Water Stamping

 I saw a card on our demonstrator website and the technique caught my attention.  Needless to say, I had to try it.  I played with a number of color combinations and various stamps and these cards are  my favorite color combos for the technique.  Now is when I wish I had the By the Seashore stamp set. The shells would have been perfect on the blue/yellow card! That being said, the flower from Secret Garden together with the leaf from Fabulous Florets look pretty, too.  On to the pink and yellow card.  How pretty is that one?  Not only is the color combination pretty the En Français background stamp just works.  In the future I can add a sentiment or image on a little tag for just about any occasion.  I have decided that this technique will be used for the third card during our August classes.  So sign up early and be prepared to make some gorgeous creations!  Have a great day!

Harmony At Home

Little Harmony was able to go home on Friday. Sydney is so excited.  We all thought the little bird would need time to get adjusted to being away from his bird friends, but no way!  Syd put him, I mean her, in her cage and the bird just started playing.  Now our grandpuppy, Maddie, isn't sure about this little thing getting all the attention but I have a feeling they will become pals.  We went over to their house for pizza Saturday night.  The little thing has to eat every two hours and so Jenny put him on the table to eat with us!  Her hubby wasn't too thrilled and by the end of the dinner hour, he announced that the bird doesn't sit on the table during dinner any more--LOL!!!!  Harmony was climbing on Jen's plate, trying to eat our food.  You had to be there to appreciate it, but it was the most hilarious dinner I have had in a long time!  When Harmony is in her cage, she does somersaults on her perches and then lays on her back on the bottom of the cage, rolling over like a little puppy. Harmony is a delightful little creature! I will honestly say that if you are remotely interested in a bird of any kind, a hand raised bird is the way to go.  If I get a little bird, I will definitely be getting mine from Birds and Beasts in Crystal Lake. 

Cheers & Stars

One of the stamp sets in the annual catalog that I truly like is Gorgeous Grunge  (page 109).  I am holding off on buying it as I am not sure how often I would use it.  And then I saw a very cute card (either on Pinterest or my SU demonstrator website) that was stamped with different images from the Gorgeous Grunge set and some stars.   It was so cute that I wanted to make something similar. I used the edge of a piece of cardboard  tapped on an ink pad to make trailing lines from the stars, together with images from the Simply Stars set.   It worked well, as you can see and I do like the color combination of Coastal Cabana and Perfect Plum.  The biggest star was adhered using a dimensional and to complete the card, I added little dots of Dazzling Details.  I did add a white liner to the inside of the card and added a couple of stars with trailing lines and bits of Dazzling Details.   So how much quicker would it have been to make this card if I had the Gorgeous Grunge set?  Not sure about that, but it is still on my maybe list.  Have a great day!

Making Progress

I had a productive day yesterday.  It is Cricut Sunday this weekend so I decided I should get some of those 500 plus photos I mentioned
a couple of weeks ago into scrap books.  If I get   photos and layouts done, I can create the titles and little embellishment with my Cricut while we enjoy the afternoon.  I completed about 15 two-page layouts (Thanks to a ton of Close To My Heart paper packs I own!) which means I have made a small dent in the amount of photos still needing to be scrapped.  Between scrapping and organizing photos and paper I found time to make another treat bag.  I learned how to convert the Tag A Bag Gift Bags into flat bottom bags and I love it!  I used one of the Chalk Talk framelits, the decorative label punch, a sentiment from a retired Halloween set and some cute SU Washi tape. The lime green ribbon is a cute needed pop of color and the little clothespin is just perfect. I truly do need to stock up on the darn cute bags!  Have a great weekend and find yourself a little stampin' time!

Tag A Bag

Stampin' Up has some great new "kits"  in both the annual catalog and the Holiday Mini. Today's photos were created using  the Tag A Bag gift bags in the annual catalog (pg. 158). You can purchase the bags only ($3.95/10) or the Accessory Kit only ($7.95) which includes 10 large tags, 10 builder tags, 10 mini clothespins, 3 colors of Baker's Twine, dimensionals and Slate sticky strips. Or you can bundle both for $9.95.  The bags measure 5" x 8-1/4" which will hold a variety of items.  Inside my bag are a few greeting cards w/envelopes.  I can see many uses for these bags whether you purchase the bundle or just the bags.  The bag on the left was made using the Accessory Kit with the addition of a ribbon, stamped image and punched stars. The bag on the right is one I decorated using product I have on hand. I can already see these bags decorated for Christmas! Therefore,  I will be stocking up on the bags when I place my August 1st order.  Speaking of the Holiday Mini, I hope my ladies have received their copies in the mail.  If not, I will have copies available at my classes.  Have a great day!

