Catherine Pooler Designs Grand Opening - Blog Hop!

Today is the day we've all been waiting for.  The official grand opening of Catherine Pooler Designs online store, woohooo! The shop will open this afternoon and as promised will feature the many wonderful stamps and dies from the first four Stamp of Approval boxes:

Friendship Collection
Holiday Magic Collection
Young at Heart Collection
Beautiful World Collection

I'm so excited!! Some of my favorite stamp and die sets will now be available for individual purchase from
Catherine Pooler Designs!

Remember Eva's Favorite Flowers and those awesome Tag Buddies tags?

For this card I used the following supplies:
Stamps: Eva's Favorite Flowers (Stamp of Approval Friendship Collection/Winnie & Walter), Scenery: Holiday Trimmings (Stamp of Approval Holiday Magic Collection/Winnie & Walter), Enchanted Garden (Stamp of Approval Beautiful World Collection/Sugar Pea Designs), All About You (Stamp of Approval Beautiful World Collection/CAS-ual Fridays).  Ink: hollyhock, duckling, catkin (Simon Says Stamp), tuxedo black (Memento).  Paper: white 140 lb cardstock (Neenah).  Accessories:  Eva's Favorite Flowers dies (Winnie & Walter), Tag Buddies dies (Stamp of Approval Friendship Collection/CAS-ual Fridays), clear Wink of Stella glitter pen, twine, dimensional tape (3M).


It's hard to believe it's been a whole year since I first got my hands on Eva's Favorite Flowers!  I can't even tell you how many wonderful cards I've made with this set.  It's absolutely one of my favorite go-to stamps, and the coordinating dies are awesome!  Here I used the stem from the flower to diecut three horizontal slits along the bottom of my card front.  Then I just  tucked all kinds of flowers and branches in along with the medium tag from the Tag Buddies die set to create a nice, layered bunch of flowers.
(pssssst!!  That straight stem die can also be used on a panel  inside of your card to tuck in a gift card!!)

For this card I used the following supplies:
Stamps: Eva's Favorite Flowers (Stamp of Approval Friendship Collection/Winnie & Walter), Enchanted Garden (Stamp of Approval Beautiful World Collection/Sugar Pea Designs.  Ink: spring rain, melon, duckling (Simon Says Stamp), bright fern (The Ton), tuxedo black (Memento).  Paper: white 140 lb cardstock (Neenah), silver sparkle (My Favorite Things).  Accessories:  Eva's Favorite Flowers dies (Winnie & Walter), Tag Buddies dies (Stamp of Approval Friendship Collection/CAS-ual Fridays), Birthday Journal Card dies (Stamp of Approval Young at Heart Collection/Sugar Pea Designs), white Gellyroll pen, dimensional tape (3M).


Out of all the Stamp of Approval sets so far, I have to say that the Young at Heart Collection is my favorite.  The little crooky cake and balloons stole my heart.  They make birthday cards a breeze!  Here I used the adorable shaped balloon stamps from the  HB2U  stamp set to create some soft balloons for the background.  I drew the strings on using a fine point marker and a t-square ruler to keep them nice and straight, then tied them off with some hand drawn bows.

For this card I used the following supplies:
Stamps: HB2U (Stamp of Approval Young at Heart Collection/Sugar Pea Designs), Enchanted Garden (Stamp of Approval Beautiful World Collection/Sugar Pea Designs), Ink: lofty mint, rose quartz (The Ton), soft sky (Hero Arts Shadow Ink), onyx black (Versafine), pumice stone distress marker (Ranger).  Paper: fog (Simon Says Stamp), silver sparkle (My Favorite Things), white 140 lb cardstock (Neenah).  Accessories: Birthday Journal Card dies (Stamp of Approval Young at Heart Collection/Sugar Pea Designs), Tag Buddies dies (Stamp of Approval Friendship Collection/CAS-ual Fridays), clear sequins, twine, dimensional tape (3m).


And now....with much excitement for my fellow Stamp of Approval fans.....looky here!!
Catherine Pooler Designs is debuting this awesome Wonderful Wreath coordinating die set!!!  Now you can easily cut out your cute little birds, berries, pine cones and all the other adorable little accents for your Wonderful Wreaths.  The stamp sets won't be available for a while because they were in the last Stamp of Approval Box (Lovely Notes) but Catherine really wanted to get these out for her SOA peeps ASAP!

