Repeat Impressions Designer's Choice Challenge - Head for the Beach!

Today, being Wednesday, starts a new challenge from Repeat Impressions. This week it's a Designer's Choice Challenge, and the "chooser" is Cheri. Cheri has chosen the theme "Head For the Beach!" (For some reason, I was thinking "hit the beach," hence the sentiment on my card!) The Rock Stars have all created a card for this theme, and we invite you to play along. One lucky winner will win their choice of a full sheet of unmounted rubber - an awesome prize! Simply make a card with this theme, upload to your blog or on-line gallery, and link your post or photo up to the Repeat Impressions blog. For all the details and the design team's creations, go to the RI blog, The House That Stamps Built. You can also follow these links for inspiration from the Rock Stars:

Cheri ~ Dawn ~Joy ~ Karen ~ Kecia ~ Maki ~ Patti

My card features the Sand Castle stamp, found on this page. I colored it lightly with Copic markers and added a little shimmer with a Spica glitter pen. (Repeat Impressions has these pens available on their website, here.) My card base is Papertrey Ink's kraft cardstock and I matted with some Stampin' Up! cardstock (Soft Suede) and then mounted on Pop Dots. I hand wrote the sentiment - to match the theme, or so I was thinking. :) We'd love to have you join us!

You also have nearly a week to participate in the current WHAT IF? Wednesday challenge for a chance to win a $25 gift certificate from Repeat Impressions. You can find the sketch and the information on this post.

Thanks so much for stopping by, and I hope you'll come back and visit again soon!

Four Very Similar Cards

 Here are four cards I pretty much made in Des Moines last week. The flower stamp is from Stampin' Up! I believe. I colored the stamp with markers before stamping. The sentiments (two different ones) are from Papertrey Ink. After getting the stamped images home, I just embossed them with various folders and matted with coordinating cardstocks. I have made a lot of cards lately. I'll be sharing them with you over the next month.

Thanks so much for stopping by, and I hope you'll come back and visit again soon!

Repeat Impressions Stamp of the Week - Happy Summer

Repeat Impressions' new Stamp of the Week is Happy Summer. You can find it on this page .It's available for this week only (through Sunday evening) for 50% off. Please visit the Repeat Impressions blog, The House That Stamps Built, for all the details and the Rock Stars' creations. Or follow these links:

Dawn ~Joy

I used the watermelon stamp, available on the same page. I colored with Copics. The butterfly and the edge punch are by Martha Stewart. The paper is from Die Cuts With a View. I also used my Scor-Pal to score some decorative lines.

Thanks so much for stopping by, and I hope you'll come back and visit again soon!

Father's Day

Here is the Father's Day card I made for my husband. (No Christmas card today - didn't get any made this week.) The inside says, "Recliner, Remote, TV tray...there's a 'nap' for that."


I stamped this while I was in Des Moines. Thanks, Andrea! I colored the image with Prismacolor pencils and Goo Gone. I had stamped it at a bad angle, so I had to cut him out. I mounted him on foam squares. I put him on ovals cut with Nestabilities. The background was embossed with a Sizzix folder. I sponged some navy ink on both white layers.


Edited to add: The stamps are by Art Impressions. Their website is here.


Thanks so much for stopping by, and I hope you'll come back and visit again soon!

Group Gathering 2012

I thought I'd share a few pictures of our Group Gathering. Six years ago I joined a Yahoo! group - a small, friendly group. We started meeting annually five years ago. What an awesome time we have - so much eating and laughing and stamping! Then Harriet, from California, comes home with me and stays for a couple more days. I took her to the airport yesterday. So, it's over for another year. We've already got our rooms reserved for next June, though!


The picture above was taken at Biaggi's in West Des Moines. It was our last meal together. The group, from left to right: Me, Sheri, Georgia, Joyce, Vicki, Joanne and Harriet. Andrea had already left to catch her plane and wasn't able to join us.

Joanne, Joyce, Andrea, Harriet, me, Vicki, Georgia and Sheri. We hail from California, Nebraska, Iowa and Minnesota.

Hard at work in Archiver's. (Georgia, Joyce and Joanne.)

OK. One of me:)


Thanks so much for stopping by, and I hope you'll come back and visit again soon!

