Today's SU Ink Sneak Peeks

Unfortunately, I have nothing new to show you today. I didn't get home until 1:30 this morning from the Monday Night Football game last night. Woo Hoo! GO STEELERS!!! But there are three final sneak peeks of the great Storage Units, Ink and More sets being released tomorrow. Check out what Mary Jo, Dawn and Jen made!

Sparkling Surprise

This is the last week for the Meet the Verve Diva challenges on the Verve Forum at Splitcoast. Jen's the host and her challenge is to use purple. So here we go!

I was shopping last week and saw a really pretty pale purple comforter with really dark brown swirly stitching and details, so that's where my color combo originated. I wanted to keep my layout simple and modern like that comforter was.

I stamped the bird on pearl white paper and gave it some light color with my water brush and SU! inks, adding Star Dust stickles when it had dried.

What's In It?

Stamps: Birthday Surprise, So Happy (Verve)

Paper: pearlized white (Paper Accents); pale plum, chocolate chip (Stampin' Up!)

Ink: onyx black (Versafine); pale plum, perfect plum, certainly celery, old olive (SU!)

Accessories: paper piercer and template, white embossing powder, 1/2" and slot punches (SU!); circle nestabilities dies (Spellbinders); brads (Creating Keepsakes); ribbon (American Crafts); Star Dust Stickles; corner rounder (EK Success); white thread, dimensionals

You can find three more gorgeous Storage Units, Ink and More sneek peaks today. Be sure to check out Kimberly, Susan, and Kathie's blogs.

Enjoy the Birdies

I've got another quickie post today. I feel like I'm saying that almost every day lately. But time really is flying by.

I rock n' rolled the birdies in pretty in pink then rose red ink. The flowers are a cuttlebug die, sponged, with each petal snipped.

Stamps: Black Tie Birdies, Artful Elegance (Verve Stamps)
Paper: white (Papertrey Ink); rose red, pretty in pink, Cutie Pie (Stampin' Up!)
Ink: pretty in pink, rose red (SU!)
Accessories: pink grosgrain, earth elements brads (Stampin' Up!); Bride's pearl (Michael's); flower dies (Cuttlebug); dimensionals, sponge

You'll also find some great new sneak peaks for Storage Units, Ink and More today at Debbie and Leigh's blogs. Don't miss those.

Take a Peek

It's almost October 1st, which means it's almost time for another Storage Units, Ink and More release. Your sneak peeks start today with me and Lauren, and continue through Tuesday.

For this card, I used a few of the accessories from the Giving Thanks stamp set as my focal point. I think it's so fun how you can use the sets for very cute cards, or change it up a bit for a more sophisticated card. The stalks of wheat, corn, and gourd were all stamped on watercolor paper and colored with SU! markers and a water brush. I used Beate's Weekend Sketch Challenge for my layout. The papers are from Webster's Pages, and I added some color to the otherwise brown and white ones (the two on the right).

What's In It?
Stamps: Giving Thanks (SU Ink)
Paper: Webster's Pages coco collection, SU! chocolate chip, pumpkin pie, bordering blue, Strathmore watercolor paper
Ink: onyx black Versafine, SU! markers in so saffron, apricot appreal, pumpkin pie, garden green, bordering blue
Accessories: water brush, Michael's ribbon, slot punch, Swiss dot cuttlebug folder, circle and long scalloped rectangle nestabilities dies, dimensionals

For Your Shining Star

Today I have a treat bag for the shining star in your life. It is a 2-5-7-10 box. I cut the zig zag trim separately with decorative scissors and glued it to the inside of the finished box. The ribbon handle is attached with star shaped eyelets and a cropodile.

This totally cute little astronaut is from Lizzie Anne's Out of This World stamp set, as are the sentiment and stars. The astronaut is stamped on watercolor paper and colored with Stampin' Up! markers and a water brush. The stars and silver embossed and cut out also. Papers by Making Memories.

Thanks for stopping by.

