Calendar Girls 2018

Back in the fall of 2017 I met my dear online friend, Freda McCracken for the very first time in person!  We first met online through a scrapbooking chat forum WAY BACK in my Creative Memories days.  She came out to Seattle, WA for a wedding and made time to meet up with me.  I had to take her to Impress Rubber Stamps while she was here.  While we were there she spied these calendar pages and thought they would be a fun idea for our group.  As we were talking another customer came by and started sharing pictures on her phone of the pages she and her friends had made.  Freda started taking pictures of the pictures on this ladies phone and then went back home and started a virtual "Calendar Girls" group from among her friends that wanted to participate.


Of course I had to jump in on the fun.  I'll share mine when it is my month.  (Can you guess which month I chose?)  The first month,January, was created by none other than Freda McCracken.  Here is her lovely creation that has been sitting on my desk all month long.

  

If you have a group of creative friends, this is a really fun project to do together.  We each took our month, created 12 of them and sent them to Freda.  She sorted them and sent us each a full collection of 12 months.  So much fun to see what each person made and to have a piece of them in my office all year long.

Encouragement Challenge ~ CAS09

It's a new year and we have a fresh new line up of encouragement challenges over on the Calling All Sistahs blog.  We even have a new member for you to check out!  

I had fun with this card using the new Peace & Comfort set from CAS-ual Fridays Stamps.  First I did a wash of color using Zigs on watercolor paper.  Then I stamped the sentiment, using my MISTI to stamp several times.  Watercolor paper is hard to get a good impression on, so the MISTI is a must!  Next I used one of the Zig markers to color in the letters.

The flower is also from that stamp set.  To finish off my card I die cut and layered it on grey cardstock.  Now let's head on over to the Calling All Sistahs blog to see all the incredible creations the Encouragement Squad has come up with.  Then, be sure to add your Encouragement card to the link up for a chance to win a $25 gift certificate to the CAS-ual Fridays store!

Don't forget to use the new coupon code cas-comfort to save 15% at the CAS-ual Fridays Store!

Stamps: Peace & Comfort (CAS-ual Fridays Stamps)

Ink: 032, 036, 037 Clean Color Real Brush Markers (Zig) Black Jack, It's A Boy, Something Borrowed (Catherine Pooler Designs) Basic Gray, Smoky Slate (Stampin' Up)

Paper: Smoky Slate (Stampin' Up) Watercolor (Tim Holtz)
Accessories: Postage Stamp Dies (Catherine Pooler Designs)

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

ZIG Clean Color Real Brush Marker 036, Light Blue

ZIG Clean Color Real Brush Marker 032, Persian Blue

ZIG Clean Color Real Brush Marker 037, Cornflower Blue

Memento Ink Pad, London Fog

Calling All Sistahs Reminder

It's the 17th of the month.  Have you done your breast self-exam?  It's a new year, do you have your mammogram appointment scheduled for 2018?   Every month on the 17th I join with some of my sisters to remind you to do these things. Cancer is not contagious, but it can be caught early, and the earlier it is caught, the greater the chances of survival and cure!

To make our reminders pretty, we each make a card.  Even though this is a blog to remind our sistahs to check themselves, we know that breast cancer isn't the only kind of cancer we can have.  One of our cardmaking sistahs recently posted that she has a rare form of anal cancer, so I made this card in her.

Michele has a very touching letter to all of us on her word of the year.  Hop on over to the Calling All Sistahs blog to read her message and see what the rest of the team has created and come back tomorrow for a new encouragement challenge.

p.s.  If you want to do some shopping, we have a new coupon code.  ;)  Use code cas-comfort for 15% off your order at CAS-ual Fridays Stamps!

Stamps: Supercalifragilistic, Word Ribbon (CAS-ual Fridays Stamps)

Ink: Something Borrowed (Catherine Pooler Designs)

Paper: Calm & Cozy Chevron (My Favorite Things) Premium Bright White (Catherine Pooler Designs)

Accessories: Wonky Stitched Rectangle (My Favorite Things) Watercolor Pencils

The Wait Is Over

The brand new Love Is In the Air stamp of approval collection is now open for the public to order!!!  If you have been loving what the creative team has been making you will want to jump on over to the store to get your box before it sells out.

While you are there, add in a couple of extras that are new to the shop like the coordinating dies...

Bon Voyage

Love Is In the Air

And how about the new round blocks with a GRID!  I love how comfortable this block is to hold and grab it more than almost any other.

Round Block

And I will be picking up the new long acrylic block for those borders and long sentiments.

Jumbo Block

There is also a package deal to get all 5 sizes Catherine caries!  

I know you're going to want to get the refill for the Mystery Ink that comes in this collection.  Trust me, just add it to your cart! 

Before I go, I have another card to share with you using the stamps & dies included in the collection.   This card is featured in the Project Guide that is emailed to you after you order your SOA box.  So, I will spare you all the details for now.  Just now you are going to want to pick up some Sand Dunes embossing powder if you want to recreate this look.  You're welcome. ;)

Here's a close up for you.  Happy creating!!!

Envelope Card for Love in the Air

The new Love is in the Air stamp of approval collection is due to release tomorrow and I am back with more ideas and samples using this collection.  First up are some envelop ideas.

Recently I've been watching youtube videos on making pretty envelopes.  This new SOA collection was just what I needed to try it out for myself.  I used my SU envelope punch board to make my own envelope out of watercolor paper, so I could watercolor in the background.  First I stamped my balloon images and then masked them to help prevent getting them wet. 

 Catherine Pooler inks are dye inks and react with water, so I didn't want the images to get wet.   That is exactly what I wanted for the background though, so I carefully watercolored around the rest of the card, purposefullly leaving some white space to give the illusions of clouds.

