SC226 Challenge

wowser, I'm on a roll! I had a chance to play along with the Wednesday card challenge over on SCS and used one of my new stamp sets for this. I just kept thinking of the saying, "I love you this much!" when I saw this little monkey with his arms stretched out so wide...I typed it up on the computer, found a font I liked, printed it on regular paper and then taped a small piece of cardstock on top of my test piece and re printed it out. Super easy!

Guess what?! I also hand cut the flower around the scalloped saying. I've really been drawn to those rough, hand made looking flowers I've seen about in the past month or so and finally tried my hand at them. Now mind you...I have oodles of store bought flowers (paper and felt), fake blossoms that I pull off the stems to use, die cuts AND punches. Can you relate?! tee hee....

Card Materials:

Stamps: Monkey Business

Paper: Rustic Chic designer paper, pink Bazzil, Kraft paper

Tomorrow is May 1st and I'll be posting some BLOG CANDY...the cut off date will be May 3rd because I'm hoping you'll come back to visit me when I participate in my first ever Blog Hop! We're featuring the Scor Pal.

CPS113

Finally I was able to play along with another great sketch challenge over at CPS! I was the sponsor of CPS109 just a few weeks ago and had so much fun there!

I am sure I didn't come up with this idea myself (I subscribe to some 50 blogs and probably saw this on one of those inspiring sites) but it really was kinda neat! I wanted a sparkly cupcake top but didn't want it too sparkly. Does that make sense?!? So I took just one drop of Icicle stickles and added one small drop of water and mixed them together with a paint brush. Note: our empty Gift with Purchase stamp boxes worked perfect for this. No mess!

Just a couple of angles to show you the sparkle and effect...I hope I don't bore you!

I made this card for my sister, Jennifer, who's birthday is...yup, May 2nd! I saw another angel use the Date Disk stamp similiarly and thought it was great. I always just thought of "scrapbooking" with that set but this opens new possibilities!

After I took the first photo of the card, I realized that once again I went with a minimalist approach. So, I added a flower/button...

Card Materials:

Stamps: Date Disks, April special (that set is only $7 for 4 cupcakes and 2 sayings!)

Misc: Pink Bazzill paper, flower/button from Ava Embellishment Jar, Tombow markers, aquabrush (niji is the best!)

The flower isn't glued down yet...which do you like better?!

Take me out to the ball park...

We've got three baseball games in 4 days and add practice into the mix...but it's all worth it! I have decided I want a new camera after seeing several ladies on different blogs talk about their "new" cameras...and here's a shot I took and it was the best of the batch! Note: It's a no name digital camera, I'm sure that makes a big difference!

George had a birthday party to go to this weekend and his friend also plays baseball so I was happy to use the retiring set, All Season Athlete for this card. If you ever need a "sports" related stamp, this is the set for you! I used all TAC papers for this card and a retired set for the saying.

Lastly, for those of you sitting on the fence or curious about the TACBAGs that are currently being offered by The Angel Company, I just had 4 different orders for them so I thought I'd take a picture so that you can see for yourself! The size of the sheet of cling is 8.5 in by 11 inches.

True Beauty

This past week for my hostess club we made the perfect Mother's Day card...True Beauty was the ideal stamp for this sparkly creation! I don't have any Shimmerz but decided to use what I had on hand ... Pearl Ex for some 7 years now (wow, it felt good to use it again)!! Add a Dove blender pen and we were set.

So here is my card based on my downline, Karen's, gorgeous card here: http://karensescape.blogspot.com/2009/04/true-beauty.html



Then Julie W. used some great big beads on her pink version with some Crystal Lacquer.



Some left over scraps and this card came together quickly...it's ready to be made into a Happy Birthday or Thank you card now.

Don't forget that this is the last week to get some of those great April specials!

Happy Earth Day!

I don't have a really, really "green" card per se, but I did manage to "recycle" this card. Have you ever created something so hideous that you asked yourself, "what was I thinking?!?" That happened to me with this card. I clear embossed two of these umbrellas and cut them out and attached them to a black embossed panel...very oriental looking with the Robin Egg #1 paper beneath. Then I added the sheer ribbon and a HUGE pink button...yuck, splutter, gross, hideous! Really, that's being kind!

So I threw away the pink umbrellas so I wouldn't fiddle with it anymore...and then I happened upon this yellow leftover scrap from another card. It matched the base card perfectly and the rest came together quickly. (well, relatively quick!)

