A not-to-be-missed opportunity!

What do you call it when you get over $310 in crafting and business supplies for only $87.50? You can call it an amazing deal, but I call it an amazing opportunity! From November 15-30, you can purchase either the Standard or Digital+ Starter Kits at 50 percent off the regular retail price of $175 (plus free shipping!), and enjoy these great benefits as a Stampin’ Up!® demonstrator:

• Get a discount on all the products you love.
• Earn additional income while sharing creativity.
• Make new and lasting friendships.
• Enjoy access to nearly unlimited creative ideas.
• Receive a free subscription to an exclusive monthly magazine.
• Receive two free months subscription to your own business website.
• Work to earn free products and incentive trips.

Joining Stampin' Up! has been one of the best decisions I've made in my life. It's changed me for the better and I know it can make a difference for you as well. Join now and you'll have your business up and running for the holiday craft season - and for Sale-a-Bration, the most-anticipated event of the Stampin' Up! calendar, which begins in January. Even if you think stamping is "just a hobby" for you, think of all the supplies you can get with this great deal - and you never know where it might take you. I started as a hobby demonstrator myself but it was clear to me very soon that stamping was not just a hobby for me - it was my passion.

If this sounds like the opportunity you're looking for, contact me today to find out how you can join in the fun!

Simple Vintage Christmas

I couldn't resist coming back for a couple more challenges today. This time I kept it pretty clean and simple with my card for the SCS sketch challenge and the Color Throwdown. I was in a Christmasy sort of mood even before I saw the colors, but that sealed the deal - here's what I came up with.

The holly image comes from the level 2 hostess set in the mini - Peaceful Season. I just love this set for vintage holiday cards. I stamped the holly several times on the Crumb Cake circle with Soft Suede, then colored the berries with a Cherry Cobbler marker. I added a couple more circles and sponged all the edges with Soft Suede. The designer paper comes from the Deck the Halls pack - also in the mini - as is the Cherry Cobbler seam binding. I finished off with a Crumb Cake base, three Cherry Cobbler brads and a sentiment from Seasonal Sentiments - I colored just the Merry Christmas with a Soft Suede marker.

Gotta dash... but I hope you feel the holiday spirit after reading about this card - I sure do after making it!

Fun with challenges

I decided that today I needed to do some stamping just for me. Not for a deadline or an assignment - just for the fun of it! I combined the Mojo Monday sketch (tinkered with somewhat) with the colourQ color challenge.

These colors made me think of Trendy Trees, which I haven't used in ages. For the trees I used Cajun Craze, Always Artichoke and Early Espresso, and I stamped them on Crumb Cake card stock before cutting out with Nestabilities. The So Saffron panel was embossed with the square lattice folder, then to match the scalloped oval I created a frame with the double scallop ribbon punch. Each strip was cut in half and adhered to the back of the embossed piece. I created the background with artichoke paper and the Solid Stripes a la carte stamp. A strip of retired kraft taffeta ribbon (doubled over so the stripes don't show through) divides the two background panels and it all went on a Crumb Cake card base. Once I added the sentiment, I felt like it still needed something else, so I got out the Bitty Buttons and matching punch. This was the first I'd played with these, believe it or not. Tip of the day: First adhere the punched card stock to the button with a drop of Crystal Effects. Once it's dry, use the paper piercer to poke through the holes. For "thread" I used very tiny white card stock strips.

OK, now it's back to my editing work. No more fun for me - at least for today! Thanks so much for stopping by!

Day of Gratitude Card Set Kit

Here is my latest card set kit offering, featuring the stamp set Day of Gratitude and the matching Autumn Spice papers. With this kit you’ll receive complete instructions (with photos) and all the consumable supplies needed to make eight cards (two each of four designs) and the coordinating box. The price of this kit is just $20, including envelopes. Please note that in some cases it may be necessary to substitute different prints for some of the Autumn Spice papers shown in the sample kit. I will offer these kits for the duration of the Holiday Mini catalog (through January 3, 2011) or while supplies last.

I'll fill the orders as I get them, so depending when you place your order, it may take me a couple weeks to get it to you if I need to order additional supplies. Let me know if you're in a rush and I'll see what I can do.

Demonstrators, click here for info on getting the kit instructions to use with your customers!

If you purchase the kit, you will also have the opportunity to purchase the Day of Gratitude stamp set at 15% off retail price (tax and shipping not included).

Wood mount regularly $26.95, with purchase of kit $22.91

Clear mount regularly $18.95, with purchase of kit $16.11

The rest of the products used in making this set are given in the list below. If you have all of these then you’re ready to go, but just let me know if you’d like to order any of these items. You can also use the kit to make your cards with the supplies you already own.

