Knock Knock

Who’s there?  Is that you Linda?  Oh my goodness, where have you been?

Surprise, surprise, surprise.  This blog is about to be revitalized!

My apologies for the year long absence.  My creativity – long held at bay – is ready to be shared with all who care to see it.  At long last!

Until I have something to share, don’t miss your chance to get something FREE when you buy $50 worth of products from any current Stampin’ Up! catalog:

2017 Occasions Catalog                  2016-2017 Annual Catalog

That’s right – it is SALE-A-BRATION time once again at Stampin’ Up!  Who doesn’t like to get free stuff?  No one that’s who!  This year’s choices are just as fabulous as always and are available through March 31, 2017 while supplies last.

Sale-a-bration           Sale-a-bration – 2nd Release

If you have any questions or need help making your selections, I am here to help.

Until next time, stamp on my friends.

Linda

Posted in Uncategorized | Leave a comment

A Peaceful Wonderful Wreath

I made a card … I made a card … I made a card!  Believe it or not, I made a card!  It’s about time, right?  I finally got to play with some of my new toys from the Holiday Catalog and here is what I designed.

DSC08571

DSC08574

I have a tip for using the Wonderful Wreath framelits and the coordinating stamp sets.  You will notice that both the framelits and the stamps have a “handle” at the top.

  1. Place a mark at the top center of the piece of card stock
  2. Line up the handle of the stamp with that mark
  3. You will want to cut out the center of the wreath first – line up the handle of the center framelit with the mark and adjust slightly as needed until properly positioned in the stamped image and roll it through the Big Shot (a Magnetic Plate is recommended)
  4. Next align the handle of the wreath framelit with the mark and adjust slightly as needed until properly positioned around the stamped image and roll it through the Big Shot (a Magnetic Plate is recommended)

You should then have a near perfect wreath.

Here are the Stampin’ Up! products that I used in the design of my card, all of which include the magical hyperlink to my online store where you can order what you need to make this card.

Built for Free Using: My Stampin Blog

 

If you have any questions regarding measurements, etc. please do not hesitate to contact me.

Thank you for stopping by my blog.  I hope you leave here inspired to put stamps to ink to paper.

Until next time, stamp on my friends,

Linda

Posted in Big Shot, Cards, Christmas, Holiday Catalog, Photopolymer Stamps | Leave a comment

Lots of Joy for a Snowflake Element

Since I previously stated that I must have the Lots of Joy stamp set (available in the 2015-2016 Annual Catalog) and I do not yet own this stamp set, this means that today’s project is another card that I obtained at this year’s Convention in a general swap.

DSC08565

As with the three or so prior projects I have shared with you here, this began as a “card front” that was designed by Marcia Gay.   I love the foundation of Marcia’s card – it is so my style.

Here, I attached the card front to a Whisper White card stock base, and then added a few additional elements to put my own personal touch on the finished card — the snowflake embellishment, iced rhinestone and red and white striped ribbon.

Personal choice — if I had actually stamped the “Merry Christmas” on this card, I would have used a Blender Pen to remove the red tree that serves as the “A” and would have colored it in with an Old Olive Stampin’ Write Marker.  Now that would have been perfect!

Man how I wish I had come across these last two swap cards BEFORE I placed my last order (ugh!).

Here are the Stampin’ Up! products that were used in the design of this card, all of which have that magical hyperlink that will redirect you to my online store so you can order what you need to make this card for everyone on your Christmas card list!

Built for Free Using: My Stampin Blog

 

Thank you for stopping by my blog today.  I hope you leave here inspired to put stamps to ink to paper.

Until next time, stamp on my friends,

Linda

Posted in Cards, Christmas, Holiday Catalog | Leave a comment

A Wondrous Wreath on a Brick Wall

Well it seems the only way I will be able to keep up with my daily posts is to continue to share with you the creations of other talented demonstrators.  No matter how hard I try these past few days, there are just not enough hours in the day to squeeze in some ink time <sigh>.

The card I will share with you today was designed by Dreamia Toloso and I received it as a swap at this year’s Convention.

DSC08559

DSC08558

Now I love, love, love the wreath framelits and the coordinating stamp sets (did you know that there are now three coordinating sets!?!), but they are just so “flat”.  So to add some dimension to the wreath on Dreamia’s card I painted each leaf of the wreath with Dazzling Details.  I just wish the awesome sparkle shined through on the photo!

