Tractor & Co.

I was thrilled when I saw this adorable Tractor & Co. on the preorder list … it’s so very fun!

I used a combo of lots of things on this one … DSP, stamped images, die cut images and some braided and knotted Baker’s twine.

This is my best attempt at a John Deere tractor! I stamped the tractor body and trailer in Garden Green ink. I then cute out the fenders, seat, hoot hardware, wheeled and hubcaps (not to mention the roof over the cab of the tractor). I used.a sponge to distress the edges of the fenders over each tire to give them a more rustic look.

I stamped the hay image using Crushed Curry ink onto some Crushed Curry cardstock, which I ten cut out with a die.

I couldn’t stop adding cute things to the trailer behind the tractor … Poppy Parade banners, Granny Apple Green cornstalks with ears of corn stamped in Daffodil. Delight on Daffodil Delight cardstock. I then stamped the darling little rooster in both Daffodil Delight and Poppy Parade ink on Basic White cardstock. I then did some fussy cutting to put the Poppy Parade head on the Daffodil Delight body. 

The two tones of Timeless Plaid DSP worked as a perfect fun and farmy background. I just cut and ripped a strip of the Crumb Cake/Pecan Pie-colored paper to use as the “ground”.

The trim of Baker’s twine was braided and then knotted at short intervals. I love the texture. 

Stamps: Tractor & Co.

Paper: Basic White, Basic Black, Garden Green, Crushed Curry, Daffodil Delight, Timeless Plaid DSP

Ink: Garden Green, Crushed Curry, Daffodil Delight, Poppy Parade

Accessories: Tractor & Co. Dies, Stylish Shapes Dies, Muted Palette Dots, Linen Thread, White Baker’s Twine

I have several other new goodies to share, so stay tuned!!

Monday Montage #268

It’s Monday Montage time again! I was out of town a bunch in August and didn’t get to play along last time, so I’m happy to be back!

I really love it when a card comes together and is as good (or better) than you picture in your mind … which doesn’t happen to me NEARLY enough! This is one of those time, though!

I wanted to make the ducks from the Charming Duck Pond Bundle look like they were actually a piece of DSP rather than individual ducks. In the end, this is more of a 3D version of what I had envisioned but I am really happy with the result. The only thing this card takes is a little bit of patience with die cutting, as there are LOTS of ducks and NO stamping!!

I cut out a whole stack of ducks first using Gray Granite, Balmy Blue, Peach Pie and Pretty Peacock. Then I set to making all the little ducks by layering the pieces I had cut out. I made a “frame” for the ducks using the circle/lily pond die from the same die set. Don’t they look cute??

Keeping it simple for the rest of the card, I just cut out the “friend” sentiment from the Friends for Life dies and added a few “Blooming Pearls” embellishments which actually make the Pretty Peacock elements just pop off the page!

I have many little ducks left over, so I will probably be making another card with them very soon!

Stamps: NONE

Paper:  Basic White, Pretty Peacock, Peach Pie, Balmy Blue, Gray Granite, Granny Apple Green

Ink: NONE

Accessories: Charming Duck Pond Dies, Friends for Life Dies, Blooming Pearls, White 3/8” Frayed Grosgrain Ribbon

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

Bree Renwick - Craft-somnia Momma

Charlet Mallet - Painted Orange

Cheryl Curtis - Pomp and Sustenance 

Dani Dziama - Dani's Thoughtful Corner - NOT PARTICIPATING THIS WEEK

Elizabeth Price - Seeinginkspots

Emily Kimmey - EMK Creations

Julie Warnick - Creating on the Run - NOT PARTICIPATING THIS WEEK

Rae Jean Communal - My Stampin’ Memories - NOT PARTICIPATING THIS WEEK

Wendy Weixler - Wickedly Wonderful Creations - YOU ARE HERE

Click "Next" to see Bree Renwick ... a beautiful fall leafy card!

TGIF #433 - Sketch Challenge

Thank Goodness It's Friday! And that can only mean one thing - it's TGIF Challenge Time! What a FUN sketch we have going on today! Be sure to check all of the team members' creations!

Yep ... I'm badly in need of a vacation! This card was a way for me to get away without leaving my house! I stamped a couple of images in Memento Black ink from the Next Destination stamp set and got to work coloring with a handful of Stampin' Blends. The paper from the Les Shoppes DSP pack is sooooo good!

I took a lot of liberty with the smallest horizontal strip from the sketch and layered ribbon and cardstock ... sometimes it's hard for me to stop when I get going!

