home from CHA

Hello again! I am home from CHA! What fun, what inspiration, what exhaustion! :) Working in the Spellbinders booth was a wonderful adventure. We got to meet so many amazing customers and show off all the fabulous new dies! AND Spellbinders took 3rd place in the Innovations showcase!! You should have seen Stacey’s beaming face! We of course had a great time, but what happens at CHA, stays at CHA! :) I will get to all the name dropping and people photo sharing tomorrow and maybe a few more products. Today, I will share with you some of my favorite finds.

Things I don’t have photos of, but LOVED!!

• Cosmo Cricket and 6x6 pads. Do I need to say more?
• Sassafras Lass with Wee Bundles, again yay!
• Nikki Sivils same thing. Her designs are fun and fresh!
• Fancy Pants, My Mind’s Eye, Pink Paislee, Crate=awesome!
• Love the new look that Darcie's is going with, check it out!! (I don't see it online yet)

Webster’s Pages has some gorgeous new lines coming out. The trims for this one are from their new line, Home for the Holidays. Vintage and modern all at the same time. I am also loving their new line, Nature’s Storybook. Gorgeous jewel tone colors that are once again updated for today.

American Crafts was new Thickers coming out. Love these Varsity letter looking ones. Be on the look out for SMALLER sized stickers. Can you say perfect for cards? :)

Yes, I really did hug this sign when I saw it. Nook and Pantry from Basic Grey is retro, 1940’s kitchen happiness. Love all the new doilies/circle look I am seeing.

DARLING paper from Crate. Isn’t that bumpy border wonderful? Would I dare cut it or would I horde it and just look at its loveliness? :)

More wonderful from Crate!! This makes me smile! :) Both are from the new line, Season. Bliss is just that too!

ADORABLE booth from Doodlebug. Check out the hot pink bar stools in the background! Sweet treats and candy motifs were prevalent.

Cherries and berries were another popular motif…this one coming from Hero Arts. Cuteness. Love the empty space in this image. I love this type of stamp. It gives you so many options. You could stamp and layer to your hearts content! Not to mention color or not.

That cute stamp is a new line of Stamps from Hero Arts, called Clings. There are several images that are a must-have!! They are also releasing a couple of large backgrounders that are WOWEE!

The release that knocked my socks off the farthest was Jenni Bowlin. Every inch of that booth was filled with oohs and aahs!! Here is a look at the new fall Bingo cards. They are coming 6 to a pack and the back to school versions are colored in darling primary colors!

Jenni Bowlin chipboard buttons….drool…

THIS will be coming home with me the second it becomes available. Red/yellow/green/brown seemed to be one of the most popular color combos at the show, but this line, Front Porch , has me head over heels!!! (Town Square is FAB too!!)

FLAMINGOS! Darling line, Pina Colada from Kaiser Craft.

Vintage was another popular look. Here is a shot of the Making Memories booth.

Tattered Angels booth was SO impressive. (and their booth was next to ours, so I could drool while working :)). WOW! WOW! WOW! That my friends, is a stamp. That butterfly is a big, beautiful, gorgeous, clear stamp!!!

Yes, that heart is a stamp and there are screens that coordinate with the stamps. At 6x6” you can use them for so many things!! The new Glimmer Mist colors are pretty amazing too. Some are in limited editions, so grab them while you can. Lots of possibilities that will be fun to play with!!

Hope you enjoyed a few of the peeks!! thanks for stopping by!

Check out THIS at The Scrap Review! :)

grow with love

Just playing around making cards (well, before I left, this is a scheduled post :)). Hope you are having a wonderful day and thanks for stopping by!

Supplies: Stamps-Papertrey Ink (Polka Dot Basics, Everyday Button Bits), Cardstock-Papertrey Ink (Kraft), Patterned paper-Papertrey Ink (Bitty Boxes), Ink-Palette (Reflection Blue, Dark Chocolate), Borders-Crate (Lillian Collection), Brad-Basic Grey (Lemonade), Spellbinders Die Templates (Blossom)

on my way to CHA....

