Shadow's Stamping Spot

Thinking of V

2011-03-19T12:33:00.004-05:00

So I have this friend, I'll call V. She's an amazing friend, mother, wife, sister, daughter. Just a pretty cool all around type of person.

With two exceptions.

She laughs at my pants and she picks on me about my blogging (or lack thereof)

So on the blogging piece of the pie, I guess she is right - I mean, it's been since August that I've posted anything. This fall was crazy for me and time just slips away. Blah, blah, blah, blah.

But on the pants piece of the pie - I think she's just jealous. You see, my dearest friend L came down from Kentucky to spend the weekend with me. We were planning her wedding (I'm the matron of honor! woohoo!) and just hanging out - so we went shopping and bought these cute pants. V didn't get to go - because she's in California. So she missed out on the shopping trip a lifetime. Which also means she didn't get to purchase any of these cool pants. Ever since she saw a picture of them, she's been ragging on me.... I guess I'm going to have to break down and buy her a pair to send to her.

But anyway - this post is dedicated to my friend V. I love her dearly - and now she can't give me grief about not having posted to my blog in 6 months.

August Hostess Club

2010-08-10T16:38:00.004-05:00

This month for hostess club, we're working on gift cards. You can never have enough of them hanging around!

Both gift card holders are quick and simple - just what we like. I think I whipped them out in 15 minutes each! And that included figuring out which papers I wanted to use!

This first gift card holder is from GinaK Designs and Stamp TV. She has great tutorials that are simple and easy to use!

I like this holder because you can fit any size card in it depending on how big you cut the opening in the center.

This used retired holiday designer series paper - but it's still one of my favorites. I never really thought of these roses as Christmas - more like spring roses. I guess you could use it either way depending on the stamp set you used on the outside.

For the second holder - I used a gift card holder a dear friend, Kelly K, gave me last year for my birthday. She filled it with a Sonic Gift Card - MY FAVORITE! I took the gift card apart carefully and was able to figure out her dimensions. This fabulous little holder is made with a 6x6 sheet of paper! Just using 2 sheets of designer paper and 1 sheet of 12x12 you can quickly whip up 4 of these beauties.

I hope the club has fun with these projects. I'm being a mean instructor and making them cut and score again this month. Wax on, wax off, right?

July Hostess Club

2010-07-14T14:53:00.004-05:00

New hostess club starts tomorrow. This time we're going to focus a bit more on techniques and how to use our tools.

This month in addition to becoming close friends with our paper cutters (bwahahahahaha) we're going to work on Black Magic and Chalkboard.

This first sample utilizes the chalkboard technique. Basically you stamp your image in white craft ink on black or other dark cardstock and then you pounce chalk over the image. In this example, I also added a bit of white gel pen to make it pop.

The black magic technique is very similar in that instead of chalk, you use watercolour pencils. We will make the same card twice - once using black magic and once using chalkboard so the participants can compare the two and see what they think.

To get inspiration for the card, I went to the colour challenge on SCS and then the Sketch Challenge. Whenever I don't know where to start, those are the best places to go looking.

I'm also going to mail this to my daughter who is away at camp this week. This will be her last card I send her. I've had the best time making and mailing cards each day. My craft room really has gotten a workout lately!

Enjoy!

SC286 CC277 Knobbly Gnome

2010-07-01T21:07:00.002-05:00

Working on unmounting all of my stamps... Wow - I have a ton of stuff!
Came across this old favorite, Knobbly Gnomes. Decided I had to make a card with it - but what to do? To get my mojo inspiration going - I checked out SCS's challenges.

This card uses the Sketch challenge 286 and then colour challenge 277, dusty durango, bermuda bay, and crushed curry. These all retired today. But - imagine this - I still had a good stash of each colour.

I paired them with Crumb cake - LOVE IT and naturals white. I watercoloured the little guy with markers and then added just a hint of highlight with my gel pen. All materials were Stampin' Up!

If you look carefully, you can see score lines around each of the panels. I got the Martha Stewart Scoreboard last week and am addicted to scoring now. Snagged it for $10 at Michael's. Great buy! I love how there are score marks 1/8" apart. Makes these new techniques so much fun and just adds that extra special touch!

I've been stamping and playing so much more now that my craft room is getting cleaned out - the extra space from unmounting all my wood sets has really allowed me to space things out and find them. Be on the lookout for lots more projects!
Hope you enjoy!

June 17th Stamp A Stack

2010-06-10T16:32:00.005-05:00

Summer is here - and so we have three cute summery projects to start off with! They all highlight the retiring SU colours. So many of the bold brights collection are being let go; it's a shame to let these cheery, fun colours go to waste!

The first project uses the new Tropical Party set found in the SU summer mini! Palm trees, flowers, and coconut drinks. Can you get any more summery than that? Choose your sentiment to make it a thinking of you, thank you or a birthday card! All materials used above courtesy of Stampin' Up! CS: Tempting turquoise, rose red, pumpkin pie, old olive and whisper white. DSP: Island Oasis. Ink: Versamark, old olive, pumpkin pie, tempting turquoise. Accessories: various SU markers.

