Tomorrow's Fall Class

I am so excited about my class tomorrow!  We are going to make some fun projects for Halloween and Thanksgiving.  What a fun way to celebrate World Card Making Day!

This first project is an little pumpkin that would be gorgeous on the Thanksgiving table.  You could make them in many sizes and patterns and have quite the display!    I love the Spice Cake designer paper; I might need a whole pack just to make pumpkins!   

Halloween is just around the corner, so be sure to get those projects going soon!   Isn't this little pillow box adorable!   My friend Anne Marie did an adorable card where she put the witches hat on the owl and I HAD to make one!   These little boxes are perfect for your office mates or your child's Halloween party!     

Because it IS World Card Making day tomorrow, we have to make a few cards, right?   I wanted to do some fall cards, but not really in typical fall colors.   I used the Color Coach for the combinations and I like the way the colors look together.   High five, Color Coach; you rock as usual!  The card above is Soft Suede, Baja Breeze, and Cherry Cobbler.    The card below is More Mustard, Cajun Craze, and Night of Navy.  I kept them pretty simple so that they could be mailed with a regular postage stamp.  

I ran out of sunlight before I could take pictures of the other treats, so stay tuned for more tomorrow! 

Try It Thursday!

I had my first Try It Thursday event last night and I loved it.  I hope the ladies attending did as well.  I had two new people join me and they were wonderful!   I love meeting new people that enjoy being creative, especially nice ones that make me laugh.  :)

As a treat, I whipped up some sugar cookies and used the new cookie press stamps that will be available starting tomorrow!   Don't they look yummy?   They are so cute and a blast to make!   

This was one of the projects that we made.  I love it so much that I'm thinking it might be my Christmas card this year.   I was bad and didn't get any sent out last year, so I'm hoping to do a better job this year.   (I know, what kind of card maker doesn't send out Christmas cards!  Geesh!)  

Stamps:  Warmest of Wishes, Stitched Stockings

Ink:  Cherry Cobbler, Wild Wasabi, Garden Green

Paper:  Very Vanilla, Cherry Cobbler, Garden Green

Tools/Accessories:  Stocking builder punch, Cherry Cobbler Baker's Twine, Basic Rhinestones

How cute is this?    I never know if people might need a boy or girl card, so I decided to go with pink AND blue and it can be for everyone!    :)   I love those little booties!

Stamps:  Stitched Stockings, Teeny Tiny Wishes
Ink: Marina Mist
Paper:  Pretty In Pink, Marina Mist, Whisper White, Subtles Designer Paper stacks
Tools/Accessories: Stocking Builder punch, Word Window Punch, Modern Label Punch, Perfect Polka Dots embossing folder, Big Shot, Basic Pearls, White Baker's Twine, Marina Mist 3/8 taffeta ribbon

Finally, we made a little gift tag using the Top Note die.   I love this one; I was going for a bit more rustic (or maybe manly?) look with it and I think the colors are perfect!   Can you picture a gift wrapped nicely in brown paper, tied up with some Early Espresso Baker's Twine, and this little tag?   I can and I'm loving the idea!

Stamps:  None
Ink:   Early Espresso Marker
Paper:  Confetti White, Riding Hood Red, Not Quite Navy, Crumb Cake
Tools/Accessories:  Houndstooth embossing folder, Snow Burst embossing folder, Big Shot, Top Note die, Stocking Builder Punch, Early Espresso Baker's Twine, Crumb Cake 3/8 Taffeta Ribbon

If you have any questions about any of the projects, be sure to email me.   :)

More Stitched Stockings

I was playing around with my Simply Scored tool today and decided to try my hand at making a fireplace for my stockings.  I think I actually like it!   I'd noticed a few different fireplaces with this set, but none that used scoring for the bricks.  This did take some time and a lot of sponging, but it was fun.   What do you think?   Does it look like a fireplace?  Can you see the score lines and the woodgrain on the browns?    I even sponged the base with white craft ink; I was a sponging fool on this one!

Stamps:  Stitched Stockings, Woodgrain background
Ink:  Wild Wasabi, Garden Green, Early Espresso, Real Red, Whisper White (craft)
Paper:  Crumb Cake, Real Red, Basic Black, Chocolate Chip, Whisper White
Tools/Accessories:   Simply Scored, Stocking builder punch, Blossom Petals punch, sponges, paper snips, white baker's twine

FMS4: Snow Much Fun

Time for another sketch challenge at Freshly Made Sketches!   I hope you are enjoying the challenges as much as the design team.   I'm having a fabulous time creating and I am so thankful to Lesley for giving me a chance to be a part of this great challenge blog.   Now on to the card...

