Wednesday, September 30, 2009

Sketch Girl 6 & Bombshell Hump Day Hop

Hello all! I decided to combine two of my stamping loves this week - Bombshell Stamps and Sketch Girl! I hope you got your samples in for SG5 for a chance at 5 sentiment singles from Creative Clear Stamps. We also have our Guest Designer, Amber, for SG6 - I can't wait to see what amazing sample she has for us!

I chose a sweet new stamp I got this past week from the Bombshell set Speed Shop. The challenge for this week's hop was to color with pencils, so the hubby and I sat down and colored up some cars. I'll have to post his at another time ;o) I used a little strip of a super cool 12x12 paper that I got at Michael's along the bottom of the card - it kind of reminds me of wet asphalt. The diamond plate strip is a piece of aluminum foil glued to cardstock and embossed with the cuttlebug embossing folder {diamond plate}. I have two lists of fantastic ladies for you to bop around to. The first is the Sketch Girl team plus our Guest Designer:
*Annie *Bonnie *Chris *Eve *Harriet *Jessica *Jennie *Julie *Katie *Randee *Sara *Tiffany
and our Guest, Amber

The second, yet no less important, list I have for you to hop around to are the Bombshell Hump Day ladies:
*Angela *Kathi *Mary G *Glittery Katie *Miss Magoo *Terra *Stephanie *Sarah K *Gabby *Jacquie *Kas I'm the last on this hop, so if you've seen everyone else, I hope you enjoyed the hop!! If you haven't, what are you waiting for??? Go give some love to all these other spectacular ladies on both lists!!! Hope you like what you saw!! Check out the post below to know what is coming up for tomorrow!! :o) lyss

SUPPLIES:
STAMPS: Bombshell Stamps Speed Shop
INK: Memento Tuxedo Black
PAPER: Papertrey Ink SS White, Pure Poppy; Stampin' Up! Basic Grey, Basic Black; DP from Michael's (???)
OTHER: Aluminum Foil; Cuttlebug Diamond Plate embossing folder; color pencils, odorless mineral spirits, Ranger Glossy Accents

Tuesday, September 29, 2009

Guess who’s coming to dinner??

wfkbadge stamphappens125x125banner stampsistahsweb The Wildflower Kids!! Jen has created a fabulous set of stamps celebrating autumn and the holiday of Thanksgiving. Ivy returns as a sweet little pilgrim girl, along with a pilgrim boy, a native American girl and many other fun images. The lovely Stamp Sistahs will have some fantastic samples for you to view tomorrow, October 1st. If you can’t wait that long, you’ll have to bop on over to a couple of the Senior Design Team’s blogs to get a little preview.

Tonya, Stamp Happens

Jen, Deconstructing Jen

These stamps will only be available beginning Thursday, October 1, 2009 through Tonya’s online store, Stamp Happens. Please stop by tomorrow for a look at what I made with these cuties!

Thursday, September 24, 2009

Yo, Witch!


Three new rubber stamp sets from StampInsanity Stamps are available today exclusively through Stamp Happens. The sets are Morgan's Love, Halloween Henry and Morgan's Spell.
I have a preview from Morgan's Spell - the little witchy tween! Whenever I make a card, I like to skim through my Google reader and find some challenges to get the juices flowing. The challenge on the Copic Creations blog is to combine colored pencils and Copics; therefore, little Miss Morgan's hair, broom and the cat's eyes are colored with pencils. Once she was colored, I cut around the broom with some fine tip scissors and pulled that portion out of the small classic square nestie. Once the image was cut and embossed, I sponged around the edges with plum ink. The sentiment panel was done the same. The black bats are punched and then covered with Gunmetal Stickles. The moon is colored with a few squiggles here and there of a Sakura Clear Star pen and spread around with a light touch of an aquapainter.
{You can click on the pic to make it bigger and see all the sparkliness}
These stamps are so fun! Such sassy and fun little sentiments to send along to friends for a little laugh! This set is on sale right now for only $15.50!! Bop on over to the shop and get yours now!
Thanks for stopping by! Please check out the rest of the crew for some more amazing inspiration!
Sarabeth, Scrap Happie
Stephanie, A Paper Buffet
SUPPLIES:
STAMPS: StampInsanity Morgan's Spell
INK: Memento Tuxedo Black, Papertrey Ink Plum Pudding
PAPER: Papertrey Ink Soft Stone and Plum Pudding, Stampin' Up! DP Rockabilly (retired)
OTHER: Martha Stewart bat punch, Gunmetal Stickles, Sakura Clear Star gel pen and black glaze pen, colored pencils, Copics, Fiskars silver metallic pen, Spellbinders Lg & Small Classic nesties, Lg Scallop Square nesties & Tags Trio, PTI Vintage Buttons Orange Zest