So...here is my "recycled" base card with original ribbon and by adding new scraps, a flower and shiny button - voila, I'm much happier with these results!

Card Materials:

Stamps: Showers of Love

Paper: DCWV Robin Egg #1, Bazzill pink

Don't forget to check out the free downloadable papers from The Angel Company! Some of the gals printed the patterns out on colored paper for a really neat effect...I ended up wiping ink around the edges of my paper for a different look! The greens DO match in real life!!

Card Materials:

Stamps: Fall Harvest (Fall Supplement)

Papers: Free downloads!, DCWV Flora #2, TAC Ultrasmooth White

Misc: Scrapper's floss Lime, Palette inks (Charteuse, Noir), Transcedence Powder for embossing!

A Sad Farewell

On Friday The Angel Company posted it's discontinuing stamp list as they prepare for the new catalog coming out 1 July! The good news for YOU is that these following stamps are now discounted at 25% off...and the sales price is already showing up online!

Discontinued List of 2009

It’s time to make room for new stamp additions to our 2009-2010 Inspiration Base Book! It’s a great time to add the following stamp sets to your collection at a 25% discount before they are gone forever! As of July 1, 2009, these sets will no longer be available for ordering, will not appear online, and will be officially retired from the TAC™ collection.** Hurry and order
your favorite retiring sets before they’re gone as quantities are limited!

**Sets may appear as a future Vintage set at the discretion of the TAC™ corporate office.
*Orders for discontinued sets must be received at the corporate office by 5:00 PM CST on Friday, June 26, 2009.
*Orders placed from the discontinued list are commissionable and count toward FUNshop™ sales and benefits.
*No other special offers or discounts apply.
*TAC™ reserves the right to amend the discontinued list as we see fit.

These sets can be found here in the Fall Supplement

T-2933 Halloween Town 5 FS
T-3039 Pumpkin Day 5 FS
T-3005 Fright Night 7 FS
T-3042 Halloween Greetings 7 FS

And the rest of these stamps can be found here!

