Quick Sympathy

Welcome!

I have a quick sympathy card for you today...

I stamped our Cattail Milk Pail on grey paper using black ink and colored it using watercolor pencils and a blender pen - including the blue and beige on the outside of the design.  I stamped our Remember the Joy Sympathy Greeting on a separate piece of the same grey paper and layered it with green and attached all to a folded green card.

Thanks for stopping by!
Sue

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Pointillism Sunset

Welcome and Happy September!

Nothing gets this mama more excited than my boys returning to school, which finally happened yesterday - yeah!!!  I hope my card today reflects my happiness :)

I started my card by stamping our Double Tall Pine Trees 3 times on white card stock using black ink.  I already had a couple of regular masks of this image from previous projects, so I made a reverse mask so I could color in the pine trees without coloring outside the lines.

Instead of using pencils or markers to color it, I used bundled groups of q-tips and my stamp pads - 3 different greens for the trees and then yellow, orange, red, lavender, purple and turquoise for the sky.  I totally swiped this idea from Nancy's 4th of July post :) I ended up sponging on some of the inks to cover all the white card stock after I was done with the q-tips.

Once I had my background finished I went to work on my greeting.  I stamped our Happy Days greeting on white using purple ink, die cut into a circle and ran the edges lightly over my orange stamp pad.  I was trying to keep the greeting as small as possible, but it was a little lost without the black layer behind it and after experimenting with several sizes of black circles I ended up with this black ring when I re-cut a larger one and I really liked the look of it.

So here's a couple of funny things about my card -

1) As I looked at all the white to color, I recalled the totally awesome card Nancy posted  recently where she used bundled q-tips as her brush.  She called it "warp speed pointillism"  Sadly, I couldn't remember what the card looked like, but I decided to try my hand at it. 

2) Today as I linked up Nancy's card (see link above) I realized I didn't change it up as much as I thought (sorry Nancy).  I really thought my "sunset" was going to be way different and instead it's very similar to her red and blue stripes.

Thanks so much for stopping by and patiently reading all the way to the end :)

Hope you have a safe and happy Labor Day weekend!!

Sue

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Sweet Sympathy

Welcome!


Have you ever run across a stamp you've had for awhile but haven't used yet?  That's exactly what happened to me last week and I told myself I was going to use it no matter what!  Here's what I came up with for our Flowering Tree Branch.

This ended up being a pretty easy card.  I stamped my pink card stock with our Flowering Tree Branch using black ink on both the right and left sides of my card.  I used a scallop die cut along the bottom and colored the branch using alcohol markers and a white gel pen for the center of the flowers.  I layered it on white and stamped just the 1 line from our Calla Lily Sympathy Frame using vintage green ink and attached it all on a folded white card.

Thanks for stopping by!!
Sue

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Line Dancing Fun

Welcome!

Not sure what it is about these new western images, but they are just begging me to stamp some scenes!

I started my card by stamping our Western Dancing Couple twice on some white card stock.  I also made a mask for each couple and then stamped our Floor image.  Next I masked the floor and stamped our Brick Wall above the floor.  While the masks were still in place I sponged on some red, black and grey inks on the brick wall and colored in the grout lines after I removed the masks.  I used a combination of watercolor pencils and alcohol markers to color in the rest.  For the sign on the wall I stamped just the one line from our Western Wording Square on white card stock, dabbed some red ink on the edges and layered it on kraft paper.

Thanks so much for stopping by!
Sue

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Saddle Up!

Welcome!

Everyone needs a quick and easy birthday card every now and then and if it's masculine - it's like hitting the jackpot!!

My card today was definitely easy and pretty quick - especially if you don't count the coloring :)

I stamped our new 4 in 1 Cowboy Gear as my background, colored it using a combination of watercolor pencils and markers and added a little black sponging around the edges.  To finish up I stamped our Saddle Up Birthday Greeting, die cut it and a larger red circle (adding maybe a bit too much black sponging around the greeting :) and layered it all on a folded red card. 

