{KISS: Keep It Simple Saturday and Sale-A-Bration Countdown}: Kindness Matters in a Simple Sketch

I love the good folks at 365 Cards and their Super Sketchy Sunday sketch challenges.  Their awesome sketch led me to this clean and simple card...

Kindness Matters, a 2012 Sale-A-Bration freebie (with any $50 merchandise order), provides us with the three butterflies.  I inked them using my Stampin' Write Markers, as they're all part of one stamp.  The markers allow me to color each one separately.  I stamped them first and then punched each out with a circle punch that fits.

The Doily Triple Layer punch is a snap to use...  I punched the So Saffron piece using the solid setting and then chose the most detailed setting (you get to choose from three settings!) to punch the Wild Wasabi piece.  Finally, a 1/2-inch Circle punch is what I used for the Rose Red center.

The doily stamp is inked in Rose Red Classic Ink and stamped along the bottom of the Rose Red piece for some subtle detail.  A length of Whisper White Satin Ribbon gives a clean, fresh bow along the bottom.

To give the circles more visual interest, I rolled each circle across my So Saffron Classic Ink Pad to give it some color along the edge.

Stampin' Up! Supplies:

Stamps:  Kindness Matters (Sale-A-Bration freebie with a $50 merchandise order!) (W127723, C127724)

Papers:  So Saffron (105118), Rose Red (102544), Wild Wasabi (108641), and Whisper White (100730) card stocks

Inks:  So Saffron (105114), Rose Red (100063), and Wild Wasabi (120975) Stampin' Write Markers, So Saffron Classic Ink (105213)

Accessories:  3/4-inch (119873), 1-inch (119868), and 1-1/4-inch (119861) Circle Punches, Doily Triple Layer Punch (122465), Whisper White Satin Ribbon (114616)

Looking for more Sale-A-Bration inspiration?  Check these posts:

{Sale-A-Bration Countdown}: Call Me!

{Sale-A-Bration Countdown}: Fresh Vintage

Happy March!

Sale-A-Bration! Why am I sale-a-brating?!

Oh, {Pennant}, how do I love thee!

{Sale-A-Bration Countdown}: Call Me!

Oh, delicious Designer Series Paper!  I'm heartsick that our time together is limited (Sale-A-Bration ends on March 31!)...  The Everyday Enchantment Designer Series Paper, a Sale-A-Bration freebie with any $50 merchandise purchase, has a bevy of lovely patterns and colors.  I'm a sucker for vintage and I'm in love with this paper.

This card was created for a challenge in which I was to include the image of a phone or the phrase, "Call me."  I love this old-fashioned phone from the set, Taking Care of Business, which is great for demonstrators (and other business-minded folks!).  I inked just a bit of it so as to just get the telephone (it has a sentiment about placing an order). 

What excites me most about this card is the punch treatments.  I layered a circle upon the retired Designer Label Punch (this one keeps sneaking its way back into my "current" stash).  One could easily do something similar with the Decorative Label Punch.  The So Saffron 3/8-inch Taffeta Ribbon makes as tidy bow across the two.

The second punch treatment is at the bottom of the card.  I just snipped a bit of the Decorative Label Punch to fit the column of Whisper White card stock.  I finished it off with a  swipe across my Poppy Parade Classic ink pad.  Finally, I used the Scallop Trim Border Punch on the column of Whisper White card stock to finish the look.

Stampin' Up! Supplies:

Stamps:  Taking Care of Business, Pendant Park (W115456, C120012)

Papers:  Everyday Enchantment Designer Series Paper, *a Sale-A-Bration freebie!* (126154), Baja Breeze (111352), Poppy Parade (119793), So Saffron (105118) and Whisper White (100730) card stocks

Inks:  Early Espresso (119670), Baja Breeze (111833), and Poppy Parade (119782) Classic inks

Accessories: So Saffron 3/8-inch Taffeta (122982), Decorative Label Punch (120907), Scallop Trim Border Punch (118402), Retired Designer Label Punch, 3/4-inch Circle Punch (119873)

Looking for more Sale-A-Bration inspiration?  Check these posts:

Will go *LIVE* on Saturday: {KISS: Keep It Simple Saturday and Sale-A-Bration Countdown}: Kindness Matters in a Simple Sketch

{Sale-A-Bration Countdown}: Fresh Vintage

Happy March!

