Super fast Card Streak Roundup!

Hey friends! I'm minutes away from headed out of town and wanted to post all the cards that I've finished since the last roundup! Here goes!

If you have any questions about ANYTHING leave a comment and I'll get back to you!

Day 22! Playing along with the Share Joy Challenge!

Day 21! Emboss resist technique

Day 20! Banner Blast fun!

Day 19! Had an Oprah moment! Hahah

Be sure to follow me on Facebook for the streaks as they go live!

I'm outta here! Wish me luck playing 4 games of roller derby down south!

Have a great weekend!

Friday Mashup!!!!!!

EEK!

Today is the day!! I'm so excited to be a part of the Friday Mashup design team!! It was my VERY FIRST challenge blog I submitted to and it's great to come full circle and join the design team! I'm always blown away by the talent of the team and all the people who submit their creations.

On to the challenge!

This week's Mashup Challenge is:  

• Create a project using the Sketch.
• or Create a project with a Music Theme.
• or Mash it up! and create a Music theme project using the Sketch. 

The challenge will close on Wednesday January 27th @ 6pm EST. Be sure to read the guidelines above under "about the FM" if you are new to our challenge and Welcome. We can't wait to see what you create with this fun Mash' Up! Check out what the Design Team created below!

Here's what I came up with: 

I LOVE LOVE LOVE this new Sale-a-bration Hello stamp set by Stampin' Up! It's a big bold, yet feminine statement stamp that really looks great no matter what you put it on! I also used the SAB Wildflower Fields DSP for the tags and background. What's great about SU's DSP is that it matches beautifully together (you just have to figure out the best layout).

Paper: Wildflower Fields DSP (available during SAB only!), Blackberry Bliss, So Saffron
Stamp: Hello
Accessories: Lost Lagoon ribbon (ret), Rhinestones, clear embossing powder, Whisper White ribbon.
Ink: Blackberry Bliss

For those wondering how the card streak is going, it's still going! I'll post them later today! Follow me real time by liking my Facebook page!

Thanks for stopping by! Have a stamptastic day and go have a try with Friday Mashup! It could be the start of a wonderfully creative relationship :)

Tis the Season 58!

Good morning!!

Today over at Tis The Season we have a really great sketch! My first thought was to go with christmas papers, but then... why not skip a step and use stamps??

(It may have helped that this stamp set from the February 2015 Paper Pumpkin was sitting on my desk from another project)

So I quickly decided on using the current SU! in colors, the cute squiggle squares and went to town. Keeping in my clean and simple fashion, I added some glitter stars and the sentiment and called it a day!

Stamps: Feb 2015 PP kit, Inks: 2015-17 In Colors by Stampin' Up
Paper: Linen paper (haven't made a dent yet), silver glitter paper.
Accessories: Seasonal Frame thinlits. 

Head on over to Tis the Season and see what the rest of the design team has in store, then play along with us! Just think of how easy it would be to break up your Christmas Cards all throughout the year? When all of your friends are scrambling to make theirs, you can breathe easy. And spend more time with your family! I can't wait to see what you make!

Thanks for stopping by and have a stamptastic day! I have packing to do for a weekend full of roller derby! But first, laundry and chores and my son's wrestling meet tonight! Wahoo!

Streak days 17 &18 All Paper Pumpkin

18 days and still going strong!

A few things I've learned so far into my streaking.
1. Trying new things is fun. (Seems like a real duh moment) but seriously. You don't know unless you try.
2. Cards add up quickly if made with no intentions to clear them out. Adding that to my to-do list.
3. Simplicity isn't scary anymore. I used to think if a card took less than 30 minutes to make it wouldn't be worth giving. No. False. Wrong. I still made it and crafted it with my hands, therefore it is totally worthy. Really. You invested the time, money, and efforts to make something. Way better than something mass produced at the store that has zero meaning.

Rant over. Ha.

Yesterday, I was quite productive making cards I can't share yet. Haha! Soon! But in the meantime I can share day 17 and 18!

Day 17 was saved by August's Paper Pumpkin kit! Isn't it pretty? It took me about 30 seconds to put together and is just stunning. The nice think about Paper Pumpkin is that everything you need to complete the kit is in the box (except scissors) so you don't need to make special errands to finish a project. The other nice thing is that it is delivered to your door monthly and is on SALE right now! Purchase the 3-month package and get a FREE Sale-a-bration stamp set!