Stamps: Next Destination

Paper: Whisper White, Les Shoppes DSP, Misty Moonlight, Crumb Cake

Ink: Memento Black, Versamark; Stampin' Blends - Gray Granite, Crumb Cake, Balmy Blue, Misty Moonlight

Accessories: Gorgeously Made Dies, 2022-2024 In Color Baker's Twine, White 3/4" Herringbone Ribbon, Misty Moonlight 3/8" Inner Braid Ribbon, Iridescent Pastel Gems, Wink of Stella

I have a busy weekend ahead ... but I am SOOOOOO glad it's Friday!! Have a lovely weekend, friends!

Monday Montage #232

 

I'm still holding out hope that spring is going to start showing its pretty little head. Mother Nature seems to have other ideas, as snow storm after snow storm keep feeling one another into the Salt Lake Valley. DEFINTELY what we need for our current state of drought .... but I am really starting to craaaaave me some flowers and sunshine!

The Detailed Desert Dies bring to mind to me the many lovely handmade Southwest rugs we have acquired through our business for our customers. These Native-American creations often contain dark reds, deep blues and blacks, accented with tans and creams.  So, I couldn't help myself as a made a more masculine and a more feminine card in this color scheme.

Up close on the masculine card you can see the crosshatch pattern from the Basic 3D Embossing Folder on the Tahitian Tide and Vanilla Layers ... I sponged the Vanilla layer with a little bit of Cajun Craze ink. 

Stamps: Delicate Desert

Paper: Crumb Cake, Basic Black, Very Vanilla, Tahitian Tide Cajun Craze

Ink: Cajun Craze

Accessories:  Desert Details Dies, Basic 3D Embossing Folder, Linen Thread, Natural Finish 7/8" Ribbon, Blue Rhinestones, Brushed Metallic Adhesive Backed Dots

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

Bree 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

Emily Kimmey - EMK Creations

Julie Warnick - Creating on the Run - NOT PARTICIPATING THIS WEEK

Wendy Weixler - Wickedly Wonderful Creations - YOU ARE HERE

Enjoy your week!

Click "Next" to see Bree Renwick... and "Back" to see Emily Kimmey - fantastically fabulous from them both!

MonM

Freaky Fun and Fancy Folds

We are Freakin' Foldin', my friends! Digging into our years of stamping knowledge, the Freaks are sharing their "Fun & Fancy Folds" this month! Bree Renwick's bright and cheerful card is not only beautiful, but "funly-folded"! I used to make unique folded cards all the time ... it has been FOREVER since I have made one, so this was a terrific challenge for me!

I am very super happy about the release of these super darling Conversation Bubbles!! It seems like they have so many possibilities ... MUCH potential going on here!

The base is made from a piece of cardstock cut to 5.5" by 10". You will then need to make score lines at 3.75" and 8".

I created the curved edge on the front flap by using one of the Basic Borders Dies, and then made an additional layer on top of the base layer of Pacific point by cutting a piece of cardstock from Balmy Blue and making it about 1/2" narrower than the front flap.

The little red "tab" was made by cutting a piece of Real Red cardstock to 6" x 1" and securing it across the base piece from the first score mark around to the front of the card, scoring the flap as you bring it to the front.

I placed the Whisper White circle on the Real Red tab using a Dimensional. I then securing a piece of Baker's Twine between the white circle and the Dimensional.  To close the card, wrap the Baker's Twine from left to right around the back of the card and then wrap the twine once more. Upon coming to the little circle the second time, wrap the remaining twine around the Dimensional to secure the card closed.

 

 

Here is what it looks like with the Twine attached but unwrapped ...

And here is the card all opened up! Pretty Fun and Fancy, right???

Stamps: Conversation Bubbles
Paper: Pacific Point, Balmy Blue, Real Red, Whisper White

Ink: Real Red, Pacific Point, Versamark

Accessories: Conversation Bubbles Dies, Basic Borders Dies, Stripes & Splatters 3D Embossing Folders, 2022-24 In Colors Baker's Twine Pack, Glossy Dots Assortment, White Embossing Powder

 

I'm back to half marathon training. Had an AWESOME 3-mile run outside today!! It was 31 degrees F ... my fave temp to run in ... once you get going it really is great not to get too hot!

Next up? Deb Henderson! Her "Adorable Owls" are so much fun!

 

Monday Montage #223

 

 

And just like that we are working our way into fall! Sooooo glad we have cooled down (a little bit!)! I can actually feel a little crisp in the air ... what a speedy year this has been!

 

 

The He's the Man Suite of products?? Yep! I am an absolute FAN! These cards practically made themselves!! The images (which are just printed and pre-diecut ... easy peasy) are the BOMB! SUPER easy to just throw them together and then VOILA!

Not a single stamped image on either of these cards ANYwhere! Every single diecut is just so much fun! I used the Splatter Embossing Folder (from the Stripes and Splatters Duo) on each of these cards ... and just inked them a little with some Early Espresso ink and a sponge! 