Local customers please click here to purchase the kit:

I can also ship these kits anywhere in the U.S. Click here to add to cart:




Please contact me if you would like to order the stamp set and/or any additional items, or if you are not purchasing the discounted stamps, you can click here to shop online anytime!

Lori Rider
loririder (at) verizon (dot) net

Additional Product List

• Early Espresso Classic Ink ($5.95) and Stampin’ Write marker ($3.50)
• Cajun Craze Classic Ink ($5.95) and Stampin’ Write marker ($3.50)
• More Mustard Classic Ink ($5.95)
• Old Olive Classic Ink ($5.95)
• Curly Cute stamp set ($14.95 clear/$19.95 wood)
• 1 3/8” circle punch ($15.95)
• 1 3/4” scallop circle punch ($16.95)
• Decorative label punch ($16.95)
• Scallop edge border punch ($15.95)
• Extra-large tag punch ($16.95)
• Large tag punch ($15.95)
• Bone folder ($6.95)
• Hobby blade ($4.50)
• Paper snips ($9.95)
• Stamp-a-Ma-Jig (optional; $11.95)
• Stampin’ Dimensionals ($3.95)
• SNAIL adhesive ($6.95)
• Sticky Strip ($6.95)
• Tombow Multipurpose Liquid Glue ($3.95)
• Mini glue dots ($4.95)

Divine Diva Inspiration Challenge #39

It's another month and time for a new inspiration challenge! This time around we're featuring this cute owl mug. I hope these fun patterns and colors inspire your creativity this week!

My card didn't end up quite like I envisioned - I was trying to be funky but it turned out a lot more elegant than I expected. I wanted to duplicate the purple and pink floral band, so I brayered Rich Razzleberry ink onto the Vintage Wallpaper embossing folder and ran it through the Big Shot with Blushing Bride card stock. The other side of the background is Marina Mist stamped with the Teahouse background.

Of course, I had to use the owl punch - the owl base is Early Espresso and then I added razzleberry wings from the bird punch. I wanted to bring in some circles so I used the stamp from the Apple Blossom hostess set on those. The branch is textured Old Olive card stock and the flowers were made with one of the Birds and Blooms Sizzlits, the bitty flower punch, and the owl punch (the tiny dots in the center). Last I added olive satin ribbon and a sentiment from Seasonal Sentiments (in the holiday mini). To layer the wide oval punch I used two of the scalloped ovals, placed on the top and bottom, and then filled in the gap with the modern label punch, cut in half and glued to each end.

Be sure to check out the cards made by all the Divine Divas for this challenge!

Anne

Chris

Donna (taking this week off)

Julie

Kerri

Hope you are inspired to come and play along. Just leave a comment here with a link to your card. We can't wait to see what you create! The keyword for uploading on online forums will be DDIC39. Have fun and look for the next challenge on November 18!

November Card Kit of the Month

With this card kit you’ll receive complete instructions and all the consumable supplies needed to make 5 of each of these card designs – a total of 10 cards. The price of this kit is just $15, including envelopes.

If you purchase the monthly kit, you will also have the opportunity to purchase the coordinating stamp set at 15% off retail price (tax and shipping not included). This month the featured stamp set is Circle Circus.

Circle Circus stamp set regularly $28.95, with purchase of kit $24.61

The rest of the products used in making these cards are given in the list below. If you have all of these then you’re ready to go, but just let me know if you’d like to order any of these items. You can also use the kit to make your cards with the supplies you already own. Although a large number of punches were used on the original cards, you can easily modify the designs to use fewer punches.

Please get your orders to me by November 15. You will receive your kit before the end of the month.

Lori Rider

loririder (at) verizon (dot) net
978-486-8102
divastamper.blogspot.com

Local customers click here to add the kit to your cart:

If you need to receive your kit by mail, click on the "Add to Cart" button below. U.S. customers only, please. Let me know if you encounter any problems with the ordering process.





