And the winner is...

Thanks to all of you who suggested names for my car. I've never named a car before, but this car seems to need one. The winner is Cathy who posted the following: "I like Bonnie, Bell (like blue bell),Betsy". The name I decided on is Bonnie Blue, which I got the idea for from her blue bell comment. Bonnie Blue Butler was Rhett and Scarlett's daughter in Gone With the Wind, which is my all-time favorite movie! I will call her Bonnie, except when she's in trouble I'll use her full name, Bonnie Blue!
Cathy, please click on the e-mail me link on the right and send me your address so I can send you a prize.
Happy stamping!

My new car!

Look at what I got last night! I'm so excited! I fell in love with her the minute I sat in the driver's seat. I'm taking suggestions for names; if I pick your name, I'll send you a prize!
Happy stamping!

Valentine treat box

Tonight, I'm having a workshop. I'm excited not only because I love getting together with my friends but also because my downline, Rhonda, is coming. One thing I miss as a demonstrator is going to a workshop and just stamping for fun, so I'm glad that Rhonda will be able to do that tonight.
My workshop is focusing on using DSP. I have been trying not to hoard my accessories, especially DSP, so we are using DSP on every project. You've already seen 2 of the projects on my blog. The third project is a treat box I found on Andrea Walford's blog. She has a PDF for making the box. The finished box is 3 1/4 X 5 1/2. I found several things in the Valentine candy section that will fit in the box: Hershey's marshmallow heart, Reese's peanut butter heart, Sweetart conversation hearts, Jelly Belly valentine mix, and Fun Dip. These were not in the bagged candy section but were near the boxes of valentines with treats included. (The regular conversation hearts might also fit, but I didn't check because I don't like them.) The box seems a bit tall to me, and it would be easy to change just the height of the box since the front, top and back is one separate piece of cardstock. This would actually make the project easier as well since Andrea's box requires 12X12 cardstock for that part; making the box shorter would enable you to use 8 1/2 X 11.
I added the piece of ribbon around the box to hold it closed. The ribbon is adhered to the back of the box with just a dab of adhesive. The flap slides under the ribbon very easily, so the ribbon doesn't have to be untied.
The embellishment is a 1" circle punched from Sending Love DSP layered onto a 1 1/4" Pretty in Pink circle and a Chocolate Chip textured scallop circle.
The sentiment is stamped onto a 3/4" X 2 1/2" strip of Very Vanilla cardstock. I used the 1 1/4" square punch to make the V in the end.

Here is the inside of the box. The marshmallow heart is about the same height as the Fun Dip, so you could still make the box a bit shorter with these items. The Jelly Belly box is shorter, just a little taller than the box front.
Supplies (all SU): Stamps: Teeny Tiny Wishes; Paper: Very Vanilla, Real Red (regular and textured), Pretty in Pink, Chocolate Chip textured, Sending Love DSP; Ink: Real Red; Accessories: Chocolate Chip satin ribbon, circle punches (1", 1 1/4", scallop), 1 1/4" square punch
Happy stamping!

Friends forever

For this week's workshop wow challenge, we are doing the sketch from the January Stampin' Success magazine. I thought it was just perfect for the Vintage Vogue set from the Occasions Mini! One of my co-workers is moving on to a new position in the company, so I made this card for her. I got the color combo from another blog; I wrote down the colors but not which blog it was, sorry!
The card base is Kraft. I stamped the leafy vine image over the entire card with Certainly Celery ink and then randomly stamped the same image in Bermuda Bay. I inked just the word "Friends" in Bermuda Bay and stamped it onto Confetti White cardstock (1 3/4 X 2). Then I inked the entire stamp in Certainly Celery and added Chocolate Chip ink around the edges of the F with a sponge dauber. I stamped it on a scrap of cardstock, cut out the F and popped it up with dimensionals. I adhered the whole piece to a scrap of Chocolate Chip textured cardstock, leaving about an inch of the Chocolate Chip showing on the right. I wrapped a piece of Bermuda Bay grosgrain ribbon around at the seam and added a piece of Kraft taffeta ribbon. The sentiment is a rub on.
Supplies (all SU): Stamps: Vintage Vogue; Paper: Confetti White, Kraft, Chocolate Chip textured; Ink: Bermuda Bay, Certainly Celery, Chocolate Chip; Accessories: Chit Chat rub ons, Kraft taffeta ribbon, Bermuda Bay grosgrain ribbon
Happy stamping!

