Finally Friday Favorites - 05/30/08

Friday already?! Where did the week go? This is not a "yay, Friday!" day for me this week though. My parents are heading home to Florida first thing in the morning {and I mean FIRST thing - it's a 6 AM flight outta here, they're back in the Sunshine State by 11:30 AM}. I am always so unbelievably sad when our visits come to an end, we are very close and always have been - living so far from them is really hard. DS #1 is older now too, and he *knows* now. He's going to be pretty shattered when he wakes up and his Grammy is gone. Anyway, we can't stop the passage of time {right?} so let's end on the up note of Finally Friday Favorites and hope for some weekend stamping inspiration -- before I start to cry.

• Animal Parade Frame by Chelsey. This is SO CUTE! I need those animal stamps.
• Happy Hour Graduation Card by Nettie. Love that image.
• Tiger on Tour by Katharina. Those people at High Hopes know how to make cute animals. What a great mix of vintage and cutesy {contemporary?} images on this one.
• Dino Pop Up Party by Karen Daley. SHUT UP! What a fabulous idea.
• Dad Beach Card by Lyn. Love the blues, the card fold, all the beach-themed embellishments.
• Birdie Notecard Trio by Tosha. These are adorable! All the scallops, the colors, cute fibers - they are all great, I can't even pick a favorite of the three.
• Train Card by Ana. My DS#1 and my DH are TOTAL train freaks so I am always looking for cute train ideas anyway. But this card ROCKS even if you don't belong to a family of train freaks. heh.
• Ismaki by Monkia Davis. Gorgeous! Love the colors, layout, image choices, ribbon....
• Super Son LO by Delia. Delia is the most super amazing scrapper evah! She doesn't know it yet, but I'm going to be sending her a big box of photos of my family...even if she makes me ONE layout I'll be stylin'!

MAJOR Stamp Sale!

Pamela over at Firecracker Designs by Pamela is having a SERIOUS stamp sale to celebrate the end of May and the release of her latest stamp designs. I really think this may be the best release yet - and they've all been good! This month has some great things just in time for Father's Day - a coffee set and a fabulous football set too.

From now until midnight on June 1st, buy 3, get 1 free!! Yes, it's true. Buy ANY 3 stamp sets in the store - any price and get 1 set for FREE. The free set must be of equal value to the lowest price set. Do not add your choice of free set to your shopping cart. Just type it into the comments section during PayPal checkout. If you're not using PayPal, send Pamela an e-mail and she'll add it to your order. Happy shopping everyone!

Oh, and I should have some football inspiration to share next week too {since my stamps are in the mail - ha! get it?!}

For My Blog Candy Winners...

Your template winnings are in the mail today. I am sorry for the delay! My parents have been visiting and I just didn't get a chance to sit down and stuff envies. I hope you all enjoy them - I've been using mine BUNCHES - I think you'll find them to be invaluable! Have a GREAT weekend everyone!

Swap Card from Gia - SBS13

Here's a card I received from my SBS13 sista - Gia! I LOVE it! Bellas are always fun and that metallic blue cardstock she has in there is to die for! She also sent me some stamped images. Thanks Gia!! You can visit Gia at her blog - Designed by Gia.

Tutorial Thursday - 05/29/08

A wonderful Emerging Color photo tutorial link up for today's tutorial - from Vicki Parson. This looks like a lot of fun!

Also, a very useful tutorial on Scheduling Posts in Blogger {to publish at a later date} from Di Hickman. She's fabulous!! I have gone back and changed the date on a post {once it's published} in order to keep it at the top -- like blog candy -- but I didn't realize that if you change it to a future time BEFORE you publish, it will auto-post at that time. Cool!

Fall Flowers - Belli #19 & SC177

Here's a multipurpose card that I made on Monday night. Despite the MANY problems I managed to encounter while creating it, I'm fairly happy with the end result. This is one of my May cards for the Firecracker Designs by Pamela design team - I had the set "Fall Flowers". I also incorporated Sketch Challenge SC177 from Splitcoast, and this week's Belli Challenge #19 - to use the white gel pen. That's no trouble since I LOVE the white gel pen!