Stamps: NONE

Paper: Sahara Sand, He's the Man Specialty DSP

Ink: NONE

Accessories: Rustic Metallic Dots, Stripes & Splatters Embossing Folder (Splatters)

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

Bree Renwick - Craft-somnia Momma

Cathy Casey - Sugar Shack Designs
Charlet Mallet - Painted Orange - NOT PARTICIPATING THIS WEEK

Cheryl Curtis - Pomp and Sustenance 

Dani Dziama - Dani's Thoughtful Corner 

Elizabeth Price - Seeinginkspots

Emily Kimmey - EMK Creations

Julie Warnick - Creating on the Run - NOT PARTICIPATING THIS WEEK

Wendy Weixler - Wickedly Wonderful Creations - YOU ARE HERE

Had the whole family over for dinner today ... and I'm POOPED! It will probably only take about 2 and a half minutes to fall asleep~

Click "Next" to see Bree Renwick... and "Back" to see Emily Kimmey - they both have brilliantly bright and spooky!

Monday Montage #217

It's another long weekend for me (which I am SOOO happy about!)! We've been working on some projects around the house which pretty much means that the whole place is kinda an exercise in chaos!!  New floors, tile and paint on our back porch, and new shelving for the food storage room in our basement. It's going to look SO great once we get all the things in all the right places!

Being that we are celebrating Independence Day this weekend, I decided to make a card that was a dual purpose one! This is going to be a birthday card for a family cousin, but it also has the appropriate red, white and blue color scheme for this weekend!

I spend a lot of time coloring the central image on this card with my Stampin' Markers. It's a bit of a fussy process, but I love to color so it doesn't bother me one bit!

I also added a few random Champagne Rhinestones to give this card a little sparkle (fireworks, maybe??).

Stamps: Reason to Smile

Paper: Whisper White, Regals DSP, Neutrals DSP

Ink: Real Red, Crumb Cake, Night of Navy, Garden Green

Accessories: White 3/4" Frayed Ribbon, Champagne Rhinestones, Stapler

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

Bree 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

Emily Kimmey - EMK Creations

Julie Warnick - Creating on the Run

Wendy Weixler - Wickedly Wonderful Creations - YOU ARE HERE

Happy to have two more days off for my long weekend ... Monday for the 4th of July and Tuesday because that is my usual day off ... wahooooooo!

Click "Next" to see Bree Renwick ... and "Back" to see Julie Warnick! Both creations are beautiful!

Monday Montage #215

It's Monday Montage time again, my friends!! I have done more crafting this week than I have during any other week in a loooooong time! (I'm participating in a 7-day scrapbook challenge on Instagram and it's been keeping me busy!).

I got to dig into a few of my fun new goodies ... and used some DSP that retired with the last mini catalog ... couldn't help myself!

I am LOVING the amount of fun, new masculine sets in this year's catalog! Having been on MANY week-long canoe trips with my hubby, I KNEW that this set was a MUST HAVE! It's just SOOOO good! This is where I couldn't resist using the Waves of the Ocean DSP that came out in the last mini catalog and retired last month.  It is just too-too perfect for this set!

I colored the canoe with my Granny Apple Green Stampin' Blends and the guy's hat and oars with the Bermuda Bay Blends.  I also used the Blue Foils DSP behind the Waves DSP ... it's just such a great combo!

I tucked a little big of black and white Gingham Ribbon under the edge (and can see from the photo that I didn't press the top layer down all the way before I took the photo ... YIKES!)! I'm pretty happy with how this turned out!

Stamps: Adventurous Journey

Paper: Whisper White, Bermuda Bay, Basic Black, Waves of the Ocean DSP

Ink: Black Memento, Versamark, Granny Apple Green; Stampin' Blends - Granny Apple Green, Bermuda Bay

Accessories: Whisper White Embossing Powder, Gingham Ribbon

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

Bree Renwick - Craft-somnia Momma

Cathy Casey - Sugar Shack Designs
Charlet Mallet - Painted Orange - NOT PARTICIPATING THIS WEEK

Cheryl Curtis - Pomp and Sustenance - NOT PARTICIPATING THIS WEEK

Dani Dziama - Dani's Thoughtful Corner 

Elizabeth Price - Seeinginkspots

Emily Kimmey - EMK Creations

Julie Warnick - Creating on the Run

Wendy Weixler - Wickedly Wonderful Creations - YOU ARE HERE

Feeling QUITE happy with the turn in the weather ... I'm thinking we may FINALLY be coming out of snowy weather and COOOLD temps and moving into SUMMER!! YAY!!

Click "Next" to see Bree Renwick ... and "Back" to see Julie Warnick! Great work from both of them!

