A Mojo Monday Card (#290)

I can't believe I started this blog a little over 3 years ago so that I could post cards for the Mojo Monday challenges.  I think I posted a few and then I haven't really played along for at least the past year, even though I still look at it every week.  I find that I do better with the challenges that give me two weeks to play along.  That's just life for me.

Anyway.... I used the Mojo sketch to come up with another card for my workshop.  I've had the A Fitting Occasion stamp set for a year and have found it more challenging to use than I first thought.  I love the way this card turned out and I'm thinking I could make a set for baby cards, graduation cards, birthday cards- all with this exact same layout, color combo and stars.  That's a WIN in my book.  I hope you like it too.

PPA 156- Sketch Challenge

I have a workshop this weekend.  My guests will be making six cards using pearls, Daffodil Delight stitched grosgrain ribbon and Vanilla envelopes.  I made this card as one of the six they will be making.  I used the PPA sketch to get me started.  I really like the way it turned out. 

 
I dyed some of the flower trim ribbon by pushing the individual flowers on an ink pad using a sponge dauber and then spritzed it with water to help the ink run and color the rest of the flower.  Allow it to dry a few minutes before adding it to your card.

Let me know what you think and if you have any questions.

Welcome to mystampincloset

More than likely you've stopped over from Mary Fish's blog.  I've been blessed to be a "Pal" since 2010.  I'm so glad I joined her group and I've loved all the people I've met through her downline.  I've decided to rename my blog and I'm welcoming you all here to "My Stampin' Closet".  Why the name you ask? Well...when my daughter was born 2 years ago I thought I'd be able to share my craft space in a corner of her room.  What was I thinking?!?!  I looked around the house and the only place I could carve out a spot for my creative genius to work was in the back of our master bedroom closet.  Now, let me assure you right now, I do not have a massive closet.  My desk fits the width of the closet and I use all the vertical space for storing my stamps and paper.  One day I might actually show you pictures :)  For now, though, here's a card from a recent Card Club.

When I saw this card over on Becky Roberts' blog I immediately thought about my owl punch and turning the card into something that looked like a tree.  I was so pleased with the way it turned out and I'm so happy to share it with you today.  Please leave me a comment and let me know what you think.

My Birthday Card Class

In March I held a Birthday Card class.  My guests came and made 6 cards.  With their class fee they received a roll of Rich Razzleberry ribbon, a package of envelopes and rhinestones.  Therefore, each card needed to use the ribbon and rhinestones.  I did pretty good with that challenge (with exception of no rhinestones on the mustache card).  What do you think?

 I CASEd this one from Heather here.

 I CASEd this one from Brandy here.

 This one was an interpretation of a card my friend Kathy had.

 I made this one for a challenge a while back. 

 This one was an interpretation of a card I saw on Stampin' Connection (the Stampin' Up demonstrator site).  Erica created this one.  You can see her version here.

This is a CASE from Debra here.

No foolin'- here are some cards

Geez....it's been a month since my last post!  This is no April Fools.  I'm posting a few things.  I was busy doing actual classes and I find that I don't blog as much when I'm prepping and hosting classes.  The two cards below were part of the cards my Club ladies made.  I really love the look of a Crumb Cake base.  This first card was a PPA Color Challenge (Crumb Cake, Calypso Coral and Primrose Petals) card, but I missed the deadline to post.  I really like playing with those fabric flowers! 

 This card was a sketch challenge, but now I can't really remember what challenge it was (sorry!).  I used the Parkers Patterns paper and some of the burlap ribbon.  I think this one could be a good masculine card.  Thanks for stopping by!

Stampin' Up March News

There's a LOT going on at Stampin' Up.  Here's my synopsis.  Hold on to your hats.

1- NEW really CLEAR stamps.  Stampin' Up has finally released a truly clear set.  This is a test set and is only available for a limited time.  Price is $13.95
2- a new "Best of" set for March.  Price is $14.95.  Purchase 6 of the "best of" sets and get 1 free.