A quick overview - I stamped the image in Palette Burnt Umber on the Nana's Nursery - Baby Girl paper from DCWV. Then I stamped it in Palette New Canvas on the Burgundy cardstock. Cut out the blossom image and layered it over. I didn't think the New Canvas ink was opaque enough, so I went over it with the white gel pen {the one from Stampin' Up!}. Then I doodled around the edge with the white gel pen, and I just couldn't stop - LOL - so I added the little faux-cross stitch "x"s. The colors are white, Blush Blossom, Groovy Guava, and Bravo Burgundy.

An Award & New Shout Outs!

The fabulous Deb at Paper, Ink, Scissors & Stamps gave me this cool award. She's amazingly talented with a wickedly funny sense of humor - I check her blog every day and am so happy to have "met" her. If you haven't given her a visit yet, you should!

So the award - can I just say that I LOVE the graphic! It totally does rock socks. I am giving this award to a few of my newly discovered blogs - they may not be new, but new to me and I feel very fortunate to have found them. All were immediate adds to my daily Google Readering and have lots of great projects and ideas to share.

• Andi Mead - Family, Friends and Stampin' Up!
• Jill Dunn - Inkgenious {yes she is!}
• Paula Williamson - Paper Possibilities

JessicaLynnOriginal Blog Candy Winner!

Ok, I'm a little behind my 10 AM deadline. We're closing on our house today so there was some last-minute stuff. But I did the Random.org magic and the lucky winner is....

Random Integer Generator
Here are your random numbers:3
Timestamp: 2008-05-27 16:57:19 UTC

A low number - I can't believe it! My faith in Random.org's randomness is restored! And that comment belongs to JenMarie! Here is what she said:

JenMarie said...
Oh, I just love that penguin!!
May 21, 2008 5:27 PM

JenMarie, send me your e-mail and contact info and I'll have Jessica get you your $10 Gift Certificate. Congratulations!

Tipster Tuesday - 05/27/08

Some great tips for today, be sure to check them out! Leave love for the authors if you have a second.

• From JessicaLynn - 45 Scrapbooking Tips!
• From Tammy - Keep those pesky corners FLAT. {Genius}
• From the Prima blog - Custom flower centers!!
• From Niki - Try kissing...with SPONGES. {I never thought of this before...why??}

Blog Candy & MORE Blog Candy!

ETA: This post will remain at the top until the drawing. Scroll down for new posts!

Today's the day! JessicaLynnOriginal has launched their newest images - that's 9 new sets. You can check them out at the store website. To celebrate, I am giving away a $10 Gift Certificate right here on my blog!!! No lie! Just leave me a comment on this post, any comment you like, but if you could tell me which of the new JLO sets you like the best that would be fun. I'll leave the contest open through the holiday weekend and will pick a winner next Tuesday, May 27th at 10 AM.

=====

Also, just passing along some info from Jessica Lynn. With the launch of the brand new stamp sets, she has announced that JessicaLynnOriginal will be giving away two - $50 Gift Certificates on the website "I'm Not Obsessed". I'm Not Obsessed is a celebrity gossip website that focuses on pop culture.

All day on May 21st (only) she will have the contest open to win one of two - $50 Gift Certificates. Just follow the directions on her message board and you are entered.

LOOKIT!

You 'member the gorgemous and beautiful white and ivory buckets-o-flowers from the Michael's bridal section we talked about way back in March {or something}?

LOOKIT what I found when I went there on Friday. PINK!! Aaaaahhhhhh!!! And they are shimmery and shiny and embossed just like the others - oh yes. You can clicky on the pic to see it supersized.

Oh how I love them. I sorta wonder if they maybe had blue too {the display had lots of the same stuff in pink...and blue - but only pink flower pails}. So I'll have to check back sometime and see if any others magically appeared. BUT for now, this is a *find*, if I do say so myself!

ETA: They cost $3.99 I believe, and Jennifer Love posted that her Michael's *does* have blue, although it may not be a very desirable blue color {I wondered that too, based on the color of the other stuff - good to know!}.