Monday Montage #213

Welcome to another round of fun with the Monday Montage Crew!! What a crazy week it has been! I spent three days at Disneyland (I have MISSED my "home away from home" sooo much!). I've been trying to get things finished up so that we can close on the sale of my mama's condo this week ... and I had an 8-mile downhill training run on Saturday. Sheesh!! Glad I had already made my card for this week's blog hop or I would have been in TROUBLE!!

Ok ... be HONEST ... what's NOT to love about EVERYthing in the "He's the Man" suite of goodies?? HONESTLY!! I cheated a little and used the retired Macrame 3D embossing folder and the retired Braided Linen Trim (it's one of my all-time faves!)! The "He's the Man" DSP is INSANE!! I totally freakin' LOVE it and all the fun diet images it comes with ... they are just PERFECT!!

I used a little Early Espresso ink on a sponge to highlight the embossed image in the background. I also roughed up the edges a bit to give this whole card a more rustic feel. The VW Bus diecut image is my FAVE!

Stamps: NONE!

Paper: Crumb Cake, Soft Succulent, Cajun Craze, He's the Man DSP

Ink: Early Espresso

Accessories: All That Dies, 3D Macrame Embossing Folder (retired), Rustic Metallic Adhesive Backed Dots, Braided Linen Trim (retired)

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

Bree Renwick - Craft-somnia Momma

Cathy Casey - Sugar Shack Designs
Charlet Mallet - Painted Orange - NOT PARTICIPATING THIS WEEK

Cheryl Curtis - Pomp and Sustenance

Dani Dziama - Dani's Thoughtful Corner

Elizabeth Price - Seeinginkspots

Emily Kimmey - EMK Creations

Julie Warnick - Creating on the Run

Wendy Weixler - Wickedly Wonderful Creations - YOU ARE HERE

Sooooo ... it is officially "race" season. I am participating in the Zion Ragnar Trail Race this coming weekend ... and the Ogden Half Marathon the following weekend. CanNOT tell you how grateful I am too be OUT of pain and mostly mended after over two years of struggling with my Achilles, bone spurs and an inflamed bursae. Surgery was a resounding success and I feel pretty dang good! Thanks for stopping by!

Click "Next" to see Bree Renwick ... and "Back" to see Julie Warnick! WOWSERS!

Monday Montage #186

First day of spring at it snowed ... also the second day of spring saw snow ... as well as the third day of spring! Honestly, we have had SUCH a low snow year that I know we need eeveery bit of snow we get. It is just SOOO ironic that we had to wait for a change of seasons to SPRING in order to get more snow! Glad I had some time to play this weekend so I could make a card for Monday Montage! YAY!

Now ... about this card. I thought I had it all figured out in my head before I started. Um ... DUH ... I didn't!! I knew I wanted to make a background "sunset sky", but I couldn't quite get what I was going for. I ended up using (from top to bottom) Soft Seaside, Balmy Blue, So Saffron, Mango Melody and Crumb Cake. I masked off a circle to make the moon, and I ripped a scrap of cardstock to make the mask the ground layers to give it some depth when I sponged the Crumb Cake. THEN the work began!! I could NOT figure out what I wanted to do with my images ... or how I wanted to layer them. LOTS of trial and error before I came up with this "framed photo" sort of look. I used some linen thread and created some barbed wire/rope for the frame border accent. Many accents and layers later, I finally decided to quit with what I had. It is what it is, but I guess that's how the creative process goes sometimes!

Stamps: Ride the Range

Paper: Early Espresso, Crumb Cake, Soft Suede, Whisper White

Ink: Balmy Blue, Soft Seaside, So Saffron, Mango Melody, Crumb Cake, Soft Suede, Whisper White

Accessories: Stitched Rectangles Dies, Open Range Dies, Pinewood Planks Embossing Folder, Denim Ribbon, Linen Thread, Clear Epoxy Dots, Whisper White Embossing Powder, Stapler

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 - NOT PARTICIPATING THIS

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 - NOT PARTICIPATING THIS

Elizabeth Price - Seeinginkspots
Julie Warnick - Julie Warnick Stampin' Up! Blog
Melissa Stout - The Stamp Doc
Wendy Weixler - Wickedly Wonderful Creations - YOU'RE ALREADY HERE!!

The good news??? I think, perhaps, that my Achilles tendon is FINALLY responding to all the things I've been having done to it in physical therapy!! I was actually able to walk some this weekend withOUT limping!! YAY ME!! Crossing my fingers for continued improvement in the days to come!

Click "Next" to see the "Amazing Things" Bree Renwick created ... and "Back" to see the beatuiful "Brushed Blooms" created by Melissa Stout!!