Additional Product List

• Rich Razzleberry Classic Ink ($5.95) and Stampin’ Write marker ($3.50)
• Pear Pizzazz Classic Ink ($5.95) and Stampin’ Write marker ($3.50)
• Tempting Turquoise Classic Ink ($5.95) and Stampin’ Write marker ($3.50)
• All Holidays stamp set ($34.95)
• Tiny Tags stamp set ($22.95 wood mount/$16.95 clear mount – optional)
• 3/4” circle punch ($10.95)
• Corner rounder punch ($6.95)
• 1 1/4” circle punch ($15.95)
• 1 3/4” scallop circle punch ($16.95)
• Large oval punch ($15.95)
• Scalloped oval punch ($16.95)
• Jewelry tag punch ($10.95)
• Gold Stampin’ Emboss powder ($4.75)
• Bone folder ($6.95)
• Stamp-a-Ma-Jig ($11.95)
• Heat tool ($29.95)
• Stampin’ Dimensionals ($3.95)
• SNAIL adhesive ($6.95)
• Tombow Multipurpose Liquid Glue ($3.95)

If you have any questions or problems please let me know. Thanks!

Vanilla Toile

Welcome to another Saturday at Our Creative Corner! This is the final week for Diane Gilbert's October challenges, and this week she brought us a fabuous inspiration challenge - which you know I loved, of course! This gorgeous room comes from Pottery Barn.

I looked at the photo and immediately thought of toile, so I knew I wanted to use the Bella Toile BG stamp. I inked it with Crumb Cake and stamped it on Very Vanilla card stock. Behind that I used a layer of So Saffron designer paper. I also wanted to pull in the stripes from the photo, so I chose some striped Crumb Cake paper for the center panel. To get a really striking look I used black for my layers - I couldn't really tell what the dark accents in the photo were, so I just went for it and I love the result. In the center I added an image from Flower Fancy, which rather than putting it onto a panel, I just cut it out and adhered it right to the card. I added pearls to my scalloped panel for a little more elegance, leaving room for the sentiment from Occasional Quotes.

Don't forget to stop by the OCC blog to see what all the other team members have come up with for the challenge, and then play along with us! Hope you are having a great weekend!

Halloween Challenge(d)

For this week's challenge at Our Creative Corner our fab hostess, Diane Gilbert, gave us a fun color combo that's perfect for Halloween: Certainly Celery, Rich Razzleberry, Pumpkin Pie and Early Espresso (and Diane put white in there as well - but I just couldn't make that work!). Well, I'll say that I like the card I ended up with, but it was quite an odyssey getting here! I had another card almost done and I tossed it aside and started over completely. But anyway...

The stamp set I used is called House of Haunts. I stamped the haunted house twice, on the razzleberry and pumpkin card stock, then I cut around the top of the house to put the orange moon behind it. For background panels I used espresso and pumpkin designer papers, and the sentiment (from the same stamp set) was punched and mounted on a label from the die set Lots of Tags. I sponged all the edges with espresso ink and added three celery brads to finish it off.

That's it from me - now be sure you see what else the team has created for this challenge, and we hope you'll play along as well!

Divine Diva Inspiration Challenge #38

It's time for another inspiration challenge and in honor of fall, we have a great blog post from Hostess with the Mostess. There are lots of great fall-themed photos so choose your favorite as your inspiration and come create with us! I just loved the cake shown here so that's what I picked.

I started out by making the embossed panel with the Vintage Wallpaper folder and Chocolate Chip card stock. The other colors I chose were So Saffron, Wild Wasabi and Tangerine Tango, which I used to watercolor the image from the retired hostess set Infinite Goodness. First I laid down a background of a saffron wash, then watercolored on top of that with the other colors. The wasabi panel features the retired Watercolor Vine wheel, and for the ribbon I really wanted tangerine, so I colored taffeta ribbon with a tangerine marker then layered it onto 5/8" Chocolate Chip grosgrain ribbon and topped it off with a button. The sentiment comes from the hostess set Afterthoughts.

Be sure to check out the cards made by all the Divine Divas for this challenge!

Anne

Chris

Donna

Julie

Kerri

Hope you are inspired to come and play along. Just leave a comment here with a link to your card. We can't wait to see what you create! The keyword for uploading on online forums will be DDIC38. Have fun and look for the next challenge on November 4!

Thanks a bunch

Sorry I disappeared for a while! I've gotten behind on an editing project and I'm spending time trying to catch up. I do have a club meeting this week, though, so I thought I'd take a minute to share one of the cards we'll be making. I CASEd the flower pot from Dawn Olchefske and used the sketch from the Paper Players (flipped) for my layout.

These flowers and the pot are completely made from the Big Bold Cupcake dies. Isn't it just an adorable idea? I used three of the In Colors together: Poppy Parade, Peach Parfait and Pear Pizzazz. I stamped the pot with the Dot, Dot, Dot single stamp, and if that wasn't enough dots, I also used the big dot paper from the hostess pack. The sentiment is from A Word for You, and I added some paper piercing and peach ribbon as accents.

