More birthday fun with the Stamp of Approval Young at Heart Collection!

Welcome back to day two of the new Stamp of Approval: Young at Heart Collection sneak peek.  We're in countdown mode with only three more days left until the release of this awesome box of goodies!  Wednesday, February 3rd is party time!!  Woohooo!

If you'd like to be notified the minute the Young at Heart Collection goes on sale, make sure to put your name and email on the notification list --->HERE<---  These collections sell out super fast and I wouldn't want you to miss out!

As I said on yesterday's blog post,  I am super impressed with the way the stamps and dies in this Young at Heart Collection coordinate so well.   Catherine Pooler has done an amazing job putting this box of goodies together. She has taken all the guess work out of trying to figure out what stamps will work with which dies.  Let me tell you, that is a huge plus for me.   I've had those times when I have purchased a die and get it home, only to struggle with which stamps will work with it.  I might use them once and then file them away out of frustration, until I can think of some other way to use it.  I guess that's why I'm such a huge fan of these Stamp of Approval boxes.  No guesswork involved, just open the box and start creating.  Even though the collection is a mix of different brands, everything flows together perfectly.

The card I made for today is a great example of that.  It has a mix of two different stamp sets and two of the die sets that are all included in the Young at Heart Collection.

Aren't these water colored balloons awesome?  I really love that there is a string die included in one of the die sets.  I popped up the balloons with dimensional tape and just let the diecut strings float above the card.

I added dimension to the "birthday" diecut by cutting it twice out of pink cardstock and then gluing them together.   

It really stands out next to the stamped sentiment doesn't it?

For this card I used the following supplies:

All stamps and dies from the Stamp of Approval Young at Heart Collection

Ink:  lime green, butterbar, ultra pink (Hero Arts Shadow Ink), onyx black (Versafine), picked rasperry, squeezed lemonade, cracked pistachio, crushed olive (Ranger Distress Ink), clear watermark (Versamark).

Paper:  doll pink (Simon Says Stamp), navajo (Bazzill), white 110 lb (Neenah), 140 lb watercolor (Canson)

Accessories: glitz embossing powder (Recollections), dimensional tape (3M), fun foam (unknown)

Well, that's it for my sneak peeks.  What do you think?  Leave me a comment and let me know how you're liking the new Stamp of Approval Young at Heart Collection so far?  Are you on the list and getting excited?  Do you have any questions?   I'd love to hear from you.

If you're looking for some more peeks into this box of goodies head on over to these designer's blogs today: 

Catherine Pooler,  Kristie Goulet, Maureen Merritt, & Nicole Picadura.

Then join Catherine Pooler over at her blog on Monday for day three featuring more awesome designers and their sneak peeks into the Stamp of Approval: Young at Heart Collection.

Oh yeah....one more very important reminder:  BLOG HOP on Tuesday, February 2nd!!  How in the world could I forget?   Come on back here Tuesday and leave a comment for a chance to WIN WIN WIN!!  Catherine Pooler has decided to pick not one, but TWO lucky winners for  a FREE Stamp of Approval Young at Heart Collection box!  That's right!!  I said it!! TWO WINNERS! All you have to do is hop along to each participating blog and leave a comment.  Every comment you leave will be an entry to WIN!  I'm so excited!!  Ya'll come back now y'hear!  ;)

A sneak peek into the Stamp of Approval Young at Heart Collection - COMING SOON!

It's almost here!!  We're only 4 days away from the release of the most anticipated 

Stamp of Approval Collection yet:  Young at Heart.

Thanks for stopping by.  I'm so excited to be able to give you a little sneak peek into this box of goodies.  I also want to go on record as saying that this, by far, is my absolute favorite Stamp of Approval Collection , and here's why..... 

Birthday cards have always been my favorite kind of cards to make.  Mainly because I can break out all the bright, cheerful colored cardstock and inks and just go to town!  Where there's a birthday there's a party and seriously, who doesn't love a party?  Cake, balloons, decorations, presents......and hello....birthday cards!!

When Catherine Pooler sent me this Young at Heart Collection I swear, it felt just like MY birthday!  LOL!  These stamps and dies are fantastic!   I honestly believe it is everything you'll ever need to create birthday cards for years to come.  There is such a great array of sentiment stamps that you can use for the outside AND for the inside of your cards.  And  I am just crazy about how all of the stamp sets flow together and coordinate so well.