And before you say anything...Yes!  I totally realize that I'm addicted to this stamp set.  :)  It is seriously Snow Much Fun!  Ha!   Here I used my buddy the Color Coach to find a bit of a non-traditional color combination.   I love how it turned out, but how could I not when I'm using 3 of my favorite colors AND my favorite stamp set?!    I hope you enjoy it as well and will be inspired to create your own card for this fun sketch.   

Stamps:  Snow Much Fun, Petite Pairs

Ink:  Not Quite Navy, Cherry Cobbler, Staz-on Black, Crumb Cake

Paper:  Cherry Cobbler, Not Quite Navy, Crumb Cake, Whisper White, Neutrals DSP stack

Tools/Accessories:  Big Shot, Perfect Polka Dots embossing folder, Northern Flurry embossing folder, Dotted Scallop Ribbon Border punch, ticket corner punch, Decorative Label punch, circle punches, Cherry Cobbler seam binding, blender pen, Dazzling Details

Be sure to check out the rest of the design team as well!

Be sure to check out the rest of the cards from our fabulous design team and our featured designer, LeAnne!

Tui Nathan

Lesley Croghan

Linda Callahan

Jen Mitchell

Stitched Stockings

Thursday will be the first of my new "Try It Thursday" events, so I've been working on some ideas today.   This month I'm featuring the Stitched Stockings stamp set and the Stocking builder punch.  Aren't they awesome?    I have had so much fun playing with them today!   I'm sure I'll change my mind a million times before Thursday on the actual projects we'll do, but it's always good to have plenty of ideas to show.  :)   

This was one of today's projects, a cute gift tag.   Wouldn't this be adorable on a Christmas package?   I LOVE the silver glitter paper.   It is so sparkly and pretty!  

My second project was this adorable baby card!   When they introduced us to these products at Convention, they showed uses other than just Christmas.  Using them as baby booties was one idea and I think they work perfectly for that.   

Finally, I HAD to make a Christmas card.  :)  My score lines didn't photograph that great, but they add some nice elegance to this card and the top one serves as a perfect place to hang stockings.  

I hope you enjoyed my projects!  Stay tuned for more tomorrow along with my card for Freshly Made Sketches.  If you have any questions about any of the cards or Stampin' Up! in general, give me a call or send me an email!  

PP65: Anne Marie's Sketch

I have the pleasure of stamping with the design team at The Paper Players this week!   They are such a great group of ladies and I always jump at the chance to be a part of them.  Thank you, Nance, for giving me the opportunity to stamp in your place this week.  :)  Anne Marie is our hostess for this week and she has challenged us with a sketch.  Now I definitely found it to be a challenge, but I like the end result(s).   Channeling my inner Lesley, I made two cards!    I'm curious which one you'll like the best.  :) 

This was the first card that I made yesterday morning.  I had some new toys arrive on Thursday, so I had to try them out!   The Northern Frost decorative strip die is now my new favorite Big Shot die!   All the snowflakes are gorgeous and look amazing on cards.   I also added some of my new mica flakes to give my card a snowy look.   It always makes me sad that glitter doesn't seem to photograph well; this card has falling snow and a very snowy ground.   

Stamps:  Snow Much Fun

Ink:  Staz On Black, Pool Party, Island Indigo, Pumpkin Pie

Paper:  Pool Party, Island Indigo, Whisper White

Tools/Accessories:  Big Shot, Snow Burst embossing folder, Northern Frost decorative strip die, In color printed brads, mica flakes, Dazzling Details, blender pens

As I was drifting off to sleep last night, I had an idea for another card and it is my favorite of the two and the one I used as my "official" card.   Dasher is one of my favorite stamps and I was happy to dream up an idea using him.   I plan on using this as a thinking of you card this winter; I have a special aunt who I think will love it as much as I do.   Now I want to get some brushed silver card stock because I can totally see this card in Night of Navy and Silver.   