For this card I used the following supplies:

Stamps: Wonderful Wreath (Stamp of Approval Lovely Notes Collection/Catherine Pooler Designs), Bright Baubles (Stamp of Approval Holiday Magic Collection/Neat & Tangled), Ink: red royal, field greens (Hero Arts Shadow Ink), catkin (Simon Says Stamp), clear emboss (Versamark).  Paper: gold sparkle (My Favorite Things), white 140 lb cardstock (Neenah).  Accessories: Wonderful Wreath dies (Catherine Pooler Designs),  Scenery Pattern of Rings stencil (Stamp of Approval Friendship Collection/Winnie & Walter),  gold embossing powder (Ranger), sequins, twine, dimensional tape (3M).

These dies are awesome!!  I think it should be mandatory that all stamps come with coordinating dies don't you?  LOVE THESE!!

Remember, you can shop over at shop.CatherinePooler.com this afternoon.  If you'd like to receive an email to let you know the moment the store opens, just head on over and subscribe to Catherine's newsletter.  She'll notify you right away and will also send along some free tutorials, PDF's and crafty downloads just for being a subscriber.

Wait!!  Before you go.......Catherine is giving away a $25 gift certificate to three lucky commenters in this blog hop.  Leave a comment below and then hop off to check out these other designers today and leave your comments along the way for more chances to WIN!!  Comments close at noon on Thursday September 1st and Catherine will announce the winners soon after on her blog so you can shop 'til you drop!

Happy Hopping!

Catherine Pooler
Emily Leiphart
Maureen Merritt
Lisa Harrolle <---you are here
Kristie Goulet <---go here next!
Jessica Frost-Ballas
Ingrid Blackburn
Chaitali Narla
Laurel Beard
Amy Kolling
Heather North
Allison Cope
Kimberly Wiener

Update:  Congratulations Winners!!!

Terri Mansfield
Linda Anderson
April L Murray-Holkan

Head on over to Catherine Pooler's blog for more details on how to claim your prize!

Thanks to everyone for all of the wonderful comments.  I read all of them and deeply appreciate your kindness.

CAS-ual Fridays Challenge - Black/White/?

It's The Challenge time again over at CAS-ual Fridays!  This week we're working with black and white but you also get to add one favorite color of your choice.

For this card I used the following stamps and dies from CAS-ual Fridays:

Shenanigans                             Casual Trees                         Friendly Flowers
    

For the black and white on my card I cut strips of black and white cardstock and adhered them to the front of my card base.  Then I stamped and embossed the large birthday sentiments using the Shenanigans stamp set.  This is one of my favorite stamp sets because it's so large and the sentiments are so fun.  Perfect for my little sister Casey and all her Shenanigans!

For this card I also used the following supplies:
Ink: onyx black (Versafine), clear emboss (Versamark).
Paper: black, doll pink (Simon Says Stamp), white 140 lb cardstock (Neenah).
Accessories: clear sequins, white and clear embossing powders (WOW!),  dimensional tape (3M).

Adding some Friendly Flowers in a pop of doll pink really makes this card festive and fun!

I hope you'll play along with us for your chance to win!

All you have to do is make a card using black, white and one color of your choice then link it up over on the 

CAS-ual Fridays The Challenge blog by September 6th.----------->HERE<--------------

I can't wait to see what you come up with!

Calling All Sistah's Blog Hop

Hello and welcome to CAS-ual Friday's Calling All Sistahs blog hop!  We are supporting our sistahs everywhere and encouraging you all to "check yo self" every month as a preventative measure in the fight against breast cancer.

Today I'm using  this stamp set from the CAS-ual Fridays Calling All Sistahs line where 50% of the profits  will go to the National Breast Cancer Foundation, Inc. for research and medical help for our fellow sistahs affected by breast cancer.  Just click on the photo below and you'll be directed to these special products.

Calling All Sistahs  

 

For my card this month I embossed a background piece using CAS-ual Fridays Pretty Posies stamp set and white embossing powder.  Then I watercolored with various shades of pink Kuretake Clean Color Real Brush markers adding just a touch of color to each flower.  When a little color was randomly added to each petal I spritzed with water to watch all of the pink shades magically blend together for a beautiful watercolor affect.

I also used the following supplies:

Stamps: Pretty Posies (CAS-ual Fridays)

Ink: onyx black (Versafine), clear emboss (Versamark),  Kuretake Clean Color Real Brush Markers (ZIG).

Paper: black (Simon Says Stamp), white 140 lb cardstock (Neenah), watercolor 140 lb (Canson).

Accessories:  Cross Stitched Oval STAX (My Favorite Things), bakers twine, clear embossing powder and white embossing powder (WOW!), clear sequins.

