Glammed Up Little Piggy

Say hello to my glammed up little piggy.  I think this stamp set is just cute as can be.  I'm very partial to stamp sets that are nature related and can be used really creatively with many artistic techniques ... but ... sometimes you also need some stamps that are just cute and fun.

I colored her with inks and my Aqua Painter.  I switched to Stampin' Write Markers for her tiny 'feet' and then went over them with Wink of Stella.  She sparkles:)

I love that our Glitter Enamel Dots come in graduated sizes.  They're so pretty.

The sprig of ribbon adds the finishing touch.  This is certainly a happy card!

Before you go...
I'm working ever so hard to get ready for my big Open House/New Catalog Party (Sunday, June 25).  I hope you've put it on your calendar, if you live in the area.  My goal is to have the absolute best party ever.  Get ready for some creative fun.  Let's party!!!  RSVP by June 23.  If you can't come, you may order online through my website, using this HOSTESS CODE:

YAGNA44P

YOUR ONLINE ORDER, USING THIS HOSTESS CODE THROUGH MY WEBSITE, WILL BE SHIPPED DIRECTLY TO YOUR HOME.

Remaining June Events:
June 22 / EARLY BIRD GARAGE SALE / 5:30-6:30
June 23 + 24 / GARAGE SALE / 8:00-5:00

June 25 / Open House New Catalog Party / 2:00-5:00

- Thanks for stopping by my corner of the blogging world.

- Come back often for more creative inspiration. 

Wooden Leaves Fall Card

Happy World Card Making Day.  What a great day to stamp.  Yesterday, Jennifer and I did something we haven't done in well over a year.  We stamped together!  It was so much fun.  She created several gorgeous Fall cards and I worked on my upcoming cards for my October 25 Christmas Retreat.  I must say that I got into the groove so much that I started stamping again after dinner and the next thing I knew, it was 2:00 in the morning!  I 'd already finished all the projects for the Retreat (as well as the projects for my November 22 Retreat) and I now have EVERYTHING finished for my October Retreat.  Woo hoo!  What a great feeling!  I'll share some sneak peeks soon.  I have to get it all photographed, watermarked and uploaded.

SPECIAL NEWS:
If you live in my area and place an order (before tax and shipping) of $35. or more from now through October 15, you will earn $10. off the October 25 Retreat!!!  I think you'll like what I have planned for you.  We'll be making 3 projects using our gorgeous All is Calm DSP.  Each project has a special surprise inside it!  We'll enjoy a light lunch together and then we'll make 12 cards for Christmas --- 3 each of 4 designs.  They'll be using our wonderful Festival of Tress stamp set and coordinating punch.  By using the same papers on the projects and the same stamp set on the cards, it will save us time and we should be able to complete everything by the end of the class.  
I am holding the enrollment for the Retreat to 6 max!
               Register early to save your spot!!!

So... let's get back to Fall for a while.  We had a real chill settle in to our area yesterday.  It is no longer sitting on the deck weather, so we might as well stay indoors and stamp.

It is so much fun to play with our little wooden elements.  Here's a card using them, along with some gold highlights.  

Look super closely and you can see that the large leaf in the background is stamped in gold ink.

I left the wooden outline leaf natural and sponged over the solid wooden leaf in Mossy Meadow.

Now go stamp something and enjoy World Card Making Day!

- Thanks for stopping by my little corner of the blogging world. 

- Click on the tab at the top of the page to see my class schedules and registration policies or click on the left for sneak peeks. 

- Come back soon and come back often for more creative inspiration.

Creating Some Beautiful Fall Leaves

Remember this card from my previous post?  I promised to share with you how I made the leaves, so that's what we'll do today. 

This is how I did it:
1.  Start with a 4 1/4 X 11" piece of CS (Whisper White or Very Vanilla).
2.  Sponge various Fall colors randomly over the entire piece of CS.
3.  Heat set inks with heat tool.
4.  Stamp a few gold speckles and emboss with gold EP.
5.  Once it cools, place leaf framelits along strip and start cutting your leaves.
6.  With this size of CS, you'll be able to cut a lot of leaves. 
7.  Enjoy using the leaves on your projects.

Here are some shots of the process:

I liked this technique so much that I made a few more pieces of sponged CS.  Come back to see what else I made with it all.  I hope you'll get busy making some beautiful Fall cards now, too.

- Thanks for stopping by my little corner of the blogging world. 

- Click on the tab at the top of the page to see my class schedules and registration policies or click on the left for sneak peeks. 

- Come back soon and come back often for more creative inspiration.

Another Fall Card with Some Special Touches

Here's another card I made using the design I shared here.  On this card, you'll notice some special leaves.  I made them myself, to add some special touches to my card.

I added a few gold speckles, for some added textures.

The inside is prettied up, too, with just a couple of special touches.

So now you're probably wondering how I made the leaves.  Come back for my next post and I'll tell you all about it.

- Thanks for stopping by my little corner of the blogging world. 

- Click on the tab at the top of the page to see my class schedules and registration policies or click on the left for sneak peeks. 

- Come back soon and come back often for more creative inspiration.

Project Life Cards From My Tags

In my previous post, I shared some cute tags that I made and asked you to come back to see what I would do with them.  I used some of them for cards!  Take a look:

There are still 2 tags left.  You'd better come back again to see what I do with them. 

- Thanks for stopping by my little corner of the blogging world. 

- Click on the tab at the top of the page to see my class schedules and registration policies or click on the left for sneak peeks. 

- Come back soon and come back often for more creative inspiration.

Coloring Techniques, Part 13

Today's technique is created using a baby wipe.  You drip 3 coordinating shades of reinker onto a baby wipe and use it to 'ink' your stamp.  This is another one of those techniques that will turn out as a unique surprise every time you stamp with it, so it's a ton of fun.

