More is More

It’s almost time for the Stamp a Sweet Impression Holiday Release at Taylored Expressions.  All will be revealed and available for purchase tomorrow night at midnight EST (that’s 9pm for us West Coasters)!  In the meantime Taylor and  the Bakers Dozen Senior Design Team have some sneak peeks to whet your appetite.

I have a sweet square card (5.25″ x 5.25″) showcasing two images plus a sentiment from Season’s Sweetings – one of three new SASI sets to be released.  Aren’t these cuppies just the cutest???  And tell me you can relate to this decorating scene – where one person is totally into it and humming caroles while the other one is just a tad less enthusiastic?  I swear you are going to love these sets!  Don’t forget – they are deeply etched pink rubber and stamp like a dream!  And wait till you see the Christmas Key Ingredients Kit!  So super yummy!  All the cardstock and designer paper and pink rhinestones and red pearls I used on this card are from the KI kit.  Aren’t these colors so fun?

Here are the Copics I used to color my scene.  I tried to coordinate with the dp colors as much as possible.  I used a clear glaze pen on the little tangled up Christmas lights, a Stardust gel pen on the star and a silver gel pen on the tinsel.  There are Red Rain Dots on the cherry on each cuppie (I highly recommend you add some of these to your next TE order!!!)  and red Kaiser Craft pearls adorn the tree as ornaments as well as the corners of the pink cardstock panel.  I pulled out a very old corner punch to create the scalloped corners.  The last finishing touch was the ticket corner punch with the Kaiser Craft pink rhinestones.

 Fellow Bakers Dozen member Denise (Peanutbee) has spurred me to decorate the insides of my cards more often – something I used to do, but had gotten away from.  I love that this set has so many wonderful sentiments along with the adorable images…and I LOVE the fonts!

Come blog hopping with me to check out all the sneak peeks today:

Ana Wohlfahrt

Charmaine Ikach

Denise Marzec

Monika Davis

Stephanie Hargis

And of course Taylor Van Bruggen.

Tomorrow there will be even more sneak peeks by the Bakers Dozen Rotating Team members.  You’ll be able to get all the links from Taylor tomorrow.  And Thursday night be sure to tune in to Taylor’s blog for all the release details!

Oh and there’s still time to sign up for the SASI Sweet Treats give-away on the SASI Blog.  I’ll be announcing the winner of the random drawing on Thursday night just before the release.  Thanks for stopping by!  Have a sweet day!

Today’s the day for the October Dirty Dozen Alumni Gallery Reunion Challenge!  Our hostess for this month is my good friend Emily (WaterPixie).

 Challenge Focus: Create a Halloween card or treat holder.

Required Element: Googlie Eyes! We want to see those eyes jiggle!

Restricted Element: No pumpkins!

 To see what everyone created you can click here.  

I honestly can’t remember the last time I used googlie eyes and now I’ve used them on 2 posts in a row – weird, huh?  As soon as I saw the challenge I knew I’d be reaching for one of Anna Wight’s Whipper Snapper Halloween sets.  They already have *googlie eyes* of sorts drawn on – so they’re perfect!

I stamped the ghost on white cardstock and colored around him with a yellow and then gray Copic marker.  The stars are from the SASI set Frightful Night.  After the card was all put together I covered the ghost with Frosted Lace Stickles – he’s soooo super sparkly!

Cardstock colors are Basic Gray, Kiwi, Pumpkin Pie and the dp is SU.  I dug out my trusty old-school Fiskar’s decorative scissors to create the jagged borders – scallops just didn’t seem *scary* enough.  LOL!

This was a fun challenge!  Thanks for hosting Emily!

I have a post over on the SASI blog today too…lots of candy treats.  Click here to check it out and if you have time leave me a comment over there.  While you’re there don’t forget to enter in the SASI Sweet Treats give-away!  Thanks for stopping by!