As you are reading this, I am already in Orlando and setting up the Spellbinders booth for CHA! I will get a little time off here and there, so I will try and take photos to share with you when I return. I won't have any internet or computer access while I am gone, so if you email me, just give me until the weekend to respond. I am hoping to have a card or maybe two to share with you, as long as Blogger behaves! :) Have a marvelous week and thanks for stopping by!



Hey, check THIS out. Malt-O-Meal has a blog for moms. Kind of made me giggle! :) Its really nice that they liked my project, though! :)

A couple more things...I changed some items on my blog, to streamline it a little more.
If you are looking for links to other fabulous bloggers, there is now a link on the side, called Places of Inspiration. This will make adding names much easier. (sorry about the random email you all got Saturday...this is why :))
And I took away the post labels, because I added a search box. The box will allow you to type a word in and it will find all the posts in my blog related to that word. This is also on the right side.
thanks!

sending birthday wishes

You know how low my birthday card stash was, so I have been trying to make a point of making birthday cards once a week! :)

This card started with two things sitting on my desk, some new Crate paper I picked up called, Lillian, and a pile of transparencies I had stamped. Printed transparencies seem to be popping up all over the place. I love the look and thought, hey, I have some pretty cool stamps and I could make my own! I stamped the Damasks shown here, wood grain, cross hatched lines, and a few others. I used Palette ink, but it took over night to dry. I might try StazOn next time and see what the dry time is.

The rest of the card is pretty obvious. I am not sure about the bow yet. The pink was the color I wanted. I tried all sorts of ways to use the ribbon, but when I tied the bow, it landed on the card like that, so I went with it! :)

Have a fantastic weekend! We will be bringing the little man to my parents on Sunday because they will be watching him while I am at CHA. I cannot believe CHA is here already! YAY! thanks for stopping by!

Supplies:Stamps-Papertrey Ink (Damask Designs, Vintage Picnic Sentiments), Cardstock-Papertrey Ink (Stamper’s Select White), Patterned paper-Create (Lillian), Ink-Palette (Fresh Snow, Reflection Blue), Ribbon-American Crafts, Brad-Basic Grey (Lemonade), Acetate-Flourishes (Clearly Cardstock), Spellbinders Die Templates-Label Trio

JustRite and CPS

JustRite Stampers is sponsoring the team at Card Positioning Systems this week, so it seemed like a great time to play along. (not to mention all the new goodies I have to use, including the not-yet-available Labels 5 from Spellbinders :))
One thing I did want to mention was inks with the JustRite Stampers. I have long been a fan of the Colorbox Chalk ink pads from Clearsnap. Love the colors, the coverage, and the finished look that is so soft. I own all the Ques (the stacked up Cat's Eyes). The ink lasts quite a long time and I have a range of colors at my fingertips instantly. Plus, storage is much easier. Back to the JustRite Stampers, though. These inks work BEAUTIFULLYwith them! I didn't condition my stamps and you can see the crisp, clean images I got. Consider picking up a couple of them and giving them a try, you will be hooked. :)
thanks for stopping by!

Supplies:
Stamps-JustRite Stampers (Tiny Words)
Patterned paper-Basic Grey (June Bug)
Carstock-Neenah (Solar White)
Ink-Colorbox Chalk (Primary Que)
Spellbinders Die Templates-Labels 5, Classic Circles Large
Other: Butterfly from Char (Scenic Route Paper), Papertrey Ink Retro Background stamps, Button-Making Memories, Thread-Wright's

Flourishes Timeless Tuesday

“It is time for Flourishes Timeless Tuesday Challenge(FTTC25)! This week Cindy Haffner is our host. This week at Flourishes it is all about Shimmerz so Cindy is challenging us to get out our little pots of Shimmerz, shake them up, and use them on our cards. There are so many wonderful ways to use these little pots of shine to add just the perfect touches of shimmer to a card. As always, if you do not have any Shimmerz, yet, no problem. All we ask is that you add some shimmer and shine to your cards. We cannot wait to see what you create!!!”

