School Picture Frame

Apparently, I've still got school on the brain. This clipboard is actually a picture frame. You can put pictures behind the glass. I used some old scraps of patterned paper and a bunch of premade embellishments and added my last name to the name plate. I thought maybe I'd display this on my desk with my class photos each year. Too lazy to post the supplies now. Maybe later.

Oh, Summer Where Art Thou???

Did I mention that I'm really ready for that month of uninterrupted summer vacation? After school got out on Monday, I spent three days taking a teacher class. Totally worth it, but that means three things: 1) I haven't stamped this week, 2) I haven't cleaned up and checked out of my classroom, and 3) I haven't officially started my vacation yet!

With that, here's a card that I made awhile ago but haven't shared here yet. I was playing with some of the new toys that came out with the 2008 Spring/Summer book. Build-a-Brads actually came out in the fall, but they weren't available during most of that time (quality control issues). I have to say that I LOVE them! I hope they stick around for the new IB&C. I also love the Flower Fusion felt flowers. I would love to see SU! bring more of those in different colors. {Beautiful Thing recipe}
Stamps: A Beautiful Thing
Ink: Old Olive, Pink Passion, Tempting Turquoise
Paper: PTI white, Bali Breeze DSP
Accessories: Build-a-Brad, Flower Fusion, 5/8" Olive grosgrain ribbon

Tonight we're headed to an Earth, Wind, and Fire concert at a winery. It's a great venue for a concert. Everyone just plops up their beach/lawn chairs and hangs out drinking wine. I personally don't benefit from the wine part (not a wine drinker), but I love the relaxing way to enjoy a concert. Also not so crazy about the Earth, Wind, and Fire part either. That's all Keith (my hubby). Don't get me wrong, I like the music. We've been to see one of their shows before, and we actually had a lot of fun. Once would have been good enough for me.

I guess I shouldn't complain too much. Guess who he's making me go see in September! The Backstreet Boys! That's right, you read it correctly. His love of boybands, although preferred, is not limited to the UK variety!

An award and a tag!

While I was away, LeAnne from Wee Inklings gave me another Arte y Pico Award. Thanks, LeAnne!

Here are the rules for the award:

1. You pick five blogs that you consider deserve this award for their creativity, design, interesting material, and also contribute to the blogging community, no matter what language.

2. Each award has to have the name of the author and also a link to his or her blog to be visited by everyone. Remember to leave the person a comment or email to let them know they received the award.

3. Each award winner has to show the award and put the name and the link to the blog that has given her or him the award itself.

4. Award-winner and the one who has given the prize have to show the link of Arte y Pico blog, so everyone will know the origin of this award.

So here are my five picks this time:

1. Pam Smerker at Paper Askew Studio

2. Silke Ledlow at My Life

3. Denise Marzeck at The Paper Landscaper

4. Cindy Lawrence at One Happy Stamper

5. Dawn Easton at TreasureOiler Designz

I also just got TAGGED by the super-talented, and new SCS Dirty Girl and fellow Great Swaps Girl, Denise Marzeck, whose work I simply LOVE (note the aforementioned award pick)!

Here are 7 random facts about me:

1. Thanks to my husband, I can now truly say (and I can't believe I'm saying this publicly) that I enjoy listening to "boy band" music, particularly those of the UK variety.

2. And since I'm fessin' up, I should probably also admit that I'm a closet fan of the TV shows The Bachelor and The Bachelorette (yes, I'm embarrassed, please don't tell...)

3. I'm afraid of left-hand turns and spiders.

4. I let our dogs sleep on the bed when my husband's out of town (yep, that's a secret too and a no-no in our house...but in my defense, he doesn't go away very often - we're talking maybe once a year).

5. I grew up in Arizona (hate the heat, always have).

6. Sometimes, I randomly quote movies, songs, and television shows.

7. My husband and I are volunteer puppy raisers for Canine Companions for Independence (CCI) and are currently raising our fifth puppy (due to turn-in this August...sigh, sniffle, frown).

Now it's my turn to tag seven bloggers!

1. Lynn at The Queen's Scene

2. LeAnne at Wee Inklings

3. Monique at Faith, Trust, and Pixie Dust

4. Beth at Freckled and Fun

5. Julia at Create With Me

6. Nancy at iStamp

7. Pam at Paper Askew Studio

Okay, for some unknown reason, my post keeps squishing all the text together, making it rather difficult to ready. Cathy Zielske would not be please with the type all close together. It needs space to make it pleasing to the eye and easy to read. Well, no such luck today.

I'm done trying... My solution? Bold, underline, and italicize! Sorry, folks!

School's Out!

Every year, I love my students, and this year has not been an exception. I love them! That said, I've never been so happy and ready for summer break!!!! It's been a long year! Phew! I made it. Barely. But I made it! Yay, summer!