If you want to know my BIG NEWS and/or if you are interested in blog candy you’ll have to read all the way to the end of this post.  And no fair cheating and scrolling down to the bottom first!

My class Friday night was such a joy!  Our Club hostess was Barbara was she brought yummy *Spider Bite Brownies* (OK – I *might* have eaten 1 or 2)  along with special treat bags for the whole class and a special gift for me.

She made a tag for me using the photo I posted last week of Curt and I on our get-away weekend!  Isn’t that so sweet?  I love it!!

For class we made three cards.  The first one is the tire swing card I posted a few days ago (scroll down to see it).  Thank you so much to Ali for helping me figure out where I had gotten the idea  (I couldn’t remember who’s blog it was on for the life of me).  It came from Karen Giron and you can see her origonal card here.

The second card we made was a Christmas card featuring Snow Burst and Many Merry Messages in Baja Breeze and Night of Navy.  I had reverse masks pre-cut using my Coluzzle so we could sponge and stamp for the Faux Frame effect.

When I see a really good idea in the SCS gallery I save it to my favorites for future reference and as I’ve said many times before I’m not too proud to CASE – especially when it comes to my class.  When there’s a great idea right in front of you, why re-invent the wheel?  My card is a pretty close CASE of this one saved to my favorites several months ago.  The poster made it in a class with her Demo Paula – so thanks Paula! 

ETA:  I just found out that original gorgeous card was posted by my fab friend JanTink – click here to see it.

The third card we made incorporated our featured technique of Clear Emboss Backgrounds.  For this card we embossed the background stamp Boho Blooms on a Handsome Hunter card base using Versamark and clear ep.  It gives such a cool textured tone on tone background – the photo doesn’t do it justice.

For extra fun I wanted to do some punch art and this little sheep is one of my favorites.  I had seen him a few different places, but when I went looking for instructions I found them by mh1016 in the SCS gallery here.  Besides the Hunter we also used black, white and Blush Blossom cardstock along with white taffeta and black gingham ribbon.  The hills were cut free-hand and then run across a white craft pad.  We punched our pieces out of the pre-cut layering pieces to avoid wasting cardstock. 

Here’s the punch guide I put out for the girls to follow.  This is a good tip to remember when using any type of punches on your card –  take your punch shapes out of layers where they won’t be seen.  Just be careful not to punch too clase to the edges.  This is especially helpful when making multiples of a card.  The punches we used are:

• Large Oval

• 1/2″ Circle

• Word Window

• Scallop Circle

• 3 Flower

• and both Tag punches for the sentiment

And now I’m gearing up for my November Class where I always do more *project* type things – either gifts or wrap or decor ideas.  I have several things brewing – let me know if you’re interested in coming.

In the meantime I’m getting super excited for the next Taylored Expressions Stamp a Sweet Impression release this Thursday night.  Everything is so stinkin’ CUTE!  And did you subscribe to the newsletter like I told you to?  If you did then you already know my BIG NEWS!  Taylor has asked me to join TE as the newsletter editor and help out some with the SASI blog!!  I am super excited about this opportunity!  Taylor is a wonderful friend and talented designer and has a bright future ahead and I feel so fortunate to have a small part in TE!  If you have not yet subscribed to the newsletter you can do it when you click the link below to go to the SASI blog.

Speaking of which – are you interested in blog candy?  Well we’re giving away a super cool package of SASI Sweet Treats over on the SASI blog (oh and I just happen to have a card posted there as well) – click here to get all the deets and get signed up for your chance to win. You’ll also want to read about the new blog feature Our Friday Friend and how you might get the opportunity to be spotlighted.

I hope you’re having a great weekend!  I’ve been on my own all weekend as Curt drives all the way to Mississippi with a friend to drop off a car to his friend’s son who is there in the military.  I’m really looking forward to his arrival home tomorrow evening.  In the meantime I’ve enjoyed some stamping yesterday and an awesome sermon at church this morning.  And I have more stamping to do…always more stamping to do!