Project number 2 features an oldie but a goodie SU stamp - Bodacious Bouquet. Insert your appropriate greeting on the inside to fit your occasion. This card does feature some cutting - so be sure to bring your scissors! Materials used include: CS: Yo-yo yellow, only orange, bashful blue, rose red, whisper white. DSP: Cutie pie. Ink: Rose red, green galore, only orange.

And the third project features a $1 spot at Michael's stamp set from Studio G. Beach umbrellas set the stage for this fun card. Materials use courtesy of SU. CS: Green galore, bashful blue, summer sun. DSP: Cutie Pie. Ink: Stazon. Accessories: Various SU markers. Punches: Modern Label, Tri-flower.

The stamp a stack will be on Thursday, June 17th from 10 to noon. You will make 3 each of all 3 cards (9 total). Cost is $15. Be sure to bring your favorite adhesive. RSVP by Tuesday, June 15th. Bring a friend and receive $5 off your class. Place a $40 order and receive a free pack of 8.5x11 card stock. Seating is limited to the first 12, so be sure to claim your spot today!

Special thanks to Kristi W for helping to design and prepare for the class! She's a rock star! Now if I could just hire her to write my blog posts! lol!

Attending:
1. Kristi W
2. Alicia M
3. Niti A
4. Niti A Friend
5. Angie M
6. Alicia M Friend
7. Emily L
8. Amanda M
9. Your name here
10. Your name here
11. Your name here
12. Your name here.

Summer Stamp A Stacks

2010-06-08T11:19:00.002-05:00

This summer I will be holding Stamp A Stacks! Some days we will be making cards to fill our stash. Some days we will be doing projects. There will be daytime and evening classes.

Our first one will be Thursday, June 17th from 9 am to noon.
10 cards for $15.
Seating is limited to the first 12 people.

You must pre-register and prepay. I will only cut for those that sign up - if you have to cancel, I will do your cards for you.

If you bring a friend that has never attended a class before, receive $5 off your class.

Samples of cards will be posted later this week. Sign up for which ones you'd like to do!

2010-01-11T12:49:00.004-06:00

The three projects we will be working on for Friday. You will make 3 of two designs and 4 of the third. Please let me know which design you would like 4.

Remember I need to receive your payment by Wednesday afternoon if you are planning on participating. Hope to see you on Friday! All supplies will be cut out and ready for you to put your cards together!

Card 1 - Celebrate
CS: Whisper White, Brilliant Blue, More Mustard, Rose Red, and Garden Green
Accesories: 1 1/4" circle punch, small star punch
Ink: Brillant Blue
Stamps: Celebrate

Card 2 - Thank you
CS: Taken with Teal, Green Galore, Confetti White, Polka Dots and Petals Designer Paper
Accesories: slit punch, Yo Yo Yellow Ribbon, aqua painter
Ink: Taken with Teal, Green Galore, Staz-On Black
Stamps: Doodle This, Warm Words

You can change the sentiment on this card very easily.

Card 3 - Chicken in
CS: Close to Cocoa, Very Vanilla, Rebecca Designer Paper
Accessories: 1 1/4" square punch, 1 3/8" square punch, aqua painter, water colour crayons
Ink: Staz-On Black
Stamps: Best of Cluck

This has an optional image to change sentiments. You can decide at the class which one you will use as the image panels are the same size.

(Special thanks to mudflapmomma and cambria)

New Year - New Goals

2010-01-10T17:40:00.002-06:00

I just realized it's been 8 months since I've posted anything - all the thought of posting my club projects on-line - I guess I just got side tracked.

Well, this year - new promises. I WILL be posting more often on this blog for y'all to enjoy!

Several of you have asked about having a day that we can make lots of cards. You don’t want to have to design or think up anything – just show up and make the cards.

So here’s a proposal for you. It’s called a Stamp a Stack. These last about 2 hours – sometimes more sometimes less. You would work at your own speed and can leave when your done (or stay and chat!)

You basically show up and you will make 10 cards for $15. It will be all precut for you – you will need to bring adhesive and purchase envelopes on your own (I would have some here to purchase if you want – but they would not be included in the $15)

These will be general purpose cards that you can make into a thank you or birthday or get well card simply by changing the saying you use. Sometimes we would make 5 cards of 2 different designs – sometimes we might make 2 cards of 5 different designs.

For the most part these would be basic designs, no special techniques except watercolouring.

Classes will be Friday mornings at 9.30; however, if I have enough interest, we can do a night/weekend class. There would be no ongoing time commitment – you would need to sign up a few days before the actual class. My goal is to have the sample cards on my website for you to see and you can make your decision then.

There would only be room for 8 people per session and you would need to pre-pay for your slot (which if you have to miss, I would make the cards and get them to you). I ask that you pre-pay because cutting 10 cards for 8 people takes a LOT of time and I don’t want to cut them out if nobody is going to be there.

