Funky Trees and Freebies!!!

Happy Thursday, Everyone! The sun is shining today and that always makes me happy! Just a quick post today, it sure has been a busy week. I made this card using stamps from Lindsay's Stamp Stuff. I just love the trees in her new set "Funky Forest". I printed this one out twice, making one tree larger than the other. I colored them with my Prisma Markers and cut them out. I embossed my rust colored card stock in a cuttlebug folder and then embossed a blue-green strip in an embossing border and added stickles to the flower centers. I cut an oval out of my last piece of this bo bunny paper (sniff...Cindi, we need to go get some more) and then glued everything together and tied a ribbon to finish. Quick and easy! Lindsay is giving away a fabulous freebie to go with her new stamp set. Click HERE to go to her blog for the freebie and to find the links to the other Design Team Members' blogs to see what everyone else has created this week. Here's a quick peek at the new set:

















I'm off to enjoy the sunshine and the beautiful fall trees with all their bright colors. See you soon!

A Moose's Work is Never Done!

Don't you just love Riley? I do!!! I made these fun ATCs for a swap over at The Stamp Shack. I colored the Riley image with my bic mark its and used picket fence distress stickles on the iron. The sentiment is computer generated and the tiny clothes pin (thank you very much, Lindsay) is glued on with white craft glue. That panel was attached to an ATC sized piece of red cardstock, in honor of my red laundry room. Now, if I could just get Riley to come do my ironing...

A Couple Cuppas and Fabulous Freebies!

I am still just LOVIN' Lindsay's Coffee Talk stamp set and these papers from bo bunny! I made two cards this week - one for a dear cousin who just had shoulder surgery, and one for a favorite friend who shares my love of coffee! I used this week's Inspirational Card Sketch #36 for my cards. Lindsay's Stamp Stuff is sponsoring this week, so be sure to join the challenge and get a chance to win some fabulous free stamps! Speaking of free, hop on over to Lindsay's blog to see what she has for freebies today, and be sure to check out her special this week - 50% of the Babies and Bows stamp set in celebration of the birth of her nephew, Mason. She has also added some cute BINGO Cards to this set. (Scroll back through her blog to see the bingo cards and super cute pics of Mason. He's a doll!)
My cards were quite simple this week. I printed the images, cut them out with my coluzzle oval template and colored them with my bic mark its. I used a cuttlebug die for the "hello friend" sentiment. I blended antique linen distress ink on one card to give it an aged look, and used picket fence distress stickles to give the second card just a touch of bling. The card bases are made with bazill cardstock. Lindsay has posted links to everyone's blogs so you will see the most current, up-to-date creations by her fabulous design team members. Just go to Thefrugalcrafter's Weblog to check out what's new this week! Until next time, happy stamping!

Creepy Crows ATCs

ATCs are one of my favorite things to create. I just love trading/collecting them - I have a whole notebook full of them. The theme for this swap was "crows". I didn't really have an outstanding crow stamp, so I asked Lindsay at Lindsay's Stamp Stuff to create one for me and I chose to use one of the flourished crow stamps in her "Creepy Crows" stamp set. I started by cutting my cream card stock base to 3 1/4 x 2 1/4. I used antique linen, faded jeans, and spiced marmalade Distress Inks to create the background. Next I ran each piece through my cuttlebug using the swirls embossing folder. I painted the backgrounds with blue and orange pearl paints so the card would sparkle. I printed the crows, colored them with my bic mark its and cut them out. I die cut the branches using a sizzix die and punched the moons from an old Edgar Alan Poe book. I gave the moons a quick gloss of gold pearl paint and adhered all the pieces onto the background. I attached that to a 3 1/2 x 2 1/2 piece of blue bazzill cardstock and stamped the sentiment (Wood Cellar Graphics) on the back. I really like how these turned out!














The "Creepy Crows" and the new "Cute Halloween" sets are both available for just $5.00 each. Check out her blog Thefrugalcrafter's Weblog to see what awesome project she's created today and to find her new freebie! You can also check out the Design Team's blogs for some fabulous inspiration. Thanks for stopping by, and Happy Stamping!!!!!

Tim Holtz, Cranberry Muffins, and Stamped Wrappers!

