Wednesday 27 June 2012

Embossed For You

Whenever I see the words "Just For You", I'm reminded of the delightful series of books by Mercer Mayer involving Little Critter. One of my favorites is Just For You. Little Critter tries to be helpful but things go wrong. Way wrong. "I tried to take a nap just for you, but the bed was too bouncy".  

This card only went a little wrong in that my stamps aren't lined up very well. I did much better in my demo card on Monday night but I don't have a photo of that card.

Stamp: Just Believe set Accessories: Decorative Label punch, basic brads
 I CASE'd this from Mary Fish*see her card here*, although I did a few of my own twists. (IE: I used a different sentiment, flipped the sketch horizontal, changed the colours, added that punch with the brads) but the main idea was hers! Thanks for sharing, Mary!
Card stock: Baja Breeze, Summer Starfruit, Real Red, Basic Black 



I just love the new Chevron Embossing Folder! Chevron is one of my favorite patterns right now and so having it available for cards is so fun!! I love how versatile it is! You could easily make some cool tire tracks with it. I'll have to give that a try!!

Today is my little girl's birthday! Yes, ONE year ago today I was snuggling her from the outside for the very first time!! Happy Birthday, Lucia!!


PhotoHere's Lucia this morning!!

And this was here a year ago!!

I hope you are having a wonderful Wednesday!

Tamara

Friday 22 June 2012

A Shameless CASE

I the first to admit, most of the cards I make and either CASE'd or inspired by cards I see on blogs, pinterest, etc. This was one I fell in love with by Julie Davison (love her blog).

 I needed to make swaps for our team Extravaganza so I started looking through my starred fav's in Reader. This one jumped out at me! I love the colours (DSP from Floral District) and it was just so fun!
 The stamps are from Betsy's Blossoms and the "here's to you" is from Fabulous Phrases. I just recently bought the Fabulous Phrases and am LOVING IT. I use it a ton! 

Happy FRIDAY! Yahoo!

Thanks for stopping in!!

Tamara

Thursday 21 June 2012

Have you heard of the Bag-a-lope?

Quick post today as our family is fighting the stomach flu. Yuck.

This is a bag-a-lope:
 It's a little bag made out of an envelope.  Easy to do. This one is filled with embellishments. It was the "goodie" bag from my rubber rummage sale. If you showed up, you got one. Simple as that.

Here's another view:
 This one's not sitting flat for some reason, or maybe the goodies inside are leaning forward.

Here's a quick how-to:
1. Seal envelope

2.  Trim off (or in my case, punch) one of the short sides to create the opening.

3. Wheel to your hearts content. (Or stamp all over)

4. Score the other three sides (not the open end) at 1". Fold and crease.

5. Manipulate so the bottom goes flat and the sides angle in.

6. Add front embellishments

7.  Fill with treats or goodies.

8. Use a hole punch and then tie ribbon through to hold shut

9. Give to your favorite someone :) 

Pictures would be helpful. Head over to Split Coast Stampers to see the tutorial.

Enjoy your day! It's gonna be a hot one here.

Tamara

Tuesday 19 June 2012

Horse Play

When I saw the new stamp set Horse Frontier in the new catalogue, I knew it was a must-have! My sister-in-law adores horses and her room is covered in art, photos, sculptures, carvings, you name it! She's a fantastic artist herself and she draws and paints horses so beautifully.  I was really excited for this stamp set so I could make her some horse-themed cards/scrapbook pages.

 It's a fairly simple card. I used the horseshoe stamp to create background paper stamping on Always Artichoke in coordinating Always Artichoke ink. The horse stamp was inked in Soft Suede and Always Artichoke (for the grass) and then I used a sponge to roughly colour the horse in and add some foreground. I also sponged EVERY piece of card stock (including the card base). What can I say, horses are dusty! The saying, "There's a little cowboy in all of us, a little frontier." is also from the stamp set.  I cut it out using the Apothecary Accents Framelits and then cropped off the right and left side bubble accents.

This is the sneak peek for our technique class tomorrow night.  I'll share the other two cards after tomorrow night's class!

Hope you enjoyed today's card!

Tamara 

Monday 18 June 2012

Back in the Mojo!