I was desperate to stamp after being gone and then busy with report cards, so last night I decided to make some quick cards to give to a few of my fellow teachers. I chose this new Karen Lockhart image, which I think is just adorable. It says summer to me! The coloring though is a bit time consuming on this one though. Not sure what I was thinking. I needed FAST! Stayed up way too late, but at least I finally stamped!!!{Summer Days recipe}
Stamps: Karen Lockhart
Ink: Basic Black
Paper: Real Red, Whisper White
Accessories: SU! Markers, silver brads, stardust stickles

I missed all of you, my stamping and blogging friends! Glad to be back. I have some upcoming Stampin' Up! classes that I need to prepare for, so hopefully I'll have some cute projects to post in the next couple of weeks.

More Sparkle

Things will be quiet on my blog for the next couple of weeks. I am leaving town tomorrow after school to go score part of our state's writing assessment for fourth grade, then I still have two days of school to finish up with the kiddos. I will be quite busy getting everything wrapped up, which means no time to stamp! I don't even think I'll have Internet access when I'm gone, so I'll have to come back and catch up with all you stamping bloggers out there! What will I do without my daily fix?????

On to the card...I made this for one of Lauren's Saturday Sketches. It's a funky pop-up, pull-out type of card. I really like this card I made with all the sparkles, so I continued that theme here. This time instead of using dazzling diamonds, I used Iridescent Ice embossing powder. It was time consuming because I had to stamp over each flower with Versamark, but the technique itself was very simple. I also tried to use bright colors that I don't normally use!

This is a view of the card standing up:
Here's a side view where you can see the folded flap and the pop-up flower:
This is the card laying flat, so you can see what it would look like if someone pulled the flap down:
And here's a close-up to see all the SPARKLE!!!
{Birthday recipe}
Stamps: Ginormous Flowers, It's Your Birthday, Short & Sweet, Hugs & Wishes
Ink: Pixie Pink, Tempting Turqoise, Lovely Lilac, Green Galore, Basic Black, Versamark
Paper: Basic Black, Whisper White
Accessories: Rhinestone brads, Iridescent Ice embossing powder

Okay, kids, I'm outta here! "Don't forget me when I'm gone...my heart would break!" (name that tune...)

June Stamp Club

These are the cards for my June Stamp Clubs. These were the last clubs of the Stampin' Up! year. I have two wonderful groups of gals who've been coming over each month, and I just love chatting it up with them and hanging out. Some have been with me for the last two years. We'll start clubs back in August or September, and I'm excited that most of the gals will be coming back, and some new members are joining.

This first card uses the Voila stamp set. This was my first time using the set even though I bought it some time last year. One of my customers made the most adorable card with this set, so I rushed out and bought it. So many stamps, so little time!!!! {Happy Birthday recipe}
Stamps: Voila
Ink: Basic Black
Paper: Lovely Lilac, Summer Sun, Real Red, Whisper White
Accessories: Scallop punch, two-way glue, Dazzling Diamonds, SU! markers in Real Red, Summer Sun, Lovely Lilac, Close to Cocoa, Sahara Sand, and Only Orange

I really like how this next card turned out. I was looking for a way to add texture to the card without using any cuttlebug folders. I used my bone folder and paper trimmer to score vertical and horizontal lines on my brilliant blue paper for a checkerboard type pattern. I love the texture. Everything else is just punched or cut out and layered on dimensionals. I thought this card would look so good with colored glitter (there's that sparkle thing I'm hooked on right now), but I wanted to keep it simpler for stamp club. The gals have to make three cards in a short period of time. I think next year, I'll go back to two cards.

{Happy 4th recipe}
Stamps: Independence Day
Ink: Real Red, Brilliant Blue
Paper: Conqueror White (Paper Zone), Brilliant Blue, Real Red, Whisper White
Accessories: circle punches, brilliant blue brad, 5/8" red grosgrain ribbon, bone folder, paper trimmer

I don't usually make a lot of masculine types of cards, so the last couple of months I've tried to make cards that could be used for Father's Day. Last month we used the puppy image (LOVE it) from the For Father set. This month we used the apple image. This would be a good card for a fall birthday too.{Happiness recipe}
Stamps: For Father
Ink: Basic Black, Basic Brown, Creamy Caramel
Paper: Chocolate Chip, More Mustard, Old Olive, Ruby Red, Whisper White
Accessories: Vintage brass brad, hemp twine, 1/16" hole-punch, sponge, SU! markers in Ruby Red, More Mustard, Old Olive, Bordering Blue, Brocade Blue, Ballet Blue, Close to Cocoa, Chocolate Chip, So Saffron, Summer Sun, Creamy Caramel

When life gives you limes...make margaritas!

Natasha Trupp has started a new website called Clean and Simple Stamping. Just like the name says, it will be focused on clean and simple stamping. I'm so excited about this new site. You should go check it out! She plans to post a variety of clean and simple techniques. One of her ideas is to post some fall to sketches. You know, those quick, simple sketches you return to time and again. Last week she posted this sketch, and I finally had a few minutes to play along. I've been wanting to find a way to use these new A Muse stamps, that I bought a couple of months ago, and I thought her sketch fit the bill.

I love the sentiment! I have another one that says {got margaritas?}. How cute is that? Here's a close-up that shows I added Crystal Effects to the inside and outside of the glass to look like there's liquid inside and Stickles for the salted rim.

