watercooler sketch adventure

One might think that you may discuss politics over the watercooler at work, or sports, possibly (that really was an awesome Series!), but I was at the Watercooler Wednesday specifically to avoid politics, and found this sketch:

It took me several days because I couldn't decide what to do with the larger, blank rectangle.  But I finished this earlier this evening:

stamp sets - Foxy Friends, Here For You; ink - Mint Macaron, Basic Black, Soft Suede; card stock - Island Indigo, Mint Macaron, Crumb Cake, Whisper White, Basic Black; designer series paper - Blooms & Bliss; punch - Fox Builder

Is it just the photo, or is that crooked?  hmmm.  Doesn't that sentiment just *need* the little skunk? The inside sentiment is "Sorry I don't have something more profound or poetic or sentimental to say, but I just want you to know how very much I love and care about you."  Perfect!  I never much used the phrase "stinkin' cute" but this really is, you know?

I could have finished it before the end of the weekend, but I had to take time to get to Madison with my upline, Nisha, and my downline, Debbie, for Stampin' Up!® OnStage - SO. MUCH. FUN. !! Once again, the Midwest OnStage attendance was the largest in the U.S. and we were also larger than the OnStage Live 3-day event:

 You, too, can join the fun, simply by joining our team as a Stampin' Up!® demonstrator.  Join for some extra income or just some extra inspiration!  We came home with several projects made from products that will be available in January, at least three not-yet-available stamp sets, and lots of additional supplies and ideas.

Star Struck Stampers Sunday stamping adventures

Earlier this month I shared some of the cards we made at my upline's team meetings - here and here.  We met again today, and my fellow demonstrators brought some more awesome designs for us to make. Just look at these beauties:

 stamp set - Happy Easter Bunny; ink - Chocolate Chip, Calypso Coral, Coastal Cabana; Stampin' Write markers - Coastal Cabana, Crushed Curry, Calypso Coral, Crumb Cake, Pink Pirouette, Wisteria Wonder, Wild Wasabi; Stampin' Chalk marker - White; card stock - Crushed Curry, Whisper White; Big Shot with Top Note Die, Dots & Stripes masks, sponge daubers, Stampin' Dimensionals

This one uses the Hand Stamped Sentiments colors - Calypso Coral, Crushed Curry, and Coastal Cabana, although I'm pretty sure I'm the only team member who plays along with challenges.  I sneaked in some extra colors while I was coloring that Happy Easter Bunny, though.

stamp set - So Very Happy; ink - Marina Mist; card stock - Basic Gray, Smoky Slate, Marina Mist, Whisper White; punches - 1/2" circle, 1-3/8" circle, 1-3/4" circle, Word Window; Big Shot with Word Bubbles framelits, Stampin' Dimensionals

Isn't that just the cutest card?  I love punch art.  Nisha's design had the sentiment stamped directly on the Marina Mist "sky" but I stamped it badly and used the Word Bubble framelit "cloud" to recover.  

stamp set - Lotus Blossom; ink - Pistachio Pudding; Rich Razzleberry, Blushing Bride, Always Artichoke; card stock - Whisper White, Blackberry Bliss; Big Shot with Stylish Stripes embossing folder; 3/8" Stitched Satin Ribbon - Blackberry Bliss

Deb felt badly that her card wasn't specific to our themes of Easter or kids, but this beautiful & elegant design seems perfect for Easter.  She also thought she didn't have anything to offer as far as teaching us anything, but none of us had used this stamp before.  I  was a little put off by a three-step stamp but it was easier than I expected, and I love the results!

adventure of procrastination

My Watercooler friend Terri thinks she's the Queen of Procrastination but I think I could give her a run for her money (where did that old saying come from? note to self - look this up some day), except we haven't gotten around to making a comparison...

I scheduled a Card Buffet (otherwise known as Stamp-a-Stack) for this week, and as of yesterday I had one card prepared, a carryover from last month.  So I spent some time perusing the challenge and inspiration blogs I love and made a pair of cards for a passel of challenges.  I'm not sure all of the challenges are still open, but I'll check that later.

