Snail Mail Surprise

Oh my goodness, I was so surprised to open my mailbox and find a package from my online stamper friend, Sabrina. I happened to comment that I loved the beautiful scrolled pearls she used on this beauty (scroll down) and the lace she used here and look what arrived along with that stunningly beautiful card. I just adore black and white and this one is a standout. I have to ask her about those distressed panels...they seem thicker than CS and the distressing is spectacular.

If you haven't taken a stroll through her sjbutterflydreams
blog yet, you're missing a real treat. Sabrina has an elegant style that will knock your socks off.

Enjoy the Journey

Where does the time go?! I just realized our oldest son's birthday has crept up so I pulled out this awesome Vintage Cars set from Tim Holtz once again.

Every once in a while I pop into Big Lots to see what bargains they might have scored. Sometimes I come up empty handed but yesterday I scored this luscious 12 x 12 metallic cardstock from DCWV in a pack of assorted colors @ 20 sheets for $5.00. What caught me first was this gorgeous copper color. I opened the package to feel it and the weight is just right for use as a card base or layering. The beautiful linen texture is a bonus!

I used SC150 as my starting point. Roxie has posted all the Sketch Challenges with a sample card here ready to print and keep as a reference. This is an awesome resource!!

Overall card size is 5-1/2" x 4-1/4" . Image is stamped in Encore Copper then heat embossed with copper EP on Cream CS. The streaks under the truck were added with Prismacolor marker in Light Tan for depth.

Blogger seems to be working better now. Not sure what was wrong yesterday unless I just had too many photos in one post.

Thanks for stopping by!

Supplies:
Stamps: Tim Holtz Vintage Cars
Paper: DCWV Metallic Penny & Metallic Blue, PTI Dark Chocolate & Cream
Ink: Encore Copper, Prismacolor marker Light Tan
Accessories: SU corner punch, copper brads, Crop-a-dile

Three Challenges Cupcake!

Uh, oh, I should be in bed...we're leaving for CHA early in the a.m. but I wanted to get this double challenge card posted for you.

The three challenges are CCEE Stampers to use Floral DP and a brad and the Clean and Simple Challenge CAS25 to case this darling card by Kristie Lee as well as the Whatchadoin Wednesday inspiration on the SUink Blog . Love that deep orange chaise!

I don't have any really big floral DP in the colors used in the CCEE sample but I did have some Crate Paper Carnival paper that came close. I chose the smaller pattern because I wanted to use this darling cupcake from the "All About Cupcakes" digi stamp set from The Cutting Cafe.

This is a HUGE set with so many darling imges it was hard to choose just one.

This picture shows a side view so you can see how I popped up both the cupcake and the panel on dimensionals. I frosted the cupcake with Liquid Pearls....yummy and added a touch of Sakura glitter pen to the flower and the cupcake liner. Now I'm off to bed...I'm the driver!

Supplies:

Stamps: The Cutting Cafe, Inkadinkadoo

Paper: Crate Paper, Papertrey dark chocolate

Ink: Stazon Timber Brown

Accessories: Computer, ribbon, Liquid pearls, brad

Lily is Certainly an Appealing Pixie!

This will be my last post for a few days as I'm heading off to CHA in Orlando with a few of my stamping BGF's. You should hear my DH...you'd think I was 5 sometimes. :-D He loves me, I know and worries but if I'm a big girl...uh, right?

My pictures were just awful today...not sure if it's the camera or the operator but one of us isn't in a good mood.

I must have taken 15 shots of Lily and not one decent one...my apologies in advance this one will have to do.

This color combo is for SCS Color Challenge (CC229) Certainly Pixie Appeal. We were to use Certainly Celery, Pixie Pink and Apricot Appeal. I've had this DP from Paper Loft in my stash for quite awhile. The colors are perfect for this challenge.

A perfect opportunity to use these adorable Bubble Phrases from The Cutting Cafe. Perfect for my little granddaughter who LOVES pink and the more blingy sparkles, the better. I'm a plain kinda girl who raised boys so it took me awhile to get it.