If you're interested in taking part in next month's Calling All Sistah's Blog Hop we would love to have you!  Let's work together to remind our fellow sistahs to be diligent with their monthly breast self-exams and to schedule those yearly mammograms.  You can join our Calling All Sistahs Facebook group or email Heather at Sistahoodhop@outlook.com for more information on how your blog can be added to our list of stops on next month's hop.

My sistahs, thank you so much for hopping along with us today.  Please be sure to leave a comment at each stop along the way because CAS-ual Fridays will be generously giving away a $15 gift certificate to three people who comment. You have until  12:00 a.m. on August 19th to get your comments in for your chance to win!  

Happy hopping!

Casual Fridays Stamps 

Kara Stainbrook

Susan White

Nora Noll

Vicki Dutcher

Lori Kobular

Lydia Evans

Shona Chambers

Lisa Harrolle <----you are here

Kimberly Rendino <----next stop on the hop!

Lisa Lahiff

Penny Ward

Jennifer Ingle

Joanna Harty

Claire Apostoloff

Diane Jaquay

Rahmat Gouse

Jeanne Jachna

Gwendolyn Estrada 

Archana Bhurke

Sue Nagata

Bonnie Sharp

Heather North

A Ton of fun with this Honey Bears card set!

Hi everyone!  This last weekend I had some fun working on a little card set using the 

Honey Bear stamps and dies from The Ton.

I was able to incorporate some Copic coloring and some ink blending techniques with distress inks that made some sweet little scenes that kind of remind me of  a children's storybook.  I tried to keep the backgrounds light and dreamy and make each card cohesive so that they formed a coordinating set of four cards that I can gift to a friend.  While each card is different, you will see that there are many elements to each of these cards that bring them together as a set.

I'm not going to deny, these little bears completely stole my heart!

For this card I used the following supplies:

Stamps: Honey Bears, Haute Stripes (The Ton), Birthday Bears (My Favorite Things).

Ink: old paper, tumbled glass (Ranger Distress), bubblegum (Hero Arts Shadow Ink), tuxedo black (Memento).

Paper: silver sparkle cardstock (My Favorite Things), white 140 lb cardstock (Neenah).

Accessories: Honey Bears dies (The Ton), Scribble Clouds (Poppy Stamps), Copic markers, white Gellyroll pen, Glossy Accents (Ranger), fun foam.

On each card there is one small element coated in Glossy Accents to add a little shine.  On this one it's the balloons.

Another design element that makes this set cohesive is the addition of stamping or in this case stenciling along one side of each card.  There is also a card front that is popped up with fun foam.

For this card I used the following supplies:

Stamps: Honey Bears (The Ton).

Ink: tumbled glass, old paper (Ranger Distress), orange soda (Hero Arts Shadow Ink), tuxedo black (Memento).

Paper: white 140 lb carstock (Neenah).

Accessories:  Honey Bears dies (The Ton), Harlequin Stencil (My Favorite Things), Copic markers, Glossy Accents, Black Enamel Accents (Ranger), bakers twine, fun foam.

I can't believe how well these teeny, tiny honey bees diecut!  The Honey Bears coordinating dies to this set are awesome!

For the perfect bear in the woods theme on this card, I pulled out the Wild Cherry Blossoms stamp set by The Ton. To keep things soft and dreamy I stamped all of the leaves with Old Paper distress ink.  I don't usually stamp with distress ink but because these leaves were so small it worked well.

For this card I used the following supplies:

Stamps: Honey Bears, Wild Cherry Blossoms (The Ton), Birthday Bears, Split Diagonal BG (My Favorite Things).

Ink: found topaz (The Ton), tumbled glass, old paper (Ranger Distress), butterbar (Hero Arts Shadow Ink), tuxedo black (Memento).

Paper: white 140 lb cardstock (Neenah).

Accessories: Honey Bears dies (The Ton), Copic markers, Glossy Accents, black enamel accents (Ranger), clear Wink of Stella glitter pen, bakers twine, fun foam.

I colored this sweet little beehive and then added clear glitter from my Wink of Stella pen over the color.  Then I gave it a coat of Glossy Accents.  I just love how the glitter from the pen sparkles through the glossy top coat.

By the time I made my final card, my mojo was flying!  I went all out on this card and just couldn't stop myself.  I diecut a little balloon stencil to use so that I could get a soft, airy feel to them using distress ink.  I added the balloon strings and bows myself using a black soot distress pen and a t-square ruler for nice, thin straight lines.  It just looks like a party going on up in here!!