The newest Watercooler Challenge is punch art.  I love punch art for Halloween, since it's a way to keep the hand-crafted aspect I loved the most about Halloween childhood memories. Also, I don't send many Halloween cards, and don't find the stamp sets that are specific get enough use in my world; punch art stretches out the uses I can get from a stamp that's part of a more generic set, like the multi-purpose And Many More.  Besides, we haven't done punch art for card buffet recently, so this will be one of the choices this month:

stamp set - And Many More; ink - Hello Honey, Basic Gray; markers - White Stampin' Chalk, Basic Gray Stampin' Write; card stock - Basic Gray, Blackberry Bliss, Smoky Slate, So Saffron, Whisper White; punches - Large Oval, Bird Builder, Owl Builder; accessories - White Baker's twine; tools - Stampin' sponge, Stampin' Dimensionals 

I used the colors from ColourQ - sort of - I substituted both the darker Basic Gray and the lighter Smoky Slate, bracketing the challenge color of Going Gray.  I also used the Freshly Made sketch - that star just said "full moon" to me this month!  I learned to make the cute vampire bat from Diana Gibbs (also found another version Pinned) and think he qualifies as an animal for Around the World Stampin' Up! Challenges.

As another seasonal offering (and therefore qualified at Words 2 Scrap By), I used my markers (Addicted to Stamps + More) to highlight the leaves (Just Us Girls) that are the focal point in this Tuesday Morning Sketch layout done with Stampin' Royalty colors:

stamp sets - Lovely as a Tree, Itty Bitty Banners; ink - Cherry Cobbler, Old Olive, Tangelo Twist; Stampin' Write markers - Cherry Cobbler, Chocolate Chip; card stock - Old Olive, Tangelo Twist, Whisper White; designer series paper - Moonlight; tools - Dotted Ribbon border punch, Big Shot with Deco Labels and Bitty Banners framelits, Stampin' sponge, Stampin' Dimensionals

I still need two Christmas cards and one thinking of you or thank you card, plus the house needs cleaning - who has time for a full time job?  Guess I better get back to the studio - thanks for taking the time to stop by!

bookworm adventure

It's Virtual Stamp Night this weekend at Splitcoast Stampers.  I've "watched" other people (virtually, through their blog posts) have loads of fun at these events, but I've not been able (or brave enough) to participate in the past.  I just have to post for alicaz's bookmark challenge, as I had these two ideas in my head (the bookworm punch art and the bookmark pull out) ever since our Back to School Llama Hop when I saw Joanne's card:

SEP12VSNE

stamp set - Elements of Style; ink - Wild Wasabi; Stampin' Write Marker - Basic Black; card stock - Pool Party, Riding Hood Red, So Saffron, Whisper White, Wild Wasabi; designer series paper - Storytime; punches - 1" circle, 1-14" scallop circle, 1-1/4" square,  Boho Blossoms, Cupcake Builder; Big Shot with Argyle textured impressions folder, Stampin' Dimensionals

Once the recipient has removed the bookworm bookmark, I think the card will be a little plain, though.

reclaimed time adventure

I've been slightly over-scheduled this month; I'm sure you're not really surprised.  I had a 10-for-$10 Stamp-a-stack event scheduled for this evening, but the only person who was signed up this month is my good friend and fellow demonstrator, Jan, so we decided to cancel the stamping.  I think I used my "reclaimed" time wisely by rebooting the exercise program that I'd neglected since I left for Colorado two and half weeks ago, finishing the last two loads of laundry, vacuuming, uploading four weeks of photos from my camera and updating Shuttercal. Plus, I'm finally updating my blog, and for my next trick, I'll complete the annual medical reimbursement request that's due tomorrow! 

This is one of the cards Jan and I made Sunday at our team meeting:

stamp set - Delightful Dozen; ink - Old Olive; card stock - Naturals White, Whisper White, Basic Black, Pink Pirouette; designer series paper (retired) - Island Oasis; punches - 1-3/4" Circle, 1-3/4" Scallop Circle, Large Oval, Small Oval, Boho Blossom, Cupcake Builder (sprinkles)

I originally planned to demonstrate this at the workshop I did yesterday evening, but at the last minute changed to this larger, simpler version that I first saw on Pinterest and CASEd from Crystal Rood:

 

Stampin' Write marker - Pink Pirouette; card stock - Old Olive, Basic Black, Whisper White, Pink Pirouette; designer series paper - Paisley Petals; punches - 2-1/2" Circle, 2-3/8" Scallop Circle, Extra-large Oval, Large Oval, Boho Blossom  

Which one would you rather make?  I have both available for Saturday morning's Stamp-a-Stack 10-for-$10 event, and it will be your last chance to earn FREE Sale-A-Bration products with every $50 order, so be sure to call or email me!

punch art adventure

I will start right out with my apology and excuse for not posting in such a long time - some of you know I usually put in a lot hours at my day job in January.  This year, January wasn't so bad, but February has been killer.  As my coworkers say, that's why they pay me "the big bucks".  (hah)  It's a good thing that I love my job, but I'll be READY for my vacation next month!

