Encouragement Challenge ~ CAS08

Welcome to our last Calling All Sistahs Encouragement Challenge of 2017.  It's hard to believe that our "baby" is 8 months old now.  Time sure flies when you're stamping!  To round out our last challenge of 2017 and ring in the New Year, we have another great inspiration photo.

The stripes in the straw caught my eye first.  I knew I would have some sort of black and white stripe on the side.  The rest of the card came together when I ordered the new Ballerina Fri-Dies.  I stamped her, then did a faux embossing by stamping again in Versamark and covering with glittery embossing powder.  It's a great cheater way to emboss without having to own hundreds of colored embossing powders.  My ballerina is propped on a panel sponged and then sponged again with a stencil.

The Encouragement Squad has created some real beauties.  You'll want to pop on over to the Calling All Sistahs blog to see what they've created, then join in the fun!!! Challenge runs until Jan 13th, so you have plenty of time to get your encouraging card made and added!

Stamps: Sugarplum Fairy, Floating, Holly Jolly Borders (CAS-ual Fridays Stamps)

Ink: Emerald Envy, Rose Red (Stampin' Up) Versamark
Paper; Basic Black, Whisper White (SU)
Accessories: Ballerina Fri-Die (CAS-ual Fridays Stamps) Basic Black Marker (SU) Turkish Delight Stencil, Wanderlust Embossing Powder (Catherine Pooler Designs)

Calling All Sistahs

Hello Sistahs!  It's been quiet here on the blog, but I had to pop in here for your monthly reminder.  Each month on the 17th I join the Encouragement Squad for Calling All Sistahs to remind you to do breast self-exams and schedule those yearly mammograms.  This time of year we are all busy and can use a reminder to take care of ourselves.  Cancer doesn't care if it is Christmas, but there is hope if it is caught early enough.  Here is my card to remind you that you matter!  Take a few minutes to take care of yourself.

While making this card I had Christmas on my mind, so I used festive colors and paper.  The stripes on the side were stamped from Holly Jolly Borders in black, then I too my Nuvo glitter pen and colored in the blank strips.  It's hard to see in the picture, but it is very sparkly.  The background paper came from an old patterned paper pack that has long since lost its cover.  To create the ribbon I painted a light wash onto watercolor paper, and let it dry before stamping & embossing.  Then I came in again with the same paint color, at a stronger consentration to give each of the diamonds a darker look.  I then cut out the ribbon.  Adding a thin strip of black to the side and gluing my die cuts to black die cuts finish off my card.  

My fellow encouragement squad sistahs have also created lovely cards.  Head on over to the Calling All Sistahs blog to see them and then come back tomorrow to join in new encouragement challenge.

p.s.  If you plan on doing any shopping, be sure to use code encourage17

Stamps: Holly Jolly Borders, Starlequin (CASual Fridays Stamps)

Ink: Tuxedo Black (Memento) Versamark
Paper: Basic Black, Whisper White (Stampin' Up) Distress Watercolor (Tim Holtz)
Accessories: Glitter Pen (Nuvo) Deep Pink Watercolor No. 37 (Kuretake) White Embossing Powder (WOW) Hope Fri-Die, Ruffled Ribbon Fri-Die (CASual Fridays Stamps)

Kuretake Gansai Tambi Single Color, Deep Pink (37)

Crafters Companion Spectrum Noir Sparkle Pens, Vintage Bloom

Crafters Companion Spectrum Noir Sparkle Pens, Glitz and Glamour

WOW Embossing Powder, Super Fine - Opaque Bright White

Ranger Tim Holtz Distress Watercolor Cardstock, 8-1/2 x 11

Stampin Up Discounted and Retirement Sale

As 2017 draws to a close Stampin' Up is having a huge sale.  Check out the discounted items and grab those retiring products before they are gone forever.

Shop Discounted Products

Shop Retirement List

And, while you are shopping, why not pick up some goodies from the Clearance Rack?

Shop Clearance Rack

HAPPY SHOPPING!!!!