T-2882 All Occasion Icons 17 BB
T-2897 My Sunshine 17 BB
T-2835 Faithbooking 18 BB
T-2915 My Life 19 BB
T-2875 Fantasy Flourishes 20 BB
T-2622 Artsy Elements 20 BB
T-2847 Enchanted Florals 22 BB
T-2825 Butterbees and More 23 BB
R-2028 Blissfully Ever After 24 BB
T-2675 Wedding Day 25 BB
T-2833 The Wedding 25 BB
T-2848 Eclectic Swirls 26 BB
T-2955 Everyday Eclectic 26 BB
T-2849 Old World Ornaments 28 BB
T-2866 Starburst Florals 31 BB
T-2850 Ornate Swirls 28 BB
T-2801 Something’s Fishy 28 BB
T-2837 Distressed Typewriter Bet 29 BB
T-2812 Family Fun 29 BB
T-2744 Floral Dingbats 29 BB
T-2886 Pattern Sayings 30 BB
T-2865 Moxie Minis 31 BB
T-2829 Bloom And Grow 31 BB
T-2923 All Season Stamps 32 BB
T-2853 Seasonal Cuties 32 BB
T-2808 Oh How 32 BB
T-2852 Floral Favorites 32 BB
T-2831 Flower Doodles 33 BB
T-2814 Paisley Words 33 BB
T-2672 Salsa Flowers 34 BB
T-2856 Swirly Bouquet 35 BB
T-2855 Loops and Swirls 35 BB
T-2745 Rose Garden 36 BB
T-2750 It’s Always Springtime 36 BB
T-2339 Friendship Flowers 37 BB
T-2412 Enjoy Today 37 BB
T-2864 Juliette Florals 38 BB
T-2868 Fresh Air Favorites 39 BB
T-1234 Victorian Collage 40 BB
T-2408 The Arts 40 BB
T-2749 Ornamental Ribbons 42 BB
T-1014 Flutter By 43 BB
T-2636 Basic Birds 44 BB
T-2703 Goodness Of God 44 BB
T-1096 Tiger Face 44 BB
T-815 Mountain Scenery 44 BB
T-1101 African Giraffe 45 BB
T-2122 Charcoal Leaves 45 BB
T-2720 Punctuation 47 BB
T-2920 Floral Swirls 47 BB
T-2931 Our Savior 48 BB
T-2709 Love Doodles 48 BB
T-788 Celtic Images 49 BB
T-2699 Blessed With 53 BB
T-2670 On Safari 54 BB
T-2818 Our Baby 55 BB
T-2312 Ribbon Borders 55 BB
T-2545 Baby On Board 56 BB
T-2363 Peek A Boo 56 BB
T-2384 Double Trouble 57 BB
T-2631 Twins 57 BB
T-2686 Kid Praises 57 BB
T-2669 Bold Flourishes 58 BB
T-2870 Retro Rovers 60 BB
T-2862 Funky Felines 60 BB
T-2349 Hoppy Frogs 61 BB
R-2029 Blooming Builders 62 BB
R-2026 Deco Designs 63 BB
T-2932 Floral Labels 63 BB
T-2662 Treasure Seeker 64 BB
T-2657 Pirates 64 BB
T-2627 Pull Up Anchor 65 BB
T-2663 Sail Away 65 BB
T-2851 Euphoric Elements 67 BB
T-2718 Ocean Buddies 67 BB
T-2770 Fun Fish 67 BB
T-2959 Celebrate the Seasons 69 BB
T-2947 Sparkle 69 BB
T-2614 Flourishes 70 BB
T-2315 Paisley Rockz 72 BB
T-2652 Fun Time 72 BB
T-2838 Heavenly Father 73 BB
T-2873 G is for Gratitude 74 BB
T-2705 Nothin’ But Net 76 BB
T-2532 You’re A Winner 76 BB
T-2689 Girlie Gadgets 77 BB
T-2668 Teacher’s Helpers 78 BB
T-2684 All Season Athlete 78 BB
T-2934 Retro Tags 80 BB
T-2714 Keep Smilin’ 81 BB
T-2832 Fancy Punctuation 82 BB
T-2883 Summer Elegance 83 BB
T-2884 Elegant Sentiments 83 BB
T-2946 Retro Journal Tags 85 BB
T-2964 Sassy Girl 85 BB
T-2121 So Girly 85 BB
T-2318 Kallioppe 85 BB
T-2861 Travel Notes 86 BB
T-1130 Fore 86 BB
T-1091 Fish Story 87 BB
T-2846 Twists & Twirls 88 BB
T-2637 My Heart Gives Thanks 89 BB
T-2260 Hey Chick 89 BB
T-2957 Celebration Invitation 91 BB
T-2879 Playful Pirates 92 BB
T-2748 Spooky Swirls 92 BB
T-2601 Family, Food & Friends 95 BB
T-2790 Count Your Blessings 95 BB
R-2721 Simply christmas 96 BB
T-2706 Holiday Magic 96 BB
T-2792 Trendy Holiday Tags 97 BB
T-2810 Christmas Checklist 97 BB
T-2032 Cheery Christmas 98 BB
T-2685 Spirit of Christmas 99 BB
T-2603 ‘Tis The Season 100 BB
T-2772 Snowy Swirls 100 BB
T-2793 Birdy Holiday 100 BB
T-1253 Christmas Fun 101 BB
T-2679 Simple Snowflakes 102 BB
T-442 Snowflakes 103 BB
R-2031 Whimsical Greetings 104 BB
T-2701 Christmas Season 104 BB

I can now share some cards that I had submitted for the last catalog call around Christmas time...these stamps are suddenly on the retired list so I know these particular cards won't be featured in the next catalog. So sad...

This card features Mountain Scenery and Hemingway Soar with it Collection (paper, cardstock, hardware and ribbon).

More Mountain Scenery, Be Still (current) and Amberley Grace Soar with it Collection (paper, cardstock and ribbon). Plus, flower punch.

Lastly, Tiger Face looks great (I think!) with the cracked glass technique and more Hemingway Soar with it Collection (papers, cardstock and ribbon). Plus punch.

I'll be sending out my eNewsletter today to those of you who subscribe to it, if you want to stay current, drop me a line and I'll include you for all of the updates and sales info. If you'd like this file as a PDF, I'm happy to send it to you. Happy shopping!!

Friday means housecleaning...

ugh. It's beautiful outside, I have some card ideas...but all of that has to wait. I've procrastinated long enough today and I've got to finish my housecleaning...well, after this post! :)

This week two gals over at Paperwings (that's a growing gallery of The Angel Company cards, sorted by stamp names) had a mini blog hop using the new stamp set, Showers of Love. I have that set too and it got me thinking and creating! Thanks Jen and Laurie for the inspiration.

