Celebrating 1,000 Hits!

 

I am in shock, utter shock! My blog is 45 days old and I'm just over 1,000 hits! Wow! I'm so glad my creativity has been seen and appreciated that much! This truly is my passion and I appreciate all of you who follow along with me on my creative path I call, "Stamping Lane." In honor of getting 1,000 hits I created this card to celebrate this momentous occasion! {Of course I had to use my two current favorite colors: Pool Party and Tangerine Tango.} Happy Stamping!

My First Color Challenge

Thought I would play along with the Color Challenge CCMC240 over at www.createwithconnieandmary.com today. It's my first online challenge ever! Wow! Using these three colors here is what came out of my head:

I was rather proud of myself for coming up with this idea! What a fun color combination to play with. Happy Stamping!

Hearts of Kindness

Jack had to send a thank you card to a dear friend who always remembers him on holidays and special events. She's the best! He helped me use the Small Heart and Postage Stamp punches to create this sweet card. Colors used were Rose Red, Pretty in Pink, Pink Piourette, Whisper White and Early Espresso. What did he do with all the punched out hearts? He put them inside the card for confetti! Hope she didn't mind all the "love pouring out" when she opened the card! It was Jack's idea! Honest. Happy Stamping!

A Little Girl on the Way

I recently found out a friend was expecting her first child, a little girl. I pulled out this oldie, but goodie stamp set, A New Little Someone and paired with the the Itty Bitty Banners stamp set. I created a fun background by stamping various images from both sets and then had fun watercoloring the bunny Pretty in Pink with a So Safron bow and popping it up on dimensionals. "Congratulations" is also from the Itty Bitty Banners set. I used my Basic Black marker to only ink up the word and not the frame around it. Markers help to make stamps even more versatile! Happy Stamping!

Happy Birthday Ryan!

Ryan LOVES Charlie Brown so I couldn't resist making his birthday card this year with that in mind. I tried to recreate Charlie Brown's shirt by using the corner of my Square Punch to make the zig zag pattern out of Basic Black card stock. Of course I couldn't help but add Charlie Brown's famous quote as well. He had a good laugh when he opened it. Mission accomplished! Happy Stamping!

Whole Latte Love

 

Sending a "whole latte love" your way today! This cute image is from the Patterned Occasions Sale-a-bration stamp set. LOVE it and I earned it for FREE! Woo Hoo! It's hard to tell, but the cup is actually cut out and popped up on a dimensional and I added a little bit of Dazzling Diamonds Glitter to the inside of the heart. Here's a "Where's Waldo?" moment for you: can you find all 6 Rhinestones? I couldn't stop myself! Today is Ryan's birthday so I will be sharing the card I made for him tomorrow. Happy Stamping!

 

 



On to Madison Avenue

I wanted to have some fun with some of the * * FREE * * stuff I've been receiving with
Sale-A-Bration. I LOVE this time of year! For this card I used the Madison Avenue and Itty Bitty Banners stamp sets. I highlighted the main image by using one of the frames from the Apothecary Framelits set. It was easy to do by punching a hole on each end and stringing our Cherry Cobbler Twine through and securing on the back. I also popped up the punched out flower on dimensionals and adhered a rhinestone in the center to make the card sparkle. Happy Stamping!

Three Cheers Trio

A fun birthday card that can be made in 10 minutes! Seriously! All the images are from the Cheers To You stamp set. I stamped the glasses and umbrellas, then used my 1 3/4" Circle Punch to quickly punch them out. How simple is that to get a big impact for a card without a lot of time or fuss?! I LOVE the bold colors of this card: Whisper White, Old Olive and Rich Razzleberry. Like Rachel Ray says, "You always have time to make a great meal." or in my case, "You can make a fantastic card without a lot of time!" Happy Stamping!

A Valentine For Jack

Thought I would share the valentine I made for Jack this year. The wagon is from an oldie, but goodie stamp set called The Wheel Thing. I loaded it full of Real Red and Pretty In Pink hearts that I die cut using the Fashionable Hearts Embosslit Die. I stamped the little heart from the Create A Cupcake stamp set in Whisper White ink on the strip of Real Red card stock to give the background a pop of color. I kept it all simple, since he is only 2 after all. He opened the envelope and said, "Oh Mommy, a wagon! Aaww, that's nice." then blew me a kiss. Bestill my heart! Love moments like those! Happy Stamping!

Trees of Thanks

A sweet friend lent me the stamp set, Evergreen that was featured in our Holiday Mini Catalog for a stamp gathering at that time. This was the thank you card that accompanied the stamp set when I returned it to her. I kept the color combination simple: Midnight Muse, Basic Gray and Whisper White. To achieve the dimension of the trees I inked the tree stamp once and then stamped it three times. I did this twice and varied the height of the trees. To give it a little sparkle I die cut a star out of our Glimmer Paper to add to one of the tree tops. This was a fun set to play with! To achieve this look with a current set now, try using our Lovely As A Tree set. Happy Stamping!