Another masculine card

I've been thinking about masculine cards lately. I CASEd this card from Jenn Diercks' blog. I love this To the Nines DSP because it's great for cards for men. This card would be a great way to use up scraps of DSP too. The Always Artichoke mat is 3 X 3 3/4. Each strip of DSP is 2 7/8 X 1. I wanted to use ribbon with linen thread instead of a knot, but I had trouble making it look right. Finally, I cut a slit in the ribbon and pulled the other piece through. I also used the horizontal slot punch to cut a little opening in the fold of the card for the ribbon to go through, and I adhered the ribbon on both edges of the card front so it won't move around.
Supplies (all SU): Stamps: Sanded; Paper: Kraft, Always Artichoke, To the Nines DSP; Ink: Always Artichoke; Accessories: paper piercer, mat pack, Chit Chat rub ons, Chocolate Chip satin ribbon, linen thread
Happy stamping!

Giving thanks (NSR)

I think I mentioned a couple of weeks ago that I was in an accident. I didn't give any details then. The day after Christmas, I was driving down to Minneapolis to pick up my son when I hit some ice. My car fishtailed, went off the road, flipped and landed upside down. (I think it might have flipped twice; the details are a bit fuzzy!) Praise God, I walked away! I took this photo right after I got out. Pretty scary, huh? I had a few tiny bruises, some muscle pain for a few days, and I irritated a nerve in my elbow causing a couple of tingly fingers. No bruising from the seat belt, no broken bones. I am very thankful for the people who stopped and came down to check on me and help me get out of my car. One man said he was afraid to look inside after watching me crash.
Take a moment to hug your loved ones today and be thankful!

Spring Color Combo

I saw this color combo on SCS yesterday, and I loved how spring-y it is! Bashful Blue, Melon Mambo, Old Olive. The card is simple, but I like it!
Supplies (all SU): Stamps: Flores Suaves; Paper: Confetti White, Old Olive; Ink: Bashful Blue, Melon Mambo, Old Olive; Accessories: Chit Chat rub-ons, Melon Mambo grosgrain ribbon, Bashful Blue taffeta ribbon
Happy stamping!

Masculine valentine?

I attempted to make a masculine Valentine. Is this card too feminine? Let me know what you think! The color combo is Cameo Coral, Ruby Red and Chocolate Chip. To keep the ribbon clean-looking, I adhered it after cutting a V in the end instead of tying a knot or bow.
Supplies (all SU): Stamps: Love You Much, Teeny Tiny Words; Paper: Cameo Coral, Ruby Red; Ink: Cameo Coral, Chocolate Chip, Ruby Red; Accessories: scallop trim punch, word window punch, modern label punch, blender pen, Chocolate Chip satin ribbon
Happy stamping!

CAS white card

What is CAS? It's clean and simple. One of the WICKED challenges this month was to make a clean and simple all white card. Yikes! The main problem I had was how to make the images stand out. I decided to use heat embossing. The background stamp and word are embossed with white EP onto whisper white cardstock. The punched out images are embossed on shimmery white. The final touch is whisper white satin ribbon.
Supplies (all SU): Stamps: Baroque Motifs; Paper: Whisper white, shimmery white; Ink: VersaMark; Accessories: white EP, heat tool, 3/4" circle punch, whisper white satin ribbon
Happy stamping!

Vintage Vogue and masking

Here's another card made with Vintage Vogue from the Occasions Mini. Having this set clear mounted made stamping that border so easy! For the flowers, I used the masking technique. Just stamp the flowers onto a sticky note, making sure part of the flower is where the "sticky" is. Then cut out the flower. I keep mine inside the stamp case to use over and over.
This card was made for a challenge on SCS. The challenge I gave everyone was to use a new stamp set and an old color that they don't use very often. I chose Bordering Blue. I'm not sure why I don't use it often because it's very pretty!
Happy stamping!