{Make Margaritas recipe}
Stamps: A Muse
Ink: Gable Green, Certainly Celery, Green Galore, Wild Wasabi
Paper: Gable Green, Certainly Celery, Green Galore, Wild Wasabi, PTI white
Accessories: green apple grosgrain ribbon (retired), SU! brads, crystal effects, stardust stickles

Three Challenges, Two Cards

Being a book lover and a teacher, I'm very fond of Bookwormabella. The layout on this card features Beate's WSC50. I really love this particular layout. It will definitely go into my book of favorite, go-to layouts...just as soon as I create that book. Can you say summer project? Like one of 20. {You're Fabulous Bookwormabella recipe}
Stamps: Bookwormabella by StampingBella, sentiment by Verve Visual
Ink: Palette Noir, Chocolate Chip
Paper: Soft Sky, Close to Cocoa, Whisper White, Tres Jolie DP
Accessories: SU! markers, Nestabilities, Brown brads by American Crafts

This next card is for last week's sketch (SC178) and color challenges (CC168) on Splitcoast. The sketch was hard to work with, but I like the end result. Except for the sentiment, which ended up a bit crooked and small. It was, however, the last thing I added and there was no way I was redoing it! The French Flair background was stamped on very vanilla. It was kind of harsh, so I layered the vellum over the top to soften the look. Both the sentiment and the medallion are stamped with chocolate chip craft ink and embossed.
{Merci recipe}
Stamps: French Flair, Carte Postale
Ink: Chocolate Chip Craft, Versamark
Paper: Chocolate Chip, Sage Shadow, Very Vanilla, Vellum
Accessories: Clear embossing powder, SU! wide chocolate satin ribbon, Brown brads by American Crafts

Two Challenges

These cards combine of this week's challenges. I used Jen Del Muro's Sketch for You to Try, which included the use of any Bella stamps, and I also used Kristina Werner's Color Inspiration Challenge #10. {Huggybellas recipe}
Stamps: Huggybellas
Ink: Basic Black
Paper: So Saffron, Not Quite Navy, Spring Break DSP
Accessories: Blue Bayou double-stitched ribbon, Flower Fusion, Not Quite Navy brads, Stardust Stickles, Aqua Painter, Stamp-a-ma-jig imaging sheet, SU! Markers in Creamy Caramel, Close to Cocoa, Not Quite Navy, Bashful Blue, Old Olive, So Saffron, Blush Blossom, Pretty in Pink

{Beachabella recipe}
Stamps: Beachabella, Polka Dot Background
Ink: Basic Black, So Saffron
Paper: So Saffron, Not Quite Navy, Bashful Blue
Accessories: Old Olive twill ribbon, Flower Fusion, So Saffron button, Stardust Stickles, Aqua Painter, Stamp-a-ma-jig imaging sheet, SU! Markers in Not Quite Navy, Bashful Blue, Old Olive, So Saffron, Blush Blossom, Pretty in Pink

June Inspiration Class

This month's Inspiration Class features the Blossoms Abound stamp set. I know that I cased several cards from Splitcoaststampers, but I printed most of them out so long ago, before I was blogging and keeping track of who to give credit to. So, if you see a version of a card you made and posted on SCS here, please let me know so I can give proper credit. Thanks!


{Thank You recipe}
Stamps: Blossoms Abound, Short & Sweet
Ink: Pretty in Pink, Regal Rose, Certainly Celery, Old Olive
Paper: PTI White
Accessories: none This is a tri-fold and buckle card all in one. I got it at a swap a couple of years ago. Credit goes to a gal named Rebecca Wright. What a great idea!
{Celebrate recipe}
Stamps: Blossoms Abound, Wonderful Words, It's Your Birthday, Sincere Salutations
Ink: Regal Rose, Rose Red, Certainly Celery, Always Artichoke
Paper: Confetti Cream, Rose Red
Accessories: Word Window punch, Slot punch{My Friend in Pink recipe}
Stamps: Blossoms Abound
Ink: Blush Blossom, Pretty in Pink, Basic Gray, Basic Black
Paper: Pretty in Pink, Whisper White
Accessories: Black brads, 1/4" black grosgrain ribbon{My Friend recipe}
Stamps: Blossoms Abound
Ink: Gold Pigment, Bravo Burgandy, Always Artichoke
Paper: Bravo Burgandy, Basic Black, Whisper White
Accessories: gold brads, clear embossing powder{Best Wishes recipe}
Stamps: Blossoms Abound, Short & Sweet
Ink: Soft Sky, Wild Wasabi, Bayou Blue
Paper: Soft Sky, Bayou Blue, Wild Wasabi, Whisper White
Accessories: slot punch, Bayou Blue double-stitched ribbon
{Thanks So Much recipe}
Stamps: Blossoms Abound, Sincere Salutations
Ink: Perfect Plum, Pale Plum, Certainly Celery
Paper: Perfect Plum, Whisper White
Accessories: 1/4" celery grosgrain ribbon, Stardust Stickles{My Friend in Yellow recipe}
Stamps: Blossoms Abound
Ink: So Saffron, Barely Banana, Always Artichoke
Paper: So Saffron, Whisper White
Accessories: 1/4" artichoke grosgrain ribbon