Good Morning! It is a dreary morning here after a night of storms. Hopefully it will clear up a bit. My Diva Challenge this week is a sketch challenge. As soon as I saw it I knew what stamp I wanted to use, so that made it easy! I haven't used this set in a while.

Supplies:

Stamps: Bloomin' Beautiful

Ink: Jet Black Stazon, Dusty Durango, Old Olive, Crushed Curry

Cardstock: Dusty Durango, Old Olive, Crushed Curry, Whisper White, Razzleberry Lemonade DSP

Accessories: Gold brads, Dusty Durango polkadotted grosgrain ribbon, blender pen

Hop on over to the Diva Coffee Break Designs blog and see what the rest of the design team has come up with for your inspiration using this sketch. Their creations are always awesome so I am sure you won't be disappointed!

You should play along with us! Just follow the sketch and then upload your creation using Mr. Linky. You can find directions on the Diva blog and I promise that they are super easy!

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Christmas in July!

How about a little Christmas in July? The Late Night Stamper design team challenge this week was to work on Christmas in July. I saw the most striking card by Julee Tillman (Verve Stamps) and tried to somewhat recreate it using all Stampin' Up!. It was kind of nice to be working on something different for a change.

Supplies:

Stamps: Dasher, Many Merry Messages (inside), Teeny Tiny Messages, Snow Swirled

Ink: Soft Suede, Rich Razzleberry, Craft White

Cardstock: Vanilla, Soft Suede, Rich Razzleberry, Razzleberry Lemonade DSP

Accessories: Soft Suede grosgrain ribbon, Vintage brads, Modern Label punch, Scallops 2 die, Big Shot

The inside greeting came from Many Merry Messages - which I received FREE from Stampin' Up! Yeah! I LOVE free stamps!

Thanks for stopping by! Enjoy your weekend!

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Today's card is another CASE. Today's card is a Patty Bennett inspiration. I actually had to make this card three times before I got one that was presentable! LOL! You can't see it in the picture, but the bottom of the flower pot is brayered with Dusty Durango ink. This gives it a "textured" look. The top part of the pot is just folded over before using the eyelet punch on the edge. The flowers are from the Level 3 Hostess set, Kind and Caring Thoughts. This is such a pretty set! One of the perks of being a demonstrator is that we get to preorder certain things before they are available for customers. I was able to preorder this hostess set - and I am glad becuase I don't often have the opportunity to be the hostess with high enough sales for a Level 3 set!

I used the Dusty Durango and Old Olive markers and applied ink directly to the stamp, "huffed" and

stamped. I did the middle set first, reinked and then did one set on each side. For the two side sets, i only inked up the top portion of the stamp.

Naturally, the inside of the card got to see some ink as well.

Supplies:

Stamps: Kind and Caring Thoughts, Teeny Tiny Wishes

Ink: Dusty Durango and Old Olive markers

Cardstock: Dusty Durango, Old Olive, Whisper White

Accessories: Old Olive 1/4" grosgrain ribbon, Modern Label punch, Eyelet Border punch, dimensionals

Are you thinking about taking advantage of the current sign-up special? This is an awesome time to become a demonstrator! For only $85, you can become a Stampin' Up! demonstrator and receive a stamp set of your choice valued at $28.95 or less, all six of the new In-Color pads, an assorted In Color package of cardstock, a package of Whisper White cardstock, a box of eight catalogs, and all of the business supplies you need to get started. Do you already have the In-Colors? That's okay. You can substitute them with other colors of your choice. This is a GREAT deal! AND, you won't have to meet your quarterly sales quota until December 31st! You can't beat that! PLUS, you receive a minimum 20% discount on your own purchases AND they count towards your sales! You will also have the opportunity to earn FREE stamp sets along the way!

This is a limited time offer, though. This $85 kit will only be available until August 31st. So, don't delay. Sign up today! Simply click here and then click on "join now". My recruiter password is "stampinsteph".

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Good Thursday morning to ya! I am a little excited this morning as I finally learned how to put a watermark on my pictures. I am a very slow learner, and visual. Veronica (www.vkdesigncompany.com - she gave my blog a makeover recently) put a tutorial up on her website which was really easy to follow.
Anyway, today's card is very much inspired - okay, almost completely inspired - by a creation of Jackie Pedro's. Her card was just so beautiful, though, that I had to make one. These colors are very stunning together. Of course, I added a little to the inside as well. My cards just don't seem to be complete anymore without some decoration on the inside too.

