Sneak Peeks!

I do think this is going to be my new favorite set! Look at the way these two cards have such a different presence but both using the same set and technique to make! I used the new set call Beautiful Day which will be available in the first TAC published Magalogue on Feb 1! It will have 48 pages of new product and new incentive sets too! Can't wait to see them. Here I used paper piecing for both of these cards but used a different paper line for each.

The first one I used Uptown Girl WIC trying to archive the look of love for Valentine's Day and the second I used Willoughby SWIC. They really do have a different feel due to the papers, colors and design! Oh, the versatility of stamping! I love it. Sorry the scans of my sets are not so great .... I have a lot to do and not much time to fiddle with them.

To paper piece, you stamp your image in the same color of ink on the foundation paper and on all of the papers you wish to add. I like to put double sided tape on the wrong side of the piecing papers before I cut them out to save time. Then cut out the papers you want to piece on to the image and attach them the foundation paper. It is a great way to get bold coloring without coloring! Blessings

Craft show this weekend ....

...at Lake Catholic High School in Mentor, from 9-4, if you are local come check it out! I have had fun getting a few things made up for the show. Yesterday was a really fun day!! I had a ceramics class in the morning and then taught my last Paper Candy class. It was a fun group of ladies and I really enjoyed it. Then I came home and made up some cute little candies for the show. What do you think???? The first two pictures are Hershey's kisses decorated for Halloween and fall. I made up 30 of these!! Then I started the candy bars ... I ma not even going to count how many I made but they were fun ... some are Hershey's milk chocolate bars and some are York peppermint patties. Over the weekend I made up a few cute mini albums which I hope to be able to show you all soon. Need to get more ready for this show and three others this fall!! Enjoy the beautiful fall leaves and the crisp air ... we may have snow this weekend according to the TV. Blessings

Willoughby is calming

No .....I do not mean the city a few miles from me .... but again I am calmed when I go strolling on the streets of downtown Willoughby. I am referring to the new Willoughby SWIC paper by TAC. Yummy and classic with a blend of old world and contemporary design which makes it fit any personality or need. Here is a 6 x 6 album I made with it, the matching ribbons, hardware and card stock, matching tags (they come with the papers), flower punch, clear acetate, Burnt Umber ink, 'Always Remember' stamp set, chipboard and the Bind it all. It was so easy and quick. If you want to make one too, follow my links and put these items in your cart on my TAC web site, copy and paste the finished cart and send it to me in an e-mail. That way I will be sure you get the free stamps to go with it.

Many of the layouts I got from friends of mine new blog using 3" squares. Check out, Simply Savvy Schemes. It is a nifty concept for page layouts!

This pictures shows you the front when the clear acetate is flipped back. You can add one main picture or three smaller ones that will also show as the cover!

Here are a few of the layouts for the pages. I think they are really versatile! You can add journaling, and one or more pictures with these layouts.

These mini alums do not take that much paper either, so you can get many mini albums for one pack of paper or have left overs for cards and other projects.

But the best news is that all of the directions are in the New Fall/Winter Inspiration Book on page 74. It looks so different with the the Tutti Fruit CSWIC papers. But that is what I like about it. You can make this book to fit any need in less than a few hours.

** Note added 7/19 - I made another of these books yesterday for a friend who lost her brother. I has 13 pages and I times myself and it too me one hour and 30 minutes and that included the cutting too! I will post pictures of it later.

My Open House this time is looking HUGE!! So I ask everyone who is coming to please take your turns at the make-n-take tables. I will have two. There is a lot to look at so please take time for that if the tables are full. I think this one may be the largest one I have had to date. I have made many of the door prizes and will post later today or Friday a sneak peak at one of them and how you can receive one! If you still want to come let me know! I have to re cut more papers any way! Hope to see more of you there. We will have fun and I promise there will be lots of eye candy and card candy too!! (hint!) Blessings

Reese Collection

Love the shaded used in this new Reese Soar with it Collection by The Angel Company (TM). Here is a card using the paper as a frame with one of the awesome tags, which comes with the pack of paper, highlighted in the middle. The tag is stamped with an images from one of the new sets 'Forever Family' and then over stamped with words from one of my favorites set, 'Ordinary Greeting', it is a classic must have set. I love the tags in this collection they are so traditional but trendy too!

This second card is a little busy for me. As some of you know I love to create with the scraps laying around me of Reese and this is the result. I had stamped of few images of the houses, 'Welcome Home', at seminar and then added some of the Reese scraps and tags as accents. The words are from the set, 'Family is Forever'. I had one for TAC's new flower punches so I punched out two flowers for embellishment too. Stickles glitter is added also for accents.