I hope you enjoyed this card - I think it made me feel a little more cheery on a day when it's pretty chilly out. Thanks so much for stopping by!

Extended card kit offer

I've decided to offer the October Card Kit of the Month for one more week. Go to this post and place your order by Friday, October 22. You can also order the Just Believe stamp set at a 15% discount if you contact me after you purchase your kit. Don't delay - act today! :)

Lighthouse Birthday

It's time for another challenge over at Our Creative Corner, and this week our hostess, Diane Gilbert, has a fun sketch challenge for us. I decided to do a masculine card with the stamp set Uncharted Territory. I used colors from another challenge blog, Hand Stamped Sentiments. The combination is a cool one: Real Red, Pear Pizazz, Pacific Point and Early Espresso.

I stamped the lighthouse on white card stock in espresso, then highlighted just a few areas of the image with markers. Since I was doing a masculine card, I used torn edges instead of a border punch, and I picked twill tape instead of ribbon, adding a red button (retired) tied with hemp twine for an accent. The background is from the In Color hostess paper pack and the sentiment from the hostess set Afterthoughts. I couldn't decide which color(s) to use on the sentiment, so I used three! I simply colored the top half of the "birthday" with the red marker and then filled in the bottom with the blue. The curly label punch and Movers & Shapers gave me my fun sentiment shape.

You'll want to be sure to visit the OCC blog and see everyone's creations for the challenge - and then play with the sketch yourself and share your creativity with us!

Divine Diva Inspiration Challenge #37

Welcome to this week's challenge! We had an extra Thursday in September so it feels like we've been gone a looooong time. This week we have these elegant Claus Porto Classico soaps for your inspiration pleasure. We hope you'll play along with us!

For my card I pulled out the colors Concord Crush, Basic Gray, So Saffron and Old Olive. I thought the flower in Friends 24-7 was the perfect image for this challenge. To set it off I made a border with the damask image and embossed saffron card stock with the square lattice folder, then added a panel of retired olive paper. I used gray satin ribbon to set off the two background panels and Nestabilities to cut the smaller panels. I kept it pretty simple and just added a sentiment from Short & Sweet with an olive button and a pearl in the center.

Be sure to check out the cards made by all the Divine Divas for this challenge!

Anne

Chris

Donna

Julie

Kerri

Hope you are inspired to come and play along. Just leave a comment here with a link to your card. We can't wait to see what you create! The keyword for uploading on online forums will be DDIC37. Have fun and look for the next challenge on October 21!

Kindness and Gratitude

It's time for a new month of challenges at Our Creative Corner. Our hostess this month is the fabulous Diane Gilbert! She's starting us off with a color challenge: Cajun Craze, More Mustard, Old Olive, Early Espresso and Very Vanilla. Perfect for those fall cards!

This was the technique card at my club last month. I saw this image from the Day of Gratitude stamp set used with a cool technique that was definitely a "wow" with my club. Meg Loven called it the custom felt pad technique. It's basically this: take a piece of plain-old felt. (I folded mine over so it was three layers thick to keep the ink from soaking through onto my work surface.) Trace the outline of your stamp onto the felt with a pen, then fill the whole outlined area with classic ink reinkers. This will stay wet enough that you can stamp several times without reinking it. It's not going to look precise but it's very cool - try it and see!

The rest of the card was fairly simple. I used a mustard sheet from the Autumn Spice specialty paper and layered several things on it. First I stamped the En Francais background - I know you can't see it, but it's there! Next I used generation stamping with the leaf image from the stamp set. Finally I sponged lots of mustard ink on it - a little bit over the whole panel and even more on the edges. The olive ribbon was knotted with linen thread, then if you cut the thread long enough you can tie the ends through the button and it's all nice and neat. A sentiment from Occasional Quotes finished it off.

I know you'll want to visit the OCC blog and see what the rest of the team created with these fun fall colors. Please come and play along - we couldn't do it without you!

Card Kit of the Month is back!

After a long summer hiatus I'm bringing back the Card Kit of the Month. October's kit features the fabulous stamp set Just Believe. With this card kit you’ll receive complete instructions and all the consumable supplies needed to make 5 of each of these card designs – a total of 10 cards. The price of this kit is just $15, including envelopes.

If you purchase the monthly kit, you will also have the opportunity to purchase the Just Believe stamp set at 15% off retail price (tax and shipping not included).

Just Believe wood-mount stamp set regularly $33.95, with purchase of kit $28.86
Just Believe clear-mount stamp set regularly $25.95, with purchase of kit $22.06

The rest of the products used in making these cards are given in the list below. If you have all of these then you’re ready to go, but just let me know if you’d like to order any of these items. You can also use the kit to make your cards with the supplies you already own.

