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Stamping 411 – Season of Friendship

Finally feeling a little better today.  I gave my massive head cold to my husband, though.  He's not too happy right now!  We'll be staying in this New Year's Eve.  I don't like to be out on the roads anyway.  Be safe everyone!

Stamping 411 has a fun sketch this week!  Hope you try it out!  Here is my version.

I pulled out a set I haven't used in a while called Season of Friendship and used a couple new products that will be available in the Occasions Mini!  I LOVE, LOVE, LOVE the Love Impressions Specialty Designer Paper.  Great colors of Real Red, Basic Gray and Pink Pirouette!  I cut a strip for the background and layered it on Real Red cardstock.  Along the top, I used the Eyelet Border Punch.  I adhered it to a base card of Basic Gray cardstock.

To pick up the Basic Gray, I stamped the trunk of the Season of Friendship stamp in Basic Gray and stamped on Whisper White.  I stamped several leaves in Pear Pizzazz on scrap Whisper White and cut them out and applied to several of the branches.  I punched several Small Hearts from the fun Glimmer Paper (I hope they carry this is MANY more colors in the new catalog!), then placed them on the branches, too.  Finally, I stamped Love from Fabulous Phrases in Basic Gray and punched with the Small Jewelry Tag and added it to the card with a Real Red Mini Brad.

I LOVE how this turned out!  Make sure to check out what the rest of the Stamping 411 Operators did this week and play along with the sketch!

AND THE WINNER IS…..

The winner of last week's Blog Candy was picked by Random.org!  Patrice…email me to claim your prize!  When I was very young, my grandmother and I would sing Little Drummer Boy during the holidays.  It was her favorite song!  I love it still today!

Stamping 411 Sketch Challenge

Time for another sketch challenge  from Stamping 411!  This will be brief because I’m scheduling the post early so I can go on vacation!

I decided to pull out one of my favorite sets from last year, Season of Friendship.  I used the Rock n Roll technique on the leaves…stamping in Creamy Caramel first and then the edges in Really Rust and More Mustard.  I like how varigated it makes the leaves…just like real fall ones!  I also placed the little brown bird up in the right hand corner as an embellishment.  I stamped some extra leaves on Very Vanilla, then punched them with the 3/4 circle punch…and layered them on 1" Really Rust punched circles.  The base card is Really Rust and the tree layer is layered on Chocolate Chip! 

Hope you have a greatt weekend.  Make sure you check out the rest of the Stamping 411 operators’ cards this week.  And, play along!  Add your creation to Mister Linky on the Stamping 411 blog.

INKspired Treasures

HAPPY THANKSGIVING!

Happy Thanksgiving!  Hope you have a wonderful turkey day!  We are headed to my mom and dad’s shortly for a Thanksgiving meal.  Next year it is my turn, but this year I only needed to make the Pumpkin Pie and Cranberry Salad.  Those are my traditional contributions.  What are your traditions?  Do you do anything special or unusual?

Since I used Season of Friendship for my Halloween cards and my Patriotic card on election day, I had to continue the trend and use it for my Thanksgiving card this year.  I only mailed out about a dozen to friends and family.  I’m sure it is heavily inspired by several other cards I’ve seen using the Top Note die.  I paired it with the Autumn Vine Designer Paper.  I love every single pattern in that package!

A very simple card, really.  The base is Chocolate Chip, layered on top with Autumn Vine, then a Very Vanilla Top Note diecut.  I stamped Happy Thanksgiving with Chocolate Chip ink and punched it with the Wide Oval.  I wrapped some Chocolate Chip ribbon around the diecut, and sponged around the edges with Chocolate Chip ink.  Leaves were stamped with Old Olive, More Mustard and Really Rust and the trunk with Chocolate Chip.  That’s it!

I just want to mention how grateful I am that Stampin’ Up! has given me an outlook for my creative expression.  In addition, it has truly brought some wonderful people into my life that I would never have met otherwise.  I remember going to Convention for my first time 7 years ago and my upline (who had been in the business for 7 years then), seemed to know everyone and say hi.  I was amazed.  Now, when I go to Leadership or Convention, I love renewing the friendships and catching up with people I only see 1-2 times a year!

I’m also thankful to be blessed with a wonderful family, good health and my needs more than met.  What more can I say?  I am thankful.

Patriotic Season of Friendship

After spending almost two hours in line this morning (and getting there at 6:30 AM so I could vote with my husband and son), I was inspired to come home and create this card.  Thank you to all of you who go out and brave the LONG lines to vote today.  We are blessed to live in a country where our voice is heard!

My Season of Friendship Card Kit purchasers will be happy that here is another sample using the Season of Friendship stamp set!  I stamped the tree in Basic Black on Whisper White, towards the right edge.  Then I added three 1/4" strips of Real Red cardstock along the left side.  I punched the stars with the Small Star punch from Pacific Point and adhered them with mini glue dots to the limbs of the tree.  I stamped the words Thank You from Family Accessories in Basic Black on Whisper White and punched with the small oval punch.  Then a border of Pacific Point with the Large Oval.  I punched a small hole next to the bottom of the tree and wrapped the 5/8 Real Red ribbon around and thru the hole to tie it. I’m happy that it turned out how I pictured it in my head!