Tissue Paper For Texture

Often when the term  "texture" is used in describing a card, embossing comes to mind.  Not so with today's cards.   The texture on the sympathy card was achieved by adhering tissue paper to white cardstock.  The thank you card also used tissue paper but rather than adhering it to cardstock, it was adhered to designer series paper.  We will be making the sympathy card in the August card classes along with the Distressed Postage Due card posted on Monday.  Not quite sure about the third card, but it will have something to do with texture!  Have a great day and find yourself a little stampin' time!

Clear Block Stamping

I see many Fall-themed cards recently but I cannot bring myself to leave summer behind in my scrap room.  So, I chose two "summer" colors for today's card, a rather quick and cute card, too!  (Daffodil Delight and Tangerine Tango are my idea of summer colors.)  Ink up a clear acrylic block with ink color(s) of your choice and stamp on your cardstock.  After stamping the hat (Sketched Birthday) in the center block, the balloon image from the same set along with a sentiment from Sweet Essentials were used to fill in the white space.  Definitely a card that is easily reproduced in a number of colors.  Next up for me will be Tempting Turquoise and Melon Mambo.  Have a great summer day!

Distressed Postage Due

Every once in a while, I make a card that I feel is one of the better cards I have created.  Today's card (on the left) is just that~~in my opinion.  Very Vanilla cardstock, Early Espresso ink and a little sponging was needed together with the Postage Due stamp set and the sentiment from Wetlands.  For some reason this card speaks to me.  So I wanted to try recreating it in different colors.  I tried a couple of greens--no!  Calypso and Cajun--no!  How about Crumb Cake with Early Espresso?  Yes!  On this card I also crumpled up the stamped image.  The sentiment and heart stamp are from the Around the World stamp set, a set I finally used!  I know one item that will be on my next order:  the Postage Stamp punch.  The stamp images do need that zigzag edge and when I receive the punch, I will replace the "stamp" on each card.    Have a great day!

Happy Birthday, Sydney!

Today is a very special day in our family.  Our granddaughter, Sydney, is celebrating her 9th birthday.  We celebrated with her and Jen & Mark, Grandmum & Papa, Uncle Matt and Uncle Dave & Aunt Ida.  Sydney, happy birthday!  Have a great day and a year filled with all good things! We are very proud of you and love you very much.   Love, Grandma Gay, Grandpa John & Cody, too XXXOOO

Birthday Goose

As many of you know, my husband is a water fowl hunter and I enjoy the shorebirds (among other things) when we are in Florida.  When I saw the Wetlands stamp set in the annual catalog, it was at the top of my "need" list.  Not only does it have the goose image, but includes an image of sandpipers, reeds/seagrass and three elegant sentiments. The sentiments remind me of the retired Sincere Salutations stamp set, a little smaller but of a very similar pretty font.  Smokey Slate, Basic Gray, Black and Soft Suede work together perfectly--both cardstock and markers.  I actually observed the geese in the pond to be sure I colored the goose so it looked like a goose! Still need a little goose-coloring practice--hahah.  Have a great weekend and find yourself a little stampin' time!

Copy A Card

As I was going through the catalog, I decided to recreate the layout of the "hello" card on page 22.  Since I recently posted a card that incorporated a brayered embossing folder, I opted to use DSP in place of the embossed layer.   The card base is Basic Gray layered with  Pool Party This & That DSP which has a bit of a distressed look.  The sentiment from the Four You set fits perfectly in an oval framelit.  In keeping with the distressed feel, I randomly sponged a little gray on the Pool Party oval.  The banner was cut from a retired DSP scrap and layered on a Decorative Label.  There are great ideas/samples in the catalog.  If you are ever stuck for a card design, grab the catalog and find an idea that appeals to you. As the heat continues,  have a nice day, keep cool and stay hydrated, too!.

Birthday Cards

We celebrated my birthday a couple of weeks ago with our children and granddaughter.  As usual, we had a lot of fun, good food (Maggiano's) and a pretty cake from Jarosch Bakery in Elk Grove Village.  Sydney wanted me to have a birthday cake that was special.  Sydney went to the bakery with her mom, looked through the cake book and since she and I both love ribbon and we can never have enough, a cake with a frosting ribbon and  bow was the best! Then there were the cards Sydney and Jenny made~~so pretty with very nice handwritten sentiments inside.  I really am blessed.  I have the best family ever! Thank you John, Matt, Jen, Mark, Sydney and Cody and my grandpuppies!