Floral Fusion Trio

When I opened the drawer that contains my Big Shot dies, my Floral Fusion Sizzlet was screaming, "Pick me! Pick me!". Do your stamping supplies ever get that way? I thought it would be fun to die cut the flowers in three vibrant colors to layer upon each other (Daffodil Delight, Real Red and Tangerine Tango). Their leaves are actually one Little Leaves Sizzlet that I die cut then cut apart. I love it when you can get multiple ideas from one item! It makes it so much easier to justify adding it to my craft studio! Happy Stamping!

Spring in a Jar

I don't know about you, but spring can't get here fast enough! Until it arrives, I guess I'll just have to stamp it in the mean time! I had fun using the Perfectly Preserved stamp set to make this bouquet of flowers. I actually stamped the flowers and punched each bunch out using the circle punch. Instead of having one solid color background I chose two, put them in the embossing folder then checkered them. I think it added some unexpected pizazz to the card. I also tried out a new color combination: Primrose Petals, Old Olive, Whisper White and Basic Gray. Love it! Happy Stamping!

Keep Calm Summer Starfruit

A quick card today highlighting the Carry On hostess stamp set and Daydream Medallions stamp set with the coordinating framelits. I'm warming up to Stampin' Up's In-Color, Summer Starfruit. Sometimes I find it easy to use, but most of the time it's been hard. But I'm not giving up! There's never been a color I couldn't use and learn to love! Is there any color you struggle with? Drop me a comment and let me know! Perhaps I can suggest some color combinations for you to try. Happy Stamping!
 

Flower Thanks

 What can you make with a large flower and extra punched circles you have in your scrap pile? This card! The large flower is from the Flower Folds die, Thank You is from the Wacky Wishes Hostess stamp set and the fun border along the bottom edge are actually individual punched circles that I adhered next to each other. Too fun! Have you looked at your scrap pile lately? Happy Stamping!

 

 

A "Herd" of Love

* * * Day 7  * * *

 

 

Today I'm sharing this little "herd" of love I created for my club gals. I always include a little card with their orders to let them how I appreciate them and their business. I used the cute elephant from the Patterned Occasions Sale-a-bration stamp set which you could earn for FREE until March 22! Contact me for details.

 

 

As a bonus, I also created a full size card using the same idea but on a larger scale. It's the last day of my Loads of Love Week series. I hope you have enjoyed seeing all the projects I have created and I hope you've gone away feeling a little love inspired this week. Happy Valentine's Day!

 

 



Owl Together

* * * Day 6  * * *

 

 

Yes, I have a thing for owls. I'm sure you could tell during this Loads of Love Week! Today is no exception. This fun and simple card highlights the Aviary and One in a Million stamp sets . I used the Owl punch to add some Cherry Cobbler hearts as well. I love that little heart on the punch! I use it A LOT! Happy Stamping!

 

 

Love in the Mail

 

 

* * * Day 5  * * *

 

 

Well, all those pieces of card stock and punched pieces made these cute little mailboxes! Aren't they just adorable?! These little mailboxes hold two Hershey Chocolate Nuggets. Each time my stamp club gathers they receive an extra little treat from me, this was the treat waiting for them as they arrived for this month's gathering. Everyone loved them!

How's that for "sending a little love" to someone? Who wouldn't love to receive a mailbox full of chocolate! Happy Stamping!

Sneak Peak of Day 5

 

* * * Sneak Peak of Day 5  * * *

Can you guess what all these pieces of card stock and punched pieces are for? Stay tuned tomorrow to see what fantastic love inspired project they make! Happy Stamping!

Love...Outside the Box

* * * Day 4  * * *

 

 

At first I found the Affection Collection stamp set "not up my alley", but the more I play with it the more fun it's becoming! I reached outside the box on this card and stamped the word "LOVE" and then carefully cut it apart and made hanging pennant flags. This stamp is PERFECT for it and I was proud of myself for thinking of it! The color combination was also another out of the box idea too....Cherry Cobbler, Whisper White, River Rock and Soft Suede, but in the end, I LOVE them together! Here's to hoping this inspires you to "think outside the box". Happy Stamping!

 

 

 

Love on the Open Seas

*  *  *  Day 3  *  *  *

 

 

Friends of ours were going on a cruise and I wanted to send them a card letting them know they would be missed, but that we wanted them to have a good time. I put my thinking cap on and this is what I came up with. I put my Owl punch to use and created this cute owl couple holding hands on a boat. I thought the bikini for her and the swim trunks for him were rather ingenious! I hand made those out of dsp. Their arms are actually the feet from the owl punch just extended! How cool is that!? I think they had a good chuckle when they received this card. I know I got a kick out of it when I was making it! Happy Stamping!

 

 

 

Love in the Branches

 

 

*  *  *  Day 2  *  *  *

 

 

Love can be found anywhere, even up in the branches. I used a variety of stamp sets to create this card. The owl is from the Aviary set, the branch and poppy flower are from The Best of Everything, {love} is from Tiny Tags, and the quote at the bottom is from One in a Million. When they all come together, they make a fantastic card! Happy Stamping!