Here I clear embossed the raindrops and I use different colored markers on each band of the umbrella. The panel is popped up.

This is a color combo that you can never go wrong with! For this card I reversed masked the umbrellas and stamped the flowers on top.

Be sure to check out these two places for more inspiration!

Here is Jen's blog: http://jensinkspot.blogspot.com/2009/04/showers-of-love-mini-blog-hop.html

Here is Laurie's blog: http://soapboxcreations.blogspot.com/2009/04/showers-of-love-mini-blog-hop.html

And the Paperwings Gallery!

Have a super weekend!!

Must stop eating...

coffee cake! For Easter brunch I made an egg/bread/sausage casserole and then we had yummy scones, a crumb cake that I made (out of a box but it was delicious) and then last minute I decided to try this recipe for Orange Coffee Cake that Kim from Sunshiny Days blogged about. Talk about quick, easy and tasty -- and as she recommended, I used pecans (lots) because I had them on hand and my cream cheese was past it expiration date so I skipped that! Well, we had plenty of leftovers and I've been eating coffee break for breakfast, with a cup of coffee as a mid morning snack and then as a late afternoon pick me up. ooohhhh....I am one happy gal.

Today's card features "Kevin" from Mabelle's special vintage set that is available only this month. I come from a family of brunettes so I tend to color in everyone with brown hair but I stretched myself and tried some blonde locks for this little guy. I like it! I also wasn't a 100% pleased with the color of the flower he was holding (too dark) so I tried a little trick I'd read about...colored pencils over markers! I used my white pencil just at the edge and it really gave it some dimension. I used the color pencil too for the skin color.

Card Materials:

Stamps:

Papers: Lilly Anna cardstock, DCWV green #1, an old page from a book!

Accessories: buttons, bic markers, colored pencils, scrapper's floss

A beautiful day!

I hope you had a wonderful Easter yesterday - I was so happy that my sister and her family could come to visit us for our church service and brunch. Today my husband started a new job ... and with the "good news" of Easter it is indeed a beautiful day! I'd like to share one of my favorite songs (okay, I have many!!) and it was wonderful when the choir sang it yesterday and then I heard it on the radio in the car this morning so I knew I had to share the link even though the sound is not perfect...
My redeemer lives - Nicole C Mullens

I had to take this photo at least 6 times and the last time I tried holding a flashlight in one hand and the camera in the other. I think the purples and reds combined with the bright white make it really difficult to capture. I paper pieced the two little birds and again, it's really just a simple card.


Card Materials:
Stamps: Beautiful Day
Papers: Miss Moxie Soar with it Collection and cardstock

I was so happy to get my little box of In Bloom blossoms and buttons from my latest order from The Angel Company! These Making Memories doo dads were in the Serendipity magalogue and come in beautiful colors. I already had the Sophia colors and couldn't wait to add to my collection!




Wishing you all the best today and always!!

Luray Caverns day trip

We had such a great time during our family outing on Thursday - the kids were actually intrigued by the caves (they even listened to the narrations and commented on things!)and had fun running through the largest garden maze in the East. At one point we were 164 feet underground and every where you looked, there were spectacular things to see. My favorite was this shallow, still pool of water that reflected the stalactite and stalagmite formations hanging above it so perfectly that you were tricked at first by the image. My feeble camera didn't do it justice...

Today at the mall I saw another mannequin dressed in a black/white/yellow combo! That must be this year's trend...and as promised last week, here's my card using those colors. I know that this is a super simple card BUT, I love how the twists and twirls set makes a perfect background. The Just Because has some great little sayings in the set which are perfect for inside the card!

Card Materials:

Stamps: Twists and Twirls, Just Because

Misc: Flower punch, ribbon, button, Noir Palette ink

Hey! Did you see the news? TAC™ Bags are Back! April 9, 2009 - UNTIL SUPPLIES LAST

One of the best-loved promotions from The Angel Company™, is returning on April 9, 2009. WHILE SUPPLIES LAST, enjoy an awesome assortment of TAC™ images uniquely packaged for this promotion. Each bag is truly a surprise and contains a variety of images from current and discontinued stamp sets. Order one or order a bunch…these stamps are sure to pack your projects with lots of punch!

TACBAG TAC™ Bag Rubber Stamp Asst. $15.95

*Please note that one 8x10 sheet of Creative Cling™ cushion is included in the TAC™ bags. Because it is our goal to pack these bags as full as possible with rubber stamp images, it is possible that you will need to order additional sheets of cushion to mount every rubber image included in the TAC™ bag.