The butterfly image is stamped directly on the white circle and then stamped again on a separate piece and cut out for a little dimension.

Supplies:

Stamps: Simple Friendship

Ink: Rich Razzleberry

Cardstock: Whisper White, Rich Razzleberry, Crushed Curry, Razzleberry Lemonade DSP

Accessories: Rich Razzleberry grosgrain ribbon, scallop edge punch, white gel pen, scallop die, Big Shot

Thank you for stopping by! I am off to work on some of my upcoming classes in between chasing grandchildren and dogs! Fun, fun, fun! Have a wonderful day!

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The Final Deal!

This week, the Heart to Heart punch is on sale for the final Deal of the Week!

For this week only, you can purchase the Heart to Heart punch for just $10.99 (#113694) ~ more than 30% off the regular price of $15.95. You can't beat that. I love Stampin' Up!'s punches!!

Don't wait, this offer is only available through July 31st!

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Did you enjoy the Royal Blog Tour? I hope so! I know I had fun preparing for it! I just want to thank each of you who took the time to go through the tour. It takes a lot of hard work from those involved behind the scenes to put a tour like this together and everyone did a wonderful job! A special thanks to everyone who took the time to leave me sweet comments and to those who subscribed to my blog feed too! I love hearing from you all. We can keep one another inspired!

Have a great day!

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Are You a Big Shot?

It's Wednesday again! They just come around so fast, but that is okay because I get to share a challenge with you. A Diva challenge! This week, we have another Big Shot challenge. You can use any current Stampin' Up! Big Shot die to create your card or project. Those are the only rules! How easy can that be?I received the Elegant Bouquet embossing folder in my last order and decided to put it to good use. I was going for simple and I think I actually achieved that with my first card. I just love the new Rich Razzleberry In Color! It is definitely one of my favorites! Since the Elegant Bouquet embossing folder only dry embosses half of the card, I simply used the "for you" sentiment from Great Friends in the upper left naked space and added some Rich Razzleberry ribbon. Pretty easy, huh?
Well, I thought so, anyway. My darling daughter, on the other hand, decided I did not pick a pretty color scheme. She felt I should be using Basic Black and Real Red for a more striking color combination. So, I whipped out the Manhattan Flower embossing folder as I thought that dry embossed image went better with the "striking color scheme" that she chose. I used the same Great Friend sentiment in the upper naked corner. But, she didn't like this one either. She felt the Basic Black should be the base of the card with just a layer of the Real Red and wanted to use the Elegant Bouquet embossing folder again. I wasn't happy with the scalloped black layer under the sentiment, but the Wide Oval punch was too large of a layer. I wish we had just one more punch... The butterfly was, of course, stamped in Real Red and cut out with snips, attached with a dimensional. This butterfly is also from the Great Friend stamp set.

Pop on over to the Diva Coffee Break Designs blog and see what the rest of the design team have come up with for your inspiration. They always have some good stuff! You can add your Big Shot creation to the Diva blog using Mr. Linky. It is very easy!

Thanks for stopping by!


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Welcome to the Royal Blog Tour!

Welcome to my blog! I am using the level 3 Hostess set, Kind and Caring Thoughts, to showcase 4 cards that I hope will bring you some inspiration. I think that decorating the inside of the card gives it an extra special touch and so I have done that as well on some of the cards.

My first card is a base of Whisper White with the color combination

layers of

Orchid Opulence and Rich Razzleberry. After stamping the main image in Rich Razzleberry,

I placed several circle rhinestone brads on the image before layering on the Orchid Opulence. A piece of Rich Razzleberry grosgrain ribbon is used across the layer of Orchid Opulence - on which I used the scallop edge punch and white gel pen dots on the scallops. The sentiment comes from the Fresh Cuts stamp set and is placed on a 1-1/4" punched circle, follow

ed by a 1-3/8" punched circle layer and a scallop circle punched layer.

The base of this second card is Kraft cardstock, on which I stamped the largest floral image in the Kind and Caring

Thoughts stamp set in Versamark ink randomly.

The layers of cardstock are Old Olive, Perfect Plum and Whisper White.

I colored the floral image with a Perfect Plum and Old Olive markers in order to get the different colors on the one stamp. On the edges that are scalloped, I used Stampin' Up!'s

scallop edge punch before using the white gel pen to place a white dot in each scallop.

The ribbon is Old Olive 5/8" grosgrain and the embellishment is a Filigree Designer Brad with a circle rhinestone brad in the middle.

My next card utilizes the new In-Colors again.

