Stamp Act

I got some new stamps ~ wanna see????

Oh happy day ~ I got my new stamps from Starving Artistamps and here is my first card as a Guest Designer for them!  I will warn you up front that this is NOT a Christmas card so if you were looking to see a Christmas card, you will have to visit another blog as I just don't DO Christmas cards!!! LOL!!!  Of course you know I am joking because all I have done lately ARE Christmas cards!!!  OK, enough babbling ~ here is my card!

The card base is Chocolate Chip and is 5 1/4" square.  The next mustard colored layer is from Basic Grey's Mellow line.  I used my new, AWESOME, ornate tooled leather background stamp from Starving Artistamps.  You really can't see how beautiful it is on this card because I covered it up but I will make another card which shows it better because it is fantastic!  I stamped it on the mustard color Basic Grey Mellow cardstock using Chocolate Chip ink.  I left a clean edge on the one side and added old SU! fibers as a divider which I then attached a Karen Foster pewter horseshoe charm.  The horse, fence and sentiment are all from Starving Artistamps ~ HERE.   The wood looking paper is SU! paper from last year which I stamped the horse/fence on using Basic Black ink and then cut it out.  I stamped the horse on Whisper White cardstock using Chocolate Chip ink and cut him out too.  I colored him with a blender pen and my watercolor crayons and then put the fence and horse pieces together and adhered them on top of a cloud piece of cardstock that is also in the Mellow paper pack.  Howdy! was stamped on the same wood paper using Basic Black.  I used a decorative corner punch (can't remember the name right now) and then wrapped linen thread around it and then mounted it on the card using pop dots (I needed it to stick up higher because of the fibers).  Isn't he cute though?!?!?  He reminds me of my horse and my horse leans over the fence just like that!  I also bought the stamp that goes with this set that says ~ Got Carrots?  Way cute! 

Also, one of my blog readers, Martha, made a snowman ornament that is so cute.  Her blog is HERE so be sure and check it out!

Thanks for looking and have a great day!

~Lynda

Season of Joy ~ Sketch Challenge #152

Hi!!!
I don't understand why it would take me SOOOOO long to make a card that I already have the sketch for AND I am CASEing someone else's color scheme, stamp set and a bit of her layout????  This card REALLY should not have taken very long but because it was ME making the card, it took a couple hours!  How lame is that????  If you decide to CASE the card, it will only take you minutes so please don't be put off by my inability to do something right the first time!!!  LOL!!!  The layout is based on today's sketch challenge at SCS and everything else was TOTALLY inspired by this awesome card of Linda Bullard's.

I haven't used this set in a while and actually, the sketch this week SHOULD have been very easy and WILL be for any of you!!!  I really like the layout and will be using it again soon!  The card base is Whisper White with a mat of Sage Shadow and then a mat of Wintergreen Decorative paper.  The strips on the top and on the side are both matted with Whisper White and then the snowflake patter from the Wintergreen pack.  The tree and sentiment are from my SU! Season of Joy set.  The tree was stamped first on the Whisper White panel using Soft Sky ink.  I stamped it again on a scrap piece of Whisper White and sprinkled heat & stick powder on it, heated it until the powder melted and then added my white Martha Stewart glitter then heated again quickly to set the glitter.  I then cut out my glitter tree.  I cut it right up to the tree so the tree on the bottom actually sticks out.  I used Pop Dots to adhere it because I needed it to be up high so I could add my ribbon.  The ribbon is actually white taffeta and I sponged Sage Shadow ink on it to dye it.  It turned out really nice which was quite a surprise because I have never had luck in dying ribbon.  The sentiment was stamped using Soft Sky ink and then I used a glue pen to make dots of glue underneath the sentiment and added the white glitter.  I also added the white glitter to the centers of all of the snowflakes on the panels.  The star is a clear crystal that have had for years!  There you have it!  Super easy right?!?!?! 

