fresh & fun

The stamps are here!!!! I am in love!!!!

I love that the new stamps are die cuts now. I had to mount (blushing here) 15 stamp sets and I finished mounting them last night! No sore hands from cutting all the stamps. I even had time to stamp a little bit.

When I first saw the new In Colors, I knew I would love them all except for Pacific Point. It’s so bright. Well….I changed my mind. I used it on my first card. It looks great with Kiwi Kiss and Baja Breeze.

Sorry about the image.

It’s not quite as sharp as I wanted it to be.

But it’s still early and not that bright out yet.

I started out with a 3″ x 6″ piece of Baja Breeze cardstock folded in half.

Next I stamped one of the sentiment of the Bella’s Bloom stamp set  in Pacific Point on a 1″ x 3″ strip of Pacific point. I taped that strip to the bottom of the card.

Then I punched the bottom of a 1 3/8″ x 3″ strip of Bella Rose Designer paper with the Scallop Edge punch (boy….everyone NEEDS that punch!!!) and adhered it right over the sentiment. At the upper edge of the designer paper I tied 5/8″ Old Olive Grosgrain ribbon.

For the main image I inked up the flower from Bella’s Bloom (isn’t it gorgeous???) with Old Olive marker and Baja Breeze ink pad. Before stamping it on Whisper White cardstock, I inked up a sponge dauber with Pacific Point and added that ink to the edge of the flower head. The image was punched out with the 1 1/4″ circle punch and layered first on a 1 3/8″ Kiwi Kiss circle, then on a scallop circle in Pacific point.

To spice it up a bit I added Dazzling Diamond glitter to the flower head. Two 1/4″ Pacific Point circles were adhered to the top right of the card and Old Olive brads were attached to their centers.

On the inside I added another small strip of Pacific Point cardstock stamped with the same sentiment as on the card front, topped with a 1/4″ paper pierced strip of Kiwi Kiss.

The small flower from Bella’s Bloom was stamped in Pacific Point on Whisper White cardstock, punched out with the 1/2″ circle punch and adhered with a silver brad in the center.

Today and tomorrow I have friends coming over to play with my new goodies! Wohoo! What’s better then getting to stamp with friends and new stamps!

Have a wonderful day! Hugs and smiles

MaryJo Albright wrote today’s wonderful tutorial on SCS. I wanted to make a sample yesterday, but I had a nasty migraine that started after grocery shopping. I spend the rest of the day in my dark bedroom. This morning the medicine finally started working. That’s why my post is a bit late.

I incorporated Monday’s technique challenge Faux Dry embossing, also known as Shadow stamping, and Tuesday’s Color challenge (Rose Red, Basic Black and Kraft).

I stamped my Rose Red cardstock base with the Stitched Background in black ink.

For the center panel the main stamp from Essence of Love was first stamped in White Craft ink, then overstamped with Rose Red craft ink on Kraft cardstock.

And yes, I actually used my Stamp-a-majic. Usually I don’t use it (too much work) and just eyeball, but for this technique it is essential.

I layered the Kraft cardstock on a scalloped black layer I had cut with Long Rectangle Nestabilities. I paper pierced the edges of the Kraft cardstock and stamped My Friend from Fundamental Phrases in black on the upper right hand side.

Retired ribbon was tied around the front panel. Over it I layered the sentiment. It was stamped on Whisper White cardstock in black ink and punched out with my large oval punch. The “weed” stamp was stamped in Rose Red classic ink after stamping it off twice and the edges were sponged. The oval was layered on a 1 3/8″ Kraft circle and a black scallop circle.

I inked up the butterfly from Essence of Love with Rose Red classic ink and outlined the edges with the black journaling marker. It was stamped on white cardstock and cut out. I adhered one butterfly on the top left of my main panel and another one made just like that on the top right of the sentiment panel. Last I added Dazzling Diamond Glitter with Crystal Effect over both butterflies.

