Last couple of Secret Stampin' Sister cards

I can't begin to tell you how fun it is to get "good" mail each week. Though I'm moderating my American Ink group's Secret Stampin' Sister (SSS) program, someone in my downline has chosen to brighten my weeks by sending me hand-stamped cards. How sweet is she?

This Saturday, at our next downline meeting, we'll have the final gift (valued at no more than $10 - it may be handmade or bought) and SSS reveal. It's exciting!

This card uses the Peace Within stamp set and Labels framelits.

This card uses Fabulous Florets and Adorning Accents.

Starting in January, I'm making an effort to send everyone in my downline a birthday card. I know they enjoy the thought, and it makes good use of my cards. I hope you share your stamping, too.

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.

Fabulous Florets in Rich Razzleberry...

Club is tonight and I thought this CASE'd card would be a good introduction to the Fabulous Florets stamp set. It uses some Rich Razzleberry ink and dsp from the Brights pad, as well as Old Olive card stock and ink. The Dazzling Diamonds glitter is adhered to the center of the flowers with a 2-way glue pen. I copied this card from Jill Hilliard.

Fabulous Florets for Monkey Challenge 55 - Flowers and a sketch...

Here's a close-up of a few of the flowers I put on this A La Card Monkey challenge card. I used reinkers and an aqua painter for saturated colors, then added highlights with a white gel pen.

I love this sketch. I think it would work well for any number of stamp sets! Plus you can add many details.

I started with the Pawsitively Prints II dsp. The small flower pattern is my favorite. I pulled the colors from it - Poppy Parade, Tempting Turquoise and Daffodil Delight - for the entire card. Another highlight of the card, for me, is the "you are awesome" phrase from the FYI stamp set. Who wouldn't love to get a card that says you're awesome?

Fabulous Florets is available in the Summer Mini Catalog. Contact me if you'd like to order any of the supplies used to make this card! Now create your own project using Flowers + the Sketch above, then link it to http://alacardmonkey.blogspot.com/. Have a great weekend!

Stamps: Fabulous Florets, FYI;
Ink: Tempting Turquoise, Poppy Parade, Daffodil Delight, Black StazOn;
Paper: Whisper White, Poppy Parade, Tempting Turquoise, Daffodil Delight, Pawsitively Prints II dsp;
Accessories: Jumbo brads, aqua painter, Scallop Border Punch, 1/4" Daffodil Delight grosgrain, Poppy Parade poly-stitch ribbon, 1/8" Whisper White taffeta, dimensionals, Word Window Punch.

I have 5 cards to share from my Summer Mini stamp-a-stack, and a baby bunny to show from my yard...

My customers played withStampin' Up! Summer Mini products at a recent stamp-a-stack at my studio. The first card features a Level 2 hostess set, and the last two cards are single stamps. There's alot of variety in this mini that I think you'll love! My favorites are the stamp sets that coordinate with designer series paper.

These colors for this Love & Care card came from the Color Coach. I have never used them together before. They're Bashful Blue, Crumb Cake, and Always Artichoke. You may get this stamp set with a $300+ party.

It'd been awhile since I'd used a jumbo wheel at a class, so when I saw Fish Frenzy, I thought it'd be great with Summer Splash. The Scallop Border Punch mimics waves, and the silver brads just add a little bling. The greeting is from another Summer Mini stamp set called Best Dad Ever.

This Daffodil Delight card uses Fabulous Florets and Beyond the Garden dsp with 5/8" Real Red satin ribbon. I used the Daffodil Delight reinker and an aqua painter to apply the color. This card is CASe'd from Dawn Olchefske. The sentiment is from Happy Greetings.

Sail Away is a great single stamp for a man card. This was stamped in Night of Navy on Naturals Ivory card stock, and features some Nautical Expedition dsp, and Cherry Cobbler/White baker's twine. The "for you" is from the All Holidays stamp set, and the Crumb Cake layer was run through the Square Lattice Embossing Folder for the Big Shot.

I used Pretty in Pink and Old Olive markers for the Hello Blossom single stamp. I saw this card online somewhere (sorry, I don't remember!), though it had an extra layer or two.

Finally, I have to share this little guy. I was looking out into the backyard from our sliding glass window when I saw a single green leaf moving. No other leaves in the yard were moving. When I looked closer, I saw the baby rabbit nibbling on a weed! This rabbit was so tiny - it could fit in a child's hand. I wanted to hold it so badly, but it hopped away... probably through a little notch in the fence.

I think this baby's mom is a rabbit that appeared in our front yard and driveway the past two days. Here's a photo of it:

It looks the same, only different, doesn't it? It's not a huge rabbit, but it definitely is grown, compared to the baby one. Thanks to my hubby, Eric, for taking the photos.

Fabulous Florets, Happy Greetings, The Open Sea, Recess, and Touch of Kindness Summer Mini sneak peek...

I had fun today at my 10-card class using upcoming Summer Mini Catalog items. This card above uses a stamp set called Fabulous Florets. I love the sentiment. It's the only word stamp in the set.

Touch of Kindness is the name of the stamp set used above.

Above and below are two versions of the same card using the Recess stamp set with the Brights dsp pad and either Tangerine Tango or Wild Wasabi card stock.

The upcoming mini catalog features some great man stamps, including The Open Sea, shown here, Nautical Expedition dsp, Espresso/White Baker's Twine and a sentiment from the Best Dad Ever stamp set.

For the fifth card, we used the Flower Garden embossing folder and Happy Greetings stamp set. Baja Breeze, Old Olive and So Saffron were sponged on using sponge daubers, with 1/8" Baja Breeze taffeta knotted at the top.

Michelle, Kim and Barb came to class today, as well as Marie and Mary Lee below.

Also there were Donna, Gaila, Christy, and Mary Ann.