It's a birthday bash! {Winnie & Walter}

It's an exciting week over at Winnie & Walter, and I am thrilled to help celebrate their 1st birthday, as well as usher in their latest new release, which will go live tonight at 10PM CST.

I have a few little lovelies to share with you, showcasing the new stamps being released - they're all about celebrating! I make a lot of birthday cards during the year, so I'm always excited about new products to inspire my cards.

On this first card, I used the new sets, Sugar Rush and The Big, the Bold and Party. The sets pair so perfectly together, you're really going to want them both! I also used the new Scenery: Stripes set to add that nice little dotted line detail. From my current W&W stash I pulled out the happy die from The Big, the Bold and the Happy Cutaways. Cutaways are Winnie & Walter's metal dies, and these word dies are so much fun to use. I just love them!

Next, I created a card with an upcycled element. Do you know what it is????? It's the sweet tag that accompanied my package from Winnie & Walter. I flipped it over and used the back as a base for my donut image. I stamped the stand right on the tag, and then I fussy cut the donuts from cardstock. After coloring them, I added some clear dimensional glaze to the frosted parts of the donuts. For a more substantial bow, I doubled up my twine before tying it.

And last (but not least) a little birthday card trio. I often like to create a few coordinating cards while I have a stash of supplies out. Might as well crank out a few extras, while I've got my mess assembled, right? These would be the start of a great gift set, as well. 

I created a little formula or pattern for these cards - it helps me stay focused and less overwhelmed with possibilities. Each image was stamped on a block of white cardstock, (and I stuck to just three ink colors.) I added a strip of black cardstock, and glitter tape to the bottom of each. I added a few quick embellishments with enamel stars, dots using Tsukineko's irRESISTable Pico Embellisher and a few hole-punched dots from the glitter tape. 

Thanks so very much for coming by - if you haven't been over to the Winnie & Walter blog yet today, please stop by - there's so very much celebrating going on, and there's lots to see! 

Winnie & Walter supplies:

The Big, the Bold and Party stamps

The Big, the Bold and Happy Cutaways

Sugar Rush stamps

Scenery: Stripes

Other supplies:

CTMH shimmer tape

CTMH black enamel stars (also available in white) 

Tsukineko Pico Embellisher (at Simon Says Stamp) (at scrapbook.com) 

You're a Real Gem {Lil' Inker Designs}

Hello friends!

Today I'd like to share a card I created using Lil' Inker Designs new Cover Up Die: Faceted as well as the Girl's Best Friend stamps and the Alphabet Gems stamps. 

To create this card, I used Stampin' Up gold cardstock, and I ran it through my Big Shot with the Faceted die. Very carefully I attempted to keep all the little pieces together when I took it out of the die cutting machine. I had to do a little bit of puzzle-piecing to put pieces back in, but I purposely left some shapes out. Then, I stamped my sentiment, inking up only part of the first stamp "You're a Real Gem" to substitute the alphabet gem letters in place of the original sentiment. I stamped it in Tsukineko's Delicata ink.  It's my favorite gold ink! It's difficult to see, but I used a water brush and swirled the ink across the letters just a bit to add slight color to them. 

Thanks so much for coming by today. YOU are a real GEM! xoxo

Go-to Gal Designer Challenge {Tsukineko/IMAGINE Crafts}

Good day, sweet crafty friends!It's Go-to Gal Designer Challenge day! This is a just-for-fun challenge that the Paper Crafts & Scrapbooking magazine Go-to Gals toss out to each other, using some of our favorite products. This month we are playing with Tsukineko/IMAGINE Crafts products. If you hoard ink, then you probably have some of their great products in your stash. Tsukineko/IMAGINE Crafts makes VersaMagic, VersaFine, Memento and StazOn . . .just to name a FEW! I'll be honest, I had never really used a chalk ink until Tsukineko came into my life! And I've never crafted the same again! :)

For today's project, I had some brand new Stampin' Up stamps looking adoringly at me (Fall Fest and For All Things), just begging to be inked up. It still feels quite far from autumn around here, so I thought I'd do something different, and use some not-quite traditional colors on my pumpkins. I used Tsukineko/IMAGINE Crafts' VersaMagic inks in Pixie Dust, Pink Grapefruit, Mango Madness, plus Key Lime for the leaves and stems. The small Dew Drop sized ink pads are perfect for a project like this, because I was able to ink up the stamps with two colors, to create my green stems, all in one step. 

I paired my sweet pumpkins with Avery Elle woodgrain cardstock. (We discussed this in my last blog post. . .and here it is again, because I'm telling you - I LOVE this cardstock!) I also added my favorite May Arts twine, plus a wood embellishment from Close To My Heart. 