Card Parts - For You

This lacy oval was in my "Card Parts" box. It was given to me by a friend in our stamping group a couple years ago. She had stamped it and cut it out. Thanks, Annie! You'll eventually be seeing more parts from Annie, too. She is very generous. :)


I thought the style of the stamps I used matched the style of the oval, since they both have "stitching." The stamps are from a set from Stampin' Up! called "For You." I colored with markers and added a brad to the flower center. The oval is mounted on Pop Dots. The bottom panel is embossed with a Swiss Dots folder. Before embossing, I stamped the sentiment.


Thanks so much for stopping by, and I hope you'll come back and visit again soon!

One-Layer Wednesday - On the Edge

I made this card for Susan's One-Layer Wednesday. The challenge this week is to stamp on the edge, but don't go over.


I used a stamp by Magenta, borrowed from my friend Harriet who is spending a couple days with me after our return from Des Moines and our Group Gathering with friends. I colored the stamp with Tombow markers, using the "thumping" technique on the flowers. The sentiment is also from Harriet. She got two of them from Papertrey Ink and gave me her extra. How lucky am I!


We had such a WONDERFUL time in Des Moines. It was filled with laughing and stamping and laughing and eating and laughing. Did I mention we laughed a lot? :) Can't wait for next year.


Thanks so much for stopping by, and I hope you'll come back and visit again soon!

Repeat Impressions WHAT IF? Wednesday

Today starts a new WHAT IF? Wednesday challenge from Repeat Impressions. Wendy gives a sketch to us and challenges us (and you!) to come up with a card. You can find the sketch and all the details on the Repeat Impressions blog, The House That Stamps Built. You will also find the cards made by the Rock Stars. Or you can follow these links to their blogs:

Cheri ~ Dawn ~Joy ~ Karen ~ Kecia ~ Maki ~ Patti

For my card, I made a mask and sponged the color on the card front. I used a couple Tim Holtz Distress Ink pads. I stamped the butterfly on the card front, and also on a piece of scrap cardstock, cut it out, and popped it up. The strip across the bottom was a tiny scrap. The sentiment is from the new "Big Boys Toys" release, found on this page. I added a couple flowers with pearl centers, and also the same pearls to the bottoms of the triangles. We'd love to have you join us!

You also have almost another week to participate in the Designer's Choice Challenge. The challenge is to use two images and one sentiment. You can find that challenge here.

Thanks so much for stopping by, and I hope you'll come back and visit again soon!

One Image - Two Different Cards

I used the same image stamp for these two cards. In fact, I only inked it up once. It's from a set by 2RedBananas (no longer in business.) I inked it with Stampin' Up!'s Soft Suede ink. Then I colored the leaves with an Always Artichoke marker and the flowers with a black marker. The first card shown here is the second stamping. I added the sentiment (from Papertrey Ink) in Soft Suede and matted with pink and mounted on Pop Dots. The Creamy Caramel piece was embossed with a Quickutz folder. I also added small gems to each flower.

This was the first stamping. I colored the flowers with a Melon Mambo marker. The sentiment is from a Stampin' Up! set. I stamped it with Soft Suede. I matted with Soft Suede and mounted on Pop Dots. The strip across the background is Soft Suede, also.


Thanks so much for stopping by, and I hope you'll come back and visit again soon!

Enjoy Today

This is another "card part" that I did last year at our Group Gathering. I stamped the frame and punched it out. Both are from Stampin' Up! I believe.


I lightly colored the flowers and leaves with Prismacolor pencils and a blending pencil. The sentiment is a little free stamp I got with a Verve order a while ago. I mounted the frame on Pop Dots. The patterned paper is from Recollections and is matted with black.


Thanks so much for stopping by, and I hope you'll come back and visit again soon!

"Christmas Sunday"

I stamped the holly image three times across the cardstock, cut it out, colored it with Copics and matted with red. I added red Sparkles (like Stickles, but a different brand) for the berries. The sentiment is from a Technique Tuesday set.


I am linking this up to the Christmas Card Challenge blog. The optional challenge this week is to use woodgrain. 


Note for Ruthie who left me a comment yesterday on this card: Thanks for the comment. That embossing folder set is retired. It's called Winter Borders. Here is a link to what it looks like. Here are a few links to places that have them. I am not endorsing any of them, but helping out a bit. Here, here and here. Sorry I couldn't write to you personally, but I didn't have your contact information.

Thanks so much for stopping by, and I hope you'll come back and visit again soon!