It's very subtle, but after the ink was dry I stamped the cloud images in water and then used a paper towel to pick up some of that blue ink.  Lastly I added a few more stamps and the sentiment.  

Stamps: Bon Voyage, Love is in the Air (SOA - CPD)

Ink: It's A Boy, Mint to Be, Sweet Sixteen, Black Jack, Midnight, It's A Girl (Catherine Pooler Designs)
Paper: Watercolor (Canson)
Accessories: #8 Round Brush (Silver) Envelope Punch Board (Stampin' UP)

This next envelope could be stamped on any envelope you have, or even on the back of your card.

Stamps: Happiness Enclosed (SOA)

Ink: Midnight, Party Dress (CPD)

Accessories: Clear Sparkle Pen (Spectrum Noir)

After stamping the heart in the center, I picked up some of the same ink with my paint brush and lightly painted in the center.  Then, I used my Spectrum Noir clear sparkle pen to add some shimmer to that heart. It doesn't show in the picture, but the recipient will see it.

How about a card to go with these envelopes?  Of course you could use the cards I made yesterday for the blog hop.  Have you commented yet for your chance to win?

I love the little heart inside the starburst thingy.  Yes, I have a thing for hearts.  Someone asked me yesterday if I made Valentines cards and who did I send them to.  I'm more likely to make a love card than a Valentine's card because it can be given all year long to family and close friends.

As you can see I stamped most of the heart bursts in the same blue ink as my top envelope.  I chose one in the top left corner to stamp in Party Dress ink.  For the love die I first did the direct to paper technique, again with party dress and then quickly poured Wanderlust embossing powder over it to give it a sparkle and shine.  It needed an extra POP on the card, so I layered it over a another die cut out of black cardstock.   The strip you see is direct to paper using It's A Girl ink.  

To get the ombre look for the heart arrow I stamped the lighter pink in the center and darker pink on the hearts, then used a sponge dauber to blend where the 2 colors meet.  I felt the card needed a little something for the visual triangle, so I added sequins, putting the blue iridescent on in the top right corner.

Stamps: Bon Voyage, Love is in the the Air (SOA)

Ink: It's A Girl, It's A Boy, Party Dress, Midnight (Catherine Pooler Designs)

Paper: Bright White, Midnight (CPD)

Accessories: Love Die (SOA) Sequins (Pretty Pink Posh) Wanderlust Embossing Powder (WOW)

Are you joining in the StampNation PJ party tonight?  I have a meeting tonight, but I am hoping to catch part of it.  If you are a member be sure to go to StampNation for all the deets!

Love is in the Air SOA Blog Hop

Love is in the Air and it is time for another Stamp of Approval blog hop using products from Catherine Pooler's newest SOA.  If you haven't heard of Stamp of Approval before, it is a quarterly collection of exclusive products currated by Catherine Pooler.  These are limited edition, so you will want to get on the waitlist at  WWW.CPSTAMPOFAPPROVAL.COM Once they sell out you won't see them again for months!  Now let's get to the fun part, the samples!

For my first cards I wanted to experiment with different ways to color the world. I've been on a coloring kick lately, and was so excited when I opened my box to see there were some images to color with this collection.

This first one is colored with Zig Markers.  First I stamped the stamps and clear embossed them onto watercolor paper.  Then, I colored in the stamped images.  To create the water I loosely scribbled a blue marker on the blank spaces and used a wet brush to blend it out.  Once it was dry I die cut it out using 2 frames from the Postage Stamp Dies.

Stamps: The World Awaits (SOA)

Ink: 004, 033, 036, 042, 082 (Zig Clean Color Real Brush Markers) Onyx Black (Versamark)
Paper: Distress Watercolor (Tim Holtz) Premium White (CPD)
Accessories: Clear Embossing Powder (SU)  Postage Stamp Dies (SOA)

For my second card I used sponge daubers to sponge my background. The continents were multi colored and the ocean was blue.  I die cut with just one of the Postage Stamp dies this time and layered it onto black cardstock. 

Stamps: The World Awaits (SOA)

Ink: Midnight, Mystery Color, It's A Boy, Aquatini, Garden Party, Fiesta Blue, Tiara, Sweet Sixteen, It's a Girl (CPD)
Paper: Distress Watercolor (Tim Holtz) Midnight (CPD)
Accessories: Clear Embossing Powder (SU)  Postage Stamp Dies (SOA) Sponge Daubers

Want to know a secret?  The secret ink is used on this card.  Can you guess which color it is?  Shhhh... only a few more days before we find out.

The 3rd card ended up in the circular file bin (aka trash can).   What can I say?  Not everything I make is blog hop worthy.  

Tomorrow I will be sharing some envelope ideas.  I'm pleased as punch with how they turned out!

Now it's time for the blog hop.  

Leave a comment on each stop of the hop for your chance to win one of these collections for yourself.  Up next is the incredibly talented TRACIE POND!

Catherine Pooler

Chrissie Tobas

Melissa Miller

Jenny Colacicco

Jennifer Carter

Heather North <you are here>

Tracie Pond <<<<<<<<<<<GO HERE NEXT>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>

Josefine Fouarge

Sale A Bration and New Catalog

It's the time of year that Stampin' Up lovers wait for.  The new Occasions catalog is here along with Sale-A-Bration offerrings!  This year SU has their traditional offering of Free product with every $50 you spend AND they've added $100 level products too!!!  More to love!

First up, the new catalog.  You can download the PDF here

For the much anticipated Sale-A-Bration catalog you can click HERE

Ready to go explore and go shopping?  

CLICKY