Wish my camera could capture all of Lily's bling. She's got glittery hairbands, earrings, bracelets, shoe bling, flower bling, a sparkly belt, glitter on her dress...goodness, just what every girly girl needs!

Don't forget to hop on over to The Cutting Cafe and download the Free stamp set, I have Faith in You. Regina is offering this fantastic download absolutely free until the end of August. Details at the Cafe link above.

Supplies:

Stamps: The Cutting Cafe, Pink Cat Studio
Paper: SU Apricot Appeal, Certainly Celery, Pixie Pink, Paper Loft DP
Ink: SU markers, Versafine black, Prismacolor pencils (hair), Prismacolor markers (skin)
Accessories: computer, Martha Stewart border punch, Spellbinders Scalloped Rectangle dies, Art Institute glitter, pink bling (Michael's), paper flowers and heart brad from my stash

Cutting Cafe Sweet Summer Winner

Random Integer Generator
Here are your random numbers:11
Timestamp: 2009-07-27 01:00:52 UTCjaymack said...
I just love these digital stamps, flip flops are my favorite shoes and peaches are my favorite fruit.
July 26, 2009 3:08 PM Congratulations, Janet! I will send your email address to The Cutting Cafe! Thanks to every one who took the time to comment. I read and appreciate every one. Stay tuned as there will be more drawings to come.

Sweet Summer Peaches and a Double Giveaway

My guys were sleeping yesterday afternoon after a big, very early morning of fishing sooooo...I got playtime!

I just LOVE this new 99 cent stamp from The Cutting Cafe. I printed it out again on Papertrey's Rustic Cream cardstock (printing this way gives you two cards ready to embellish). Don't forget, if you'd like to win this stamp, just leave a comment on this post. I will draw a winner this evening.

I used the Card Sketch (SC238) again because it was so much fun. The colors are from the Inspiration Challenge (IC190) and Sharon Johnson's Fruit of the Vine (ssntimoe97) challenge to use fruit on your creation.

The sweet peaches are from Papertrey's Fruitful set stamped using the Rock n' Roll technique. I covered them with Crystal Effects but couldn't capture the shine with my camera.

Be sure to hop on over to The Cutting Cafe to get your free set of stamps. Just follow the directions on the post there.

Supplies:

Stamps: The Cutting Cafe, Papertrey Ink

Paper: Papertrey - Rustic Cream, Lemon Tart, Stampin Up Groovy Guava, Wild Wasabi, Making Memories Chloe's Closet

Accessories: computer, Martha Stewart border punch, buttons and ribbon from stash, Crystal

Blessings and Happy Stamping!

Cutting Cafe Sweet Summer and a Double Giveaway

I thought I'd better let you all know that my posts may be a bit sporadic for a few more days. Our youngest son...single, good looking, has a job...:-) is visiting from Kentucky. Next Friday, I will heading to CHA in Orlando...can you say "cha ching?! We are having the best time..truly a "Sweet Summer".

A perfect way to transition you into this SPECTACULAR offer from The Cutting Cafe. Regina is offering several stamps at just 99 cents, including this versatile beauty.

And guess what!!! Regina just said I can give this stamp to you absolutely FREE!!! All you have to do is leave a comment right here. I will draw a winner on Sunday evening after 6:00 p.m.

If that isn't enough, Regina's giving away a full stamp set called "I have faith in you". I said, "giving away", abosolutely FREE, no money...nada!!! Here are Regina's own words describing why she created this set and why it's free, "why is it free...well to make a long story short, a few Sundays ago in church the pastor was talking about just this subject..forgiving others, giving more of yourself..and what I took from the service is plenty, but one thing that I wanted to give is a free set to all the cafe customers pertaining to the service." Is she not just precious for following the leading of the Lord? I wish I acted every time He prompted me.

This set will be FREE until the end of August. All you have to to is follow the directions here at The Cutting Cafe.

This card is for the Sketch Challenge 238 and CT0709 at SplitcoastStampers.