Birthday Bird

Last year at our Group Gathering, I punched a bunch of these birds and branches, and I don't think I had used any of them yet. It was about time, as we are "gathering" again TOMORROW! (We'll be at the Archivers in West Des Moines all day on Monday and all morning on Tuesday, if you want to stop in and say hello. :) )


I sponged some navy ink around the edges of the bird pieces. I had cut the oval out last year, also. I added a tiny brown pearl for the bird's eye. The patterned paper is from a stack from The Paper Studio, matted with navy. The sentiment is from Papertrey Ink. The card base is ivory. The punch is from Stampin' Up! (Edited to add: The card base and bird are ivory, not white.)


Thanks so much for stopping by, and I hope you'll come back and visit again soon!

Embossed Sympathy

Another sympathy card for my card sale - a very simple one. I embossed this panel with a Cuttlebug folder and sponged some True Thyme ink over the embossing. I did this for yesterday's card, but liked that one better without this layer. So, it was a "card part" sitting on my desk. I stamped the sentiment (from Papertrey Ink) with True Thyme and sponged a little more ink around the edges. I matted both pieces with black, and mounted the sentiment on Pop Dots.


Thanks so much for stopping by, and I hope you'll come back and visit again soon!

Sponged and Stamped Sympathy

A simple sympathy card to share with you today. Luckily I have no need of it at this time. A friend (who buys some of my cards) said that she has people interested in buying some of my cards. Very cool! I am bringing them to her house in just over a week to try to sell some. I thought I should maybe have some sympathy cards to bring with me. I really need more variety, too, as I mostly make birthday and anniversary. Not enough time, though!


I sponged the  blue and the green (Buckaroo Blue and True Thyme from Stampin' Up!) onto the white cardstock, then stamped the image (from Inkadinkado) and the sentiment (from Kaisercraft). I matted with Buckaroo Blue and then a larger piece of black.


Thanks so much for stopping by, and I hope you'll come back and visit again soon!

Repeat Impressions Designer's Choice Challenge - Joy

Today's Designer's Choice Challenge from Repeat Impressions was chosen by Joy. Her challenge is to use two images and one sentiment. Another fun challenge! You can find the details and the creations by the Rock Stars on the Repeat Impressions blog, The House That Stamps Built. One random winner will win a full sheet of unmounted rubber of their choice! Won't you join us and have some fun? You can also follow these links to the Rock Stars' blogs:

Cheri ~ Dawn ~Joy ~ Karen ~ Maki ~ Patti

For my card, I used two of the tiny bird images. (You can find them both on this page.) I colored them with Copics and punched them with a Martha Stewart punch. I mounted them on rounded-corner squares cut with a die from Papertrey Ink and matted them with black. I mounted the entire panel on Pop Dots. The sentiment is part of a stamp found on this page. I matted that with black also and mounted on Pop Dots. The background paper is from a matstack from Recollections.

Thanks so much for stopping by, and I hope you'll come back and visit again soon!

"Beautiful Days"

I have another card to share with you today using stamps from Repeat Impressions' new release. Have I  mentioned how much I love these stamps? :) (You can find them all here.)

I stamped my image with Versafine Black Onyx ink and colored with Stampin' Up! markers. I added some Prismacolor pencil to the centers of the flowers. I also added Stickles to the bee's wings. I matted with black - the sentiment, also. The sentiment panel is mounted on Pop Dots. The background paper (love those little dots!) is from Recollections.

Thanks so much for stopping by, and I hope you'll come back and visit again soon!

Repeat Impressions Stamp of the Week - Iris Window

This week's Stamp of the Week from Repeat Impressions is Iris Window. You can find it on this page. (Just scroll down a bit.) It's available for this week only - through Sunday evening - for 50% off. You will find everything you need to know to get this stamp on the Repeat Impressions blog, The House That Stamps Built. You'll also find the wonderful cards by the Rock Stars there, too. Or, you can follow these links to their blogs:

Cheri ~ Dawn ~Joy ~ Patti

I stamped the Iris Window on a piece of scrap cardstock and colored it with Prismacolor pencils and Gamsol. Then I glued it on the card front. The purple top layer is Pale Plum from Stampin' Up! I stamped the sentiment (from Repeat Impressions, of course) on  it and embossed it with a Sizzix folder. It's mounted on Pop Dots.

