Crafty Secrets Sweet Kids Cards

They're almost here! Sandy from Crafty Secrets just posted that she should be receiving the brand new "Sweet Kids", "Flourishes" and "Bird Lovers" sets in this Monday! I have been on a "Thank You" card kick lately, so the sweet kids set worked PERFECTLY with the "Thanks a bunch" sentiment!

I stamped the girl images with Brilliance Black Ink, heat set it and then colored in the images with my Copic markers.

The large swirl on these cards is from Crafty's "Flourishes" set. Here's the cool thing. Because they Copics give out such brilliantly bright color, it's easy to get them to show up, even on dark paper. I stamped the large swirl directly onto ruby red Stampin Up paper, and then just colored in the leaves and flowers with Copics.

At a make and take at CHA, Ranger was showing us how to doodle with their new opaque white Inksentials pens...so I used it here in a similar way. I doodled over the top of the swirl with the white pen to make the flowers and leaves just pop off the paper.



Well, I'm off to a meeting in Nashville, TN tonite so I'll be missing in action for a few days. Hope everyone has a wonderful, snow-free weekend! Did you guys know daylight savings time is March 9th? Spring is on the way!!!!



L.

A note of love!

Yippie! My SU order came tonite from my awesome demo!!! I'm sad to say it was mostly stocking up on cardstock, but I did get 2 of the new sell-a-bration sets with it! I had to order that cool photo corner punch too. I love using corners on my cards so much, that I HAD to make the splurge. I know this is something I will use a lot. This card was done using the Sale-a-Bration sets called "Merci" & "Lots-of-Thoughts". I cut the bottom thought off of the sentiment "Note of Love"....I think it's supposed to be a wedding sentiment because the bottom line of it says "happily ever after". Since I'm older than dirt & don't have many weddings going on anymore, I think I'll get more use out of it without that last line, so I can use it on all-occasion cards. Patterned paper is by "Tres Jolie", Ooh-la-la, Just perfect flowers. I doodled the outline of the card and the flower stems using swirly lines, then colored them in with Copic Markers.

Speed-Stamping, Lana-style!

Here are some more cards I did speed-stamping this weekend! These were based on a card Lana Lepinski did HERE. I finished close to 30 cards this weekend by cranking them out this way! This is an old Stampin Up set called "Sassy Stems"...I use it a lot for thank-you cards. I put the front of the card in my cuttlebug "textile" embossing folder, and then distresed the top with Creamy Caramel ink, to turn it brown. The paper is from Basic Grey's "Blush" line from last year. I didn't have the punch that makes a notebook paper type edge to the card, so I improvised and made my own with a crop-o-dile and a rectangle punch. Here's how I did it:



Set the guide on the side of your crop-o-dile to the depth that you want to punch the notebook holes. This will ensure that you get the holes in a straight line across your paper.






Punch a row of holes along the paper edge. (I eye-balled it, but you could use a ruler and mark off the increments if you wanted.)







Take the little flap that catches the punches off the back of your rectangle punch, so that you can see where the punch will line up.








Punch rectangles directly underneath the holes that you just punched. Continue across the paper.

Add the paper to your cards!

I must be on a bug kick.

This weekend, online friend Bevie Pearl issued a "speedstamping" challenge for a group of friends to replenish our card stashes! The challenge was to stamp quickly and get stuff done! I bumped the challenge up a notch and challenged each person to make at least 5 cards with 5 different simple layouts that I chose, for a total of 25 cards in 3 days. This layout was based on a card done by Carol Halvorson HERE. I chose cards that had minimal layers...although I love the look of cards that have tons of layering on them, for mass production it helps to use less layers so that you can quickly crank them out. I've loved these Papertrey ladybugs since I first got them in my hands. They make for QUICK cards! Stamp stamp, patterned paper, DONE! The patterned paper is by Cosmo Cricket, Jitterbug collection. I love that the flowers from this paper match the flowers in the Papertrey Little Lady set PERFECTLY! The patterned flowers are by Making Memories, "Chelsea's Place" patterns.

You can check out more speedstamping challenge cards on Lana Lepinski's blog & Kookie Kopp's, also!

The bugs are back in town!

ZOWIE, it's a double whammy Crafty Secrets Sketch challenge marathon for me! Darlene just posted the next card challenge over at the Crafty Secrets forum at Splitcoaststampers! This week the pinup girl is Carla (Stargirl) from Splitcoast! Her awesome layout & spring-themed card is our starting point for the challenge HERE! Come play with us if you love vintage & want to get your Crafty Secrets vintage mojo going!

The bugs here are celebrating around a big MUSHROOM....hey, I wonder if it's my Mom's mushroom from the cabin! Here I turned it yellow so it would match the green paper from Crafty's Earthy pad. I've always thought of this paper as Christmas/winter, but if you pair it up with yellow, BINGO! Spring! I drew the candles on the mushroom with a Copic Multiliner pen. At a Copic get-together that I attended at CHA, we had an opportunity to ask Marianne (from Copic) questions. I wanted to know what type of pen I could buy that would not bleed out with the Copic alcohol markers. Turns out they sell a pigment pen called a "multiliner", that is waterproof & copic proof. I got the .3 tip because it felt best to me, not too thick, not too thin. I used it this weekend for doodling and FINALLY get how to doodle ...you have to have the right tools! Ahem. I'm only about a year behind that trend. I also use this to fill in black areas of my image that didn't quite stamp off perfectly or dark enough (DUE TO USER ERROR, of course!)

