Hello Stampers~

          One of the hardest things for me recently was my son leaving for Boot Camp.  I am SUPER proud of him and also extremely sad at the same time.  My baby boy left home and joined one of the most difficult careers imaginable.  Both my husband and I are Veterans and know how difficult this life is. I am constantly praying for my son. 

          I made this card to send to him.  I had to keep it simple because I know he is going to get flack for even getting this card, so I didn't want it to be over the top.  Simple and to the point.  I used the sentiment "Godspeed" because it is a traditional farewell, similar to "good luck," wishing a person success and prosperity for their new journey or venture. I wish my son all the best but I will miss him dearly.

In the military it's never goodbye, it's until next time! 

 Hello fellow stampers~

          This is my first card in 4 years! Yes you read that correctly, first card in 4 years.  Life has taken over and just caused my hobbies to take a back seat.  I have 2 beautiful grand babies now and all of my 5 children and 2 bonus children have graduated and have either moved out or are in college and boot camp.  I also had an injury back in April that has taken me out of work until the New Year so I have found myself with some extra time on my hands.  I am so happy to finally be back in my craft room and doing what I love!  

         This is my card for the color challenge over at Splitcoast stampers on Tuesday September 11th.  CC1068.  The colors were Crumb Cake, Pool Party and Early Espresso.  Of course I had to make a coffee card with these colors.  I am super happy with how this card turned out.  I hope you enjoy this card as well.  I'd love to know what you think.  Happy Stamping friends!

Inky Hugs!!!

MIA, but BACK!!!!!

I know I was MIA for a LONNNNNNNNNGGGGGGG time....  I have been so busy with life, kids, the job, buying a house and a traveling husband that I could barely find time to sleep...  But life has calmed down considerably and I am enjoying the fruits of my new (2 years now) craft room...  I have been playing along with some of the challenges over on Splitcoast as well as getting some cards prepared for Mother's Day...  This is what I have been doing lately....  Grab a cup of coffee and browse through....  By the way, it's great to be back!!!!

 Brand new Rose Wonder Die/Stamp set.  This die is absolutely amazing and the cards I have seen made with them are just superb...  I can't wait to try a few more...

 

 I just picked this stamp up from Pleasanton, California a few weeks ago.  The stamp set came with the matching die to fussy cut.  I don't think you can tell from the photo but a few of the petals are actually cut out and popped up.  This is a really cool stamp/die combo...    And the details on the stamp are just awesome!!!!

This was a fun card to put together...  I love the look of inlaid dies cuts but this time I just cut out the hearts and placed DSP below the main panel.  I added a few smaller heart cut outs and tied the twine to the bottoms...  I am not big on hand drawn stitching but it looks super cute on this card...

 This is a card that I CASED for the Featured Stamper challenge over at Splitcoast a few weeks ago...  I absolutely love this new heart embossing folder.  The embossing is super crisp and deep...  I also miss the simply pressed clay from Stampin' Up!.  I am so glad that I got my few bags before it retired.  Little did I know that Michaels sells Martha Stewart clay as well...    I also made my "glitter twine" using Sparkle N Sprinkle Tear ific tape...  So much fun and so cute....

This new butterfly set from Stampin' Up! is nothing short of stunning...   As soon as I saw this set I placed my order immediately...  Would have been so much cheaper if I had only ordered this butterfly...  *cough cough*  I plan to use this set A LOT!!!!  The color combinations are truly endless...

 Thank you Beth for letting me borrow this beauty...  Lotus Blossoms was a Sale-A-Bration set last year and I missed out getting it...  So when I found out she had it, I knew I had to borrow it....  Luckily I found  set and should have it soon...  I am not sure why I chose the blues here but they pop and look amazing...  The small little pop of sequins just gives it that over the top wow...  Another set I plan to wear out using....

I saw this card on Pinterest a couple days ago and was wow'd.  I decided to play around today and see if I could make it...  The flowers are just amazing and they pop off the card.  This effect is created using clear embossing powder only.  Yup, that's it... Clear...  Stunning isn't it?

This is another variation of the previous card.  I changed the colors and made my main panel a lighter color.  I used white embossing powder instead of clear and I chose to sponge the centers for another "pop" factor.  I am really liking the way this one turned out...  

 Very simple Mother's Day card.  I used a couple different embossing folders, a gorgeous matching DSP, and one of my favorite blooms.  I love the simple, clean look of 1 color cards...  May have to rethink which card  I am sending my mom this year...  It's gonna be a hard decision...

Another simple card using the Lotus Blossom...  I feel like this card is missing something but not sure what..  I added some Mon Ami Gaby bling for some bling and used a gorgeous embossing folder behind my main image...

Simple, Elegant, Neutral....  I love this card!!!