Don't forget that Saturday will be the first day of my month long "REIN"   as Lindsey's Guest Designer for the whole month of December for her Store, Jacksonbelle Embellishments.    In case you don't know, back in October Lindsey had a card contest and the winner got to be her store's guest designer for December.  Well, I won!!!  Yes, there were other contestants and no, I did not bribe her!!!  Anyway, look for some enabling to be done come Saturday!!! 

Also, in case you are interested, visit Rachele's blog ~ The Ink Boutique as she has made LOTS of snowman ornaments and she used little buttons for their noses!  How cute is that????  Anyway, pop on over and check them out, they are darling!

Thank you so much for looking and have a great day!

~Lynda

ULAS & Lauren's Weekend Sketch Challenge

Good Morning!!!
The challenge this week for my Up Late and Stamping friends was to make a card using White, Pomegranate and Soft Sky colors.  These are some fantastic colors so feel free to play along and if you do, upload your creations in to the ULAS gallery located HERE.   The card is also based on Lauren ~ AKA:  Mytime's, weekend sketch.  Be sure to check her card out as it is so awesome!  Anyway, my card base is Cryogen White shimmer cardstock from Cutcardstock.com.   

The sentiment is from Flourishes ~ Flourished Christmas  and was stamped using Pomegranate ink.  I added a Swarovski Crystal on top of the I.  These are the same crystals I used on the ornament as well as the 3 down the left side and the 3 in the bottom right corner.  The bottom layer of Soft Sky diamond paper is from the SU! and is the designer series paper pack.  I matted this on Soft Sky cardstock.  The next Pomegranate layer is from the Holiday Harmony pack and is matted on Pomegranate cardstock.  The ribbon is the Pomegranate ribbon from the current holiday mini catalog. 

To do the ornament (Inkadinkado) I first embossed using my Versamark and Silver embossing powder on Cryogen White cardstock.  I then cut it out, colored it using a blender pen and Soft Sky & Pomegranate ink pads and then mounted it using dimensionals on a piece of Cryogen White cardstock.  I made a hole using my paper piercer right under the top bow and then strung silver cord through and then used Scotch tape to adhere it on the back.  I then mounted this on top of Soft Sky cardstock. 

Be sure to check out my friends galleries & blogs to see their fantastic creations ~

Jennifer

Cindy

Loretta

and

Diane

They may not have them uploaded yet but I am sure there are many other things they have that will inspire you!

Thanks for looking!

~Lynda

Sharon's Stamp Simply Challenge ~ #10

Hi again!
I am making up for lost time!!!  The following card was made for Sharon's Stamp Simply Challenge #10.  The challenge was to use decorative paper and a sentiment stamp only.  I didn't use a sentiment stamp because the decorative paper has words on it!  I hope I didn't break the rules!!!  Anyway, here is my card ~

The base of my card is Real Red cardstock and is 5 1/2" square.  The next layer is Old Olive and the decorative paper is Webster's Page which I bought from Lindsey ~ Jacksonbelle Embellishments.   This paper is so beautiful.  The only thing I added to this card was the ornament!  The ornament was die cut from my Quickutz Revolution using Cryogen White shimmer cardstock from Cutcardstock.com.  I then cut Ho Ho Ho from the Webster's Pages and tried to center it (you will notice it is crooked!) and then added sticky strip to the top and the bottom of the sentiment.  I then added red micro~beads.  I also did this on the bottom tip of the ornament too!  I added Stardust Stickles to the flowers on the decorative paper and tied the ornament using silver cord.  It is hard to see but I outlined the Ho Ho Ho and Peace on Earth using a Sakura Clear embossing pen.  It shows up better in real life!  That's it!  See how easy that is!

OK, I am off to work on more things so stay tuned......

~Lynda

Holiday Gift Set

I hope you aren't tired of my little ornament and gift box!  I do have a new card and the 2007 charm I found to show you so don't close this post just yet!!!  Since the box and ornament are repeats, I will just include the links in case you haven't seen the tutorials.  The gift box tutorial is HERE and the ornament tutorial is HERE.   The paper I used this time on the box is Holiday Harmony decorative paper, cardstock is Whisper White and Pomegranate and the ribbon is the Pomegranate ribbon from the current SU! mini.