Be sure to let me know if you are planning to attend my Open House on July 12, ,from 1-5, at Mentor's Faith Lutheran Church. All of these samples and more will be there for you to view, new Inspirational Books will be available, trades for seminar, project and class samples from seminar and a few make-n-takes too. Just let me know you are planning on attending!

New creations

The last few days I have been busy, I but have tried to get a little creating done too. Thurs night and this morning I was on fire with all the new kits, papers and stamps! I am totally amazed these new kits! No .. I am not showing them today but will as soon as I get pictures taken. This first card is made with monochromatic card stock (p. 112) the blue greens. It really matches so many of our SWIC papers. Here I scored down each side of the darker color with my Scor-pal and then evenly punched holes with my Crop-a-dile in the middle. I love the look of the lighter color showing through. The tag is from out new line of Reese SWIC! The tags are gorgeous!! The stamps are from the new set 'Welcome Home'. A real quick and easy card with style! Click to enlarge for details

The second card is the same idea with a stripe of the darker monochromatic paper down the side put this time I used the Scor-pal and embossed two lines down each side and then the Crop-a-dile to emboss raised circles in the middle. I used the 'With Sympathy ' set for the words and another tag from the Reese SWIC. Don't they both have a clean and fresh look with the teals and brown colors! Enjoy your weekend. Blessings to all.

Linear Sentiments part 2

OK.. so it wasn't Blogger that was the problem yesterday .. my computer saved my scans as .tif instead of .jpg so it would not take the pictures. I am glad I figured it out!! Here is the dotted flower from 'Linear Sentiments', used as a background stamps in a light pink on beige card stock. The tag is from the new Kit Natalee, the dragonfly is from the new Level C Hostess set (which I love!!) and the word 'friendship' is from the new Level A Hostess set called 'Laughter'. The dotted flower looks quite different from yesterday's cards! Crystal Stickles is added for extra bling!

The second card used the dotted circle from the set done in a darker shade. I then stamped 'thank you' from 'Ordinary Greetings' in Burnt Umber inside each of the circles. I used the Scor-pal to add embossed lines on each side of the sentiment stripe. The flower at the top was punched out with one of our new flower punches from the scraps from the new circle kit Sydney. Oh, I added more Crystal Stickles!

The last card I again used the scrapes from the new circle kit Sydney for the curved corner. The main flower was stamped once and then twisted 90 degrees and stamped again without re-inking to have the dirty stamped and layered look. I put Crystal Stickles in all of the dots! It really shines.

This is a timeless and classic set that has so much potential! All of the cards I did are quick and easy and remember I did them on a filled stamping table too!! Today I finished cutting out all of my new sets, getting them in DVD cases and labeled, cleaned off my stamping table, organized my trades. They are great!! Lots of good ideas! If you want to see them and try the new stamps be sure to come to my Open House on July 12!! Blessings

Linear Sentiments

Oh the versatility of some of the new sets in the new TAC's Fall/Winter Inspirational Book (IB)!! I love this set called 'Linear Sentiments' and could not wait to play with it! Here are some of my samples ... now I need to let you all know these were made in a rush with my stamp table a mess ... I hope to get it cleaned up today or Thurs! The first one I put the linear stamps along the bottom of the card. Punched out a black Mega scalloped circle, and a 2" circle. I stamped the circle with the linear stripe so it looks like background paper. The used a stamp from "Forever Family " in the middle attached with mounts. Crystal Stickles was added for sparkle of course.
This one is a 3" note card with the same set & colors. I put the linear stamps on the side by the fold, punched a 1.5" circle at the bottom and then stamped the flower inside of the punched out circle. I added a ribbon on the side and a large center of Crystal Stickles so it looks like a gem!

OK .. I have more to post but blogger is not letting me upload anymore right now so I will put up more later. I love this new set! I have put some of the new stamp sets on my product page for you all to view, so go check it out. If you need your own copy of the new IB let me know! Blessings

More Date Disks

Here is another ideas I have for using this great set, Date Disks, for cards or pages. This time I went to one of my favorite places for inspiration, my scrap basket! I stamped each month on a different type of printed Designer and Wing It Collection paper and then punched them out. Are they bright and beautiful. And i figured I you may want to see what you can do with them so here is a really quick card .. yes all from my scrap basket! I used the set, Just Because, but wait ... that stamp is a two line stamp. No problem at all, with TAC stamps you can cut them any way you want and then put them back the way they were! So I made it into two stamps so I could stamp it as one line. I used Rustic Chic for the paper for the card and embellished the scalloped circle with dollops of glitter. Then I raised the Date Disk with mounting cushion and wrote on my friends birthday. I hope she is not looking so she will be surprised on her birthday!!