Please get your orders to me by October 15. You will receive your kit by the end of the month.

Lori Rider

loririder (at) verizon (dot) net
978-486-8102
divastamper.blogspot.com

Local customers click here to add the kit to your cart:

If you need to receive your kit by mail, click on the "Add to Cart" button below. U.S. customers only, please. Let me know if you encounter any problems with the ordering process.





Additional Product List

• Marina Mist Classic Ink ($5.95; Marina Mist Stampin’ Write marker or another color of ink can be substituted)
• Early Espresso Classic Ink ($5.95)
• Crumb Cake Classic Ink ($5.95)
• Soft Suede Classic Ink ($5.95)
• Early Espresso Stampin’ Write marker ($3.50)
• 1 3/4” circle punch ($16.95)
• 2 3/8” scallop circle punch ($16.95)
• Decorative label punch ($16.95)
• Sponge dauber (12 for $10.95) or paper towel
• Paper snips ($9.95)
• Bone folder ($6.95)
• Stamp-a-Ma-Jig ($11.95; optional)
• Color spritzer tool ($12.95; optional)
• Stampin’ Dimensionals ($3.95)
• SNAIL adhesive ($6.95)
• Mini glue dots ($3.95)
• Tombow Multipurpose Liquid Glue ($3.95)

Any questions? Contact me at any time. Thanks so much for your support of the Card Kit of the Month program!

Birdie Bling

The Colour Queen is celebrating one year of challenges, so Arielle has a challenge that's too fun to resist this week: make a card with this sketch and your favorite challenge from the past year! I picked this color combo that I wanted to play with back in August but I was just too busy that week.

With this combo I wanted something cute, so I pulled out the stamp set Chic Boutique. I've had it for a while but this is the first time I've made a card with it - so sad! My bird cage was colored with markers just a bit, then cut out and mounted on a poppy circle embossed with polka dots. I couldn't help but add more dots - on the saffron Play Date paper and the poppy background. I used a strip of Bashful Blue with the eyelet border punch, and the sentiment is from Curly & Cute with a flower fusion embellishment. I just love having the basic rhinestones - it's so easy to put bling wherever you want it. So of course I had to add more!

If you've never played along with the Colour Queens, you definitely should - they have awesome challenges! I can't wait to see what they have planned for their second year!

Three of Hearts

Here's a quick little post from me - I am almost done with a big freelance project so I rewarded myself with a little stamping. I loved the inspiration challenge posted yesterday at the Paper Players and thought it would be fun to see where the inspiration took me.

I first pulled out the polka dot papers in Pretty in Pink and Basic Black. Next I wanted to incorporate some punched scalloped circles, so I played with a few different possibilities before settling on this layout. I thought the punched hearts looked super cute in the centers! Now I actually had a whole stamped image planned, but I was having trouble putting it all together. In the end I liked my little heart circles more than the image I was working with, so I decided to just go with those. There had to be a bow on my card somewhere, and preferably a pink one - but to make the pink stand out I layered the taffeta ribbon onto black satin ribbon. In the center I put a big white button from my stash, with black 1/8" taffeta ribbon threaded through the holes. All it needed was a simple sentiment from Teeny Tiny Wishes and I was done!

Just Believe for the OCC

It's my last week of hosting for Our Creative Corner - I've had a fun month and I hope you have as well! This week it's a color challenge: crumb cake, early espresso, marina mist, soft suede, and a light neutral. I took this combination from one of my son's shirts - and I just love it!

This card is actually a stepped-up version of one of the cards in my October Kit of the Month. Come back on October 1 if you want to see that. For today here are all the details. The stamp set is called Just Believe. I first took the largest image and stamped it onto Very Vanilla - first with crumb cake and then over top of that with early espresso, offset just a little bit. This is called shadow stamping. With the help of the Stamp-a-ma-Jig, I was able to get perfect placement. Behind it I put panels of Soft Suede and Early Espresso, then I distressed and sponged all the edges and used the color spritzer tool and espresso marker to add a little more texture to the main panel. Finally I took my bone folder and curled one of the corners a little bit.

The rest of the card uses one of the stamp set's sentiments, plus a large scalloped circle in Soft Suede and a 2" circle of Early Espresso. I added basic pearls to the scallops and also to the flowers on the image. Marina Mist taffeta ribbon fills in the empty space, and for the background I used a panel of Marina Mist designer paper, a Crumb Cake card based stamped tone-on-tone with one of the smaller images in Just Believe, and (although you can hardly see it) a border punched with the scalloped ribbon punch.