So, here's my not-quite-ready-for-fall, fall card. I am excited to see what the other Go-to Gals are up to, with their Tsukineko/IMAGINE Crafts products. They aren't just YOUR Go-to Gals. . .they are MINE too, and I am seriously turning to them for help, inspiration, and chit chat EVERY day. They're the best. So go see them, and give my Gals some love! 

• Heather Campbell

• Kim Kesti

• Laina Lamb

• Teri Anderson

Thanks so much for stopping by!!!! Have a fabulous day!

Celebrating in silver and gold {The Stamps of Life}

You can't go wrong with gold on a wedding card - am I right? And for that matter, you can't go wrong with silver either! I created this very clean and simple card using The Stamps of Life new set, wedding2celebrate, plus the frame from Stephanie's stamp set for Sizzix, called Word Labels Framelits. That stamp set is a great one to have in your collection, because there are four versatile sentiments, plus frames and coordinating dies. And as you can see from this card, a lot of other stamps fit perfectly inside the frames as well! I love that this is such a striking card while still being one layer, and totally flat (hello EASY TO MAIL wedding card!) I used my favorite gold ink, from IMAGINE Crafts/Tsukeniko - Golden Glitz Delicata. 

On this next card, I used the Silvery Shimmer Delicata ink, and created an almost flat card (a few little gems will make it through the mail just fine though!)

Thanks so much for stopping by to see my glimmering wedding cards! I'm still totally loving a pop of gold on my cards. . . .but I'm starting to wonder what will be next. Will we be gaga for silver soon? Or bronze? What do you think will be the next metallic trend? I'd love to hear your thoughts!

wedding2celebrate {The Stamps of Life} plus giveaway winner!

Hello friends! I have decided there is a direct correlation between the number of days one travels, to the number of days it takes to recover upon returning. Can you relate? I've been home for almost a week - but it still feels like I just rolled in a day or two ago! 

I loved reading all of the comments on my previous post, as you shared your favorite paper-crafting hobbies. It's interesting the way card making, and scrapbooking overlap - and yet some of us really (REALLY) prefer one over the other, or we float back and forth between the two. It makes us more well-rounded. . .that's what we'll say. I also love that photo pocket scrapbooking has become somewhat of a bridge between scrapbookers and cardmakers. The small pockets feel more approachable to a cardmaker, than a giant piece of 12x12 paper. Don't you think? (I'd actually really love to hear your thoughts in the comments!)

And now, because today there are fabulous new stamps being released at  The Stamps of Life, I'd love to share a card with you! This card features the brand new wedding2celebrate stamp set. After all, summertime is the season of weddings! I ADORE this large sentiment - it fills the card so nicely. I embossed this with black pigment ink, and black embossing powder - I love using the black ink and black powder together, rather than a clear ink, because it really creates an extra deep dark image. (My favorite black ink for embossing is Clearsnap's Donna Salazar Mix'd Media Inx in Black.) 

The stripes along the side are a tiny strip of chevron patterned paper (from Close To My Heart) and a sprinkle of Avery Elle sequins finished off this crisp clean card.

Before I leave you to your crafty business, I have a winner to announce from the Paper Crafts & Scrapbooking special issue, Simple Patterns giveaway! It feels like it doesn't happen very often, but the random generator popped out number . . .ONE! Heather at Houses Built of Cards , you won! (I already hit ya with an email!!!) Thanks again, everyone for your comments. I love to learn more about you! I'll be back in a day or two with another card from the weddings2celebrate release! Catch ya soon, my crafty friends!

Glam gold ink and a Go-to Gal Designer Challenge!

Hello, hello! I love it when I have LOTS to share with you - and today is one of those days! First of all, I am posting over on the Paper Crafts & Scrapbooking blog today. We're glamming up our springtime palette with GOLD.  And as I promised in that blog post, I have some more GOLD to share with you here too, in the inky variety.

The Delicata ink pads from Tsukeniko came highly recommended to me, from my crafty advisors on Facebook. (Seriously - do you ask your Facebook friends for recommendations on EVERYTHING, like I do?!) These ink pads are amazing. There's something so buttery about this ink - it's easy to work with, it dries pretty quickly, especially for pigment ink, and it is absolutely GORGEOUS! So without further ado, let me show you how I used it!

On the first card, I tapped that wooden veneer heart in the ink, then into a clear, glittery embossing powder. I heat set it, and let it dry for a minute or two. Fun, right!? And that beautiful gold paper is from Stampin' Up, and it's another GLAM GOLD crafting material that I have been using a LOT lately!

Okay - next up. . . .on this card, I dragged the edges of the journaling card (from Close To My Heart) through the ink, and I stamped the sentiment. Then I stamped some gold circles on cardstock, trimmed them, and added dimensional glaze over the top to make some faux enamel dots. I adhered them to the card with glue dots. Super fun. (The smallest ones I used a hole punch to cut out, but the larger ones I cut by hand, because I'm crazy like that.)

