A La Card Monkey blog hits 100th challenge

This week, for A La Card Monkey Challenge #100: Celebrate! + Sketch, I made a really simple sketch that I rearranged slightly. Instead of having scallops around my circle, I added them to the designer paper. Obviously, with celebrating the 100th challenge, there's got to be BLOG CANDY! To be eligible, you can 1) upload a creation of your own using the link above; 2) become a Follower of our blog; or 3) leave a comment with your email address. It's that simple!

Here's what I'm providing for the BLOG CANDY: Two stamp sets, a Thank-You note kit, 8mm pearls, Chunky Baja Breeze Glitter, a flower keychain, Daffodil Delight Pom Pom Trim, Whisper White Baker's Twine in a container I customized with a paper flower, Sweet Stitches Designer Buttons, a photo book to alter, Scallop Trim Border Punch, and Cherry Cobbler Dazzling Details. Now that's some terrific BLOG CANDY!

Now for my card:

It uses the new Summer Smooch dsp (everyone will be able to order some April 1), along with the Kidoodles stamp set. The card is Pacific Point card stock, and I used a blender pen and Pacific Point ink to color the image. The banner is from the Petal Cone die, and I added a few Brights Glimmer Brads. Here's my sketch:

American Ink team make & takes

What's the most fun about our American Ink team meetings? The stamping! Every month I ask for volunteers to bring make & takes, and I'm never disappointed. It's great practice for new - and more experienced - demos to prep a project. And while I'm talking about what's the most fun, I do love seeing and chatting with everybody!

I'm doing a Product Share at every team meeting. This month we learned about the Diagonal Scoring Plate. So my two-part make & take used the Everyday Enchantment dsp for the envelope (7-3/4" x 7-3/4" piece), which takes less than a minute to create with the Diagonal Scoring Plate. The second part was making a coordinating card using the Blossom Punch and Teeny, Tiny Wishes. You can read all the details of the Diagonal Scoring Plate in my right-hand column.

I can't remember who brought this (Frankie?). The stamp set is Just Believe.

Barb brought this Happiest Birthday Wishes card. It uses the Everyday Enchantment dsp, ribbon and brads.

Ginette brought this Tempting Turquoise card. It uses the Triple Treat Flower, the 5-Petal Flower and Fancy Flower punches, and the Top Note die.

American Ink team swaps

I love our American Ink team meetings. We get to stamp a lot, share what we've been doing for the past month, meet new people, enjoy great food and learn new things. We had a team meeting this past Saturday. Here are the swaps:

Made by Barb. Uses Mixed Bunch stamp set.

Made by Brandy. Uses Tagtastic hostess set.

Made by Frankie. Uses Lace border punch.

Made by Frankie. Uses Mixed Bunch and Blossoms Punch.

Made by Heather. Uses Button Buddies and Sweet Shop Specialty dsp.

Made by Jessica.

Made by Kathie M. Uses Blossom and Boho Blossoms punches.

Made by Michelle. Uses Mixed Bunch, Blossom Punch and He is Risen.

Made by Puddin'. Using Labels Framelits and Bordering on Romance.

Made by guest demo Noel using Labels framelits, Designer Frames and edgelits

If you want to join a fun group of stampers, American Ink is for you! And there's still time to join for only $125. Please contact me for more information at ericandterry@comcast.net. The $125 Starter Kit is good thru March 31, and you can sign up online and get started today!

Happy Easter everybunny card

I was reminded this week of how fast Easter is approaching - April 8, I believe. So my clubs this month are making this Everybunny Blushing Bride/Marina Mist card. We masked the mushrooms to make the bunny look like he's behind them a bit. We used aqua painters and watercolor crayons to color the image.

Stamps: Everybunny;

Ink: Jet Black StazOn;

Paper: Whisper White, Marina Mist, Nursery Nest dsp, Marina Mist;

Accessories: Oval punch, oval scallop punch, Blushing Bride poly-stitch ribbon, aqua painter, Watercolor Crayons (Neutrals, Subtles), Itty Bitty Punch, rhinestones, dimensionals.

Elementary Elegance to Tea Shoppe quick cards

Here are three more quick and easy cards I've used for my 10-card classes recently. The one above uses Sale-a-Bration free items Elementary Elegance stamp set and Everyday Enchantment dsp and ribbon, along with the Curly Label and 1" circle punches. I CASE'd and flipped a card from Thoughts That Stick.

This sympathy card uses Mocha Morning Specialty dsp, Fresh Vintage (free SAB set), Blessings from Heaven, and the Scallop Trim Border Punch with a Basic Black ink pad. I CASE'd a card from Jill's Card Creations.



This Tea Shoppe card uses River Rock and Not Quite Navy colors. I used the 3" Circle die for the Big Shot for the circle behind the tea cup. There's also Paisley Petals dsp on there, with a Neutrals Button with Whisper White Baker's Twine.

I hope you have a great day! I think I'm going out and about today.

