Monday Montage - Festive (Fall) Friends

Here we are … Monday again! Which can ONLY mean that the Monday Montage friends are at it again! 

I have finally fully embraced fall (wearing a sweater and jeans, as a matter of fact!). We even have SNOW up at the ski resorts as of this past weekend … wait, WHAT??!??

I took the little elf from Festive Friends and turned him into a little fall garden gnome. Isn’t he ADORBS?!?

I colored him using my Stampin’ Blends - Lt. and Dark Pumpkin Pie, Old Olive, Pecan Pie and Cajun Craze. I would have colored his skin using the Ivory Blend, but, alas, it was comPLETELY dried out when I opened the cap. Dang! So I used some Petal Pink Blends instead (because I will never EVER throw away a perfectly great marker, even if the color is retired!). 

Of course I did ALL of the distressing type of things … roughed up the edges of the DSP and flicked me some ink on the Very Vanilla strip behind the little gnome-y.

PLUS, I used. six strands of Old Olive Baker’s Twine to braid a little piece of trim. This is fast becoming one of my favorite things to do. All the YEARS I spent braiding and curling my daughter’s hair for The Nutcracker have really paid off! (hahaha!).

I also drew a little crosshatch pattern on his shorts with a white gel pen … cute, right??

Of course, I HAD to use some more of my most favorite Timeless Plaid DSP. I love it!

Stamps: Festive Friends

Paper: Basic White, Very Vanilla. Timeless Plaid DSP

Ink: Black Memento, Cajun Craze; Stampin’ Blends - Lt. and Dk. Pumpkin Pie, Lt. and Dk. Pecan Pie, Lt. and Dk. Old Olive, Lt. and Dk. Cajun Craze, Lt. and Dk. Petal Pink, White Gel Pen

Accessories: Festive Friends Dies, Old Olive Baker’s Twine, Streaked Dots

Did the LONGEST and TOUGHEST hike I have EVER done on last Friday … down into the Grand Canyon and back out again (it got up to 100 degrees F at the bottom!)!. I can’t believe I didn’t DIE! Hahaha! It was beautiful! Can’t wait to go back!

Our Monday Montage Hop has gone exclusively to Instagram! You can check it out by finding me @tinkermom85. From there you will be able to find all of my Monday Montage Friends, too!

TGIF Challenge #545 - Color Challenge

How can it be Spooky Season ALREADY???!!? (I mean … not like I didn’t put up all of my Halloween decor last weekend or anything!)

You KNOW that the colors for this challenge are just screaming HALLOWEEN, right??? So I just had to go there!

Check out the blog challenge here - TGIF Challenge Blog if you’d like to play along.

This card came together soooo easily. As I was looking through my stash of things I came across these great witchy brooms. They are from a sheet of adorable precut images included in the Spooky Sweet Specialty DSP. 

I distressed the edges of the piece of Basic Black cardstock because … well … it looks spooky! 

The spider’s web was made using some pieces of White Baker’s Twine. I put some adhesive on the back of the black layer and just tied and wrapped the pieces around the edges of the cardstock until I got the look I was going for.

I used a sponge dauber to dab at the web and around the moon with some White Craft Ink. I also did the same thing to the moon, but with Black Memento Ink instead.

The sentiment was stamped in Versamark and heat embossed with White Embossing Powder. I literally tore the sentiment out of the piece of cardstock it was stamped on! I then tore a little coordinating piece of Gorgeous Grape to mount behind it.

Added a few of the fun little Shimmer Star Foam Stickers and called it good! I love Halloween!

Stamps: Spooky Halloween

Paper: Basic Black, Gorgeous Grape, Daffodil Delight, Spooky Sweet Specialty DSP

Ink: Versamark, Black Memento, White Craft

Accessories: White Baker’s Twine, White Embossing Powder, Shimmer Star Foam Stickers, 1 1/4” Circle Punch (retired … but you could use any circle diecut to do this as well!)

I am hiking IN the Grand Canyon tomorrow … about 22 miles! My biggest hope is to NOT die (hahaha! It will be challenging for sure, but fun! I am excited!)!

We’d love to have you play along!! You can check us out our blog HERE and Instagram … lots of great inspiration from the rest of the TGIF Crew!

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Stampin’ Fancy Friday - Sparkle & Shine

Ooooooh! Shiiiiiiny! Spaaaaaarkly! That is what we are all about for this month’s Stampin’ Fancy’ Friday Challenge.