I hope you'll come and play with these colors along with us - and don't forget to visit the OCC blog to check out what the other team members created. Have a great weekend!

Flower Fold Dare

I'm back with another club project for this weekend. My other club card is a little more time-intensive, and I hadn't used the Big Shot on either project, so I pulled that baby out to make a sweet and simple(r) card. I used colors from the Color Dare challenge: Tempting Turquoise, Poppy Parade, Pumpkin Pie and Not Quite Navy. The layout is from the Pals Paper Arts sketch challenge (flipped). I think these two challenges were made for each other! I'm also entering this in the second challenge at SUO Challenges, which was to use the Big Shot.

I started out by cutting a Top Note with turquoise textured card stock and embossing it with the Elegant Lines folder. Next I made my flower with the two smallest of the Flower Folds flowers, made from retired Pumpkin Pie DP and Not Quite Navy textured card stock. I punched the centers from poppy and turquoise. (I did add the background panel to the layout - my card just seemed to need something back there.) The card is finished off with poppy ribbon and a sentiment from On Your Birthday.

I'm off to clean my studio - I'll see you on Saturday for the OCC challenge - I think it's a great one to finish off my hosting month so I hope you'll come check it out!

What's in your wallet?

Here's a preview of one of our projects for my club this weekend. I found the instructions for this photo wallet on Splitcoast. I also followed a couple challenges: the Stampin' Royalty challenge to make anything but a card, and the Utah Divas International color challenge: Chocolate Chip, So Saffron, Real Red and Regal Rose. I used the Printed Petals stamp set and matching wheel and stamped all the panels tone on tone. The inside panels each have a space for a small photo and journaling, and it all closes up nice and neat with a belly band. Cute, eh? I hope my club gals have fun with it! I'll keep the chatter to a minimum and just show you some more photos of the inside. Thanks for stopping by!

Long time no Splitcoast

Wow, I haven't played a challenge on SCS in ages and ages. I probably wouldn't have today if it weren't for a color challenge that I thought could work for a card I need this week: Todd and I will celebrate our 10th anniversary on Thursday. Truthfully, now that I'm finished with it... I don't think he's going to care for these colors, LOL! But I probably won't have time to make a different card this week, and I did choose the stamp set (Artistic Etchings) specifically with him in mind, since we spent two weeks in Paris a few months after we were married. The layout is from Mercy Kerin's sketch challenge.

OK, so... the colors for the challenge were Cajun Craze, Baja Breeze and Wild Wasabi. I do like them together, I think... but it wasn't the easiest combo I've ever worked with! I wanted to put the Eiffel Tower image in the oval, and at some point I hit on the idea of the sky and the grass behind it. So I brayered the Baja Breeze and Wild Wasabi onto naturals white card stock, then stamped the image on top before cutting out with Nestabilities. The wasabi DP panel comes from the Subtles pack, with extra ink sponged onto the panel for more vintage style. I made the Baja Breeze background with the medallion stamp from the same set (with more sponging, of course). I added three (retired) copper brads and used a strip of ribbon over a scalloped border from the Tasteful Trim die. Finally I layered the sentiment on a curly label - I pulled out the Vintage Labels set from Sale-a-Bration just 'cause it needed a little something extra.

It seems like everyone is pulling out great challenges this week - but I don't know if I'll have time to play along with any more of them. I'm working on club projects for Friday night and I may have to hold off on posting those... we'll see if I can make it back here before Saturday!

Cupcake Party

Welcome to week 3 of my challenges for Our Creative Corner! This week it's a sketch challenge. I hope you'll come play along!

I wanted to do something cute for my card. I picked out the Party Hearty set with its adorable cupcake. My colors are Blushing Bride, Melon Mambo, Night of Navy, So Saffron, and white. I used DP from the In Colors hostess pack, the Brights pack, and a retired pack that I'm blanking on the name of right now... sorry! To jazz up my cupcake I gave it a stack of three party hats and some basic rhinestones, then I layered it with a saffron circle (cut with the Circle Scissors Plus) and the extra large scallop punch. The "party hearty" sentiment seemed to be the perfect one for this card, and I added a couple more rhinestones there and some navy satin ribbon to finish it all off.

Be sure you visit the OCC blog to see what else our team has created this week, and then show us your gorgeous creations as well! Have a great weekend!

Divine Diva Inspiration Challenge #36

Welcome to this week's challenge! I have a book cover for you - I'm not much of a gardener but I did like the cover art. Give it a try for your inspiration and join us!