Check out this gorgeous DSP!

Check out this gorgeous DSP! I hope you can see the glittery flowers on it; they are beautiful! I wanted to use as big of a piece of the DSP as possible; I think it ended up being about 3 1/4". I got the color combo from the SU color wheel. I know my friend Rhonda will be proud that I used Sage Shadow because I really don't like that color, but I'm trying to go outside my comfort zone a little. The ribbon is actually covering up a little booboo; I accidentally got a dot of Perfect Plum ink on the paper. I tied a knot in a piece of Pretty in Pink taffeta ribbon, but it wasn't substantial enough so I tied another piece around the knot that was already there.
Supplies (all SU): Stamps: Vintage Vogue, Sanded; Paper: Perfect Plum, Sage Shadow, Sending Love DSP; Ink: Sage Shadow, Perfect Plum; Accessories: scallop trim punch, Pretty in Pink taffeta ribbon


Here is what the new clear mount stamps look like. This is the front of the case.

This is the back of the case so you can see the actual stamps.

Here is one of the stamps on an acrylic block. I put the labels on my stamps so they aren't quite as clingy as they would be if I left the labels off. I press the block onto the stamp for a few seconds before using to help it stick better.
Happy stamping!

Occasions Mini and Sale-a-bration start January 5th!

The new Occasions Mini and Sale-a-bration catalogs start on Tuesday, January 5th. There's lots of exciting new stuff in the Occasions Mini, and I've shown you a few of those things. SAB is very exciting this year as well. Here are just a few of the highlights:

1. All of the SAB stamp sets are available in either wood mount or clear mount.

2. There's a punch!

3. There's a DSP pad with 72 sheets of 6X6 that coordinate with one of the SAB stamp sets.

4. If the SAB merchandise is not your style, you can choose ANY stamp set from the Idea Book & Catalog with a value of $15.95 or less!

CLICK ON THE PHOTOS ABOVE TO DOWNLOAD A COPY OF THE CATALOGS.

Note to my customers: Stampin' Up! had some issues with mailing the catalogs. Some of my customers have gotten them, and some haven't (myself included). Look for them to come in the mail soon if you haven't received them yet.

Happy stamping!

Happy New Year (and a sneak peek)!

Happy new year to you all! Thanks for your patience with me. I was hoping to stamp more this week, but I was in a car accident on the 26th. I'm mostly miraculously fine, but my stamping mojo seemed to get knocked right out of me. Luckily for me, my friend Patty posted a great challenge yesterday that helped me out.
Today's card combines two Dirty Dozen challenges from SCS. One challenge was to use a holiday theme, and the sketch is the other challenge. Theirs was a scrapbook page, but I modified it to use for a card. I really like it!
This card also has not 1, not 2, not 3, but 4 sneak peek items from the Occasions Mini and Sale-a-bration. Both catalogs start on January 5th. The scallop trim border is a new style of punch, and you can get it absolutely free during SAB! There is also a coordinating corner punch in the new mini catalog. The flower is cut out from a piece of Sending Love DSP from the new mini. Notice all of the glitter on the flower? It came that way on the paper!!! Each sheet of DSP has glitter images on one side, and the other side is non-glittery. It is AWESOME! The Chocolate Chip satin ribbon is also new in the mini, and the satin ribbon comes in 9 colors. It's fairly stiff, but it ties very nicely!
The last new item is the background image on the card. It's from a new set in the mini called Vintage Vogue. Notice how nicely I stamped all of those images? That's because I got this set in the new clear mount style. It's the same high-quality rubber we are used to, but it comes with cling mount on the back instead of regular adhesive so it can stick to an acrylic block. That way, I can line up my images more easily. The clear mount also takes up much less space since there are no wood blocks. Each stamp set comes in a DVD-sized case with the images shown on the front of the case as well as on the spine so you can easily find any single stamp.
More details on my card: The flower stem is from True Friend. For the flower, I cut it out of the DSP then used the scoring blade in my cutter kit to score along the curved lines to give the flower some dimension. The sentiment was intended to be lined up straight, but after the 2nd one didn't line up, I decided to alternate them to make it look intentional. I like how it turned out!
Happy new year, and happy stamping!