Here is a close up of the box ~

Here is a close up of the charm on the ornament ~

Sorry about the crummy picture!  When I ordered the charms I was not sure of the quality but let me tell you, they are WONDERFUL quality.  I am so glad I ordered them!  If you are interested, the direct link for them is HERE.   I also got some crystals while shopping and they are also fantastic quality and a great price! 

Here is my card that is part of this set ~

The base of my card is Pomegranate with a thin mat of Basic Black and then one of the decorative papers from Holiday Harmony.  The next mat is Basic Black with another pattern of Holiday Harmony DP.  The first square is Basic Black and then Pomegranate DP with Merry Christmas (Flourishes) stamped using Pomegranate ink.  The focal image is first Basic Black, Pomegranate and Whisper White cardstock.  I stamped the Poinsettia (Lindsey ~ Jacksonbelle Embellishments) Inkadinkado stamp on the white using Basic Black ink.  I colored it using Pomegranate and Artichoke ink pads and a blender pen.  I stamped and cut out the flower portion to give it a 3-D look.  I used my Sakura Stardust clear gel pen to add shimmer to the flower and other parts of the card.  The Celebrate sentiment is also from Flourishes and was stamped using Basic Black ink.

This gift set is also for the Fan Club challenge to make Holiday Home Decor.

Thanks for looking!

~Lynda

SCS ~ Sketch Challenge 151 & Glitter ~ Fan Club Challenge

This time of year is so busy!!!  I have been working on things but they are things you have seen before but I am trying to fit in a few challenges as I go!!!  The following card was done based on last Wednesday's sketch challenge.  Also, if you are a fan club member, each month on the 15th when the Dirty Dozen post their creations, as fan club members, we can play along!  One of the challenges is to use glitter.  That is not a difficult task for me since I LOVE glitter!  Anyway, here is my card ~

The base of my card is Whisper White with a mat of Artichoke and then the striped Wintergreen decorative paper.  The next mat is first Sage Shadow and then the snowflake print from the Wintergreen DP.  I stamped the trees from Lovely As a Tree using Artichoke on Whisper White.  This piece was matted on Celery cardstock.  I sponged around the trees using Celery, Soft Sky and Sage Shadow ink.  I used a glue pen to adhere the Martha Stewart white glitter on the trees.  Under the trees I first used a blender pen and Soft Sky ink pad to color just under the mounds.  I then used a glue pen to adhere glitter to the "ground".

The snowflakes were punched using Marvy and Martha Stewart snowflake punches.  I ran them through my Xyron and then put the same white glitter on them.  I used my Artichoke and Celery brads to hold them together and then dimensionals to mount them on the card.  The bottom right are the same brads.

I hope to post again later so I better get busy!!!  I have lots of challenges to catch up on!

Have a great day!

~Lynda

Happy Thanksgiving!!!

Happy Thanksgiving to you!!!  We are going to spend the evening with some friends that know how to cook!!!      I am going to make a contribution though!  Even though I am a horrible cook, due to the fact that I HATE to cook, I can bake!  I LOVE to bake and some day hope to take a cake decorating class!  I have always wanted to do that.  Anyway, at the request of my friend Lisa, I am making Ginger Krinkles.  They are awesome soft, Ginger cookies that have been a family favorite for years!  I will post the recipe at the bottom of this post in case anyone is interested!

This card is actually for 2 challenges.  I CASEd another card of Shelly's, this weeks featured stamper.  The card of hers that I CASEd is HERE.   This card also is for Loretta's Vintage Christmas Card challenge for our Up Late and Stamping group.  Anyway can join in so if you are interested, make a card that is Vintage Christmas and upload to our ULAS gallery ~ how simple is that???? 

I don't do really well with Vintage.  I was looking through my Christmas stamps and don't really have many that I would consider vintage so since I was having such difficulty, I decided to just go with some patterned paper that I consider kindof vintage!!!! 