If you haven’t made one of these cards, go ahead. Try them out. They are super easy. Let’s fill the new gallery made for it on SCS. Add a link to your card in the comment box here so I can check it out.

 Have a great day! I hope my migraine will stay away so that I can play with my new goodies that should arrive early this evening. I just CAN’T wait!!!!!

Here is the card I created for today’s Inspiration Challenge. I can’t wait for my new stamps. I want to use them SO bad!!! But…I hadn’t used this set before. It’s almost like having a new set right? NOT! LOL! 

I picked Ruby Red, More Mustard, Always Artichoke and Basic Black as the colors, kept the square layout and flowers in the center. I first wanted to use Heartfelt Thanks. But….my center square got way to small for the flowers from that set.

I started out with a 4 1/4″ x 8 1/2″ piece of Basic Black cardstock folded in half.

Next is a sponged 4″ square of More Mustard followed by a 3 3/4″ square of Ruby Red.

The Ruby Red square was sponged on the edges, stamped with the stripes from Happiness. A border was added in black with one of the All in a Row borders (no way will I get rid of this set! What was SU thinking to retire it???)

For the center panel I inked up the flower bouquet from Best Kind of Friend with Always Artichoke, More Mustard and Ruby Red Markers, sprayed it with my water mister and stamped it on a 1 7/8″ square of Very Vanilla Cardstock. I sponged the edges with Creamy Caramel and used the Color Spritzer and More Mustard Marker to add the speckling. Last I added a doodled border with my 03 black Micron pen and added some definition lines to the stamped image with the same pen as well.

The Vanilla square was layered on a 1/4″ bigger sponged  and paper pierced  square of More Mustard and a Black scallop square that was cut with my Square Nestabilities.

When I stamped the flowers, the weren’t quite centered. So I added a sponged 3/4″ ruby red circle on the bottom left, topped with a large Pewter Eyelet. I tied Moss Taffeta ribbon through it. 

The sentiment is from the same set. It was stamped in black on Vanilla cardstock, punched out with the small oval punch and sponged with Creamy Caramel. Again I added speckles with the Color Spritzer and More Mustard marker.

A 1″ More Mustard circle was sponged, stamped with the vase of Best Kind of Friend (for texture) and taped on a Designer Label Punchout. After taping the oval over it, I paper pierced the top of the oval and added a Three for you flower in Ruby red on the top right. For the flower center a Fire Rhinestone brad was used.  Both the center panel as well as the sentiment were adhered with dimensionals.

This framed poppies print si by Jo Moulton and can be bought at Coldwater Creek.

Use the colors or the pattern….anything that will inspire you to create your card.

I can’t wait to see what you come up with.

Check out the cards made by the Inspiration Challenge Team:

Charmaine Ikach 

Danielle Lounds

Dawn McVey 

 Jennifer Buck

 Silke Ledlow 

 Susan Roberts If you upload your image to your splitcoast gallery, don’t forget to add BIC20 in the keyword section. That way your card will appear in this search: SCS Submissions

Random.org picked #64 for this week’s WSC winner.

That is Deborah with wonderful card!

You can see more of her work on her blog Stampin’ on the Mountain.

Thank you all for participating in the challenge. I still have to check some of the entries out, but every card I have seen so far looks gorgeous!

I have to admit. I slipped back in summer laziness. I had a friend over on Friday and Saturday and Sunday I just read. No new shares.

Thank goodness Fay didn’t arrive here until Saturday. But besides gusty wind and rain we didn’t get hit hard. We are still expecting rain and thunderstorms until Wednesday, but nothing like the East and the South of Florida experienced. My thoughts and prayers are for everyone there.

I made this pouch a while ago while writing the tutorial for SCS.

I remember making this fold back in elementary school to use as a cup.

It’s a perfect little pouch to give away small goodies and show off the beauty of the double sided paper.

I used a 8 1/2″ square of  Bella Rose Designer Paper, the large flower from the Pretties Kit along with a button from the new Designer Button assortment.

