Live, Love & Stamp

Wednesday, November 25, 2009

Happy Thanksgiving!

Have you been wondering where my Thanksgiving card pics are? The cards got finished over a week ago but I don't like to post the pics until they are in the mail. So, they got sent out last Saturday, yet I still didn't think about putting them on my blog. I need to get better about that! I made about 20 cards dividing between two prototypes. But I also did a different one for my mom and one for my hubby. Here they are ...

The pumpkin stamp is from Northwoods. Both cards were colored with prismacolor pencils and gamsol. The images I used for both cards required a lot of coloring which I don't always like to do because I have trouble figuring out what colors to use but with pumpkins and leaves, it was a no-brainer! Below is the inside of the first card.

This second card was a challenge for me. I had a similar idea in my head but when I went to do the placement on the A-2 card size which I do 90% of the time, it just didn't work. The stamp, which is from DeNami designs was too large to show off much of the scrapbook paper which I had in mind to use here. So, I went thru envelopes and found I had enough that I could make a 5 x 7 size card instead, so this is the result. The punch I used is from Fiskars and one I have had for a number of years. And one I don't think I have ever used. But when I made the prototype I fell in love with it for this card. More challenges occured when on the second card I made I broke the puncher tab and I had to go buy another one at Michaels! And then the dots on each scallop are those dot sparkler stickers from Stampendous. I ran short, so I had to ask for help. Fortunately, a friend (ex-customer) came to my rescue and I was able to cover every scallop with a beautiful orange dot!

When I ran out of the dark orange paper, I decided it was fine and I would make a more simpler version for my mom. She loves pinks so I picked out this peach paper which is closer to that color scheme. I gave it to her today and she loved it!

And last but not least, this is the card I made for my hubby. I hope he likes it, I will give it to him tommorrow! I think it came out really cute. I wish I would have made more of this one to send. But I had already cut all the cardstock and scrapbook paper pieces when I came up with the card. There is always next year!

Gary's children and granchildren are coming for the big Thanksgiving dinner on Saturday. I am cooking all of it ...wish me luck! Just think, on the day that Thanksgiving is just a memory to you is the day that we will be having ours! Have a wonderful holiday with family and friends!

Happy Stamping!
Tina

Friday, November 13, 2009

Inspiration Part 2

So much for thinking I am going to post one a day! I can't even do it when I have cards ready to show you! Where does the time go? How did I get everything done when I worked? Anyway, I want to share with you a couple of cards I made recently. On both you will see a very similar layout. The layout allows me to use my scrapbook paper and the nestibilities scalloped ovals. Speaking of scrapbook paper ... a few years ago, I rarely used scrapbook paper in my designs. I just used colored cardstock, now... well, now my card just dosen't seem complete without it. What's up with that? But, for now I do love the look!

The owl is a stamp by Inky Antics. The actual stamp has a birthday hat on top of its head but when I cut out the owl, I just left that part off. The scrapbook paper is Indian Summer by Basic Grey and the brads are coodinating with that line. Do you notice the layer that looks like lines on a tree? That was made using the designer woodgrained backgound stamp from Hero Arts. What makes this layer interesting is that I stamped the woodgrain onto a piece of cork! I love how this card turned out!

And for this one, I stamped the Stamping Bella mermaid stamp. I am not sure the source for the background paper because I found a piece of it in my scraps, which were just the colors that I needed for this little mermaid! The added flower blings are from Petaloo. All cards must have some kind of bling!

Until next time - Happy Stamping! Tina

Monday, November 9, 2009

November Inspirations Part 1

I have been very creative lately! The last week I have been working hard on my Thanksgiving cards and I have been making all occasion cards too! I have 6 all occasion cards to share with you - but no, you don't get to see them all in this post! Only one at a time! I just don't know how the girls do it - they create and blog every day??? I am not that organized yet! Since I have created some new cards, I will try to blog more frequently so you can share my inspirations!

Today's card uses the engraving art boards that I talked about in my October 26th post. This is a product I found at the stamp store in El Paso. When I shared my find with you, I had told you to watch my blog for a card using this product, so here it is! This time I used the package that is silver with black, instead of gold with black. I used my flowers cuttlebug folder. Don't forget to sand it after you run it through the machine. I also used the Stampin Up metal flowers. This is the first time to use those. The layout was cased from one of my favorite blogs, of course. It is a pretty simple layout, but sometimes simple can be good!

See ya very soon! Happy Stamping!

Tina

Monday, October 26, 2009

Happy Halloween!