Please let me know if you are interested. And feel free to forward this to anyone you know who may want to participate.

If you refer someone and you both participate, you would receive $5 off your class! If you order $30 or more the day of the Stamp a Stack, you would receive free pack of 8.5 x 11 paper (colour of your choice).

There has also been a request for scrapbooking class/club. I would need at least 6 people interested in doing either the class or the club – so let me know about that too.

First class will be Friday, January 15th at 9.30 - projects will be posted by tomorrow morning to enjoy!

Catalog Case

2009-04-25T13:28:00.010-05:00

After weeks (okay months) of ignoring my blog! I'm back!

I PROMISE I'm going to do better this time.

I'm starting a new club next month - with 12 - yes 12 members! So I'll be stamping a LOT more and will be publishing the projects we do each month.

I'm so excited to have the new club. What's really great about the club is that several of the members will be staying at our old school this fall. We're changing schools (yes, again) because of new zoning. They are in the process of building a new school right down the street from us and we'll be going there this fall. Even though it's just on the other side of the interstate, we were worried that we'd fall out of touch when our lives got busy. With the club at least monthly I get to see this great group of women and we'll be sure to keep in touch and keep together.

I've been working on the projects that we're going to do for our first meeting that will be in May. The hostess this month has a thing for ducks.

In the Occasions Spring Mini Catalog from Stampin Up is this fantastic set called Wagonful of Fun. It has the CUTEST little duck in it. So I of course grabbed the ducky up and decided to do something with it.

Confession - going months without stamping reeks havoc on your stamping mojo... So I cheated a little bit...

Wait - no, I didn't. I grabbed up the Stampin' Up! Idea Book and Catalog. So many times we think that this book is JUST a catalog. But it's not. There are hundreds of samples located in this book. We're SUPPOSED to use it for ideas and inspiration. We pay $15 for magazines and such at the book store all the time for ideas and inspiration - which is crazy when we have our IBC that we can get for FREE when you hostess a workshop.

So as I flipped through the pages, I saw a card on page 41 that I really liked. It utilized the Crazy for Cupcakes stamp set - but no worries. The images were simliar in size. I could EASILY substitute my duck for the cupcakes stand.

Well, as I looked at the supply list, I realized I didn't have the exact supplies - no worries. This is my world, I can substitute colours as easily as I can the images. The Idea Book and Catalog is just supposed to give me ideas. I can manipulate them how I like!

I started with Real Red CS for my base. I added a strip of More Mustard CS that I distressed using my distresser tool from the cutter kit. I grab this tool ALL the time. It was a gift from a secret sister a few years ago and I think of her every time I use it. Her nose should be itching because I use it a lot!

Behind that layer I put a strip of Chocolate Chip CS. I matched those two layers up with a strip of Old Olive Designer Series Paper - this is one of the areas that I deviated from the original card. The original card used Kiwi Kiss DP. I think Old Olive looks just fine.

I stamped the ducky in Black Staz-On on a piece of watercolour paper. I love using watercolour paper - it makes SUCH a difference in how your projects turn out. I actually stamped the ducky twice and cut out the wing and the bow of the 2nd image. After colouring them with my aquapainters and markers, I popped the wing up with dimensionals and then just added the bow with a mini glue dot. This really gave the ducky a lot of depth. I matted him on Chocolate Chip CS and cut around him. This helped the yellow ducky pop out against the More Mustard CS.

I finished off the card by stamping a sentiment in Chocolate Chip on the More Mustard CS.

Deets:
CS/Paper: Real Red, More Mustard, Chocolate Chip, Watercolour paper, Old Olive DSP.
Ink: Staz-On Black, Chocolate Chip
Accessories: Aquapainter, More Mustard, Pumpkin Pie, Old Olive Markers, Dimensional, Glue Dots, Cutter Kit
Stamp Sets: Wagonful of Fun

Warm Birthday Wishes

2009-02-09T07:00:00.000-06:00

So I have a friend who lives in the far artic north - well, Kentucky - but that's north enough for me. And with the weather they've been having up there lately, it's a pretty good description!

Her birthday is in 2 weeks, so I thought I'd send her some warm birthday wishes by the way of a summery birthday card - and what is more summery than seashells from the beach?!?

Again - I ran to SCS for inspiration - the sketch challenges are a great way to get your creative juices flowing. I had bought the Seaside set last year and was sooo upset to see it on the dormant list for the fall/winter - I was so afraid it would retire - but lo and behold! It came back in the spring/summer catty! yippee!

This set is a great set. It has a few smaller pieces that are perfect for cards - yet, it also has a few bigger pieces that would be great accents on scrapbook pages too.

I've been telling the lucky receiver she needs to move down here near me. When we lived in Kentucky, we saw each other every day. I miss our talks and our tennis matches. Our kids are best friends and Lord knows they miss each other too. But so far, no dice.