Day 18 is me proving that clean and simple is all you need in life. This is perfect when you just need to make something crafty and are short short short on time. This is also a Paper Pumpkin Stamp set! Neat, eh? This particular set is from the February 2015 kit. Paired with some current In-Colors and you're set!

These sets are so versatile that they make a great addition to any crafter's studio (or wherever you do your crafting. Definitely not a 'one and done' deal here! 

Are you following my streak on Facebook yet? You'll get realtime updates on when my cards are posted (if you are just chomping at the bit to see!) If you need other inspiration, check my Pinterest boards! 

Thanks for stopping by and have a stamptastic day!!

Streak Day 15 & 16 Technique Frenzy!

Good morning!

What a busy last couple of days!

Friday, we had my son's wrestling tournament. he got first place in his weight class (70 lb).

Saturday was like recovery day, which we spent watching football. I could've done a lot more, but just relaxed!

So I got a bit of good news to share... I am going to be a design team member for the Friday Mashup! Woot woot!! What is so crazy about that is that was the VERY first challenge blog that I ever submitted to! So, I can't wait to start with that!

Alright, on to card streaks!

Day 15: This is one of my favorite techniques. Inlaid embossing always looks nice no matter now unsure you are with the idea that was in your head. Typically I do a variety of colors, but just wanted to go with black and white with this one, not a color combo I go with so it brought some discomfort.

Stamps: Homegrown (retired)
Ink: Basic Black
Paper: Basic Black, Naturals White. 
Ribbon: Black Satin Ribbon (retired), rhinestones, Wink of Stella glitter brush (have you noticed how it is used on EVERY THING since I got it...not sorry!)

Day 16: I decided to play along with The Friday Mashup's color challenge using the masking tape technique. 

The masking tape technique is quite simple if you've never done it before. I used blue 1" painters tape. Rip off a section slightly wider than your paper, place it on your ink pad a few times to transfer the ink then place on your card. I rub it with my finger to make sure the ink all transfers over and used the same piece of tape for the whole card. (I don't recommend if you're mixing a variety of colors. It was good since mine were all in the same category. ) That's it!

Stamp: Holly Jolly Greetings
Ink: Night of Navy (ret), Not quite Navy, Marina Mist, Bordering Blue (ret), Smoky Slate stamped off, then the final bit at the bottom was the smoky slate stamped off for a third time for a lighter effect. Whisper white craft ink.
Accessories: silver cording, clear designer vintage button, Christmas Greeting thinlit, wink of Stella glitter brush, white embossing powder.

Hope you are having a great weekend!! Thanks for stopping by and have a stamptastic day!

(PS: Don't mind the random wonky font sizings... for whatever reason I can't get everything to match. ugh. Need more coffee....)

Streak Day 13 & 14, A lesson in Simplicity.

Wow, what a busy few days!

Busy days call for FAST cards.  So fast that it's literally stamp, color done.

No time to fiddle with layouts,

No time to even look up the set on Pinterest for some inspiration. gasp!

Pure gut.

Day 13 was made while my daughter was in the bath. The only harm was that the dog could've been bathed by the time I got back. (It's happened before)

Cardstock: linen style, from my favorite print shop, she loves me and gave me a ton. Literally. 

Stamps: fabulous phrases (ret) and Flowering Fields (Sale-a-bration)

Ink: Primrose Petals (ret) and Old Olive applied with a blender pen. 

Accessories: wink of Stella pen, linen thread.

Day 14. Oh, how I love cows. I also love the fact that I am allowing myself to let the stamps make the statement. I love clean and simple cards, but the simplicity of these two particular cards scares the daylights out of me.

Is it enough? Yes, absolutely.

Stamp: Barnyard Babies
Ink: Early Espresso, Old Olive
Accessories: Naturals chevron ribbon, 1/4" wild wasabi stitched ribbon (could be wrong on the color) Target tinsel thick bakers yarn.

See, all you need is just a few minutes of creativity to keep the doctor away! I firsthand understand the feeling of the cards needing to be perfect and overly embellished. Get that feeling out of here. Make something. Anything. 

Then post for the whole world to see. Then (this is the most important step) send it to someone so they can enjoy it!

Thanks for stopping by! Have a stamptastic day!

Streak days 11 &12

Hey friends!

Are you keeping up with my card streak? Hopefully you aren't thinking "This lady is crazy-ay!" Haha!