Stamps:  Dasher

Ink:  Versamark

Paper:  Basic Gray, Basic Black, Neutrals designer paper stack, Whisper White

Tools/Accessories:  Big Shot, Northern Frost decorative strip die, Neutrals glimmer brads, heat tool, black embossing powder

I hope you enjoyed my take(s) on the sketch.  Be sure to check out The Paper Players and see what the other designers have created to inspire you.  I hope you'll join us this week and share your beautiful creation with us.  

colourQ #103

I was feeling very Teneale-inspired today and LOVE how my card turned out.  I love to stalk visit her blog because it always inspires me to try new things and work on my stamping skills.   My card today uses the color's from this week's colourQ challenge.  Aren't they gorgeous together?    One of my favorite things to do is mix embossing folders and I did it again on this card.   I love the Stripes folder; you can really use it on any type of card you make!    I have to give myself a pat on the back after I stamped my image panel.   I STRUGGLE with two-step stamping, but I finally got it to turn out!   I first inked up the image with Poppy Parade and Pear Pizzazz and then used Calypso Coral for the second step.   Yay me!   :)

Stamps:  Simply Soft, French Foliage, Petite Pairs
Ink:  Wisteria Wonder, Poppy Parade, Pear Pizzazz, Calypso Coral
Paper:  Pear Pizzazz, Wisteria Wonder, Whisper White
Tools/Accessories:  Big Shot, Framed Tulips embossing folder, Stripes embossing folder, sponges, Whisper White 3/8 taffeta ribbon, Stamp-a-ma-jig

JAI 86: Just Add Snow

I was in a snowman kind of mood today, so decided to make a Christmas card using this week's Just Add Ink sketch.   The lovely snowflakes are from my new Northern Frost die that came in my order yesterday.  I love it already!  The different snowflakes are all so pretty.   I think it works perfectly with my Snow Much Fun stamp set.    Isn't he cute?  I added a bit of bling with some Dazzling Details and Basic Rhinestones.  (and of course you can't see my sparkly glitter, but it is there!   :)

Stamps:  Snow Much Fun
Ink:  Island Indigo, Pool Party, Pumpkin Pie, Staz On Black
Paper:  Whisper White, Pool Party, Island Indigo
Tools/Accessories:  Big Shot, Northern Flurry embossing folder, Northern Frost sizzlit strip, Dazzling Details, Basic Rhinestones, blender pens

September Thank You Treats

I love my customers and I always like to include a little something in their orders to show my appreciation.  This month I used the 1 x 8 cello bags from the Holiday Mini to make these cute little candy treats.  Aren't they adorable?   You can make toppers for any occasion and customize them to work with the colors of your candy.   I can't wait to make some for Halloween, Fall, and Christmas!   Here I used my much neglected Funky Four set to make some playful treats.   :)  

Lovely Fall Colors

Ann presented an interesting challenge at the Paper Players this week:  make a card with plants or animals.   I thought about using my Sock Monkey stamp, but since it seems that nobody loves him but me, I went with another favorite set, Lovely as a Tree!   I figured French Foliage needed a rest, but I still wanted to use this awesome color combination that I seem to be stuck on.   It's a great way to use up those two packs of More Mustard that I accidentally ordered last year!   :)   I also used a fun technique called thumping to get those pretty colors on my tree.   If you like beating things, it's totally the technique for you!   Just don't abuse your markers or stamps too much.    My layout comes from this week's sketch at Freshly Made Sketches.   Lesley made two cards using it, so I figured I'd try to keep up.   Finally, the challenge at Hand Stamped Sentiments was to impress with embossing!

Stamps:  Lovely as a Tree
Ink:  More Mustard, Early Espresso, Cherry Cobbler, Always Artichoke, Cajun Craze
Paper:  Naturals White, More Mustard, Cajun Craze, Early Espresso, Neutrals DSP stack
Tools/Accessories:  Jewelry Tag punch, Big Shot, Perfect Polka Dots embossing folder, Early Espresso taffeta ribbon (retired),  that punch with the really long name (Dotted Scalloped Ribbon Border Punch I think?)

And speaking of animals, can someone please tell me how this could even remotely be comfortable?

FMS3: Falling Leaves

It's Wednesday, which means it is time for another sketch and a new featured designer at Freshly Made Sketches!  Isn't this a fun sketch?   Lesley really started us off with such a great set of sketches.    I love this one; the possibilities are endless on what you can do with it.   I had just gotten my Spice Cake designer paper when I saw the sketch, so I immediately grabbed French Foliage and went to work on my card.  Our weather is still pretty warm, but I enjoy hearing about the leaves turning up north.   I miss that as Fall is my favorite time of year.   Maybe I should get a leaf die and make my own pretty leaves and scatter them all around my room.  :)  

Aren't those colors lovely?    I think they are the perfect combination for this time of year.   I'm not a huge fan of More Mustard, but pairing it with the right colors makes a HUGE difference.   I think French Foliage would look stunning in any color; it is just one of those sets that you can't go wrong with no matter what you do.  I love the leaves that I stamped and cut out.   A bit of curl with the bone folder brings them to life on the card.  

