Thanks!

Wow! I can't believe it's Thursday already! Our vacation is over and Ralph and I will be traveling home when you all read this. We have had a fantastic vacation, but are ready to get back home today. Here is a picture of Ralph in Death Valley at a place called "Artists Pallet". It was beautiful! The colors on the rocks are natural, probably occurring from a combination of water, minerals, and volcanic activity.
Next is a card I made for Jacob to give to one of his teachers. I used the School Rules Set and the School Papers Set from Lindsay's Stamp Stuff to make this one. Be sure to check out Lindsay's Blog for a freebie and some fabulous inspiration, and the rest of her Design Team's Blogs for more creative awesomeness!

A Military Thank You

We have been having the most beautiful summer here in Maine. I have been outside every possible minute of every sun-shiny day, and today was no exception. As my son and I were out on the patio having lunch, reading, and just lounging about, we could see (and hear) the military jets blasting through the skies for a good part of our afternoon. I love to watch them as they fly in formation and zoom back to the airport, then start all over again. To see them reminds me of the great sacrifice that so many make on behalf of our whole country and it makes me feel so thankful and safe. So, as I was trying to decide what kind of card to make this week and feeling rather patriotic and thankful, I decided to make a card for one of our soldiers. I used the card kit from the PATRIOTIC COLLECTION from LINDSAY'S STAMP STUFF. I cut two squares and one rectangle from the papers in the card kit. I also cut a rectangle from a paper that I embossed with the Thank You folder from Cuttlebug, then distressed it with some red ink. I adhered all these to a blue card base and added a rubber stamped sentiment that I colored, along with some ribbon and a few extra pieces from the card kit which I layered on with pop dots. I put a sentiment from the kit on the inside and DONE! I think I will send this one to my cousin who is serving in our military in Germany. Check out what the rest of Lindsay's Design Team is doing this week - I know it will be fabulous! You can start by going to Lindsay's blog from HERE and see what she has this week! See you soon and Happy Digi Stamping!!!

My card qualifies for the following challenges:

ANNABELLE STAMPS BLOG - Say it with Embossing

DARING CARDMAKERS - Layer it Up

Don't Look Now, but I Made a Card!!!!

Yay!!! It is so good to be back. Although I've been having a wonderful summer with my family- We have been very busy traveling, reading, walking, driving (my ds has his permit), and picnic-ing, I have missed my studio and crafting very much. It was nice to be back last night and make this card using a sketch from Meslissa's blog, Tuesday Morning Sketches. She is having a big celebration this week in honor of her 1st anniversary/birthday! She challenged card making readers to use a sketch from her archives, so I chose to use TMS #13 for my card this week, but she added a twist: use something that reminds you of summer! I was in need of a thank you card, so I made this ladybug card using stamps from LINDSAY'S STAMP STUFF. The ladybug is from the DOODLEFLOWERS set, and the sentiment is from the ALL AROUND PHRASES set. (The small stamped flower is studio g.) It was easy to put together using Melissa's sketch. I added Rock Candy Stickles to the daisy centers and bee wings on the pp and then to the ladybug spots and the stamped flower center. Done!
Hop on over to Lindsay's Blog and see what awesome freebie she has today and link up to the rest of her fabulous Design Team to see what they have created! While you are at Melissa's Blog, take up her challenge - Lindsay's Stamp Stuff is sponsoring her challenge this week, so you could win a great freebie there too! Thanks for stopping by, see you SOON!!!

Pretty Prim Houses

It's Digi Stamp Thursday, and that means I have cards to show you using stamps from LINDSAY'S STAMP STUFF!
Today I have a couple of cards that I made using the cute house image from Lindsay's PRETTY PRIMITIVE digi stamp set. Hubby and I own a fence company here in Maine and from time to time he needs cards to send to customers or business associates. He needed a couple of thank you cards recently, so I made these for him. I started by printing the house image and coloring it with a combination of bic mark its and Prisma markers. I cropped it and matted it to a piece of colored paper. Next, I embossed a piece of coordination's paper with my cuttlebug and a folder and sanded the embossed areas. I attached the house panels to the embossed panels and then added Prima flowers and attached the whole panel onto the card base. I added a piece of white paper to the inside of the card for writing. Ta Da! Two cute cards that were quick and easy to put together. You can buy this stamp set from Lindsay at MyGraficO. To check and see what the rest of the Design Team has created this week, hop on over to Lindsay's blog and click on the links in today's post. I bet she will have a new freebie for you...Have a great day Everyone, and Happy Digi Stamping!!!