Exactly the opposite. Well........ maybe just a little ;)

The purpose of the streak is to get into my craft room EVERY SINGLE DAY. Even just for 10-15 minutes. This is a great timeframe for the busy crafter who may not have the luxury of time on their hands. When you spend the money to invest in a craft, you should get to play with your investment. That is exactly what I aim to do.

Also,  the fact that I'm aiming to do this daily means I have to be quick with my time. I'm throwing absolute perfection out the window. That's not the point of crafting anyway. Perfection is a HIGH rung to compare yourself against and unattainable. The nice thing about crafts are that they are handmade (subject to human error--that's why embellishments were invented) and their creations live in the hearts of their creator. My style might be different from yours, and that is okay because we can still draw inspiration from all creations.

So, I hope my daily streak is inspiring you to get elbow deep in cardstock and ribbon to make something that keeps your hears full. That's really what it's all about. Plus, doing a hobby reduces stress. So, it's totally a win. Even if the process causes a little stress. It'll eventually come full circle and make you happy again. :)

Day 11: I spent 2 hours trying to make a challenge layout work that I hated. So it was scrapped and I did this. You may notice where my 3 yo tried to help color the little deer pink... Future stamper

Stamps: In the Meadow
Paper: Whisper White
Ink: Old Olive, Chocolate Chip, Bashful Blue (ret)
Accessories: Banner Punch, Linen thread, Aqua Painter pen, Wink of Stella silver, stapler

Add caption

Day 12: Thank goodness for that scrapped layout from yesterday, that's where the circle (in so saffron) came from!!

This card is made from FREE items earned from sale-a-bration!! (That's the only way you're getting your crafty hands on them!)

Paper: wildflower fields
Stamps: Hello 

Accessories: lost lagoon ribbon (Ret), rhinestone, banner thinlet, banner punch. 

Happy mail!

Treat yourselves to new Big Shot plates, friends! It's totally worth it!

Do you follow me on Facebook or Pinterest?  I'd love it if you did!  Tell me if you've started a streak of your own!

Thanks for stopping by and have a stamptastic day!!

Tis The Season is Back and an Oops!

Good morning! Tis the Season DT is back after our holiday break!

:::The Oops is that this was supposed to go live Jan 7th..... and I just realized it never did! Gah! Technology somehow always has a hand up on me.

Moving on! It's going to be a long one now, to play catchup!

This week, errr...well,  we're starting back with a color challenge and it's a good one! Since I've recently done some Valentine's swap cards, I was already in a pink-y mood when I saw our inspiration.

Isn't it adorable?!

Naturally, since it was pink and had a snow globe, I had to follow suit! 

Here's mine: 

It was so fun to make this card because I used a similar layout recently and it just was a CASE of my own card! No need to re-invent the wheel around here!

Card Streak is still in full swing! Here are my cards from Day 6-10th! 

Day 6 I decided to use the Faux stained glass technique. It's so easy if you've never done it before. All you do is emboss with white on one side of the vellum, then sponge the center in a circle, or covering the whole image if you'd like. Then flip over and embellish. It creates a wonderful subdued look! 

If you follow me on Facebook, you'll see the streak as it goes live!

Peaceful Petals stamp set

Day 7 is this nice grunge-looking card. I used the rock n' roll technique with this, and doubled the embossing with gold then black on top to achieve that antique-y look. (pure mistake as I didn't like the gold I originally put on!) Just keep embellishing...

Botanicals for you stamp set

Day 8 is a simple CASE using Circle Circus (ret) and the circles thinlet dies. 

Day 9 is using the emboss resist technique and sponged in different colors!

Holly Jolly Greetings stamp set

Day 10 is the fab Circle Circus again playing along with the ColorQ Challenge 323! 

CASED from Pinterest 

Sorry for the quick and dirty post! Feel free to comment below if you have questions about anything pictured above. 

Thanks for stopping by and have the MOST spectacular stamptastic day!!

Card Streak Day 4 & 5

Hey everyone! Yesterday got away from me so now I'm catching up on posts (again).

Do you ever have days where a vision is in mind and you make a dud? Oh, man. I'll spare you the scary pictures, but it was B A D.

I originally wanted this card to be on dark cardstock, embossed with the same layout, but it didn't work. 'Nuff said.

Day 4

Regarding Dahliah's in Night of Navy, Cherry Cobbler embossed on vellum (because it wouldn't dry) and Cherry Cobbler candy dots. Clean and simple!

