Inspired by Stamping

Sneak Peek & IBSIC #28 Cards

Are you ready for a new IBSIC sketch this week? The ladies and our talented guest designer have created some gorgeous cards. Here is the sketch…

This week we have a masculine sketch for you to try. Please don’t feel that you have to create the dreaded man card this week. This sketch is just to get you creativity a flowin!

Before we get to my cards…over the next few days I will be sharing with you a couple sneak peeks for next month. We will be releasing two new 4x4 stamp sets on October 1st. I just can’t wait to share with you all the details but I have to keep it a secret until the 1st! I will just say, it will be a huge month for IBS as we celebrate our 1 year anniversary!!!

Inspired by this weeks masculine sketch, I created this card featuring browns, greens and creams throughout. I showed my card to my hubby today and all I got was a hmmp. I guess that means in guy terms, good???

Happy Birthday sentiment is a sneaky peek from the NEW Graceful Hydrangea. I also added these two images from the Ahoy, Matey! stamp set.

Here you can see the sentiment was cut out using a Spellbinder Label 22 die.

My second card features the NEW Graceful Hydrangea stamp set again in all its beauty. Both the hydrangea and sentiment will be available on Oct 1st.

Here is a close up of the sentiment stamped in brown ink.

And a close up of the hydrangea colored using Copic Markers.

I hope you join us this week over at IBSIC! We look forward to seeing your gorgeous creations!

Stay tune for tomorrow! I have an exciting announcement to make! Hehe! I am full of announcements over the next few days! So exciting! I am bouncing off the walls!

A Belated Birthday Card for my Dad & some photos :)

(click here to view my mojo monday and tstr card)

Hello friends! How are you? It has been a whirlwind few weeks here in our family. The builders are still working everyday with lots of pounding, sawing and hammering. Our deck was finished yesterday and two rooms have been tiled. They are starting work on our bedroom floor today. I have ordered my cabinets and countertops for my kitchen too. Yay!

It has been exciting to see the house transform. What I didn’t expect was all the decisions of where things should go. Power points, lights, fans, etc. Some times I just looked at the builder and just don’t have any idea! LOL! But all in all it is great to see progression on the house.

This weekend we had a chance to explore and took off in the truck for a 1/2 hour drive. Its one of my favorite things to do. So we packed a picnic, put the kids in their swimming clothes, slapped sunscreen on and away we went.

Here are some photos to share of our new surroundings. I hope that you enjoy them. :)

During our move my Dad celebrated his birthday. Here is his card that I made for him. Its been sitting here on my desk waiting to be sent to him. A very belated one but I hope he enjoys it still.

Happy Birthday Dad!

Ahoy, Matey!

Hello blog friends and welcome! We are all packed and ready for our big trip tomorrow. We are all excited! Today, we are having a Christmas party with my in-laws and it is also my father-in-law’s birthday. It will be a great day today with lots of cooking and yummy food. Plus, us older girls are off to see Twilight today! Yes, I have to admit, I am a closet fan! hehe!

Here is the card that I made him for his birthday using the Ahoy, Matey stamp set.

Have a great day today! Please leave me a comment and let me know what you think about today’s card. Thank you for stopping by!

Challenges:

Card Patterns Sketch #146

NEW! Ahoy, Matey Stamp Set

Hello Friends and Happy Friday! Today, I am releasing my last stamp set this month called Ahoy, Matey! I hope that you have enjoyed this last week of new stamp sets! I have had a blast releasing them and making cards with them.

Just a friendly reminder, today is the last day for blog candy! Please comment on any posts this week and you will be eligible for a free stamp set. The winner will be able to chose the one that she loves. Yay!

Have a wonderful Friday! Stay tune for this weekend when I will announce the winner!

Ahoy, Matey Stamp Set Details:

• Size 6 x 8
• Set of 17
• Retail of $28

Here are some more inspiration photos…

Navy blue, rustic orange and kraft are my color choices for today’s card. I used the Ahoy, Matey stamp set for all the images in this card.

I love this simple yet stunning lighthouse that I stamped with Navy ink and colored the lights with a yellow marker. I love this sentiment, “You Light Up my Life!” It is the perfect masculine love card for the any occasions.

This card is my favorite. I think you could give it to a girl or a guy. I have a lot of girl friends that are boaters so I think that this would be perfect for them too. What do you think???

CLICK HERE TO SHOP 24/7

 

Happy Birthday Card #1

Stamps: Ahoy, Matey!

Paper: Odds and Ends Cosmo Cricket Paper, Prima Printery Collection Paper

Awesome Tools: Nestie Labels 3 Die

A Touch of Glam: Baker’s Twine, Brown Pearls

 

Nautical Card #2

Stamps: Ahoy, Matey!

Paper: KaiserCraft Up, Up & Away Paper Pad

A Touch of Glam: Baker’s Twine, Pearls

Nautical Card #3

Stamps: Ahoy, Matey!