Thanks for stopping by.

Happy Friday!  Time for the Taylored Expressions Cupcake Challenge – please come play – find all the details by clicking here.  And remember – cupcakes are NOT required to play!

 The sweet little froggy is hoping for just the right princess to come along and see his full potential!

The minute I saw the new Fairest of Them All Collection by Imaginesce I knew I had to have it!  Lucky for me we had a stamp day planned at my sweet friend Joy’s house and as one of the owners of eclectic Paperie I knew I’d have the perfect opportunity to shop!  Here’s a link to the whole collection – paper, rub-ons, clear stamps, brads and more.  Isn’t all just so cute and yummy???  It’s so me!  The really funny thing was that while I was oohing and aahing over the pink and sparkles and princess stuff, our friend Leann was having the same reaction to some dp with skulls and pirate stuff!

For today’s sketch I stamped the frog on the swirly green dp using Brilliance Starlight Black ink (it’s kind of a sparkly dark gray) and cut him out.  I went over his belly with an olive marker and over his crown with a blue sparkle gel pen.  The sparkly pink flower rhinestones are by Kaiser Craft and the stick pin is by Fancy Pants.  The sentiment *cloud* was highlighted with Frosted Lace stickles.  All of that is from eclectic Paperie.  SU supplies include the sentiment, blue taffeta ribbon, Pink Pirouette, Old Olive and Bashful Blue cardstock.

So let’s go see what the rest of the Cupcake Crew has cooked up:

  Time for me to get everything prepped for my class tonight.  It has been such a crazy month that I never even got around to sending out an e-mail about the class, so it’s just Club Members coming tonight.  I apologize to the rest of my customers.  I’m already starting to plan the November class and promise to get an e-mail out soon.

Thanks for stopping by.  I hope you have a fantastic weekend coming up!

The SU Class I had to postpone a couple of weeks ago (because the new carpet hadn’t arrived) will finally happen tomorrow night.  Today I want to share one of the cards we’ll be making.  This card features the set Season of Friendship from the Holiday Mini.  I loved this set as soon as I saw it and I’ve been dying to ink it up.

 I got the idea for this jumbo eyelet tire swing from someone’s blog and (dang it!) now I can’t find the blog. 

I’ve been doing that a lot lately!  If this was from your blog or if you know who came up with this idea PLEASE let me know so I can give credit!  I feel like such a dork!  I honestly don’t even remember exactly what the card looked like – just that it was cute and that I thought the tire swing was GENIUS!

In SoCal we don’t have that big range of Fall colors that much of the rest of the country experiences so rather than make my tree with all of those colors I went with Garden Green, Old Olive and just a touch of More Mustard.  The Ash trees in our backyard are getting ready to drop their leaves (what a HUGE mess each year) and the trees go from green to goldish brown with nothing in between.

I made this card early yesterday morning – locked in my stamp room while my housekeepers were here.  I didn’t have my catty with me and couldn’t remember which background stamps were retired and which were current.  I used Aida which, it turnes out, is retired.  So for class we’ll use Canvas.  Very simple card and I really like it!  I’ll share my other class cards soon – probably over the weekend.

Tomorrow I’ll be back with a TECC card.  Oh and hey – if you are not already subscribed to the Taylored Expressions Newsletter you should go over right now and sign up.  Click here to get to TE and then fill in your e-mail address where it says “Join our mailing list”.  Seriously – go right now!  Trust me on this one.  😉

I’m off to work.  Thanks for stopping by.

Card Recipe:Stamps:  Season of Friendship, Aida or Canvas

Do you ever create a card that just makes you giggle?  Here’s one I made when I first received my SASI sets from Taylored Expressions, but I hadn’t gotten around to photographing it to share.