That's So Random!

I have been on a card making rampage for the last week! These are a few that I made recently using stamps from Lindsay's Stamp Stuff. (Yes, still working on those UFOs!) These were random images that I had in my stash and were begging for me to use them on some cards. All images were colored with my bic mark its and Prisma markers. I embellished the cards with Stickles, ribbons and trims. These cards were lots of fun to make! If you would like to make a project or (two or three), check out Lindsay's Stamp Stuff at MyGraficO for instant downloads of these cute images and more! Everything at MyGraficO is 30% off all day today! I used images from the following sets:
Cute Easter
Love Grows Here
Coffee Talk
The school papers and apple (which was part of an image) were freebies on Lindsay's blog, THEFRUGALCRAFTER'S WEBLOG. Hop on over to her blog and see what she has for today's freebie and check out what the rest of the design team has been working on this week and be sure to leave some love for them! Happy Digi Stamping Everyone!

Love Grows Here

Just a quickie post today - it's kinda crazy around here! Mr. Fence has me helping out at the office this week, so I've been a little limited in my stamping time. I made this cute card for my sweet friend, Joy, who made me a soft, pretty and warm blanket last week!

I used the doodle daisy stamp from Lindsay's Stamp Stuff, along with the prim bird stamp. She is still running her special through the rest of the month of June - spend $10 and get a free card kit. Hop on over to her blog, and you may find more freebies!


I printed the doodle daisy stamp on an old book page and colored it with my water color markers and cut it out. I printed the primative bird and cut it out and saved the flower part of that stamp for another card. I painted the bird with my fun, new pearl paints. I cut a piece of pink basic grey paper and adhered that to a cream card base. Next, I adhered two photo corners (leftovers from one of Lindsay's card kits) and inked around the edges with Peeled Paint Distress Ink. Using a glue stick, I adhered the flower to the card, except for the outer layer of petals. I left that layer unattached and "smooshed" that layer of petals to give them a distressed look. I used the glue stick to attach the bird, drew the legs and stamped "Love Grows Here" by studio g.

Don't forget, one of our lucky Design Team Members has a free digital stamp to download this week. Hop through the blogs below and find out who it is this week! Until next time, Happy Stamping!

Cindi - Guest Designer for June!
Melissa
Janet
Mitzi
Kim
Lisa
Margie
Katt
Tamara
Michelle
Row
Olena
Lindsay

Still Green

Just a quickie post this evening. I just wrote a nice, long post, only to find when I clicked "publish post" that I had lost my internet connection somewhere near the beginning, which means I lost my post, so here's the short version!

These are a few more cards I made this week using parts of Lindsay's beautiful card kit, some scraps, and a couple of my nature photos. Since I used scraps and pieces with my nature photos, I guess I'm still going green!

I just got back from the Stamping Expo in Springfield, Massachusetts this afternoon, and I've got TONS of new toys to play with!!! So be sure to check back in soon, I'm in a creative mood! Until then, Happy Stamping!

Reduce, Reuse, Recyle!

Lindsay challenged us to "go green" this week. I made these two cards using scraps of cardstock, ribbons, a leftover photo, and more pieces of Lindsay's fabulous card kits!

For the photo card, I started with a cream cardstock base and a couple of scraps of rust, black, and cream cardstock. I glued the black scrap in one corner of the base, and the rust scrap in the opposite corner. For the next layer, I glued the swirly paper from Lindsay's Black and White Elegant Card Kit. I trimmed a leftover bird photo and matted that with another scrap of rust cardstock. I punched a small scallop with the last little piece and stamped thanks (inkadinkado) on it. I adhered that to the back of the matted photo, then attached the matted photo to the card. On the inside, I glued a little decorative piece of the card kit in the lower right hand corner.

The second card was made using a leftover scrap of black cardstock, a giant flower, a scrap of ribbon and more of the card kit. I adhered the striped paper to the card front, then glued the ribbon to that. I folded a large flower in half and glued that to the top of the striped paper. I used the "thanks" piece from the school card kit for the flower center and glued a piece of the swirly paper to the inside of the card. Very quick, easy and "green"!