Use Your Imagination

Yes, I'm asking you to use your imagination a little today. Why? Because this is a CARAMEL APPLE GIFT KIT. "But I only see an apple", you say. Well, that's where the imagination comes in. IMAGINE you see a craft stick and a bunch of caramel candies in there too. I don't keep junk food in the house, and it is my policy not to buy junk food just for craft projects. Because you know where that will lead, right? Although a caramel apple wouldn't be that bad of a treat.

Soooooo, I used today Storage Units, Ink Whatchadoin' Wednesday sketch challenge as my layout for the CARAMEL APPLE KIT topper. The sentiment and images come from the Leaf It to Me set. I added a little zig zag stitching and the brads keep the topper closed and attached to the cellophane bag. The back includes directions for making your CARAMEL APPLE, printed on more of the so saffron designer print paper.

What's In It?

Stamps: Leaf It to Me (SU Ink)
Paper: chocolate chip, vanilla, so saffron prints (SU!); screen door (My Mind's Eye)

Ink: graphite Brilliance, SU! chocolate chip

Accessories: lasting impressions antique brads, sewing machine and brown thread, circle punch, Copic Markers, white gel pen

Stamps for Sale

I've been adding stamps, etc to a pile "for sale" in the corner of my stamp room until they are now at the point of falling over every time I add a new item. So, I'm finally motivated enough to get a list together. Buyer is responsible for actual shipping fees: $4.80 and $9.80 for flat rate priority boxes. You can pay by PayPal (sorry, no credit cards), money order, or personal check. But you'll have to wait for the check to clear before I can ship your package. They've been gently used and may have minor staining on the rubber or under side of the blocks.

Stampin' Up! (all retired I think)

Wheels $4.00
Love Swirls
Dots & Daisies
Double Stitched Plaid
Bold Baroque
Bitty Bugs
Etruscan Vine
Snowflake
Swirl Fun
You can have one of the following for free with any wheel purchase as long as it fits in your shipping box and I still have one for you:
2 handles
close to cocoa ink cartridge
almost amethyst ink cart.
night of navy ink cart.
ballet blue ink cart.
glorious green ink cart.
eggplant envy cart. refill
forest foliage cart refill

$5.00
Made From Scratch
In The Sky
Thank You Blocks
Just Journaling (includes stencils)
Close to Nature
Mostly Flowers
Pocket Full of Posies
Delightful Doodles
Simple Saying II
Delight in Life
Nature's Wonders
A Little Love
The Fine Print
Vogue Verses
Paint Prints
Cute as a Bug
Blooming with Happiness
Best Blossoms
Wonderful Words
Fun Phrases
Lexicon of Love
Big Blossom
Fun Filled
Mini Messages
Flowers and Friends (missing butterfly)
Simply Sweet (candles cut off cupcakes, sorry)
Fabulour Four (slightly altered, ask for pic if interested)
Non Stamp Items
Stampin' Kids Tattoo Kit II
unopened Creative Paperclay
Paper Piecing punch

$10
Antique Background
Soft Swirls
French Flair
Harelquin
Framed Fun
Swirl Frame Fun
Love Without End
Spring Garden
First in Fashion
Sassy Stems
Riveting
Little Layers II
Good Times
Fresh Flowers
I Like Your Style

$15
All Around Alphabet (double mounted upper and lower case)
Architectural Elements
Etruscan
Shapes and Shadows
Simple Sketches
Crazy Alphabet
Sketch It (sorry, I alter the one sentiment to read: May this find you surrounded by those you love)
Greetings Galore (Sentiments mounted on sides)


Small Flowers eyelets (opened, a few used) $3.00
Gifts and Giving SU! hard back spiral bound book $10.00
Creative Ideas SU! soft spiral bound book $5.00


Other:

