. Again, I used different punches to make my sentiment layered panel using the scallop, 1 1/4", 1 3/8" circles,designer label and 1/2" circle punches. I used my white gel pen for some finishing touches and done!

I also paper pierced around the outside edges on the rhino panel.

Thanks for stopping by and if you have paint chips laying around, use them!!

Happy Stamping!!

~~~Ann~~~

Groovy Artichokes & a Cool Sketch!

When you have a 2 1/2 year old grandson running around your house he certainly takes a toll on your energy {big sigh}!! Since last Saturday I have had my grandson, Cameron, which leaves me little time for stamping! It's been a long time since I've had a little one around the house and have gotten quite used to doing what I want when I wanted, and that includes stamping!!!

And so, that brings me to the two cards I have here for your viewing pleasure. The first one is for the color combo challenge which Emily posts on Tuesdays over on SCS. The combo this week was Always Artichoke and Groovy Guava. I used Whisper White textured for my neutral.

I used the new Season of Joy set from the Holiday mini collection 2007. And the fantabulous thing about all of these sets, and future sets in all minis, is that they are ALL die cut!! Took me less than 5 minutes to punch these out and mount on the blocks!! And since I completed this card after spending the day at the zoo with Cameron, I kept it pretty simple since I was really tired!! It was so hot & humid yesterday.

I stamped each of the flowers in Guava and then colored the center spots with my Artichoke marker. Each one is raised somewhat for visual effect. The scallop circle is Marvy's mega punch and is using the Guava dp. I layered with an Al. Artichoke circle. The leaves are made from the flower just stamped in Artichoke. The swirls are first stamped in Guava and rolled in Artichoke. The entire circle is up on dimensionals.

Paper piercing to two corners, two Artichoke brads, a green ice circle brad and linen thread finishes the card off. I used both SU! corner rounder punches on here. (The larger corner punch is now retired.) As I've been working on cards I have been making more and more Christmas cards lately. The way I figure it I'll more ready and less I have to rush through at the last minute!!

The second card is for this week's sketch challenge. To see what the blank sketch looks like click on the link in the side bar.

For this card I brought my favorite set, Looks Like Spring, and dusted it off!! I haven't used it for quite some time and I'm not sure why. I used the same color combo from Tuesday's challenge mainly because I had leftovers, but I really like this combo. Here I added Certainly Celery with the WW.

The Artichoke panel has reverse paper piercing along the top & bottom edges, Celery & WW panels are distressed on all edges and I stamped Flannel Plaid on the Guava base in Guava.

On the WW panel I stamped the diamond pattern in Cert. Celery and the lattice in Al. Artichoke (each of these were stamped off once). Then I over stamped in Guava the 3 flowers, also stamped off once.

The flower is stamped twice, once in Guava and in Cert. Celery with both rock-n-rolled in Artichoke. I then punched a smaller flower from the Spring Bouquet punch to layer on the two flowers and topped off with this extra large green crystal brad I found at Hobby Lobby.

For my strips I used the Guava double stitched ribbon and Artichoke & Celery gg.

I tried a new "label layering" using my scallop circle, 1 3/8" circle and round tab punches. I like how that turned out. The bottom edge is up on a dimensional to make it level with the main panel. I made this one a thank you card since I have two very career important job interviews next week that I am eagerly anticipating!! Wish me luck!!

Thanks for stopping by!

Happy Stamping!!

~~~Ann~~~

Here Comes Autumn & Halloween

Jen gave us a real challenge this Friday for the LSC, 3 parts and all had to be completed to be eligible for the random drawing she will hold on Monday, 9/3.


Part 1 was to create an Autumn or Halloween scene card. Part 2 was to create a Halloween card using an animal stamp you wouldn't normally see in a Halloween card. And part 3 was to create a tent topper card in a Halloween or autumn theme. These could all be combined into one card if you wanted.




The first card I created was my Autumn scene. Well, as much as I love how this card turned out, my scene was not complete. I used Lovely As a Tree, stamped in brown staz on and sponged autumn colors over the image. The leaves are stamped on the Pumpkin Patch spectrum pad from Seasonal Whimsy. The pumpkins are made using my 3/4" and 1/2" circle punches. A bit of mellow moss gg for a stem and linen thread for the vines, and you have pumpkins!! Jen gave me some great creative advice in how to make a scene card. I have never attempted to create a card of this type before, so I was WAY out of my comfort zone!!

But the second card you see is my tent topper card combined with another scene, this time using Halloween stamps. I used the new textured paper in Basic Black for my base and then layered Pumpkin Pie, Creepy Crawly dp and WW. Again I used Lovely As A Tree stamped in black staz on here and sponged with fall colors. My tent topper is made using the Mary mega scallop and super circle punches in Wild Wasabi and Summer Sun. My ghouly friends from Booglie Eyes are out for a fun night of Trick or Treating and their friend the witch is pointing the way to the treats! No tricks here!! And they are not complete without the addition of googly eyes!!

The third card here is my Halloween card using a non Halloween image. I used the alligator from Wild About You, hand drew a witch's hat, and hung the pumpkin bucket from his mouth. I used the Creepy Crawly dp as the BG and as my sentiment. The torn papers are taken from a card on display at convention with another set of dp. Since we had to limit ourselves with layers, tools and embellishments I only used ribbon and the ticket corner punch on here. The main panel is raised with dimensionals and so is the gator and sentiment. The card looked "bare" yet to me, so I used my black marker and did some doodling. I used the new WW textured cardstock for my base.



Be sure to check out the SCS forums for all of the weekly challenges for your own fun & excitement. All of the links are in the side bar on the right.


Thanks for stopping by!!


Happy Stamping!!


~~~Ann~~~