I've used this technique on the 'masked' background piece and on each of the flowers.

Here's the card I made using this technique.

Come on back to see my next technique in my journal.

- Thanks for stopping by my little corner of the blogging world. 

- Click on the tab at the top of the page to see my class schedules and registration policies or click on the left for sneak peeks. 

- Come back soon and come back often for more creative inspiration.

Coloring Techniques, Part 1

Are you ready to take some time to work on coloring techniques?  Then you're in the right place.  I'm going to share my entire Coloring Techniques Album with you, along with several cards made using these techniques.  Before we get started, I have to say what a great day I had yesterday... having lunch and visiting with my sweet MIL and then spending the evening stamping with great friends... wonderful day, wonderful class... life is good.  Then, I got up and weighed in today at a new loss of 22 pounds.  Yay!  So, back to stamping:)

I've divided my album into 3 sections...
- inks
- markers
- special techniques
These are all wonderful ways to add color to a project.

I've divided my technique journal into 3 sections:
- inks
- markers
- special techniques
Today, let's get started with section 1, INKS.

The first way I've shown to add color is by stamping onto a contrasting color of card stock that is slightly lighter than your ink.

Here's the coordinating card made using this technique.

We made this card last night at my class.  It was a big hit!

Keep checking back for more techniques.  I have 14 more to go!

- Thanks for stopping by my little corner of the blogging world. 

- Click on the tab at the top of the page to see my class schedules and registration policies or click on the left for sneak peeks. 

- Come back soon and come back often for more creative inspiration.

Cards Using Coloring Techniques, Part 2

Today, let's look at the second of our 4 cards using coloring techniques.

This card features adding color by stamping onto a color of CS with a coordinating ink.  I love how this one turned out, using Sahara Sand.  I hadn't used this color for quite a while and find that it looks fabulous with our new Mossy Meadow.
For this card, I used Calypso Coral ink on Crisp Cantaloup CS for the flower, stamped and punched 2 of them, curled the edges and attached them offset, so you see all the petals.  I then used Mossy Meadow ink on Pear Pizzazz CS, cutting this 'flower' to make into the leaves.  The center of the flower is Crushed Curry ink on Daffodil Delight CS and, after punching, it is attached with dimensionals.  With all the punching involved, it makes this a fairly quick card, in spite of all the pretty details.  

Remember, I am featuring a different look for each envelope used with my 4 cards.  This one features adding DSP to the outside flap of the envelope, to coordinate with the card.  Notice that I've added an extra layer of Sahara Sand for the top layer of the card.  This adds so much to the elegance of a card.

Again, here are all 4 of the cards for our Friday Night Cards class.  Come back soon for my next 2 close-ups.

- Thanks for stopping by my little corner of the blogging world. 

- Click on the tab at the top of the page to see my class schedules and registration policies or click on the left for sneak peeks. 

- Come back soon and come back often for more creative inspiration.

Some of My July Projects, Part 4

Today's post concludes my little series on sharing some of my July projects with you.  It's a cute little gift box and it has a special surprise inside it.

This is the same gift box you saw in Part 1 of this series, but I've used it in a different way.  I cut off the top flaps, so that when the box is closed, it makes a little opening to insert your gift, and becomes more like a little, square gift bag.  I punched a hole in each side and tied a Lost Lagoon ribbon through it to create a handle for my little gift bag.

I used a bow (Lullaby DSP)  I made with our die and then added a tag (Chalk Talk) to it.  I made coordinating 'filler' for my gift bag by cutting tiny slivers of Lost Lagoon CS and then crumpling it.  I also added a piece of Lost Lagoon CS to the back, inside of my gift bag, as it shows a little through the window.  

Here's what's inside... a set of little 3 X 3" note cards. 

I've embossed the cute little bird.  It's from our Hello Love stamp set.  It's one of our new, fun Hostess stamp sets. 
I tied a Hello Honey ribbon around the set of 4 note cards.  This will make a great gift for a special someone.

... and, one more time ... here are all my projects:

Let me know if you have questions about any of the projects.  I always read and respond to all the comments left here and I love hearing from you. 

- Thanks for stopping by my little corner of the blogging world. 

- Click on the tab at the top of the page to see my class schedules and registration policies or click on the left for sneak peeks. 

- Come back soon and come back often for more creative inspiration.

Some of My July Projects, Part 1

Today's post is the result of creative problem solving.
My stamping during July has been a real challenge.  Since my husband's accident, I've had to be full-time chauffeur, in addition to my full-time baby-sitting during the week.  With limited time, it's been difficult to get an inspiration and then follow it through to a completed project.  I've learned to be creative with my time and my projects.
It has been easier for me to focus on bits and pieces that I could finish in a short amount of time and/or come back to and take several shorter stamping times to finish.  I've found that working on a technique and experimenting with new techniques, as well as creating a few 3-D projects, have worked out the best.  When I have more time, I can actually use those techniques to create a gorgeous new project.

Today, I'd like to start a short series to share some of my recent stamping projects for July.  I thought I'd start first with another of my filter paper flowers, this time sitting atop one of our cute little Kraft boxes.

I've added some of our Hello Honey satin ribbon to coordinate with the flower.  For more info on the filter paper flowers, scroll back to my previous post for all the details, in case you missed it or would like a quick review.

Up next, some more of my July projects.  As you can see, even though my stamping time has been frequently interrupted, I've still managed to get a few projects finished in my studio.  I must create - to keep my sanity.

- Thanks for stopping by my little corner of the blogging world. 

- Click on the tab at the top of the page to see my class schedules and registration policies or click on the left for sneak peeks. 

- Come back soon and come back often for more creative inspiration.