3- SALE-A-BRATION ends on March 22.  Be sure to place your order soon.  Order here.

4- Online stamping class.  This class (price $14.95) is a digital download and includes instructions for 34 projects that you can make.  A full supply list is included for each project and you can easily use other sets that you own.  Order here.

5- Paper Pumpkin monthly craft subscription launches this month.  For $19.95 you can have a quick, 30 minute or less, project delivered to your doorstep each month.  Click here to subscribe. (Be sure to select me as your demonstrator.  My zip code is 75075)

6- A special "Sent with Love" stamp set and paper is available until 4/30.  The stamps are cute and the paper is adorable.  Stamps are $17.95- clear mount only.  Paper $10.95.  Bundle (stamps, paper and Calypso Coral bakers twine) $25.50.

7- Single stamps are still available until 3/31.  Get'em before they're gone!  Click here to see images.

A special birthday card for a special boy

We've hit the spring birthday rush!  Saige had 3 birthday parties in 1 week!  We went to Bennett's birthday party on Saturday and the theme was "All things B".  When I went to put together a card I started looking through a few different sketch challenge blogs to see if anything struck me.  When I saw the Sketch Frenzy Friday sketch it hit me and I think it's the fastest I've ever put together a challenge card. 

I was really happy with how it turned out.  I used the Honeycomb embossing folder to create the soccer ball.  I didn't quite get the black spots on the ball right, but I figured there was enough over it (and he's just 2) that it wouldn't matter too much.  What do you think?

Celebrating Sale-A-Bration

It's Sale-A-Bration at Stampin' Up right now!  That means you'll get a free product for every $50 you spend (ask me for more details).  I try and save a big supply order for Sale-A-Bration time and get some of the free fun stuff.  Here's a card with a ton of Sale-A-Bration items on it.  I used the Fab Friday Sketch #11 and the Create with Connie and Mary #CCMC238 color challenge (Calypso Coral, Island Indigo and Lucky Limeade).

I LOVE the way this card turned out.  I used the new single stamp that fits the framelit.  I think I'll probably use it a lot in my scrapbooking so I had to have it.  I also used the Bloomin' Marvelous stamp set, the Vintage Verses stamp set and the Sycamore Street DSP.  What do you think?

That's the ticket, Valentine!

For today's card I used the sketch from Freshly Made Sketches #72 and the colors from the Pals Paper Arts #152 challenge this week (Real Red, Pool Party and Primrose Petals).  I decided that I wanted to use the laser cut heart so I flipped the sketch on it's side.  I absolutely love the More Amore Designer Series paper pack.  I'm not sure I could have done the color challenge without it!  I'm really looking forward to scrapbooking a few pages of Saige using this paper this year!  I used the Tiny Tags stamp for the little ticket punch.  It's a pretty good fit.  I wish there were a few more stamps for the tiny ticket.  I'll keep holding out hope that there's one in the next catalog :).  I hope you like the card! 

PPA 151- Sketch Challenge

When I saw the sketch for this week's Pals Paper Arts Challenge I instantly thought "gate fold card."  I think this card is bright and cheery with the Sunshine & Sprinkles DSP from the new Spring Catalog.  I dusted off my Circle Circus stamp set and put it to good use.  Sale-A-Bration started today and you'll want to make sure to add this paper to your $50 order.  I hope you like it.

Supplies: Lucky Limeade paper, Pacific Point paper, Sunshine & Sprinkles DSP, Lucky Limeade ink, Pacific Point ink, Melon Mambo ink, Circle Circus stamp set.

Leadership 2013- a recap

I was fortunate to be able to travel to Orlando, FL last weekend for the Stampin' Up Leadership Conference.  They're celebrating 25 years as a company and they treated us well! :)  Last year was my first year to attend Leadership and I really loved all the business tips that I walked away with.  This year did not disappoint.  They had several new product announcements and lots of new things they're going to try out. 