For this card however, I focused on the dies.  Those fabulous dies!!  I'm a sucker for a good die set.  One that can be used in all different kinds of ways.  For this card, balloon strings turned into streamers and cake layers appear as birthday presents.

"Birthday Wishes" fit perfectly across the bottom of this scalloped rectangle.

Layers of diecuts add some dimension to the little packages and some lift to those pretty pink bows.

For this card I used the following supplies:

All stamps and dies from the Stamp of Approval Young at Heart Collection

Ink:  onyx black (Versafine)

Paper:  green apple, doll pink, black (Simon Says Stamp), white 140 lb cardstock (Neenah Exact)

Accessories:  Dimensional tape (3M) or fun foam (unknown)

This is such an exciting weekend!  Are you itching for some more?  Visit Catherine Pooler's blog to see some more awesome peeks at this collection.  Check out her fun videos using the Young at Heart Collection!  The Dream Team and guest designers will be posting sneak peeks all the way through Monday. Stop by and see what these awesome designers have created today:  Allison Cope, Heather North

And for goodness sake, don't miss that BLOG HOP on Tuesday, February 2nd!!  Awesome cards are in the works featuring more of  the Stamp of Approval: Young at Heart Collection and yes....a chance for you to WIN, WIN, WIN the whole kit and caboodle!! I'm in the BLOG HOP so be sure to check back here on Tuesday!!

The Stamp of Approval: Young at Heart Collection  is an exclusive collection of stamps, dies and stencil, hand picked and coordinated by Catherine Pooler that will go on sale Wednesday February 3rd.  If it's anything like the last two collections they are going to sell out super fast!  Are you on the email notification list yet?  If not please go --->HERE<--- to learn more and to sign up so that you can be notified.  If you are a StampNation member you will be notified first.  An hour after that everyone on the list will receive an email with order information.  Unfortunately there are limited quantities so keep your eyes peeled for that email Wednesday morning.  Once this collection is sold out, it's sold out.  These items won't be offered by these companies until later this year and then you'll have to purchase them all separately.  So don't miss out on this special one time offer.

Well, you all have a great day now!  Stop back tomorrow for day two of my SOA birthday sneak peek!!

How do I say Happy Birthday to my brother?

With a Steelers card and a Stamp of Approval sneak peek of course!  

My little brother has been a Steelers fan his whole life.  I can remember way back when I was just an artsy teen, painting football helmets on his bedroom wall.  I had no interest in football, I was just happy to be painting....anything.  One whole awesome wall of helmets with all of the team logos.  Now THAT was a fun project that I have no pictures of, LOL!  But he was such a sweet little boy.

Back in 2008 I made him a Steelers helmet cake for his Superbowl birthday party because........

This year I decided to try my hand at a Steelers card.  Theme cards are always fun for me so when I saw the the awesome Harleen stencil that comes in the new Stamp of Approval Young at Heart Collection my Steelers wheels started turning.  I used Zig Kuretake real brush watercolor markers to stencil on this colorful Harleen pattern for the background.  Then I used some Versamark and clear embossing powder to double stencil some clear diamonds and to add shine over the top of the colored diamonds.

I also used Versamark to stamp a helmet pattern on the stitched rectangle.  There are some great sneak peeks on this card for the new Stamp of Approval Young at Heart Collection.  Look closely, can you find them??

For this card I used the following supplies:
Stamps: Label Maker Sentiments and All Star (My Favorite Things)

Ink: onyx black (Versafine), clear watermark (Versamark)
Paper: Fog & Sunshine cardstock (Simon Says Stamp), white 110 lb (Neenah)
Accessories: Stitched Jumbo Fishtail Banner and Blueprints #15 dies (My Favorite Things), Stitched Mats: Circle dies (Lil' Inker Designs), stencil (Winnie & Walter/SOA Young at Heart collection), dies(Casual Fridays/SOA Young at Heart collection), dies(Sugar Pea Designs/SOA Young at Heart collection), Kuretake Clean Color Real Brush Markers; yellow, light gray, persian blue, carmine red. 1/2" circle punch (EK Success), dimensional tape (3M).

The new Stamp of Approval Young at Heart Collection is slated to go on sale February 3rd.  Make sure you get on the list for email notification --->HERE<---.  These boxes sell out quick so with this email you'll get a heads up on when the sale starts.  I don't want you to miss out on this fantastic box of goodies!