Ink Pads: (I don't have time to check the inkiness of these, so they're only $2.00 each)
StazOn
Azure
Royal Purple
Forest Green
Ultramarine
Olive Green
Blazing Red
Blazing Red Refill $2.00
Olive Green Refill $2.00
Ultramarine Refill $2.00
Kaleidacolor Caribbean Sea
Stampin' Up! Spectrum Pads
Taffy
Celebration
Pumpkin Patch
Fiesta
Parfait
Craft Pads
Green Galore
Yoyo Yellow
Brilliant Blue
Tempting Turquoise
Real Red
Lovely Lilac
White
Classic Stamp Pads (new style, retired colors)
marvelous magenta
positively pink
bliss blue
mint melody
baroque burgundy
eggplant envy
forest foliage
mauve mist (new in plastic)
Versamark (new in plastic) $4.00


Drop me an email if you're interested in anything.

Blessed Baby Birdie

I've got another of the many baby cards I'm needing now and in the near future. This one's for my friend who just had her little girl two week's ago.

I paper pieced all the bits and pieces in the bird and balloon (Birthday Surprise) with colored card stock. I like the soft, but solid look you get with this. A little different than coloring.

I used the Featured Stamper challenge for this week as my inspiration. I was so excited when I saw it was E3stamper. Shannon has the most fabulous gallery. I chose this card of hers to CASE.

You can see that I flip flopped the layout and changed the colors and images. I added a couple of rhinestone brads and highlighted all the swirls with Star Dust Stickles. And isn't this a great sentiment to celebrate a new baby? It's from So Happy, a fab mix and match sentiment builder set.

What's In It?

Stamps: Birthday Surprise, So Happy (Verve)

Paper: chocolate chip, pretty in pink, brocade blue, old olive, very vanilla (Stampin' Up!); a la carte croissant (American Crafts)

Ink: chocolate chip (Stampin' Up!)

Accessories: crystal brads (Making Memories); C-1 Copic marker; large oval and slot punches (SU!); light pink grosgrain (Offray); textile embossing folder (Cuttlebug); Star Dust Stickles; dimensionals

Scary! Monster

I took some time yesterday to play along with this week's Featured Stamper challenge at Splitcoast, before the week has completely passed me by. The featured stamper is Lazylizard, and I chose this card to CASE. You can see that I angled my main image, changed the colors and added the sentiment punchie.

That cute monster is just one of the many little guys from the stamp set, Monster Party. I stamped him on watercolor paper and colored with dye based markers and a water brush, adding a few white highlights with a gel pen. The background is the Cuttlebug Spots and Dots folder, which was then sanded to bring out the paper's white core.

What's In It?
Stamps: Monster Party (Storage Units, Ink)
Paper: watercolor (Canson); white (PTI); meadow, grape gusto, rich amethyst (Core'dinations); celery prints (SU!)
Ink: onyx black (Versafine); lovely lilac (SU!); cert celery, old olive, lilac, orchid op, black, going grey (SU! markers)
Accessories: spots and dots folder (Cuttlebug); grosgrain ribbons, word window and photo corner punches (SU!); black licorice brads (Lasting Impressions); white gel pen (Signo); water brush

Krafty Floral Blessings

For this month's Verve Project Parade, I paired my kraft paper with black and Wild Wasabi, and some soft white edges. I love how crisp black is on kraft and the great look you can get with chalk, craft or hybrid inks, like I did here with VersaMagic's tea leaves color. Those Abundant Blessings flowers just pop in real life. I added just a tiny contrast of color to all that green with a pink Prima flower accent.

What's In It?

Stamps: Abundant Blessings (Verve)

Paper: wild wasabi, black, kraft (SU!)

Ink: onyx black (Versafine); cloud white, tea leaves (VersaMagic)

Accessories: ribbon (May Arts), ribbon tag trio and circle dies (Spellbinders), Score Pal, paper piercer (SU!), flowers (Prima), black licorice brads (Lasting Impressions), dimensionals

Have you pulled out your kraft paper yet? Or how about some other natural fiber material like hemp, twine, string, cotton, etc.? We can't wait to see YOUR project parade creations! Then link your project to this post for a chance to win $15 in Verve Bucks. Deadline: September 30. Keyword: VVPP06

Five On One

It's another Whatchadoin' Wednesday Challenge for Storage Units, Ink. Among a million other things, I'm making ONE card using at least FIVE stamps! So sorry to post and run again, but life is wild right now. Love ya peeps!

