A break from Halloween posts

I have more Halloween creations to share with you but I'll give you a break today and show you a couple of $1 stamps that I found at Michaels last night. I paired them up with PTI Kraft cardstock and some Authentic paper from Basic Grey's Origins collection.

Love the birdcage.

Here's a side angle to show you the dimension of the crate paper flowers.

Check out this adorable typewriter.

I'm thinking this stamp will see a lot of ink. It's perfect for any occasion, just mask off the words and add the appropriate sentiment. 

The forecast for today and tomorrow is mid-70's so I'm hoping to spend as much time outdoors as possible. I don't remember when we've had a nicer fall in Minnesota. Thanks so much for stopping by. I hope you're having a wonderful week.

Boo Blocks

I hope you're in the mood for Halloween because I have another project for Halloween to share today. Yesterday I mentioned the vase I found at a sale this summer for 25 cents and today I have another find while browsing at rummage sales this summer - a set of alphabet wood blocks. After a nice coat of black spray paint they were ready to be covered with some My Mind's Eye  (Night Light collection) halloween papers.

 After all of the sides were covered with paper I added the letters to spell BOO. The letters were stamped in black on kraft cardstock and punched out with a circle punch. The edges of the circles were inked with black soot distress ink and matted with a black circle of cardstock. For the orange pieces I used my Nestabilities.

For the finishing touch the blocks were sprayed with a clear sealer. I really like how they turned out. Have you found any great things at garage sales for your crafting projects? Let me know.


Thanks for stopping by. Happy Stamping!

Halloween Tree

While shopping at rummage sales this summer I found a vase for 25 cents that I thought would be perfect to fill with branches to make a halloween tree. So after a nice coat of black spray paint, some branches from my brother's woods and a variety of halloween balls and signs I came up with this . . .

I thought about spray painting the branches black but since some of the branches still had leaves on them I decided to leave them natural for now. Here are some close-ups of the ornaments. These were made using Nestabilities labels.

For the balls I covered plastic Christmas ornaments and some small syrofoam balls with strips of fabric and a variety of ribbons.

Thanks so much for stopping. I hope you're having a wonderful Monday!

Happy October 1st

Wow, hard to believe it's October 1st today and that my poor blog hasn't seen any posts since May. I had a wonderful summer and am now ready to get back into the swing of regular postings. I hope there are still some followers out there. (smile)

For today I would like to post a couple of photos of how I spent my summer. Then I will be back with crafty posts.

A family canoe trip down the Bois Brule River in Northern Wisconsin.

Lots of time at the cabin with family.

Lady Gaga concert in St Paul with girlfriends.

and lots of day trips to enjoy the outdoors. (Split Rock Lighthouse)

 I was very crafty this summer but not very good about recording my projects. I made a lot of card sets and I also made several non-card projects.  I'll be back with photos and details of some of my summer projects. Thanks for stopping by. I hope you've enjoyed the peek into "how I spent my summer vacation".

More cards with the Papertrey Ink For the Graduate set today. Love the idea of the flying graduation cap so I made a couple of simple grads cards using that idea. The "Happy Graduation" stamp is from Hero Arts.

I really need to put the graduation sets aside and figure out a Mother's Day card for my Mom. :)
Thanks for stopping by. Happy Stamping!

Graduation time

Graduation time is just around the corner so I thought I'd better start making some cards. I'm having a great time with the new Papertrey Ink graduation set For the Graduate. For this card I used some digital papers and lace and created my own flower with my scalloped circle punch. To create the flower I punch 3 scalloped circles out of grey cardstock then ran them through my crimper repeatedly, next I crumpled them up until the fibers started to break down. Once that happens you can pull them apart creating two layers from each piece. So I layered the 6 pieces together and placed a small green prima flower on the top of the stack and held it all together with a green gem brad. I attached it to the card with a dimensional glue dot.

Thanks so much for stopping. Happy Stamping!