Blog-RAK Received!

Look at this fabulous card I received from one of the ladies in the Blogger's RAK Club - Heather. She sent a nice note too - what a great mail day that was. Heather, your card really made my day. I am sorry I'm a bit late posting it, my parents have been visiting so I didn't even get it photographed until yesterday. I have to say, this burgundy and guava color combo is really quite sharp. I am going to have to try that one!

Cuttlebug Enablement - New Seasonal Collection!

Ok ladies, I got this tip from the TJ Yahoo Group {thanks to pdunbar!}. Yes, it's true, Provocraft is coming out with more new Cuttlebug stuff in June. I know many people who are STILL waiting for goodies from this last release {example - I only JUST got the Swiss Dots folder two weeks ago as I was not fast enough when they first arrived}. Many still don't have one. Anywhoo...wouldn't you like to skip that whole problematic process? Go preorder!

Oh My Crafts is taking preorders on the new Seasonal Collection. I have not ordered from them before but I have read good things from various online sources {and I already have my preorder in!!}. Just thought I'd pass that little gem along.

ETA: For you Deb, LOL! I got 5 of the A2 embossing folders. I thought that was a good start. I like a lot of them but I'm not sure how I would use the ones that are *designs* rather than just background noise, YKWIM? I'm sure I'll see lots of cool stuff and need them as well but for now I ordered the Pumkin Harvest, Christmas Ornaments, Dots & Snowflakes, Skeleton Scroll, and Spiderweb {oh yeah!}.

My Sketch World & JessicaLynn

Lucy has the new slide show up on the My Sketch World blog for the May Group #2 Sketch and Design Team cards. This is my take on it:

All stamps are from JessicaLynnOriginal - the new Adventure sets. I posted the other day about her latest launch - lots of really cute new sets! Remember, I am giving away a $10 gift certificate to her online store - just leave a comment on THIS POST <---click to enter the drawing.

Here is the sketch so you can test me for accuracy. heehee!

Page Plans - I WON?!

Have you checked out the Page Plans site yet, BTW? I found it because I am a complete stalker of Lesli's blog, so I saw the announcement when they started up the sketch blog. Anyway, everyone associated with the group is uber-talented and they put out a layout sketch and a card sketch every week. Swing by for a peek! The new sketches are posted on Sundays.

Anyway, back to the reason I am telling you all this. Remember my Daiquiri card from last week - it used the Page Plans Sketch #5? Well I linked it up to the Page Plans blog as an entry for the week's sketch contest, and I won!! How cool is that? Well, for me anyway. Not to totally be tooting my own horn, but I was just super excited when I saw THAT come up in my daily Google Reader adventures! You can read the post here {the new sketch is first, and they talk about the prior week's winner at the bottom}.

PS - That card uses Prickley Pear Rubber Stamps images. Go see!

Finally Friday Favorites - 05/23/08

Here's some inspiration for on this long HOLIDAY weekend! {Sorry it's late}. Hope everyone gets lots of stamping time -- I know I made a "Sheetload" of cards yesterday. :-) This week's Top 10 projects are:

• Twins Card by Sarah.
• Hippy Hippo by Jennifer Love. OMG, too adorable!
• Arrrrggh by Michele Boyer.
• Ducky by Jo. Great shades of yellow, such a cute image.
• Got Mud? by Elyssa. Love the boy stuffs!
• White Wedding by Angie C. So elegant, love the sparkle.
• Tree Tag Card by Deb Neerman. She's so creative!
• Hip Hop by Lauren Meader. Of course...
• Case of the Whale by Wanda. So cute! The waves are just perfect.
• Back with Farley by Holly McMillen.

As always, lots of amazing projects out there. Where were we before blogs?! :-)

Have a great holiday everyone!

Rubbah Deals & Steals

A couple of quick deals for you:

Prickley Pear Rubber Stamps is having Buy One - Get One on all unmounted grab bags this month. Grab bags are only $8.95 and each contain 25 pieces of rubber - no seconds.

Firecracker Designs by Pamela has a bunch of sets on clearance right now - first come, first served, because these images are all retiring - once they are gone, they're gone!

