Monday Montage #144

Ahhhh summer ... this past weekend was the PERFECT summer weekend!! I got to run a race with some of the best people I know (Timp Half with Huntsman Heroes!), and I got to spend the rest of the weekend with some of my family up at the BEST summer hangout EVER ... Bear Lake. The water is GORGEOUSLY blue ... and the company was soooo great. So, needless to say, I had to hustle my (stampin') muscle to get a card made for this week's Monday Montage hop!!

Yup ... I think I've said it before, but I'm gonna say it AGAIN!!! The Subtle embossing folder is pretty much my favorite. It's just the BEST-BEST-BEST. If you do NOT have one, I suggest you do something about that PRONTO!!

I used the Tasteful Backgrounds dies to make the focal point floral/fleur de lis image. The trick to getting it to lay down just as it cuts out (since I used the "positive" bits cut with the die instead of the "negative" bits) is to use Press & Seal. Yep ... the same stuff you use in your refrigerator to store leftovers (like cling wrap, but stickier!). I cut the image and left the die sitting in the paper from which it was cut. I then carefully removed the die from the paper, making sure than EVERYTHING was left behind and intact. Next, I placed the entire thing FACE DOWN onto the Press & Seal. You will need to remove the positive image (the outline) from the Press & Seal so that the only thing left will be the "bits" that you will place on your card. Are ya with me so far??? I then cut up some small dimensionals and placed them on the back of the bits. Remove the backing on the dimensionals and then flip the image over and place it where you want on your card. Peel back the Press & Seal and the "bits" will be left exactly where you want them! It's really MUCH easier than this explanation would make it seem!

Stamps: Tasteful Textures
Paper: Whisper White, Crumb Cake, Pacific Point DSP from the Brights Collection
Ink: Pacific Point
Accessories: Tasteful Backgrounds Dies, Stitched Shapes Dies, Subtle Embossing Folder, Metallic Pearls, Whisper White Bakers Twine

Here's a blog roll just in case you get "stuck" trying to hop around ...

Monday Montage Hoppers
Amy O'Neill - Amy's Paper Crafts
Breelin Renwick - Craft-somnia Momma
Cathy Casey - Sugar Shack Designs
Charlet Mallet - Painted Orange
Cheryl Curtis - Pomp and Sustenance
Dani Dziama - Dani's Thoughtful Corner
Elizabeth Price - Seeinginkspots
Julie Warnick - Julie Warnick Stampin' Up! Blog - SITTING OUT THIS WEEK
Melissa Stout - The Stamp Doc
Wendy Weixler - Wickedly Wonderful Creations - YOU'RE ALREADY HERE!!

Truth be told ... I really wish I were still up at Bear Lake. It's so relaxing and beautiful and rejuvenating! I will be back before the summer is over!!

Click "Next" to see what Amy O'Neill has created ... and "Back" to check out Melissa Stout's ... BRILLIANT as always!!

Freakin' Simple to Stepped Up!

What a crazy summer already!!! Since so many of our Control Freaks members were Incentive Trip earners (they spent a glorious time on a Grecian Isle Cruise!), we have been a little MIA!! NEVER FEAR!! We are BACK ... and this month we are Steppin' It Up! The Marvelous Melissa Davies is at it again ... so much inspiration, right???

I've been playing with Stampin' Up's stamps for close to 18 years (which is amazing considering I am still only 27!!). Every dang time they come out with some sort of "veggie" set I am SUCKED IN!!! I love fruit and veggie images. SOOOO MUCH! It must be the California Girl in me ... I could NOT resist this beautiful little avocado! In this "simple" version of my card today, I just stamped everything straight down. Even though I didn't layer the pit of the avocado by fussy cutting it and sticking it on with a dimensional, I still gave this card some depth with the rectangles of different colored cardstock and vellum. It came together really quickly, and the entire sentiment is placed in one cute little chubby rectangle.

