Back in the Kitchen

Well, hello friends!  I haven’t been here in awhile… not sure if anyone missed me, but I’m here today to share some new creations with you!  I don’t stamp nearly as much as I have in the past, but when I do I find it easier to just share on Instagram.  So if you’re an Instagram user, please feel free to follow me there by clicking this link, or click on the little Instagram camera icon there on the top left column of my blog.

But hey, let’s get to the biggest reason why I’m here today!  Many moons ago, I was honored to be assigned to my very first design team by the wonderful owner of Kitchen Sink Stamps.  And today, Maria is releasing a new bunch of great stamps and has asked me to help her share them with you today by being a guest designer.  Little known fact… in addition to being the first design team I was ever priviledged to serve on, I was also the VERY FIRST online customer at Kitchen Sink Stamps!  I logged on to Splitcoaststampers one day, and saw a banner ad for a company I’d not heard of, but in that ad was a pretty flower!  I was intrigued!  I clicked on the link and liked what I saw so much I placed a quick order as I headed out the door to work.  That first stamp set that caught my eye (in addition to a few others I ordered that day!) was the 3-Step Daisy.  Do you remember this card?

Another fun story from many moons ago… I don’t remember how it got started but the Kitchen Sink Crew members were talking about other flowers we’d like to see as stamp sets, and someone (I think it was me?) mentioned dogwoods.  I have the most beautiful pink dogwood tree in front of my kitchen window, and I look forward to it blooming every spring!  Maria, being from California, didn’t know what a dogwood tree was!  The horror!  So I actually plucked some of the blooms from my tree that following spring, pressed them between sheets of waxed paper, then tucked them between the pages of a magazine, and quickly mailed that magazine off to Maria.  And now… 8-10 years later? I FINALLY have my dogwoods!  Just LOOK!

Say hello to the Enchanted Dogwood stamp set.  Aren’t they glorious?!?!?!  I literally SQUEALED when I saw the stamps, I was so happy!  I stamped my dogwoods with a combination of pink inks, because the pink blooms are what I like best.  We also have another dogwood tree in our yard that has yellow blooms, but the shape of the petals are slightly different than this one.  You seriously can make yours any color you want… they’re all beautiful!  I paired my pretty flowers with some gingham paper, and added a sentiment… the “Friend” comes from another new set being released today, the Words 4 Celebrating set.  You will find SO. MUCH. VERSATILITY! in this new sentiment set… as I did with this card…

How do you like that rainbow?  I picked four of the words from the set… Amazing, Special, Perfect and Awesome and stamped them for a background.  Then I die-cut the letters y-o-u, and combined them with a sentiment from the Other Important People stamp set.  I just LOVE how this one turned out, and I hope you like it, too!

And one more fabulous stamp set being released is the Multi-Step Spring Daffodils!  Check it out…

Daffodils in the spring are such a wonderful sight, don’t you think?  Although, here in Norteast Ohio, they can sometimes look pretty sad when they’re covered by a snowfall, as happens quite often!  One more fun fact, if you can stand it?  When I was a little girl, I called these “dack-o-dills”!  Wasn’t I ADORABLE???  I paired my daffodils with another sentiment from the Words 4 Celebrating stamp set, and I also used the digital cut file that’s available from Kitchen Sink Stamps to cut out the daffodils with my Silhouette Cameo.

Finally, I had to use the Spring Daffodils for one more fun card.  You’ll notice included with the daffodils in the set, some frogs and dragonflies!  So, just for the fun of it, I used the current CAS(E) this Sketch #274 to create this fun birthday card…

My froggie is hiding in the weeds along the edge of a pond, getting ready to snap that dragonfly out of the air!  LOL

PLEASE be sure to visit the Kitchen Sink Stamps website to grab these new stamp sets for yourself.  And stop by the KSS Facebook page to see more creations featuring these new designs.  And visit the other Kitchen Sink Crew members today, who will have fun designs to share…

Lynn McAuley

Jeanne Frontz

Maria Colosimo

So, that’s all for me today… I know, I’ve been long-winded!  I hope someone might still be reading my blog here, and that you’ve enjoyed these KSS creations today!  Thank you for stopping by!

Hello There Florals

Hello friends, me again!  I've so loved this beautiful 3-day weekend!  A great time to remember the sacrifice of our soldiers AND their families who enable us to be free.