So, don't tell her, but I've included some sand in the card so when she opens it, it really will be just like she's down here with me at the beach! And this will probably be one time that I'll be glad I'm not close enough for her to reach out and touch me because when she gets the sand in her lap, she'll probably want to hit me! haha

Happy Happy Birthday, my dearest friend. I do miss you! I hope you enjoy your card!

Deets:

Stamps: Seaside

CS: Chocolate Chip, Bashful Blue, Bording Blue, Close to Cocoa

Ink: Stazon, Versamark

Accessories: Crafter's toolkit, dimensionals, aquapainter, markers

Crazy for Cupcakes

2009-02-07T13:51:00.007-06:00

I have a friend who LOVES cupcakes.... She's completely crazy for them. Bakes them all the time - almost to the point of neglecting her family. ;0)

Nadine at Stampin' in a Tropical Paradise is a wonderful, wonderful friend who makes me smile a lot. So I decided I HAD to have this set. Her birthday isn't any time soon - but whenever I see it I think of her. I also have two other friends - Victoria over at Eat Sleep Stamp Repeat and Helen at All Things Stampy at who have made some wonderful creations with this set. I couldn't resist it!

Since it came in yesterday - complete with the new SAB designer paper delicate dots - and I haven't been stamping much lately, I decided I would incorporate my goodies into a sketch challenge. Roxie over at SCS always has wonderful sketches that really get my stamping juices going.

I just went with Sketch Challenge 214 - the current sketch for this week.

The focal image was stamped in Staz-On on Whisper White cardstock and then coloured with my blender pens and markers. I never use my blender pens anymore and I decided that I was going to do so. They're great to colour with. I'll be pulling them out more often.

Along the edge were 3 old olive brads. I love using brads and I set them using my crafter's tool kit. That has been the best purchase I have made in a long time. There's a tool for everything in there.

The inside has a border from the coordinating wheel rolled in old olive across the bottom for an added touch.

I noticed after I took the picture that my layer under my cupcake was a bit crooked, so I recut it before it goes on it's merry way. Not sure who's birthday is coming up next...

Deets:
CS: Old Olive, Bashful blue, Whisper White, Delicate Dots
Stamps: Crazy for Cupcakes
Ink: Stazon black
Accessories: Markers, blender pens, old olive brads, crafter's tool kit.

Happy New Year!

2009-01-10T21:18:00.002-06:00

New Year - New Commitment to posting more often. It's been a while but I promise I'm going to try to do better.

I just completed a scrapbook that I'm going to send to my Daddy for his birthday - I've got pictures I'll upload to share with you over the next few days. I'm very excited about it - I think it turned out very cute. I hope he likes it.

For those Stampin Up! addicts out there - the retiring list is out! The new catalog starts January 19th. So if there are any sets on the retiring list, get them now while you still can!

Some of the retiring accessories are also up to 50% off! This inventory blowout special is HOT!

Also check out the new Love You Much Valentine's special! It's a very cute set with gorgeous papers and a matching punch! Now through January 31st, order this bundle for 20% off!

Wow - a lot happening! Seems like this new year has hit the ground running! Hope everyone is doing well! Happy Stamping to you all!

Happy Blessings

2008-09-23T15:55:00.002-05:00

So I just got the new set Happy Blessings from the Holiday Mini. LOVE it. I had Happy Fall Y'all and sold it several years ago. This was a GREAT replacement and I knew I had to have it the second I saw it. In fact it was the only mini set that I preordered.

I have been behind on my stamping, so I immediately went to the sketch challenges. It always gives me inspiration when I don't know what to stamp.

I broke into my stash of Fall Flowers DP that has retired. I love this paper. Real Rust and Old Olive are two of my favorite colours.

This was actually a very simple card. Nothing too fancy. The scarecrow was coloured with our fabulous watercolour crayons. One of my favorites.

Happy Birthday to DD2

2008-09-23T10:47:00.003-05:00

It's birthday time again. DD2 is having her party at the Putt Putt Funhouse in a couple of weeks.

So we HAD to have a putt-putt themed invitation. So out came one of my oldies but goodies - Sporting Goods. I was so disappointed when this set retired. It is so versatile. Stampin Up has broken the set into several different individual sets that have a few more pieces: Just Golf, Just Baseball, Just Basketball, Just Soccer, Just Hockey, Just Tennis, Just Football. But I still prefer the one versatile set right now until the girls decide on a sport and stick with it. Oh, well.

This was a simple stupid card (my favorite kind).

I printed out the deets to the party on naturals ivory cardstock and cut it down to a card front mat.

The main panel is Rose Red matted with Petals and Prints DP. That was a great paper in its days too - I'm finally using the last of it. sob.

Another panel of tempting turquoise matted another side of the Petals and Prints DP.

Finally I used the Golf Ball and Tee from Sporting Goods. Stamped it in Adirondack Pitch Black and coloured it using my copics.

See simple stupid. But DD2 loved it and that's all that matters.

She's back!

2008-09-23T08:22:00.003-05:00

Sorry for the lack of postings. I've been getting horse whipped lately because of it. But it's been a crazy few weeks.