Basic Gray Hello

 A while back we used the Stripes embossing folder, available in the annual catalog, to create a gingham background.  I used the same technique using the Stylish Stripes folder which will be available on August 1st when the Holiday mini goes live. I brayered Basic Gray ink on one side of the embossing folder and ran it through the Big Shot.  I reinked the same side of the folder, put the cardstock into the embossing folder in the opposite direction and rolled it through the Big Shot once again.  I will say that using a darker ink was a bit messier than using a light color but the end result is good.  The little red butterfly adds a bit of interest and a pop of color as once I stamped the "hello" (Four You stamp set) there was a little to much white space . Have a great day and keep cool!
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Epic Sketched Birthday

If you are looking for a nice birthday stamp set, Sketched Birthday is one to think about.  Not only does it include images that you can color, but also includes sentiments that coordinate with the Itty Bitty Framelits.  That being said, if you do not have the framelit set, the straight lines make it easy enough to cut by hand.  That is what I did on today's card and then layered that stamped image on Daffodil Delight cardstock and hand cut that, too. The background was accomplished by placing Vanilla cardstock in the Stripes embossing folder on a diagonal and then turning the cardstock in the opposite direction and embossing again.  (Guess what?  In the new Holiday Mini catalog which you should be receiving in the mail over the next couple of weeks, there is a diagonal striped embossing folder and I love it!)  The print paper is from the Epic This and That DSP collection. The balloons and party hats were colored using matching SU markers, cut with paper snips and embellished with a little Dazzling Details added to the images.   Fun card, fun colors.  Hope you have a fun day!

Harmony Update

Harmony is officially one month old so Sydney was able to hold her when she visited Harmony on Friday.  Sydney is just thrilled with her new little bird and can hardly wait until Harmony can go home with her.  Have a great day!

In Color Hexagons

When the new catalog was released, I told myself that I was not interested in hexagons, neither the Six-sided Sampler stamp set nor the coordinating hexagon punch.  Well as does happen, my mind was changed when I started seeing how others were using the hexagons.  Today's cards were created using the new In Colors, which I continue to use frequently.  On both cards, some of the hexagons are directly stamped on the white cardstock while others were stamped and then hand cut.  The punch leaves a bit of a border around the hexagons and I did not want the border.  The retired corner punch and my favorite butterflies are the finishing touch on the Pistachio Pudding card.  The Cantaloupe Crisp card is quite simple, yet very pretty.  The Simply Scored tool was used for the three embossed lines.  Little rhinestones were colored using a permanent marker and added after I stamped the three words using the Fabulous Phrases set.  Notice on this card that the Cantaloupe hexagon was punched from DSP, no stamping required.  Have a great day and enjoy the weekend! 

Harmony

You know that we love to watch all the birds in our yard.  And this Spring/Summer had/have us watching and listening to both the Bluebirds and Orioles, and a new species for us~~Gray Catbirds.  Gray Catbirds are beautiful and  their call sounds like a "meow".  And as of last week, we have a pet bird in our family.  Our granddaughter has been asking for a parakeet.  After reading about parakeet ownership and the responsibilities associated with having a bird, Sydney and her mommy went to a couple of the big box-type pet stores But our little animal activist decided that if these places get their dogs from puppy mills, then they must get their birds from bird mills. So, over the weekend we went to the Birds & Beasts Pet Shop in Crystal Lake.  They breed their birds and have quite beautiful birds.  This store is amazing and after looking at a cage of recently born parakeets, Sydney made her choice.  The little baby is so young, that we aren't sure what colors it will be and Sydney cannot take it home for a few more weeks.  In the meantime, she is encouraged to visit her bird~~play with it, hold it and talk to it.  So this is Harmony, our little great grandbird--lol!.  The picture on the left was taken the day Sydney chose Harmony and the picture on the right was taken on Syd and Jen's second visit, just a couple of days later.  The pink mark on her head is one way of identifying Sydney's bird (not pink feathers) from other birds in the same cage.   It will be interesting to watch Harmony grow and the interactions between Harmony and Sydney.  In the meantime, I will be interacting with my stamping supplies!  Have a great day!

Thank You Card/Paper Clip

Today's project is straight from the annual catalog, page 152.  Not only is it a cute 3x3 gift card, the recipient can remove the little paper clip and use it as a book mark or as a scrapbook page element~~many ways to use it.  At classes this weekend you will be making the paper bow for a card and the 3D item is this card/paper clip.  I am not a fan of the Baked Brown Sugar In Color, but the Pool Party layer even makes Baked Brown Sugar pretty~~lol!  Reminds me of a time when I was not a fan of Soft Suede until a friend ordered a pack of DSP that included Soft Suede and Baja Breeze.  As soon as the order arrived, I knew I needed that paper pack and started using the color combo on several paper crafting projects.  You just might be seeing more Baked Brown Sugar in the future. Have a great day and find yourself a little stampin' time!