I realized when I sat down to create for this challenge that my supply of all things shiny and sparkly is sadly lacking!

But the dies … ooooohhhh the dies for this card! I am OBSESSED!! 

I am admitting first off that I used some older glimmer paper and I can’t for the life of me remember what pack it is from! I cut out one of the Sentimental Frames Dies and the “BOO” letters with the glimmer paper, as well as using a scrap of it behind the little haunted house. 

The background is Silver Foil embossed using the Joined Together 3D Embossing Folder. I also cut out an additional “BOO” from the Silver Foil.

The little bat flags are cut from Basic Black using one of the dies from the Spooky Halloween Dies, as well as the haunted house and gate … which I cut from Smoky Slate cardstock.

I also sponged the house and fence with some Black Memento Ink.

A few little Shimmer Star Foam Stickers and a little flag of Petunia Pop 1/4” Iridescent Ribbon were used to accent the main images and add a little pop to the card.

Stamps: None!

Paper: Basic Black, Smoky Slate, Silver Foil, Glimmer Paper (retired)

Ink: Black Memento

Accessories: Spooky Halloween Dies, Sentimental Framing Dies, Mini Alphabet Dies, Joined Together 3D Embossing Folder, Petunia Pop 1/4” Iridescent Ribbon, Shimmer Star Foam Stickers

Believe it or not, I have put up ALL my Halloween decor … inside and outside my house! I am going to be hiking in the Grand Canyon next weekend and wanted to get ahead of the game. Makes me happy!

Check out all the fun things created by the Stampin’ Fancy Friday Challenge Team on Instagram at https://www.instagram.com/stampinfancyfriday/!!!

Monday Montage - Perfectly Pairs

Yay for Monday! That can only mean it’s time once again for our Monday Montage Crew to share some lovely new creations with y’all.

It’s hard for me to believe, but we have been sharing projects as a team since the end of August 2013. That’s 12 years, baby (and about 300 hops!)! Love this crew!

Had a VERY busy weekend and knew that my time to create would be very limited. The idea for this card came into my brain and I was able to finish it up in about 40 minutes (which is kinda good for me!)!

I stamped several images from Perfectly Pears and colored them up (the pears themselves were stamped with Darling Duckling and then dabbed with stamp daubers to add the olive green/timid tiger to them). I colored the branches and leaves with Black Memento and Lt. and Dark Mossy Meadow.

This is also the first time in a long time that I created almost everything from one set of stamps and dies! The exception was the Birch Wood 3D Embossing Folder, Old Olive Baker’s Twine and Streaked Dots.

And I am sooooo hooked on the “roughed up” look lately, so, of course, I roughed up the edges and corners!

Stamps: Perfectly Pairs

Paper: Basic White, Mossy Meadow

Ink: Black Memento, Darling Duckling, Timid Tiger, Old Olive, Mossy Meadow; Stampin’ Blends - Lt. and Dk. Mossy Meadow

Accessories:  Perfectly Pears Dies, Birch Wood 3D Embossing Folder, Old Olive Baker’s Twine, Streaked Dots

What do you think??? I LOVE pears and flowers, and the combo here just makes me smile!

Our Monday Montage Hop has gone exclusively to Instagram! You can check it out by finding me @tinkermom85. From there you will be able to find all of my Monday Montage Friends, too!

TGIF Challenge #543 - Inspiration

Ok who doesn’t LOVE a donut?? (I mean, I guess there could actually be people who don’t love donuts … but I don’t personally know any!).

This week’s TGIF Inspiration Challenge is based on the photo to the left. Sunny skies and donuts! YAY!!

Check out the blog challenge here - TGIF Challenge Blog if you’d like to play along.

Yet another card I have made recently using Timeless Plaid DSP. This stuff is just perfection!

I stamped a total of 8 donuts … four to make the “cake” parts and four to make the “icing” parts. I then fussy cut all of the parts and pieces and colored them accordingly. How lucky that I had a couple of leaves cut out from the More Than Autumn Dies that I used on a card last week. They worked perfectly.

I cut the front panel of this card off by 1.5” inches so that it would allow me to show the DSP on the back panel.

I used some Wink of Stella to add a little bit of shine to the icing on the donuts. I also braided three strands of Crumb Cake Baker’s Twine to create a little cord to use as an embellishment.