More Little Stinkers!

In my last post I asked, "which is your favorite Little Stinker?" There was one of the four that I didn't even cut out -- YET!! My mind was instantly changed when I saw this post at the main page of The Angel Company website, on Mischelle's blog called Savvy Projects.



We're off on a one day "adventure" trip...as a whole family! I'm so excited and hope to have some pictures to share when I return. Hope you getting to enjoy some family time too on this Spring/Easter break!

Who's your favorite...

Little Stinker? I love these guys and girls! Once again I turned to the Hero Arts blog for inspiration. The little "hill" is cut out of the recycled, inside paper of a roll of cookies (Hit cookies for my German friends!). I gave it a second layer, just the overalls, for even more dimension.

Card Materials:

Stamps: Little Stinkers

Paper: Kraft

Accessories: ribbon, black stickles, gel pen (eyes), staples, Martha Stewart crepe paper, CB flower die

Sorry for the short post today...Spring Break is in full swing here and I've got lots to do! Thanks for taking the time to stop by -- I really appreciate it!

A hit!!

I know you are thinking this is stamping related but, my son had his first hit in a baseball game today! woo hoo!! And, he made a great play on second base and got the runner out. I'm such a proud mama...tee hee. I'm also pooped! I will never, ever complain about football in the fall.

I wanted to share a card I made last week -- inpsired heavily by one I saw on the Hero Arts blog. I painted in the green and blue background on watercolor paper. The butterfly was first inked up with a pink pigment ink and then I came back and kissed the stamp with a purple palette ink. Once I embossed the butterfly, I cut it out. This set from The Angel Company is perfect for two step stamping or "kissing".

Lastly I attempted to paper pierce like my good friend Silke does on many of her cards. It's actually harder than it looks and I managed to get a little crooked on the bottom, hence the buttons and ribbon! sigh...Maybe I should have just started over for a cleaner look but with buttons being all the rage, I thought it might "work".

Card Materials: Butterfly Bits, hello retired

I've got sunshine...

okay, call me strange but I am so excited to see some sunlight out my window! It's been raining for days and we had the biggest thunderstorm this morning...that means spring is here! (Notice how it never thunders and lightnings in the winter?! hm...)

Speaking of other "keen" observations - yup, I'm on a roll here! - I just found this really cool download that is free over at The Angel Company website. I just love black and white based cards with a pop of color. The other day while I was window shopping past a Pendleton store, I saw the most beautiful white and black striped blazer and they paired it with a bright yellow sweater. I immediately thought of making a card with those colors -- look for it next week!

Sadly, I'm still working on taxes...but I'm almost done! In the meantime, I'd like to share my last muslin fabric card ... I just love the look and it's so easy to color with watercolor pencils and a Dove blender pen!

Card Materials: retired stamp set but I love this little house! DCWV Green #1 cardstock

Calling all Papercrafters

Mischelle, the owner of The Angel Company is having a contest open to all papercrafters - you don't have to be an "angel" to participate! Here are the details -- you have lots of time to enter the following Contest Categories:

Stamp Art
Scrap Art
Paper Arts
Altered Art

Don't forget to go over to SCS via my Bushfire link! They want to encourage the global community to read more about this cause and to view this video. With over 90 items up for grabs in the non-raffle prize gallery, there's never been a better time to spread the word and make a donation to benefit the victims of the terrible fires that recently devastated Australia. They are trying to reach $10,000 but have only raised a bit over $2000 (monies go to the Red Cross) -- and there are some great "non raffle" prizes for sure!!

And now a quick card share - and then it's back to working on taxes for me. Ugh, it's already day 2 of it, no wonder I procrastinate each year!!

This card has a "happy" mistake...so even though it's quite simple, I wanted to show you. It measures 4.25 in by 4.5 in and I love that size! I must not have cleaned my flourish stamp very well; and so, when I inked it up with the pink and stamped final, I had a blackish/greyish bleed through in some spots. At first I thought, oh no! but then I noticed the resulting color actually matched perfectly to the look of the papers.

Card Materials:

Stamps: Inspirational Sayings, Flourishes

Paper: Uptown Girl

PS. To get your stamps really clean (and what I should have used but must have been too lazy and put the stamp away dirty) is our TAC spray cleaner! It's amazing and gets palette inks off perfectly.)