Supplies:

Stamps - The Cutting Cafe digi
Paper - Neenah Classic white, Bazzill textured, Fresh Paints (Marcella) DP, SU black
Accessories: computer, flip-flops (JoAnn's), colored dots (Michael's candle dept.)

Blessings and Happy Stamping!

Fudge Surprise Key Lime.....

Pie!!!

You definitely need to click that photo for a close up. :-) Yes, I have a card for you (keep reading) but my motto has always been - "Life's short, eat dessert first"!

And when dessert is this Fudge Surprise Key Lime Pie...who needs a main course??? I found this recipe in a magazine years ago and it instantly replaced our old standby Key Lime Pie.

Grab a napkin because you are definitely going to drool....First, Perfect Pie Crust replaces a graham cracker crust. On top of the cooled baked pie crust goes 1/2 c. Hot Fudge Topping (I use Smuckers Special Recipe) sprinkled with 2/3 c. finely chopped macadamia nuts, pressed into the topping. Then comes this DIVINE filling...are you ready?

Lime Filling
1 c. sugar
1 t. unflavored gelatin (like Knox)
1/4 c. cornstarch
3 egg yolks, slightly beaten
1 c. milk (I use 2%)
1/4 c. butter flavor shortening
1/3 c. Key lime or reg. lime juice
8 oz. sour cream (lowfat is ok)

In 2 qt. saucepan, mix sugar, cornstarch, and gelatin. In small bowl, beat egg yolks with milk using a wire whisk or fork. Stir into gelatin mixture. Let stand 1 minute. Cook over med. low heat, stirring constantly, until mixture thickens and boils. Boil 1 minute. Remove saucepan from heat; stir in butter flavor shortening, then gradually stir in lime juice. Pour custard into a large bowl and refrigerate 1-1 1/2 hours or until mixture mounds when dropped from a spoon. Fold in sour cream. When thickened and cool pour into crust over fudge/macadamia layer.

Whip 1 c. heavy whipping cream (organic) with 1/4 c. confectioner's sugar. Top pie. Refrigerate at least 2 hours or longer before serving. Garnish w/ shaved chocolate and additional macadamia nuts, if desired.

YUM!!


Oh, yeah.. .the card. Sorry, I'm eyeing that piece of pie.
Easy, peasy.
Fruitful. Stamped on Neenah Classic white CS in Versamark Chalk Ink (Lime Peel for the center, Tea Leaves for the rind)

Clear heat embossed. I traced around each lime with my Prismacolor marker in 20% Warm Gray to give them some dimension.

Sentiment is from Papertrey Limitless labels. Cardstock base layer is PTI Smokey Shadow, layered with SU Old Olive. Lime 1/4" grosgrain. Overall card size is 4.25" square.


Let me know if you try the pie...perfect for summer!

Blessings, Happy Stamping and Baking!!

Seeing Double?

No, I mean images, not weekend binges. :-)

This card began it's life as leftovers from a stamp camp earlier in the year (or maybe even last year...eeeks!)

The Ways to Use it Challenge (WT227) on Splitcoaststampers last week, (yes, this card has been done, I just couldn't get it posted!) was to use doubles on your card.

The DP was some super cheap stuff from Target. Pretty but the images were kind of "flat". I covered them all with Crystal Effects to pop them off the paper. The entire card front is popped off the base with dimensionals.

See how many things you find that I doubled. Remember those games from the comics?

Supplies:

Paper - SU Cool Caribbean, black, Target DP

Stamps - SU Teeny Tiny Wishes

Accessories- Martha Stewart butterfly and border punches, brads, Stickles, Cuttlebug folder, dimensionals

Blessings and Happy Stamping!

And the Winners Are.........

Ladies, please send me your email addresses: cookiebaker57@gmail.com so that Regina can send your digi stamps to you.

Random Integer Generator
Here are your random numbers:

14 ashjoy said...
Beautiful
12 SMK said...
wow! these are amazing!!! the colors are perfect, very clean lines, just scrumptious! great job :D
Timestamp: 2009-07-19 00:44:01 UTC

Blessings!