Crafty Secrets Challenge at Splitcoast

I finally got a chance to play in the Crafty Secrets challenge over at Splitcoast Stampers. The challenge card this week was made by Darlene HERE : Darlene's Card. In the challenge, we could do any layout we wanted but make sure to use Crafty Secrets Cotton Scraps ( or any fabric on your card), distressing and a button or ribbon.

I had some adorable baby cotton scraps already matted on green paper from another project I was making but never finished, so I pulled them out and used them on these cards.

I love how quick they are to put together, because there's no coloring involved at all! The images are already pre-printed onto cotton twill fabric. Slap em on, and you're done! I did use the Crafty Secrets Girl & Boy stamp sets on these cards, for the sentiment and the borders on the patterned papers.

If you want to play in the challenge, you can see all the details over at Splitcoast HERE! This was such a fun challenge & got my creative juices flowing again! Thanks again Darlene, for your wonderful inspiration, and to Kristy Vernon, for posting the challenge for us!

Doing the happy dance! - BUGS!

I'm doing the happy dance on multiple levels tonite! First, I just finished my taxes! CAN I GET A WOOOooo HOOOOooo!!!!!! Secondly, the
"Bugs Life" Crafty Secret stamp set arrived on my doorstep! I have been DYING to ink these guys up! I can't even tell you how much I'm freaking out over the graphics on these stamps! They are the cutest!!!!

I played in Beate's sketch challenge this weekend, so most of the layouts of these cards are based on Beate's sketch HERE. I used Crafty Secrets' new "Flourishes" set for the cool black swirls. I swear, I never get tired of swirls. I'm in crank 'em out mode, because I'm short on thank-you cards. I typed up the "doing the happy dance" sentiment on my computer, because most of the sentiments in the bug's life set centered around 'celebrate' or what's the buzz...ADORABLE sentiments for sure! I wanted to use them for thank-you cards, though, so I thought "doing the happy dance" would coordinate with "thank you", which is printed in the middle of the card (off of my computer). Paper is from Eclectic Paperie (My Mind's Eye Out & About.

I also wanted to follow up and say THANK you to the 4 sweet girls who have nominated me as an "EXCELLENT" blogger! The sweeties are Carrie from pinkadoo, Suzy from Paper Monkey, sweet Camipink Turnbow & awesome Bethie Silaika from Freckled Fun Designs! Their blogs are OVER THE TOP excellent....make sure to check them out and drool when you have time!

I'm going to nominate some excellent bloggers myself...these girls have all just started blogging and they are all over the top UNBELIEVABLE~ check out my EXCELLENT choices!

Digifab - Angela Shober

LunarLana - Lana Lepinski

Happiness Blooms - Carol Halvorson

Kookie Krumbles - Katrina Kopp

Fence gatefold card - Hanna Spring Set

Here are my first samples with the other new-release Hanna set. The Springtime/Easter set will be released tonite at Midnight, along with the motorcycle-babe Route 66 set! The card to the far right with Hanna & her easter basket is a gatefold cutout card...the fence opens up to reveal your message behind it. I stamped the fence on the front of a yellow card (gatefold), and then cut around the fence & removed all but the fence image.

I punched a hole in the fence for the brad & metal anchor turn, and then put a Basic Grey magnetic snap on the opposite side, so that the anchor turn sticks to it when the fence is closed. I wanted to cut out the insides of the fence posts, but decided not to so that it hides your handwriting on the inside of the card.

I want to say thank you to the sweeties that have nominated me for the Excellent blogger award! I'll be posting my excellent blogger choices tomorrow night, for sure! I just finished my taxes tonite so that took a chunk out of my night. YAY FOR FRIDAY TOMORROW! :) L.

Biker Hanna!

I was so happy to have kept my Stampin Up tire track wheel when I saw the new Route 66 Hanna stamp set! .

I HAD to do a Harley Davidson colors Hanna card, and I knew it had to have a tire track on it! Hanna's bike is colored in with my "Sanguine" Copic marker (YR18), which is very similar to Stampin Up's "Pumpkin Pie" colored ink. I love this marker color because it's not such a bright orange. Works perfect for Harley colors!

I was brainstorming ideas for this set and decided it could be a fun get-well card, so I typed up "Wishing you a speedy recovery" on my computer and printed it off on Georgia Pacific cardstock. The only thing I wish I would have included on this card was the puff of smoke coming out of the back of the bike. I ran out of room!

Wishing you a speedy Thursday tomorrow! L.

You go, girl!!!!!!