Stamps: Garden Goodness, Band Together (for the avocado leaves), Birch
Paper: Soft Suede, Whisper White, Mellow Moss, Vellum
Ink: Mellow Moss, Soft Suede
Accessories: Stitched Rectangle Dies, Subtle Embossing Folder, Sahara Sand 5/8" Woven Threads Trim

When I started to "step it up" I just couldn't stop myself!!! I was inspired to make this background from my dear and talented friend, Elizabeth Price. The background was stamped and then run through my BigShot using the Subtle embossing folder. (Seriously, y'all ... if you don't own this one yet, you NEED it! PRONTO!!) The "shiplap" look of the background was created by cutting the background Birch image into five different strips (and no ... they are NOT even ... I obviously can't count ... but I like how it turned out anyway!)! Then, I used a spritzer with a handful of Crumb Cake ink dropped into it. I spritzed each of the pieces, then used my aqua painter and some Mellow Moss ink to add the green bits sporadically on the strips I had already cut. Lastly, I ran my fingernail along the upper and lower edges of each strip and all edges of the Mellow Moss panel to give it a more worn look ... and to allow the Soft Suede cardstock to peek through the panels as grout. This time I not only fussy cut the leaves, but also the avocado itself, as well as the pit of the avocado. I wish you could see the depth and texture of this in person ... it is SO fun! 

Stamps: Garden Goodness, Band Together (for the avocado leaves), Budding Borders, Birch
Paper: Soft Suede, Whisper White, Mellow Moss, Vellum
Ink: Mellow Moss, Soft Suede
Accessories: Stitched Rectangle Dies, Stitched Shapes Dies, Subtle Embossing Folder, Sahara Sand 5/8" Woven Threads Trim, Metallic Pearls

Next up???  ... Magnificent Melissa Stout!! I'm in between a MELISSA SANDWICH!! (I have done this before ... and it's a privilege to be between these two talented ladies!)

Fab Friday #168

True confessions time ... I bought myself a Stamparatus as soon as I could get my hands on one. I even "preordered" it before Stampin' Up even had them in stock! And I have hardly ever used it at ALL!! I even couldn't find where I had stored it for a while (I put it someplace that made "sense" ... someplace really "safe"). I promptly forgot where that was. Now that I have found it, I decided I needed to play with it!

The Stamparatus was the PERFECT tool to put this background together using the "Budding Borders" stamp set. I think I can't believe it has taken me THIS LONG to get it together and use it! YAY ME!!! It's FABULOUS!!

Stamps: Budding Borders, Capture the Good (sentiment)
Paper: Whisper White, Bermuda Bay
Ink: Lovely Lipstick, Pineapple Punch, Bermuda Bay, Pacific Point
Accessories: Stitched Nested Labels Dies, Stitched Shapes Dies, Bermuda Bay 1/4" Mini Striped Ribbon, Whisper White Solid Baker's Twine, Stamparatus

Bright and beautiful!!!











Here's a link to the Fab Friday Challenge Blog so that you can play along:

Fab Friday Challenge Blog

Mindy Backes
Heather Heroldt
Brian King
Amy Koenders
Amanda Mertz
Brenda Myers

I hope to be able to do some hiking/running this weekend ... but who knows??? Weekends usually come and go so quickly that I will just have to wait and see!

Pretty Little Cupcake

I almost didn't even get to make this card. After receiving my new box of goodies last week, I quickly tucked the items away (sorta) where they belonged because I was working on another HUGE project and had things strewn hither and yon around my craft room.

Knowing what I had ordered (and presumably tucked away), I knew I wanted to play with this "Wish For It All" bundle. Until I could NOT find the dies. I mean ... ANYwhere!!! I looked in my paper hanging files, through my dies, through my new stamps ... NADA. I looked again and AGAIN. I went and checked my order to make SURE I had order the "bundle" and not just the stamp set (because experience tells me I HAVE done THAT before!). Nope. I ordered the bundle. So I looked ... again and again. I was all set to call Stampin' Up the next morning to say that I had never received the dies. And then I looked through my stamps again. And THERE THEY WERE ... stacked between two stamp sets just minding their own business!!! They had been there all along and I had somehow missed them every dang time!! Sheesh!!! I must be losin' it ....

So here is what I made when I finally got my act together!

Stamps: Wish For It All
Paper: Basic Black, Whisper White, Petal Pink, Lovely Lipstick, Subtles DSP
Ink: Lovely Lipstick
Accessories: Doily Wishes Dies, Trio Corner Punch, Lovely Lipstick Grosgrain Ribbon, Ovals Dies

We are already heading into another busy and crazy weekend. Honestly, how DOES the time zip by so quickly in the summer???? I have NO idea ... but it'll be Monday again before ya know it ... SIGH ...