Butterflies for my first Secret Stampin' Sister card

I'm so excited! I love getting good mail - and what's better than a hand-stamped card? Puddin' Head, one of my downline, offered to oversee the Secret Stampin' Sister for 6 weeks so I could take part in it. How fun is that? This card uses Sincere Salutations, Everyday Enchantment dsp and brads, the Scallop Trim Border Punch, Beautiful Butterflies die, glitter and rhinestones.

It's been a full day today. I had two clubs meet. I love the projects this month. I'll be showing them to you later this week. I still have lots to share from our American Ink gathering Saturday, along with more 10-card class quick and easy cards, so come back soon!

Fresh Vintage birthday card

This is a design I CASE'd from Deb Currier for a 10-card class. It uses the Everyday Enchantment dsp and brads, as well as the Fresh Vintage stamp set. You can get all three items free thru the end of March. You get to select one freebie every $50 you order from the Sale-a-Bration Mini. The sentiment is from the Loving Thoughts stamp set in the Occasions Mini.

Packed for Birthday pinata card

I brought out the Brights for this Packed for Birthday card. It uses a single stamp. I stamped the image twice, using a 1/4" circle punch to highlight the pinata, then layering it on Tangerine Tango. This technique is called Spotlighting with a Punch. This was a design for a recent 10-card class.

Stamps: Packed for Birthday;

Ink: Basic Gray, Markers - Tangerine Tango, Tempting Turquoise, Real Red;

Paper: Whisper White, Real Red, Tangerine Tango, Brights Pattern Pad;

Accessories: 1-1/4" and 1-3/8" circle punches, dimensionals, 1/4" Real Red grosgrain.

Thrift stores and Love & Sympathy for Monkey Challenge #99

Stamping is a nice way to end this Friday. I've been looking for some great pieces for my sister's vintage show in May, and found all kinds of fun stuff at area thrift stores. I found a record cabinet (those round flat things we used before CDs became the norm - hee hee) for only $12 and a couple of other items, including a little wagon, a white picket shelving unit that folds flat, another shelving unit where the three shelves come all the way out and are each a different color, two little picket fence Tchotchke holders, and a bunch of doilies.

Now to the stamping portion of this post! I love the colors of this Love and Sympathy Twitterpated card. I focused on Baja Breeze for the card, ribbon and buttons, and chose to keep the main image very simple so it wouldn't compete with the floral patterned paper behind it. I like the Ticket Corner Punch for a touch of sophistication to an otherwise simple card. I made this card for the A La Card Monkey Challenge #99: Flowers + Sketch.

I used the sketch below that I made in My Digital Studio to make my card.

Quick stamp-a-stack cards

Here are a few quick and easy card designs I used for a 10-card class recently. I hope you like them!

I used Daring Adventure for this fun man card. It's a Peach Parfait card stamped with Soft Suede. I love the Vintage Trinkets button brads in the corner.

This turtle is from the stamp set that helps raise funds for Ronald McDonald House Charities. It's called Turtle & Co. It's all Wild Wasabi ink, card stock and 1-1/4" striped grosgrain and embossed polka dots.

This Sahara Sand card uses a strip of Everyday Enchantment dsp, some 3/8" Not Quite Navy taffeta ribbon, and the Triple Treat Flower single stamp. I stamped the flower first in Poppy Parade and punched it out with the Fancy Flower Punch, then inked the stamp in Not Quite Navy and used the 5-Petal Punch, adhering the flowers together with dimensionals and an Everyday Enchantment brad.

Green ribbon wreath for St. Paddy's Day

I picked up a medium-sized wreath form for $2.50 to make a green ribbon wreath for a St. Patrick's Day decoration. I grabbed all of the green ribbon I could find in my stampin' area - 1-1/4" Wild Wasabi striped grosgrain, 5/8" Old Olive satin ribbon, 1/4" Garden Green grosgrain, Pear Pizzazz poly-stitch ribbon, Old Olive dotted scallop ribbon, and two rolls of the 1/8" Lucky Limeade organdy that I got free during Stampin' Up!'s Sale-a-Bration event - a freebie with a $50 purchase (ends March 31).

I started tying the ribbon around the inner ring first, and worked my way to the outside, ring by ring. Here's the final result:

The wreath looks great next to a green welcome sign next to it!

And now for my precious kitty photo of the week:

My son was cradling Frito, who was holding his orange tabby puppet kitty. How cute is that? I've never seen a cat so happy to be on his back. And Frito is getting bigger. I can tell because he can reach higher with those big, long arms! Have a wonderful day! I get to stay home and do more crafting today.

Making chalkboard tags ala Stampin' Up!

I'm going to start this post by showing you the finished project - reusable chalkboard tags that clip on items with a clothespin. Brilliant! I saw this idea on Pinterest and gave it a Stampin' Up! spin - instead of using chalkboard paint and painter's tape, I used Chalkboard Decor Elements Sheets (Item 118815 on page 216 of the big SU! catalog. You get two sheets measuring 14" x 24" for $14.95).

I love how decor elements can transform a room. In fact, I have many on the walls and side of the fridge at my studio. Also on the side of my fridge is a big chalkboard decor element sign that I use all the time to post info for my next class! It's wonderful. Note: The decor elements will NOT be in the next SU! catalog, coming out in June. They and the Simply Adorned line (jewelry) are being discontinued. So if you want any of these items, order them NOW!