For this card I used the following supplies:
Stamps: Honey Bears, Haute Stripes (The Ton), Birthday Bears (My Favorite Things).
Ink: tumbled glass, old paper, spiced marmalade, picked raspberry, salty ocean (Ranger Distress), ultra pink (Hero Arts Shadow Ink), tuxedo black (Memento), clear emboss (Versamark).
Paper: black (Simon Says Stamp), white 140 lb cardstock (Neenah).
Accessories: Honey Bears dies (The Ton), Balloon dies (Lil' Inker Designs), Copic Markers, black soot marker (Ranger Distress), white embossing powder (WOW!), Glossy Accents (Ranger).

Such a cute bunch of bears!  The birthday cake and sentiment came from the Birthday Bears stamp set by (My Favorite Things).  I thought these two stamp sets coordinated so well together.  Perfect size!

Well, I did warn you all a couple postings ago that there would be Tons of bears being posted soon.  I hope you enjoyed them as much as I did.  My Copic coloring is still a work in progress but I've heard that practice makes perfect.......

Have an awesome week!!

CAS-ual Fridays Challenge - Time to Color

It's The Challenge time again over at CAS-ual Fridays!  This week it's time to get out those pencils.....markers....paints.....because it's Time To Color!

For this card I used the following stamps from CAS-ual Fridays:

Pretty Posies                 Wonderful Words

 

First I did some random embossing with white embossing powder, then I colored these images with my Kuretake Zig Clean Color Real Brush Markers.  I love using my Zigs to water color these Pretty Posies because for me it's so quick and easy to achieve the shading and depth needed.  I just put a little mark of two different colors on each flower petal.  No blending needed.  Just spritzing a little water onto the flowers instantly blends these colors perfectly.

For this card I also used the following supplies:
Ink: onyx black (Versafine), Kuretake Clean Color Real Brush Markers (ZIG), black soot distress stain spray (Ranger), clear emboss (Versamark).
Paper: white 140 lb cardstock (Neenah).
Accessories:  Stitched Mats Circles (Lil' Inker Designs), bakers twine, sequins, white embossing powder (WOW!), dimensional tape (3M).


To add some interest to the sentiment, I did a little spotlighting around it using a round circle die.  Then I popped up the circle with dimensional tape.

I hope you'll play along with us for your chance to win!

All you have to do is make a card that includes coloring and link it up over on the CAS-ual Fridays The Challenge blog by August 23rd.----------->HERE<--------------

I can't wait to see what you come up with!

Just a quick reminder ladies:  The CAS-ual Fridays Calling All Sistahs Blog Hop is coming up on Wednesday, August 17th.  I'll be joining in this month so stop on by and hop along.  It's your chance to win prizes and show your support to your fellow Sistahs!

A little Copic coloring to end the week.

Can you believe it's the first Friday in August already?  I hate, hate, hate the heat so lately I've been spending time indoors, out of the hot sun, working on my Copic coloring skills.  It's taking me a while to get use to coloring with Copics as I don't have a lot of patience.  It really slows down the card making process for me but I do love the end results so much.

Working on my shading I tend to stick with the easier images and to one color family.  Like these bears.  Here I'm just using three different shades of brown and learning to blend.  You'll probably be seeing a lot of little bears from me in the near future as I try out a few different blending techniques.

For this card I used the following supplies:

Stamps:  Birthday Bears (My Favorite Things).  

Ink: tuxedo black (Memento), Copic Markers.  

Paper: khaki, green apple (Simon Says Stamp), white 140 lb cardstock (Neenah).

Accessories:  Birthday Bears dies, Bold Greenery dies (My Favorite Things), Pieced Chevron Coverup die (Lil' Inker Designs).

After seeing Melissa Miller work with this awesome Penny Black stamp set I was dying to give it a try.  It's a big undertaking for someone new to Copics but I gave it my best shot.  She turned out so cute, I think my daughter is going to love her!  I did a little masking to add this faded stenciled background.  I love how the light pink grid pattern softened and grounded the image.

For this card I used the following supplies:

Stamps: Saying a Latte (Penny Black), Striped Background (My Favorite Things).

Ink: tuxedo black (Memento), spun sugar (Ranger Distress), Copic Markers.

Paper: black, lipstick red (Simon Says Stamp), white 140 lb cardstock (Neenah).

Accessories: Coffee Word die (The Ton), Grid stencil (My Favorite Things), Fun-Fetti dies (CAS-ual Fridays), Glossy Accents,  Wink of Stella clear glitter pen.

I put a shiny dimensional finish on her pink cup with a layer of glossy accents.

Thanks so much for stopping by.  Have a great weekend!

CAS-ual Fridays Challenge - Gift Tags

It's The Challenge time again over at CAS-ual Fridays!  This week we're being challenged use gift tags in our creations.