To create the background on this card, I used Shimmerz Spray in Bamboo. LOVE IT! I have to admit, I was a little skeptical using it, but it sprayed perfectly and gave a nice, even coverage. It does curl your paper a bit, so spray it, let it dry, and press the cardstock under a heavy book.

I stamped the palm trees in Versamark Watermark ink and heat embossed them with a clear powder. Then I used pigment chalk ink and sponged it on the cardstock. Using a paper towel, I removed the excess ink and allowed the palm trees to show through. Then I sprayed the cardstock with the Shimmerz and again removed the color from the palm trees. The rest of the card is pretty basic, but I have to say I am thrilled that the card came out looking the way I imagined! :) That doesn’t happen often! :)

Make sure and check out the rest of the team; Betty Wright, Cindy Haffner, and Silke Ledlow.

I cannot believe that in one week I will be at CHA!! I am getting SO excited!! Have you been checking out all the sneak peeks? :) Have a terrific Tuesday and thanks for stopping by!

Supplies: Stamps-Flourishes (Beach Life), Cardstock-Papertrey Ink (Kraft, White), Brad-Basic Grey (Sultry), Twine-May Arts, Ink-Clearsnap (Colorbox Chalk Pumpkin Patch Que), Tsukineko (Versamark Watermark), Embossing Powder-Clear Detail Stampendous), Spellbinders Die Template (Labels 8 Available in early September)

Stampendous Fun Flock

Good Monday morning! Hope you had marvelous weekends!

I love play with Fun Flock, so when Stampendous asked me to do another tutorial with some new stamps and new colors, how could I resist? I will start with a little tutorial and then share several cards.

When I use Fun Flock, The Essential Glue Pad has always worked well for me. There is a little trick to it, so read on. It also cleans up easily with stamp cleaner. (clean the glue off as if it was ink, any cleaner will do)

When I am going to Fun Flock in a darker color, I stamp the image in ink similiar to the Fun Flock color I am going to use first. Using acrylic stamps makes this so much easier.

Once the colored ink has dried, push your stamp into the glue pad, just like it was ink. Line up the two images and stamp. Here is the little trick *let the glue dry for a minute or two*. Yep, let it just sit there. (remove the stamp though)

After a few minutes, be very liberal with your Fun Flock application. I poured almost the entire bottle over this ornament. Gently push the Fun Flock down onto the image and let it dry for several minutes. (get a soda or a treat while you wait :))

Here is the finished card. Fun Flock is wonderful for holiday cards and believe it or not, it is time to start thinking and planning for those! :) *wink*

For this card, I stamped the leaves on the bottom half of the card with glue and then applied the Fun Flock.

On this card, I stamped the entire butterfly image on the cardstock and another piece of cardstock. The second butterfly got stamped with glue and then Fun Flock was added. I cut out the butterfly and foam mounted it. (stamping it first, lets you “keep” the antennae :))

The background was stamped with glue and then Fun Flock was applied. The butterflies were stamped with watermark ink.

I hope you enjoyed the tutorial and the cards. Please feel free to email me with any questions you might have, I love to try and assist. Happy Fun Flocking! :)

Supplies: Stamps-Stampendous (Wild Blossoms, Happy Flowers, Butterfly Beauties , Damask Season and Damask Fall-available soon), Ink-Tsukineko (Versamark Watermark, Essential Glue Pad) Palette (Belle Rose, Chartreuse, Paris Lights, Ripe Avocado, Dark Chocolate), Stampendous Fun Flock (Chili Pepper Red, Chocolate Lotto, Lemonade Yellow, Pixie Pink ), Cardstock-Prism (Simply Smooth, Frosted Pink, Intense Pink, Frosted Teal, Intense Teal, Suede Brown Medium, Suede Brown Dark), Ribbon (Offray Striped, May Arts White Sheer, American Crafts Pink Striped, Papertrey Ink Pure Poppy Grosgrain), Button-Making Memories, Twine-May Arts

thanks for stopping by!