Thanks so much for stopping by!!
Sue

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Howdy Pardner

Howdy!

It's been a while since I've enjoyed a release as much as I'm enjoying our new western images!  I've been a cowgirl at heart for many years and always thought I'd end up living on a ranch somewhere.  Since that hasn't happened yet, I've got lots of ideas for our new cowboy and cowgirl stamps!

I started my card today by stamping our new Barn Door image twice and masking them so I could stamp our Wood Grain image to make my barn.  I masked that too so I could sponge on some green grass and then stamp our Easy Grass Background in 3 different green inks.  My Cowboy was stamped on a separate piece of card stock, colored and fussy cut.  For my hay bales, I stamped Vicki's Versatile Background on a scrap of white card stock using tan ink and sponged on some yellow, orange and brown inks.  I cut out the 3 rectangles, added the baling wires, roughed up the edges and stacked them for my cowboy to lean on.  Next I stamped the Howdy Pardner portion of our Western Wording Square on scrap and stamped the Wood Grain right on top and die cut both it and a slightly larger brown circle and attached them to my barn door.

Thanks so much for stopping by!!

Sue

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Cowboy Cactus

Welcome!

Are you ready for some new designs?  We have some wonderful western designs coming your way in the next week or two and here's a sneak peek of two of my favorites!

I started with my background by stamping our Western Wording Square in brown ink on beige card stock and cutting it to fit a folded brown card.  For my focal image I stamped our Cowboy Cactus on white, sponged in the sky and colored the rest using a combo of watercolor pencils and a blender pen.  Once my coloring was complete I used oval die cuts and attached them to the center on my background!  Easy peasy!!

Thanks so much for stopping by!!
Sue

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Dogwood Sympathy

Welcome!

I was looking to replenish my stash of sympathy cards and while this card took a bit of trying I love how it all came together!

I started by stamping our Dogwood Branch using black ink on kraft paper.  Instead of doing a "normal" coloring job I used a white gel pen to just add some lines on the larger parts of the stamp and then filled in the smaller pieces.  Using the same gel pen I made dots around each image and when a couple got a little close, I said "what the heck" and filled in the whole bottom with the dots and loved it!  Since the top was looking a little bare I added a dot border.  That's where things got a little tricky, cause while I loved my background the stamp I was trying to use for the greeting was just too big and it covered my background too much.  Once I switched to our smaller Thoughts, Prayers and Love greeting it all pulled together!  The black frame was cut from a die set I bought on Amazon (Whitelotous Lace Rectangle) and I carried on my white dots onto the sentiment layer.  The black stripe in back of the greeting is a black ribbon that I added the white brads to.

Thanks so much for stopping by!
Sue

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Star filled birthday

Welcome!

I recently used our Shooting Star stamp on a patriotic card and since it was just sitting there on my desk waiting to be put away I decided to give it another workout!

This is a pretty easy card for the most part.  I cut a piece of card stock 5" square and stamped our Shooting Star in each corner using black ink.  I stamped our Happy Moments birthday greeting on white and die cut it and a slightly larger yellow circle.  Once they were attached to my card I stamped just the star part of the Shooting Star and colored and fussy cut the start and attached them on top using foam tape to pop them up a bit.

I thought it was pretty amazing how the stars fit so well around the greeting that I looked for another greeting that would work and found that our New Years Circle worked as well, so I did a quicker no color version.

Thanks so much for stopping by!!
Sue

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Motorcycle Birthday

Welcome!

I don't think I've met a stamper yet who hasn't struggled with masculine cards, so I'm always thrilled when I come up with one.  Today's card is not only a masculine card it also came out better than I expected :)

I started my card by die cutting the center out of my red card stock and then stamping our Argyle Diamond multiple times in a curve across the front trying to make it look like a tire's tread pattern and dabbing on a bit of black ink to dirty it up a bit.  Next I stamped our Wherever You Go birthday greeting using black ink on white card stock and adhering it to the back of my red layer and trimming it outside the red layer.  Next I put the die back in place (there is a right side up) and using a gel pen I traced a red line inside and a black line outside.  To finish up my card I stamped our Motorcycle on white, colored, fussy cut and attached it the bottom right corner and mounted the whole thing on a folded black card.

