Hi everyone,

Sorry I have been so quiet lately. I can’t get myself to stamp when the kids are home. I am having a great time with them. We watched Twilight on Tuesday (AWESOME!!!) and yesterday we baked Christmas cookies and played Uno Attack. Good times, good times!

I wish you all a Happy Thanksgiving!!!!!

Rick asked me to post this on my blog for you to read:

Dear Card Ladies,

Over the last year I have received thousands of beautiful cards for the Airman/Sailors/Soldiers/Marines out here in the Middle East–THANK YOU!  The cards you made and mailed, at great expense, were much appreciated and brought joy to family and friends back home.  I can’t tell you how many people asked me to thank you for the cards.  The men were especially thankful as we have an aversion to writing letters.  The cards enabled us to put a few words down to our loved ones instead of an impersonal email.  I would also like to thank you for helping keep my wife Beate’s spirits high while I was deployed…it was like having an extended family all over the world.

As I get ready to redeploy I have asked one of my Airman to take the reigns as “Cardman”.  MSgt Dimitrios Xadzipulos a.k.a “X”, is ready and willing to assume the awesome responsibilities that come with the title “Cardman”.  You can start sending all cards to him effective immediately at the following address:

Dimitrios Xadzipulos

AFFOR/AUAB/CAOC/A63A

APO, AE 09309

Thanks again and may God Bless America.

Very Respectfully,

Lt Col Rick “Rico” Johns

Somewhere in the Middle East

bic33-marthastewart.jpg 

Use the colors or the pattern from a photo from Martha Stewarts’ site….anything that will inspire you to create your card.

I can’t wait to see what you come up with.

Unfortunately I don’t have a sample for you. I was busy yesterday and didn’t get to it. This morning I woke up with a Migraine, so I took pills and went back to sleep. It’s better now, but I am on my way out for my walk. Then at 11 a.m. it’s finally Twilight time for me. I hope to get to stamp this afternoon.

Check out the cards made by the Inspiration Challenge Team:

Charmaine Ikach

Danielle Lounds

Dawn McVey

Jennifer Buck

Silke Ledlow

Susan Roberts

If you upload your image to your splitcoast gallery, don’t forget to add BIC33 in the keyword section. That way your card will appear in this search: SCS Submissions

THIS will be the last challenge posted until we start up again on the 02nd of January with a new sketch challenge. I hope you have a wonderful Holiday Season!

Hugs and smiles

rakjuleetilman.jpg

Check out this gorgeous card that Julee Tilman sent me.

I am sure you all know and love Julee’s blog, but just in case you haven’t been to Poetic Artistry yet, make sure you go and check it out.

Hugs and smiles

I am done reading the Twilight series. I should say I finished reading the fourth book. I am seriously tempted to just read them again, slower this time. I am so going to the movie next week. I hope that if I wait until Tuesday, the theater won’t be too full anymore.

floressuaveswsc66artichokeb.jpg

So now that the reading is done, I could concentrate on making a sample for yesterday’s challenge.

My card base is a 4 1/4″ x 11″ piece of Basic Black cardstock folded in half.

 The first layer is a 4″ x 5 1/4″ piece of Juntos Designer paper. You can find it in the Celebrando Creatividad flyer.  The two left corners were punched with the ticket corner punch and the edges of the paper was distressed with a sanding block.

The next layers is a 3″ x 3 3/4″ piece of designer paper, again from the Juntos paper pack. Three edges were paper pierced and the edges were sanded. Three 1/4″ black circles were taped to the lower left side and were topped with silver brads.

The 2 1/2″ x 3 3/8″ piece of Shimmery White cardstock was firs stamped with the background script from Flores Suaves in More Mustard. The edges were sponged first with More Mustard, then with Really Rust. The tulip from the same set was stamped over the cardstock with Really Rust. It was layered on a 1/4″ bigger piece of Basic Black cardstock. The bottom edge was punched with the Scallop Edge Punch.

The edges of the Shimmery White cardstock were paper pierced and Polka Dotted May Arts ribbon was tied around the lower half of both layers. On the top right I added a double photo corner. The bigger corner is a sponged Really Rust cardstock corner, the smaller one was punched out of Basic Black cardstock. On top I layered three 1/4″ circles punched out from Juntos Designer Paper. They were topped off with black brads.

I stamped the Butterfly from Flores Suaves (if you are like me and you like stamps other then cutesy, this set is a MUST! You can find it just like the designer paper in our spanish flyer) in Black Stazon on Shimmery White cardstock. I colored it with Aqua Painter and classic inks (Always Artichoke and Chocolate chip). It was cut out and adhered with dimensionals. Last I spread Crystal Effect over the entire butterfly, sprinkled some Dazzling Diamond Glitter over it and added just a little more Crystal Effect over the butterfly body.