It's Monday again! I've had time to take a look at this week's Mojo Monday sketch and I FINALLY completed it on a Monday! Here's the sketch:
 I wanted to use my new set "Clockworks" but still wanted to keep it fairly simple.


Here's my take:
 I used Clockworks and Pretty Postage stamp sets with Midnight Muse, Basic Gray, and Whisper White card stock. The gray dsp is from Twitterpated.  The background is embossed with the new Argyle embossing folder. FUN! I used the 1 1/4" (I think) square punch and the Postage Stamp punch. And, don't you LOVE that stitched satin ribbon in Midnight Muse? SO gorgeous. Easy to work with too!

This will be for someone special...I just don't know who yet! Feel free to leave me a comment with any questions ;) You know I love comments.


Take Care!


Tamara






Thursday 14 June 2012

Top Secret...

I'm working on some invites for my best friend's bridal shower. Unfortunately, I need to keep them a surprise so I can't share the photos. So far, I'm using Hello, Doily background stamp, Tea Shoppe's tea cup stamp, and MDS. Here's a pic that sort of inspired me. It's a card by Sandi MacIver (she's great!):
 Tea ShoppeLet's say I'm changing it up a lot, but I love love LOVE the Hello, Doily in the background! I think I'm going with Very Vanilla, Soft Suede, Baja Breeze, and Perfect Plum for my colour palette.  What do you think? Can you envision what I'm thinking of creating?


Hope you're staying dry this wet Thursday.  It just started POURING here. You'd never know it's June! We've had so.much.rain.




Tamara

Monday 11 June 2012

A Day of "First's"!

Today started out with an exciting event! My baby girl, Lucia (11.5 months), took her first steps today! Then the day proceeded to go downhill. I slammed my finger in the door, and then, worst of all, Mason (almost 3) got stung/bit by a yellow jacket TWICE on his EYELID. Worst place to get bit I think. He's quite swollen (up his ear and everything) so he's having a rest and sleeping off the Benadryl. Hopefully the reaction won't last long. :( 

I'm really getting into Birthday Mode though as Lucia will be one on June 27th and Mason will be three on July 18th! Lots of planning to do! Here's part of Mason's first birthday (the gift part)!!

 He did play with the toys a bit, but it was all about the big wagon box. We actually did use the wagon. It helped keep the box from falling over. 

Enjoy your Monday. Ugh, Monday's.  I'm going to have a little rest with Mason and hopefully when we wake up, it'll just be fun for the rest of the day :)

Tamara

Friday 8 June 2012

Make a Cake!

Well, today's the day my first new catalogue order is set to arrive! Let's just say, I'm getting a little antsy. It's almost 6pm here and if it doesn't get here soon, it might be delayed until Monday. That would be sad :(

Here's something that made me happy :) 
It's the Make a Cake stamp set and Bitty Banners stamp set. The banner stamps coordinate with the Bitty Banners Framelits. So fun!
I added some Dazzling Diamonds using the 2 way glue pen. You can sort of see the sparkle and shimmer above. Just fun :)


Hope you've had a great Friday. Anyone have big plans for the weekend? Are you getting a shipment of brand new toys and are planning to hide away in your craft room for the weekend? I wish. Maybe if I didn't have kids ;) There will be a little time for stamping after 9pm :)


Tamara




 

Thursday 7 June 2012

Busy, Busy!

Today is a super busy day so I have just a quick post before I have a morning visit with an out-of-town cousin and her two kidlets, then lunch with Daddy up at the farm, a few errands, naps (YAA - but boo 'cuz this momma's gotta clean), and finally, IT'S my RUBBER RUMMAGE sale and New Catalogue kickoff event tonight! If you haven't RSVP'd, leave me a comment. You're welcome to come but if I know you're coming, then I'll have make-and-take projects for you!

Anyways, here's the post:
 

Have a great day!