Day 5

Day 5's card I felt like I needed to start pulling out some techniques (otherwise my cards would all start looking the same). This card broke me out of my comfort zone, which is a good thing! 

I used the ink block technique, where you use color ink, either from markers or ink pads, onto the clear acrylic block, spritz with water and then stamp direct to paper. I madee sure to really press it down and then let it sit for just a second so the ink can soak in. Since I had a good amount of ink still on the block, I rotated it 90 degrees and stamped again. It's a gorgeous technique that gives a wonderful watercolor background.

I then used the 'You've got this' stamp set and embossed the flower in black. I used the aqua painter and Bravo Burgundy (ret), More Mustard (ret) and Garden Green inks to color the flower. Some added sequins added a little pop to the card for that finished look.

At first I was not sure about the border, but the more I look at it, I really start to like it. I really wanted to add ribbon, twine or anything to break up the white space, but in the end it is better left alone.

:::In other news:::

IT'S SALE A BRATION TIME AGAIN!!!!!!!!

My favorite time of the year!! There's nothing like getting rewarded for spending! Every $50 gets you a FREE stamp set from this little catalog. Clearance rack and weekly deals also count toward SAB!! There is some CU-UTE stuff!! Be sure to shop here and make me your demonstrator!  I'd love to help you!

Thats's all for today! Have a stamptastic day and thanks for stopping by!!

Whimsical hello for Card Streak Day 3

For card streak day 3, I wanted a very simple layout that could layer well with one layer of stamping.

Hello Again did the trick!

With some whimsical spring colors and a clean simple layout, this card worked nicely for my CAS streak timeframe! I must be ready for spring with our warm temps.....but we have 5 months to go. :(

Supplies:

Stampin' Write Markers: Basic Black, Melon Mambo, Crushed Curry, Garden Green, Lavender Lace (ret), Pretty in Pink (ret). 

Ink: Basic Black

Paper: Whisper White

Stamps: Hello Again (ret)

Accessories: Clear embossing powder (over the black 'Hello' ink), rhinestones, Blushing Bride Baker's twine. 

Card Streak Day 2!

Good afternoon! Today is day 2 of my card streak! Still holding strong!

My goal for the card streak is to make a simple card every day of the year! I love paper crafting and it brings me such happiness no matter the size of the project!

Greetings from Alaska's Golden Heart City!

Whatcha think?

It took me a LONG time to embrace clean and simple cards. Now that I finally have, I embrace them! I love embellishments and layers too, don't get me wrong. But--I love when I can knock out a card in minutes!

Thanks for stopping by and have a stamptastic day!

Supplies:

SU Crumb Cake cardstock

SU Basic Black ink, Martha Stewart Metallic Gold ink

Inkadinkado 'Our Adventures' stamp set 

Happy New Year!!!

Holy cats, friends! 

Can you believe it's 2016!!

I feel like my blogging dropped off a cliff the month of December! Wow!

I had EVERY intention of catching up, but it just slid down the priority (maybe Festivus) pole.

I'd say the new year brings peace and relaxation, but it will be exactly the opposite. We have back to back birthdays (Jan, Feb, and 2 March) with sprinklings of holidays in-between. My son's middle school wrestling season is kicking off with 2 matches a week until February! I have derby games scattered between Fairbanks and Anchorage and back, and I feel like we just won't be home in January.

See you guys in Feb! Haha, just kidding!

To keep with the madness, I've committed to some health and crafting goals to kick off the new year!

--I'm going to do a 365-day run streak of at least a mile per day.

--I'm going to make a card or other small and quick project a day (quick is KEY here folks!)

Also continue to workout, be a better derby player yada yada.......
-----------------------------------------------

Since I haven't blogged since early December, here's a quick round up of what I've been doing:

Card a day, Day 1!

Quick NYE Celebratory card!

January Swap group card

December Paper Pumpkin

November Paper Pumpkin

Outside of gift card holder for an adopted family by our roller derby league

Inside of GC holder

Gorgeous ornament made for a friend, inspired by Billie Moan of Rambling Rose Studios

October Paper Pumpkin

Stash of cards that I cleaned out for Christmas cards this year

Adorable little girl's birthday card

Are you still with me? Phew! I'm glad you made it!!

If you have ANY questions about any of my cards, feel free to comment and I'll post the information. Right now it's too much to dig up for ALL of them, ha!

Thanks for stopping by and have a stamptastic NEW YEAR!!