Stamps- Leaf It To Me (SU Ink)

Ink- graphite Brilliance and Distress Ink

ribbon- SU!

die- Tag trio (Spellbinders)

Copic markers

brads- SU! Earth Elements

paper- papertrey white, Core'dinations

A Quickie Post

I only have time for a quick post today, so I'll leave you with the stamping recipe, and if you have any questions, just drop me an email or comment. HUGS!

What's In It?
Stamps: out of this world (Lizze anne)
Paper: celery, turquoise, pumpkin, saffron (SU!); white (PTI)
Ink: graphite Brilliance
Accessories: copic markers, american crafts ribbon, 1/4 inch circle punch, making memories brads, spots and dots CB folder

Out of This World

Here's a cute card for the little space ship lover in your life. A great way to say "job well done". That first report card is going to be here before you know it.

I stamped the moon and space ship (Lizzie Anne's Out of This World) with noir Palette ink and colored with Copic markers (N3, N5, B23, Y21, Y38, YR16, R29, 0), then added the glare with a white gel pen.

What's In It?
Stamps: Out of This World (LAD)
Paper: white (Papertrey Ink); chocolate chip (SU!); blue and stripes (Crate Paper-Roller Coaster)
Ink: noir black (Palette); real red and pumpkin pie (SU!)
Accessories: copic markers; white gel pen; making memories brads; crafter's tool kit; dimensionals

Gettin' my Verve On

Have you checked out the new stamps Verve released yesterday? I'm pretty sure my fave is Abundant Blessings. What about you?

Here are a few more cards I had made for the release. Enjoy!

Stamps: Black Tie Birdies, So Happy (Verve Stamps)
Paper: bashful blue, certainly celery, so saffron, Cutie Pie, Celery Prints (Stampin' Up!); white (Georgia Pacific)
Ink: noir black (Palette)
Accessories: ribbon (American Crafts); photo corner punch, crafter's tool kit (Stampin' Up!); Copic markers


Stamps: So Happy, Abundant Blessings (Verve Stamps)
Paper: rose red, bashful blue, Cutie Pie (Stampin' Up!); white (Georgia Pacific)
Ink: bashful blue (Stampin' Up!); noir black (Palette)
Accessories: thread; sewing machine; flowers (Prima and American Crafts); ribbon (American Crafts); brads (Stampin' Up!)

Stamps: Some Bunny (Verve)
Paper: cool caribbean, close to cocoa, old olive, very vanilla (Stampin' Up!); white (Papertrey Ink); Metropolitan Tokyo (American Crafts)
Ink: chocolate chip (Stampin' Up!); Versamark; graphite (Brilliance)
Accessories: large oval punch, clear embossing powder (Stampin' Up!); anique brads (Lasting Impressions); pop dots; Copic markers W3 and 0

One of THOSE days?

It's Whatchadoin' Wednesday? on the SU Ink blog, and today we're sewing. Check out the challenge here, and we'd love to have you play along with or without SU Ink stamps.

I also used today's sketch challenge at Splitcoast. You can see where I added zig zag stitches to each of my narrow strips of card stock.

I stamped this silly guy (or is it a girl with those eyelashes and lipstick?) and colored with Copic markers. The sentiment is computer generated, because she just looks like it's one of "those" days. I thought this would be a great pick-me-up card, because this monster definitely made me laugh.

What's In It?
Stamps: monster party (SU Ink)
Paper: white (PTI), celebration (American Crafts), mantis, nassau blue, raspberry, sutter butter (Core'dinations)
Accessories: circle punches, sewing machine and thread, computer and printer
Copics: R24, B23, Y38, YG03, C1, N3

Fantastically Magical

This day is slipping away from me. It's already evening and I released I didn't post anything yet. So here's a fun, colorful card using tomorrow's Verve release Birthday Surprise.