I hope you enjoyed my card and find the inspiration to play along with us this week.   

Stamps:  French Foliage

Ink:  Early Espresso, More Mustard, Cajun Craze

Paper:  Early Espresso, Cajun Craze, More Mustard, Spice Cake DSP, Very Vanilla

Tools/Accessories:  Dotted Scallop Ribbon Border Punch (I'm sure they could have found a shorter name for that), Early Espresso Taffeta ribbon (retired), Paper Snips

Be sure to check out the rest of the cards from our fabulous design team and our super featured designer, Nance Leedy.  

Tui Nathan

Lesley Croghan

Linda Callahan

Jen Mitchell

CCMC167: Color Challenge

The deadline for the Create with Connie & Mary challenge was looming, so I hurried into my room to see what I could come up with today.    I'm so excited because I won a free subscription to their 2011 Holiday Edition!  Isn't that cool?!

This was one of those cards that I had an idea for and it just didn't come together.   I kept messing with it, but it just wasn't happening.  I probably shouldn't even post it, but hey, I did make one!    I wanted my little owl critters to look like they were caught up in my spider web, but I don't like the web really.  I should have went with my first thought to use leaves.   Oh well...   Hope everyone survived their Monday!

Play Date meets Inkspirations

Another challenge combo to share today!    I loved the colors from The Play Date Cafe and the sketch from Inkspirations this week.      These two challenges intimidate me, but I decided to play along anyway.  They have some amazing stampers on their design teams, so be sure to go check them out!  

I know, I know...Fun Flowers yet again!   It took me over a year to decide to spend the money on that die and now that I have it, I can't stop using it!   It was an investment for me as I'm a bit cheap at times, so I feel like I should make at least one flower card a week with it.  :)   I struggled to figure out which colors to use in each layer, but I hope I chose appropriately.   It was a fun card to put together and I love the purples with the yellow!

Stamps:  None

Ink:  Versamark, So Saffron, Wisteria Wonder 

Paper:  Concord Crush, Wisteria Wonder, So Saffron

Tools/Accessories:  Big Shot, Fun Flowers die, Fancy Fan Letterpress plate, Perfect Polka Dots embossing folder, paper piercing tool, In Color Dotted brads, So Saffron grosgrain ribbon (retired), Concord Crush Stitched Poly ribbon, circle punch

Triple Challenge for Fall

       

Look at all these fun challenges!   Even though it has been too hot in Texas to really be thinking of Fall, it is my favorite season.   Watching the leaves turn is one of the few things that I miss about living in Kentucky.   There's nothing like seeing the mountains ablaze in red, yellow, and orange.   Anyway, my friend Kathy made a gorgeous card this week where she combined French Foliage, En Francais, and emboss resist.    I thought I'd try that too, but in the fall colors.   (I like hers better because the Rich Razzleberry is so unexpected and one of my favorite colors.)   I used ideas from three challenges, this week's Card Pattern's Sketch, the autumn challenge at The Friday Mashup, and the fall challenge from Hand Stamped Sentiments.

I hope you like the Spice Cake designer paper because I can tell I'm going to be using it a lot!  :o)    It is just so pretty and perfect for fall projects.   For my leaves, I inked them in Versamark and then More Mustard before using my sponge daubers to add a bit of Cajun Craze and Early Espresso.   Once I stamped them, I embossed them with clear embossing powder so that I could use the emboss resist technique.   I stamped En Francais and some other elements from French Foliage over them to add some interest.  To finish it all off, I added some Early Espresso Baker's Twine and some tags.   You'll find hints of distressing and sponging as well; these colors inspire me to do a bit of that for some reason.

Here's a close-up of one of  leaves...doesn't it look real?!   I love it!