**Note : For some reason Blogger is putting all of my pictures in the wrong direction. They were not shot in that direction or edited in that direction ... they just appear that way. I have tried all day. So .... turn your head to the right when looking at these pictures!! LOL Remember too you can click on them to make them larger also. Blessings

Haven't been stamping much

I have been working on things here at my house. There is so much that needs done and I only have so much energy. But I would like to show you an idea I had the other day. I made these to post on my Etsy store. If you are not familiar with Etsy it is like Ebay but for hand made items, vintage, patterns and supplies. I have started to post some of my stamps that are retired on there also besides my handmade items if you are interested. Go check it out often since I try to add something every day.

Here are a group of stamped, decorated and punched out Date Disk circles. These stamps are great for scrap booking since you can stamp the image on a page and put in the date. Or stamp them on other paper printed or decorated with another stamped image and punch them out to add with mounting cushion. I made a set of 12 (one for each month) with an appropriated Distressed Seasonal Stamp in the middle for embellishments for scrap bookers. If you do not have the set and want to try them out this is a great way to do it. Have a great weekend! Blessings

Stamp-a-Stack

I have cut for 25 and a few people have had to cancel so if you still want to attend my Stamp-a-Stack on Saturday, May 17 from 1-5, please e-mail me privately. You need to bring your own glue(s), scissors, bone folder, covered beverage and Scor-pal (if you have one). I will have both of mine there if you do not. We will be making 24 cards, 12 designs, two of each design for $25. You will be making: birthday, thank you, thinking of you, wedding, baby, and all occasion cards. Envelopes and written directions with a scan of the card is included. Please let me know as soon as possible. Hope to see you all there!! Blessings

P.S. This is a sneak peek of one of the masculine birthday cards (or graduation) I used the set Take Pride, Charcoal Palette ink, and Amberly Grace SWIC .

Stamp-a-Stack

It is will be a big one and lots of fun so if you are local be sure to join us! It will be on May 17 for 1-5 at Faith Lutheran Church in Mentor, 8125 Mentor Ave. We will be making 24 cards of 12 designs this time! I got carried away with the 'simple, smart, and sophisticated' TAC style. I have included: wedding, baby, birthday, thanks, masculine, sympathy, and all occasion cards, envelopes are included. They are all quick and easy to make! Cost is $25 and I need payment and RSVP no later than this week please. I have started to cut but need to know if I have enough. Please bring with you: scissors, glue(s), bone folder, covered beverage (no spills allowed!), and if you have a Scor-pal please bring it too. If you stamp the back of your cards will your personal stamp bring it and stamp them as you make them. I will supply simple snacks and a hand made bag to carry your paper supplies and creations.

Now if you are not local, I will be selling the scans and recipes for all 12 designs for $10 after May 17. Contact me privately if you are interested.

An'udder birthday!!

So here is the a card using the same layout as the last one but I used the TAC set An'udder Birthday from the Spring Supplement. This is a quick sketch that I seem to be falling back on a lot. I make up a lot of backgrounds and keep them in a clam shell that the TAC stamps come in. Then i stamp a lot of images and put them in another clam shell. I carry this one with me different places and color them or at the TV in the evenings. Then one day I put all of the cards together. It is a quick and easy way to make lots of cards with very little planning or time. Try it and let me know if it works for you.

Well, the work has started in my upstairs area. I am redoing my bedroom and adding on an office in another bedroom. At the moments I have all of the furniture set up in my new office but not organized yet ... that is my today project. It is so exciting to see and feel the changes going on. I hope to post a few more goodies for you to see soon. Blessings

Sweet skunk

It has been a busy week! Wed I had classes all day and we had a wonderful time stamping and creating. I will post more about that class later! Had a great time with my TAC-ee ladies, stamping group, all day on Friday, stamping, talking and eating. What better way to spend the day! Yesterday I went to Adventures in Stamping with a friend. We had a great day together and I ran into many stampers I know there which is always fun. It was a great show this year. I hope you have had a great weekend too! Today is catch up day.