When I realized the pirate cupcake would fit with SU Boatloads of Love I was seriously tickled pink!  And then to top it off, the tiny cupcakes from Short & Sweet all stacked up as his sweet pirate booty….I was beside myself!  LOL!  The sentiment was created with the Small Letter set from JustRite Stampers also available at TE (they should be re-stocked really soon I think) and punched with my SU small oval punch.

The scene was stamped on shimmer white cardstock with Palette Hybrid Noir Black ink using some masking and a stamp-a-majig and then watercolored with a combo of ink from re-inkers, markers, and crayons.  I used red Kaiser Craft rhinestones and black pearls from eP along with some paper piercing for some fun accents.

So tell me….what do you think the inside sentiment should be?  I’d love to hear your ideas!

Oooo I just noticed that Taylor has a post on the SASI blog today highlighting some of the versatile uses of the SASI Halloween sets.  You have to go see her yummy cupcake creation today!

I’m off to work.  Thanks for stopping by!

Oh my!  What a weekend!  I said on Friday that I had a surprise for Curt and it was a doozy!  My friend Denise came up with the idea a couple of months ago to take our hubbies on a total surprise weekend – have their bags packed and just pile them in the car and go.  It worked out to be Curt’s birthday weekend so all the better!  There were five couples on the trip and we stayed at the Ayres Hotel in Laguna Woods which is just a 30-40 minute drive away from home.  It was so fun to see how each guy would react to the surprise!  The secret seriously almost killed me the last two weeks!

Curt took the goofy photo to the right by holding the camera up over our heads as the winds whipped around us on a bluff at Laguna Beach just after sunset.  We were walking on a beautiful path at the top of the bluff just at the base of the incredible Montage Resort.  If it weren’t so danged cold I could have stayed there for hours. At some point we want to drive down PCH to The Montage just to sit in the lounge facing the ocean and have a glass of wine.  Here’s the sunset we watched.

The entire weekend was such a blessing as we formed closer friendships with couples we’ve (for the most part) known less than a year.  Friendships are HUGE to me and the Lord was so gracious in His gift of this weekend.  Here’s 8 of the 10 of us in the hotel lobby.

Drew & Courtney, Pam & Joe, Dave & Denise, me & Curt.  We were so goofy all weekend – I swear we laughed almost non-stop the entire 2 days!

John and Lisa joined us at lunchtime on Saturday.  We ate at the Crow Bar in Corona del Mar and then followed that up by walking across the street to Sprinkles Cupcake Bakery where there was a line out the door!

Chocolate Peanutbutter, Dark Chocolate, Cinamon Sugar, Red Velvet.

Hmmm…I may have strayed off Nutrisystems a bit this weekend.  Friday night we ate dinner at PF Chang’s (super yummy) and walked around Irvine Spectrum where we also rode a merry-go-round and a ferris wheel (yep most of us are in our 40’s! LOL!).  Saturday night after the sunset we came back to the hotel to play a card game (where I think Courtney was making up the rules as we went along *snort*).  We were being so loud in the breakfast room that the hotel staff had to come close the doors.  What a hoot!

On Sunday (Curt’s birthday) we checked out of the hotel and made our way back up the coast to Long Beach to have a champpagne brunch with a group of old friends.  We ate at Khoury’s where we sat right on the marina in a glassed in patio with the perfect view of the water.   It was the perfect end to a FABULOUS weekend!  We’re both exhausted, but it’s another busy week around here!  Off to check the to-do list.

Hey be sure to check the SASI (Stamp A Sweet Impression) blog this week.  Yesterday (and each Sunday in the future) Taylor posted links to the Baker’s Dozen’s projects posted within the past week so you won’t miss anything.  On Tuesdays Taylor will post a creation of her own and on Wednesdays one of the Baker’s Dozen will have something to share.  You’ll want to be sure to subscribe to both the SASI blog and the TE Newsletter so you’ll always get the latest TE/SASI news and fun creations!

Hope you had a great weekend and if you didn’t you need to plan for one soon!  Thanks for stopping by!