Check out the WHAT IF? Wednesday challenge and the Designer's Choice Challenge on the Repeat Impressions blog, too. There are chances to win great prizes! We'd love to have you join in the fun! Just make your cards, upload them, and link them up.

Thanks so much for stopping by, and I hope you'll come back and visit again soon!

"Christmas Sunday"

Last Sunday's SplitCoastStampers Featured Stamper was Susan Bridgman. I really wanted to participate because Susan's gallery is wonderful and she is always so great about leaving comments. Congrats, Susan! The card I chose is case is this one. 

The embossing folder is from Cuttlebug. I did the embossing and cut out the center. I matted with gold and added the sentiment (from Echo Park), embossed with gold. The ornament is from a Recollections set and I embossed with gold, stamped again on red, embossed, cut out the ornament, and added it to the card base. The dry embossed panel is mounted on pop dots. I wish I could have gotten a better picture so the gold was more shiny, but alas, no such luck.


I'm also linking this card to the Christmas Card Challenge. The challenge this week (which I obviously didn't do, and which is fine) is to only use a sentiment.


Thanks so much for stopping by, and I hope you'll come back and visit again soon!

Send a Smile 4 Kids - Guest Designer!

I was asked to be a guest designer for Send a Smile 4 Kids - very cool! (Thanks, Karen!) The challenge this week is Bright Colors for Kids. It's sponsored by Little Miss Muffet and Prairie Fairy. There are some great prizes up for grabs, so check out the SAS4K blog for details.


For my card, I used images from Prairie Fairy. (There were three that I combined into one picture.) I colored the images with Copic markers. I rounded the upper corners and matted with black. The patterned paper background is from a Die Cuts With a View matstack. I rounded the upper corners on that, too, and matted that with black. The image panel is mounted on Pop Dots.


Thanks so much for stopping by, and I hope you'll come back and visit again soon!

June Calendar Page

Here is my June calendar page for this year. The dandelion stamp and the Happy Summer stamp are both from Repeat Impressions. The cute little bee is from a Studio G set. I added Stickles to the dandelions and also the bee's wings.


If you are interested in making your own calendars, you can find the links to my Excel and Open Office files at the top of my blog. I'd love to hear from you if you find them useful!


Thanks so much for stopping by, and I hope you'll come back and visit again soon!

Repeat Impressions New Release Blog Hop!

Wendy from Repeat Impressions is introducing to you a wonderful new series of stamps. I love them! The series is called "Beautiful Days" and consists of five flower images and one fabulous sentiment. The Rock Stars are happily showcasing them today on a blog hop for a great prize - the full sheet of unmounted stamps! Please visit the RI blog, The House That Stamps Built, for the details. Also be sure to visit the Rock Stars' blog for some wonderful creations using these stamps.

 Cheri ~ Dawn ~Joy ~ Karen ~ Lynette (you are here!) ~ Maki ~ Patti

For a chance to win these stamps, visit the Rock Stars' blog and get a letter. Collect all seven letters to form a word. Email this word to Wendy (wendy@repeatimpressions.com) by 5:00 p.m. EDT on Sunday, June 3. Wendy will announce the lucky winner on the Repeat Impressions blog on Monday morning.


My letter is: E


You can find the new stamps here. Happy hopping and good luck!!

For my first card I colored the image with Copic markers. I hand-cut the image and then matted with black and olive, cut with Nestabilities. I mounted it on Pop Dots. I added Stickles to the dragonfly's wings. The patterned paper is from Recollections and matted with black.

For my second card, I used a precut and scored "step out" card base, which is available at the Repeat Impressions website. (You can find them on this page.) I colored my image with Copics and cut it out. It's mounted on Pop Dots. I embossed two strips of white cardstock with a Swiss Dots folders and added them to the sides. The patterned paper is from Recollections. The sentiment is from Repeat Impressions and is found here.

You will also find the details for two open challenges from RI on the blog - the WHAT IF? Wednesday sketch challenge and the Designer's Choice Challenge. We'd love to have you enter those, too.

Thanks so much for stopping by, and I hope you'll come back and visit again soon!