Be sure to check in with Catherine Pooler this weekend for three days of sneak peeks from the StampNation Dream Team and some awesome guest designers.  She also has some cards and videos up right now that showcase some of the Young at Heart Collection so head on over to her blog --->HERE<--- for some more SOA fun!.  I'll be back here on Saturday and Sunday with some sneak peeks too!  I'm so excited, this collection is just so much fun.  You're going to LOVE it!!

Speaking of LOVE.......I love you Jamie.  Happy Birthday lil' brother!  Steelers still rule!!  ;)

Stenciling up a storm over at StampNation!

January has just been an amazing month of inspiration and creativity over at StampNation.  I've been having so much fun with the new Technique Toolbox Creative Stenciling classes. Almost every day Catherine Pooler and her Dream Team have been posting videos and projects that have just been so inspiring.  I had honestly never realized how versatile stencils could be in my card making.  I'm totally enamored with them now.  I have learned everything from making my own backgrounds, glitter paper, how to emboss with a stencil and even how to make my own stencils.  It's just amazing how much you can do with a little five or six dollar stencil.  No more patterned paper for me.  I'll make my own, thank you very much!  ;)

Check out this beautiful background I made using a butterfly stencil and a little texture paste, distress ink and glitter.  What I'm most impressed with is how clean the lines are, even on the tiniest butterflies.  They really pop on this clean and simple card.  

And shhhhhhh........there's a sneak peek on this card from the new Stamp of Approval Young at Heart Collection too.  Can you guess what it is??  Are you on the notification list yet?  If not, stop on over and put your name on the list so you can be one of the first in line for this awesome collection of stamps and dies. It's due to be released the first week in February so check back because I'll be posting some sneak peaks.  You're gonna LOVE it!!

For this card I used the following supplies:

Stamps:  Stamp of Approval Young at Heart Collection

Ink:  coral crush (My Favorite Things), ripe persimmon (Ranger Distress Ink), onyx black (Versafine)

Paper:  white 140 lb cardstock (Neenah Exact)

Accessories:  transparent texture paste matte (Ranger), crystal fine glitter (Martha Stewart), Butterflies stencil (CC Designs), fun foam, b&w bakers twine (unknown)

If you're not a member of StampNation yet, this would be a great time to stop over and check out this awesome FREE stenciling class.  It's a great community of cardmakers and we'd love to have you join us in the fun.  Just follow this StampNation link for all the details.  See you there!!

Diamond Shaker Watercolor

For today's card I pulled out my distress markers for some watercolor "smooshing".  This is my favorite way to watercolor.  I seem to get the best affects when I use a clear cellophane sheet (some old packaging that my stamps come in).  I just scribble right onto the cellophane, spray a little water onto some watercolor paper and then flip the cellophane over onto the wet paper.  After "smooshing" it around for a bit I slowly raise the cellophane to reveal a beautiful blend of water and ink.  After it dries I sprinkle a few droplets of water and dab them up with a paper towel to create some lighter spots for depth.  And if you look real close you can see the subtle stenciling I did over the top with some sparkly glitz embossing powder and a new stencil from the next Stamp of Approval Collection.

For the shaker element I diecut the top layer from silver foil cardstock.  Then I cut four more diamonds from white cardstock.  I trimmed all of the inside area out of each white layer, just leaving the frame around the edge.  As you can see in the photo, I glued and stacked each white frame then added a layer of transparency film and finally the silver diecut on top.  I placed the beads and sequins in the area where I wanted the diamond then I just glued the diamond over them, adhering it right to the card front.

For this card I used the following supplies:

Stamps: Strictly Sentiments (WPlus9), Striped Background (My Favorite Things)

Ink: onyx black (Versafine), clear watermark (Versamark), abandoned coral, worn lipstick, tattered rose (Ranger Distress markers)

Paper:  white 140 lb cardstock (Neenah), white 140 lb watercolor (Canson), silver foil cardstock (Bazzill)

Accessories:  Girl's Best Friend Diamond die (Lil' Inker Designs), Harleen stencil (Winnie & Walter/Stamp of Approval Young at Heart collection), glitz embossing powder (Recollections), clear embossing powder (WOW), transparency sheet, clear sequins, clear beads, silver ribbon (unknown)

It's day #4 of the free stenciling classes going on over at StampNation.   Members are having a blast making and posting photos of their cards using the awesome stenciling techniques that they're learning.  Today Maureen Merritt is teaching us how to make our own stencils.  How awesome is that??  You still have plenty of time to catch these classes and participate for some awesome prizes.  Click on the photo below and it will take you over to the StampNation info page so you can learn how to get signed up today.  Then you can jump right in and play!   