This was another “card front” so I adhered it to a card base of Very Vanilla since that was the card stock that the wreath was stamped on.  Now I do have some comments/criticisms to make here.  The “Merry Christmas” is stamped on Whisper White (oh no she didn’t!) and I am not sure which stamp set it comes from since it was not included on the card “recipe” so it was likely from a retired set (naughty).  The red ribbon on the wreath is retired (naughty naughty).  If I had made this card, I would not have used both Real Red and Cherry Cobbler (she used this color on the wreath berries); I would have just used on shade of red, likely Cherry Cobbler since that is a much richer shade.

Technique Time:  Now Dreamia did use a technique in the creation of this card that I just cannot bear to do myself.  She inked up her embossing folder with Tip Top Taupe (you can use a brayer or apply directly from the pad) and then embossed the Sahara Sand card stock.  This gave the “brick wall” the darker masonry mortar look.  I cannot bear to do this because I love my embossing folders and would hate for them to get stained with ink, although I hear that they clean up relatively well.

My tip of the day:  Do not mix the use of Whisper White and Very Vanilla in the elements on your card front – especially if there is not any designer series paper to tie the two tones together.

And here are the Stampin’ Up! products that I can identify that were used in the design of this card, again all of which have a magical hyperlink to my online store to make it easy to buy what you need:

Built for Free Using: My Stampin Blog

 

Thank you for stopping by my blog today.  I hope you leave here inspired to put stamps to ink to paper, or perhaps try a new technique.

Until next time, stamp on my friends,

Linda

Posted in Big Shot, Cards, Christmas, Photopolymer Stamps | Leave a comment

Remembering The Alamo & Weekly Deals

Whether you are fortunate to be a Texan (like me!) or not, when you hear the phrase “Remember the Alamo” you know to what it refers.  Earlier this summer my husband and I spent a long weekend in San Antonio, Texas.  Even though it was well over 100 degrees, we stood in line for about an hour to take the tour of this amazing historical building.  Why an hour?  Well, you see they take a commemorative photograph of each and every family before they enter the front doors.  Here is our family photograph.

DSC08551

I wanted to make it extra special so I selected one of my 10×8 ceramic frames that I purchased a couple of years ago “just in case I needed them” and went through my many packages of Stampin’ Up! Designer Series Paper until I found a print design that was deserving of framing a photograph of the two of us at the doors of the Alamo (unfortunately, it was a retired pack of paper! — Painted Blooms # 137784).

This is about as close as I get to “scrapbooking”.  For some reason I have never been much of a memory keeper in the form of scrapbooking, which is odd since I keep every piece of memorabilia and card I get throughout the years.  I am a walking contradiction I guess.

weeklydeal2015 (1)

Well since it is Tuesday again — yep it comes around about once a week — it is time to reveal the weekly deals.

Built for Free Using: My Stampin Blog

 

As a reminder, the quantities of the products at these prices are limited so if you must have any of these deals, act quickly to cash in on the bargain!

Thank you for stopping by my blog today.  I hope you leave here inspired to put stamps to ink to paper — or maybe just put some photographs you have had sitting around into some frames with some pretty designer series paper as a background.

Until next time, stamp on my friends,

Linda

Posted in 3-D Projects, Home Decor, Weekly Deals | Leave a comment

Lots of Joy Among the Stars

Wow, today was a very busy day.  I did not get much accomplished but I know I was very busy – ever had one of those days?  Of course you have!  So I kind of cheated with today’s project.  I looked through all of the swap cards that I received at this year’s Convention and selected one that was a Christmas-themed card.

DSC08536

DSC08537

This card was designed by Jennifer Buchanan-Springer from Seabeck, WA; however, I made some modifications of my own.

First, her card was just a card front – so I adhered the front to a full card (easy peasy).  Second, the gold glimmer paper stars were attached to the card front with glue dots so they were flat; I thought they needed some elevation so I popped them up with dimensionals that were carefully cut down to fit.  Lastly, I added the new Gold Glitter Ribbon from the Holiday Catalog which I painstakingly was able to tie into a bow with the help of a few glue dots.

Here are the Stampin’ Up! products that were used in the design of this card, all with that magical hyperlink to my online store for simple one-click ordering:

Built for Free Using: My Stampin Blog

 

(Man, now there’s another stamp set that I must have!)