Wednesday evening my new stamps should arrive. I can’t wait. Too bad our street is always one of the last ones on the UPS route! But at least the stamps are coming.

Don’t judge me about the size of the order. LOL. My September order will be just as big. I can’t help myself. I want it all!!! Here is what I ordered:

• All the new punches, including the punch kit
• Most new ribbon
• Flower, Filigree and circle Designer Brads
• Designer Paper: Parisian Summer, Urban Garden, Hawaii Papaya and Green Tea
• Snow Swirled
• Eastern Blooms
• Pocket Silhouettes
• Inspired by Nature
• Upsy Daisy
• Under the Stars
• Contempo Alphabet
• Only Ovals
• On your Birthday
• To You & Yours
• Best Wishes & More
• Party Hearty with wheel
• Flight of the Butterfly
• Bella’s Bloom

Next month I will preorder stamps from the Holiday mini catalog, more stamp sets and paper and the Big Shot! I can’t wait!

I loved Jenn’s sketch! This card came together super quickly. What a nice change from the other cards this week. Hopefully that means I will get back into a stamping groove soon.

I started out with a 4 1/2″ x 9″ piece of Pink Pirouette cardstock that I folded in half.

A 1″ x 4 1/2″ strip of chocolate paper was taped over a 3 1/2″ x 4 1/2″ piece of kiwi paper to make a 4″ x 4 1/2″ block. 

Both designer paper pieces are from the Bella Rose Designer Paper pack.

I ran White Taffeta Ribbon between both papers and taped everything on the card base.

All three circle layers were cut with Circle Nestabilities die templates. The Riding Hood Red scallop was cut with the biggest template and I went one down from there for the Chocolate Chip and Bella Rose paper layer. I cut the right side off a bit and paper pierced the rounded edge.

The sentiment is from Heard from the heart. It’s stamped on a 1 3/8″ x 3 7/8″ piece of Whisper White cardstock in Chocolate Chip. I cut two slim rectangles with the Long Rectangle Nestabilities out of Chocolate Chip cardstock, taped them together and used them as the bottom layer for the sentiment.

I paper pierced the edges of the sentiment layer and added a large Pewter Eyelet on the bottom left. Through that eyelet I tied a knot with Pink Taffeta Ribbon.

I colored two flowers from the Pretties Kit with my Aqua Painter and Pink Pirouette and Riding Hood Red Reinker. I added a large Pewter Eyelet in the center and added a Half Pearl on top. I attached the flower with dimensionals.

 Thanks Jenn for a wonderful sketch! I loved it!

Jenn Balcer was kind enough to provide me with this awesome sketch.

To participate in the challenge and be entered in the  raffle, make a card with this layout and upload it either to your blog, or to an online gallery. Because I am closing in on 2,100,000 hit, I will raffle away a stamp set from last year’s Holiday Mini catalog called Love & Joy.

 If you upload your card on SCS, put WSC54  (NO SPACE INBETWEEN WSC AND 54) in the keyword section. That way we can look at all of them at once!

Post a link to your card to this blog entry as a comment. Please add your entry# to it.

I will determine the winner  with Random.org on Monday at 11:00 a.m. CST

To see samples made with this sketch now, check out the blogs of

Cambria Turnbow

Charmaine Ikach

Jenn Balcer

Laurie Schmidlin 

Lori Craig

MaryJo Albright

Sharon Harnist

Have fun creating! I can’t wait to see what you come up with.

SCS submissions

Tuesday’s Color Challenge on SCS was super pretty: Blush Blossom, Ruby Red and Close to Cocoa. I actually stamped this card on Tuesday. I haven’t participated in a challenge on the same day that it was posted in I don’t know how long. It felt good!!!

I started out with a 4 1/4″ x 10 1/2″ piece of Blush Blossom cardstock, scored and folded it at 5 1/2″.

I punched the vertical side of the card front with the Scallop Edge Punch and paper pierced a hole in the center of each scallop.