With Sympathy - Color Throwdown #51

I really don't think anyone enjoys buying or making sympathy cards. Sadly, they are a fact of life. Recently, a dear friend emailed me that her 22 yr. old niece was in the hospital undergoing treatments for cancer. Two days later she notified me that her niece had passed on to be with the Lord. A young beautiful life taken much too soon.

As I contemplated an idea for a card for her family, I went looking for color combinations that I thought would celebrate her life yet exude a sense of peace and calmness. This challenge at the Color Throwdown blog #51 seemed to fit the bill. We were to use Garden Green, So Saffron and Lavender Lace. Those are colors I would not have put together myself but I think they suit this butterfly perfectly. The sketch is a play on the Midnight Madness challenge. I wanted to keep it pretty clean and neat.

I used the "out of the box" technique on the buttefly's wings. The butterfly is heat embossed in black onto watercolor paper and colored with SU markers. Overall card size if 5" x 5".

Supplies:
Stamps: SU (Retired) Wings, Papertrey Anniversary set 2007
Paper: SU Garden Green, So Saffron, Lavender Lace
Ink: Versafine Black, SU markers - Garden Green, So Saffron, Lavender Lace
Accessories: Cuttlebug Swiss Dots folder, Clear EP, bling brads (JoAnn's)

Blessings!

Today's the day, Today's the Day!!

Today's the day I draw for 2 winners of templates from The Cutting Cafe!! One winner will receive the Social Butterfly digi stamp set and a second will win the Nesting Boxes template. WOO,HOO how awesome is that!!!

All you have to do is go here and follow the directions for leaving a comment. The drawing will be after 6:00 p.m. Eastern.

Good luck all!!

Blessings!!

Incredible Blog Candy!

I was visiting the awesome Charlene Merrick's blog. She had a post for the most incredible blog candy from a blog that's new to me, Priscila Styles. She is giving away some fabulous prizes to celebrate 30,000 hits. Stop by, show her some love and give it whirl...somebody has to win, right? :-) In addition, she sponsors a challenge called Midnight Madness...sounds like fun!

Blessings!

A Blog Award

When I think of how many blogs there are out there and how many talented stampers there are and how precious your time is, it is very humbling to think that many of you take the time to visit and even leave a comment (they are sooo appreciated!)So when Stephanie from Handmade Creations by Stephanie passed this award to me I was truly surprised and even more humbled. And then I got another from Sabrina at sjbutterflydreams!!

Now it is with great pleasure that I'm passing it on to a few talented stampers that I admire:


Charlene Merrick, Sabrina, Stephanie , and Sue
I'll add a couple more later. ;-)

Ladies, thank you for your inspiration and kind words. Now all you have to do is this:

By accepting this award you agree to display this award proudly on your sight (copy and paste from here) and include a post link back to the giver (that would be me).

Share this award with a few other people or as many as you would like.

P.S. Be sure to scroll down and leave me a comment on the previous post to win some awesome digi stamps from The Cutting Cafe!

Blessings!

Flutterby Butterfly & Cutting Cafe Giveaway Right Here!

If you know me well, you know I LOVE to make gift sets. I love how one thing just leads to another. These awesome images are new releases from The Cutting Cafe. The card is for Splitcoaststampers Sketch Challenge (SC237) and uses the new Cutting Cafe release Social Butterfly.

You've got to go and see how many awesome images are in this set!!

The box is the largest one of 3 (!) Nesting Boxes, also a new release and sooooo easy to print out, cut out and put together. This box is big enough to hold lots of candy, jewelry, small cookies, cosmetics and more for a quick simple gift. Some of the ladies on the Design Team have made them in stacks of all 3 boxes. What a great gift idea!!