The base of my card is Cranberry Crisp and the decorative paper is Basic Grey ~ Figgy Pudding.  I used some old decorative scissors for the bottom flap and glued (Elmer's) light blue crystals on the tops of the scallops.  The Merry Christmas (Party Punch hostess set) was stamped on a white color of coordinating Figgy paper using Cranberry Crisp ink and then cut it out.  I mounted it first on a 1 1/4" brown (Figgy paper too) circle and then on Cranberry Crisp cardstock punched from my designer label punch.  I added 2 of the same light blue crystals and in the center of the tag a square light blue crystal brad (SU!).  The ribbon is Cranberry Crisp from last winter.  Another very simple card!

OK, if you are interested, here is my Ginger Krinkle recipe:

Ingredients~
2/3 cup oil
1 cup sugar
4 tablespoons molasses
1 egg
2 cups flour
1 teaspoon ginger
1 teaspoon cinnamon
2 teaspoons soda
1/2 teaspoon salt

Mix together the oil, sugar, molasses and egg with a spoon until all ingredients are well mixed.  Add the flour, ginger, cinnamon, soda and salt.  Mix until all ingredients are wet.  Form into balls the size of small~to~ medium walnuts and roll into a small bowl of sugar, then place on a cookie sheet.  Bake at 350 for 15 minutes.  NOTE ~ light molasses works best!

Thanks for looking and I hope you all have a safe and enjoyable Thanksgiving!!!

~Lynda

Featured Stamper ~ Shelly ~ AKA: Papermoon04

I have a card to post really quick as I have Mommy duties at the kids school today so here goes!!!  My card is based on Sunday's Featured Stamper ~ Shelly ~ AKA: Papermoon04 and this is the card of hers that I CASEd ~ HERE.   I kept the layout and changed everything else.  Be sure to check out her gallery because she has some fantastic inspiration there!!!  Her gallery is HERE.

This was a really simple card.  The base of my card is Going Grey and the decorative papers are from Basic Grey's Figgy Pudding line.

From the bottom up ~ on top of the Gray card I put a thin mat of Basic Black and then the brocade decorative paper.  Next, I started with a mat of black and then the Red/Cranberry decorative paper.  The photo corner is my punch with first Basic Black and then the Brocade decorative paper.  The Sentiment was stamped on the coordinating Basic Grey white decorative paper using Cranberry Crisp ink.  I then used a Basic Grey rubon for the border around the sentiment, cut it out and matted it first on Cranberry Crisp cardstock and then on Basic Black.  I then added the BEAUTIFUL black velvet flower (by Creative Imaginations) and also added a shiny silver brad on the photo corner.  That's it!  I then mounted it on my card using dimensionals.

Thanks for looking!

~Lynda

Gift Box

First there was Laurie.   Then there was Cindy.   Then there was Jennifer  that whipped hers up in like minutes!!!!  These are the cutest boxes!  I took Laurie's tutorial and tweaked it to make a gift box for my little snowman ornaments!!!  I was going to put them in one of those Chinese take-out boxes that Michael's has but WHY would I do that when I could use ALL of the EXTRA TIME I ALWAYS HAVE to make a box!!! LOL!!!  Actually, once I got it figured out, the next box was really easy and the 12,000 that I am going to make before Christmas should be even easier!!!  

The finished size of the box is 4 1/2" square and the depth is 3 1/4".  It is a good size box and can fit lots of things.  There is more than enough room for the ornament but I didn't want him to feel too confined so I made it plenty large enough!!!  Here are some pictures of the 2 I have done so far!

I will give you the cutting and scoring instructions at the bottom of this post.  What I used on this box is Bashful Blue cardstock, Chocolate Chip Cardstock and the Blizzard wrapping paper.  I also highlighted the snowflakes with Stardust Stickles and I added the Crystal Effects icicles all around the edge of the lid.  I need to adhere them better on the lid as they are not sticking with just adhesive so I will most likely use Elmer's glue because that stuff works on EVERYTHING!!!  The ribbon is the satin Chocolate Chip ribbon from SU! and the ornament die cut is from my Quickutz Revolution ornament die set.  I added Stardust Stickles on this too!