Reminder that April 30 will be the last day to get the double incentives from TAC! (two free GWP with each $30 order and 2 Level A set free, a free cattie, a free limited edition set, two half price items and 6 free GWP's with a $100 order!) You can't go wrong with that!! Please be sure you have your orders to me by then so you do not miss out. Also remember that you can select one of each of the limited editions sets with a $30 order, and one of each of the SOTM and Vintage set too!

Instead of posting one more card with 'Springtime' I have uploaded all of the cards I made into my flickr site for you to see them all at one time, the new one is added there for you. I hope you enjoy them and can see how versatile this set is. You can see them in a slide show, or as individual scans. I have added a few comments with each and would love it if you would too. Let me know if you like me doing it this way or not please.

This card is made with another of my favorite sets, 'Sweet skunks'. I colored it with colored pencils and outlined it with a gray Tombow marker. The card's background is the Happy Birthday Cuddlebug embossing folder which I then sanded. I added a flower folded over the edge with a brad for embellishment. This is a quick and easy card to make. Blessings

Spring time ? ? ? ? ?

Is I here or not??? I love the Springtime Stamp Spring Supplement! set from TAC's I have been having so much fun with it. Here is another card using it with a tag from Amelia SWIC. I got the inspiration from the commercials for Ugly Betty .. check them out .. do you see the lines of trees? The top corner then I used my favorite tool, the Scor-pal and embossed 5 diagonal lines at 1/2 inch intervals and then used a dark green Tombow marker with the Scor-pal to add lines between the scored lines. Click on the image to see it closer. It is a quick and easy card for any occasion. The 'thank you' is one of the current Gift with Purchase stamps you get free with every $30 you order .... but now you get two free GWP .... and you can select one of the new limited editions sets for $2.95 too! Hey they even have one to match the Springtime set! Enjoy your weekend. Blessings

Stamp-a-Stack changed

It was a hard decision but I have decided to change the date of my annual Spring Stamp-a-Stamp to May 17 from 1-5 instead of April 12. I had an opportunity to be a vendor at a large event at Lakeland Community College on April 12 called 'Celebrate Woman'. It sounds like a great event for every!

Also, I was doing the designing for it a few weeks ago, and got carried away!! Instead of coming up with 8 'crunch' cards (can be made in less than 5-10 minutes) I came up with 12!! Yes .... 12 cards that I like! So, I also changed it to 24 cards, 12 designs, two of each design. Cost is $25. So let me know my May 6 if you are attending! Here is a sneak peak of a few of the cards! And I post a picture of one of my favorite cards we will be making! Blessings

Fantastical Folds Class

I had a terrific weekend at my down-line, Rita H's, gathering in KY!! It was small but we had the greatest angels there ... we did some wonderful projects, had great foods, did a lot of laughing and sharing, had great demo's (boy did I learn a lot!!) and had an opportunity to meet some wonderfully talented angels!! Thanks everyone who attend and thanks to Rita H for doing just a wonderful job putting it one!! I had a wonderful time!! Now when did you say it was going to be for next year Rita H??!!??

After attending her gathering I learned some more Fantastical Folds for cards! I will be having Fantastical Folds I on March 13 from 6-8:30, March 15 (only a few spots left in that class), from 2-4:30, March 18 from 6:00-8:30 and then March 19 from 1-3:30. I have a picture of all of the cards we will be making above. All of them are done using the Scor-Pal. I have all different types of unusual folds for all occasions including birthday, wedding and masculine. Let me know if you would like to attend! I will be planning a part two class soon!

This week I have been working on crafts for my show at St. Gabs this Friday and Saturday. I have been making all kinds of things and will be showing them as I have time to get photos made. Here is one idea I had using the containers our Level A Hostess sets come in with Twix candy bars. I stamped with our set 'Life is Too Short' on the container and then wrapped the candy bards with Designer Collection paper and put different quotes on all of them and added ribbon at the top. I hope the weather gets better so people will be able to attend. Stop by and say "Hi" to me! Blessings

Day 7 Scor-Pal Fun

Oh ... what a cold and snowy day we are having ... they say when it is all over we will have 10-12" ... I hope not!

Today we will using stamping on the scored lines made with the Scor-Pal. First I scored a half sheet of white CS at 4 1/4" and creased. Then I took a piece of dark pink MatchMakres CS and on the wrong side (smoothest side) I scored it at 1/2" on all four sides. Then I lined it up and scored it on the diagonal within the scored frame ... all on the wrong side of the CS. On the right side I sanded it so the white core would pop out.