Paper: My Mind’s Eye Paris & Co. Paper Pad

Awesome Tools: Nestie Ovals

A Touch of Glam: Twine, Seam Binding, Button, Rhinestones

A Touch of Glam

Freshly Made Sketches #7

Happy Friday my friends! Yay! Whoo Hoo! I am so happy that it is Friday! You all are probably wondering why??? My hubby is coming home and I am on my way this morning to pick him up at the airport! He left last Sunday and I have been thinking of him this morning as he travels home. What better way to tell him then a card.

I  was scrolling through my Google Reader also and saw the Freshly Made Sketch and just love it!  Have you visited them? Click Here to go to their challenge. It is all about clean and simple! Love it! My card today only took me 20 minutes to make. Another Whoo Hoo!!!

Have a wonderful Friday and weekend! I will be stamping my heart out this weekend. I just received 6 new stamp sets to sample! You will love these. I plan on dropping by and showing you some of them!

Plus, I have my design team selected. Emails will be going out shortly. I  have butterflies in my tummy I am so excited!!!

Have a great day! Keep Smiling!

I used the Up, Up & Away Kaiser Craft Paper Pad. I love all the gorgeous masculine colors in this paper. I also used the All Year Wishes I stamp set for my “I love You” sentiment. Scroll down for a peak at the entire stamp set.

Here is a close up of my sentiment. :) Thanks for stopping by and visiting me today!

Stamps: All Year Wishes I

Paper: Kaiser Craft Up, Up & Away Paper Pad

Awesome Tools: Spellbinder Lacey Circles and Circle Dies

A Touch of Glam: Buttons

Birthday Wishes–A Guy Card

Happy Friday to you all! I hope you have had a great couple of days. :) I am off to pick my hubby up from the airport today. Yay! The kids and I have been home alone this week. Whenever Brad leaves, I always try and do fun things with the kiddos. This week we watched movies and ate popcorn for dinner one night (they thought it was great on a school night!), did a puzzle and went to the park to have a picnic. 

I hope everyone has a great weekend. Last night after the kids went to bed, I sat down and made some cards. I am so excited to share them with you over the next few days. So I will see you tomorrow! Have a wonderful day everyone!

Today, I grabbed Kaiser Craft Up, Up & Away Paper Pad. I love all the browns, greens and cream colors that this paper has!

I wanted to keep my card simple today. I did not daub around the edges. The paper already did it for me. :) I then used a ticket corner punch for a little extra detail. Two new sneak peaks for my stamps. I then placed 6 brads on the top and bottom of my card for some masculine glam! LOL!  

Stamps: ?

Ink: Early Espresso, Cajun Craze

Paper: Kaiser Craft Up, Up & Away Collection 6x6 pad

Awesome Tools: Ticket Corner Punch

A Touch of Glam: Brass Brads, Early Espresso Grosgrain Ribbon

Best Dad Ever for Aussie Dads!!!

Hi blog friends! The holiday weekend kicks off today! Any plans? As most of you know, my hubby is Australian. I met Brad when I was only 15 years old. He was a Rotary Exchange student and we only knew each other for 10 days before he went back to the beautiful land of Oz. We were best friends (my first love) for 5 years and wrote letters back and forth. Yes, snail mail was all we had in those days. I can still remember running to the mailbox whenever I saw the mailman hoping that there was a letter from him. And then he came back to America to see me while I was at Michigan State and well the rest is history.

Any who, this weekend is also a special weekend for my husband as it is Father’s Day in Australia. So today’s card is for my Australian friends who will be honoring all the Dad’s this weekend and my gorgeous hubby! Happy Father's Day. :)

I hope everyone has a safe and happy holiday weekend wherever you are in the world. Hugs to you all!

My Mind’s Eye Paris & Co paper pad was used for my decorative paper. Three bronze Brads on each side of the card were used for my glam. I also used some Grosgrain Early Espresso Ribbon for the center. I wasn’t going to use ribbon but I think it is not too girlie? I hope not.

I used the SU! Best Dad Ever stamp set in Chocolate Chip. To make a frame using Spellbinders, first lay two dies down on a piece of magnetic sheet. Then lay paper over it. Whip it through the Big Shot and you have a gorgeous frame. For an added effect, I lifted the frame using Dimensionals.

STAMP SETS: BEST DAD EVER (SU!), WALTZINGMOUSE VINTAGE LABELS 5

PAPER: MY MINDS EYE PARIS AND CO.

AWESOME TOOLS: SEWING MACHINE, BIG SHOT, LABELS 18 DIES

A TOUCH OF GLAM: EARLY ESPRESSO GROSGRAIN RIBBON, ANTIQUE BRADS

The Open Sea ~ Masculine

Hello my sweet blog friends! How are you? Are you enjoying the gorgeous summer weather??? I am so happy it is Friday. And I don’t have any plans this weekend. I am so happy about that! I am really looking forward to lounging around this weekend. It doesn’t happen very often!