Sale-A-Bration! Why am I sale-a-brating?!

Oh, {Pennant}, how do I love thee!

A {peek} at this week's projects...

I found myself with a little extra time to create this week, so I thought I'd share some of the projects I've been working on.  Stay tuned; I’ll be posting on each project, giving you all of the details…

A quick and simple "Thank You" note for my son's basketball coach:

 "Kidoodles" isn't just for kids; its fun and light-hearted illustrations can be used for adults, too! 

I created this card for a sketch challenge last week.  I love pairing punches together.  This one is the Doily Triple Layer; I just punched one with the detail setting and one with the outline shape setting with a 1/2-inch circle in between.  So easy!

This card was created for a color scheme challenge.  Blues and greens are my favorite, so this was a breeze to make.  I love the Fresh Vintage set, which is a 2012 Sale-A-Bration freebie (only available until March 31)! 

Another entry in a sketch challenge (and an entry for a shamrock challenge).  I wanted a card I could use year-round, so here we go!  Subtles Patterns Design Series Paper Pack is what I used to make the shamrocks (that, and my Heart to Heart punch)...

Have I mentioned how much I love to mix and match punches?  This dear old one in Poppy Parade is retired (I can't bring myself to not use it, though)...  The yummy Designer Series Paper is another 2012 Sale-A-Bration freebie...  Everyday Enchantment Designer Series Paper is a gift with any $50 merchandise purchase (until March 31).  I'll be using every last scrap, I can assure you!

One of my favorite challenges is one based upon an advertisement.  The lovely woman who owned our home before us got the yummiest catalogs and now so do we!!  This card was created based upon a Bombay Company ad.  Don't throw those catties away until you've snipped some card inspiration from them (color schemes, design elements, fun patterns, etc).  More about this to follow in its own post *soon*.

Voila!  That's what I was able to crank out this weekend between basketball, softball, baseball, etc.  Truly a busy weekend, but those stolen moments revived me.  Check back this week for detailed posts about these (and other!) projects...

Oh, {Pennant}, how do I love thee!

One of the hottest things trending right now is the pennant...  They're all over papercrafts and so I thought I'd enter the 365 Cards challenge a few weeks ago with a pennant entry for a challenge using 10 (!) different pieces of patterned paper in our project.  Here are all 10:

The Designer Series Paper that I used for this project is called Everyday Enchantment and it's a Sale-A-Bration freebie available until the end of March.  With a $50 merchandise order, you could receive this package of 12 sheets (two each of six designs).  I'm going to need to order more before March 31, as it's fast become one of my ALL-TIME favorites (and once Sale-A-Bration ends, it's gone).  

I've paired it with Pool Party, Poppy Parade, and Whisper White.  To make the pennants, I simply used a square punch to take a "bite" out of each rectangle.  

 Here's a quick video:

To make my "friends" stand out a little more, I've drawn the card stock across my Pool Party Classic Ink Pad.  It's adhered to a tag punched using the Jewelry Tag punch.

The "heartfelt" sentiment is from the Fabulous Phrases set.  I used the same pennant technique from the video to make the tab...

Stampin' Up! Supplies:

Stamps:  Fabulous Phrases (W117002, C120501), Tiny Tags (W118091, C118592)

Inks:  Poppy Parade (119782) and Pool Party (122938) Classics

Papers:  Everyday Enchantment DSP (SAB 126154), Pool Party (122924) and Whisper White (100730) card stocks

Accessories:  Jewelry Tag (117190), 1-1/4" Square (119865), Word Window (119857), Boho Blossoms (119858), Itty Bitty Shapes Punch Pack (118309), Crop-A-Dile (108362), 1/16" handheld (101227) punches, Stampin' Dimensionals (104430) 

A contest winner!