I'll just leave you with a recipe and hope to see you at the release party tonight, 10 pm Eastern.

What's In It?
Stamps: Birthday Surprise (Verve Stamps)
Paper: white (Georgia Pacific); so saffron, rose red, bashful blue, certainly celery, Cutie Pie (Stampin' Up!)
Ink: noir black (Palette); so saffron, rose red (Stampin' Up!)
Accessories: 1/2" and ticket corner punches, crafter's tool kit, earth elements brads (Stampin' Up!), glossy accents (Ranger); Copic markers

My Stamp Space

Somebody was asking about where I stamp, and this seemed like the easiest place to post some pictures. I thought a few of you might be interested too. I know I personally love to see people's stamp spaces. It's a little rough, but here it is. This is half of our third bedroom/office. It's pretty big since it's built over the garage.
This is my desk, and beside it is a two drawer file cabinet. I'll show you the drawers in a bit. The desk has a pull out keyboard shelf, a great place to keep my Fiskars paper cutter and Stampin' Scrub. You can see my ink pads, some ribbons and punches. One of the stainless steel hanging boxes holds my Copics.

Left of my desk is this bookcase (Ikea), the white CD tower to the right, and a spare table that holding my photo studio right now. This holds stamp sets, catalogs, loose stamps, 12 x 12 paper in vertical storage, finished cards, etc. The second square from left, second from bottom is my heat tool. It sits on a tray that I can slide out a bit and keeps my paper from blowing away. Some of this is non-stamping related storage also.
My Cuttlebug station. First shelf: dies, small embossing folders, ribbons on card stock. Second shelf: 6 x 6 and small patterned papers, nesties in CD cases, a2 embossing folders, plates.
Top drawer: all kinds of bulky items that just DO NOT look good in open storage.
Bottom Drawer: paper, including a page protector in each folder for that color's scraps.

Peaking at Abundant Blessings

Yep, this is a quick little peak of the new Verve stamp set, Abundanat Blessings, to be released on September 10. I fell in love with Abundant Blessings the first moment I saw it, especially the silhouettes. They make for such quick and elegant cards, like this one.

I knew I wanted sophisticated, so I chose my color palette of vanilla, black and kraft. After stamping the florals (those are three separate stamps), I layered the panel with different sized borders. The solid black vintage dies, as well as the vanilla strip behind them, add to the graphic feel of the card. I added a few softening accents with the ribbon and tiny gemstones on the flowers and by the sentiment, which is from Artful Elegance.

A few things you could win from Verve:

1. There is a one sheet wonder sketch challenge in the Verve Forums where you could win the entire September release. Details HERE.

2. My week hosting the Meet the Verve Diva challenge continues through Wednesday night. A random participant will win $15 in Verve Bucks. Details here.

3. You can leave a comment on each of the sneak peek posts at the Verve blog today and tomorrow for a chance at the new release stamps featured that day. Details here.

4. And finally, Verve is hosting a release party Tuesday night, September 9 from 9 pm to 11 pm Central time. That's 10 pm to midnight Eastern. There'll be lots of fast paced fun and MORE chances to win. Stop in and introduce yourself. It's a very welcoming, friendly group. Details here.

Whew! I think that covers it.

You're All That...

...and a bag of chips! Ha! That cracked me up the first time I saw this sentiment/stamp combo in the new Kooky Costumes set. So I just had to use them on a card. Wouldn't this make a cute, punny thank you card?

The image is stamped with Palette's noir ink (heat set) and colored with Copic markers. I cut and layered three squares for the other layers, rounding all the corners. You should have seen all the little cut-off corners flying around my stamp desk. Those suckers really pop out of that punch.

The blue glitter brads I made myself! Have you ever colored your brads with embossing powder? This uses the same general rule. Hold brad with tweezers. Heat with heat tool. Dip in Heat 'n Stick powder. My brad was so hot, it melted the powder, but if needed you can give it a quick shot with the heat tool to melt. You do not want to overheat it though. Quickly dip in glitter. Re-heat to set. Tah Dah! I'm really tickled about my glitter brads. Can you tell?