DD1 had her birthday August 12.

School started the last week of August. Tons of PTA related things to do there. I'm the secretary, newsletter editor and webmaster. And the copier broke the first week of school too! ARGH!

Had a scare with Hurricane Gustav Labor Day weekend but he missed us thankfully!

Then it was DH's birthday.

Then DD1 had surgery on September 11 on her hand - scheduled surgery. But right after that it was Hurrican Ike.

HE was a direct hit. We evacuated to a friend's house in Georgetown and then we've been cleaning up since then.

WHEW! Jealous much!? haha!

Needless to say, not a ton of time for stamping. But I'm reconciling that now!

I'll have several things to post on my blog in the next few days.

Friends...

2008-08-06T14:10:00.002-05:00

My dear friend V over at Eat, Sleep, Stamp Repeat nominated me for a BFF award this week.

I am TOTALLY flattered and delighted! V is an awesome stamper and a darling friend. Considerate, compassionate, caring, creative, cind (yes, i know it's supposed to start with a K but i ran out of C words) that's my V.

So I feel totally unworthy, but I will play along a bit... The award comes with a few rules...

The Rules:
1. No more than 5 people allowed.
2. Four have to be dedicated followers of your blog.
3. One must be someone new or recently new to your blog and live in another part of the world.
4. You must link back to whomever awarded you.

While I do have issues with "rules"- I prefer "guidelines" - I'll try my best. Mainly i'm not sure i have four dedicated followers of my blog! lol!.

I wish to nominate my upline Beate who inspires me to be the best stamper I can be. I love her creative genius and her challenges inspire me to stamp. She really is the best upline a girl can have!

Next is my sideline Katy. Katy is an amazing stamper as well. I love getting to spend time with her when I visit San Antonio - which is never enough!

Third is Auntie Jenn - well, she's not really my aunt, but she's so supportive and I admire her talent and skills.

And even though I know the next two have been nominated already, I have to add them. Taylor and Helen are amazing friends. Their love and support in my stamping and personal life - I can't say enough about them.

Now ladies go forth and nominate for yourselves.
Be sure to copy the picture of the award onto your blog, link back to me and let those you've linked to know so they can feel super all day long.

Hugs!
E

First Communion

2008-07-24T01:00:00.000-05:00

This was my baby's First Communion - wait. Wasn's she JUST getting baptised the other day?

Wow! Time flies by way too fast!

This page uses a great stamp set from a fun company called Our Daily Bread Designs. They have some wonderful sets that are perfect for our special celebrations.

This page was the first time I ever used the Cricut. I was almost sure I would never use it again! trying to get the dots for the i's and the letters lined up... grrr. it took practice. but i finally got it. Now that i have the hang of it, I wonder how we ever lived without it!

Deets

CS: Creamy Caramel, Baroque Burgundy

Stamps: Our Daily Bread Designs

Ink: Stazon

Batter Up!

2008-07-23T01:00:00.001-05:00

My little one is my ball player. She played ball the whole time we were in Kentucky on a GREAT team. We missed sign-ups when we moved to Texas (plus we were taking the semester off just to figure out what we really wanted to do), so she didn't get to play.

She really really missed it, so when a flyer came home from school about a softball camp this summer, I immediately signed her up.

She was one of the youngest at the camp, but she had a great time.

The collage on the right hand side came from snapfish - i LOVE snapfish. That's where I get the majority of my pictures developed. I love how if I'm not in a big hurry, they can deliver them to me via mail or if I want them right now, i can run to the nearest Walgreens and they're ready for me there! Plus I can share my albums with friends without clogging up their email accounts.

The left side is another layout from Scrapbooks, Etc. i really like this magazine. It's one of my favorite scrapping magazines. Throughout the pages, there are tons of examples, and in the back is a pull-out page with sketches that you can follow. It has exact measurements that you can follow if you want to do it just like they show. I rarely use the exact measurements, but it's a perfect starting place.

After I took this picture, I remembered these cool baseball brads that I had. So where you see the stamped balls, there's now brad balls. Really makes the page pop.

This page also uses a retired set called sporting goods. I have so many retired sets. Just because I can't sell them anymore doesn't make them bad sets. I mostly buy what I love - unfortunately (or fortunately depending on how you look at it) I love a lot! You should see my stamp room! haha!

I ventured out on this page and actually wrote something besides the date and place. I never know what to say, so I keep it short and sweet.

Deets:

CS: Glorious green, basic black

Stamps: Sporting goods (retired)

Ink: Staz-on

Natural Bridges Caverns

2008-07-22T01:00:00.002-05:00

For my mother's day/birthday weekend, the girls took me to San Antonio! I love that town and all the fun things to do around there.

Well we spent one afternoon at the Natural Bridges Caverns. The have hundreds of year old bat poop down there! gross!!

There is no stamping on this layout, but i like the simplicity of it - UNTIL I noticed that the right side circle doesn't match teh left side circle.... GRRRR! I will probably redo that page one of these days, but for now, it's good.