My favorite breakout session was presented by Brandi Barnard and Meg Daves called "Creating a Blueprint for Success."  They talked about a new tool available to demonstrators that will help us figure out how much each card or project will cost.  I think that's one of the toughest things for me: creating a project that is cost effective.  One of the things they said was that we needed to create a track for our business because you "can't get off track if you don't have a track to be on."  One of my goals for the year is to figure out my "track". 

Another session I attended was called "Meet New People, Find New Faces" by Shannon West.  I've seen her present several times and she always has a good presentation.  She gave us 10 different areas to think about to meet new people.  I know I need to be better about telling people about what I love.  I meet lots of new people every week and I don't tell them how cool Stampin Up is.

Holly Linford and Lynsay Mahon presented a session called "Success Strategies to Empower Your Downline."  I loved how Lynsay broke down the needs of someone new to Stampin' Up and talked about how to help them weed through it all.  I know I am so thankful that my upline took time with me when I joined.  One of the highlights of Leadership was getting to meet all my fellow Pals (my upline's group) and talk with them in person.  Here's a photo of us from pajama night.

I'd love to have you join me for Leadership 2014.  Ask me how to join!

A (tough) Double Dare Challenge

As a kid I grew up without cable [gasp, I know! Abuse, right?] but I remember going to my Grandma's house and watching Nickelodeon as much as she'd let me.  One of my favorite shows was Double Dare.  I loved watching the families do the challenges and get slimmed.  Two of my "pals" have started a Double Dare Challenge.  They each come up with a card element separately and then share with one another and you have to combine both elements.  This week the challenge was to use the color blue and to do a one layer card.  I found this a lot harder than I first thought it would be.  I guess I use layers more than I think I do.  I am pretty "type A", but for some reason I don't like using a stampamajig so the image is a little off center.  I think it's close enough that I'm still going to use it [don't judge!].  Be sure to visit Nina Dee's blog to learn more about the challenge.  I'm sure you'll have fun playing along too.

Here's my single layer card using blue.

getting my mojo back....

I took some time to hang out with the family over the holiday's and I'm trying to get back into the crafting/stampin' groove.  I find that challenges- sketch and color- help me get going.  Today I have a card that does both! (I love multi-tasking).  I'm rooming with two of my favorite Stampin' Up demonstrators at the Leadership Conference this week [Ginger Tiovonen and Ann Schach] and I wanted to take a special card for both of them.  A lot of people do major swapping and I just don't have the time for that.  I do enjoy exchanging with a few people though- just so I have a few different style samples for my customers to look at. 

Here's my card:

It's the sketch from Sketch Frenzy Friday (#122812) and the colors from the Nacho Average Challenge (#28).  I know I've said it before....but I LOVE the way Stampin' Up's colors coordinate and go with all the other products.  When I saw the Nacho colors of Marina Mist, Island Indigo and Lucky Limeade I knew I had hit the jackpot with the Sunshine & Sprinkles DSP (my only item from the spring catalog- so far).  I dusted off my Create a Cupcake set and had fun playing around with it.  What do you think?  Would you want this happy card for your birthday?

PPA 150- A color challenge

I'm getting ready to head to Orlando for the Stampin' Up Leadership Conference.  I'm looking forward to the getaway and the chance to re-energize my business.  I went last year for the first time and came back with a LOT of good information.  I'm expecting just as much (and maybe some free stuff too!).  I'll be sure to share that with you when I come back.  For now, I have a few challenge cards that I've made up and wanted to get posted before I left town.  There's still time for you to play along, too.  Here's my card for the Pals Paper Arts (PPA) Color Challenge.  I haven't ordered any new products from the spring catalog so I realized that I didn't have any Valentine's stamps (I'll have to make sure to correct that!).  It stretched me a little farther because the color combo just screams "Valentines" to me.  I think I might save this for a graduation card. 

Let me know what you think.  If you have any questions about what I used just send me a quick email.  I love hearing from you!