I took a sort of free approach to the colors for this one - I made a list of the basic colors (blue, purple, yellow/orange) and picked the shades I liked best together. I disregarded the dark green border and pulled out Basic Black, Whisper White, Daffodil Delight, Rich Razzleberry, Baja Breeze and Not Quite Navy. Whew, that's a lot of colors! The layout is from the sketch challenge on the SU demo-only site Stampin' Connection.

Now you're probably thinking my card doesn't look a whole lot like the book... I'm telling you, I don't know when I've had so much trouble with a challenge! I must have tried 10 different things. Hours later, this is what I ended up with. It's a big card - 5 x7. The main image comes from Razzle Dazzle, and I colored it with markers. I used the Circle Scissors Plus and the large scalloped square die for my cutting, plus a square of retired Razzleberry Lemonade paper. The sentiment is from the hostess set Because I Care, and the flowers were made with the Blossom Party die. In the center I put a retired Baja Breeze corduroy button and one of the large pearls from the (again... retired) Pretties Kit. The black background was embossed with one of the texture plates - if you're doing a larger project and want dry embossing, these are your go-to tool because they're so big. You probably can't see it unless you click to enlarge the photo, but it's there! Anyway... can you see my blood, sweat and tears? LOL. This might be one for the record books!

Be sure to check out the cards made by all the Divine Divas for this challenge!

Anne

Chris

Donna

Julie

Kerri

Hope you are inspired to come and play along. Just leave a comment here with a link to your card. We can't wait to see what you create! The keyword for uploading on online forums will be DDIC36. Have fun and look for the next challenge on October 7!

I'm a bad, bad stamper

I am so incredibly busy that I shouldn't be taking time to play challenges... but I just loved the colors in this week's Colour Q challenge: Cherry Cobbler, Peach Parfait, Pear Pizzazz, Early Espresso, and white. The layout is from Mercy Kerin's latest sketch challenge, which was a really fun sketch to work with.

When I was choosing which stamp set to use, I knew I wanted some kind of flower stamp. It occurred to me while looking through my stamps that I just don't get enough chances to use all these wonderful stamp sets. Plus I get so focused on using brand-new stuff that I forget about all those other stamps! So I'm giving myself the challenge to pull out some current stamps that haven't seen ink in a while instead of excluding them and using only new stamps. Let's see how this goes, shall we?

For today's card I chose the set Vintage Vogue. I stamped three flowers and a bunch of leaves on a white panel, added the sentiment from the hostess set Occasional Quotes, and then cut out my panel using the out of the box technique. The flower centers were punched from espresso card stock. I used two panels from the hostess paper pack - lots of great prints in the In Colors - and cut my circles with the Circle Scissors Plus. Tip of the day: The hostess papers are only 6x6, which makes it tough to cut out the circles, so I firmly taped the sheet to the glass mat with scotch tape. It peeled right off when I was done and I got a perfect circle.

I wanted to do something different for the punched border that Mercy had on her sketch. The SU crochet trims in Very Vanilla didn't work for this card, so I pulled something white from my stash and used it for my "scalloped" border. The bottom of the card looked really naked so I added a couple more flowers cascading down and an espresso button with a little bit of peach ribbon. Don't laugh - I actually sewed the button onto the ribbon! Yes, I can actually sew on a button reasonably well, even though I say I don't sew. Don't expect me to be getting any fancier than this with a needle and thread!

Fun with Folds

Well, I guess I didn't get back to stamping quite like I was hoping. The kids went back to school and in many other ways it was just a crazy week. But I do have my card for my second week of hosting at Our Creative Corner. This week I'm challenging everyone to do something fun with folds - make a card with an unusual fold or include something folded on your project.

I have to admit that I feel like a real dork when I struggle with a challenge that I came up with in the first place! I had trouble deciding what to do with my card, and then once I figured that out, I still struggled with the stamping. I like how it turned out, though - it just ended up a bit simple because I ran out of time!

Anyway, here's the card. The folded square idea I came up with myself - but I'm probably not the first person to do it. I chose a sheet from the Play Date designer paper and made sure to pick one with a nice pattern on both sides so the fold would show both. To get the pattern to match up correctly, first cut a 4" square, then cut that into four 2" squares. I laid them out how they would be assembled, then folded up one corner and matched the other three corners to expose a diamond in the center. The stripes were useful in making sure my folds were straight and also in lining up the four squares. I taped them together for placement before I adhered them to the Chocolate Chip layer. I guess you could do this with a craft knife so that you wouldn't see the seams between the squares, but I usually can't be bothered to go to that much trouble, LOL! And honestly I think the seams look worse in the photo than they do IRL.