Woot!  My entry for the "Scraplifting with Hannah" challenge at the fab 365 Cards won!  Wahoo!  Thanks, guys!

I've been playing along with these challenges for almost three years now and I'm *LOVING* it.  I find myself stretched and inspired by their various challenges and I'm always so excited when I can participate (and THA-RILLED when the talented design team picks one of my projects).  Love, love, *LOVE* 365 Cards!

And the winner is...

Read all about it here.

Happy March!

Things have been nuts (good "nuts") around here, as evidenced by the fact that I didn't post *once* in the entire month of February.  Whew!


I've been busy in the studio and I have lots to share.  Let's start with a couple of cards I made for a challenge in which I was to "scraplift" one of the designers (Hannah at 365 Cards).  I took her card (you can view it here) and just recreated it, using the delicious and *FREE* Everyday Enchantment Designer Series Paper ("FREE" as a Sale-a-Bration goodie).  When I finished, I worried that it was too much like Hannah's to be entered in a contest, so I changed up the color scheme.


Here's my first effort, which you'll agree is super-similar to Hannah's:

To be honest, I’m heartbroken that this DSP is only available as a freebie for Sale-a-Bration.  I love the colors and motifs.  I wasn’t sold on the piece that I used in the background of the Poppy Parade card, but once it’s cut down, the pattern isn’t too much.  It lends itself well to Hannah’s design.  I love pairing it with the Decorative Label Punch (I’ve punched two; one in Very Vanilla and one in Poppy Parade).  

The Very Vanilla taffeta ribbon and the Basic Rhinestones class it up just enough (without being gaudy).  This design makes a quick card to make for a gift set.  

One of the beauties of the Designer Series Papers is the color schemes.  I can use the colors in the palette of the DSP to guide my project.  I did *just that* when I realized that my design was too close to Hannah’s to be considered for a contest entry.  Using the DSP to guide me, I changed the color scheme of Poppy Parade, Lucky Limeade and Pacific Point to Lucky Limeade, Poppy Parade and Pool Party.  I also added So Saffron taffeta (because that’s just what I had) and it worked well.

We're in the final month of this year's Sale-a-Bration, so if you'd like some of this yummy Designer Series Paper, now's the time!  An order of $50 in merchandise and it's yours as a "Thank you!"

Stampin' Up! Supplies:


Stamps:  Sincere Salutations (W 115068)


Papers:  Everyday Enchantment DSP (Sale-a-Bration:  126154), Lucky Limeade (122926), Poppy Parade (119793), Very Vanilla (101650), Pacific Point (111350)


Inks:  Lucky Limeade (122935) and Poppy Parade (119782) Classics


Accessories:  Decorative Label Punch (120907), Basic Rhinestones (119246), Very Vanilla (retired) and So Saffron (122982) taffeta, Paper Snips (103579)


Stay tuned; I cranked out all kinds of projects recently and I can't wait to share!

Sale-A-Bration! Why am I sale-a-brating?!

So you've just read my 2012 Occasions Mini Wish List post, and now I've got a list running of what I'll get for placing my order...  Gotta love a freebie!

Number One:  Fresh Vintage Stamp Set (page 6).  Lovely images which I'll enjoy highlighting with a bit of paper piercing...

Number Two:  Coordinating Designer Series Paper "Everyday Enchantment" (page 7).  Fabulous!  Offered in some of this year's In-Colors!

Number Three:  Sprinkled Expressions Stamp Set (page 8).  I love the sentiments and negative images!

Number Four:  Outlined Occasions Stamp Set (page 10).  Fun sentiments that scream for coloring with Stampin' Write Markers or Watercolor Pencils teamed with a Blender Pen!

Number Five:  Elementary Elegance Stamp Set (page 15).  I think the key image and sparrow image are my favorite...

Number Six:  One Big Sale-A-Bration CD (page 19)!  Imagine having all of the fun Sale-A-Bration images offered in a digital format!

Drop me a line if you'd like a hard copy of the Sale-A-Bration (or any other) catalog!  Enjoy and Happy Sale-A-Bration!