Deals and Steals people - get while the gettin' is good!

Michael's Coupon!

Wowza! 25% off at Michaels until May 31st! Click here.

Woo Hoo...More Fame!

I just love to feel the...er...love. Check it out! Danielle gave me a nod on the OTT-LITE blog again this week {repeat mention, how COOL is that?!}, and I was a Princess for a Day on the Queen Kat Blogger's Club for today, May 22nd. Good times all around!

CBC18, Page Plans 5

Happy Wednesday!! Time for the Belli Challenge {we're on #18 already}! I know I missed a bunch of these in the last month but hopefully I'm back on track. Belli is Em"belli"shment, each week Chris challenges everyone to use stuff from their embellishment stash. If you upload a card to SCS, put "CBC18" in the keywords so we can see all the entries! This week's challenge is paper piercing.

My card also uses the sketch from Page Plans #5. What a fun one! Sketch challenges are my favorite. The colors are Rose Red, Regal Rose and Wild Wasabi. The daiquiri stamp is from Prickley Pear Rubber Stamps and the text was all done on the computer. Here's the sketch:

Tipster Tuesday - 05/20/08

I got this tip from Etha - it's a good one! I can't wait to try it out. I am all for anything with the Prisma/Copic markers you know!

I just tried this out the other day: color your white heat embossed images! If you have an image that has some solid areas: stamp on black or dark card stock with versamark or white pigment ink, then heat emboss with white powder. After it cools, color your image with Copic markers (alcohol art markers). It dries permanent over the EP and looks real neat on the dark paper. The colors are very vibrant over the white embossed layer.

JLO News & More Blog Candy Coming Up!

Look! A sneak peek of Jessica Lynn's new stamp line! I got my new sets on Saturday and this image is one of them! *happy dance* There is some exciting stuff going on over at her store too - check it out! The new stamps are coming out TOMORROW, May 21st, here's some more info from Jessica Lynn herself:

Starting at 12:01 am on Wednesday May 21st we are going to be selling our brand new set of stamps. They are really fun and perfect with some other things we are going to be seeing a lot of this summer!

• Instead of a pre-sale the Stamp Club Members will be getting a code for FREE SHIPPING for May 21st Only. Be sure to sign up for the Stamp Club by May 20th if you want the code.
• 6 Million readers. We have teamed up with an exciting venue to promote this stamp launch event. With that they are going to be giving away two $50 JessicaLynnOriginal Gift Certificates. You are going to be able to sign up with them to be entered. Again, this is ONLY for May 21st!

Want to know more?? Please sign up for our mailing list to get the updates!

In addition to all that, I {me, Jennifer} will have some GREAT Jessica Lynn blog candy to give away - you won't want to miss this. So check back tomorrow!

Blog Candy Winners!

Ok, sorry I'm late with the winners. We had some things come up that I had to deal with this morning with the bank and the new house and all of that. I will not be sad when this is all over and we can be settled into life again, let me tell ya.

I've heard a lot of complaints lately about Random.org only picking numbers right in the middle of the grouping, so in an effort to include everyone in the drawing, DS #1 and I turned it into a game. We wrote numbers 1 through 44 on little paper scraps and mixed them all up in a big bowl. Then he pulled out the 8 winners and read them off to me. He's getting so big! Normally I wouldn't go to quite so much trouble - but he was very excited to help me so it worked out all around.

Drumroll please...

• Cindy Vernon #15
• Tammy H. #2
• Vanessa Nolte #29
• Debi #6
• Allison #17
• Kisa #43
• Deb #32
• Monica #11

Ladies, please e-mail me with your snail mails and I will send these out! Thanks to everyone who entered - I wish I had some templates to give to each of you. If you want some of these and really, really can't find them at any of your local craft stores or nearby box stores, send me an e-mail and I can try to help.

Blog Candy!

ETA: This post will stay at the top until the drawing on May 20th. Scroll down for new posts.

