Team make & takes and letting the cat out of the bag

My American Ink team gathering Saturday was a blast! We had some great make and takes and some great food, not to mention the swaps.



Kim is hanging onto summer with her big, beautiful Sunflower card. It uses that huge stamp clear embossed with More Mustard craft ink, plus the Well Worn background stamp in So Saffron ink. A Tiny Tags saying was punched out with the Medium Jewelry Punch. I stamped my sunflower a bit high on the card.

Mary Ann's make & take used the Perfect Polka Dots embossing folder, the Swirls & Curls Verses hostess set from the Summer Mini, Brights dsp, and buttons. Her card also added score lines above and below the sentiment.

And now the cat is out of the bag - literally! Frito Lay is our the newest member of our family. He went head first into my stampin' bag today and was trying to get at the supplies I had in the tote. When he couldn't get to them, he started attacking his tail, and then curled up for a bit on the other side of the tote. I'm happy to say he's roaming contentedly around the house, which is a good thing because I've already accidentally shut him in my closet and, this morning, closed a bathroom cabinet door on him.

I hope you're enjoying your Sunday! If you're in the area this coming Saturday, please drop by between 10 a.m. and 5 p.m. to shop my retired stamps and other items, make a card or 10 or more, and enjoy some refreshments as part of my Autism Speaks fund-raiser.

Delicate Doilies with Swirls & Curls Verses

This card uses new Delicate Doilies stamps, along with In Colors Wisteria Wonder and Lucky Limeade, and Tangerine Tango. I CASE'd a card by Christy Fulk, changing the focal point. The rhinestones add bling. You can see the new Lace Ribbon Border punch - it's big, and very pretty! The sentiment is from the Summer Mini hostess set, Swirls & Curls Verses. 

American Ink swaps use variety of tips & techniques

Mary Ann's rolled flower anniversary card.

Heather's pennant punch party card. (*New product alert!)

Bea's scrunched ink technique card.

Barb's Bold Blossom card.

Cheryl's Take a Sip wheel card.

Bernice's The Open Sea matchbook card.

Karen's lattice die Fabulous Florets card.

Kay's Charming card.

Michelle's French Foliage card.

Terry S.'s Swirls & Curls Verses card.

Party This Way favor box and On The Grow card...

We had alot of fun Saturday at our American Ink team meeting. There were six make & takes in all, though this post only includes two of them. Above, Michelle brought a Party Favor Box (die for the Big Shot). We added a strip of Love Letters dsp, a large circle scallop of Red Glimmer Paper, and a stamped sentiment from the Party This Way stamp set. We used a Crop-a-dile to make 3/16" holes on either side of the box and knotted the ends of the 1-1/4" Basic Black grosgrain ribbon. Michelle even gave us treats for the box! Yum.

Karen (aka Puddin') brought this beautiful On The Grow card. It uses the new Flower Garden embossing folder in the Summer Mini, as well as the Level 1 hostess set Swirls & Curls Verses. She used markers (Baja Breeze, Certainly Celery, Old Olive and Tempting Turquoise) and a blender pen to color the stamped images. The designer paper is from the Blueberry Crisp pack, and there are some rhinestones on there, as well.

I used Recess for the new Monkey Challenge 56: A Kid Card + A Sketch...

It's a new challenge on the A la Card Monkey blog, and I've chosen this cute girl on the slide from the Recess stamp set, having her hold a balloon from Crazy for Cupcakes.

I watercolored the images with ink pads and an aqua painter after stamping them in Basic Black. I love the bright colors of the Play Date dsp and pulled the Real Red and Tempting Turquoise directly that it. I used the sketch below to make my card.

I didn't mean for my words to turn this way, but something wonky happened so here they are. I used a stamp from the new Summer Mini hostess set Swirls & Curls Verses. Cute, isn't it?

So now it's your turn to get creative. Make a project using the sketch above and link it to http://alacardmonkey.blogspot.com/ by next Thursday at midnight. Make something a kid would love! And have a great weekend.

Stamps: Recess, Swirls & Curls Verses, Crazy for Cupcakes;

Ink: Real Red, Tempting Turquoise, Basic Black, and Soft Suede ink pads, Blush Blossom marker;

Paper: Whisper White, Real Red, Tempting Turquoise, Playdate dsp;

Accessories: Brights Buttons, aqua painter, dimensionals, 3" circle die for the Big Shot, 5/8" Early Espresso satin ribbon, 1/8" Real Red taffeta.