For my card, I printed out just this image in black and in red. I cut out the red butterflies and used a bit of Mono-Multi to stick them to the black image, then added some stick on pearls. I sponged the background in Versafine black. Don't you love that black and white dotted layer on the box and on the card? It's actually 1-1/2" satin ribbon that I had left over from another project. I just put a layer of 1-1/2" Scor-Tape down the back for a nice smooth application on the box base and on my card. I colored the leaves and stems with Prismacolor pencils and a blender pen.

I'd love to know what you think of these new releases and if you've read this far.....I have a treat for you! Regina at The Cutting Cafe IS ALLOWING ME TO GIVE AWAY THESE TWO SETS!! Yep, BOTH OF THEM!! JUST LEAVE A COMMENT HERE ON MY BLOG TELLING ME WHAT YOU LIKE ABOUT THE CUTTING CAFE. That's it!

I will choose two winners by random number generator on Saturday, July 18th after 6:00 p.m. Eastern time. One winner will receive the complete Social Butterfly set. The other will receive the Nesting Boxes set. These will be available for you to download in both WPC and PDF formats.

Supplies:

Stamps - The Cutting Cafe

Paper - SU black, Old Olive, Rockability DP, Neenah Classic White

Ink - Prismacolor pencils, blender pen

Accessories - computer, nestibilities, ribbon, Scor-Tape, stick-on pearls (Michael's), SU corner punch

Tri Shutter Card - Live your Dream

Hope you all had a great weekend! It was my first weekend with no coughing and I'm so thankful.

A friend commissioned a card for someone very special so I thought I'd go back to SCS and look for a technique I hadn't tried yet. This is a Tri -Shutter Card. The directions can be found here on craftiblog's site. The gallery on SCS is here for TLC221.

Getting the dimensions right for the first panel proved a bit of a challenge in itself, I did not say any bad words although I sure was tempted to!! Once that was done though, the rest was easy. The card folds to fit into a regular A2 envelope. If you haven't tried this technique yet, I encourage you to give it a go.

Here's a close up of the flower on the front. This is from Papertrey's 2008 Anniversary set that I finally received. I think mine got lost in the mail or something. I stamped the image 4X then popped each layer up on a dimensional after giving each layer a good coat of Crystal Effects.

This is a view from the top. Aren't those folds cool? I distressed most of the edges and clear embossed the sentiments. Thanks so much for stopping by...your comments are always appreciated.

Supplies:

Stamps - SU Live your Dream, Papertrey 2008 Anniversary set, Scripture - unmounted red rubber

Paper - Base - Bazzill Linen Textured Cream, Papertrey Pure Poppy, Ripe Avocado, Green Tea Leaves DP

Ink - Papertrey Pure Poppy, Vintage Cream

Accessories - Cuttlebug Butterfly, Martha Stewart leaf & butterfly punches, heart and flower cream buttons (JoAnn's), Twine (PTI), Pearls (SU & Michael's), Crystal Effects, dimensionals, ribbon (free from Ellen Hutson), SU Old Olive marker

Blessings!

Real Red Tempting Kiwi

Now, how's that for a title? ;-) I FINALLY got to play a Color Throwdown! I follow Tammy's blog, Stamp Happy and have vowed to do a Color Throwdown someday...well, the day has come! The Throwdown was to use Real Red, Tempting Turquoise, and Kiwi Kiss. I love color challenges, because they put colors together I'd never even consider combining. I combined Color Throwdown #50 (CTD50) with the Splitcoast Sketch Challenge for this week SC235 (nine small panels).

The Kraft is actually a bit darker IRL. The card is 4.25" square, scored on my Scor-Pal along the edges. The images are popped up on bits of dimensionals.

A fun and easy card to duplicate.

Supplies:
Paper - PTI Kraft, SU black, Real Red, Tempting Turquoise, Kiwi Kiss
Accessories - Scor-Pal, Daisy, MS butterfly, 1-1/4" and 1" circles, bling - $1 bin at Michael's, dimensionals

Thanks for stopping by the Playground. Your comments are always appreciated!

Blessings and Happy Stamping!

Happy Birthday, Happy Birthday, Happy Birthday.....