Today I am spending the day packing up my craft items to take to the weekend stamping retreat.  I have a couple girlfriends coming into town Wednesday evening to spend the night and visit…then we leave right after lunch on Thursday to go to the retreat!  Woohoo!  We’ve been planning this so long, I can’t believe it is finally here.  There are about 50 ladies going…should be a great time!  It is held twice a year and I’ve been going since it started in 2005.  I’m working on getting some posts ready to publish while I’m gone.  Hopefully I won’t run into any server issues like last time!

Now…GO VOTE!

Season of Friendship Halloween

I had to sneak in one last Halloween card!  I sent these out to a few people this year.  Hopefully they have received them by now and I won’t ruin the surprise. 

This design was heavily inspired by Kimberly Van Diepen.  I loved how she did a white fence in front of the Season of Friendship tree.  I added the crow in the limb and the Happy Halloween at the top with a couple black brads.  I also used Dazzling Diamonds mixed with Black Embossing Powder to make the tree and cat sparkle!  The base card is Whisper White, with a layer of Basic Black and then Kraft.  Both the Basic Black and Kraft I used my distressing tool to rough up the edges.  I also used a sponge dauber with Black ink around the edges of the Kraft and the punched oval for Happy Halloween.  The cat is actually from Batty for You.  I stamped and embossed her on Kraft, then cut her out.  She is popped up on dimensionals.  Oh…in the background I used the stars from Classic Backgrounds in Versamark.

So…those of you who purchased my Season of Friendship Kit, here is one more idea for you to use that set!

Eat Drink & Be Scary

I know…I’m addicted to this Halloween stamp set, Eat, Drink & Be Scary.  I truly LOVE that witches hat!  This is one holiday that I like to send out cards.  I have about 10 done, but need to make a few more if I get time!  I have SO many Halloween stamps and wheels…they are just so fun.

This card was a challenge card with Mary last week.  We used a sketch with any theme.  Many of you know that I also love Snowmen.  One of the home decor items I’ve purchased over the years is a Snowman Pumpkin for Halloween decorations.  I decided to replicate my decor piece onto a card. 

I used 3 sizes of circle punches (1-3/4, 1-3/8, 1-1/4) from some leftover Pumpkin Designer Paper.  The arms and crow are from Season of Friendship, I just cut off a couple of the twigs.  The spider and the hat are from Eat, Drink & Be Scary.  For the spider, I used my black marker to color in the body, stamped and then used the fine tip to draw the web coming down to him.  The background designer paper is from Ghostly Greetings.    I used the new Old Olive grosgrain ribbon to tie around the background.  And, I added a couple leaves from Autumn Harvest to "ground" the pumpkin snowman a little.  Oh, his face is from Autumn Harvest, too.  So, yes, I used three different stamp sets…but I just couldn’t resist!  What do you think?

Another start to a brand new week.  It is busy one for me…lots of deadlines.  It is supposed to be COLD today with a chance of the "s" word…  I’m not ready!

Blogger’s Challenge – Gifts to Give

This week’s Blogger’s Challenge was Gift Giving projects.  Perfect!  I love 3D items and giving little stamped gifts.  I can’t wait to see what everyone has done.  But I decided to tackle this project instead.

I’ve been wanting to do this project since Trees Three was in the mini catalog a couple years ago.  I bought the frame WAY back then!  I’m glad I waited, however, since I love the Season of Friendship stamp set even more.  I knew the minute I saw that set, that I could use it for this frame.  Wish I’d have bought more so I could make up a few more of these.

Some of the details.  I did use Craft inks so I got a more intense color.  And I used the retired Soft Sky cardstock for the background only because it matches my bathroom (yes…I know…I’m supposed to GIVE this away), but you could use Bali Breeze or Bashful Blue instead.  The little birds are all clear embossed…can you see the robin in the spring even has a rust belly?  And I love the cardinal in the winter, crow in autumn and bluebird in summer!  Fun!  The seasonal greetings are from a retired set, Season by Season.  Another set I’ll never part with…we don’t have anything like it now.  I added some glitter to the cherry blossom centers and the snowflakes and ground.

I decided to leave the glass off so it looks more 3D and I can enjoy the ribbon a little more.  I’m SO happy with how this turned out.  The photo really doesn’t do it justice.

Enjoy the weekend!!!

Stamps:  Season of Friendship, Season by Season (retired)
C/S:  Soft Sky, More Mustard, Whisper White, Sahara Sand, Old Olive
Inks:  CRAFT Chocolate Chip, Regal Rose, Old Olive, More Mustard, Really Rust, Pumpkin Pie, Gable Green, Whisper White
CLASSIC:  Close to Cocoa, Really Rust, Ballet Blue, Basic Black, Real Red
Other:  Versamark, Clear EP, 5/8 Grosgrain Ribbon (Rose, Olive, Choc Chip), Baja Breeze Striped Ribbon, Dimensionals, Multipurpose glue & Dazzling Diamonds, Large Oval Punch, White Gel Pen

Want this set?  ORDER it from me today ONLINE!