Wednesday, September 23, 2009

StampInsanity Stamps & a Shimmerz Review


The Stamp Sistahs will be previewing a couple new StampInsanity stamp sets tomorrow, September 25th!! The new sets have Henry and Morgan all dressed up for Halloween. If you can't wait that long, bop on over to the Senior Design Team's blogs for a peek. Tonya (owner of Stamp Happens)

Beth (owner of StampInsanity stamps)

Julie (Senior Stamp Sistah and fearless leader)

Jen (Senior Stamp Sistah and artist of Wildflower Kids stamps)
These new stamps are deeply etched rubber and have a ton of sentiments to go along with the images - in other words, you get a lot for your money! They are available exclusively through Stamp Happens. Please come back tomorrow for a card made with a very witchy Morgan!

Switching gears on you now...here's a review of Shimmerz. If you click on over to the store, you'll be able to read reviews posted by the Stamp Sistahs on the different colors that we've tried.
One thing I like to do with all my stamping goodies is to make a key or guide for myself. I took a scrap of the white paper I always use (Papertrey Ink Stamper's Select White) and painted a thin line of each of the colors that I own. I, purposefully, did not alter this picture too much because I wanted you to be able to see not only the shimmer, but the difference in color between Opal and Angel Wings. They are hard to see, but Opal has a slight shell pink tint to it while the Angel Wings is the color that I like most to paint over anything to just give shimmer and not cover or alter the underlying color. {Hope that makes sense!}Shimmerz is super easy to use and not messy at all! The little tubs need to be shaken first to help evenly distribute all the sparkly bits! It is a water based paint, so if you feel that yours is too thick, just add a couple of drops of distilled water. I use a small paintbrush to apply to my projects. It dries quickly and, according to the manufacturer, can be used on paper, acetate and metal. I'll have to try the other mediums and see how I like the coverage. The number one reason I like Shimmerz? It's made in the USA!! Yay! It's not MADE IN CHINA ;o)

I made a little 4.25" square card with the jack-o-lantern from the Wildflower Kids set, Broom Rides. He is colored with Copics and cut out with square nesties, matted on a another classic square and then a black scallop square. I chose to use the Golden Wheat to create a shimmery, candlelit feel. The Golden Wheat was painted over the already colored openings. I realized after the fact that there is no need to color your image first. As you can see from the above *key*, the color is vibrant enough to go straight to paper and give excellent color. The background paper is from Papertrey Ink and is originally black and white. I used a brayer to color it to my liking - a great way to customize your designer papers.
Just a little detail shot to, hopefully, show the extra little bit that Shimmerz can add to your project!
Please check on the other Stamp Sistah's blogs (links in my sidebar) for their Shimmerz reviews. Don't forget to come back tomorrow for a look at the new Morgan! :o) Alyssa







SUPPLIES:
STAMPS: Wildflower Kids Broom Rides
PAPER: Papertrey Ink SS White and Black & White Basics DP, Going Grey, Green Galore, Pumpkin Pie, Basic Black
INK: Memento Tuxedo Black, VersaMark
OTHER: white embossing powder (SU!), Golden Wheat Shimmerz, halloween ribbon (Michael's)

Tuesday, September 22, 2009

It's my birthday!! and a baby card

I turn 29 {again} today!! And it's the first day of Autumn - a very nice season. It always makes me think of curling up with a good book on a chilly day by the wood burning stove. Love it! We actually had snow in some areas of Northern Colorado yesterday - no surprise there! It hasn't happened for a couple of years though. Hope we're not gearing up for a hard winter!

In my old age, I completely forgot to mention that I had to skip sketch 5 for the Sketch Girl blog. I just had too much going on with vacation and deadlines and all. Please go take a look at all the other ladies blogs (links are in my sidebar). SG5 has a prize, so be sure to play along!! Details can be found here.