I have some Fabulous Find Blog Candy to share! The post below talks about the secret to paper piercing perfection {say that 5 times fast}, which got me motivated. I LOVE paper piercing and have been searching for a good & cheap circle template for awhile. I found a great one for swirls that has been a lot of fun, but alas, no circles. I will say that I have wondered before if "those plastic frame things from the needlework section" would work, but never while I am actually AT the store to check them out. {Only at 3 AM when I can't sleep!} Since Melanie said she got hers at Hobby Lobby, I snuck over there today specifically to find these -- and look!

A 4.5" diameter circle, a 3" diameter circle, a small heart and a 4" square. I bought all the different options because I have no self control! These come in PACKS OF 10. Oooohhhh....yes, I think you see where I am going with this. Of course I had to set aside one set for my friend Heather, so that leaves 8 sets up for grabs! To enter, just leave a comment here on this post, and I'll use random.org to decide the 8 winners next Tuesday May 20th at 10 AM central time. {Assuming I get at least 8 entries, LOL!!}

Another Blog Candy Link

Holy blog candy!! Here's another one and it is SERIOUS!!! Go visit Lil' Deb and you'll see what I mean.

Blog Candy Link Up

Check out THIS great blog candy from Michelle at Donkey Smiles. A great milestone and a super opportunity to win!

Don't forget to enter...

...the blog candy drawing! I "stuck" it at the top until tomorrow (5/20) when I do the random number picker magic. Leave a comment on THAT post {not here} to be entered. I'll close it & draw winners at {about} 10 AM - be sure to check back to see if you have won a set of paper piercing templates!

SBS13 Card from She

I can't believe I never posted a picture of this card! I got it forever ago from my SBS13 Sista, She. Isn't it fabulous?! We did a little 1-for-1 cards swap - super fun. I love the layout and the cutie Prima flower bouquet. Oh, and I *want* that shiny silver paper! It came by Royal Mail from the UK - very impressive, huh? I was impressed at any rate. :-) Anyway, She, I am so sorry I didn't post this earlier. Go check her blog!

Finally Friday Favorites - 05/16/08

More good stuff this week! Here are my Top 10...

• Inspiration Challenge by Susan Roberts. LOVE this, it's so elegant.
• Father's Day from Carole Burrage.
• Mother's Day by Andi Mead.
• Baby Set from Dee Jackson. Too cute you guys!
• Birthday Cowboy from Leigh O'Brien. She had another one on my list too, but I thought one would do for the Top 10, LOL.
• Sprakling Chipboard by JenMarie. Sparkles, yeah!!
• *Heart* You by Christi Thorsen. This is GORGEOUS!!
• Wedding LO from Kim Hughes.
• Butterflies by Mustang Sarah. They're all fabulous by the top one is my favorite.
• Vase of Flowers by Chrissy Dickinson. FUN!

Joann Coupon Link!

This one is only good until Saturday, but it's 40% off one item, so it's worth a print if you're headed out to a Joann store.

Gimme gimme!

Also, we are having some electrical work done on the house here this afternoon so I'll probably be unreachable until late tonight or tomorrow. Don't forget to sign up for the Fabulous Find blog candy while you're waiting for the next post!

Tipster Tuesday - 05/13/08

From Melanie Muenchinger - the secret of perfect paper piercing -- and those templates fit with the circle Nestabilties too!!

Finally {Friday} Favorites - 05/09/08

Better late than never!! There was SO MUCH great stuff last week I don't know where to begin. Because there are more than usual and I am so late I'm not posting many details or my commentary/opinions {I know you are crying about this -- I'll be back to it for this week I hope!}. So you'll have to go check 'em out and see for yourself why they make the list!