Savitri Wilder Inspired

I love this card that Savitri Wilder posted on her blog and decided to try and recreate it with supplies that I had on hand. To create the background I stamped one of the circle stamps from the Hero Arts Monogram Alphabet set in SU pixie pink on PTI Kraft cardstock. The outline label stamp is from the Doodlebug Designs Tags set and the birthday wishes is from PTI's Faux Ribbon set. I pulled some old lace out of my stash and tied it in a bow then tied the tag onto the bow and attached it to the card with a glue dot. The flower is 3 blossoms from a silk flower held together with a bright yellow brad and attached to the card with a glue dot. I also cut two leaf shapes from felt and attached those to the back of the flower petals with scor-tape.

Thanks so much for stopping by. I hope you're having a wonderful week! Happy Stamping.

Lovin' the Go-to Sketches edition from Paper Crafts

I have another card today using a slightly modified version of the sketch I used on my last post (page 9 of the Go-to Sketches edition of Paper Crafts). The flower stamp is from Hero Arts.

Hope you all have a wonderful weekend! Happy Stamping.

Happy 40th Birthday!

It was Alan's birthday last weekend so I pulled out my Party Farm Animals from Pink Cat Studio to make a 40th Birthday card for him. A stack of farm animals just seemed appropriate. I stamped them on kraft and colored the image with Copics and a white gel pen. The 40 and birthday wishes is from Anna Wight's Whipper Snapper set 29 Again.

For the card design I used Go-to Gal Teri Anderson's sketch from page 9 of Paper Crafts Special Issue of Go-to Sketches. If you haven't picked up your copy of Go-to Sketches I highly recommend it. I've made several cards using this sketch alone and there are 66 sketches in the issue.

Thanks so much for stopping by. I hope you're having a wonderful Wednesday! Happy Stamping.

One of my co-workers was in need of a thank you card after her cat went missing. I'm happy to report that the kitty was found and is home now. A lady in the neighborhood took the cat in and called my co-worker after seeing the lost poster at the local grocery store. This card will be going to her along with a gift certificate to the grocery store.

The stamps are from Whipper Snapper's Anna Wight cling mount sets (Sweet Expressions for the greeting and Cozy Critters for the kitty). I hope you're having a wonderful week. Thanks so much for stopping. Happy Stamping!

Rock-a-Bye Baby

How about a baby card today? I just love the little rocking horse stamps in the Rock-a-Bye set from Clear & Simple Stamps. I just stamped the sold image horse in a variety of fun baby colors on a strip of white card stock and distressed the edges before adhering it to a white card base.

Don't forget that you can get $1 off the set by entering Discount Code: CSS0410 (valid April 1-30, 2010)


 Thanks for stopping. Happy Stamping!

Love Pure Innocence

Today I have more Pure Innocence cards to share. These digital images are available from the illustrator here. Hope you're having a wonderful Tuesday!

Happy Stamping!

Happy Monday!

Today I have a couple of cards using Dawn McVey's Delightful Dahlias set from Papertrey Ink. What a fun set to work with.

I hope you're all having a wonderful Monday. Happy Stamping!

Welcome Millie

My friends have been talking about getting a dog for over a year and they finally got a black lab puppy last week so I pulled out my Whipper Snapper stamps to make them a congratulations card. I used the Anna Wight Good Dog and Baby on Board sets. The images were stamped with Rich Cocoa Memento ink and colored with watercolor crayons and an aqua brush. For the finishing touch I added some Primsa multi fine glitter to the flowers and the dog's collar.

Thanks so much for stopping. I hope you're having a great day. Happy Stamping!

The {Stamps} of Life: thanks2you

Today I have a couple of cards made with the Thanks2You set from The {Stamps} of Life by Stephanie Bernard. For the first one I used an old rub on from the DCWV Rockstar collection. I gave my crop-o-dile a good workout setting the eyelets around the oval nestie piece and mounted it on a background of My Mind's Eye papers. I love the girly look of this one.

The second card is designer paper free. I know . . . hard to believe I made a card without designer paper. I stamped the flowers on white cardstock and added some Old Paper Distress Ink to the edges. For the finishing touches I added some glitter to the pink flowers by using a glue pen and 3 pink gemstones.

I hope you're having a great day! Thanks so much for stopping by. Happy Stamping!

More Matilda Images from DigiStamp Boutique

Today I have two more cards with Matilda images from DigiStamp Boutique to share with you.