Stamps:  French Foliage, Tiny Tags, En Francais
Ink:  Cajun Craze, More Mustard, Early Espresso, Versamark, Soft Suede
Paper:  Cajun Craze, Early Espresso, Very Vanilla, Spice Cake designer paper
Tools/Accessories:  Heat Tool, Clear Embossing Powder, Early Espresso Baker's Twine, Jewelry Tag punch, sponge daubers

colourQ #102

I'm a little behind on my challenges this week, but I wanted to try to squeeze in a few before the deadlines.   I found this color combination from colourQ an interesting one.   I wasn't sure what I wanted to with them, but I went in and pulled out card stock in all the colors and then glanced over my stamp sets for something that I thought would go with them.   I had wanted to make Kathy a birthday card using Friends Fur-ever, but with all the construction in the house this past week, I couldn't think enough to put anything together.   I know she likes the set and it isn't available in Australia, so I decided to make a friendship card for her today.   I need to get her cards in the mail before I end up with a whole box of them to send over!  :)    

What do you think?   I thought it was kind of cute.   I love those little dogs and they are adorable when you do paper piecing with them!   I'm not sure about my ribbon treatment, but I hope it looks okay.   :)

Stamps:  Friends Fur-ever

Ink:  Pear Pizzazz (I didn't have any Certainly Celery ink!), Temping Turquoise, Basic Gray, Poppy Parade

Paper:  Basic Gray, Poppy Parade, Whisper White, Tempting Turquoise, Neutrals DSP stack

Accessories/Tools:  1 1/4 Certainly Celery Grosgain ribbon, basic rhinestones, white baker's twine, Big Shot, Perfect Polka Dots embossing folder

Random Pictures

It has been a long, chaotic week with almost no time to stamp.     We decided to have wood flooring put down in our living room and what a headache!   It took 3 days, lots of dust, headaches, and frustration, but they are finally down and we are slowing getting everything put back in order.   (So pardon the out-of-place treadmill and box in the picture).    The kitties are also having to adjust; they are having a time trying to run across it!

Tonight is my second stamp club of the month and I'm so excited!   This will be our first meeting and I know it is going to be GREAT!    I pulled out my new Sweet Pressed Cookie Stamps (available Oct 1st) and made some yummy shortbread cookies for one of our snacks.    Please don't judge the stamps by my cookies; I can bake the most delicious quick breads all day long, but I cannot get one single cookie to ever turn out!   Jason said he'd help me make another batch this weekend, so stay tuned for more pictures.    

I am all set up and ready to go tonight.    I still have a few hours left before people arrive, so I think a hot tea and some Project Runway are in order.  :)

I posted two of our projects already, but here's the last one.   I wanted to demonstrate the awesome new Simply Scored, so we'll be making this cute Halloween 2-4-6-8 box.   Isn't he adorable?!

Happy Birthday, Kathy!

I wanted to wish my dear friend and fellow demonstrator, Kathy, a very happy birthday!   I just hope I figured out the time difference correctly and am posting on the correct day.   :)    I wanted to do a fun, special card for her and I hope she likes it.   It will be late getting there of course because I'm way behind on life and the mail to Australia seems a bit slow from Texas.   

I used the sketch from this week's Sweet Sunday Sketch and the colors from CR84FN to put together this beauty.   It has a ton of layers and dimension and just a little bling.   

Happy Birthday, Kathy!  I hope you have a wonderful day!  Eat some cake for me!  

Stamps:  Simply Soft, Petite Pairs

Ink: Versamark, Melon Mambo, Old Olive, Basic Black

Paper:  Cheerful Treat hostess dsp, Melon Mambo, Basic Gray, Basic Black, Whisper White, Neutrals DSP stack

Tools/Accessories:  Neutrals glimmer brads, Basic Gray taffeta ribbon, black embossing powder, heat tool, scallop edge border punch, circle punch

FMS2: School Kids

Lesley prepared another awesome sketch for us this week at Freshly Made Sketches.   While the sketch is a square card, you can choose to either make one of those or do what I did and go with a traditional A2 card.   That's the fun part of sketch challenges; you can use them as a starting point and see where your card takes you.   :)  

School started back the week I was working on my card and it just so happened that Greeting Card Kids was in the order that I received that week.   Naturally I had to do a school inspired card!   I did go back and pull out a retired apple stamp because teachers need apples.  I can hear all you teachers groaning over that; I bet you have quite an amazing apple collection.  :o)    I decided to go all in with my school theme and try to make my background layer look like a chalkboard.   I don't think schools even have those though; it's all dry erase and smart boards now.   I guess the kids are lucky; the bad ones always had to go beat the chalk out of the erasers back in my day.   I can only imagine what that would do to my allergies...

I hope you enjoyed my card and I hope you'll join us this week at Freshly Made Sketches!   I can't wait to see what you create!