• Hybrid project by Cathy at The Paper Garden. I actually found this one through Susanna Boyd's blog.
• Masculine Verve by Jackie Pedro.
• Lucky Lady by Linda McClain.
• Triple Challenge Card by Broni Holcombe.
• Brotherly Hugs LO by Rebecca. {LOVE everything on this - title, layout, colors, etc. And those boys are too cute!}
• Rub Ons Card by Rachel Hope. Classic and pretty.
• Here Come the Bride by Paula Williamson. SO gorgeous.
• Shades of Green & Blue by Kristin Soboloski. Have you SEEN her Artful Inkables stamp line? I have some and they are fabulous.
• Fans by CarrollAnn.
• Mug Inspiration by JanTink.
• Dragon Cards by Maxene Choi.
• Watermelon by Alicia. What a GREAT take on the sketch!
• Poetic Artistry Sketch by Renee.
• Life's a Breeze by Laurie Schmidlin.
• Layouts from Pattern Paper Princess. LOVE the first one especially!
• Color Challenge #8 by Melissa Kulesa.
• Father's Day with Verve by Susie Liles
• Western Sky Ensamble by Erin Blair
• Gorillas Just Wanna Have Fun by Kraftin' Kimmie.
• Howdy by Sherry Cheever.
• DIVA by Joanne Wardle. SO fun!
• Princess Card by Jill.

Quite a list, I know. There were some busy stampers out there!

House Update!!

Well, here is the news from around here - we had an accepted offer on our house on May 5th, and now know that all the contingencies are good so we are closing on May 27th and then renting back until July. We found a new place and have an accepted offer there so we just need to do the home inspection and get locked at a good interest rate and we'll be in good shape! Then all we have to do is MOVE....aaaccckkkk!

Luckily we have some time so keep your fingers crossed for us that all goes smoothly. The whole house/moving thing has been the biggest reason I've been such a bad stamper and blogger lately so hopefully that's past! Now I just have to get rid of this cold! We have all the excitement around here, huh?

I'll be posting last week's favorites in a bit too -- better late than never. :-) Here's a pic of the new place:

Mother's Day Rose

Ugh, does anyone in the world like being sick? My DS #1 got a sniffle & cough thing last week that he has so nicely shared with me (and apparently DH too). I have to say that I am waaaaaaaaaaaay sicker than he is!! Which is of course, a good thing as I wouldn't want him suffering, but boy am I feeling unpleasant.

Here's the last card that we made when my neighbor brought the girl scouts over for a stamp camp. This is a Mother's Day card (sentiment inside). Pretty straightforward - the colors are White, Artichoke, Sahara Sand (cardstock); Rose Red, Regal Rose and Bravo Burgundy (rose), Celery and Artichoke (leaves), and Palette New Canvas overstamped with Sahara Sand (swirls). Main image stamps are from the retired Roses in Winter from Stampin' Up! and the swirls are from Rhona Farrar. I used my Classic Oval Nestabilities on the main image. I saw something with this layout on Splitcoast and I really liked the style for the RIW stamps, so I thought I'd give it a try!

Sorry I am so behind in my postings, I do have Favorites from last week, and hopefully I can get those up later - there were a LOT, there was some seriously productive stamping going on around the Netverse last week!! I also got my big TAC order (I've been saving up since FALL for this one!!!) and the box was giganormous. I'll post pics - boy did I get some good stuff, I can't wait to try it all out. Plus I got some orders of goodies from Prickley Pear and one from Firecracker Designs by Pamela so I have some new images and other goodies to test out. Next, I need a 30-hour day!

Tutorial Thursday - 05/08/08

Cuttlebugging!! Here are some great tips & tutorials:

• Jennifer McGuire - Cuttlebug Heat Embossing.
• Valita - Fiskars Embossing Plates & The Cuttlebug.

Black & Blue Hearts

Here's another card using Clear Artistic Stamps images. Do you recognize that color combo? I made a similar card for the Ballet Blue virtual swap that Danyelle hosted (actually made them at the same time at Scrap Mania awhile back!). I used Beate's WSC #37 sketch for this card.

This is such a simple one! Easy and fun to make. Cut 3 pieces of white to the following dimensions: one to 5.5" x 8.5", two to 2.5" x 3.75". Score and fold the large piece for the card base. Cut black cardstock to 4.125" x 5.25". Cut So Saffron and Ballet Blue to 2.25" x 3.5".