Stamps: More Than Autumn

Paper: Basic Beige, Very Vanilla. Crumb Cake. Cajun Craze, Early Espresso, Timeless Plaid DSP

Ink: Versamark, Early Espresso, Black Memento, Cajun Craze; Stampin’ Blends - Light and Dark Crumb Cake, Light and Dark Cajun Craze; Early Espresso Stampin’ Write Marker

Accessories: More Than Autumn Dies, Crumb Cake Baker’s Twine, Streaked Dots

Now I want some REAL donuts!! I may have to pick up one or two at the store this weekend!

We’d love to have you play along!! You can check us out our blog HERE and Instagram … lots of great inspiration from the rest of the TGIF Crew!

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Long Time No See!

I did it … I finally caved! Ever since I saw the first card made with this stamp set - Long Time No See - I fell in love! I knew it was only a matter of time! So I did the “add to cart” thing and now it lives at my house!!

I have a personal connection to llamas and alpacas now … seeing as we went to Peru last year and saw MANY of them (mostly alpacas!). They are awesome!

This one was pretty simple. The stamp set comes with both the llama head and a dachshund head (tail for that one, too!). Then you can add the scarf and make it long or short (but, quite honestly, why would you wanna make it short??). I stamped the main images with Black Memento ink and colored him with my Stampin’ Blends - Pool Party, Daffodil Delight, Smoky Slate and Crumb Cake.

I twisted a double strand of baker’s twine to dangle the sentiments from (had to secure it at the top with glue since the glue dot I had originally used kept losing it!). Fun, right??

Stamps: Long Time No See

Paper: Basic White, Bermuda Bay, Calypso Coral, Basic Black

Ink: Black Memento; Stampin’ Blends - Lt. and Pool Party, Lt. and Dk. Daffodil Delight, Lt. and Dk. Smoky Slate, Lt. and Dk. Crumb Cake, Versamark

Accessories: Plaster Painting 3D Embossing Folder, White Embossing Powder, Black Baker’s Twine, Low Profile Sparkle Dots

I’m gonna have to make one using the dachshund soon … he is so adorable!

Rustic Centerpiece

Coloring is therapeutic, isn’t it?? At least for me it is! (During the pandemic I was one of “those” people who bought a large, lovely set of colored pencils and several coloring books!) How pretty is this image?? There are three images in the Rustic Centerpiece stamp set, and I think this one is my favorite!!

I stamped the main image with Black Memento ink, then I got busy coloring with my Stampin’ Blends.

I fussy cut the image out (something else I also find relaxing!), and layered some Basic White cardstock on top of a card base of Lost Lagoon. Once again, I used the Gathering Leaves 3D Embossing Folder (it’s so pretty!). I did a little bit of paper ripping .. the patterned section is another piece of Timeless Plaid DSP … my current favorite!

I also cut out a couple of small banners from the Party Banners Dies and used my Blending Brushes and Water Painters to give the banners some texture. Also, flicking some ink from my Stampin’ Blends … something I do more often than not, I suppose!

Stamps: Rustic Centerpiece, Perfectly Pairs (sentiment)

Paper: Basic White, Lost Lagoon, Timeless Plaid DSP

Ink: Black Memento, Lost Lagoon; Stampin’ Blends - Lt. and Dk. Lost Lagoon, Lt. and Dk. Daffodil Delight, Lt. and Dk. Old Olive, Lt. and Dk. Granny Apple Green, Lt. and Dk. Smoky Slate, Lt. and Dk. Crumb Cake, Lt. and Dk. Pecan Pie, Lt. and Dk. Poppy Parade

Accessories:  Gathering Leaves 3D Embossing Folder, Party Banners Dies, Brushed Brass Butterflies, Braided Linen Trim (retired), Water Painters

Ahhhhh fall … my favorite time of year! I can definitely feel it in the air!

TGIF Challenge #542 - Sketch Challenge

Yay and HOORAY!! This week the TGIF Crew is doing a sketch challenge - my favorite kind of challenge!

Check out the blog challenge here - TGIF Challenge Blog if you’d like to play along.

Cannot tell you how THRILLED I was to see that the More Than Autumn Stamps and Dies were getting to live to fight another day this year! This is one of my most favorite fall sets Stampin’ Up has ever had! So much versatility between the stamped images and coordinating dies.