Stamps:  Greeting Card Kids, Apple Blossoms, A to Z
Ink:  Whisper White craft ink, Staz-On Black, Stampin' Write Markers: Baja Breeze, Cherry Cobbler, Blush Blossom, So Saffron, Crumb Cake
Paper:  Cherry Cobbler, Baja Breeze, Basic Black, Whisper White
Tools/Accessories:  Cherry Cobbler seam binding, Baja Breeze seam binding, circle punches

I actually made this card first, but I thought it was too dark.   Switching the Baja Breeze and the Cherry Cobbler really added a brighter, cheerier feel to it and I like that one much better.  Don't be discouraged if your first attempt at a card doesn't turn out; study it, figure out what you don't like about it, and change it for the next version!    Sometimes taking a picture and looking at it on the computer screen will inspire me to go back and add or change something as well.

Girls Night Out Club Card #2

I wanted to do this fun Halloween with my second group this month, but I forgot to save one of my samples from my previous group.   I made this new version today and changed up a few things.   I don't really like making the same card more than once.  :)   I think that's why swaps make me grumpy.   I hope the ladies in my group will enjoy making this one.   It's such a fun card and not too scary.   

Stamps:  Wicked Cool

Ink:  Tangerine Tango, Basic Black

Paper:  Tangerine Tango, Basic Black, Old Olive, Daffodil Delight, Whisper White

Tools/Accessories:  Big Shot, Little Leaves sizzlit, Spider Web embossing folder, oval punch, circle punches, Owl builder punch

Girls Night Out Club Card #1

This week I'll be starting up a new stamp club and I'm so excited about it!     I can't wait to have this fun group of ladies over for a night of stamping and snacking.  :)    This is the first card we'll be making.   My great friend Rebecca sent me a link to a card last night and asked about the technique used on it.   I was in my craft room, so I grabbed my supplies and went to work to figure it out.   It was fun to daub on the color and see how each leaf turned out.   It makes happy when my friends and customers ask questions; it lets me know they are using their supplies and enjoying some creative time.  

Stamps:  French Foliage
Ink:  Cajun Craze, Early Espresso, More Mustard
Paper:  First Edition designer paper, Cajun Craze, Early Espresso, More Mustard
Tools/Accessories:  Cutter Kit, sponge daubers, Big Shot, Square Lattice embossing folder, Early Espresso Baker's Twine

PP63: Colors by Nance

Nance and The Paper Players have a fun color challenge for everyone this week.  I feel honored to get to stamp in Jaydee's place this week. :)  Thank you ladies for including me in the fun!   These are some of my favorite colors, but I'm not sure I've used them all together before.   It was fun to pull them all out and see what came to mind.   I am in love with my new Fun Flowers die and I can't stop using it!   I want to put those flowers on everything.  :)   I thought they would be perfect for this challenge.   I didn't go clean and simple, but I was inspired by the sketch at Clean and Simple Stamping.

My other favorite thing lately is to use a mix of embossing folders on my cards.   I think the different textures add a lot of interest and keep your eye moving to take it all in.   I even added in some crimping this time.  Lesley inspired me to finally purchase one, so you'll be seeing more of it soon.

Stamps:  None (Can you believe that?!)
Ink:  None  (What?!)
Paper:  Basic Gray, Whisper White, Old Olive, Rich Razzleberry, Neutrals DSP stack
Accessories:  Brights buttons, White Baker's Twine
Tools:  Big Shot, Stripes embossing folder, Perfect Polka Dots embossing folder, Houndstooth embossing folder, Fun Flowers die, Crimper, Blossom Petals punch

HSSC83 CAS

The designers at Hand Stamped Sentiments challenged us to keep it simple this week and make a clean and simple card.    I don't know why we call it simple...   I think these type of cards are by far the hardest to design.   I never know at what point I cross the "simple" line and end up on the wrong side of the tracks.   Clean I can do with my eyes closed, but simple?    Much harder.    I'm not sure if this card is too simple, but I do like it.   Don't tell my Woodland Walk paper, but I think Spice Cake might be my new favorite designer paper.  It is so yummy!    I finally used my I-MUST-HAVE-THEM-OR-I-MIGHT-DIE tags die for this one.   We won't talk about how many times I've used them since I had to buy them.  :)  

Stamps:  Day of Gratitude

Ink:  Soft Suede, Pool Party

Paper:  Soft Suede, Pool Party, Spice Cake DSP, Very Vanilla

Accessories:  Linen Thread, Regals buttons

Tools:  Big Shot, Lots of Tags, oval punch

Bandit always seems to be the photogenic cat in the house, but here's one of his sister, Bella.   She's my shadow.  If I go, she goes.  If I am on the couch, she is on the couch.   I think I could pet her until her fur all fell out and she'd be perfectly happy to be bald because the petting was so good.