 I happen to fall upon this new die set from Sizzix today.  I am sure it's not new, but new to me and I am in LOVE...  There are 4 "mixed media" dies in this set, one of which is going to be great for my Father's Day card, and the other 2 are just going to be so much fun to play with...  I can't wait...

 Same die cut as in the previous card, but also uses the Sizzix Ornate Labels die cuts here... Also new to me...  When you take so much time off from stamping your next move it to buy all the stuff that came out while you were "retired" and it ends up costing you big time...  *gulp*

 Any time a stamp has a matching punch or die, I am going to make that a go-to set.  I have always been one to "fussy" cut, but I have to tell you that matching dies have made my life so much easier.  Where were these 10 years ago?  I know, in time all good things come... I can't wait to see what we are crafting with in 10 more years...

This is all for today...  I am so glad I was able to catch up and get my cards uploaded...  Thank you so much for taking the time to sit back, relax, enjoy a cup of coffee and browse my blog...  If I have made 1 person smile today, then I have done my job here!!!

More HYCCT Challenge Cards

This is going to be short and sweet... I just wanted to update my blog with what I have been doing lately... I have been playing along with the Hope You Can Cling To challenges at splitcoast.  We are halfway through the month and the challenges are great...  Here are the rest of the cards I have done so far.  Can you believe I am actually caught up and done all of the challenges?  Me either but I plan to do them all this year...  :-)  So here they are:

This is the step card that I was teaching at the Santa Clara scrapbook expo.  I thought it was perfect to put together for this "step" challenge..

This is for the Bind It All challenge.  To make our card look bound like a book or binder or such.  I used the top note die and some ribbon for my binding...

This card had to be friend associated.  An image, sentiment, etc.  I chose one of my favorite friend sentiments from Stampin Up's All Holiday set...

Something's Missing... Yup, my heart in the card front.  I punched my main heart and tied the twine through it.  All the other hearts were punched out and placed.  I also place DSP inside my card as well

Use music on your card... Sure no problem when you have this gorgeous music sheet background stamp.  I chose to emboss the background for a more dimensional look...

Quilts are nice and warm and cozy right?  Because that is what I was thinking when I was doing this card...  And these are some of my favorite colors...  :-)

Warm fuzzies.. What isn't warm about sharing a cup of coffee with a friend?  And a coffee that has a coffee cozy on it?  

No stamps? No problem..  I am in love with the inlaid die cute technique... So much fun and such an amazing look when its used...  This card makes me want to make a dozen more....

So that's it for today... Hope you enjoyed my cards.  Stay tuned for more the rest of the month...

Inky Hugs!!!

Next 5 HYCCT Challenge Cards

So I know this is odd for me to upload 10 cards in 2 days, but I was trying to play catch up...  So I am caught up now and you will only get a card or 2 a day now.  (I hope!)  So here we go again...

I love this card and the colors...  The teddy bear was made completely from circle punches and then I added the eyes and drew the nose, mouth, ear lines and paw lines.  I used my 1 3/8" punch and 3/4" punches.  The hearts were punched from my mini heart punch and I adhered a pearl to the centers.  I tied a cute ribbon and sentiment and my card was done..  I just love pink and brown together...







This is my next card for today.  The challenge was to use something on your card that has a handle.  This proved more difficult that I initially thought.  I realized I don't have any stamps that have handles really. I originally thought about making a purse, but I think the challenge has to be a card... So I stamped my mug and all other images and cut them out.  I added my cute heart to the mug and then added some liquid applique to the marshmallows and whipped cream and heat set to make puffy.  I tied a matching twine, added a sentiment and some sequins and I am happy with my card..

This card was an unbelievable happening..  This card had to use scraps that we had laying around.  I have a quite large bin that has items in it that at one time were going to be used for something and then I went another way leaving these beauties behind.  This is the case for the vertical strip of red with DSP.  The butterflies are all cut with the beautiful wings embosslits and all the ones you see were die cut and left behind.  Even the ribbon was sitting in my scrap bin all tied and ready to go...  The only part of this card that isn't a scrap is the base itself.  I love it when I am given a reason to use those scraps.  It's such a shame to let them go to waste or to put them aside and completely forget about them in the future...  Glad I was able to go through my bin and see what I had..  I plan to use more here soon...