Please stop on over at the Paper Crafts & Scrapbooking blog if you haven't already, because my generous friends at Tsukeniko have helped me put together a glam, gold giveaway. You'll have the chance to win both the Golden Glitz and the Silvery Shimmer Delicata pads, plus some other golden goodies, when you comment on the Paper Crafts blog post! 

BUT WAIT. . .there's MORE! (I told you it was a big day. Go refill your coffee if needed. . . it's okay. I'll wait. . . . .) Ready?

Today is also Go-to Gal Designer Challenge day. On the last Wednesday of the month us GTG's like to throw out a challenge to each other and get creative with some of our favorite companies' products. Today we are showcasing Echo Park. It's also an important day because it's the first time our NEWEST Go-to Gal is joining us. Did you see the news that Laina Lamb has joined us? I am thrilled to get to know her better, and I hope you are too! (Show her some extra love today, okay!?) 

So I sort of accidently fudged the challenge on this card. I realized just as I was posting it, that I used a Carta Bella collection for this card. . .Carta Bella is the sister company to Echo Park. So it's sort of the same. . .and sort of totally different. At any rate, this card is using the new "It's A Celebration" collection. And I just love the colors - the navy and mint with yellow and coral are so pretty! 

Now go and visit the rest of the girls, and see what Echo Park lovelies they've created!! Thanks so much for coming by! (And if you made it to the end of this LONG post - kudos to you!)

• Betsy Veldman

• Heather Campbell

• Kim Kesti

• Kimberly Crawford
• Laina Lamb

• Teri Anderson

Summer snowflakes {Gina K Designs}

Well? Are you ready? The days are ticking by at warp spread - seriously, how is it already December 12th? No - how is it already December 13th!!??? Funny how I thought my son had a week, plus a half before school gets out. Turns out it's only the HALF of a week. Umm - YIKES. Thanksgiving being so late this year has REALLY messed with me. I finally got the rest of my calendars printed, that we give to our families, but I am not exactly sure they will be here in time to mail to our long-distance relatives! (OOPS.) 

But onward to a card for the day. . . .

I absolutely love this snowflake stamp from Gina K Designs set, Blessed is the Season, and for today's card I paired the snowflakes with some not-so-snowflaky colors! Kinda fun, huh? I used two different colors of ink (Stampin' Up Calypso Coral, and Tsukeniko Mango Madness I think!) and blended them together on my stamp with a sponge dauber (basically a little sponge that fits on your finger.) When stamping more than one color on a stamp, always start with the lightest color first. Then tap the edges of the stamp in the darker color, and blend with the sponge. When I was done, I used the remaining ink on the sponge dauber to add color to the edges of my cardstock block. 

Have a beautiful day! Thanks so much for stopping by, my friends!!!!

Fabulous Friend {We R Memory Keepers and Technique Tuesday}

Have I told you lately how fun the We R Memory Keepers washi adhesive sheets are?

{I sorta love them.}

They come in 12x12 sheets, plus a 6x6 pad. (I used the 6x6 pad for this card)

You can trim (or tear) them any size you'd like, and it's a lot of fun to play with! I've even covered entire cards with a panel of it. 

On this card I adhered strips of the washi, purposely overlapping.  I love the little overlapping layers! I stamped the sentiment (from Technique Tuesday) using chalk inks from Tsukeniko . 

It's just a quick, unplanned card that evolved as I created. 

Perfect for today, because I just had a quick moment to pop in and say HELLO!

I hope your weekend is filled with fabulous things!

Thanks for stopping by!

xoxo

Go-to Gal Designer Challenge {The Craft's Meow}

The Go-to Gals are having fun with products from The Craft's Meow today! Once a month we plan to have our own little crafty challenge, featuring some of our favorite products.  I created a card using the stamp set, Easter Blessings. As you can see, this stamp set will allow you to create much more than just Easter cards!  I used Tsukeniko's VersaMagic chalk inks in Mango Madness, Pixie Dust, and Pink Grapefruit. It was fun to overlap the images and allow some of the color to show through. I finished off the card with some May Arts ribbon, and Hero Arts jewels. (And that gorgeous coral cardstock is Calypso Coral from Stampin' Up!)

The Craft's Meow sells terrific high-quality clear stamps, that are made in the USA. They stamp beeeeeeautifully!

Be sure to check out what the other Go-to Gals created, with goodies from The Craft's Meow!

• Betsy Veldman

• Heather Campbell

• Kim Kesti

• Kimberly Crawford

• Teri Anderson

If you haven't been by Paper Crafts Connection today, go stop by and meet Kimberly Crawford! She's making her Go-to Gal debut on the blog today!