OK, here is the next box which was actually my first box ~

For this box I used Pretty in Pink, Whisper White and Wild Wasabi cardstock and the decorative paper is a shimmery texture by KI Memories.  I first painted the snowflakes pink and a darker red color and then covered them with Mod Podge and poured white Martha Stewart Glitter on top.  I used dimensionals to mount them.  The corners are just from my SU! corner punch and the white  rick~rack around the lid is from Lindsey.   I used my scalloped scissors to cut the edge of the Wild Wasabi cardstock and adhered it to the lid. 

There are so many ways you can embellish these boxes!  If you do make one, let me know as I would LOVE to see it!!!!

Here are the details ~ I used Laurie's instructions but I needed it to be bigger so this is what I did!

1.  For the bottom of the box, cut a piece of cardstock ~ 11x11.  Score ALL sides at 3 1/4".  Use a bone folder to really crease your folds as this makes the box come together nicer.

2.  For the lid, cut a 6x6 piece of cardstock.  Score ALL sides at 5/8".  Again, use a bone folder or sometimes I use my ruler, to crease the folds.

I used sticky strip (also called Terrifically Tacky Tape) to hold the ends in place. 

If you have ANY questions, please don't hesitate to ask!!!  I need to get busy CASEing yesterday's featured stamper ~ Shelly. Her gallery is fantastic and I have chosen a couple I would like to CASE now I must get started!

Thanks for looking!

~Lynda

Fan Club Sketch Challenge

I apologize for the slow posts lately.  I have some gifts I am making and it has taken A LOT of time and I have to get them done by Tuesday.  I have decided that I don't like making more than one of a card.  I like originals ~ duplicates get monotonous and BORING!!!  My MIL's birthday is next week and I always give her some Christmas cards and I also want to give Christmas cards to my kids' teacher's before the Holiday break. 

I do have a few things to show you though!  I made the following card based on the SCS Fan Club's ~ Dirty Dozen sketch for November. 

The base of my card is Cryogen White Shimmery cardstock by Cutcardstock.  The decorative striped paper is by Imaginisce.  I used my Merry Christmas from Flourishes ~ Christmas and Cranberry Crisp ink on the open white spaces on the card.  I also stamped the snowflakes from Merry & Brite using Bashful Blue ink but I stamped off 1 time because I didn't want the blue to be too dark.  I added Crystal Stickles on the snowflakes.  I stamped the Memory Box Penguin, which I got from my friend Tamara's store ~ Mother's and Daughter's Creations.   I stamped him on the same Cryogen White cardstock using Basic Black ink.  I stamped him again on a scrap Cryogen White and cut him out.  I mounted him on top of the first penguin using dimensionals.  I colored the antlers using Close to Cocoa, Celery, Cranberry and Bashful Blue ink and a blender pen.  I also used the Bashful Blue ink to color the base of the penguin and added Crystal Stickles to the puddle and the Christmas lights. 

I used my scalloped square punch to punch the base of the image piece using Celery cardstock.  I then matted with Bashful Blue and then added the penguin piece.  I used my ticket corner punch on the corners.  I added Bashful Blue brads in each corner and added some of the same stickles on top.  The ribbon is from Lindsey ~ Jacksonbelle Embellishments.   The strip across the top is the back side of the decorative paper.  It has floral dots on it.

I HAVE to show you this box I made.  I am REALLY excited about it!  It works PERFECTLY for my snowman ornament.  I will give you the directions tomorrow but I will show you one of the boxes today!

This box will also fit 4x4 note cards.  I have made 2 already and intend to make more!  Once I made the template and then the first box, the second one was really easy.  I will give you dimensions and everything you need to make one tomorrow!

Thanks for looking and I hope you have a great night!

~Lynda