For this card, I used the sketch at Card Positioning Systems (CPS123). I didn't have any of the sponsor stamps but I liked the sketch.

My card is 4.25" square. My base is SU black layered with Making Memories Sabrina DP (did I say I LOVE that paper?!

The stamps I used are printables from The Cutting Cafe. Hey, ladies, if you want a chance to win the newest "Happy Birthday 40 Ways" set, be sure to visit Dee Dee's blog and leave a comment....she's got a really cute card to show you too!!

I printed the Happy Birthday background in pink to match my DP. The happy birthday circle is from the All Occasion Circle Word Set 1. Did you notice that I punched out the center of "Thinking of You" and placed it in the center of the happy birthday with a dimensional? That's why these stamps are sooooo versatile! You can change them to suit whatever color or size you need plus interchange the sentiments! How cool is that?

I did some sponging on the happy birthday image layer as well as on the pink circle. There are 3 blings on the accent strip that don't show up well in the photo but they're there. :-)

Supplies:

Stamps: Happy Birthday Background & All Occasion Circle Word Set 1 - The Cutting Cafe
Paper: SU black, Making Memories Sabrina DP
Accessories: Computer, Print Shop, sweing machine, Spellbinders Circle & Scalloped Circle dies., plastic gems(Michael's), dimensionals

Blessings and Happy Stamping!

A bit of a Cutting Cafe Tutorial

I've had several questions regarding how to use The Cutting Cafe downloadable stamps. I have to admit I'm still learning but here's some of what I've done so far.

I used Print Shop. We have Adobe Photoshop Elements and I'm sure that would be better but until I get time to learn how to use it, it's too time consuming for me. If you have Word, that will work as well.

Here is a printout of Trust in the Lord (just one page of this huge set!) I re-use my sample papers so you may see a star image on this sample. Ignore that. Just click on the pictures to enlarge.

For my purposes, I just wanted three of the sentiments. - I thank God for you everyday, I prayed for you today, and You and your family are in my Prayers.

I highlighted the images I wanted, then simply copied and pasted them into Print Shop. From there, I could make them larger, smaller, change the color, make multiple images, etc.

Here is my finished copy ready to cut out for my projects! I am so not techy....I mean really NOT techy but this was so easy.

I will have a card using the birthday set tomorrow showing how I changed the font color. FUN!!

Thanks for stopping by and don't be afraid to experiment...that's the beauty of The Cutting Cafe!!

Blessings and Happy Downloading!!

Triple Berry Jam All Dressed Up

I just love that I can combine my passions - cooking/baking, stamping, and gifting. It's so much fun to bless someone with something you've made. I guess that's why we all love stamping so much.

I created a belly band of sorts to wrap around my jam instead of a tag this time. The lid is pretty enough to stand on its own so no need to cover it up.

The band is a 1" strip of Papertrey Bitty Box DP wrapped and taped to circles cut with the scalloped circle dies from Spellbinders. The outer circle is PTI Pure Poppy, next smallest is Bitty Box DP and the center circle was stamped with a sentiment from Papertrey's Fruitful set along with my own computer generated jam name. Simple and easy.

The card is 4.25" square. The base is SU White layered with PTI Plum Pudding and Pure Poppy Bitty Box DP. I cut the scalloped layers with my Martha Stewart punch. I used the SU horizontal slot punch to punch each side of the white layer, then tied Pure Poppy ribbon to each end. The berries are from PTI's Fruitful. I stamped them on my white layer then stamped another set, cut them out and layered them with dimensionals. Triple Berry is strawberry, blackberry and blueberry. No blueberry stamps so two blackberries are standing in. Shhhh, don't tell!!

The blackberries were inked with Plum Pudding then rock and rolled ever so slightly in Pure Poppy...just like the real thing. The strawberry is stamped in Pure Poppy. All stems were inked with Old Olive and stamped off before adding to the berries. I touched the berries slightly with Sakura jelly roll pens to give them some subtle shine.

I appreciate your comments....you just never know when a surprise may be coming your way!

Blessings and Happy Stamping!