Hope you're having a wonderful Wednesday! Happy Stamping.

Caardvarks Blog Hop

If you have arrived from Heidi Van Laar's blog you are in the right place. If you did not arrive from Heidi's blog then you will want to start at the beginning of the hop here.

Clear and Simple Stamps has teamed up with Caardvarks for a blog hop and challenge. One lucky winner will get a $25 gift certificate to Clear and Simple Stamps. Just make a NEW baby card and link it up at the Caardvarks blog for your chance at the prize.

Also, there will be three blog hoppers (who have left comments and followed the designers on all the blogs) who will win a $25 gift certificate, just for leaving some love. Read all the details at the Caardvarks blog. Onto the card.

This card uses the newly released Rock-a-Bye set from Clear & Simple Stamps and papers from the Madame Royale pack by We R Memory Keepers.
Your next stop on the hop will be the very talented Tanis. Thanks so much for stopping by. I can't wait to see what you create for the hop.
Just in case you get lost along the way here is the Blog Hop Master List:

Caardvarks
Clear and Simple Stamps
Jenyfur Pohl
Lori Tecler
Heidi VanLaar
Beth Matson {you are here}
Tanis Giesbrecht
Sarah Martina

Kim Howard
Ashley Newell
Savitri Wilder
Kelly Rasmussen
Sue-Ann Tibley
Amy Crockett
Sue Berker
Michelle Giraud
Robyn Weatherspoon
Lucy Beel
Jen Tapler
Eva Doblias
Simone Pursiful
Peet Roeven

DigiStamp Boutique April Offer of the Month

Please scroll down since this is my second post of the day. I haven't posted in forever and then two posts in one day. . . Crazy, I know. I am hoping to get back to regular postings! Ok, now for some new images from DSB.
          
                            
Meet Marty and Matilda. Aren't they adorable! They are the Offer of the Month over at DigiStamp Boutique. There are 5 images included in the collection. Here's a card I made using the Ballet Matilda image from the collection. I created the saying on my computer.

The image was colored with Prismacolor pencils and Gamsol. The papers are from the K & Company Carolyn Gavin Greenhouse pack. I just love the colors in this paper collection.

Thanks for stopping. Happy Stamping!

Clear and Simple Stamps April Release

You all know by now that along with the first of the month comes a new Stamp of the Month set and free template from Clear & Simple Stamps. First I'll share the new Stamp of the Month for April: Rock-a-Bye

Don't forget that you can get $1 off the set by entering Discount Code: CSS0410 (valid April 1-30, 2010)

Clear and Simple has also come up with a new Copic Trio: Yellow Green Trio 2 (YG11, YG13, YG17). There is a $4 savings when you purchase the Rock-a-Bye set and the Copic Trio bundle. Also if you enter the Discount Code: CSS0410 you will get the additional $1 savings so it would be $25 for the set and trio of Copics. What a great deal!

Ok, now it's time to share the April Template of the Month designed by Sue Berker for Clear and Simple Stamps. It is a darling Rock-a-Bye Horse. Sue has even posted directions on her blog Sharing What I Love. For my sample I used Clear and Simple Stamps new cardstock color Green with Envy for the base and decorated it with some papers from DCWV Nana's Nursery Baby Boy paper pack.

I ran the horse shapes through my cuttlebug with the swiss dot embossing folder before attaching them to the box in center. I also stamped some tissue paper with the star image from the Rock-a-Bye set in Green with Envy ink.

Here's the horse paired with a matching card. I love the idea of presenting a baby gift in the little rocking horse.

Be sure to visit my fellow Design Team members blogs for more inspiration and samples of the Rock-a-Bye HorseTemplate.

Hoppin' Easter Party

There's a hoppin' Easter Party happening over on the Clear and Simple Stamps blog. Check it out here.

Check out the Bunny Hop

The Sweet Sketch Wednesday DT are running a fun 'bunny hop' this weekend, and DigiStamp Boutique is the sponsor. Lots of prizes to be won if you take part...plus there is 10% off all images on their website during the hop!

Check out the DigiStamp Boutique blog for all the details.