Monday Montage #143

We are back to Monday ... again ... how on EARTH is it possible that the weekends go by SO QUICKLY and the weekdays often seem to drag on by??? This past week was packed ... every single day and every single minute! Is it possible for hair to be tired??? If it is, then my hair is exhausted!!! The best part of being back to Monday is that the Monday Montage girls are at it again!!

I was inspired to make this particular card by one made by fellow Monday-Montager and my BFF, Bree Renwick. She cut strips of black and white cardstock for the background and used the lovely daisy punches to make the focal points, so I decided I wanted to go somewhere in that direction as well!! The smaller strips on this card are 3/4" ... the largest strip behind the sentiment panel is about 2 1/4". I mounted all the strips onto a piece of Whisper White cardstock - which was 4"x5". Then I ran the whole background through my Big Shot with the Tufted embossing folder. I LOVE the combination of Night of Navy and Petal Pink ... the colors just pop off of one another, don't they???

Stamps: Band Together
Paper: Whisper White, Night of Navy, Petal Pink, Mellow Moss
Ink: Night of Navy, Mellow Moss
Accessories: Detailed Bands Dies, Daisy Punch, 1/2" Circle Punch, Tufted Embossing Folder

Here's a blog roll just in case you get "stuck" trying to hop around ...

Monday Montage Hoppers
Amy O'Neill - Amy's Paper Crafts
Breelin Renwick - Craft-somnia Momma
Cathy Casey - Sugar Shack Designs
Charlet Mallet - Painted Orange
Cheryl Curtis - Pomp and Sustenance
Dani Dziama - Dani's Thoughtful Corner
Elizabeth Price - Seeinginkspots
Julie Warnick - Julie Warnick Stampin' Up! Blog
Melissa Stout - The Stamp Doc
Wendy Weixler - Wickedly Wonderful Creations - YOU'RE ALREADY HERE!!

What do you guys do when you want to change up your diet? I don't really want to go on a strict "diet" per se, but I need to do something different. My metabolism has taken a complete nosedive over the past 5-10 years. It STINKS!!! I need to do something to shake it up a bit!! DRAT!! Aging is NOT for wimps!

Click "Next" to see what Amy O'Neill has created ... and "Back" to check out Melissa Stout's ... with all the new goodies in this' year's catalog, these two are coming up with a LOT of FANTASTIC stuff!!

Here Come the Elephants!

Oh BABY-BABY!!! These elephants are SOOOO STINKIN' CUTE!!! They just make me happy! And I couldn't think of anything more adorable to use for my grandniece's first birthday! This last year has just WHIZZED by!!

I used the sample photo in this year's catalog as inspiration for this card ... I flipped the orientation and added a few things to make it more my own. Don't ya just LOVE finding something that inspires you in your craftiness??? I know that I do for SURE!!

I cheated a little bit on this and used the now-retired Smoky Slate gingham ... I just couldn't HELP myself because it was the PERFECTO match for this card.  You could actually use the gingham DSP and create the same look.  Cut it about 3/8" and accordion fold it about halfway across.

Stamps: Little Elephant
Paper: Whisper White, Melon Mambo, Blushing Bride, Smoky Slate, Neutrals DSP, Vellum
Ink: Smoky Slate, Melon Mambo
Accessories: Stitched Shapes Dies, Elephant Builder Punch, Smoky Slate Gingham Ribbon (retired), Corrugated Embossing Folder, Large Numbers Dies (also retired! Sorry guys!)

We are doing a Young Eagles Rally tomorrow with some of our airplane friends. Basically, it's where pilots donate their planes, time and fuel to give free rides to kids between the ages of 8-18. It's fun for the kids, it's fun for the pilots ... and it's even fun for the support crew (of which I am a part!)! I have been making t-shirts to sell for the kids ... so I have spent ALL my "free" time this past week putting those together (I have made 60 of them!)!! Hoping the forecast stays the same and that we will have sunny skies! Have a GREAT weekend!

DYNO-MITE!!!!

Ever have those Wednesdays that FEEL like a Monday??? You DO???? Oh man ... ME TOO!!! I'm TOTALLY having one already today, and it's not even lunch time!!! It could be MUCH worse ... at least I'm not sick or anything!!

How I wish I had had this whole dang AMAZING Dino Days Suite of things when my boys were littles ... especially my oldest! He was OBSESSED with dinosaurs ... and I DO mean OBSESSED!!! These little guys are SOOOO cute and SOOOO much fun to make!! I used the basic outline die and cut out in one color ... then I did the top layer using the same die in a coordinating color ... then I used the smaller dies to cut out the "dots" and "ridges".  I wish you could see the dimension I got with the Layered Leaves Embossing Folder ... it's really RAWRSOME!  I HATED to have to cut off bits and pieces of my adorably-assembled dinos ... HOWEVER ...