Birthday Balloons - One to grow on.

I made this cute little card for my niece's little boy Kayden who turned 3.  I just love these adorable little balloon stamps.  They are easy to color with my Zig real brush markers and I can see them making their way onto quite a few of my kid cards in the future.  I made my own stencil for the clouds using a border stamp and blending technique with distress ink. I thought the big number 3 was a great way to personalize this card for Kayden.  It may have made a little more sense to use three balloons instead of four but we all need one to grow on right?  ;)

For this card I used the following supplies:

Stamps:  Best Birthday (Clearly Besotted), Diagonal Stripes Backround (My Favorite Things)

Ink:  salty ocean (Ranger Distress), onyx black (Versafine), clear watermark (Versamark)

Paper:  black cardstock (Simon Says Stamp), white 110 lb (Neenah)

Accessories:  Best Birthday dies (Clearly Besotted), Big Numbers dies (My Favorite Things), Border Builder dies (Lil' Inker Designs), fine white embossing powder (WOW), Zig Kuratake Real Brush markers.

StampNation is on day three of their awesome Creative Stenciling class that's free to all members.  Today I'm playing along as Catherine Pooler shows us more great techniques for stamping over stenciling.  Here's a little sneak peek of what's happening in class today.  Come on over and join in the fun.  All you have to do is sign up to be a member and you're in! For more information just follow this link --->HERE<---- or click on the picture below and it will take you right over to learn more about StampNation.  Hope to see you there!

Sweet Candy Shaker

Today I'm just playing with some eye candy and some Hero Art's pretty pink Bubblegum shadow ink.  I just love stripes in this color!  I used My Favorite Things Candy Jar die to make a shaker card so I could fill it up with some sparkly "sugar".

For this card I used the following supplies:

Stamps:  Candy Jar Companion set and Pinstripe Background (My Favorite Things).

Ink:  Bubblegum (Hero Arts Shadow Ink), onyx black (Versafine), clear embossing (Versamark)

Paper:  140lb white cardstock (Neenah), silver foil cardstock (unknown)

Accessories:  Candy Jars, Blueprints #15 dies (My Favoirite Things),  a sneak peek die (SOA/Young at Heart Collection), Baked With Love dies (Sizzix), clear embossing powder (wow), transparency film (Office Max), haze blue real brush marker  (Zig/Kuretake), bakers twine, sequins, beads (unknown).

The new free stenciling classes are underway over at StampNation and WOW!!  Talk about major inspiration!  Today Maureen Merritt is teaching us some awesome techniques on how to use those stencils for her famous clean and simple cards. It's so much fun, I've been making cards all day!!   Hurry and join StampNation today so you can play along too.  Just follow this link --->HERE<--- or click on the photo below for all the information you'll need to get started today!!

Special delivery and a free Creative Stenciling class.

It's not very often I get a chance to make a baby card so I was super excited to make one for my cousin Tiffany's baby shower over the weekend. I just recently ran across some wonderful stamp sets by Clearly Besotted that have really sweet, simple sentiments so of course I added them to my collection.  Now....I just need some more babies!

I used a striped border stamp to create the background on this card.  I wanted to keep it clean and simple with soft colors.  To add a little baby cuteness I used WPlus9's Unforgettable elephant stamps and how awesome that it fits perfectly in that little box die by Mama Elephant?!!

I added some dimension with some fun foam on the back of the stitched circle and a little 3M dimensional adhesive to lift the elephants head. To ground the box a little I scribbled a light gray Zig watercolor brush before adhering it.

For this card I used the following supplies from:

Stamps:  Special Delivery (Clearly Besotted), Unforgettable (WPlus9), Striped Background (My Favorite Things)

Ink:  Berrylicious Hybrid (My Favorite Things), onyx black (Versafine)

Paper:  white 140 lb cardstock (Neenah), kraft cardstock (unknkown)

Accessories: 1st Place Award Ribbon die (My Favorite Things), All Prettied Up die (Mama Elephant), Stitched Mats: Circles die (Lil' Inker Designs), distress markers (Ranger/Tim Holtz), light gray marker (Zig Kuretake Real Brush), clear sequins (unknown)

Just a reminder, today the new Creative Stenciling classes are starting up over at StampNation to celebrate our 5th birthday!!  These classes are FREE to all members!!   Woohoo!  Happy Birthday!!!  