Repeat Impressions WHAT IF? Wednesday

A new WHAT IF? Wednesday sketch challenge from Repeat Impressions begins today. You have nearly two weeks to create a card using the sketch, upload it to your blog or on-line gallery, and link it up to the Repeat Impressions blog for a chance to win a $25 gift certificate. The sketch and all the details can be found at the RI blog, The House That Stamps Built. You will also find the creations by the RI Rock Stars. You can follow these links to their blogs:

Cheri ~ Dawn ~Joy ~ Karen ~ Maki ~ Patti

For my card, I used stamps from the new Big Boys Toys, released a couple weeks ago. I paper-pieced the hot air balloon. I used a Marvy corner punch on the image panel. The patterned paper is from Recollections and the matting is Tangerine Tango from Stampin' Up!

The Designer's Choice Challenge to use a stamped image, embossing and a die cut or punch will still be open for nearly another week. Your participation in that challenge will earn you a chance to win a full sheet of unmounted rubber of your choice. Those details can be found here.

Thanks so much for stopping by, and I hope you'll come back and visit again soon!

Pink and Brown Color Swap

I made this card for a color swap in our stamping group - pink and brown. I also used some "card parts."


In my card parts box I found the Letterpressed piece (the main piece of the card) and also the punched (Martha Stewart) and scored pink piece. I added sticker "gems" to the center of the daisies. I also added the ribbon and brown matting. The matting is Soft Suede from Stampin' Up! and the sentiment is stamped in Soft Suede, also. It's from a Papertrey Ink set.


Thanks so much for stopping by, and I hope you'll come back and visit again soon!

Sunflower Birthday

I was digging through my "card parts" box the other day, looking for some quick cards material. I found this sunflower image already colored. (I believe it was colored with Bic markers.)


I matted the image with black cardstock and added a thin strip of black behind it, too. The image panel is mounted on Pop Dots. The background paper is from my Recollections pad. The sentiment is from a small Papertrey set.


I hope everyone (in the US) has been enjoying their long weekend.


Thanks so much for stopping by, and I hope you'll come back and visit again soon!

"Christmas Sunday"

Two more Christmas cards done. These are similar, but still different. I was inspired once again by Heather Telford. Both cards use stamps from the same Inkadinkado set and Stampin' Up! ink and cardstock.


For this first one, I used a brayer to ink up the masked-off area. I used Buckaroo Blue and Bordering Blue. The image and sentiment are stamped with Not Quite Navy.

For this second one, I sponged ink (Forest Foliage and Sage Shadow) in the masked-off area. The image and sentiment are stamped with Versafine Black Onyx ink.


I am submitting them into the Christmas Card Challenge blog challenge. The challenge always has a theme, but the main challenge is to simply make a Christmas card. (The theme this week is "bling.")


Thanks so much for stopping by, and I hope you'll come back and visit again soon!

Casing Heather Telford - again

This card is again a CASE of a card by Heather Telford. The card I have CASEd today is this one. Isn't it awesome?


My flowers and leaves are from a Technique Tuesday set. The sentiment is from Papertrey Ink. The inks I used are Stampin' Up! (probably retired) Vintage Violet and True Thyme. I stamped on one layer. The matting layer is sponged along the edges (and left white for part of it.) Those two layers together are mounted on Pop Dots.


Thanks so much for stopping by, and I hope you'll come back and visit again soon!

Double-Sponged Dragonfly

Heather Telford was the Featured Stamper on SplitCoastStampers a few weeks ago. What a great gallery! She does lots of sponging - wonderful technique!! She put a tutorial on her blog, also, for this double sponging technique. You can find it here. This card is done using that technique, but hardly to the quality of hers:) I'll try again some time.


I cut a square with a Nestability and used it for a mask. I sponged some orange and yellow on the cardstock and then stamped in orange with a Stampin' Up! background stamp. Then I used a Repeat Impressions dragonfly and stamped with Versamark and embossed with clear embossing powder. I then sponged Soft Suede over it all. I matted with Soft Suede, also and mounted with Pop Dots. The sentiment is from Gina K and I used Soft Suede for it.


Thanks so much for stopping by, and I hope you'll come back and visit again soon!

Four Rather Similar - But Different - Cards

I had a fun stamping day on Tuesday and made these four cards. They all use small Papertrey Ink stamp sets. The sets are: Fillable Frames #1, #4 and #5 and tag-its #2. The dies are from PTI also, except for the last one, which uses Spellbinders dies. The printed paper is all from Recollections and the solid paper is from Stampin' Up!. The image panels are all mounted on Pop Dots. The inks are from various companies. Hope you enjoy them!


