Heart to Heart Card Drive: Many Thanks!

I made this for Carolyn King's Heart to Heart Card Drive whose dear grandmother passed away in 2008 from complications of Alzheimer's disease. From that year on Carolyn has had this special card drive with the goal of encouraging those that take care of Alzheimer's patients...the caregivers!

I used the stamp set Whimsical Autumn (illustrated by Carolyn in honor of her grandmother) and paired it with some Basic Grey Pyrus.  I do hope you can also join in this card drive... it is for a wonderful cause with many sponsors and card designers donating their own card designs.  One very happy stamper will win an estimated $1000 in prizes plus some amazing handmade gifts and cards.  I am sending mine to the Staff of the Artman Home where dear Carolyn's grandmother was taken care of, I pray it is a blessing and that they get flooded with cards!

Thanks so much for stopping by and hope you have a wonderful Tuesday!

Blessings,

Sketch Girls #2

Well, it is the 30th and that means it is time to share another card made with a Sketch Girls sketch. I have got to say this was a fun one to put together and I enjoyed using my new postage style stamps/template from Just for Fun Rubber Stamps. Be sure and read the bottom of this post for some info. on how to win some free stamps!!!

I used the sea horse image from the Eclectic Summer Stamp TV Kit which I paired with So Saffron, Handsome Hunter cardstock and some dp from the Lime Rickey Basic Grey line.  Did you know new Basic Grey designer paper is being released soon for fall?  I saw it in the new PaperCrafts magazine and I am so excited :o) Honestly, I think Basic Grey is my favorite dp!!! The bottom of the card needed a little something so I wrapped/tied around some green tulle I have in my tulle stash. This stuff is cheap and adds nice texture to a card and the netting is very nautical looking.  The rest of the sketch girls have some fabulous projects to share so if you get a chance, check out all of their eye candy: Leigh Ann, Alyssa, Harriet, Chris, Eve, Sara, Bonnie, Jessica, Julie, Katie, Randee and Tiffany.

Sketch Girls is having a giveaway this week so be sure and stop by and get all of the details to see how you can win a free stamp set (and doesn't everyone need more stamps!!!) :o)))  There will be three lucky winners and those odds are GOOD!  Have a great day!

Many Thanks

Thanks so much for all of your thoughts and prayers concerning my dad...I appreciate the personal emails and posts here on my blog. Dad made it through just fine. :o) After various tests the doctor's did confirm that he had a heart attack on Saturday, but there was no damage to his heart. He had Angioplasty (balloon and stent) on Wednesday and is recovering at home. It is so strange because my dad has low blood pressure, normal cholesterol, eats right, exercises and is in good shape.  Not the typical "Angio" case...




I made this card last week for a color challenge on StampTV: orange, yellow and red. It was a fun little card to put together and the plaid dp worked great in combining the colors.
Well, after being out of town I have a bit to get straight around the house so no stamping here until my ducks are in a row .... which is hopefully tomorrow :o) Have a great weekend!

Retro Swirl

Carolyn King had a color challenge on StampTV last week (which was to use red, pink and black). I used Retro Boutique and the swirl from Whimsical Autumn to come up with this one. The dress was paper pieced using a piece of pink patterned dsp from SU. I was tickled with how well the swirl went with the Divine Swirl Cuttlebug folder and combined it without really thinking...I kind of went, duh, that works perfectly! :o)

Well, my youngest (almost 1 year old) is down with a double ear infection and strep throat! Absolutely NO fun! Thankfully the antibiotics will kick in soon :o)

A little InStyle Stamps announcement for you.... I copied this for the ISS Blog:
We are officially launching our Forum. We at ISS have been excited about this for the longest time. While for the most part it is done, please bare with us as we work out all the kinks that come up.

Come join the fun and invite your friends. With so many message boards and forums out there why should I join yours, you may ask. Well you get to be right here, seeing first hand, all the exciting things InStyle Stamps has to offer. From super sneak peeks, contests and coupons, to seeing what the design team has up their sleeves using ISS products, you will get to hear it first!

If that is not enough, be the 100th person to register and you will win our Grand Opening Prize worth $100.00 in loads of stampin’ goodies. So why not join the Fun and be InStyle!!!! Click HERE to get started today!