Stamps: Dino Days
Paper: Whisper White, Basic Black, Mango Melody, Lovely Lipstick, Pretty Peacock, Pool Party
Ink: Mango Melody, Lovely Lipstick, Pretty Peacock, Pool Party
Accessories: Stitched Rectangles Dies, Dino Dies, Layered Leaves Embossing Folder, Googly Eyes

. . . I was able to use them on THIS card!! The little face/neck of the little guy in the bottom-right corner was just staring at me from my desktop and I just couldn't DARE throwing him out!!! I added the googly eyes I had on hand to give them a little more life!!

Stamps: Dino Days, Crackled Background
Paper: Whisper White, Mango Melody, Lovely Lipstick, Pretty Peacock, Pool Party, Soft Suede, Old Olive
Ink: Mango Melody, Lovely Lipstick, Pretty Peacock, Pool Party, Soft Suede, Old Olive
Accessories: Stitched Rectangles Dies, Dino Dies, Googly Eyes

And just like that I am signed up for TWO more running events this month ... a 10K and a half marathon (which are within three days of each other!)! Running them with some of my fellow Huntsman Heroes, so they will be EPIC no matter how I do!! Have a lovely Wednesday (and remind yourself that it's NOT Monday!)

Fab Friday #167

As you are reading this, I am probably lounging on the beach or in the hot tub up at Bear Lake ... my ABSOLUTE happy place!! But Fab Friday goes on!! We have some very FUN creations by the Fab Friday Crew this week ... the sketch is SOOOO darling!

Here I am with the gingham DSP again ... this time from the Regals pack. Flowers, butterflies and gingham ... pretty fun to put them all together! The Tasteful Backgrounds dies/stamps are A-MAZ-ING!! I am going to be using these SO DANG MUCH!

Stamps: Well Said
Paper: Purple Posy, Highland Heather, Whisper White, Vellum, Regals DSP, Sparkle Glimmer Paper
Ink: Highland Heather
Accessories: Arts& Crafts Dies,Word Wishes Dies, Tasteful Backgrounds Dies, Butterfly Duet Punch, 1/2" Circle Punch, Classic Label Punch

This is cute, isn't it??











Here's a link to the Fab Friday Challenge Blog so that you can play along:

Fab Friday Challenge Blog

Mindy Backes
Heather Heroldt
Brian King
Amy Koenders
Amanda Mertz
Brenda Myers

Hope that you all are spending time this weekend with family or friends or BOTH! I'm going to need to find me some potato salad ... it's my FAVORITE picnic/bbq food! The 4th of July just isn't the same without it!

Happy Amazing Birthday, America!

Oh how I LOVE the summer!! Sunshine, barbecues, outdoor activities ... and trips to Bear Lake!!! Lucky for us our "condo week" this month happens to fall on the 4th of July! I love spending time with the family up at the lake ... playing endless rounds of croquet and Settlers of Cataan, swimming in the lake, napping on the beach under an umbrella whilst trying to read a book, sitting in the hottub or swimming pool, getting fresh raspberry shakes. It's one of the best things I am blessed to be able to do with my family every year. And I can't WAIT!

I had the idea for this card swimming around in my head for a week or two. I just KNEW I wanted to do variegated colors in a patriotic theme. I inked up my sponge daubers and tapped them onto the image - Lovely Lipstick at the top edge, Crumb Cake across the middle and Blueberry Bushel across the bottom. And can I say how much I am IN LOVE with the color family packs of Designer Series Paper??? I wish I could have about TEN sheets of each color in the gingham pattern - it's my FAVORITE!!

Stamps: Everything Amazing
Paper: Whisper White, Brights DSP, Neutrals DSP
Ink: Lovely Lipstick, Crumb Cake, Blueberry Bushel, Wink of Stella
Accessories: Stitched Rectangles Dies, Sahara Sand Woven Threads Trim, Trio Corner Punch

Somehow I am going to have to fit a "Stranger Things" Netflix binge-marathon into this weekend as well. I have been waiting for a LOOOOONG time for season three to come out (as have many, MANY of my friends and family members!)! It's going to be a GREAT holiday ... Happy Independence Day, America!!