Guest Posting Inlaid Die Cutting

Today I am guest posting over at Catherine Pooler's blog with one of my favorite cards from her recent release.  Here is a sneak peek of my inlaid diecut card.

Clicky to go check out the full card and details.

Stamps: Simply Stated (Catherine Pooler Designs)
Ink: Black Jack, Daydream, Eucalyptus, Green Tea, Royal Treatment, Sauna (CPD)
Paper: Premium Bright White (CPD)
Accessories: Small Doily Die (CPD)

Black Friday Deals

Do you enjoy hitting the stores early to get the best deals of the season on Black Friday?  I love a good sale, but hate fighting crowds, so I prefer places I can shop online and still get good deals.  Here are a few I found.  Affiliate links used where I have them.

CAS-ual Fridays Stamps 

Free gift with purchase of $45 or more.

Be sure to use code encourage17 at checkout for 15% off.  Email subscribers check your email for a special from Michele.

**************************************************************

Catherine Pooler Designs

10%-50% off most items in store and a free gift for orders placed on Friday.

**************************************************************

Stampin' Up!

**************************************************************

Ellen Hutson

ANNIVERSARY SAVINGS

We are thrilled and HONORED to be celebrating our 11th year! 

 

Enjoy savings of 20% on all in-stock items Friday, November 24th through Monday, November 27th at 11:59 PST. You can use this code as many times as you like but we will not be able to combine orders.

At checkout please enter the following coupon code to redeem your discount:

celebration17

Valid on in-stock merchandise only. Not valid on previous purchases and cannot be combined with other offers. Sale EXCLUDES new Mama Elephant products (released in the last 90 days) and BCRF Fundraiser. 

SPECIAL SALE CATEGORIES

We've created two categories you'll want to take advantage

 of during this year's Anniversary Sale. 

HOT BUYS

Special discounts on items in this category are for a short time only. 

CLEARANCE

Over 1000 items have been added to this category and once they're gone, they're gone!

Use the Anniversary Sale coupon code above for additional savings in these two categories only. 

**************************************************************

Rodan + Fields

For those of you who may not have heard, I'm now an independent consultant with Rodan + Fields, the #1 Premium Skincare in North America.  This weekend I am running a 4 day special.  Please message me on Facebook to learn more, or you can email me at heathernorthrnf @ gmail. com (no spaces) 

Here is my Black Friday - Cyber Monday special

One last tip before I go.  Be sure to check out your favorite stamp company's online stores.  Many of them have their own specials.

Happy Shopping!

CAS07 Soothing Green

Who could use a little encouragement today?  I think all of us have days where we need our friends to lift us up.  What better way to do that than with a beautiful handcrafted card?  That's why Michele Gross of CASual Fridays Stamps started the Calling All Sistahs Encouragement Challenge, to challege us each month to make cards and send them to those who could use a little lift in their spirits or spring in their steps.

My card was completely inspired by the green and white of this picture.  I planned on stamping out a white flower from on of my many CASual Fridays floral stamps, but then I saw the casual trees dies and knew I needed to shift gears.  The small doily die was a perfect substitute for the round floral shape.

I must admit, I am smitten with the classy, clean and simple card.  First I sponged the background in my new Catherine Pooler Spa inks and then I sponged another piece of cardstock so I could die cut my branches.  I purposefully sponged half the cardstock in a lighter color and the other half in the darker, then cut out my trees from various parts of that paper.  Next I stamped my sentiment, ties a few of my little trees with some linen thread and mounted it with foam tape onto my lightly sponged card base. 

Now it's your turn to be inspired and create an encouragement card.  Head on over to CAS07 to see the amazing creations from the Encouragement Squad and get crafting.  We can't wait to see what you create!

Stamps: Breathe (CASual Fridays Stamps)
Ink: Black Jack, Green Tea, Eucalyptus (Catherine Pooler Designs)
Paper: Whisper White (Stampin' Up)
Accessories: Casual Trees Fri-Dies (CASual Fridays Stamps) Small Doily Die (Catherine Pooler Designs) Linen Thread (Stampin' Up)

Calling All Sistahs

It's the 17th of the month.  Once again I am joining Michele Gross and the Calling All Sistahs Encouragement Squad to remind you to do you breast self-exams and get those yearly mammograms scheduled.  We do that with a special post and lovely cards.  Here is mine.