I was so happy to have extra time for "therapy", aka stamping!  I made this card on Monday, using the current CAS(E) this Sketch #223 for inspiration...

Even though this stamp set from My Favorite Things is called Fall Florals, I LOVE using it for any season... the flowers in this set just have a cool, funky vibe and they're fun to use.  I stamped my flowers in a variety of dye inks from MFT, then arranged them all on the background oval that was made using the Die-Namics Stitched Oval Scallop Edge Frames, and behind the oval matted a piece of paper from the Dots & Stripes Confections 6x6 paper pack.  I added a sentiment from More Essential Sentiments on a piece of Coral Crush card stock that was die-cut using the current Free-with-$60 Essential Fishtail Sentiment Strips.  On the white card stock background, I stamped the BG Distressed Stripes background with Versamark ink, and embossed with white embossing powder.

Here's the sketch I used from CAS(E) this Sketch...

Again, I hope you've had a beautiful Memorial Day weekend and I thank you for stopping by!

Daisies

Hello friends!  I got some new stamps recently from Altenew, and promptly started inking up the new Spring Daisy stamp set for this card…

I masked fhe big daisy in the center front, and added the second one behind it, then masked both daisies to add the leaves.  Everything was stamped in Versafine Onyx Black ink and embossed with clear embossing powder, then I watercolored using my Zig Clean Color Real Brush markers.  I added some ink spatters and sequins for embellishment.  The sentiment was created by using the small You craft die and the You Matter stamp set from Simon Says.

I was inspired by the current colors of Color Throwdown #444, and the inspiration photo at Inspired by All the Little Things #58 to create this card.

I hope you’re having a fabulous weekend!  Thanks for stopping by!

He is Risen – Happy Easter!

Happy Easter everyone!  I hope you had a wonderful Sunday with family and friends, celebrating the resurrection of our Lord!

I just wanted to quickly share with you today the quick tag I made to go on a small pot of daffodils for my secret sister at church.  I used my Copics to color up this sweet Easter Bunny image from A Day for Daisies.

Then I just tied the orange ribbon around this little pot of daffodils…

(Photos quickly taken in my kitchen before leaving for church!)

Happy Easter, again and thank you for stopping by!

Color Throwdown #330

Hi there, friends!  Joan is our Color Throwdown hostess today, and she's got a beautiful color combo for you!  I enjoyed this color combo a lot, and I hope you will too!

For my card, I decided to use my brand spankin' new LJD Spring Tulips and matching Die-Namics from My Favorite Things...

I die-cut some tulips from Peach Bellini card stock, and stamped them in Peach Bellini hybrid ink.  The tulip stems and leaves were cut from SU! Pistachio Pudding card stock, and were stamped with Jellybean Green hybrid ink from MFT.  I die-cut a Stitched Circle STAX Die-namics from Sweet Tooth card stock, then stamped it in Grout Gray hybrid ink using the BG Woodgrain background.  Behind the circle I added a Jellybean Green card stock Pierced Fishtail Flags STAX Die-Namics that was stamped in Jellybean Green hybrid ink using the BG Linen background stamp.  And behind that I added a Pistachio Pudding card stock panel that was stamped with Spearmint hybrid ink using the BG Romantic Script background.  I added a thin strip of Jellybean Green card stock above and below the Pistachio panel for contrast, and finished the card by stamping the sentiment (from LJD Spring Tulips) in Jellybean Green hybrid ink, and adding a few sequins. The layout for my card comes from the Sweet Sunday Sketch Challenge #256 for this week. Be sure to stop by the CTD blog for all the challenge details, and visit my Throwdown sisters for more inspiration… Barbara Anders
Broni Holcombe
Joan Ervin
Jodi Collins
Lori Tecler
Monika Davis
Vickie Zimmer
Wanda Cullen
Jen Shults, Guest Designer
Amy White, Guest Star Stamper Thank you so much for visiting my blog today!