One of the things I try to do for all my scrapbook pages is to have something in my handwriting on it - now I HATE my handwriting and prefer to use the computer. But I know looking back that my girls and those who these scrapbooks are really for will enjoy remembering my handwriting. So on this page, you get the date and the place. When you do scrapbooking of your own, be sure and remember that tip.

Deets:

CS: Old Olive, Not Quite Navy

Beautiful Girls

2008-07-21T01:00:00.003-05:00

This is the first post of a week long series of scrapping posts.

A good friend (thanks Laura) let me borrow her Cricut for a few weeks so that I could catch up on my scrapping. Well, I haven't done quite as much as I wanted, but I have made a great dent in the 2008 pages and I wanted to share some of them with you!

This first page I call Beautiful girls. The layout comes from Scrapbooks, etc magazine. It's a bit different than what I normally do. I'm not comfortable with white space and if there's only one or two pictures on a page, I want them to fill the page. So although I was a bit uneasy while cropping my photos, I ended up really liking this page. However, i'm not sure i'll EVER cut out that many individual flowers again! YIKES!

The two blondes are my daughters. The brunette is one of my dear friend's little girl. The three of them were always together when we lived in Kentucky. They might have well been 3 sisters. It was hard on all of them when we moved. But luckily, we were able to spend spring break together - right when the Texas bluebonnets were blooming!

Deets:

CS: Old Olive, Flowers for You DP, Regal Rose

Stamps: Bud Basics (retired)

Ink: Lovely Lilac, Old Olive, Tempting Turquoise, Regal Rose

Accessories: Cricut

Watching Dolly

2008-07-20T19:32:00.002-05:00

and i'm not talking about Parton either...

TS Dolly is east of Cozumel headed towards the Texas/Mexican border. If she stays on her projected path, we should be fine. But I'll keep you updated on our safety.

Hugs!

Shadow's Stamping Spot

2008-07-20T15:04:00.005-05:00

So as more people are finding out about my blog, I'm getting lots of sweet comments and suggestions as to how to make it better.

A dear KY friend, reminded me that since this IS Shadow's Stamping Spot that there needed to be a picture of Shadow on the blog...

So I've uploaded him to my avatar, but I wanted a post entirely for him.

Shadow is my 10 month old black lab. Sheri, my friend who made the suggestion of putting his picture on here, is partially responsible for him coming into my life. Okay, okay. I won't blame Sheri - I'll blame her husband. :0)

Every other year the school we attended in Kentucky has an auction. This past fall was the year. My husband left the morning of the auction on his way to Texas to start his new job. The girls and I were to follow along at Christmas break. I had worked the last auction; and since we were moving, I decided I would support the school by purchasing a ticket for the dinner.

The LAST thing my husband said to me as he left for Texas was, I don't care what you buy at the auction - don't come home with the dog.... Now, I've had several animals and my husband likes dogs. He was planning on getting me one for a Christmas present after we got moved in and settled down. Every auction one of the local kennels donates a lab pup. They are awesomely smart, sweet dogs and the one that was donated this past year seemed to be no exception. He was carried all over the place and snuggled and slept. The loud noise didn't bother him at all. But Bill (my husband) didn't want the stress of me dealing with a puppy in the middle of a cross-country move.

Well, flashing sign here - sucker sucker sucker. Yep. I'm a sucker for a dog. So of course, I was all up in the pup's business. Loving on him and snuggling with him throughout the night.

Well, the past 4 or 5 auctions, the puppy has been one of the high dollar items. So I had no notion that I would ever win him because I wasn't going to bid anywhere near the past going prices (the last auction pup went for over 3 times what this year's went for) But I thought it would be fun to bid on something - better than a dinner party I wasnt going to be around to attend... So I bid. Well, unbeknownst to me, word got out that I wanted the dog, we were moving, let me have the dog.... And Sheri's husband, Scott, was a runner at the auction. He became my "personal" runner and was "helping" me bid.... Next thing I know, all the "regular" bidders dropped out and I was high bidder. He says he had nothing to do with it but I'm still not real sure about that.

So thanks to Scott I came home that night with Shadow. Of course, how do I tell Bill??? Well, I was working on that when my darling 7yo just blurted it out the next morning on the phone with her daddy - there are NO secrets when she's around... lol!

So Shadow is now the 5th member of our family. He is the most awesome pup and is probably the smartest dog I've ever had. (though he thinks he's a cat sometimes). He pottied trained himself before we ever moved to Texas. He loves to play fetch and snuggle closely. We go on walks and romp in the floor. He loves the beach and playing in the surf.

I'm so thankful that he's a part of my life. He reminds me of all the good friends that we still have in Kentucky.

Feliz Cumpleanos

2008-07-19T14:53:00.002-05:00

So I've added another phrase to my Spanish reportoire. In addition to saying Gracias and Dos Cervases Por Favor, I can now say Feliz Cumpleanos!