Thanks again to everyone who visited and left comments during the Spellbinders Blog Frenzy! In all the craziness, I left something out of my Book Tutorial post. My friend, Heidi Blankenship, was helping me finalize the project, as it still needed something. She was the one who came up with the brilliant idea to use a piece of ribbon as the bookmark! Heidi is so clever!! So thanks, Heidi!!

JustRite Week at Stamper’s Dream

If you are looking for my tutorial on the Spellbinders New Release (the book tutorial), just scroll down farther. Thanks! :)

It is JustRite week at Stamper’s Dream! Michelle has the newest JustRite Stampers in the store!

My grandma loves to give everyone homemade jam at Christmas. Some of the family doesn’t make their own, so they love getting it! When I saw the Preserves stamp set, I thought it would be great to make her cute labels that she could put on her jars to dress them up. I started with a new JustRite storage box. When I saw the drawer, I knew it would be the perfect place to store some small pieces of fabric, twine, buttons, and of course, labels.

Here is a closer look at the inside of the drawer. I kept the box top decorations attached to the ribbon, for easy removal.

To cover the jars, I stamped the Strawberries onto thin muslin with Palette ink. Now my grandma will have a place to keep all her jar pretties. But I am going to have to come over and do the decorating. :) I am sure that will be the part she likes about this the best! :)

And yes, I did make the jam in the jar. :) Told you it was going to be the week of seeing strawberries and eating them! I would share, if I could! :) Stop and check out these other JustRite projects today, Carolyn, Charmaine, and Michelle.

Supplies: Stamps-JustRite Stampers (Preserves), Flourishes (Strawberries), Storage Box-JustRite Stampers, Ink-Memento (Tuxedo Black) and Palette (L’Amour and New Leaf), Ribbon-Offray, Twine-May Arts, Button-Making Memories, Spellbinders Die Templates-Long Classic Rectangles Small, Long Scalloped Rectangles Small, Classic Circles Large, Classic Scalloped Circles Large, Cardstock-Neenah (Solar White), Papertrey Ink (Pure Poppy, New Leaf), Copics-R29, R59, B00, Y11, Y13, Y15, YG03, YG25, G07, W3, ABS-1

Have a wonderful weekend and thanks for stopping by!

Spellbinders New Release: Book Tutorial

Thank you! WOW! All the visits and all of your comments were amazing and so appreciated! There were visitors from 41 countries-WOW! Good luck to each and every one of you!

A little bit about the wood frame I made; where a photograph would be placed, I put a Crafty Secrets Cotton Scraps Santa Claus image. Isn’t it beautiful? It set the whole tone of the project. I added some decorative papers, die cut stars, gems, gold inked edges, and the book. The best thing about the book is, the beginning part of “T’was the Night Before Christmas” is stamped on the book pages. This would be a great decoration for a table top during the holidays.

Here is the tutorial on how to make the book, shown above:

Supplies: Spellbinders Die Templates-(Labels 7, Stars 5), Crafty Secret Cotton Scraps (Winter Homespun), Patterned paper-7gypsies (Crystal ), Chatterbox (Fine Tinsel Chocolate), My Mind’s Eye (Tiny Dancer Jazz Swirling Around), Cardstock-Papertrey Ink (Dark Chocolate), Ink-Clearsnap (Gold, Colorbox Chalk Creamy Brown, Chestnut Roan) Memento (Tuxedo Black), Gems-Hero Arts, Ribbon-Papertrey Ink (Pure Poppy Satin), Frame-Michael’s, Stamps-Art Warehouse

Have a marvelous weekend! thanks for stopping by!

ETA: The brilliant, super genius idea for the ribbon as the bookmark, came from my friend, Heidi Blankenship! She thought it would be the perfect final touch and I could not have agreed more! I should have listed that in my original post, but totally forgot! Sorry Heidi! :)