Thankful Thursday Sketch Challenge

It is time for another Thankful Thursday sketch challenge and I have a fabulous sketch created from fellow Design Team member Maria Bell. Maria has some wonderful sketches on her blog that she created and they are a definite must see! This one goes all the way back to Jan/Feb of 2007 and there a ton of sketches for each month. I find that when I am stumped in designing a card, looking through sketches gets the "mojo" flowing. :o)



A favorite color combination is Ruby Red and River Rock. For the red layer, I used the SU scalloped edge punch, just adds a nice touch I think.  Suzie Q. was colored using Copics and I paper pieced her shirt to tie the card together with the dp. I also paper pieced her shopping bags as well. She is one classy shopper, I just love her shoes (who doesn't love red shoes, right!) :o)

As you can see from my card I veered a smidge from the sketch in the placement of the sentiment. It is a little higher than on the sketch, but that is what worked for me. So feel free to veer a little, but not too much :o)

If you want to play along, post your entry with a link to your creation by Wednesday, February 4th, before 11:59 PM (PST) on the InStyle Stamps blog Thankful Thursday post. The design team will look at all the entries and come up with their top 3, and Virginia will make the final decision. The winner will be announced the following day. You will have 48 hours to claim your prize. If the lucky winner hasn’t come forward after 48 hours, another winner will be selected.

If you upload your card to Splitcoast Stampers or Paper Craft Planet, please use the keyword ISSTT1-29 for ease in viewing.

Looking for more inspiration...check out what the other DT members came up with:
Maria
Shary

Cookie Box

My daughter wanted to make some cookies for her piano teacher this week so I made this little box to hold them. Over a year ago, a friend showed me how to make these cute boxes and I haven't made one in such a long time that I had forgotten all about them. Well, last week I saw a tutuorial for them on Cammie's Blog and these directions are just so easy to follow. Honestly, if I can make this...anyone can! I don't have a Scor-Pal (and am probably the only stamper that doesn't) so I just used my trusty Fiskars score blade and didn't have any problems.

I used the pumpkin from the stamp set Whimsical Autumn since the Sugar Cookies are in the shape of pumpkins. My daughter did such a good job helping me make these...we ended up doing two batches just because they tend to disappear around here! Well, that is all for today, have a great day!

Stamps: Whimsical Autumn and Flannel Plaid
Cardstock: Creamy Caramel, Close to Cocoa, Pumpkin Pie, VV and DCWV Retro paper pack
Ink: Brilliance Black, Close to Cocoa and reinkers: Pumpkin Pie and Garden Green
Accessories: Clear EP, Ribbon, Scalloped Punches, Niji Watercolor Brush

Whimsical Pumpkin

How is your Wednesday going? My little one slept all night so I am feeling pretty perky today! I was ready to start the day before he was....Amazing what a full nights sleep will do :o)
Today I have a card to share with you using a stamp set from Gina K. Designs: Whimsical Autumn. The pumpkin image is one of my favorites. I stamped the pumpkin three times using Brilliance Graphite Black Pigment ink and clear embossed it. I adhered the center one with a dimensional, so it stands up a little bit. The pumpkins are colored with Koh-i-Noor pencils and Goo Gone. I don't have OMS and for me, Goo Gone works great!

I noticed yesterday's blog entry was a little long....so today is short and simple. I had no idea I could ramble so much :o))

Recipe:
Stamp set: Whimsical Autumn
Cardstock: Ruby Red, Chocolate Chip, Groovy Guava, and striped designer paper from Hobby Lobby
Ink: Brilliance Graphite Black Pigment ink, Groovy Guava, Ruby Red and Chocolate Chip
Accessories: Cuttlebug folder Tiny Bubbles, Circle Punches, Scalloped Circle Punch, Photo Corner Punch, Ticket Corner Punch, Chocolate Grosgrain, Brown Polka Dot Organdy ribbon, and finally.....Ruby Red Brads

Back to stampin'

It has been a busy week preparing for a Mother-Daughter Luncheon at our church. I stamped the place cards and programs and was knee deep in finishing that up the last week and a half (a total of 65 placecards and programs...the event went wonderfully). If it is not too cloudy tomorrow, I will take a picture of them.



I made another card using the stamp set Whimsical Autumn...I think I should have put something in the white space over the squirrel, but couldn't figure out what without it being tacky (so this will do).



This is another card from my Secret Sister in SCS...It is just beautiful!

In other news, my little one has his first tooth.... I was/am a little sad about the whole thing, he is growing way TOO fast! I am going to miss his toothless grin when it becomes more visible.