Catherine Pooler and her team will be posting new videos every day for the next couple weeks, teaching some amazing techniques on how to use those stencils we all have in our stash. You can watch, learn, create and share your creations.  They also have some fun sponsors and prizes lined up!  If you're not a member yet you better hurry and get in on the birthday bash fun.  Just head on over to StampNation and sign up today!!  Seriously, you don't want to miss this!

Hope to see you there!!

  

This Year in Cards: Top 10 of 2015

After a long December hiatus, I hit the craft room  running this week.  There are tons of fun things happening over at StampNation this month of January as we're preparing for a big birthday celebration. StampNation is turning 5 years old on the 11th and that's cause to partay!!!    If you're not a member yet, this would be the perfect time to join in. This birthday bash is going to be exciting, challenging, motivating and just the inspiration a cardmaker needs to bounce back from all the Christmas card hubbub. I'll be posting some sneak peeks soon so be sure to check back.  You can also click -->HERE<-- for more information on what StampNation has to offer.  

I'm also excited to announce that Catherine Pooler and the design team are hard at work preparing for the big reveal of the 3rd Stamp of Approval box that is slated for release the last week in January.  Make sure you're on the list for email notification, so you can be one of the first to know when it's up for sale.  There are limited quantities and I wouldn't want you to miss out.  Click -->HERE<-- to find out how to get your name on the mailing list!

Now, as promised, here are my Top 10 cards of 2015.  This wasn't easy as I made almost 250 cards last year.  So instead of the impossible task of choosing my favorite cards, I decided to choose my top 10 favorite techniques used on my cards in 2015.  Here we go....

1.  Painting with water colors.

2. Layered diecut scenes.

3.  Watercoloring with Distress Ink.

4.  Using positive and negative diecuts.

5.  Using Distress markers to color images.

6.  Loading up with diecut flowers.

7.  Bokeh and altering stamped images. (2 for 1 on this card!)

8.  Shaker cards, shaker cards and MORE shaker cards!!!

9.  Distress inks over embossed images.

10.  Stenciling and using Kuretake real brush watercolors. (another bonus!)

There you go!  10 cards with a couple extra techniques thrown in for fun.  ;)  Happy new year everyone!  May 2016 be joyous, prosperous and your most creative year ever!!!

Saying goodbye to my friend....2015.

Hi everyone!  My bad!  I hope you don't mind that I took about a month off from my blog in order to focus on family and the holidays.  Well, I made it through and am finally getting back to some sense of normalcy.  Although, shhhhhh..... I must admit, my Christmas tree is still up and shining bright.  The thought of taking it down just makes me really sad.  I really enjoyed having it around this year and I think I'm going to miss it twinkling next to my desk while I'm working.

Now, even though I haven't said goodbye to my Christmas tree yet, I think it's time to quit procrastinating and say goodbye to this wonderful year

2015

  A year of fun and great memories.  New adventures and new opportunities.  New aspirations and new conquests.

My best friend in the whole world got married in May:

The love of my life took me soaring to new heights:

I turned the big 5-0in August and actually survived:

Shortly after that BIG day, I started my journey to better health by losing 40 lbs....and my husband set up this awesome home gym for me.

My BFF flew up on her broom for a visit in October!!  We got to see each other 2 times in one year....what a treat!!

October also brought me my first design team gig.  It was such an honor and dream of mine to be asked by Catherine Pooler, to guest design and then ultimately chosen to join the Dream Team over at StampNation.  I couldn't have dreamed of a more awesome and talented bunch of ladies to work with.  Check them out -->HERE<--  Along with being top notch designers for StampNation, they also have some fun blogs to follow. 

December brought a whirlwind of Holiday Magic at StampNation and in my kitchen.

Well that about wraps it up for me.  Time to take down that tree and get ready for a fun new year.  Thanks for letting me share 2015 with you and I hope you'll stick around for some more awesome cards and crafting fun in the coming year.  My next blog post will be a special This Year in Cards: Top 10.

Happy New Year!!