When I need inspiration and ideas, I go to some of my favorite blogs. Now as you know, now days they all do these sketches which show in grey tones how the layout will look. I am admiting to you that it is extremely hard for me to visualize how my stamps and papers will work when all I see is grey. But...if you show me an example with papers, stamps, etc. then I can go for it! I am very visual! So, in search of halloween ideas, I found a card I liked from a 10/08 post on http://www.sunshinydayswithkim.blogspot.com The word Ive heard used is my card was "cased" from her card. Last week, Donna & I went to the store in Waxahachie called The Crafty Scrapper. One of my purchases, was a couple of sheets of flying witch scrapbook paper by Reminisce. So, I used that for my first design, at least until I found out I only had enough checkered ribbon for about 10 cards and even then I had to cut and piece to get the 10 completed. My next idea used some scrapbook paper from my stash. I think it was from Heidi Grace and was purchased when Recollections went out of business. Like the witch card, which I stamped Best Witches by AMuse on the left side panel, I decided I my other AMuse word stamps would fit perfectly on the same left panel. I proceded to come up with images which would match up with the sayings. So, on the following cards, I used "have a spooky night", "have a boo-tiful day", "frightful and delightful", and for Gary's card "I'm a little batty for you". I have shown you a close-up of my embellishments because I used the sparkler dot stickers from Stampendous and put them on top of black brads. Loved this because you could see the black and the orange!

Have a Spooktacular Halloween!

Happy Stamping! Tina

Have Stamps Will Travel!

Did you think I did no stamping in 28 days of travel? I think I spent at least 3 afternoons stamping. All on Sundays, since that is the day my hubby likes to watch football! I took pics of two of the cards I made and sent. So, here are those. Sorry about the lighting - they didn't come out as bright as usual.

The hedgehog image is from Penny Black. And the flower was made with one of the sizzix dies.

The above images are Inky Antics. I absolutely love these stamps and I think this card came out pretty darn cute!

The day we went to El Paso, I got Gary to take me to The Stamp Act. I really enjoyed seeing Polly's store. Of course, I found a few things I couldn't live without. She had a fabulous sample made using one of the cuttlebug folders and engraving art boards by Royal Langnickel. I bought two packages, one with gold foil and one with silver foil. Polly said they also make one in copper foil, but it was out of stock. Here is a picture of the gold foil package so you can see what I am talking about.

When you take a board out of the package, it looks solid black. And then you place it inside one of your cuttlebug folders and run it through your die cut machine. The last step is to go over it with a sander block to make the foil color pop. My two pieces below used the same folder but have opposite looks depending on which direction the board gets put in the folder.

Now, I need to make a card with my examples. Look for that soon! Since, I have been home I have been making Halloween cards. So, look for that post next. I will be scheduling it after my cards go in the mail.

Talk Soon - Happy Stamping! Tina

Sunday, October 25, 2009

Home Sweet Home!

We have been home for almost 2 weeks from our Texas RV trip and I am just now getting the pictures out of my camera so I can share some of them with you. I had planned to post pictures along the way but I soon found out that wasn't going to work as very few places had WIFI, and of those that did, their signals were usually to weak to be able to upload anything. We were gone 5 days to Lake Murray in Oklahoma for the family's reunion and 28 days on our Texas trip. The trip itinerary was for 10 more days, but I cut the trip short after deciding I wanted to be home for my mom's birthday. My plan and original idea for the camera photos was to post one pic for each of the 28 days. So out of 400 pictures I took ... crazy, yes... I have picked 28 just for you. Each are dated with as close to the actual date taken as possible. I don't seem to have any in the last 6 days so I have added a few extra in the earlier days. Come along with me from Amarillo, to El Paso, to South Padre and points inbetween. Enjoy!

9/15/09 Clinton, Oklahoma Rt. 66 Museum

9/16/09 Palo Duro Canyon State Park - Near Amarillo

9/17/09 Cadillac Ranch - Near Amarilo

9/18/09 Road in Palo Duro State Park

9/19/09 Field of Sunflowers - On the Way to Lubbock

9/20/09 Monahans State Park - Between Odessa & Van Horn
(Hubby Gary and Dog CoCo)

09/21/09 Rainbow over the Mountains -Van Horn

9/22/09 Natural Entrance Carlsbad Caverns

09/23/09 Scenic Road from El Paso to Van Horn

9/24/09 Davis Mountains State Park Scenic Overlook (our RV is on the right in pic)

(We stayed a whole week at this state park to see lots of the surrounding area. We loved it here. We thought it was of the best state parks we have ever been to! It had full hookups including cable!)