Whimsical Autumn

Carolyn King designed the stamp set Whimsical Autumn which benefits the Alzheimer's Association. Her grandmother passed away in June from complications of this horrible disease and she designed this stamp set to honor her. Carolyn is donating 100% of her proceeds from this set to the Alzheimer’s Association. She has already donated $450 which was doubled by the Alzheimer's Association. :o)))

Carolyn has some amazing Blog Candy to win on her blog: http://myblogbycammie.blogspot.com/2008/09/heart-to-heart-blog-candy.html You have until this Friday to enter and you could win over $1000 worth of product, as well as some beautiful cards created by some wonderful stampers. If you follow the link to her blog, you will see all of the goodies to be given to the winner. It is quite amazing what has been put together and the wonderful stampers and companies that have donated.

To be entered to win, she asked for a card to be sent to someone who has Alzheimers or to the nursing home where her grandmother spent her last days. I know my great grandmother died from complications of this disease and I can still remember visiting her in a rest home in the mountains of North Carolina.

This card is going to the nursing home that Carolyn's grandmother was taken of...
Be sure to enter in the blog candy...I look forward to seeing who wins!
I hope you have a great day!

Basket of Apples

I had to break out the Buckaroo Blue cardstock for this card. Obviously another blue would due, but I really need to start using up my supply of Buckaroo Blue (it retired 2 years ago and I still have a pack and a half). For this card, I used a variety of punches and the colors Buckaroo Blue, Creamy Caramel and Ruby Red. I must say, I really like these colors together. The Ruby Red layer I put through the Cuttlebug to make the distressed stripes and I layered it with Creamy Caramel onto the Blue. It kind of just makes it stand out more. Have a great day...maybe this afternoon I will get some more stamping done.

Stamps: Whimsical Autumn, Flannel Plaid and So Many Scallops
Cardstock: Buckaroo Blue, Ruby Red, Creamy Caramel and VV
Ink: Buckaroo Blue, Ruby Red, and Creamy Caramel
Accessories: Scallop Circle, Circle Punches, Spiral Punch, Caramel gingham, SU markers and dimensionals

Whimsical Autumn: Pumpkin

I have had quite a time making cards with the stamp set Whimsical Autumn... The past few days the temperatures have been in the upper 90º's and it seems as though fall will never get here! All the more reason to create some fall themed cards :o)

For this card, I used Pumpkin Pie/Chocolate Chip cardstock and the pumpkin stamp from the set. I colored the pumpkin image using reinkers. The background was made using the Flannel Plaid background from SU. I find it is the nice stamp for making more rustic looking backgrounds.
Have a great day!

Stamps: Whimsical Autumn and Flannel Plaid
Cardstock: Pumpkin Pie, Chocolate Chip and VV
Ink: Pumpkin Pie, Staz On Timber
Accessories: Giga and Mega Scalloped Oval punch, Polka Dot Organdy Brown ribbon Paper Piercer, and Chocolate Chip marker

Whimsical Autumn

Just this afternoon I received my new Gina K. order...I have been looking forward to the stamp set Whimsical Autumn ever since I saw parts of it a the Gina K. party on the SCS forums (was that just a week ago?...time sure flies!) The sad thing about that night is our power went out and the phone lines went dead, so I had to wait until late that night to even see the complete set, but the samples alone were AMAZING! Enough to make me want the whole set. :o)

Whimsical Autumn was designed by Carolyn King and is a set of 12 stamps. She is donating 100% of her proceeds to the Alzheimer's Association in her grandmother's memory. A really neat thing about purchasing this stamp set this month is that the Alzheimer's Association Board is matching donations for the month of September. So $25 donated is worth $50.... National Alzheimer's Day is September 21.



I also ordered the stamp set Comfort and Peace and just love the tin it came in. Whimsical Autumn came in a nice bag, but I have a hard time keeping up with all of the pieces. So, I found a tin (similar to the one's Gina K.'s sets come in) that I had sitting around in my craft room (from the various SU Accents and Elements sets) and adhered the label to the top so it will be easy to find the stamp set I want. I just cut the label out and adhered it to the front. Easy peasy! My only recommendation...make sure your fingers are free from ink before you start :o) My infant was napping so I wanted to hurry and stamp some too so I smudged the cover a bit...
I am off to straighten the house some so I can get back to playing with my new stamps!
Have a great day!