Lastly, for a little eye candy:
This is another baby card I made for Baby & Me. (Sorry again for the crummy photo. This was another I tried in natural light.) I fell in love with the Fleur de Lis pendant die during the Spellbinders release before CHA in Florida. This is a large square card - 5.25". The vellum layer is up on dimensionals. Two white layers and one Sweet Blush layer are all flat together with the last SB layer up on dimensionals. The center medallion is a scallop vellum circle, white scallop circle and sweet blush circle embossed with the Little Star Plain Jane stamp from Verve stamps. I added a few pearls in various sizes for a little extra something ;o) Hope you like it! I thought it would be cool to do these in shadow box picture frames for a great keepsake gift. What do you all think? Thanks for stopping by today! I love that I have so many visitors, and your comments always put a smile on my face! :o) lyss
SUPPLIES:
STAMPS: Verve Little Star
INK: VersaMark
PAPER: Papertrey Ink Stamper's Select White, Sweet Blush and Vellum
OTHER: white embossing powder (Stampin' Up!); self adhesive pearls; Spellbinders Fleur de Lis pendant die

Friday, September 18, 2009

I can see the future...

and for me, it holds an impish, little blond boy ganging up on his mom with snowballs! This is Charlie from Whiff of Joy and is my second entry for the Guest Designer call.
He is colored with Copics. Not a whole lot of explaining to do with this card. I'll just list all of the supplies and you can post a comment if you have a question! Now, I have a couple of questions for you: I see a lot of bloggers out there take pictures of the Copic colors they use. Would you like to see a pic at the end of each post? Also, I'm trying to remember to add the supplies used at the end of each of my posts. Should I continue to do this?? Thanks for the input and thanks for stopping by!! Hope you're all having a great day!! :o) lyss

SUPPLIES:
STAMPS: Whiff of Joy Charlie with Snowballs, Papertrey Ink Polka Dot Basics and Mixed Messages
INK: Memento Tuxedo Black, Papertrey Ink Fresh Snow, Ripe Avocado and Pure Poppy
PAPER: PTI Stamper's Select White, Dark Chocolate, Ripe Avocado, Pure Poppy and Kraft
OTHER: Spellbinders Nestabilites (rectangles and Labels 1), Martha Stewart 2008 Snowflake punch, Copics, Cuttlebug Snowflakes embossing folder, 1" circle punch, Stardust Stickles


Wednesday, September 16, 2009

Wishing Mouse

This little wishing mouse is wishing for me to get to be a guest designer for one of my favorite companies - Whiff of Joy! They are holding a GDT call contest until this Saturday, so you'll be seeing a couple more cards {hopefully} in the next couple of days. I've been on vacation and knew about the call before I left, so i stamped up some images and colored away! ;o)
He is colored with Copics and cut out with Nesties. The flame of the candle has both yellow and orange glitter to make it uber sparkly! The small rectangle layer is flourish stamps embossed on the vellum layer with clear embossing powder. The same flourish is used on the dark blue layer. The sketch is actually from another GDT call that Whiff of Joy had a few months back. I was unable to complete the card in time but chose to finish it for this chance. Cross your fingers for me!!
Hope you have a fantastic day!! ;o) lyss
Supplies:
STAMPS: Whiff of Joy Henry Celebrating Mouse, Papertrey Ink Mixed Messages , flourishes (sorry don't remember!, but I got them at Target)
INK: Memento Tuxedo Black
PAPER: Papertrey Ink Stamper's Select White, Spring Rain and Vellum, Stampin' Up! Basic Grey and Brilliant Blue
OTHER: Copics, Spellbinders Nestabilites and Tag Trio, clear embossing powder, clearance sparkly circles, Doodlebug Glitter, Pearlescent chalks

Broom Rides


Well, it's finally here! Wildflower Kids rubber Stamps have hit the market, ladies!! These stamps are designed by Jen Shults and available today, 9.16.09, exclusively in Tonya's online shop, Stamp Happens. This release gives us two new sets, Ghoul Friends and Broom Rides. I chose to show off this cute, little witch from Broom Rides.