For my card I used these awesome stamps and dies from CAS-ual Fridays:

Tin Roof     Dream Then Do     Funky Square Tag    Fun-Fetti

            

I also used:

Ink: clear embossing (Versamark), Paper: black, green apple (Simon Says Stamp), gold foil, silver foil cardstock (My Favorite Things) white 140 lb cardstock (Neenah).  Accessories: Pierced Square Stax (My Favorite Things),  gold Deco Foil, Deco Foil adhesive pen, silver twine.

I hope you'll play along with us for your chance to win!

All you have to do is make a gift tag or a card featuring a gift tag and link it up over on the 

CAS-ual Fridays The Challenge blog by August 9th.----------->HERE<--------------

I can't wait to see what you come up with!

Have a great Day!

A little note to say......

It's Monday and I'm happy to say I did get a little bit of card making done over the weekend.  I used up some scraps on Saturday and then on Sunday I had a few hours to use a few stamps that I haven't really had a chance to use yet. It's shameful really, how many stamps don't get enough love from me. Maybe if there were just a few more hours in the day.......  

 I've had this Wonderful Wreath stamp set from Catherine Pooler's 

Stamp of Approval Lovely Notes Collection for over a month and haven't had a chance to use this awesome wreath yet.  I have used other cute little stamps from the set but the wreath is the main stamp and I totally neglected this beauty.  There is just no excuse for this behavior, I must change my ways.  ;)

  For this card I used the following supplies:

Stamps: Wonderful Wreath (Stamp of Approval Lovely Notes Collection), Pretty Posies (CAS-ual Fridays).  Ink: catkin (Simon Says Stamp), field greens, forever green, soft sand, cup o' joe (Hero Arts Shadow Inks), old paper (Ranger Distress Ink), onyx black (Versafine).  Paper:  lemon chiffon, khaki (Simon Says Stamp), white 140 lb cardstock (Neenah).  Accessories:  Silly Stitched dies (Lil' Inker Designs), All Prettied Up (Mama Elephant), sequins, twine.

I just love the look of layering this stamp with three different colors of green ink on top of a circle of Old Paper distress ink that I just brushed on with water.  You can see here it really gives the wreath a nice base layer.  With a little masking I was able to add the music notes inside the wreath.

I have seen so many beautiful cards being made using this wreath.  Check out the Lovely Notes Collection over on Pinterest and you'll see all kinds of amazing things being done with this stamp.  It's so versatile, for any season.

There is still time to grab a Stamp of Approval box.  The Lovely Notes Collection is almost sold out so hurry!.   These items won't be available individually for many months and I know this wreath would make some awesome Christmas cards......just sayin'.  Just head on over --->HERE<---- for more information on how to get yours!

Thanks for stopping by and have a great day!!

Scraptastic Saturday

Happy Saturday!  It's a rainy day here in the mid-west so I decided to hit my craft room to whip up a couple of cards just for fun.  No challenges, no tutorials, no special occasions.  Just working to the beat of my own drum today and so I decided to make it easy.   I pulled out the scrap bin! 

Now, my scrap bin is my catch all basket for all of the little things I stamp, color and diecut that doesn't make it onto my projects.  It's a collection of all the things that I take time creating and I feel would be wasteful if I were to throw it away.  One by one they get thrown into this bin and I tell myself  I'll use it on another project someday.  My niece loves this basket of goodies.  When she comes over one of her favorite things is to search through these treasures to make her own cards.  And now today is my "someday".   Time to go on a treasure hunt of my own.  

I also pulled  out a smaller basket where I keep my scrap card fronts.  I have a lot of technique pieces and stamped card fronts in this basket, just waiting for the perfect project.

Going through both baskets I pulled out these supplies.  A tone on tone card front that I made a while back using the negative pieces from a cover up die by Lil' Inker Designs.  I also had a lot of leftover flowers from my Stamp of Approval Lovely Notes release projects earlier this month.  Some of them are stamped a little off center so that is probably why they landed in the scrap bin but they are going to work great for this card.  The vase is actually cut from the Candy Jars Die-Namics set by My Favorite Things.  I probably set it aside because the coloring wasn't right for my last project.  But for this project it will be perfect.  I thought I'd double up the "thanks" dies to make this diecut a little thicker.

This card came together so quick and easy.  With all of the stamping and diecutting already done it took me less than 10 minutes to make.  Yes!

Sometimes it pays to be a hoarder.  Let's try it again......

Super quick and easy!  This time I grabbed a pre-cut and pre-stamped tag and used up a few more of those Lovely Notes flowers and little bird.

Thanks so much for stopping by!  Have a great weekend!