Thanks for stopping by!!
Sue

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Soldier Thank You

Welcome!

What better time of year to thank our soldiers than the 4th of July? 

My original plan was to stamp the ends of the Shooting Star stamp in white and then emboss them with white embossing powder, but I got to thinking that if the misti will help get a really black image it can do the same with white, so I loaded it in my misti and stamped each one twice, plus all I had to do was rotate my card and it was in the same position both top and bottom.  Next I stamped our Soldiers of America greeting in black ink on red card stock (again using my misti) and layered it on both white and blue.  I stamped the Shooting Star 4 times on scrap using black ink and after coloring and fussy cutting I adhered them as shown and attached all to a folded blue card.

Thanks so much for stopping by!
Sue

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Pink Birthday Card

Welcome!

I needed a quick birthday card this week and this is what I came up with.  It was supposed to be a no color card, but in the end I couldn't resist adding a little pink on pink :)

I started my card by stamping and embossing the left side of some pink card stock with our Dogwood Flower using silver ink and silver embossing powder.  I stamped our Happy Moments greeting on a scrap of the same pink paper using the same ink and powder and die cut it using an oval die.  I stamped the small flowers from the dogwood flower on the leftover oval then added the pink and green coloring, die cut the tiny flowers and attached it all together.

Thanks for stopping by!
Sue

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Floor and Wall Tutorial

Welcome!

I recently did a "make n take" at a stamp show that I thought I'd share with you :)

I used 4 of our stamps to create this card:

Country Window

Spring Crocus

The Floor

Brick Wall

a few masks and a bunch of coloring :)

Once the masks were made, total stamping time is less than 5 minutes!

 Step 1 - Stamp window and tulip bucket

Step 2 - Cover both with masks

Step 3 - Stamp floor image on top of tulip bucket mask

Step 4 - Mask floor

Step 5 - Stamp brick wall slightly overlapping floor mask

Step 6 - Finish stamping brick wall.

Step 7 - Dab dark grey, black and red inks on bricks

Step 7 - Remove masks and start coloring (I did all the cement grout a medium grey)!

Thanks so much for stopping by!
Sue

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Hot Diggity Dog!

Welcome!

A couple of weeks ago I told you I was on a mission to get a little more creative with our Floor image and today I have another one for you - a deck!

This was a fun card to make if you like the magic of masking.  Doesn't seem to matter how often I use a mask, I still get a little giddy when I remove it :)

I started my card by stamping our Grillin' Dude and his Faithful Friend next to him both using black ink.  I cut out a mask of each one (I didn't worry about the shish-kabob) and attached them to my card and stamped our Add A Fence across the back 3 times.  Then I cut out 3 masks of the fence, but I only cut the bottom on 2 of them and 1 was cut completely.  After attaching all 3 I stamped the Floor image.  Now it was time to color.

Coloring the sky was my biggest challenge.  Since I'm a big fan of sponging my skies, I left the man, dog and fully cut fence mask in place and sponged away.  I simply moved the fence mask as I reached each section of the fence.  Once that was done I used a combination of watercolor pencils and alcohol markers to finish my coloring.  I stamped the Diggity Dog greeting in the sky using blue ink and then layered my scene on black card stock and then a folded red card.  This could also make a great Father's Day card with a simple change of greeting :)

Thanks so much for stopping by!!
Sue

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Fishing Fun

Welcome!!

My stamping challenge for myself recently is to see how many different ways our Floor stamp can be used.  Aside from a regular floor I've seen it used as a stage, a table, a fence and sun rays (if I'm not mistaken) and now...a pier!

Stamping this one layer card was easy, quick and fun, but the coloring took me longer than I assumed it would.