Now, we have to make a mask for the large heart. Stamp the image onto a Post it note (make sure you get some of the image over the sticky area) and cut it out. Once that is ready, stamp the full image onto your So Saffron cardstock, then place the mask over the top of the image you have just stamped. Then line up and stamp the heart again, right over the top of the mask. When you pull it off you'll see that it looks as though one of the images is behind the other without the overlapping lines of the image. Perfect! Add dots with the Ballet Blue marker (use the paper piercing template if you're bad with dot spacing). Mount onto white cardstock and set aside.

Stamp the vine image along the side of the Ballet Blue cardstock. Add the white rubons to the bottom and mount onto white cardstock. Adhere the black background to the white card base, then layer on your stamped image layers. Last thing to do is line up the corner areas and add lots of silver brads - just for fun. I like to add my brads AFTER I add my layers to the base card - even though they show through on the inside, the cardstock above lays much nicer because it doesn't have all the bumps from brad wings sticking up behind it, in between the layers.

Complete Supply List. Stamps - Sweetpea Sweetheart stamp set from Clear Artistic Stamps. Paper - Basic Black, Ballet Blue and So Saffron cardstock, GP 110# white cardstock. Accessories - Silver Brads, Ballet Blue ink and marker, Post it notes, paper snips, SU White Rub Ons, Paper Piercer and Template (for brads).

Wolfish Dad Card

Here's an easy card that we made last week at the Girl Scout stamp camp I did. This one is the Father's Day card, and I had a "Happy Father's Day" sentiment that they stamped on the inside. This was probably the easiest card that they made, I wanted to have a good variety of card levels and designs too, since most of them had not stamped before.

This card uses the wolf stamp from Prickley Pear's North American Animals plate, along with Sanded BG on the pattern paper. I hand wrote the "Dad". Definitely a fast and easy one, but still fun. I LOVE that image, he's so proud looking.

Tipster Tuesday - 05/06/08

Danyelle has some good ones to share! teehee! She's the FUNNEST.

What not to stamp.

Monday Quiz - 05/05/08

Caution: Seriously addicting. How far did you get? How many times did you start over? Sound off here! The Impossible Quiz.

Michael's Coupon - Through 05/10/08

Yay! Wanted to put up a quick post to share this Michael's coupon link:

40% off through May 10th

Thanks Much - A WSC46 Entry

Happy Saturday to everyone!!! Yesterday was a fabulous stamping day for me, although it was not just for me. I had my neighbor's girl scout troop over for a little stamp camp, and they each made three cards. So I pretty much spent the whole day designing and cutting to be ready for that. It was worth it though, we had a lot of fun - she is such a sweet person and her older daughter is also our main babysitter. They have stamped with me before, but all the other girls were first timers! She had specifically asked for a thank you card (which is this one), and we also did a Mother's Day and a Father's Day card - perfect timing!

This card uses Beate's Weekend Sketch Challenge sketch - WSC46. Here is the sketch:

What a fun sketch, don't you think?! I am really liking these longer cards lately - more room to design with and something fresh and different is always a good thing. I made my card 6.5" x 4" and I think that is the perfect size! Here are some close up pics of the swirly paper piercings on the right side of the card - I think they turned out pretty cute! Again, I wanted something a little different there and with this color combo, I liked the plain white in that area without any stamped images....but it was still too naked, so I came up with the piercing idea.

Finally Friday Favorites - 05/02/08

Did you all hear that WEEKEND WHISTLE?! We have another fairly busy one but I feel like I got some creativity back this week -- so fingers crossed for a little stampin' time for me! But I digress...it's Finally Friday - time for some favorites! I know I missed a couple weeks so there may be a few older projects in this post. We're back on track now though.