This card is made with the new Wow Flowers/Flores LLamativas set that we could preorder.

Why did I choose the Spanish version though I don't speak Spanish?? Well, I DO live in Houston and a lot of my friends are Hispanic. I thought it woudl be nice to be able to send them a Spanish card! And then maybe they'd be so excited that I'd get a Cervases! HAHA!

Plus I have so many flower sets, that I decided to do something different.

This card was SOOO easy to make - and fun too. I didn't preorder the new card kits that we could get - BIG mistake because i love the colours they have together. So I made my own card kit and will put it on my next order!

I used the cutter kit to rough up the edges of the stripe. Have I mentioned how much I love that little tool? It's perfect for so many little tasks. I've tried the fingernail trick... But seeing i have no fingernails, this is so much better. PLUS it has the scorer and the perforator tool with it. I'm never far without it!

Deets:

CS: Perfect Plum, Rose Red, Old Olive, More Mustard

Ink: same

Accessories: Cutter kit, paper piercer

sweet spring

2008-07-19T11:42:00.004-05:00

Oops. Sorry for not posting this past week. Things were a bit crazy around here.

But I hope this card makes up for it.

I utilized this week's sketch challenge and again gravitated to my new pretties!

I just love Serene Spring. It is definitely on a favorites list.

I had a little oopsie with this card... the purple from the butterfly ran into the sky. so there's a bit of a pinkish cast around him. oops.

I tried to challenge myself to only use new stuff. I ended up pulling two old colors for the butterfly though all the rest is new new new!

Deets:

CS: Kiwi Kiss, Riding Hood Red, Watercolour, Bella Rose

Ink: Kiwi Kiss, Baja Blue, Pacific Point, Tangerine Tango, Lovely Lilac, Almost Amethyst, Pink Piroette. Stazon

Girls Day

2008-07-14T22:24:00.003-05:00

So my girls and I spent a fabulous day at a waterpark. Not just any waterpark mind you, but one of the best in the country. Schlitterbahn!

We used to go to the one in New Braunsfels every summer; but now that we're so close to the one in Galveston, we'll just start going there. The New Braunfels' one is better - mostly because we have to go by the Shiner brewery on the way! But I did like the Galveston one.

We rode ALL the rides. DD2 is FINALLY tall enough! Woohoo! She's my little daredevil and it stunk to be so short these past few summers. We even did the Boogie Bahn. I think I threw out my shoulder from trying some tricks. I'm not as young as I used to be....

Cheers to You

2008-07-13T11:16:00.002-05:00

I have this friend across the big pond who is a FABULOUSO stamper. She's so inspiring. Helen at All Things Stampy did a precious lunch tin with some great cards that I had to shamlessly CASE.

Another friend, Taylor over at Musings of an Addict challenged us to try a suspension card.

So I combined the two and came up with this card!

The suspension cards are so much fun to make! And relatively easy peasy. I'll do another one soon, I'm sure!

Deets:
CS: Bashful blue, purely pomgranate, Certainly Celery, So Saffron, Watercolour
Stamps: Cheers to you
Ink: Certainly Celery, Staz-on, markers
Accessories: Crystal effects, aquapainter, crafter's tool kit and cutting blade.

All cracked up

2008-07-12T15:53:00.004-05:00

So some friends and I have started a weekly challenge to each other to help keep our mojo alive and kicking. This is in addition to the regular SCS challenges that we sometimes do.

This week it was my turn to choose the challenge. I had never done cracked glass and thought it might be fun.

It wasn't too bad. A little messy - I had clear embossing powder all over me by the time I was finished - oops. But i'll definitely do this one again!

This card uses the new Serene Spring hostess set from the Fall/Winter Catalog and all new In-Colours! I think Kiwi Kiss is going to replace Old Olive for me. I'm just loving it!

I really liked the sketch that I used early for my Dream Du Jour card , so I thought I'd use it again; this time flipped!

Deets:

CS: Riding Hood Red, Kiwi Kiss, Watercolour, Bella Rose DP

Ink: Staz-on, Versamark, various markers.

Accessories: Aquapainter, Clear Embossing Powder, Heat gun, brads, crafter's tool kit.

dreaming new dreams

2008-07-11T18:00:00.000-05:00

Another challenge card with new rubbah!

This card used sketch challenge 183 and colour challenge 173.

I almost had a duck when I went looking for pomegranate paper and thought I was out. i will so miss it when it retires. i may have to stock up on this colour.

this card also uses cutie pie designer paper. It's one of my favourites sa well.

i did a bit of piecing along the bottom edge of the pomegranate piece. I think that finished it off, but rarely think to do it. As i was sponging the edges, I put my hand in the pom and then smudged the DP. oops! so i popped up the little butterfly over that spot. What did Bob Ross say, there are no mistakes only happy accidents.

Hope you enjoy!

V's colour challenge

2008-07-11T06:00:00.002-05:00

I must be the only one around that can't stand soft sky...