Next the card front was stamped with Blush Blossom and the Baroque Background stamp.

For the main image I stamped the big flower from Fabulous Flowers in Blush Blossom on a 3 1/4″ x 3 3/4″ piece of Whisper White cardstock randomly. Next I inked up the same flower with Ruby Red ink, colored the edges with Chocolate Chip Marker and stamped it on the bottom left corner of the same cardstock piece.

The cardstock was layered first on a 1/4″ bigger piece of sponged Close to Cocoa cardstock, then on a 1/4″ bigger piece of Ruby Red. Last I paper pierced through a border though all three layers and tied White Taffeta Ribbon around the right hand side.

I stamped the sentiment from Happiness Always in Chocolate chip (since the sponged cardstock looked like it) on Whisper White cardstock, punched it out with the large oval punch and layered it first on the 1 3/8″ Ruby Red, then on a sponged Close to Cocoa scallop circle. A Blush Blossom flower was punched out with the Three for You punch, sponged along the edges with Close to Cocoa ink and placed under the sentiment with a Ruby Red brad. The sentiment layeres were adhered to the card front with dimensionals.

To finish the card off I added Diamond Stickles Glitter all over the big red flower and adhered a 4 1/4″ x 5 1/2″ piece of Whisper White cardstock on the inside of the card.

This card came together a lot faster then the card on Tuesday. Hopefully it will stay that way. I don’t know about you, but when I make a card with just rectangular layers, it feels like it is missing something. Ticket corner punch or scallops….something to break up the box look.

Today’s tutorial on SCS is another Oldie, but Goodie: Rolling Marble Background. I had to dig through my kids drawers to find some marbles to be able to write these instructions.

My card base is a 4 1/4″ x 7″ piece of Kiwi Kiss cardstock.

It was scored at 4 1/4″ and the short end was punched with the Scallop Edge Punch (definitely a must have from this new catalog).

The inside of the card was lined with a 4″ square of Baja Breeze cardstock.

I stamped the Butterfly from Happiness Always randomly over the cardstock and sponged the edges with Baja Breeze. Then I added paper piercing in the top right corner.

The card front was layered with a 2 3/8″ x 4″ piece of Chocolate Chip, followed by a 1/4″ smaller piece of Very Vanilla cardstock. The cardstock was first rolled with Kiwi Kiss inked marbles. Next I inked up the solid butterfly stamp with Kiwi Kiss and rolled the edges in Baja Breeze. I stamped the butterfly several times over the rolled background. Then I stamped the alpha butterfly  in second generation Baja Breeze.

I paper pierced the edges and added a double photo corner on the top left of the fold. Three silver brads top the corners off.

My latch is a 1 1/2″ x 4 1/4″ piece of Chocolate Chip cardstock scored at 2 3/4″. I taped the smaller part of the strip to the right hand side of the card base. The longer part was layered with a 1 1/4″ x 2 1/2″ piece of Very Vanilla cardstock. I had stamped it over and over with the leaf from Happiness Always in Baja Breeze.

The sentiment was stamped in Chocolate Chip on Very Vanilla, punched out with the large oval punch (I can’t wait to get the new ginormous one! I need new stuff!!! I want it now!!! LOL). The edges of the oval were sponged with Kiwi Kiss. After it was taped down on the buckle, I paper pierced a border around it with help of the Classy Brass Template Punches Plus.

I didn’t want to cut a slit to hold the Buckle card closed. I stamped another solid butterfly in Kiwi Kiss with Baja Breeze edges, topped it with the alpha butterfly in Chocolate Chip and cut it out. I added two silver brads in the butterfly body and adhered it partly over the buckle with dimensionals. 

I took one dimensional and tapped it several times onto my fingers to take some of the stickiness away. I placed the one sticky side of that dimensional under my butterfly wing.  The other, not so sticky side, holds my card together. It’s sticky enough to hold the card shut, but not sticky enough to make it hard to open the card.

Have a wonderful day! Hugs and smiles