Color Throwdown #287

Hello friends!  Well, another week has flown by and we’ve got another Color Throwdown challenge to share with you.  Lori is our hostess this week, and she found this beautiful Spring centerpiece with some soft pastels for you to try.  Very similar colors to last week, but I think the paler colors make it just different enough.  I hope you’ll give it a try!
Here’s my card…

I actually colored this image over the weekend, and then realized it would work pretty well for my card today along with this sweet Pebbles “Garden Party” paper I recently got.  I took some inspiration from the Retro Sketch #109 this week for the layout.  The image I used is from A Day for Daisies.
And speaking of this past weekend, over half of the members of the Color Throwdown team actually got together for a stamping good time in Virginia at the home of Barbara Anders!  We had SO. MUCH. FUN!!!  We stamped, and ate, and laughed, and ate, and stamped, and ate, and laughed, and had a BLAST!  Here we are on Sunday morning after we had breakfast buffet, before we all said goodbye…

Broni, Vickie and Wanda are all lucky enough to live within 2-3 hours of Barbara’s home, but my drive is 7 hours!  My husband wasn’t able to go with me, so my best friend from here at home went with me instead, and Heather (she’s front and center in the purple shirt) was graciously welcomed as our CTD “mascot” for the weekend!  LOL  As a special treat, we asked her to join us this week for the CTD challenge, and she’s so ambitious she made two cards!

 
Heather doesn’t have a blog, so I hope you’ll leave her some love in a comment here and I’ll make sure she’s sees it!
For more inspiration, please visit my Throwdown sisters…
Barbara Anders
Broni Holcombe
Joan Ervin
Lori Tecler
Melody Rupple
Monika Davis
Vickie Zimmer
Wanda Cullen
Jeanne Jachna, April Guest Designer
Thanks for stopping by today!

Happy Birthday, Mom!

My beautiful, wonderful Mom has a birthday tomorrow, and I’m hoping she’s too busy right now to be reading my blog, and won’t see her card until it comes in the mail!  She’s got some friends from Georgia visiting her right now, so hopefully she just doesn’t even have time to be on the computer.  Mom… if you’re reading this STOP!
And since Linda has our new Catered Crop Recipe Swap up for the next round, I thought a card with some beautiful flowers that I know we’re all longing to see would be just perfect for the challenge!  The challenge details are below…

Spring! Oh my. After this freaky cold Winter, Spring could not come any faster or be more welcomed. So, of course, we’re going to celebrate it here at Catered Crop. Just make a project with the colors, holidays (like St. Patrick’s Day, Mother’s Day and Easter), or themes (butterflies, flowers, rain, bunnies . . . ) of Spring and come join our party.

• Include a link to us at Catered Crop or add our button, which you can grab on our sidebar or at our {button gallery}.
• Link up and link often, but be sure you link up by 8:00 PM EST on Saturday, March 29.
• Keep the party hopping by visiting the other players and leaving comments.
• Check back with us on March 30 to see if you’ve won an opportunity to be a guest designer.

So, here’s my Spring-themed card for the challenge, and for my Mama’s birthday…

I’ve had this gorgeous card by Iwona on one of my Pinterest boards for forever, and that card is one of the reasons why I finally gave in and bought the Hands of Time stamp set and matching Clock Face die from Papertrey Ink.  So to make my Mom’s birthday card extra special and gorgeous, I just decided to CASE Chupa’s design.  I used my Kitchen Sink Stamps 3-Step Hearts & Roses, added a sentiment from the (retired) All Smiles set from My Favorite Things, spritzed it all with some Heirloom Gold Perfect Pearls and finished it off with a seam binding bow and some gold sequins.
I hope you’ll join in with the Catered Crop challenge, and I hope you’ve enjoyed my Mom’s birthday card today!  Thanks for stopping by!

CrAzY for the Twist - C4C179

We’re going cRaZy on the C4C blog today and doin’ The Twist!  C’mon baby!
OK, maybe not that extreme but Frances is challenging us to get a little twisty with our cards today.  Try making a Twisted Easel card, or maybe a stamping technique that involves a twist like this.  Or… here’s what I did!

I created a Triangle Tri-fold card, because it has a little bit of a twist when you open it up!  Now, don’t even start to think that this card design is hard… it’s not at all!  Try it once, and you’ll be making them all the time.  For my design, I used some new Pebbles paper and this tulip image from Flourishes, and added a few pearls as embellishment.  Now, here’s the twist…

When you open the card, it does do a little bit of a twist as you can see here…

And then here it is fully open.  Can you see how it works?  Check out the tutorial on Splitcoaststampers  HERE, and watch the video, too!  Believe me, these are so easy and fun to make!  Now, in hindsight I wish I had stamped the sentiment so that it was readable in this final, open position shown above.  But, it’s glued down so too late to change it and this is for my Mom anyway, and I know she’ll love it no matter what!  :)
Visit the Crazy 4 Challenges blog for all the details, and to see the other twisted ideas from the team members!
Thanks for stopping by!  Happy stamping!