This card came together pretty easily (thanks to the great sketch and the also-very-awesome Timeless Plaid DSP!).  

I even did a little coloring with my Stampin’ Blends using some Light and Dark Pumpkin Pie and Light Cajun Craze. The leaf dies are probably my most-used die in this set … I absolutely LOVE cutting them out in more than one color and then swapping the insides!!

I also distressed the edges of the largest piece of DSP that I used on the base (one of my new favorite old techniques!) and added some Adhesive-Backed Metallic Gems and a little triple loop of Crumb Cake Baker’s Twine.

Stamps: More Than Autumn

Paper: Basic Beige, Very Vanilla. Crumb Cake. Cajun Craze, Timeless Plaid DSP

Ink: Versamark, Early Espresso, Black Memento, Cajun Craze; Stampin’ Blends - Light and Dark Pumpkin Pie, Light Cajun Craze

Accessories:  Perennial Postage Dies, More Than Autumn Dies, Crumb Cake Baker’s Twine, Adhesive-Backed Metallic Gems

Do any of you have fun plans this weekend? I am having a brunch group of friends coming over Saturday morning (my turn to host) and I am making ALL FALL flavors of food. YUM! I can’t wait!

We’d love to have you play along!! You can check us out our blog HERE and Instagram … lots of great inspiration from the rest of the TGIF Crew!

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Monday Montage - Gathering Moments

Ok … I feel it. You know that little tiny bit of a nip in the air when you leave your house early in the morning? The first sign that fall might actually be on its way!

With that in mind, here’s what I made for this week’s Monday Montage.

Fall is my absolute most favorite time of year. The colors, the smells, the tastes, the holiday … I’m down for All of it.

Which is why I am LOVING the elements that are in the Gathering Moments Suite! 

I used the stamps and dies to create this fall card. I just ordered the DSP this morning … I used Timeless Plaid DSP for this card as a “substitute” (which I also love!).

I braided two pieces of Basic Black and one piece of 

Crumb Cake Baker’s Twine into a piece that I could tie into a bow.

I used two pieces of the Timeless Plaid DSP to create the arched piece in the background, which I cut out using one of the Everyday Arches Dies. I also distressed the edges of the arch with one of the blades from my paper snips.

Did ya notice the cute little tiny leaves embossed in the card base??? I love this embossing folder!

Stamps: Gatheirng Moments

Paper: Basic Beige, Basic White, Timeless Plaid DSP

Ink: Early Espresso, Mossy Meadow, Old Olive, Cajun Craze, Crushed Curry

Accessories: Gathering Moments Dies, Everyday Arches Dies, Gathering Leaves Embossing Folder, Crumb Cake Baker’s Twine, Basic Black Baker’s Twine, Linen Thread, Low Profile Sparkle Dots

I’ve been visiting my niece, nephew and two grandnephews for almost a week in Nevada. The days are clear and WARM, and the evenings and mornings are PERFECT. So grateful to be able to spend time with my family!

Our Monday Montage Hop has gone exclusively to Instagram! You can check it out by finding me @tinkermom85. From there you will be able to find all of my Monday Montage Friends, too!

School Days & Notes

School days, school days, dear old golden rule days! Apparently I liked a card made by my bestie, Bree Renwick (@craftsomnia on Instagram) that I saw a few weeks back. It wasn’t until after I had finished this card that I went back and looked at Bree’s … yep! Her good idea most DEFINITELY lodged itself in the back of my brain!!

The great idea behind this (thanks, Bree!) was to use School Days with Just a Note … perfection!

I snuck in some Fruit Salad DSP (which is available as a “last chance” item on Stampin’ Up’s website - so hurry on over there if you need some - and you DO!)!

And how about those darling little “paper clips”??? I am OBSESSED!!! Every single one of  my kids’ homework assignments looked like this one … wrinkled up from being shoved in a backpack! Ha! Ha!!

Stamps: School Days, Just A Note

Paper: Basic White, Basic Black, Fruit Salad DSP (Last Chance!), Silver Foil

Ink: Azure Afternoon, Granny Apple Green, Daffodil Delight, Real Red, Garden Green, Black Memento

Accessories:  Just A Note Dies, Perennial Postage Dies, Basic Gray and Smoky Slate Pearls

I’m off to visit some family in Nevada this week. The sun is shining, the skies are clear and the temps are beautiful!