Fifi from DigiStamp Boutique

Ok, I hope you liked the K&Company Carolyn Gavin Greenhouse papers from yesterday because I have another card for you today using that paper. Despite our yard full of snow I am thinking about spring and this paper just makes me smile so I used it again today. I paired it up with one of the March releases from DigiStamp Boutique  Fifi Princess. She's available by herself or in a set of 3 Fifi images. You can find more samples of her from my fellow design team members and also on the DigiStamp Blog.

I'll be spending the weekend with a fabulous group of girlfriends on the shores of Lake Superior! We have rented a 3 bedroom cottage and are leaving the husbands and the kids at home. I'm sure I won't do too well on the whole eating healthy thing this weekend but the amount of laughter during the weekend should prove to be a good ab workout. :)  I hope you all have a wonderful weekend. Thanks so much for stopping. Happy Stamping!

All Things Unity Challenge

There's a new challenge blog in town (All Things Unity) and I thought it would be fun to play along. Plus I need to ink up my Feb kit before my March kits arrives. {giggle} You can get all the details on the challenge here but just briefly the challenge is to make a sunshiney card so here's what I came up with . . .

I thought the K&Company Carolyn Gavin Greenhouse paper pack would be perfect for this challenge. It seems very sunshiney to me.

Basically the same  layout except for the image panel. This time I used an oval Nestabilities and stamped the adorable bird image. I added some pink gems to the flower centers on the image panel and the green floral designer paper strips.

I used the bird image again for this card but stamped it on some October Afternoon paper and then paper pieced the image with more October Afternoon papers (Cherry Hill collection). I used my Nestabilities Labels 4 set for the sentiment on this one.

Thanks so much for stopping by. I hope you're having a wonderful week! Happy Stamping.

Spring Hoppy Card

Today I have another spring card to share with you using the Spring Hoppy image from the Offer of the Month over at DigiStamp Boutique. I just love this little bunny and chick. I paired them up with some My Mind's Eye Home papers and some fun yellow gingham ribbon. I also pulled out my white gel pen to add some dots to the scalloped border of SU Almost Amethyst.

Thanks so much for stopping by. I hope you're having a wonderful week! Happy Stamping!

More CSS Stamp of the Month Samples

How about more samples with the Stamp of the Month set from Clear and Simple Stamps BEST BUNNIES. I went with a very simple layout for this card. I think I'll use it to create some card sets to have on hand for gifts.

This next card uses a variety of Bittersweet papers from BasicGrey. I went with the solid "chocolate" bunny for this card. Maybe I'll give this card to my Daughter for Easter. It might be a little too "girly" for my Husband. {wink}

Don't forget that you can get a $1 off this set by entering: CSS0310.Thanks so much for stopping by. I hope your week is off to a great start. Happy Stamping!

What's Cooking

How about a card using some of the fun new My Mind's Eye papers that are available. I also used my Tim Holtz Ornate die to create the fun little edges below the green polka dot strip. Tim worked with Sizzix and created a whole new line of dies. This one is from the On the Edge collection.

Hope you're having a wonderful day! Thanks so much for stopping. Happy Stamping!


Supplies:

• Stamps - Unity (apron), Snap Stamps (What's) CSS Gourment Darling (cooking?)
• Paper - My Mind's Eye Home Blue mat stack, White
• Ink - Archival Jet Black
• Misc - Tim Holtz On the Edge Ornate border die, Nestabilities, Ribbons, Button, Punch

Offer of the Month from DigiStamp Boutique

Today I have a couple of cards using the Spring Coco image from DigiStamp Boutique. This cute little bear image is available individually or as part of the Offer of the Month. I printed him out in a couple of different sizes which is one of the things I love about digital stamps!

For the first card I kept is very simple. I printed the image pretty large and colored it with Copics then used a couple of papers from the DCWV Songbird collection to create my layout. I like the simplicity of the layout with the fun glittery background paper.

The second card uses a smaller version of the same image also colored with Copics. For this card I pulled out some LilyKate paper from BasicGrey. I also added some ribbons and a strip of pearls from Kaiser Craft.

I hope you're having a wonderful week. Thanks so much for stopping by. Happy Stamping!