Thank you for stopping by my blog today.  I hope you leave here inspired to put stamps to ink to paper.

Until next time, stamp on my friends,

Linda

Posted in Big Shot, Cards, Christmas, Holiday Catalog | Leave a comment

Thinking of You with Happy Scenes

Well I did not spend as much time playing with my stamps and inks this weekend as I had wanted to do.  My husband ended up getting a new SUV this weekend and so we spent some time at the dealership (it is amazing how much time it takes to actually purchase a vehicle!) plus I have been photographing and researching original prices of retired stamped sets that I will be listing for sale on eBay.  But – I did get one card designed today and here it is.

DSC08528

I am also going to submit this as a project for The Paper Players Challenge – I hope this qualifies as “Clean and Simple”.

Here are the Stampin’ Up! products that I used in the design of this card, all of which include a magical hyperlink that will redirect you to my online store:

Built for Free Using: My Stampin Blog

 

Thank you for stopping by my blog today.  I hope you leave here inspired to put stamps to ink to paper.

Until next time, stamp on my friends,

Linda

Posted in Big Shot, Bundles, Cards, Holiday Catalog, Photopolymer Stamps, The Paper Players | 2 Comments

A Pillow Box Filled With Kisses

Sadly this is the final project I have to show you from our September Stamped with Joy group meeting.  Oh, wait – that just means I need to get busy getting my fingers all inky and come up with a project of my own to share with you!  Never fear, I have plans to do just that.   Without further ado, here is today’s project:

DSC08347

Super cute, right!  I just love how super quick and easy projects like these can be with the use of the Big Shot and a die.  Just need some strong adhesive and a few elements to decorate the project, fill it up with all kinds of goodies (mine is filled with Almond Kisses) and you are done.  Of course now I have to add another item to my NEED list since I do not yet have the pillow box die.

Here are the Stampin’ Up! products that were used in the design of this 3-D project, each with a hyperlink to my online store to make it easy to order what you need (I used the Always Artichoke Stampin’ Write Market from the Regals set):

Built for Free Using: My Stampin Blog

 

Thank you for stopping by my blog today.  I hope you leave here inspired to put stamps to ink to paper.

Until next time, stamp on my friends,

Linda

Posted in Uncategorized | Leave a comment

A Flurry of Wishes in Lost Lagoon

It’s Friday, Friday, Friday.  Let the weekend fun begin.  But first, here is the final project from the Flurry of Wishes extravaganza from our September Stamped with Joy group meeting.

DSC08333

I had to guess at the ink colors – I think I got them right (I really should start writing that information down!).  This card uses the masking technique and some sponging as well.  Lots of fun to make.

Here are the Stampin’ Up! products that were used in the design of this card, all of which are available for purchase on my Stampin’ Up! website 24/7, simply click on a thumbnail to be magically redirected:

Built for Free Using: My Stampin Blog

 

Thank you again for stopping by my blog.  I hope you are enjoying your visits.  I would love to receive comments back from you.  What do you like?  What do you not like?  What would you like to see more of?  Regardless, I hope you leave here inspired to put stamps to ink to paper.

Until next time, stamp on my friends,

Linda

Posted in Bundles, Cards, Christmas, Holiday Catalog | Leave a comment

A Flurry of Wishes with Curvy Corners

Happy Thursday!  It is nearly the weekend – yee haw!  I don’t know about you, but I hope to spend lots of time getting my fingers all inky playing with my new stamp sets.  There is almost nothing I enjoy more.

Today I am sharing with you the third of the four projects from our September Stamped with Joy meeting that uses the Flurry of Wishes bundle from the Holiday Catalog.

DSC08338

It looks complicated but is actually very quick and easy.  I would be happy to show you and a group of your friends how to make this card – at your home or my home.  Let’s make it a girls’ night out – what do you say?

Here are the Stampin’ Up! products that were used in the design of this elegant card:

Built for Free Using: My Stampin Blog

 

If you are interested in purchasing any of these items for yourself, click on any of the thumbnails and you will be redirected to my online store where you can order at your convenience – even in your pajamas!

Thanks for stopping by my blog today.  I hope you leave here inspired to put stamps to ink to paper.

Until next time, stamp on my friends,

Linda

Posted in Bundles, Cards, Christmas, Holiday Catalog | Leave a comment