If you are really into going green, shopping at Lindsay's Stamp Stuff is a great way to go. "Shop Handmade" has pledged to protect 25 square feet of rainforest for every purchase made at any of the stores in the network to offset the pollution done by shipping and since there is no shipping with the digistuff (it's all emailed) it's like being extra green!

Also, Lindsay is offering a new deal this month: Spend $10 in her shop and get a card kit of your choice - free! She's uploaded a few new kits, so hurry over and check them out. Just click HERE to go directly to her shop.

One last thing: Lindsay is designing a special stamp for each of us on the design team. On Thursdays, one lucky DT member will have her special stamp available to download free for a whole week. Click on the links below to check out the cool Design Team Blogs and see who has the free stamp this week!

Melissa

Janet

Mitzi

Kim

Lisa

Margie

Katt

Tamara

Michelle

Row

Olena

Lindsay

Digital Tuesday Challenge

I was doing some blog hopping this morning, trying to get my mojo going, and hopped on over to the Digital Tuesday Challenge Blog to see what was going on. This week's challenge is a sketch. I've never done any challenges like this before, so I decided to give it a try.


As most of you know, I'm on the Design Team for Lindsay's Stamp Stuff, and when I saw the Digital Tuesday Challenge today, I immediately thought of this card kit that Lindsay offered as a freebie on her blog, The Frugalcrafter's Weblog. Click HERE to link directly to the free card kit.

To get the larger apples, I cropped the apple on the books, enlarged it, and cut and pasted it 3 times. I used a cream cardstock base, a scrap of black to mat the stamp, and a black brad for the arrow. The stamps were colored with my Bic MarkIts and blended with a Prisma colorless blender pen. Everything else was part of Lindsay's FREE kit!

Needless to say, this challenge and Lindsay's great kit got my mojo going full speed ahead. I made a bunch of cards today, but you'll have to check back in on Thursday to see more! Until then, Happy Stamping, Everyone!

Whooo loves Digi Stamps? I do!

I am just having too much fun with Lindsay's digi stamps! I made up this quick and easy card while watching tv with my ds. I printed the owl on a branch image on cream cardstock and used my watercolor pencils to color it. To make the card, I cut a 5x10 panel of cream cardstock and folded it in half. I cut a piece of patterned paper and two different greens for the front. I inked up the edges of all the pieces (including the owl panel) with gold ink. The patterned paper has a lot of gold and silver bling, but I couldn't get it to show up very well in the photo. I attached silver brads in the corners of the owl panel and glued it all together. As Sherri would say, "Easy Peasy!" Just click here to visit Lindsay's online digi stamp store to check out all her great designs! Happy Stamping!

Exciting News: I'm Designing for Lindsay's Stamp Stuff!!!

How cool is that? I've been chosen by Lindsay to be on her first Design Team! She has opened an on-line digital stamp store called Lindsay's Stamp Stuff which is loaded with fun digi stamps. I have been creating cards with them, and they are every bit as fun as rubber stamps, and even more fun in that I can make them any size I want, plus I get a perfect image every time! I just love her designs and love the idea of incorporating digital stamps with my rubber and acrylic stamps.

I made this cute card as a thank you for my aunt. I went out of my comfort zone and created a 4x9 card. I found it to be such a fun size to work with! For this one I used a sheet of cream cardstock as the base and covered it with a panel of friends double sided paper. I used a small panel of green (basic grey) and a larger panel of blue (also basic grey) for the bottom. I then cut a small strip of the friends paper and used the reverse side (polka dots) as a kind of "ribbon". I pop dotted on three Prima flowers with brad centers. I printed the PRIMITIVE BIRD stamp from Lindsay's store using adobe photoshop elements, set the width to 3 inches, and printed it on cream cardstock. Next, I matted it with another panel of the green basic grey paper. I colored it with my bic mark-its and attached it to the top of the card. Lastly, I stamped "how sweet you are" with StazOn Jet Black Ink.

Here is a list of the Bic colors I used :

Oceanview Blue to color the bird, Blue Skies Blue to highlight his wing
Adobe Orange for the bird's beak
Lemon Bliss to color the flower and outer edge of the petal
Moonstone Yellow to highlight the flower and finish the petal
Meadow Green for the flower stem
Summer Melon and Margarita Green for the butterfly

I'm off now, to create some more cards and brag about my new status! Thanks for stopping by and happy stamping!