I did have time to do some paper crafting and card making, just no time to share with you.  Some of the ladies in our St. Joseph County offices decided to host a scrapbook crop day as a fundraiser for Relay for Life, and I brought this cute little leprechaun as a $1 make-and-take (the dollars went to RfL, of course):

card stock - Pink Pirouette, Wild Wasabi, Cajun Craze, Basic Black; Stampin' Write marker - Sahara Sand; punches - listed above; Stampin' Dimensionals, Simply Scored Stylus

I think he's a cutie pie, but no one wanted to take him home with them, poor little guy.  Maybe because they couldn't see the pot of gold?  The penguins, bunnies, and lions that I learned from other demonstrators were a hit, though, and so were these little chicks:

  card stock - So Saffron, Tangerine Tango; punches - listed above; sponge daubers

Neither of these are my original designs.  I learned the chick so long ago that I've completely lost track of the original, but I'm sure it didn't use the Snowflake punch - I thought that up all by myself.  I'm not so clever that I wouldn't think someone else hasn't thought of it, though.  The leprechaun is a combination of different ideas I've seen other people use.

blog hop adventure

Welcome to our first ever Watercooler Llama Blog Hop!  I'm so excited, I'm hopping up and down on my computer chair!  There are links at the end of this post to take you to the next llama blog, or back to the main llama page.

We're touring the 2011-2012 Stampin' Up! Idea Book & Catalog as well as the Holiday Mini, and you've probably just arrived from Jean's blog Rogue Thoughts, where she's featuring stamp sets from the Greetings section of the catalog.  The Greetings section is where my first-ever Stampin' Up! set came from - Sincere Sentiments - I still love it and use it frequently.  I'd like to share with you some things I've made using new sets from that section:

The Perfectly Penned set includes four all-occasion sentiments in this fabulous font - it is fast becoming my most-used and top favorite set!  This is a clean-and-simple layout from a quarter-sheet wonder set of five cards I made using Paisley Petals designer series paper.  Card stock is Tangerine Tango, Soft Suede, and Old Olive; the ink is Soft Suede.

I found this spiral-bound notebook in the $1 section with a little-girl cover design - I think it will be a nice gift for a workshop hostess now that it's a little more grown up:

I recovered both the front and back with Flirtatious designer series paper using our Multipurpose Liquid Glue (nothing is more perfect for a permanent hold with a little "wiggle" time at first, since I can't ever get anything straight the first try).  I cut card stock circles from Concord Crush and Wisteria Wonder and mounted one of the doilies snipped from the "specialty" piece of the Flirtatious dsp.  I stamped this fun sentiment from the cheerful set Pursuit of Happiness with Concord Crush on Wisteria Wonder, punched it out with Curly Label and sponged the edges with Concord Crush and a sponge dauber.  I used Stampin' Dimensionals to make it stand out, so you can see a little more of the doily behind it.  I tied a little bow in the spiral binding using Wisteria Wonder 3/8" Ruffled Ribbon.

You may be starting to think that my stop on the tour spills from the Greetings section right into the Accessories & More section (I am).  Stamps, ink, & paper are essential, but I'd be struggling without our adhesives and other great tools.  I'm still new at using embellishments, but I jumped right into a punch addiction as soon as I became a demonstrator.  I received a card in a punch art swap last year that I just had to recreate:

Isn't that festive?  The sentiment (we are still in the Greetings section, after all) is from the versatile set Delightful Dozen.  If you're new to card making (or need a fresh look) I would recommend this set first - 12 different holidays/occasions, each one different in style, will give a lot of variety to your projects!  The only ink on this card is Cajun Craze.  Card stock is Basic Gray, Night of Navy, Basic Black, Elegant Eggplant, Whisper White, Chocolate Chip, More Mustard, and Old Olive.  The sentiment is on a Modern Label punch, raised on Stampin' Dimensionals.  Other punches I used are Bird Builder (branches), Owl Builder (owls, ghost, broom), Scallop Oval (ghost), Five Petal Flower and Small Oval (witch hat).

I hope you've enjoyed our tour so far - click on the link below to see Debbie's Clever and Cute blog featuring products from the Holiday Mini!

If you need to return to the main llama page, this link will take you there:

Please leave a  comment if you're inclined - I appreciate them all - and stop back again another day, I'd love to have you.