She is, of course, colored with my new favorite friends, Copics. She also has tons of sparkle, courtesy of Tonya (Stamp Happens). All of the purplish-blue is colored with a Copic first and covered with Starry Night Stickles. The light green is done the same with Watermelon Stickles.
Thanks for checking out my sample! Please check my sidebar for more Stamp Sistah goodies (sorry, I'm on vacation with limited internet access, so I can't link all the ladies here!). Hope you all are having a great day! :o) lyss

Tuesday, September 15, 2009

Wildflower Kids Stamps


The Stamp Sistahs have another brand-new-to-the-market rubber stamp company that we will be introducing to you tomorrow!

Wildflowers Kids Stamps are deeply etched red rubber that make a perfect impression every time! Two new and absolutely adorable stamp sets will be available - 'Ghoul Friends' and 'Broom Rides' - just in time for you to make all those cute little Halloween items!

Jen Shults is the artist of these. Tonya will be selling them exclusively in her online store, Stamp Happens. Make sure to sign up for the newsletter - a 40% off coupon is given every month!

Thanks for stopping by today! Come back tomorrow for the official release of Broom Rides! :o) lyss

Oh yeah! One more thing I forgot to mention, I don't have a card for the Sketch Girl blog this time around. Please check out all the lovelies by my sidebar links!

Thursday, September 10, 2009

My Timeless Template Peek - It's on the House

Since I had the honor of winning the Guest Designer spot for Best use of MTT in August, I get to share a peek of the new template for September! It's on the House is the name of this great template which will be available from Papertrey Ink on September 15th.
I immediately thought of a gingerbread house when given this to work with. I think I'm going to have to purchase the Made of Snow snowman set to make a few more of these before Christmas comes around! I chose to use the tree from Believe as decoration for my little gingerbread house. It is colored in with Copics and painstakingly cut out. The window is cut out with a craft knife using a rectangle nestabilitie as a guide. The window frame was created using two different sizes of nestabilities and scraps as the inner trim pieces.

Before assembling the template, I stamped a sentiment from Holiday Wishes in Pure Poppy ink across the top. The gingerbread shingles were made using a border punch and swiping the edges with Fresh Snow ink. A little Pure Poppy satin bow finished it off! Wouldn't these be fun with some of those frosted gingerbread cookies?













Here is another little project I made with It's on the House. The idea all began with some bird salt and pepper shakers that I bought as a gift for a bird lover. She likes to use sunflower seeds in her feeders and has a ton of sunflowers in her backyard as a result. I chose the sunflower image from the new Autumn Abundance as the focal image of this project. It is colored with Copics, and the same technique of using a craft knife and a nestabilitie as a guide was used to cut around the straight portions. I then used some fine scissors to cut around the image. A little Scarlet Jewel twill ties this one up.
Hope you've enjoyed my peeks of My Timeless Templates! What do you think of this template? I think there are tons of possibilities here. It's such a great size to give just a little something. The designer, Lauren Meader, is peeking this template on her blog today as well. If you haven't been there yet, be sure to go see what the master has done herself! Thanks for stopping by! :o) lyss

Wednesday, September 9, 2009

Meet Henry

The time has come for the release of StampInsanity Stamps - 'Otherworldly Loves' and 'Meet Henry and Morgan'. These stamps are so cute! Henry is holding a pencil with the point large enough for you to write something with a journaling marker. This makes him totally customizable!

I stamped Henry in Memento Tuxedo Black and colored with various Copic markers. He is matted on Ocean Tides, Ripe Avocado and Enchanted Evening. The DP is Basic Grey Archaic. The little ribbon tabs are Ocean Tides grosgrain ribbon.
This guy is full of possibilities! How cool would he be on the front of a journal or sketchbook with him doodling on the cover! I chose to leave the card blank on the front. On the inside I stamped, Bite Me, from 'Otherworldly Loves'. I have a very good friend that says this to me all the time! Then she runs from me when I actually try to bite her - but hey, she sent the invitation!! lol I thought this would be perfect to send to her as a 'just a note' type of card.
Hope you enjoyed my little peek! Please take a look at what the other amazing designers have done:
Tonya, the fabulous owner of the Stamp Happens shop that exclusively sells the StampInsanity Stamps.
Beth, the artist of StampInsanity Stamps, Julie, Senior Stamp Sistah, and Jen, Senior Stamp Sistah.
My fellow Stamp Sistahs will also have some amazing eye candy for you to look at.
Thanks for stopping by! Let me know what you think of these awesome new stamps!! Have a great day! ;o) lyss
SUPPLIES:
STAMPS: StampInsanity Meet Henry and Morgan, Otherworldly Loves
INK: Memento Tuxedo Black, SU Chocolate Chip
PAPER: Papertrey Ink Ocean Tides, Ripe Avocado, Enchanted Evening, Stampers Select White, Dark Chocolate; DP Basic Grey Archaic
OTHER: Papertrey Ink grosgrain ribbon