This first one also uses a Martha Stewart punch for the butterfly. I covered it with Star Dust Stickles.

Edited to add: I used a Stampin' Up! ticket corner punch on this one, on the blue panel.

The birdhouse is stamped on the main panel and again on scrap cardstock, cut out and popped up. I punched the hole with a tiny punch.

Thanks so much for stopping by, and I hope you'll come back and visit again soon!

Repeat Impressions Designer's Choice Challenge - A Recipe

A new Designer's Choice Challenge from Repeat Impressions begins today, and I think you'll like it! The challenge was chosen by Karen, and it's a recipe - use a stamped image, embossing and a die cut or punch. One random winner for the month will win a full sheet of unmounted rubber of their choice! You have almost two weeks to create your card and link it up to the RI blog. You can find all the details and the creations by the Design Team on the Repeat Impressions blog, The House That Stamps Built. You can also follow these links to the Rock Stars' blogs:

Cheri ~ Dawn ~Joy ~ Karen ~ Kecia ~ Maki ~ Patti

For my card, I used a Cuttlebug folder for the embossing. I used Birthday Cupcake, available on this page, for my image. I colored with Copics and used Stickles on the frosting. My punch is the tiny flower, to which I added tiny gems. The sentiment is from Repeat Impressions - I stamped it in a straight line instead of two lines, like it comes. I matted with Pale Plum cardstock from Stampin' Up!

There is still almost another week to participate in last week's WHAT IF? Wednesday sketch challenge, too. You can find those details here. The prize for that challenge is a $25 gift certificate.

Thanks so much for stopping by, and I hope you'll come back and visit again soon!

SplitCoastStampers Clean and Simple Challenge

I made this card for last week's SplitCoastStampers Clean and Simple challenge. The challenge was to split an image into three pieces. Always a fun thing to do:)


My image is from an Inkadinkado set. You've seen it before. I love it. I colored with Copics and cut it into thirds and matted with black. The sentiment is from Gina K. That's it!


Thanks so much for stopping by, and I hope you'll come back and visit again soon!

Repeat Impressions Stamp of the Week - Baby Owl

There is a new Stamp of the Week for you today at Repeat Impressions. This week's stamp is Baby Owl and is available here. For this week only (through Sunday evening) Baby Owl will be available for half off. Please visit the Repeat Impressions blog, The House That Stamps Built, for all the necessary details and to see what the Rock Stars have created. You can also follow these links to their blogs:

Dawn ~Joy ~ Kecia

I kept my card quite simple again. I stamped the owl three times on white cardstock - in Stampin' Up!'s Sahara Sand, Close to Cocoa and Soft Suede. Then I trimmed them down and matted them on a single piece of black. The sentiment is part of a Repeat Impressions stamp and is stamped in Soft Suede. The card base is PaperTrey Ink's kraft.

There are two open challenges on the Repeat Impressions blog, too: the WHAT IF? Wednesday sketch challenge, found here, and the Designer's Choice Challenge to make a Double Dutch Fold card, found here. Won't you please join us for a chance to win some wonderful prizes?

Thanks so much for stopping by, and I hope you'll come back and visit again soon!

"Christmas Sunday"

A pretty simple Christmas card for today. I'm again "letting the patterned paper speak for itself." :)


This card is 5 x 7 inches. I used a full sheet from a matstack by Recollections and matted with Baroque Burgundy from Stampin' Up! The card base is ivory. What I added to the background were the embossed snowflakes in the lower left (I sanded them so they showed up more), the ribbon, the double lines of scoring, and the stamped sentiment. I'm entering this in the Christmas Card Challenge. The challenge is to make a Christmas card. The theme this week is a sketch.


Thanks so much for stopping by, and I hope you'll come back and visit again soon!

Happy Retirement, Sheri!!

A friend of mine from our Yahoo! group is retiring on the 29th. Way to go, Sheri!!! This is the card I sent to her.


The flower is from one of my new favorite sets from Inkadinkado. You've seen several of the stamps lately. I colored with Copics and added some Star Dust Stickles to the center. The sentiment is a "sneak peek" of a soon-to-be-released stamp from Repeat Impressions. Keep watching for them - you'll be seeing them soon and I know you'll love them.  I sure do! I matted with Papertrey Ink's New Leaf cardstock. Edited to add: The card base and main panel are ivory - not white.