I was super inspired by the cards I've been drooling over from Larissa Heskett.  Her black ink splatters always catch my eye and remind me of my Donna Dewberry painting days.  I used to love the way the ink splatter at the end really finished off my work.  These ink blots come from my new stamp set, Bomb Diggity. 

Make sure you head on over to the Calling All Sistahs blog to see what the rest of the Encouragement Squad has created.  Don't forget to use the coupon code below when shopping. 

Stamps: Word Ribbon, Bomb Diggity, Calling All Sistahs (CASual Fridays Stamps)

Ink: Powder Pink, Sweet Sugarplum (Stampin' UP) Onyx Black (Versafine)

Paper: Whisper White (Stampin' Up)

Dies: Ruffled Ribbon Fri-Die, Sistahs Fri-Dies (CASual Fridays Stamps) Clear Embossing Powder (Stampin' Up)

Paradise Found Blog Hop Day 3

This is the 3rd day of blog hops for Catherine Pooler's new release including the Spa Ink collection along with new stamps and dies.  If you missed the first 2 days you can find the start of them here DAY 1 and Day 2

My creative mojo has been on a break for a long time.  I wasn't sure I had it in me to even create for this release, but I set aside a day to just sit at the stamp table with my new box of goodies and see what I could come up with.  3 days and more than a dozen cards later I would say that my mojo was hiding in that box!

Stamps: Winter Woodland (Catherine Pooler Designs)

Ink: Daydream, Royal Treatment, Juniper Mist, Peppermint Scrub, It's A Boy, Sweet Sixteen (Catherine Pooler Designs) Versamark

Paper: Premium White (Catherine Pooler Designs)
Accessories: Ditress Sprayer (Tim Holtz) Silver Embossing Powder, White Embossing Powder (Stampin' Up)

This was one of the first cards I came up with.  I just had to see how the new purples and blues would blend together.  Then I sprayed them with my new Distress sprayer, and the spray I got was like a galaxy of snowflakes and stars.  I loved it!  The only downside was that, I had planned to create a different card with a snowbank and I forgot to mask it.  It sat on my table taunting me while I continued to make more cards and get all my design ideas out.  When I had made about 10 cards I came back to this one and created a card closer to what I had envisioned.  Here it is below.

Stamps: Winter Woodland (Catherine Pooler Designs)

Ink: W1, T2, T4 (Copics) Daydream, Royal Treatment, Juniper Mist, Peppermint Scrub, Green Tea, Eucalyptus, It's A Boy, Sweet Sixteen, Icing On The Cake (Catherine Pooler Designs) Versamark
Paper: Premium White (Catherine Pooler Designs)
Accessories: Distress Sprayer (Tim Holtz) Silver Embossing Powder (Stampin' Up) Winter Woodland Dies (Catherine Pooler Designs)

It is one of my favoritist cards ever.  The background turned out even prettier with less purple and more blues.  I used Copics to add some shadows as well as bark to my trees to make them birch trees.  (sidenote- I love birch trees and had 3 in my backyard until an ice storm took one of them out.  Now we have 2)  I had no idea that the bough from the winter woodland was supposed to be paired with the other greenery stamp until I tried to die cut it out and couldn't find a die for it.  I cut out the other greenery and noticed it left a big white blank space.  The lightbulb finally went off and I made this amazing spray for my deer's head.

The trees I cut from the background will be making another appearance soon in the StampNation challenges.   I used them for another card that I am smitten with.

Below are some close ups so you can see just how reactive these new inks are to water.  I love that it lifted the color and left a lighter shade behind.

The distress sprayer makes all the difference.  Don't you love how these spa inks react with water?!!!

Here is a quick collage of most of the cards I made with the new inks, dies, and stamps.  To see more, visit my posts from the past few days HERE, HERE and HERE and be sure to come back tomorrow or subscribe by email to see more.

Now on to the hop and prizes.  Be sure to leave a comment on each blog on the hop, including mine, for your chance to win.  Happy shopping and hopping!