Tuesday, September 8, 2009

StampInsanity Stamps


The Stamp Sistahs will be revealing a brand-new-to-the-market, rubber stamp company Stamp Insanity stamps tomorrow, September 9th! What a date, eh? 09.09.09

The two, yes two, stamp sets will be released in their entirety tomorrow! They include a couple of tweenish aged characters, Morgan and Henry, as well as a sentiment set that includes some hard to find type stamps for those *Paranormal Princesses* - a term coined by the artist, Beth Schultz. The two sets to be revealed are 'Meet Henry and Morgan' and 'Otherworldly Loves'.

Please bop on by tomorrow to see my take on Henry! These stamps will be sold exclusively by Tonya's online store, Stamp Happens. Take a gander at her store - you can sign up for the newsletter and get yourself a 40% off coupon each month!! Also, shipping is free within the U.S. after a $50 purchase. Hope you all are having a lovely day! Hope you come back tomorrow! ;o) lyss

Friday, September 4, 2009

Great friends...

It's amazing the types of people you meet and connect with over the internet. Blogs have been an incredible window into the lives of strangers. I find it somewhat odd what others will post on their blogs - the personal information, the fights with their families/significant others, their dreams, etc. And yet, it's these little glimpses into their lives that hook you on someone with your sense of humor or someone you just want to get to know better. Whoopsie! I'm getting away from my topic.

This is about my friend Annie. She has become a great friend over email and through blogland. She is a woman that I truly connect with and admire. I cherish her friendship, encouragement and support! She actually called the other night *gasp* Oh, the horror! I had to have a few shots of whiskey - I was just too nervous! We had a fun talk and laughed a lot, and now, the "first time" is over! I just wish she lived closer so we could get together and get all inky!!

I made this card for Annie. The sentiment is from a digital sentiment company that she was on the design team for, Digiments. I printed it out on Vintage Cream and cut it out with some rectangle nestabilities. The background is stamped in VersaMark on Wild Wasabi with an old Stampin' Up! stamp. The centers of the daisies are dotted with a white gel pen. The flower was made by cutting out a lot of petite oval nesties from Vintage cream paper and nesting them together. Finished off with a New Leaf button tied with black twine for the center. The ribbon is Papertrey Ink black satin. The Vintage Cream/Wild Wasabi layer is up on dimensionals over the black base.
I also sent along this bookmark. Annie is a nerd that loves, I mean loves, to read. Her nose is almost always in a book. That is, when she's not cooking/baking for her family, stamping, trekking the kiddos all over the place, you know, all those things that super stampin' moms do!

I made a couple of bookmarks out of the paper that I stamped and colored for this card. I love making bookmarks because you know that your recipient will actually use it {hopefully!}. The saddle stitch ribbon is also from Papertrey Ink. I didn't have any large eyelets, so I found a bag of shiny silver ones in the leather tooling section at Hobby Lobby - a ton of them for only $1.75. You have to remember to look outside of the stamping/scrapping area for some great finds - same products, just a lot less sometimes!

Speaking of Hobby Lobby, have any of you been in lately?? They are carrying a ton more Nestabilities and Impressabilities. Gotta love those 40% off coupons! I'm heading over there today after work. Have a great day! Oh, and Annie - thanks again for being such a great friend!!

:o) lyss

Tuesday, September 1, 2009

Well, I did it...


I'm a calendar girl!! To be precise, I am Ms January ;o) I think our correct title is Monthly Pin Up. You can see it here. Guess what else is fun and exciting about it?? My fellow Stamp Sistah, Jacquie, is Ms October!! Woo Hoo! I can't wait to work with some more Bombshell stamps. They are right up my alley. Yay! Thanks, Shannon, for choosing me. I already have some fun ideas...you'll just have to wait till January to see them ;o)