I started my card by stamping the Seaside Dock using black ink.  Next I stamped our Fisherman off to the side and stamped it a 2nd time on copy paper to make my mask.  Once the mask was in place I stamped our Floor image.  With the fisherman mask still in place I masked off from the dock and sponged on some turquoise for my sky.  I reversed that mask to cover the sky and covered my floor with another mask so I could sponge the water using a couple of different blues and a bit of green.  Once all the masks were removed I used a combination of pencils and markers to color the rest of my scene and added the waves using a white gel pen.  The Retirement Greeting was stamped right on the pier using blue ink, then it was layered it on black and a folded red card.

Thanks so much for stopping by!!
Sue

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Wheelbarrow Fun!

Welcome!

It has been a crazy week here in Connecticut and once again it's all due to the weather!  We had a severe storm hit our area on Tuesday evening that knocked down hundreds of trees and left many of us without electricity.  Driving has become a real challenge with many roads either closed or partially blocked by trees.  And we were the lucky ones since there were actual tornado's not too far away!  But through it all, stamping goes on :)

My card today uses our new Flower Wheelbarrow - without the flowers.  I started by stamping both the Flower Wheelbarrow and Wags the dog on separate pieces of card stock, coloring and fussy cutting both.  My background was sponged with blue on top and green on the bottom and then I used our Easy Grass Background and some additional green ink.  Once I had that all put together, I stamped our Sit, Stay Greeting, the first 2 sections on separate pieces of card stock that I fussy cut into clouds and the last section directly on my card. 

Thanks so much for stopping by!
Sue

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Go Hog Wild Grad!

Welcome!

Why is it that whenever I have the perfect card, I have no one to give it to?  That is my dilemma with our new Graduation Stamps.  What's cuter than a piggy in a grad cap holding a diploma with the message to "go hog wild"???

I started my card by stamping our new Go Hog Wild greeting over and over again (thank you misti!) on a piece of white card stock using black ink.  I layered it on bright yellow and mounted it on a folded red card.  For my focal images they were simply stamped (and colored if necessary), tapped on the edges of a black stamp pad, layered with red and mounted.  Quick and simple!  I could have easily made several of these in multiple school colors, instead it goes into the file with the hope that I'll remember it next time I need a graduation card :)

Thanks for stopping by!
Sue

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Thank You Wheelbarrow

Welcome!

Have you checked our our new images yet?  One of my favorites is our new flower wheelbarrow

I started my card by stamping our new Flower Wheelbarrow on the lower right side of my card.  After masking it I stamped our Picket Fence and then cut out a couple of the flowers from our Broken Flower Fence and a few grass sections from our Easy Grass Background.  After removing the mask I sponged the blue sky and green grass, not worrying too much about the color getting on the flowers and fence and then just used darker colors to color in the fence. flowers and wheelbarrow.  Once I had it trimmed to the correct size I stamped our new Deco Thank You using black ink.

Thanks for stopping by!

Sue

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A New Beginning

Welcome!

I have a sneak peek for you today of a couple of new stamps that will be available on our website on Tuesday May 1st.

I stamped our new Flower Scroll twice on the bottom of a piece of white card stock using black ink and colored them with a combination of watercolor pencils and markers.  I layered it on purple paper and mounted it on a folded dull silver card.  The greeting was stamped on a scrap of white and die cut and mounted on a larger die cut oval in purple.  It definitely needed a little something where the 2 flower scrolls came together and since my bow die cut was out and convenient I added a matching purple bow in the middle.

Thanks for stopping by!

Sue

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Bee Happy

Welcome!

I'm thinking if we all wish reaalllly hard we just might actually see some spring weather soon.  I was totally thinking about spring as I made my card for today, so I've done my part :)

I started my card by stamping our Daisy Bloom and Bitsy Bee on separate pieces of white card stock using black ink, coloring and fussy cutting them.   Once my grey layer was cut to size, I added a strip of black card stock and stamped our Spring Bee Happy Greeting above and below.  Before mounting the daisy I added a yellow flower brad to the center and added a little curve to the petals using an embossing stylus.

Thanks so much for stopping by!!
Sue

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