The stamps I used come from the hostess set Cute by the Inch. I was able to make a nice medallion in the center by using my Stamp-a-ma-Jig and one of the stamps - even though I have these in clear-mount, I couldn't be quite precise enough for my taste without it. The "friends" stamp then went on top with dimensionals. I didn't have a lot more room on my card so I just finished off with a scallop border made from the Tasteful Trim die - after I got my die-cut strip, I cut it in half to make two narrow border strips. At the bottom I added three (retired) Old Olive buttons threaded with tiny strips of white card stock.

I hope you'll find a fun way to use folding this week and play along with our challenge - and be sure you check out what the rest of the OCC gals have done this time around. They never disappoint! Thanks for stopping by today!

Divine Diva Inspiration Challenge #34 rewind

So I'm back from vacation, and looking forward to getting back to stamping! There is one little thing I need to take care of first, though... Remember the DDIC post where I forgot to include my card photo? Oh, so embarrassing. Well, here it is. I won't put all my chatter back in a second time, but you can click the link to read it!

ABCs and 123s

All this month I'll be the hostess for the challenges at Our Creative Corner. I think I have some fun stuff in store so I hope you'll come check it out! To kick off the month, I'm celebrating the fact that my kids will finally be starting back to school in a few days. Here in New England we start later than most of the rest of you so I'm a bit behind. Anyway, the challenge is to feature letters and/or numbers prominently on your card or project. I can't wait to see what you all come up with!

This is probably one of those cards that if I showed it to Todd, he would have some smart-aleck comment about why all those different letters mean "thank you" - I confess that I thought long and hard about what sort of sentiment to use, but I think for some reason this one works. I did have this card by Brandi Wiggins (a fellow So Shelli contest winner! yay!) in mind when I thought of using Broadsheet Alphabet on my card. It was quite easy to take letters and fit them as closely together as possible on one large clear block, then I just colored them with markers.

The color combination came about in a random way - I looked through my markers to find colors I hadn't used recently and laid them out to see if I thought they looked good together. I used Soft Suede, Daffodil Delight, Poppy Parade and Pacific Point. I wasn't sure if I was going to like the combo, but since I had prearranged my stamps I could color them once to test it out and then clean them all at the same time. And you know, it's probably one of my wackier combos but I happen to like it! To finish I added a panel of poppy designer paper (from the hostess pack, which is a must-have), a sentiment from A Word for You, and two word window tabs in Soft Suede with daffodil brads.

Be sure you go and visit the OCC blog to see what the rest of the team has done for the challenge, and then come and play along with us! We always love to see what you create!

Divine Diva Inspiration Challenge #35

It's a brand new month and time for another inspiration challenge! Can you tell I'm starting to think of fall colors? I loved the textures in this photo - it was from a catalog, maybe Sundance? Anyway, I hope you find something here that inspires you.

I picked my color palette from some of the colors that jumped out at me: Baja Breeze, Cajun Craze, Early Espresso, Pear Pizazz and So Saffron. I think this combo captures the same softness the photo has. I chose an image from the hostess set Fast and Fabulous and colored it in a sketchy style with markers. To add some texture I embossed pear card stock with a texture plate and sponged espresso ink over it. The background uses the new stamp Teahouse, which is gorgeous. It's done in Baja Breeze with extra ink sponged on top of the whole panel, and then I went back in with the espresso and dirtied just the edges (as I did with everything else). I kept the accents simple: three Cajun Craze brads, a border done with the eyelet punch, and a sentiment from Occasional Quotes.

Be sure to check out the cards made by all the Divine Divas for this challenge!

Anne

Chris

Donna

Julie

Kerri (sitting out this week)

Hope you are inspired to come and play along. Just leave a comment here with a link to your card. We can't wait to see what you create! The keyword for uploading on online forums will be DDIC35. Have fun and look for the next challenge on September 16!

Out with the old and in with the new

Just a quick business-related post while I'm finishing up my vacation! The holiday mini catalog is now in effect, with tons of great new stamps, papers and accessories. You won't want to miss out! Click here to shop from the holiday mini online.

Also, while you're checking out all the new goodies, stop by the Clearance Rack for last-chance retired items. Some of the retired card stock (old colors) is up for sale this morning - if you're looking for any of those colors, get over there quick because I'm sure they won't last long! For the Clearance Rack click here.

If you're one of my regular customers, stay tuned for the monthly newsletter once I'm home from vacation!