It's a lazy Tuesday here. Ok, well it was a lazy Monday yesterday, too. I had all intentions of posting a Hanna sample but apparently couldn't get my butt off the couch. I got sucked into 2 of my new fave shows, Intervention & Paranormal State on A & E. Throw "Celebrity Rehab" with Dr. Drew in there, and I don't think I'd manage a blog post for weeks! Snicker!!!

This is an exciting week for Hanna...the long awaited ROUTE 66 Hanna stamp set is being released this Friday! Kristi had so many requests after the sneak peek on her blog, that she released this set early!!!!! My first card is not your traditional BIKER BABE card (I'm saving her for tomorrow)....I went all GIRLY with her because I found these great round stickers at Michael's in the valentine clearance! 3 sheets of glitterfied stickers for the low low price of one DOLLAH! I love bargains! I thought it would be fun to have Hanna on her bike running a stop sign with "YOU GO GIRL" as the sentiment! I love that this Hanna is girly enough to look perfect with PINK, yet you can turn her all BIKER chick and it looks great too!!!! Paper is by Sassafras Lass "Serendipity "Elegant.

I wanted to share some photos of how great the Hanna booth looked at CHA.... I think I reduced this photo small enough that you can't see the next set of RILEYS that will be released. Don't look too close, ok? I'll get in trouble~! :)

Here's the front view of the booth....

You'll probably recognize a lot of these cards, which were made by the Hanna Stamps design team. The center card with all of the Hannas was done by the talented LeAnne Yoho. It was the talk of the booth!

Here's a great photo of Kristi Ferro from Hanna stamps, and the sweet Joy Kennedy from Eclectic Paperie. These 2 sweeties rock my stamping world!!!!










These little square mini-cards were made by Pam Hooten.

I'll have more Route 66 Hanna cards and some samples from the Hanna Spring set every night this week. Don't hold me to that, though...I get sucked in by must-see-TV sometimes! :)

Happy Tuesday, all! L.

More CHA.

I cannot get sick. I cannot get sick. I cannot get sick. If I keep repeating this, it will work, right? I just woke up from a 2 hour nap today & I feel 'creaky'. If that's a word. I did manage to get a couple of new release Hanna cards stamped today...there are 2 more Hanna sets coming out this Friday! I can't publish them until tomorrow, so for now, more CHA pics!

The cute cartooney birdie in this "cute world" display sucked me RIGHT in to this booth. WOW did they have some cute stuff!

These Heather Bailey papers (Autumn Leaves) were hands-down my favorite papers at CHA this year. Even though the patterns are humongous, the patterns on the reverse side of the papers are tiny print, which works well for us cardmakers!

Here are the papers on a scrapbook page...look how adorable the prints are when you take them down to a smaller size.

It looks so girly-quilty here!

Matchy-matchy 3-d stickers! Need I say more?

Inkadinka-doo had the show-stopper for me this year. They have a whole line of sentiments called "Kid Quotes".

Boyfriends are a waste of time. Pick another hobby. Ahem. I think I could have written this one.

I NEED the one in the orange mat. "Don't try the cake, go for the icing!"

Personal fave.

These mini clear stamps retail for $1.49 each. I'm SO GETTING that little taco-bell dog! The poo-happens baby stamp is adorable too!!!!

They had some great large sets also.

Tomorrow: new Hanna stamp releases and photos from the Hanna Stamps CHA booth! Gnite all!

Thanks a bunch~

I'll have more CHA photos for you tomorrow; I'm trying to pick and choose the good ones out of my camera and I'll edit them down and post more once I weed through them. Tonite I've been working on thank-you cards. I had to use the new Crafty Secrets "Sweet Kids" set because I love how soft and pretty the images are, and they are so fun to color in.




The swirls from Crafty's new "Flourishes" set are awesome. I've been stamping them in black and then coloring in the leaves and flowers to match the patterned papers I'm using. I just bought a Making Memories "Chelsea's Place" paper pack today with my 50 percent off coupon @ Michael's.... I love that the patterns in this pack aren't so busy. It's easy to stamp a swirl on there and the swirl pops right off the paper. I finally went and bought the "Skin White" Copic Marker tonight...WHY did I wait so long to grab this color! It is the PERFECT marker color for skin tones! I've been using my "flesh" colored marker to color in the sweet kid's cheeks, to make them rosy and flushed.

CHA photos

This is the worst part about CHA. Coming home and realizing the photos you took look NOTHING like the beautiful eye-candy you stared at all weekend. Seriously, my photos are SUCKY to say the least!

I walked around pretty much in a fog the whole time. I swore I was going to take tons of photos to show you guy all the hot new stuff, but that went by the wayside after the first few booths!

I did get a few photos from Prima and this great new company called "Clearscraps" that sells clear photo albums that you adhere patterned paper & photos to. Now this is my kind of scrapbooking... I could complete this in a night and not have to stress about it being so HUGE and PERMANENT!

They had tons of different shapes; dog bones, cars, princess crowns, you name it! You may have to check out their website for better photos. Call me Sucky McSuckerson, the bad photographer!

Prima stole my heart this year. Their richly colored paper collections & new beautiful flowers come with PRINTING on them & are so shabby and vintage. I know I'll be hunting these down when they start showing up in stores.