I had a few comments yesterday about coloring the embossing image. Click here if you missed my card. I embossed the image first and then colored it very carefully using Bashful Blue and Wild Wasabi markers. Also, don’t forget my braying embossing video but that’s mostly for a single color. I hope this helps!

Hugs to you all!!!

Nautical Expedition Designer Series Paper took front stage today. I coordinated it with Early Espresso, Crumb Cake and Whisper White. I love this tiny tag with the “4 you” sentiment from Tiny Tags stamp set. I used the DSP with the Lace Ribbon Border punch. I then layered a piece of retired Early Espresso Grosgrain ribbon.

I stamped the world image on Crumb Cake card stock and then gently sniped the image using my Paper Snips. I stamped the ship using Night of Navy and also sniped it out. I daubed the edges using Crumb Cake ink.

Early Espresso Baker’s Twine was wrapped around my card four times and then knotted with my sentiment.

STAMP SETS: THE OPEN SEA, TINY TAGS

INK: EARLY ESPRESSO, NIGHT OF NAVY, CHERRY COBBLER, CRUMB CAKE

CARD STOCK: WHISPER WHITE, CRUMB CAKE, NAUTICAL EXPEDITION DESIGNER SERIES PAPER

AWESOME TOOLS: LACE RIBBON BORDER PUNCH, PAPER SNIPS, JEWELRY TAG PUNCH, 1-1/4” CIRCLE PUNCH, 1-3/4” CIRCLE PUNCH, SEWING MACHINE, CROP-A-DILE

A TOUCH OF GLAM: EARLY ESPRESSO GROSGRAIN RIBBON, EARLY ESPRESSO BAKER’S TWINE

PPA99 - CAS Element of Style - Stars

Hello friends! How are you? Are you gearing up for the weekend? This weekend I am flying to visit some friends. I am so excited to be kid free with my hubby for a few days! He is already there for business and I get to join him tomorrow. I am looking forward to unwinding and relaxing and of course do some shopping. I am going to Ikea!!! WhooHoo! I can’t wait, I haven’t been there in a few years!

Today’s PPA challenge features clean and simple with gorgeous stars. Scroll down to view the inspiration photo and click here to see all the beautiful creations from the PPA team.

Your comments mean so much to me! I look forward to hearing your thoughts on today’s card! Thank you for visiting me today! Keep Smiling.

When I think of military, I always think red, white and blue and the beautiful American flag. I cut each piece of paper and then sewed the edges using Chocolate Chip thread. White Baker’s Twine wrapped around three times created this amazing yet simple look.

My big white star comes from On Board Mix & Match. I then added a chocolate chip button. Gratitude sentiment comes from the Fabulous Phrases stamp set. My two little stars were punched out using the retiring star punch in Real Red and Pacific Point.

 

STAMP SETS:

INK: CHOCOLATE CHIP

CARD STOCK: WHISPER WHITE, CRUMB CAKE, REAL RED, PACIFIC POINT, ON BOARD MIX AND MATCH

AWESOME TOOLS: SEWING MACHINE, STAR PUNCH, OVAL PUNCH

A TOUCH OF GLAM: ANTIQUE BRAD, NEUTRAL BUTTONS, PEARL JEWELS, WHITE BAKER’S TWINE

Photos of the birthday girl & a birthday card…

Hello everyone! I hope that you have had a wonderful weekend celebrating Father’s Day! Brad and Tessa both shared the day together. It was a weekend full of parties and fun. Today we have another birthday in the family. My adorable (he probably wouldn’t want me to call him that ) nephew is turning 15 today. Here is his card, it was a tough one for me to make.  I kept asking myself, what do I make for a teenager? When I saw the Summer Splash stamp set and saw the surfboards, I thought it would work, with omitting the flower one.

The colors I chose today are Pacific Point, Chocolate Chip and Whisper White. To tone down the brightness of the Pacific Point, I daubed the cardstock with Whisper White Ink and a dauber. My pendants come from the new Pendant punch. “happy birthday” sentiment was stamped from Best Dad Ever Stamp Set in Pacific Point. I then hand cut it out to look like a larger pendant.

I gently added ink to only three of the five surfboards using Pacific Point. Hemp twine and a Corduroy Button was added for a masculine touch of glam.

Tess and I waiting patiently for the girls to arrive.

Opening presents with the girls and my son Brayden who loved pestering them.

Having happy birthday sung to her. It was a great day!

STAMP SETS: BEST DAD EVER, SUMMER SPLASH

INK: CHOCOLATE CHIP, PACIFIC POINT, WHISPER WHITE

CARD STOCK: WHISPER WHITE, CRUMB CAKE, BLUEBERRY CRISP DSP, CHOCOLATE CHIP, PACIFIC POINT

AWESOME TOOLS: BIG SHOT DIE CUT MACHINE, SPELLBINDER NESTIE LABELS 3, 3/16” CORNER PUNCH, PENDANT PUNCH

A TOUCH OF GLAM: HEMP TWINE, CORDORUY BUTTON