As always, in no particular order:

• Margarita card from Cathy Indelicato. What a great image, I'm digging the tall card, and Cathy is the master of the doodle border. I am absolutely green with envy over that last point.
• Cowboy In The Jungle from Leigh O'Brien. SHUT UP! This is so freakin' adorable I can't stand it. And who doesn't love leopard print?
• Appletini, Anyone? by Jen del Muro. Yes. Appletini ME.
• Black Tie Wedding by Mustang Sara. There's a bunch of cards in the post but my Favorite is the second one down, the wedding card. That Verve sketch was fabby, wasn't it? And I love B&W for weddings!
• Billy the Pirate by Frances Byrne. Billy NEEDS to live at my house. He's so cute!
• Oval Sketch Card by Jessica. Gorgeous!
• Cupcake Gift Set by Jody Morrow. Umm, Jody is SO getting an invite to the next party I have!
• Froggy Card from Ashley Bowen. Those frogs need to live at my house too. Love the simple layout and the pearls in the scallops look very cool.
• Baby Card by Heather Reppen. Love this layout, plus she picked perfect colors for a new baby card. AND, she used glitter - the way to my heart.
• Haute Couture by Danyelle Kessler. Gorgeous! Love everything about it - fabulous color combo and the way she did the dress and the main image BG - looks amazing!

There you have it! Amazing work and a King's Ransom is diamonds for your viewing pleasure. And look forward to ten new favorites next week!

Rose Colored Butterflies - TSSC11

Here's a card I had created during my April Guest Designer time at Clear Artistic Stamps. I am quite fond of this one, and I just love these colors together - always have. I have a few other CAS creations to post too, now that Belinda doesn't need them for featured items on her site! :-) It's May already so there is a new guest designer busy creating projects - go check it out!

This card used Technostamper Sketch Challenge #11 - and I actually made it when the sketch was current but of course had to hold it to be debuted on the CAS website. That was a fabulous sketch, I must say. If you haven't checked out MJ's blog before, I urge you to swing by sometime!

Instructions for this card:

First let's cut paper!! Cut regal rose cardstock to 5.5" x 8.5", score and fold for the card base. Pierce the upper and lower right corners of the front of the card using the paper piercing template. Cut five pieces of white cardstock to the following dimensions: one at 3" x 3.25" and four at 1.25" x 1.25". Cut Wild Wasabi prints designer paper to 3" x 2.75". Cut So Saffron cardstock to 4.5" x 1.75" and Rose Red to 4.25" x 1.5".

Now, stamp the butterfly from Nature in Word stamp set onto two of the small white squares. Stamp the sentiment on another. Color the butterflies with colored pencils and gamsol. Sponge brown and rose inks on the edges of the decorated squares and arrange the butterflies and the blank white square on the piece of Rose Red cardstock so there is an even border all around. Use dimensionals to adhere the sentiment panel in the center. Mount onto So Saffron cardstock and set aside.

Mount the Wild Wasabi prints designer paper onto the white panel and adhere to the card base. Arrange the pearls along the side. Use dimensionals to attach the main image panel. Viola!

Complete supply list. Stamps: Nature in Word stamp set from Clear Artistic Stamps. Paper: So Saffron, Rose Red, Regal Rose cardstock, Wild Wasabi prints designer paper, GP 110# white cardstock. Accessories: self-adhesive pearls, gamsol, prismacolor pencils, dimensionals, Palette Burnt Umber ink, sponges, paper piercer and template.

Firecracker Designers ENABLEMENT

Serious discount news to share from Firecracker Designs by Pamela! This is quoted directly from her Newsletter....

I know tomorrow is National Scrapbook Day.......BUT, since there is NO National Stampers Day (that I know of), I'm having an UN official National 'Rubber-Maid' Day.....to celebrate, you can take $5 off all orders over $15 -- use coupon code: TAKE5.

This SPECIAL starts at MIDNIGHT TONIGHT!! (Friday, May 2) and ends at midnight on Sunday (May 4th). ANDD, YES this offer IS good on the SALE items too!!

Tutorial Thursday - 05/01/08

Late again - I had a Mom's Night Out with the other moms from pre-school last night - we had a blast! I can't believe that the pre-school graduation is in 3 weeks. My boy is getting so big!

A few tutorials since I've missed a couple of weeks here. Great stuff to try!!

• Star Medallions from Julie Buhler. Julie is amazing! These elements would be a fantastic addition to any project!
• Making Glitter Embellishments from Card Positioning Systems. HELLO, it's got glitter on it!
• Purse Punch Tutorial from Lindsay Sasseville. Some people are too creative for their own good! These are adorable.

Have fun!