Then on a 3 inch square of white, I scored it on the diagonal every 1/2 inch. Then I turned it over so the raised diagonal scored lines were up and scored it over top them at 1/4 inch on all four sides.

I flipped it over again so the diagonal raised lines were on the back. Then I stamped a bold image on top being sure to TWIST,TWIST ... TAP, TAP, TAP (from my down-line Rita H) to get a good coverage on the stamp.

Putting it all together with ribbons and bows I think it has a lot of cool texture on the paper and on the image. The image you use must be bold or with a lot of detail on it.

I hope you enjoy! Today's question is which of the stamping magazines do you read the most ... a hint to one of my surprises .... maybe!!

Tomorrow is the last tutorial and all messages must be posted by 10 PM EST so I can draw the winners!! Blessings

Day 6 Scor-Pal Fun

Thanks so much for all of the kind words from everyone this past week ... I have two more tutorials to go. I appreciate all of you for taking the time to view my creations! Thanks so much .... I am so blessed to have you all in my life! I have two exciting announcements coming soon also! I am trying to keep my composure and not say anything about them yet ..... but I will really soon!!

So let's put the last few days of ideas all together ...... the possibilities are endless! Here I took a half sheet of MatchMakers CS and scored it at 4 1/4" and creased ... then scored at 1/2" increments on the diagonal. Remember this is all done on the wrong side of the CS.

Next I sanded it to make the white core pop ...

And lastly I inked lightly over the diagonally sanded scored lines with a darker color of ink. Isn't that a nice look. I wanted to try it with a few other shades but did not have time today. I promised myself I would get my taxes ready and take them in .... so that was my top priority today .... and it DID get done!

We are suppose to have a lot of snow on Tues so I will have time to try a few more cards with this look and post them. Two more days of tutorials for using the Scor-Pal for cards and then I will put all of the names of stampers who have left comments here each day into a basket and draw out two names.

Deadline for entering is Wed Feb 27 at 10 PM EST. I need to draw before I go to bed since I will be going out of town the next morning for the weekend for a stamping retreat! YEAH!!!!

Here is today's question ..... What colors do you create with the most (not black, white or cream)? Blessings

Day 5 Scor-Pal Fun

Diagonals ... they really give a great texture to your cards! On this card I scored on the diagonal every inch and then stamped an image in each of the diamonds. This is such a soft and easy to make card.

First score on the wrong side of a half sheet of paper at 4 1/4" and crease. Keeping it on the wrong side, line the card up on the diagonal with one of the lines on the Sco-Pal. Keep it like that and score on each 1/2" or inch depending on your preference.

Once you have done this, turn the card and score it again on the other diagonal using the same increment.

On this card I did them at 1" increments ... but card I am showing you the technique with I scored at every 1/2" increment.

On this card I stamped the same image in each of the diagonals and then added a few other pieces to complete it. I made this card with all scrapes except for the base of the card. I love doing that! I feel my most creative when I am designing with scraps!

The question for this post is ... hummm ....... what types of cards do you stamp the most of ... birthday, sympathy, thinking of you, get well ... etc? Blessings for the week!!

Day 4 Scor-Pal Fun

Sorry about missing the post yesterday. I took pictures in the morning since it was a beautiful sunny day here in Cleveland. Then I went downtown to the Botanical Gardens to see the orchid show. It was gorgeous!! I plan on creating a class around the pictures I took there!! So today I will have two post!

On this card I used the Scor-Pal and created a frame around the edge and then inked to define it more.

First I scored the wrong side of a half sheet of paper at 4 1/4" and crease. Then, also on the wrong side, of the front of the card, I scored 1/2" around all of the edges.

Next, I lightly rubbed the ink over the card all in the same directions. I do it very lightly then you will not get streaks in the ink. If you like the lighter color leave it or apply the ink lightly until you get the shade you like. Can you see how it really defines the scored framed edge?

I also scored at the bottom of the rectangle that the horses were stamped and inked them too with ink. This grounds the horses and ties in the frame at the same time. The two cards on the right are done in the same fashion but both slightly different to give you more ideas. On the right I scored 1/4" on the sides and then attached it to a half sheet of MatchMakers CS. I love these Hieroglyph Horses!! I used Juliette SWIC on the top card and the the right hand card in this picture and Sands of Times CSWIC was used on the left side of this photo.

Today's question for all of you 'want to be winners' is ..... Which of the Soar with It Collections is your favorite? Remember to leave an answer to the question to entry in for the drawings ... you can go back and enter on previous post also! I will be posting a second entry later tonight to make up for yesterday! Blessings