I've recently been obsessed with Tim Holtz and his demos. I've been watching them on my netbook and wanted to try some of his techniques. I picked up on something he said - he said he liked to use tags for his demos. My mind went from tags to Cupcake Wrappers! This morning was a beautiful, crisp fall morning and I decided to make some cranberry muffins and put my idea to work. So, while my muffins were cooling, I went to the computer to print Lindsay's Blank Cupcake Wrappers. There were 3 different distress ink techniques, and well, there were 3 wrappers in the set. It was a sign... I knew I had to do it!
Just a side note - I was afraid it would take a long time to cut out the wrappers and medallions, but being the OCD person I am, I set my timer for just to see how long it would take to cut everything out. I was pleasantly surprised to find that it only took me 11 minutes to cut out all the pieces. A tip I will suggest is when you are cutting both the medallions and the wrappers to turn the paper, not your scissors. You have better control and it goes more quickly. Also a big tip - make sure your wrappers are right-side-up when you decorate them. The long curve is the top and the shorter curve is the bottom. You know why I'm telling you this...I have a set of upside down birds and trucks on my hands!
I made this one for my hubby. It occurred to me recently that I make things for lots of people, and he's usually not one of them! Poor guy! For this one I used distress inks colors Orange Marmalade and Faded Jeans. The stamps are all Tim Holtz. This technique is done by inking your craft mat, adding water and laying your paper on top. Continue with this until you get the desired results. You will need to heat dry after each layer.
The next one I made using only Aged Mahogany ink and Tim Holtz stamps. This one is done by crumpling the paper, inking with a distress pad, and spritzing with water. Next, you iron it flat and start stamping! I think I'm going to give this one to a very special friend. But I'm not saying who it is, in case she reads this before I see her!
The last one is for Halloween. I used Orange Marmalade and Peeled Paint distress inks. This was the technique where you ink up your tool, and start on your craft mat by circling around and on to the paper. More pressure gives you more color. After this one dried, I ran it through my cuttle bug in an embossing folder and added a spooky pumpkin stamp and sentiment to this one. The pumpkin is Lindsay's Stamp Stuff, the sentiment is snag 'em stamps, and the spider is studio g.
Click HERE for the link to the recipe. I made a cream cheese frosting for the top, but cannot find it! So sorry. It's a good one! Click HERE to go to Lindsay's Stamp Stuff and buy these fun wrappers! I think they have endless possiblities! She also makes a birthday set that you can buy and color.
Well, I am off to deliver my goodies. I'll see you all soon. Thanks so much for stopping by...and leave me a comment, it makes my day! Until then, happy stamping everyone!

Crow Trees and Freebies!

Fall is certainly in the air way up here in Maine. The leaves are beginning to change and we may have a frost on our hands (well, on the grass) this morning. When the sun comes up, I'll go check and see! I had asked Lindsay to create a crow stamp for me because I'm in a ATC swap at The Stamp Shack. Well, being the overachiever that she is, she made a whole set of crow stamps! Here's a preview of the set: (I'm not sure why the pic is so small. Maybe someone can help?)
I just love it! If you love it, you can buy it at Lindsay's Stamp Stuff for just $5.00 You can also get an awesome FREEBIE if you stop by her blog, thefrugalcrafter's weblog. I can't tell you what it is, just that it coordinates with the Creepy Crow Set and you won't want to miss it...
Even though I originally asked for a crow to use for the ATC swap, I decided to do another sketch from Inspirational Card Sketches. Makes sense, right? :) I am really loving sketches lately! They take all of the "thinking" out of making a card. I used black bazzill for my card base. I layered a panel of the the striped side of a sheet of bo bunny paper onto the base and cut two small strips of purple bazzill and emobssed them with a border folder. I layered a panel of the polka dotted side of the bo bunny paper onto that and printed the Crow Tree onto a scrap of orange DCWV, inked up the edges with Black StazOn ink. I used pop dots to adhere the top two layers and I finished up with a couple of Prima Flowers (also pop dotted) and some Stickles~ Ta DA! I can see I'm going to have a lot of fun with my new stamp set! Thanks, Lindsay!
Make sure you hop on over to the rest of the Design Team's Blogs this week and check out all their fantabulous creations! Click HERE for the link, and until next time, Happy Stamping!
...weather update! The fog is clearing, and there is no frost here in my neck of the woods. Safe for one more day!

Nothing like waiting 'till the last minute...

This is the card I made using Lindsay's new Coffee Talk digi stamp set! I just love this new set and can't wait to make more cards with it. This one was made with a sketch from Inspirational Card Sketches. This week's challenge is sponsored by none other than Lindsay's Stamp Stuff. I think I'll just make the deadline this week...tomorrow is a new sketch already. One of these days I'll get my act together. I'll be sure to let you know when that happens!
Thanks for stopping by. I'll see you again on Thursday. Happy Stamping!!!!