If Snowballs Were Kisses.....

...I'd send them all your way!  That was what I thought when I saw this stamp set by Impression Obsession.  This was another one of my Stamp Away USA Convention finds.  Actually, one of my besties, Noelle, who I was walking with at the convention kept talking about these adorable little snow people from IO and I said you have to show them to me.  When she did, I had to have them.  Here is my first project with the set:

And the inside:

I cannot even tell you the DP I used because it was some random sheets I got a my local SS.  I did use some brown satin ribbon and a large, filigree antique brad and a couple of smaller antique brads.  I used 2-way glue and some Dazzling Diamonds on my snow people. The sentiment on the front and inside are computer generated.  The solid CS are Taken with Teal and Chocolate Chip (SU) and I do know that the brocade patterened DP in the red color is from Daisy D's but I don't know where the blue snowflake paper came from.  Here is a close up shot of the snow people so you can see their glitter.

Next is a card made with another image from IO of these adorable snow people.  It is an image of a snow mommy (or daddy) helping their little snow baby put a star atop the tree  And it's sort of a "Charlie Brown" tree, but because I was making this a shaker card, I was only able to get "head shots" of them for this card.

And the inside:

Here are a few close up shots of the shaker contaier.  This card uses some silver grosgrain and some of my favorite DP, Basic Grey (one of the winter or Christmas collections).  And my large scallop circle punch by Marvy. I used some Snow Sprinkle product from Martha Stewart and I also used some mini snowflakes from a snowflake border punch that I have, inside the shaker. I took a couple different angles so you could get a good look.

And last but not least, is my FAVORITE image from this family of snow people (though there are a few more on my list to get).  This image cracks me up!

As you can see it's a mommy snow person and her 3 kids (which I just happen to also have, LOL) and one of her snowbabies has lost it's head and in true sibling fashion, one snowkid is mortified {gasp!} and the other can't contain his laughter at the sight!  How cute is this?  This is an image that definately brings a smile.  Here's what I did for the inside, it's computer generated, but I thought it went great with this image.

And another close up of the image

This card again uses DP by Basic Grey and some felt snowflakes along with a large rhinestone brad for a little extra sparkle.  Then some 2 way glue and more Dazzling Diamonds.  The base is Baja Breeze (SU) and some 1" Baja Breeze stitched grosgrain.  The little deco edge down the left side was made using a Snowflake punch that also embosses by Martha Stewart.

Lucky for us, as much as we love snow people, we are saying bye to them for the year.  It's starting to feel like spring around here today.  It hit a high of 65 degrees today! 

In a couple of days I'll be able to show you my project I created for tomorrow night's shoebox swap with my besties.  I'm looking so forward to stamping with my favorite people.  Though one of my gal pals will be coming late as she has some family stuff she needs to do, I'm getting to see a fellow stamper who hasn't been able to join us in a while so I'm excited.  I LOVE my finished project but can't share it until after the other gals have had a chance to see it and make it...don't want to ruin the surprise.  Tomorrow I have some other fun projects I've dug out of my photo closet to show you.  See you back here real soon.

Take care and Happy Stamping!


Melissa

Little Black Dress Approved

The other day while doing some shopping for necessities for myself and my twins (they are just now starting to wear deodorant and need "special soap" for cleaning their faces...they are growing up so fast...), and I saw some deodorant labeled "Little Black Dress Approved" and thought "what will they think of next?"  LOL.  It reminded me of this card I made a while back.  It uses a stamp from one of my vintage stamp providers, B Line Designs.  I first discovered them at a stamp convention I attended several years back (and have attended every year since!) in Cincinnati, OH about the 2nd weekend in August every year.  I mentioned in one of my prior posts about my love of things vintage and things that have a vintage edge to them (you can see that post HERE).  Well, this card goes right along with that, but I also wanted to give a freshness to the card as well. 

I decided to use Bashful Blue and some funky and fresh damask DP I had (not sure who makes it) that is black and white with a touch of Bashful Blue in it as well.  Again hard to see in the photo, and again I need a better camera.  LOL  Maybe if I say it enough it will happen right?  I used a white eyelet ribbon and the image is stamped using Black Craft ink and some glittery embossing powder I have from Judikins.  I thought the ribbon continued the vintage feel while still giving a freshness or lightness to the card.  Here is a close up of the saying on the front-I used my computer to generate it.

I also decided to add to the rest of the phrase on the inside of the card and I stamped a single damask image on the inside as well, again in Bashfull Blue.  This was a card I created with my monthly stamp group.  We are getting together again this Friday and the challenge it to use the oldest stamp set we have.  I have my set picked out, but it is so old I am really having a rough time brainstorming creatively with it.  We will see!  I think it will be interesting to see what I come up with as well as all my other gal pals.  Come back to see....