NEXT UP IS THE CREATIVE EMILY LEIPHART

Catherine Pooler

Taheerah Atchia

Julie Mogford

Lydia Evans

Heather North *you are here*

Emily Leiphart <<<go here next>>>

SOA Naturally Inspired Release Day

ETA: This is the post I wrote up for release day of the Naturally Inspired Stamp of Approval Collection.  It sold out before I got up that morning, so one of my favorite cards never got its screen time.  TODAY this collection is being released in the Catherine Pooler Store for individual sale!!!



------------------------------------------------------

Today is the day!  The big release of the new Stamp of Approval Naturally Inspired by Catherine Pooler.  I think this is my favorite one yet.  I sat down to stamp and 3 days later felt like I had barely scratched the surface of what this collection has to offer.  THAT is a great collection!

My card today was certainly inspired by my dear friend, Kristie Goulet.  She is a genius at using stamps in unique ways and creating fun background using small stamps.  

Direct Link to youtube video: https://youtu.be/j5ixcgQrY48

Here is a close up, so you can see how I lined up the feathers and background stamps.

SUPPLIES for Card 1 (included in project guide)

Stamps: Birds of A Feather, Medallion Mix Up, Simply the Best
Ink: All That Jazz, It's A Boy, Flirty Fuchsia, Midnight, Mint to Be, Sweet Sixteen
Paper: Bright White
Accessories: 2 Way Glue Pen, Spiro Doily Die, Wanderlust Embossing Powder

Here is the second card I made.  By twisting the stamp to make a cross instead of an x, you get a slightly different background.

Close up of the second card. 

SUPPLIES for Card 2

Stamps: Medallion Mix Up, Simply the Best
Ink: Aquatini,  Midnight, Mint to Be, Something Borrowed
Paper: Bright White

Along with products from this collection a couple of add on dies have been added.

Birds of a Feather

Small Doily Die

In case you missed my Naturally Inspired cards, or just want to see them again.  Here they are...

Clicky to see post

Clicky to see post

Clicky to see blog post

New Release ~ Paradise Found

Have you caught any of the new release videos Catherine & Ingrid have been doing over on Facebook?  She has a new collection of earthy spa colors of ink, plus stamps and dies. Today's cards feature the new Plaid Background stamp along with the Winter Woodland stamps & dies.  I managed to use all but 2 colors between these two cards.

This first card was a happy accident.   When we designers get these products we have NO samples to go off and it can be quite tricky trying to figure out how the designer intended the stamps to go together.  I played around with the greenery and using the heart and bird together.  I wasn't sure which was supposed to be in the center, but it doesn't really matter because they both look great.  Earlier I had stamped out the plaid background in both Rockin' Red (Party Collection) and Peppermint Scrub (Spa Collection) to see how the two reds compared.  This paper happened to be on the table when I set the bird on top.  Later when I was looking for something else I saw the small doily and the birdie gift tag on top of the plaid background and almost squealed it was so cute.  I stamped the arrangement on the center of my doily and put this quick card together.

Stamps: For Everything, Plaid Background, Winter Woodland (Catherine Pooler Designs)
Ink: Eucalyptus, Rockin' Red, Peppermint Scrub, Royal Treatment, Green Tea (Catherine Pooler Designs)

Paper: Premium White (CPD)
Accessories: Small Doily Die (Catherine Pooler Designs) 

This second card came when stamped out the deer and other images, then die cut them.  I couldn't find a matching die to the greenery that the bird is sitting on.  I had used that stamp to make a wreath on yesterday's card.  I had thought perhaps they were supposed to be in the place of antlers, tough there are antlers in this stamp set.  So, I grabbed the green stamp I had used on the cards above, then grabbed the die to cut it out and I couldn't get it to match.  There was all this extra white space sticking out that side.  That's when it dawned on me that the 2 greeneries were designed to be stamped over each other.  Pretty cool, eh?! 