Last, I pierced a row along the blue strip.

What's In It?
Stamps: Kooky Costumes (Storage Units, Ink & More)
Paper: Rasberry, Imperial, Jaybird (Core'dinations), white (Papertrey Ink)
Ink: noir black (Palette), brilliant blue (Stampin' Up!)
Accessories: brads, heat n stick, crafter's took kit (Stampin' Up!); Copic Markers; corner rounder (EK Success); blue glitter

Fairy Tales Frame

I don't even drink coffee and this challenge has been making me drool for over a week now! If you can pull yourself away from your coffee long enough to stamp something, we'd love to have you play along with this pink and brown inspiration challenge. Get all the deets, learn how you can win $15 in Verve Bucks, and link your creation HERE!

I thought these colors would work perfectly with the new Fairy Tales stamp set. The frame in that set has been calling me to add a picture ever since I first saw it. I stamped the frame in Jumbo Java VersaMagic, and embossed with clear embossing powder on kraft card stock. A 1-3/8 inch circle punch is a great fit for this frame. So I easily punched out the center. I embossed the sentiment in the same way on the circle I had just punched out and added a glazed brad. After layering everything together I stitched double lines around the bottom half with brown thread. Another decorative brad, some flowers with Stickles, and a few ribbon scraps finished it off. It's a little more shabby chic than my usual style, but I think it turned out so cute.

What's In It?

Stamps: Fairy Tales (Verve Stamps)
Paper: chocolate chip, kraft, pretty in pink (Stampin' Up!); Sultry (Basic Grey)
Ink: jumbo java (VersaMagic)
Accessories: sewing machine and thread; ribbon: polka dots(American Crafts), tafetta and grosgrain (Stampin' Up!); 1-3/8" circle punch (SU!); paper flowers (Prima); brads: glazed (Basic Grey's Sultry), pearl (Michael's); clear embossing powder (Stampin' Up!); fruit punch Stickles

Meet the Verve Diva

This is my week to host the Meet the Verve Diva challenge at the Verve Splitcoast forum. The challenge is to cut your image OUT OF THE BOX like in this card. Here's a link to the challenge. I would love for you to play along if you find some stamping time. Or you can even just drop by and ask any "get to know you questions" you'd like. In addition to cutting the butterfly out of the box, I also popped it up on a dimensional.

What's In It?
Stamps: fluttering by, petals and stems, beautiful you (Verve)

Paper: wild wasabi, chocolate chip, pink passion, very vanilla (SU!)

Ink: choc chip, pink passion, pixie pink (SU!)

Accessories: oval coluzzle, American Crafts ribbon, icons (MAMBI), photo corner and corner rounder punches, dimensionals

Here's a second photo, so you can see how the card opens.

Thanks for stopping by.

Lunch Box Notes

There are a number of really cute images in this new Storage Units, Ink stamp set, Kooky Costumes, that would making darling lunch box notes like this. Here I used this sweet little "hot dog". He kind of reminds me of my goofy long-bodied, short-legged sweetheart, Buster. I used the largest scalloped long rectangle nestability die as the base, folded in half to get about a 3.25 inch square note card. Wouldn't the kids get a kick out of this in their lunchboxes?

What's In It?
Stamps: Kooky Costumes (SU Ink)
Paper: white (Papertrey Ink); roasted pepper, palm grove, coconut cream (Core'dinations); Picnic (Webster's Pages Parlor Collection)
Ink: vintage photo distress (Tim Holtz); noir black (Palette)
Accessories: long rectangle and circle dies (Spellbinders); tiny tag die (Cuttlebug); vintage brads, chocolate chip taffeta ribbon (Stampin' Up!)
Copic markers: B00, B97; E30, E31, E55, E57, RV29, RV42, Y21, YG95, YR18, 0