That's all I have for today.  Hope you enjoyed my post (sometimes I feel like no one is out there...LOL).  Check back again soon for some other fun projects; remember I have some My Favorite Things projects to break out soon and they are NEW RELEASES so you'll want to check back to see what' in store with MFT

Take care and Happy Stamping!                                                                                                                

Melissa                                                                                                                                                      



Puttin on the Glitz!

I have some super glitzy, super blingy (is that a word?) cards to share with you today.  And, they are for something a little unexpected...Easter!  I think of easter as pastels and soft colors; fluffy chicks and green grass.  But these projects created with stamps and Swarovski crystals from Outlines pack punch of color and bling no Easter card has ever seen.  Well, maybe, but it sure sounds good right?

First up are 2 cards that are basically the same, just different colors of markers and crystals used.

For this first one, I used Crushed Curry as a base, Bermuda Bay (also used a texture plate on this but this is so hard to see in this photo; I have GOT to get a better camera or angle or something...but that's a project I can't tackle yet.), Melon Mambo as my other layer and the matching Melon Mambo polka dot grosgrain.  I used the coordinating markers to color the eggs and flowers and then used some of my Light Rose, Amethyst, and Citrine swarovski crystals on the main egg.

Same concept on this second card, just rearranged the cardstock colors.  I think this is my favorite card.  Instead of using Concord Crush on the eggs, here I used more Bermuda Bay and Melon Mambo with a splash of Crushed Curry.  I used my Aqua and Citrine crystals for this card and some punches from SU.

Below is my absolute favorite set from Outlines.

I just LOVE this little bunny!  I tried to angle the card so that you could really see the Light Rose crystals on this card.  All of their stamps are designed with the crystals in mind.  You can use as little or as many as you want with most stamps and you can even create jewelry using the stamps and crystals.  Your creativity can go wild with their products!!!  These were fun to make and I love me some bling.

Well, quick post tonight....I have lots of stuff to do as well as prepare a project for my monthly swap night.  That's where me and several of my closest friends get together once a month and we stamp each others card creations. Usually there is a theme and this month's theme is to use your oldest SU stamp set and the challenge is if you choose not to use it, you must sell it!  WHEW!  What a task.  I'll share my project with you from the swap after the swap...don't want to spoil the surprise for my girls!

Come back for more projects tomorrow.....
Take care and Happy Stamping!

Melissa

Happy Birthday to my youngest peanut!

I haven't posted since Thursday last week because it has been a busy weekend and part of it was to celebrate my youngest's 8th birthday.  She and my twins were all in a play at church this weekend called "GPS-God's Plan of Salvation" and it was soooooo cute!  We spent Friday night and most of Saturday in dress rehearsals and then Sunday, March 13th was her actual birthday and the night of the play.  Here's a picture of the group of kids in their play t-shirts:

My twins are the 2 in the front row with glasses on...yes, they are identical.  And my youngest is on the 3rd row of the kids sitting, second from the left.  These kids have worked the last 3 months, 2 1/2 hours every Sunday afternoon, and 1 hour each Wed. evening to practice.  They did such an awesome job last night.

Here's a pic of my birthday girl!   Yes, it's a pic from Christmas, but I like it.

So, I don't have a ton of projects to share because of all this going on but I do have my daughter's birthday card to share with you. 

For this card, I used SU products:  DP from this year's SAB brochure, Melon Mambo textured CS for the base, Regal Rose Textured CS for the small background square, and for the Balloons I just punched different CS from the same DP pack using the 1/2" circle punch.  The cute little penguin uses the Owl Punch from SU, I just clipped the ears to make it a penguin...isn't it cute?  The "Happy Birthday" sentiment comes from SU's "Bring on the Cake" stamp set.   I have been wanting to use SU's pom pom trim for some time but never had a project that it was quite right for but I think it goes perfect with this card.  Here I used it in Melon Mambo.  I used silver cord as the birthday balloon strings. 

Please be sure to stop by tomorrow for some fun "glitzy" projects using some stamps from Outlines Rubber Stamp company.  And coming up later this week, I'll have some project to share using some new stamps and products I got last week from My Favorite Things.

Take care and Happy Stamping!

Melissa





I've Got A Secret...a Crafty Secret!

Actually, that was just a catchy title, LOL.  But, it leads right into the projects I want to share with you today.  I may have mentioned that I LOVE projects that have a vintage edge to them.  I can't really explain why, but I studied towards a History minor in college and I love to hear stories of things past.  And not only that I think everything has a story, and stories show character, and character gives life COLOR.  Do you see where I'm going here?  For me, I think it's important to understand where we've come from.  It helps keep us grounded and helps to know where we are going.

So without further adieu, here's a photo of my first project using an image from Crafty Secrets. 