I never did fall for that colour. But my friend V was trying to come up with a colour scheme and mentioned using it with two of my favorites (basic grey and sage shadow) and I AM on a challenge kick, so I said, what the heck!

My embrace life set has been sorely neglected, so I grabbed that. I wanted something simple and I like how this set does that.

It's not the best picture - rainy and overcast today - but the flowers were both watercoloured and then hte edges sponged - with **gag** soft sky.

It turned out better than I thought it would. But i will say, there will be no mad rush to buy soft sky before it retires in a few days.

New stuff

2008-07-10T15:19:00.003-05:00

still using my goodies. I love the flowing words. I have all the wonderful words sets - they so rock! i'm excited about adding this one to my collection. This set is one of the sneak peek sets that will be in the Fall/Winter '08 Catalog.

I love new rubbah!

Pretty Polka Dot Party

2008-07-10T06:00:00.003-05:00

So after waiting 5 days after I got my new goodies (except for my backordered Spanish Wow Flower which is due on Friday), I FINALLY got around to playing with my new stuff.

Should I mention how FABULOUS the Pacific Point and Riding Hood Red are?

And the Bella Rose, DP? To die for!

Here's my first card with this precious little bunny. I didn't really get why they put a Springy Bunny in with the Fall Collection but I'm so excited that they did. He is the cutest thing!

He was stamped in Staz-on on watercolour paper and then coloured in with my aquapainters and all the new colors. I stamped his head again, coloured him and then popped it up on a dimensional. There's also a rhinestone on the flower. I guess i should mention that everything is from Stampin' Up! except for the rhinestone.

Sorry for the poor photo. The lighting was bad tonight.

I used my word window punch to round the corner of the sentiment. Used the old trick of extending it out the back. and secured it with a brad.

I love all the polka dots in the Bella Rose DP. The layout was from an older sketch challenge of my super sweet upline - Beate Johns. It's WSC15 from August '07. You can see more of the cards using this layout here on Splitcoast Stampers.

Wow! I go forever without uploading anything and then two posts bam bam! Whatever has gotten into me?! Enjoy!

Inspired by T.

2008-07-09T18:18:00.007-05:00

So I finally got to stamping today. I got my preview order in this weekend and have had friends over so I couldn't play - wah! Then I ended up with a horrid migraine.

Today I'm still not 100% BUT I HAD to stamp! Of course, no mojo around to be found anywhere! I guess I used it up when I went on the scrapping spree (that had little to NO stamping on the pages)

To the challenge section I go. Always a great place for inspiration. Because I'm a huge CASE'R, I feel that by doing challenges, I'm able to "cheat" but still get some original ideas out. These challenges really help me out.

I decided I'd go with the color challenge of barely banana, groovy guava, and chocolate chip. Confessions - I can't stand groovy guava and I'm not a big fan of barely banana. But i LOVE chocolate chip, so I figured I could go there.

I wanted to use a new set to me (even though it is on the dormant list now) Seaside. I spent half the weekend at the beach with my friends so I was in a shell-type mood.

When looking for a layout - well, heck I was already at the challenges, so i decided I might as well use the current sketch challenge too, SC184.

And I had it all planned out. Watercoloured my shells - they looked perfect. UNTIL I decided to put it all together. My main focal image was TOO BIG! grrrrrr. So back to the drawing board I went.

I still ended up using the sketch but i don't like my card as much as I did before I put it all together.

So as I was telling my bestest imaginary friends that I stamped today - one of them - no names (cough cough T, cough cough) made this smart arsed remark about me uploading it somewhere... and implied that I needed to finally get something on my blog.

Well, since she was one of the main inspirations for me starting the blog, I'm posting it here first, in her honor. It's not worthy of her talents, but it's a start.

You probably want the deets...

So here they are:
CS: Barely Banana, Watercolour, Chocolate Chip
Ink: Stazon Black, Barely Banana, Groovy Guava, Chocolate Chip
Afternoon Tea Designer Paper, Brads, sponge, Crafter's Tool kit, dimensionals

Don't know if you can tell it or not, but the main image is stamped twice and raised onto a dimensional.

Belive it or not i'm back

2008-06-19T15:51:00.003-05:00

so i start a blog... and i disappear.

oopsie.

well, i'm back.

we made the move to texas - woohoo!!

and i've been doing a good bit of scrapping lately.

i'll get my stuff together and post soon!

remember it's that peer pressure thing! lol!

Peer Pressure

2007-12-02T13:04:00.000-06:00

Peer pressure. It's an amazing thing.

Everyone is doing it. So I might as well do it too!

Blog that is! All the cool kids on my block have a blog, so I thought I'd break down and start one myself!

So welcome to my spot! I hope you enjoy it!

I love to make cards and gifts and scrapbooks. I'm a Stampin Up Demonstrator which has allowed me to share this passion with my friends. I'm in the process of moving from Kentucky to Texas (yeehaw!) I hope to use this blog to keep in touch with all my old friends so that they can continue with me our love of stamping!

So sit back and enjoy the show!