One I put that die cut "bouquet" on my deer's head, I had to jazz up his background too.  I would have grabbed the gold glitter embossing powder I've been seeing Catherine use, but I don't have it in my hot little hands.   I do have sand dunes, and decided to experiment to see how it would look.  Originally I was going to just have it be a small background like it was on the card I made yesterday, but I loved it too much to cover up, so I pulled out the small doily die instead to anchor my deer.  This happy accident turned out to be one of my favorite cards from this collection.

Stamps: Plaid Background, Winter Woodland (Catherine Pooler Designs)
Ink: Eucalyptus, Peppermint Scrub, Juniper Mist, Green Tea (Catherine Pooler Designs)

Paper: Premium White (CPD)
Accessories: Sand Dunes Embossing Powder, Small Doily Die (Catherine Pooler Designs) 

The entire spa collection, plus new stamps and dies along with the Naturally Inspired collection is on sale now.  Hurry before the initial supplies sell out.  Check back in here all week for inspiration on the new releases.

CLICKY TO BUY ALL THE NEW THINGS

Catherine is doing 3 days of blog hops, so be sure to head on over to her site to see how some of the design team was inspired.  A little birdie told me there might be prizes.  <wink-wink>

Catherine Pooler New Inks

Have you heard the news?  I'm sure you have.  Catherine Pooler is releasing her second line of inks called the Spa Collection.   Today she announced her final 2 colors, so I get to start sharing some cards with you!  I've had the privilege of playing with these inks and some of her new products that will hit the store on the 14th.  Would you like to see a peek at what is in store for you?  

I actually made this card last week for the StampNation challenge before I realized that the inks would not have been revealed, so I quickly made another card.  This card uses the new Eucalyptus, Green Tea and Peppermint Scrub inks. 

Stamps: Merry and Bright Boughs (Catherine Pooler Designs)

Ink: Eucalyptus, Green Tea, Icing On the Cake, Peppermint Scrub (Catherine Pooler Designs)

Paper: Gold Glimmer Paper (Stampin' UP) Premium White (Catherine Pooler Designs)

Accessories: Gold Glitter Pen (Marvy) Joy Wreath Dies (Catherine Pooler Designs)

This next card I made specifically for the release coming tomorrow.  It uses the new Plaid Background stamp with Sand Dunes embossing powder.  I love the way the sparkly sandy gold looks as a background for my card.  In fact, you'll be seeing it again on another card this week.  I created the wreath out of a couple of stamps in the Winter Woodland stamp set.  Then I glittered the bow in the same embossing powder as the background.  I can hardly wait to show you the rest of the cards I've made.  I'm hopping up and down for this release that we've all waited so long for.

Stamps: Plaid Background, Winter Woodland (Catherine Pooler Designs)

Ink: Eucalyptus, Green Tea, Peppermint Scrub (Catherine Pooler Designs) Versamark

Paper: Premium White (Catherine Pooler Designs)

Accessories: Sand Dunes Embossing Powder (WOW)

In case you are wondering what card I ended up making for the challenge last week, here is a sneak peek for you.  I was really in a wreath mood.  You can see the full card here.

Design A Life

The cards today started with a beautiful stencil used as a stamp.

Stamps: Boss Babe (My Favorite Things)

Ink: Mint to Be, All That Jazz, Aquatini (Catherine Pooler Designs) Versamark
Paper: Black, White (Catherine Pooler Designs)
Accessories:  Lovely Flowers Dies, Turkish Delight Stencil  (Catherine Pooler Designs) White Superfine Embossing Powder (WOW!) Wonky Stitched Rectangle (My Favorite Things) Sequins (Pretty Pink Posh)

I inked up the stencil with 3 shades of aqua, then spritzed water over it before "stamping" it onto my cardstock.  There was still plenty of ink, so I stamped it again on a second piece to make the card below.

Stamps: Butterfly Notes (Catherine Pooler Designs)
Ink: Mint to Be, All That Jazz, Aquatini (Catherine Pooler Designs) Versamark
Paper:  White (Catherine Pooler Designs) Vellum (Stampin' Up)
Accessories: Metallic Copper Embossing Powder (WOW!) Turkish Delight Stencil (Catherine Pooler Designs)