Isn't this cute? Even though the little girl is frowning, it makes the saying even cuter (in case you can't see it, she's holding a sign that says "Party Pooper"). It's also hard to see but she is sitting on a wooden spool that I painted and then wrapped with paper.  I then topped that with a silk gerber daisy that I sprayed with different colors of Smooch Spritz.  I then cut out the a cupcake image and the little girl and the sign (they are all separate images that come on a sheet of lots of images).  I also cut out the party hat.  It's so cool because you get sheets of different images and you can mix and match them as you want.  Just a little eclectic piece that I thought was fun and different.

My next project using a Crafty Secrets image is the card below.

I thought this little guys was so cute in his newsboy cap and his double-breasted coat and breeches.  I don't know where the DP is from, but I can tell you that all three of my girls take piano lessons so I copied some of their music onto some vanilla cardstock using my printer.  Then I aged it up using some walnut ink from Tim Holz (love his products!!).  I used a bright yellow flower for a punch of color and a vintage brad for the center.  I also have a ton of these metal word tags I found on clearance at Big Lots way back when and I thought since it was a vintage card this saying was perfect.

Thanks for stopping by today.  Take care and Happy Stamping!

Melissa

It's Not Quite Spring....

I couldn't wait to share with you this cute little guy.  It's a digi image!  I have been browsing digi images here and there for a while, just haven't really gotten into them.  For me, I love the feel of things.  I've always been a texturally oriented person.  When I was little I wouldn't eat jello because it was too squishy.  I wouldn't eat spaghetti once because my papaw teased me and told me it was just worms so every time I took a bite (and I only took like 2 after that!) I thought for sure I FELT worms in my mouth!  Crazy I know, but to this day I love texture and the feel of things.  I like to feel the stamps, touch the paper, rub the ribbon, etc.  So digi stamps were foreign to me as is digital scrapbooking (though I am starting to dip my toes in that pond.). 

When a friend of mine (Yes, you Felicia) challenged me to use a digi image, I found TONS of cute stuff, but this little guy was my favorite.  He captured my heart at first glance and I enjoyed using him in this card. 

Isn't he adorable?  He is called "Cozy Winter Owl" and you can check him out HERE at Whimsy Stamps.  They have tons of cute images and this one in particular is part of their MELJEN Designs collection.
For this card I used some My Minds Eye paper and some dew drops, my Labels 4 Nestabilities die, and some Vanilla satin ribbon.  I used the Eyelet Border Punch from SU and couple of small pearls.  I also used Copics to color this in but it's been so long since I've made it I can't remember the colors.  Here are two more close ups of the card for you.

The snow on the branch and the furry parts of his stocking cap are colored with a white gel pen.

I hope you enjoyed my sweet owl card as much as I did making it.  Come back for more fun projects I have to share with you!

Take care and Happy Stamping!

Melissa

Oldies but Goodies

As promised, I'm back today to post some photos of a few projects using some old stamp sets, but some of my favorites.  These are stamp sets that most likely will always be in my stamp room, or at least will survive the annual cleaning out of my stamps for a VERY long time.

First up is is a wedding card made using a retired Stampin' Up set called "To Have and To Hold".  I also used retired DP from SU called "Afternoon Tea".  This paper was super sweet and was one of my all time favorite paper packs.  The dress has lots of Dazzling Diamonds and I used clear rhinestones on the Prima flowers and along the bottom.  I do like my bling!  It's a little hard to see but the small circle on the bottom left has 2 silver embossed hearts and inside I used some mini alphabets to put the initials of the bride and groom.  The background stamp is also a little hard to see but also from SU Fine Lace Backgrd stamp.

Next is a Halloween Matchbox.  Great for chocolate goodies.  Halloween is one of my favorite occasions to create for.  It can be so fun!  And in recent years the papers and accessories for Halloween crafts have went from "cutesy" to "contemporary" and I love that.  I tend to lean towards vintage things and stuff that has a vintage "edge" to it if you know what I mean.  So this stamp set from SU "From the Crypt" and the paper pack was right up my alley.  I got the idea for this box from Kelly Lunceford and you can see her instructions HERE.  I used some hat pins from the SU Pretties Kit and some Pumpkin Pie striped grosgrain ribbon.

Here's a picture of the box opened.  I forgot to shoot the picture with the goodies inside.

And last, but definately my favorite, is my Fabulously Chocolate card using one of my all-time favorite SU stamp sets "Dare to be Fabulous".  Who doesn't love that phrase?  I mean we should all dare to be fabulous right????  OF COURSE!  So here's my version of encouraging just that.  I also used Tres Chic background stamp by SU because being fabulous and chic go hand in hand.  The flower image was stamped and cut several times and embossed using chocolate embossing powder then glittered (more bling!) using glitter from Martha Stewart.  Chocolate colored brads and chocolate satin ribbon finish this card off.

Thats all for today.  Thanks for stopping by and I'll be posting more fabulous finds tomorrow.  Photos that have needed to end up on my blog for while now. 

Take care and Happy Stamping!

Melissa