Thanks so much for stopping by, and I hope you'll come back and visit again soon!

Flowery Thinking of You

I made this card "just because" and it was so much fun! I like doing my design team "work" and the challenges on SplitCoastStampers are fun, too, but sometimes it's just nice to pick up a stamp set and make something. :)


All the stamps on this card (well, not the sentiment, which is from Gina K) are from the same Recollections set. The "leaves" are actually done by coloring two petals of a flower and using my Stamp-a-ma-jig to position them. Two different sizes of flowers, to be exact. I did the coloring with Copics. The matting is Perfect Plum from Stampin' Up! (Edited to add: It's really very unimportant, but I simply drew the lines for the stems with a fine-tipped black marker.)


Thanks so much for stopping by, and I hope you'll come back and visit again soon!

SplitCoastStampers Free4All Challenge - Anniversary

I made this card for last week's SplitCoastStampers Free4All challenge. The challenge was to make a 3.5 x 6 inch card.


That was the perfect size to use a neglected Cuttlebug folder from the Cindy Loo set. All the embossing on the card was done with the same folder with one pass through my BIGkick. The flower and leaves are from the same Fiskars set. The flower was cut out and mounted on Pop Dots and the leaves are stamped directly on the card front layer. (The entire front is one piece layered on to the card base so that the embossing doesn't show on the inside of the card.) The sentiment is from Hero Arts.


Thanks so much for stopping by, and I hope you'll come back and visit again soon!

Repeat Impressions WHAT IF? Wednesday Sketch Challenge

Wednesday is challenge day at Repeat Impressions and today's challenge is a WHAT IF? Wednesday sketch challenge. You can find all the details and also the creations by the Rock Stars on the Repeat Impressions blog, The House That Stamps Built. One lucky participant will win a $25 gift certificate - awesome! Here are links to the design team members' blog, also:

 Cheri ~ Dawn ~Joy ~ Karen ~ Kecia ~ Maki ~ Patti

I love cards with lots of white, and so that's what I used for this card. I stamped the flowers (Flowering Vine - found on this page) with Memento Tuxedo Black ink, cut it out with a Nestabilities oval, sponged some light blue ink around the edges before removing it from the die,  and colored with Copics. Then I matted it with black. I put Pop Dots on the top part of it, to make it even with the bottom layer. For the bottom panel, I punched the top with a Martha Stewart fence punch, embossed with a Swiss Dots Cuttlebug folder, and scored a couple lines with my Scor-Pal. I mounted on Pop Dots. The sentiment is from Repeat Impressions and is also mounted on Pop Dots. I punched the little flowers with a punch from the dollar spot at Michael's, colored with the same blue markers as the main image, and added the pearls to the center. I also added pearls to the centers of the flowers in the main image.

We'd sure love to have you join us! You have nearly a week to enter the Designer's Choice Challenge, too. You can find those details here. The challenge is a Double Dutch Fold card and the prize is a full sheet of unmounted rubber of your choice!

Thanks so much for stopping by, and I hope you'll come back and visit again soon!

SplitCoastStampers Sketch Challenge - Rose Birthday

This is for last week's SplitCoastStampers Sketch Challenge. The roses are from Kitchen Sink and were stamped off a few years ago courtesy of my friend, Harriet while she was visiting me. Thanks, Harriet - it's almost time again!! I cut the rose and the leaves out, leaving a thin white border around them. I mounted the rose with the three leaves on Pop Dots. The single leaf is glued directly on the white cardstock. The sentiment is from Gina K and is stamped in Jardin Moss. The pink strip down the middle was embossed with a Swiss Dots folder and the patterned paper is from Recollections. This one is going to my sister-in-law in Georgia who grows very beautiful roses.


Thanks so much for stopping by, and I hope you'll come back and visit again soon!

SplitCoastStampers Ways To Use It Challenge

This was for last Thursday's Ways to Use It challenge on SplitCoastStampers - to use a bird on your card.


Both stamps I used are from a set by Fiskars. I had used the background before, but not the peacock. I used a small purple ink pad that must have come with some stamps some time. I matted with Stampin' Up! purple - I think Lovely Lilac. I cut the peacock and matting with Nestabilities and mounted on Pop Dots.


Thanks so much for stopping by, and I hope you'll come back and visit again soon!