Circle Spinner Cards

At the last card class we created pinwheel spinner cards which had the "track" running across the front of the card and they were adorable.  Since then I wondered about a circle spinner card and recently created today's card.  The circle framelits came in handy when making the "track", but I need a smidgeon bit more space for it to work properly.  I wonder if the SU framelits would have better spacing for this than the framelits I used?  Not sure.   Nonetheless, with a little help the flower will go completely around the circle. These spinner cards are perfect for many occasions and can be personalized according to theme.  The flower can be replaced by a butterfly or bee or soccer ball, just about any stamped image that is big enough to hide the penny to which it is adhered.  This was a fun card to make.  Hope you have a fun day!

Washi Tape?

Today's card is a fun card created with the new stamp set, Tape It.  The stamp set includes 8 images of decorative tape in various lengths and patterns.  Three of the four tape images on the card are from the stamp set and one is a piece of  Washi tape.   The tape and stamp set work well together, and since I have a limited supply of Washi tape, the images  can be any color/design I want and I don't need to store a large variety of Washi tape rolls.   I also used one of the 5" x 3-1/2" note cards that I really like and which makes me wonder why I never created more cards this size.  Maybe it is because until now, SU didn't offer envelopes this size?    No matter the reason, I will definitely be ordering more of these note card sets which can be found on page 162 of the catalog.  The sentiment is from the new Four You set.  I debated about adding anther sentiment set to my stamp collection, but this set has sentiment styles that I do not own and for $11.95 (clear mount), is very reasonably priced.   It is storming here right now, so time for me to get off the computer.  Have a great day!

Messy Island Photos

I hope you all had a great 4th of July!  We had a peaceful day at home.  We usually crew for our friend, Tom and his hot air balloon, but he couldn't be here this year.  So since I decided that I need to catch up on my scrapbooking, I spent the better part of the day working on that project, a continuation of what I started the other day.   I have spent the last few days:  sorting pictures already processed; going through the compact flashes and disks so see what needs to be processed versus that which I already have; and more.  Honestly, I have spent hours and hours with photos and photo disks, ordering a total of a little more than 500 pictures.  I actually toyed with the idea of getting a number of the photos scrapped digitally.  But after spending way too much time on the first few pages, I decided to just traditionally scrap--less time, less money and less aggravation--lol!!!!  (And I also have a huge collection of scrap paper that I should use!)  So today I am sharing my messy island/tables photos!  I may not have new cards to post, but at least you can see that I am creating!  Have a good weekend and I will be back with a card or two on Monday!

Happy Birthday, America!

Have a wonderful day!

Happy 4th Favor

Looking for a quick and simple 4th of July favor?  Here it is!  The little bags are stamped using the Simply Stars set and wrapped with a piece of Night of Navy DSP.  The word "happy" is from the Fabulous Phrases set, while the "4th of July" is from an older CTMH stamp.  When I was making this favor, I was so wishing I had purchased the Words of Courage stamp set.  That one is now on my list of "needs".  I wanted to fill the little bags with the individually wrapped Twizzlers, but couldn't find them at the store.  Instead, I added a little raffia and a couple of mini Kit Kat bars.  Have a great day as the holiday weekend begins!  (If traveling, safe travels.)

A Paper Bow

Today's card is a pretty card but it really is all about the bow.  I used the color combination of Wisteria Wonder and Whisper White.  Both the little bow and the top panel on the card are from the Subtles DSP stack and the lower panel is Wisteria Wonder card stock that I embossed with a retired embossing folder, but any embossing folder will do the job.  This is the third card we will make at the next class.  Between the masking tape technique, the sunburst card and the bow, the next class is going to be one you will not want to miss.  I will be sending out class reminders soon.  If you are not on my reminder list and would like to attend one of the next classes, send me an email at gsacht@aol.com to reserve a spot.  Have a great day. 

Sunburst Pistachio Pudding

This technique has been around for a while and I have finally decided to try it.  Pistachio Pudding was my color of choice teamed up with the beautiful Strawberry Slush ribbon.  The sentiment is from the Chalk Talk stamp set layered on a Strawberry scalloped circle.  To match the white polka dots on the DSP, I used my white gel pen to add little dots on the scallop circle.  We will be making a sunburst card at the next card classes, my group class scheduled for July 13th and Cherie's group class scheduled for July 14th.  I also made a red, white and blue sunburst card, but I am saving that for my July 4th post.  Until then, enjoy the week and have a great day!