I had a 10-card class at my mother-in-law's in the Big City yesterday, so I went to a couple of craft stores and found two 3" x 24" thin pieces of wood. Ideally, there would be wooden rectangles available to purchase for cheap. I had no such luck, so my loving hubby cut the larger pieces into 22 pieces that measure 2" x 3" this morning.

I used my rotary cutter and acrylic grid and mat to cut off a 6-inch piece of one decor elements sheet. Then it was a manageable size for my SU! tabletop cutter, where I cut the chalkboard sheets to measure 1-13/16" x 2-13/16" each, since I wanted a little wooden edge showing all the way around. Peel off the backing and stick. Easy!

To finish, I hot-glued clothespins to the middle back of each little chalkboard. I have some chalk ink pens (white). They work really well because if someone or something brushes up against them, the chalk ink stays put. It's easy to remove with a wet paper towel too!

I made some of these tags for my studio, as well as for my younger sister. She's going to have a booth at the Ruffles & Rust Vintage Market to Inspire in Monroe, WA, in May. Be sure you go if you live anywhere near. There are some fabulous finds!!!

Winner, winner, chicken dinner!

I'm stoked! I was picked by Hand Stamped Sentiments as a winner of their banner challenge here. So I get to display this badge on my blog:

Here's my Lucky banner:

That was my winning entry! Thanks to Hand Stamped Sentiments. Life is good! You can see more photos of my banner in the previous post. Thanks!

Lucky banner to celebrate St. Patrick's Day

Though St. Patrick's Day on March 17 isn't a big card-sending holiday, I like to make up little things for my studio to look festive. I used MDS for the letters, printing them out on a piece of Whisper White card stock. They're from the Snapshot CD. I added buttons with Lucky Limeade/Whisper White Baker's Twine to a few of the letters with mini glue dots.

The letters are adhered with dimensionals to 2-1/2" punched circles of Always Artichoke, which are adhered to 3" x 4-1/2" Lucky Limeade flags. I added strips of 1/8" Daffodil Delight taffeta on each flag near the bottom, as well as bows with mini glue dots that actually hold the flags together.

I stamped and cut out a few of the clovers from the Got Treats stamp set, adding the sentiment on an elongated medium jewelry tag that hangs from a knot of Lucky Limeade ruffled ribbon on the "U."

There are a couple of Jelly Bean Brads on there too. I like it! I'm adding this to the Hand Stamped Sentiments Banner Challenge. There's less than 24 hours left if you want to take part. It doesn't have to be a banner like mine - it can be on a card or scrapbook page too!

Tell me what you think. And enjoy your Sunday!

Blossom Punch embossed card and finger people

I saw a card similar to this at the Stampin' Up! Leadership Conference last month, and then again on Becky Robert's blog and thought it would be fun to have my clubs make it last month. It starts with a Poppy Parade card with a 5-1/4" x 4" piece of Everyday Enchantment dsp. That's the patterned paper you can get for FREE with a $50 order thru March 31. I cut a smaller piece of Whisper White card stock that I first punched with the Blossom Punch before running through the Vintage Wallpaper embossing folder. After that, I added a punched Poppy Parade circle, a stamped Old Olive flower middle from the punch's coordinating stamp set, Mixed Bunch, and a button with Whisper White Baker's Twine.

My daughter and I saw some finger people on Pinterest this morning, and thought it'd be fun to recreate some. Cute, aren't they?

Need for Speed for Monkey Challenge #98: Happiness!

This week's A La Card Monkey Challenge #98 is all about Happiness. So I thought I'd choose a stamp set that would make two of my nephews - who have birthdays this month - happy! That set is Need for Speed. I made one card using the ATV and a second with the racecar.

I love this sketch because it's nice and simple. It was easy to add texture with the Houndstooth embossing folder. I used a sponge dauber with Early Espresso ink to make the embossing stand out. I also used a sponge dauber to burnish color onto the vehicles. You can see the sketch below:

Stamps: Need for Speed, Birthday Wishes;

Ink: Early Espresso, Basic Black, Marina Mist;

Paper: Very Vanilla, Marina Mist, Beau Chateau dsp;

Accessories: 1-1/4" Marina Mist striped grosgrain, jumbo brad, Houndstooth embossing folder, Big Shot, dimensionals, sponge dauber, largest circle punch.

New Simply Scored Diagonal Plate available!

If you like Stampin' Up!'s Simply Scored tool, you'll love the new diagonal plate, which sits directly on the tool and makes creating custom boxes and envelopes a cinch! The diagonal plate is available for only $11.95 (item 125586).

Watch the video below to see the diagonal plate in action.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=vkNFzMa1azw

Features of the Simply Scored Diagonal Plate:

• It sits securely on top of the Simply Scored base
• Held securely in place by rubber pads on back of the plate
• Has etched grooves every 1/8"
• Can score any size card stock up to 12" x 12"
• Includes instructions for creating common envelope sizes