The sentiment is from Lovely Labels (you can’t find it in the current catalog, but you can still order it.). It is stamped in Really Rust on a Shimmery White cardstock. The sentiment was punched out with the 1 1/4″ circle punch and layered first on a 1 3/8″ Basic Black circle, then on a silver metal rimmed tag.

floressuaveswsc66inside.jpg

The inside of the card is a 4″ x 5 1/4″ piece of Shimmery White cardstock.  First I stamped the butterfly in Black Stazon to the lower right part.

Then I covered up the upper part with a ripped mask and the buttefly with a mask as well. The bottom part was then first stamped with the script from Flores Suaves in More Mustard. It was sponged first with More Mustard, then with Really Rust. The tulip was stamped all over with Really Rust. Last the butterfly was colored again with Aqua Painter with Classic inks (Always Artichoke and Chocolate Chip).

wsc67.jpg

To participate in the challenge and be entered in the  raffle, make a card with this layout and upload it either to your blog, or to an online gallery.

 If you upload your card on SCS, put WSC67  (NO SPACE INBETWEEN WSC AND 67) in the keyword section. That way we can look at all of them at once!

Post a link to your card to this blog entry as a comment. Please add your entry# to it.

I will determine the winner  with Random.org on Wednesday at 11:00 a.m. CST.

To see samples made with this sketch now, check out the blogs of

Cambria Turnbow

Charmaine Ikach

Jenn Balcer

Lori Craig

Sharon Harnist

Have fun creating! I can’t wait to see what you come up with.

I am sorry that I don’t have a sample for you. I started reading the Twilight Series day before yesterday and I can’t stop. I am 1/2 way through the last book. I should be done sometime today. What can I say, I am a compulsive reader. I can’t stop until I know how the story ends.

Hugs and smiles

SCS submissions

Random.org picked #17 as the winner of last weekend’s sketch challenge.

That is Jenna Millsap with this adorable card.

You can see more of Jenna’s work on her blog, A “Sap” for Stamps.

Thanks to everyone who participated in the challenge. I haven’t checked all the entries out yet. Sorry! I hope I will get to it in the next day or so.

I did however get more Christmas shopping done and even wrapped some presents yesterday! It’s cold here and I am getting into the Christmas spirit. The last two days I have been stamping Christmas cards. I haven’t created anything new (sorry), but I do have 50 Christmas cards ready!

Next week, while the kids are home, I think we will be baking my favorite Christmas cookies. Hm, hm, hmmmmm

Have a wonderful day! Hugs and smiles

Today’s tutorial on SCS is for Sparkly Stained Glass. It’s easy peasy, it just takes some patience to let the glue dry completely before finishing the card.  Any outline image that can handle sparkle will work great for this technique. I thought the Flourishes Set All that Glitters would be perfect for that. I love Flourishes stamps. I wish and hope that Stampin’ Up! will start carrying more Botanical/Vintage/Elegant stamps.  I miss those in our catalogs.

flourishesallthatglitterssp.jpg

My card base is a  4 1/4″ x 8 1/2″ piece of Basic Back folded in half.

It’s followed by a 4″ square of My Mind’s Eye designer paper.  The edges of the paper were distressed with a sanding block. On the bottom a 2 1/2″ x 4″ piece of BasicGrey Figgy Pudding Paper was adhered. May Arts Red Satin ribbon was tied around both Designer paper layers. On the top left a double photo corner was added. The bottom layer is punched out of Basic Black cardstock, the top layer is punched from the Figgy Pudding Paper. Three 1/4″ circle punch-outs from the My Mind’s Eye paper were added and topped with three black brads.

The ornament was stamped in Black Palette ink on Acetate. After it dried, I turned it over and added Martha Stewart glitter with Crystal Effect. Once that was dry (I let it sit for a day to be sure….don’t ask me why. Let’s just say this wasn’t my first try to make this card.LOL) cut the Acetate along with White cardstock underneath with Circle Nestabilities. I taped them together (add more adhesive under your glittered image, that way the adhesive won’t show), adhered them first on a slightly bigger My Mind’s Eye paper circle, then on a black scallop circle. They were adhered to the card base with dimensionals.