Wednesday 6 June 2012

Herringbone Technique

I first saw this card by Julie Davison and wanted to recreate it! I had to wait a while though because I didn't have any Adhesive Sheets. So I not-so-patiently ordered and then waited for that order to arrive. When it did, I made this:
 I loved it so much we did it at Technique Night for our last card of the Backgrounds class. It's actually quite a soothing technique. It's easy to do while visiting and chatting as there is minimal stamping, just a little punching, and laying down little strips of paper. I cut WAY too many strips though so now I have a bazillion thin sheets of DSP! Anyone want to come make more of these with me and we can watch a movie? 

If you have more questions, just leave me a comment!

Have a great Wednesday!

Tamara

Stampin' Supplies:
Stamp Set: On Your Birthday (retired), Mixed Bunch
Ink: Jet Black StazOn, Poppy Parade (retired)
DSP: Domestic Goddess (retired)
Card Stock: Night of Navy, Baja Breeze, Poppy Parade (retired), Whisper White
Accessories: Adhesive Sheets, Antique Brads, Blossom Punch

Tuesday 5 June 2012

Faux Patina

This is another card from May's Technique Class on backgrounds. I am so sad to see this stamp go! I hope that it will make a comeback one day, maybe as an A la carte stamp???

 This is actually a fairly simple technique. Just a lot of sponging and then either heat embossing or some more sponging to finish it off.
 Here's one more angle so you can really appreciate the background. This also features Pear Pizzazz and Concord Crush which are sadly retired now :(
 Faux patina is supposed to be an aged sort of look. By lightly rubbing the versamark pad over the embossed  background some areas will pick up more embossing powder than others giving an uneven finish. That's good! *Important- Before rubbing with versamark, be sure to rub with an embossing buddy or heat set to ensure that your sponging is dry! Otherwise, you will have one big embossed mess. I know from experience.*

Here's a quick how to:
Step 1. Ink the debossed side of your embossing folder with Crumb Cake ink (just rub the ink pad directly on the embossing folder).
Step 2. Place Very Vanilla cardstock into embossing folder and run through Big Shot as normal.
Step 3. Sponge background all over with Pear Pizzazz Ink.
Step 4. Sponge background more selectively with Concord Crush Ink
Step 5. Sponge background all over with Early Espresso ink.
Step 6. Heat set or rub with Embossing Buddy
Step 7. Wipe Versamark pad over background leaving some places free from ink.
Step 8. Heat emboss with either gold, silver, or pewter embossing powder (I used Pewter)
Step 9. Touch up some sponging if you like.

That's it! Less than 10 steps to this beautiful background!

Tamara
PS. It's new Digital Download day! Check out the new MDS downloads here!!

Monday 4 June 2012

It's a Monday!

Hello! Thanks for stopping in! I FINALLY got a bunch of photos uploaded to my computer so I have some blog material to go with now. I think instead of writing the long somewhat humorous (or maybe not?) posts, I'll keep 'em short and sweet. We all just like the pictures anyhow right? If you have a question about how a technique works or whatnot, just leave me a comment. I DO make a big effort to answer every comment. (Which isn't that hard when I only have a handful a week).

Let's get at er!
 These photos are from my last Technique class on Backgrounds. This is the "Faux Barnboard" technique.
 Basically, it's white acrylic paint, re-inker, and elmer's glue.  That paper started out as Very Vanilla.
 Love this set "Daring Adventure". Such awesome images!
 Cute envelope to match.

Remember, if you have questions about the specifics of the technique, just leave me a comment!

Tamara

Friday 1 June 2012

It's here, It's here!

If you've been waiting for the 2012 Stampin' Up! Catalog, THE DAY HAS COME!  It is officially live, and you'll be able to order all the new goodies starting at noon today!  

Here's the link:


There's so many amazing products in here! You won't be disappointed!

AND the June Hostess special is A-MAZ-ING! Host a qualifying workshop and get an EXTRA $60 to spend! That means you'd get $150 big ones PLUS a 50% item. Contact me to host a workshop today!

Want more? Sign up to be a demonstrator (any kind) and you'll get a bunch of products from the Patio Party Suite for FREE! $125 and you're on your way to saving big moolah. 

And here's a fun page I made the other night. I could swap out the photos of Mason and put stamp sets and still have it say "LUCKY IN LOVE - I'm a Stampin' Up! demonstrator" LOL.

Enjoy, 

Tamara