Happy Spring - MFTWSC117

Happy Spring, HAHA!  Mother Nature and Punxsutawney Phil are laughing their heads off at us Midwesterners with our snow-covered “Spring!”  It sure doesn’t look like the gorgeous scene on this card, but we can always hope that Spring will actually show up soon!
This is my card for today’s Wednesday Stamp Club sketch for My Favorite Things using the new Inspired by the Front Porch-Spring stamp set.  I LOVE having a front porch… love to decorate with throw pillows, hanging baskets, rocking chairs, everything.  Trouble is, right now I don’t have a front porch and I miss it!  We just have a stoop… barely big enough for two people.  So I have to be satisfied with my old swing hanging in the tree instead, which is just as nice, but you can’t decorate as much under dirty old trees.  Instead we have something you can’t have on the front porch… a fire pit!  LOL
For my card, I used papers from Dear Lizzy “5th & Frolic” paper pad, and embellished with a Mini Rolled Rose Die-Namics with leaves from the Upsy Daisy Die-Namics.  I also added a Small Scallop Border and used my Fishtail Flags STAX for the sentiment.

You can also find the sketch on the MFT blog and in the MFT forum on SCS, as well as in the weekly newsletter. And the Design Team will be on hand to provide plenty of inspiration to get you started, too!
I hope you’ll play along!  Happy stamping!

Flourishes Friday in a Forest of Trees

It’s Flourishes Friday once again, and today finds the Sr. Design team focusing on an oldie but a goodie stamp set, the Forest of Trees.  This set has been around for quite awhile, but is one of those sets with classic versatile images you can use time and time again.  For my card today, I chose a seasonal theme…


I used some old Tombow markers to ink up three different trees from the set, starting with a budding Spring tree, then a vibrant green tree in Summer, followed by a leaves-turning-colors Autumn tree, and finally a pine tree for Winter.  This sentiment from the Life Lines stamp set was a perfect addition to my trees.  I stamped everything on Flourishes Classic Ivory cardstock, then distressed the edges and sponged on some Antique Linen distress ink.  My cardstock layer and base are both from the Rich Browns Color Made Easy collection, and I embellished with some chocolate Kaisercraft pearls.

On the inside I added another tree from the Forest of Trees set, and the “miss you” sentiment from the new Sentimental Favorites stamp set.


Be sure to stop and see all the Sr. Designers today to see what they’re doing with the Forest of Trees stamp set, too…

• Cindy Lawrence
• Christine Okken
• Danielle Kennedy
• Heather Jensen
• Julie Koerber
• Silke Ledlow
• Sharon Doolittle
• Stacy Morgan

AND….

Are you ready to take a gamble? Starting today, Flourishes will be hosting a progressive sale called our Gambler’s Sale! We’ll start the sale at 10% off all items on our SALE page and then, each Friday afterward, we will drop prices another 5% until all the items are going, going, GONE! Quantities are limited – so take a gamble and see how low these prices will go and risk losing the sale or buy them before they get snatched up! There will be no back orders on any of the products facing retirement. So, get these items before they are gone for good! Since we have to make room on our shelves for new products, this sale is bound to be good! Click HERE to take a peek at our sale pages!

Happy stamping, and happy Friday!  Thanks for stopping by!

Flourishes Friday Free-for-All - From the Garden

It's Friday Free-for-All again this week at Flourishes, and this week the Sr. Design Team is focusing on the "From the Garden" stamp set!  This is such a wonderful stamp set... beautiful sentiments, and wonderful images... very versatile, too!  Be sure to click on the links below to see what everyone has done today with this stamp set!

Today, I chose to pair the From the Garden set with the Seeds of Friendship stamp set for this creation.  I used a sentiment from the "Garden" set on the Tailor Made Classic Tag, and used other sentiments from the seed set in my design as well.  I embellished my bow and tag with a button from the Basic Grey Jovial collection.  My seed packet and images were colored on Flourishes Classic Ivory cardstock with Copics from the following collections...

I hope you'll stop and see what the other Flourishes Sr. Designers have created today using the "From the Garden" stamp set...

Barbara Anders	Christine Okken	Cindy Lawrence	Dawn Burnworth
Jan Marie Caruso	Julie Koerber	Sharon Doolittle

InLinkz.com

Thanksabunch for stopping by today, and TGIF!