The sentiment is from the set Flourished Christmas (Can’t link to it. Out of stock right now). It was stamped in Black Memento Ink on My Mind’s Eye paper, cut out with the large oval punch, distressed with the sanding block and taped to the lower left of the card.

flourishesallthatglittersin.jpg

For the inside I layered a 4″ Whisper White square with a 1 5/8″ x 4″ strip of the red designer paper, followed by a 1 1/2″ x 4″ piece of Figgy Pudding paper. ( I have to smile every time I type Figgy Pudding….such a funny name. LOL. What can I say? I am easily amused.)

I promise, the next few posts will be strictly Stampin’ Up! again.

Have a great day! Hugs and smiles

I haven’t stamped since Friday! Saturday was stamp camp, Sunday I was working on the newsletter, answering emails and went shopping with Rebecca, yesterday was my cleaning day. Plus I worked out for the first time since being sick. I was beat when I was done. Anyway….the reason for listing all that is that I didn’t have time to make a specific sample for today’s challenge. BUT….I haven’t shared a card yet, that kinda fits the bill.

From the inspiration picture, I wrote down the Colors: Tangerine, Baja, White and Chocolate. In this card I use all those colors, but Chocolate.

flourishespeonylayeredgloss.jpg

I started out with a 4 1/4″ x 8 1/2″ piece of Basic Black cardstock folded in half. Adhered to that is a sanded 4″ square of BasicGrey Offbeat paper.

I stamped the Peony four times on Shimmery White cardstock in Black Memento Ink.  I cut one out with the Label 1 Nestabilities (sorry, can’t link to that. Ellen and Flourishes are out of stock right now), the others with scissors, each slightly smaller then the next. I colored the image with Aqua Painter and Classic inks (Tangerine Tango, Baja Breeze, Garden Green ), adhered the layers with dimensionals on top of each other and added Crystal Effects over the flower head.

I adhered my flower layer to the next size up Black Label 1 cutout and tied black dotted ribbon around both layers. That was adhered to the card base with dimensionals.

Next I stamped the bee from the Peony set in Tuxedo Black Memento ink on Shimmery White cardstock, cut it out, colored it and adhered it to the card base with dimensionals. The sentiment is from Flourishes Many Sentiments. It was also stamped in Tuxedo Black on Shimmery White. Baja Breeze was brushed over it with the Aqua Painter and it was punched out with the 1 1/4″ circle punch. A 1 3/8″ black circle was adhered underneath and the sentiment was underlined with a paper pierced row.

flourishespeonylayeredinsid.jpg

The inside of the card was layered with a 4″ square of Shimmery White cardstock.

It was topped with a 1 3/8″ x 4″ piece of Basic Black on the bottom of the card, followed by a 1 1/4″ x 4″ piece of BasicGrey paper. The designer paper was sanded like the front and the bee was stamped in the bottom left in Black Memento ink.

I will be stamping today, no matter what. I have a friend coming over to join me. We will listen to the soundtrack of Mamma Mia and stamp away. I can’t wait for that movie to come out on DVD! First though I have to go on my walk and run to the commissary. I am almost out of diet coke, and I can’t have that happen!

Have a great day! Hugs and smiles

bic32kids_baby_simplycolorful_l.jpg

Use the colors or the pattern from this room layout (I can’t remember what online catalog I found it on, sorry)….anything that will inspire you to create your card.

I can’t wait to see what you come up with.

Check out the cards made by the Inspiration Challenge Team:

Charmaine Ikach

Danielle Lounds

Dawn McVey

Jennifer Buck

Silke Ledlow

Susan Roberts

If you upload your image to your splitcoast gallery, don’t forget to add BIC30 in the keyword section. That way your card will appear in this search: SCS Submissions

Are you eyeing Copics or Nestabilities for your Christmas present? If so, get ready to shop at Ellen Hutson’s  starting on the 23rd of November.

Shipping is super fast and customer service is fantastic!

I am on Ellen’s mailing list and got this coupon. I asked if I could share with all of you and Ellen said yes! Have fun shopping!

Hugs and smiles

Save 15% Thank you – we appreciate you!!! We are thrilled to announce that we are celebrating our Second Anniversary! They say that time flies when you are having fun and I can honestly say that we do have a lot of fun taking care of you.This coupon is valid on EVERYTHING we carry in our store (in-stock items only.) Please note that once an item is no longer visible on our website that means we are currently our of stock – so shop early!

Please join us at Ellen Hutson LLC or contact us at customerservice@ellenhutson.com with any questions you might have.

Upon checkout please type in the following promotion code exactly as shown to receive your special discount – CELEBRATE2

Offer Valid: Sunday, November 23 through Friday, November 28

© 2011 fresh & fun Suffusion theme by Sayontan Sinha