I am really enjoying these colors. I created the base of this standard-sized card in Bermuda Bay with a layer of Dusty Durango underneath a layer of Razzleberry Lemonade DSP. The ribbon is

Dusty D

urango polkadotted grosgrain with a

Flower Designer Brad attached.

My final card uses sketch SC237 from Splitcoast Stampers. I am very pleased with how this card came out.

The base of the card is Whisper White and it is folded so that it opens from the bottom - as were two of the other cards.

The bottom layer of DSP is from the Razzleberry Lemonade DSP packet and the next layer is

Certainly Celery DSP, followed by Crushed Curry grosgrain ribbon. The leaves were made from the Little Leaves S

izzlet die which was run through the Big Shot. The floral image was stamped in Crushed Curry onto Whisper White and then the top portion was cut out and placed on top of the die cut leaves with a dimensional. Six vintage brads were placed as shown.

Thanks for stopping and touring my blog. If you like what you see, please leave me a comment. I love to hear from my readers. Why not bookmark my blog or subscribe to the email feed.

Another Great Friend creation....this set is getting a lot of use! I love the boldness of the red against the softness of the green.

Supplies:

Stamps: Great Friend

Ink: Real Red

Cardstock: Certainly Celery, Real Red, So Saffron, Whisper White, Certainly Celery DSP

Accessories: Big Shot, Little Leaves Sizzlets die, Real Red 5/8" grosgrain ribbon

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A friend of our family has recently had her first baby and her grandma made these adorable birth announcements for little Amberly. Aren't they precious? The announcement was inspired by this card on Splitcoast by bwstamper. You did an awesome job, Jan!

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Bad Diva!

Sometimes I think I have really lost it! Did you ever feel that way? Here I am just blogging along with my cards and my calendar sitting right next to me, thinking today is Wednesday.....Duh! I always seem to be a day late and a dollar short!

Well, I apologize. My card for this week's Diva Coffee Break Designs was ready, but obviously my brain was not functioning at the proper capacity. We had a sketch this week to work with. I flipped my upside down.

Supplies:

Stamps: Friends 24/7, Teeny Tiny Wishes

Ink: Night of Navy

Cardstock: Brocade blue, Night of Navy, Whisper White, Night of Navy DSP (from Hostess Level 1 packet)

Accessories: White Organza Ribbon, Modern Label Punch, Word Window Punch, Dimensionals

Make sure you pop on over to the Diva Coffee Break Design blog and see what the rest of the design team has come up with for your inspiration. Thanks for stopping by. Hope you have a wonderful day.

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This card was completely inspired by another fellow demo, but I am so sorry that I did not record her name. She used a different animal and layered a tad differently, but basically it is the same card. I was having a hard time liking this Animal Stories stamp set so I decided to CASE the first time I used it. The designer paper (Tall Tales) matches the stamp set nicely.

Supplies:

Stamps: Animal Stories

Ink: Soft Suede

Cardstock: Chocolate Chip, Soft Suede, Animal Stories DSP, Whisper White

Accessories: Soft Suede grosgrain ribbon

I don't normally make square cards, but this one measures 5-1/2" x 5-1/2".

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When I am away from those that I love, I sometimes like to send a little note to let them know I am still thinking about them and missing them. This card fits that occasion perfectly! I did make this card about a month and a half ago so, unfortunately, the designer paper is retired.

Supplies:

Stamps: Loads of Love

Ink: Black Craft Ink, Real Red

Cardstock: Basic Black, Real Red, Basic Gray, Urban Garden DSP (retired)

Accessories: Large black eyelets, 1-1/4" circle punch, 1" circle punch, black grosgrain ribbon, blender pen, Crop-A-Dile, Heart to Heart punch, clear embossing powder, heat gun

My image as well as the sentiment are embossed with Craft Ink and clear embossing powder. That made it pop out a little more and also made it easier to color in with the ink and blender pen.

Thanks for stopping by!

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Butterflies are so cheerful and carefree! Two of the new In Colors are used on this card, Melon Mambo and Rich Razzleberry along with the Razzleberry Lemonade DSP. I didn't think I was going to like this designer paper, but I find myself using it more and more!

Supplies:

Stamps: Great Friend, Teeny Tiny Wishes

Ink: Rich Razzleberry and Melon Mambo

Cardstock: Melon Mambo, Rich Razzleberry, Whisper White, Razzleberry Lemonade DSP

Accessories: Rich Razzleberry grosgrain ribbon, Modern Label punch

You can order these products from me online 24/7!