This card hits pretty close to my heart.  This challenge was to make a card inspired by my "hero."  Could be a favorite sentiment, a person, a quote, anything.  Well my mom is my hero.  I literally talk to her daily and sometimes 3-4 times a day.  Without my mom I would be lost.  My junior year of high school my mom was diagnosed with a brain tumor.  I can't explain why I stayed home from school this day, but I saved my mom's life that day.  God knew why I was home.  In 2006 my mom was diagnosed with Breast Cancer and then in 2012 colon cancer.  My husband was prior military and I was not close to home these last 2 bouts.  That didn't stop me.  I towed my 5 children along with me in 2006 (6 month twins included) to take care of my mom, her home and my dad.  I am blessed to have been able to be there yet again.  Finally in 2012 my family had just relocated to Washington state 3000 miles from home. (Ohio)  Again this didn't stop me.  My husband watched over our 5 kids so that I could fly home to be by my mom's side.  I watched her emotions at their highest and their lowest, but one thing that never failed was her desire and drive to fight and survive.  A support system is critical during these times.  My mom is my hero now and forever...  I love you mom!!!

This is my final card to catch me up on the 10 challenges posted thus far.  This challenge was exactly that... A CHALLENGE!!!  We couldn't use any adhesives.  No pop dots, glue dots, mono adhesive, ATG, wet glue, etc.  Well count me out... This is impossible... Or is it?  So I have at least 4 layers to this card and not a single bit of adhesive to be found.  I adhered my red strip and 3 hearts with staples covered with these adorable heart brads.  I then attached my smaller hearts with adorable tiny heart brads.  I then dusted off some eyelets and attached the bottom of my cardstock with eyelets and twine.  So you see this wasn't impossible.... As a matter of fact this was quite the opposite.  Think outside the box and you will be impressed with what you can come up with if you just try..  So these are my 5 cards today.  I hope you have enjoyed my cards so far.  Keep following along with me the rest of the month as I desperately try to complete all of the challenges up through October 31st.  Wish me luck... And until next time..  Happy Stamping all..

Inky Hugs!!!

HYCCT- First 5 cards

For those of you that don't know what HYCCT is, it's Hope You Can Cling To.  They are a month long daily challenge for the month of October for Breast Cancer Awareness.  I try to play along as much as possible because my mom is a breast cancer survivor and I know how hard a road it is and just how much a person's spirits can be lifted with a simple card.  I am not going to go into great details about these cards but I will post them for you to see....

This challenge is Paper Tole (3-d).  I stamped and punched my flowers and then used my paper tool kit to give them dimension.  I rounded the larger flower petals and bent them so they would look as much like a real flower as possible. I then layered a smaller flower on top and also added dimension by lifting the petals.  I added an enamel dot (that I made at home) to each flower center for even more dimension.  Below you can see the actual flowers and how I have layered them and given them the dimension that you see.






As you can see from the photo I have done several layers for my flowers.  I added some twine and a cut out sentiment to finish my card off.  This is a super simple card with very little but so much
dimension just makes it pop...





My next card is for the Shine On challenge.  We had to
have a light source somewhere on our card.  I chose to
stamp this adorable light from Sparkle N Sprinkle.  I added
a pearl to the center of my lamp for the bulb.  My main
image and sentiment are both embossed and the border
is drawn with a Soft Sky Stampin' Write marker.  I added
a few pearls to the corners and some twine and a button across the lower portion of my card to finish this one off..





                                                                               

Next up is my card for the Hope Floats challenge.  We had to have something that floated.  Well balloons float right?  So I decided to stamp my awareness ribbons in 3 shades of pink and fussy cut them out.  I tied a matching color of twine around each one of them to create balloons.  I ran my background through my clouds embossing folder to make the balloons look like they are in the sky ( yes a pink sky)  I tied all of my twine strings together and added a cute sentiment across the bottom and over the strings.  So here we have it "Hope Floats"...




So we are getting there... Slowly but surely..  And these are only the first 5.  These challenges go all month long.  So this next card is for the Two by Two, Side by Side challenge.  We had to use pink and purple on our card and somethng had to be in two's.  Of course you can see I have 2 butterflies here...  I love the gorgeous grunge stamp set and it made this card so easy to create.  I did a little sponging around my white edge and also around the word hope.  I am super pleased with how this card ended up...  So let me show you my last one for the day....  I saved the best for last....  (I think!)





Okay... So I really think this card is just too adorable...  I love everything about this card and how it all came together.  The stamp set is from Stampin Up and it's called Create-A-Cupcake... And you do just that... The best part is there is a matching punch to punch out all of the elements...  So cute!!!...  I made the hearts into enamel dots, (Super simple) and added them to my border.  I then used the ruched ribbon technique to create this gorgeous border and added my bow...   The final touch was a small amount of Bronze Splendor glitter added to the cupcake frosting to look like sprinkles...  Really happy with this one...


Thank you so much for taking the time to stop by and see what I have created.  Stay tuned for more as this month of challenges continues.  Please join us over at splitcoast and see what great ideas you can come up with...  Until next time...

Inky Hugs!!!!