Chocolate Essence of love

WHo doesn't like Chocolate eh?
THis card uses SU Essence of Love from the occasions mini. I stamped it in brown chaulk ink, poured clear embossing powder over it. Pomegranate background paper is embossed with birds and flourishes(?) from Cuttlebug. I turned it to the indented side, instead of the raised side. The flower at the bottom is from a prima pack, the brown circle is from Quickutz cookie cutter die and the angel under the page pebble is from a set of mini punches by Friskars (I think)

Thanks for looking,
Amanda

Punched Purse

I know Quickutz has a purse die, but when I saw Lindsay's tutorial on this purse, I knew I wanted to try it. She has some great stuff.
In My Stamp Room
http://lcsstamp.typepad.com/my_weblog/2008/04/punch-tutorial.html
I used Stampin' Up's Round tab punch and Quickutz hoop die for the handles. Paper SU, except for the purple polka dots. Don't know what that one is. The little bling is from the dollar store. The flowers are from Michael's buck 50 bin a while back.
Scallop card is from Quickutz Cookie cutter.

Thanks for looking,
Amanda

teacher gift

I'm pumped about this project. it worked like I thought it would.
A few years ago, when I first started teaching, ok, so it was many years ago in my early teaching years.....
I was given an eraser with a tole painted flower on it. Remember tole painting? And it was forest green and dusty rose.. does that put it in a time perspective?! lol

I saw these naked erasers at the dollar store and knew I wanted to do something with it. I thought for days on how to decorate it without having to use paper and modgepodge and stamping and layering paper and it's all gonna fall off or get ripped....
Then I had a lightbulb moment! Embossing powder. And voila, here it is. I went back to the store and bought up the rest to play with. I'm going to try a few male looking ones.

The image is Essence of Love from Stampin' Up Occasions Mini. I think I'll redo the card and put it on a brown background with the image in pink like the eraser, or just make it brown on white. I know the current card doesn't really do what I want it to.

Thanks for looking,
Amanda

Dorothy's flower basket

Isn't this lovely?
One of the my regular workshop attendees made this with leftover pieces she had. It is luxurious textured paper.
It is so spring like and makes me smile.

Thanks Dorothy for the inspiration!

Thanks for looking,
Amanda

Elegant notes

This card is a compilation of a few things musical..
Background is SU retired musical score Background stamp, text is from SU, Elegant Notes set. and the eighth notes on the bottom are from Quickutz Squeeze.

Not much to say tonight. Loving this weather. The kids and I have been enjoying the yard. Last year, my daughter was still crawling, so we avoided it. I LOVE this growing thing. She's starting to make 2 -3 word sentences also. Communication is great!

Thanks for looking,
Amanda

Prom/Wedding gift card holder

This card was in my head and came together quite easily once I sat down. Love when that happens.
Circle scallop is from Quickutz cookie cutter die and square scallop is from nestabilities.
the stamp is Wedding dress circle from Stamping Bella.
The card is folded the same way as this one I did for Christmas:
http://latenightstamper.blogspot.com/search/label/gift%20card%20holder

Thought it would make a nice prom card or wedding card or bridal party card.

Thanks for looking,
Amanda

tutu face

This stamp is from Stamping Bella. I bought her there on the Frenzied Friday that I introduced my friend Sarah to the Bella store. it was crazy energy there. We were spotting new rubbah all over the place. I freaked when I saw her. I've been wanting a ballerina for some now. They let me have her. lol

Inked it up for the 1st time today. We were going to meet a family of friends we hadn't seen in some time. My son wanted to make his friend a card. She is a lovely dancer, even if she is only 5. He was so excited to colour the dancer. He chose all colours himself. Basically I only put a mat on the image and glued it all together. He proudly chose the big purple flower to match the card. And then he coloured over the whole image with my glitter pen to make it all shiny. Too cute. Did I tell you he's only 4?! I'm happy that he's happy in my stamping room. Gushing mama.

I didn't get to play in my room tonight, maybe tomorrow.

Thanks for looking,
Amanda

Tart n Tangy squares

We had a great time at class yesterday. Well, at least I did! lol
This was the easy card to do. The wasabi wish book was a little time consuming and I made them sew! :}
Paper Summer Picnic (the sqUARES) and stamps- Tart and tangy. Just a few pop dots on the circles. Voila.

I have a great idea in my head and hope to try it out tonight.

Thanks for looking,
Amanda

Wasabi wish book

I took advantage of the Stampin' up! Wild Wasabi cardstock offer a few weeks ago. The cardstock is textured, but had a boo boo in the cutting and scoring, so they put it on sale and offered many suggestions of what to do with it.

This is the book they gave a recipe for. i obviously didn't use SU stamps except for the french script background stamp.
The leaf stamp is from Papertrey, Text Box set. I again, cased the idea for it from the designer of the set, Nicole Heady.
Check it out here: http://nicholeheady.typepad.com/capture_the_moment/countdown_text_boxed/index.html

I'm not very creative these days, so caseing is the best way to get some product out.

What else? Oh, I found a new setting on my camera, close ups and super close ups. I don't know why I didn't find it before. it's so good for card picture taking. Hopefully, I won't lose the colour on the blog like the regular photos.

If you're coming to my class tomorrow, this is one of the projects.

thanks for looking,
Amanda

Bridal Shower Thank You Kit

This bridal shower gift was made for a musical friend of mine. Actually, it's for her daughter. She is having a bridal shower this weekend, but I can't attend. So I've sent this along for the party.

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This card is the card I'm giving for the gift. Got to use my new nestabilities. yeah. Stamp is from Stamping Bella. The ribbon on the dress is nickabella's idea. I stole it!


These thank you cards took on a few lives. Once I decided on the final one, I made 20 of them. Mostly because that's all the paper I had. Wish I had more base cardstock. Oh, well. 20 is better than none right? lol Umbrella is reitred Stampin' Up!, text from Papertrey's set, Paper Tray and heat embossed with gold EP. Flowers in umbrella are done with SU chaulks.

The round tin is from Lee Valley. I still have a bunch of these left over and like to use them for many projects. The little rectangle one is from Papertrey and holds clear return address labels for her envelopes.


The book to record the thank you gifts took me a whole afternoon to figure out how to align it on both sides. And of course, once I figured it out, it was sooo simple. So now I have the template for next time.

If I hadn't run out of time, I would have done a pen to match and decorated the cover a little more. Forgot to take a pic of the cover. The large tin holding it all came from a stamp set I bought at Michael's last fall.

Hope you like and thanks for looking,
Amanda

grillafella

Here is grillafella from Stamping Bella. I've been wanting him since he came out. Now that Emmabella has a store, I will probably get things I want. I'm a shop in dribs and drabs kinda girl rather than buy a whole lot. Maybe I like to prolong the shopping spree, happy with a few things at a time?!

DP is Stampin' Up! East Coast Prep. This card is very basic. It was an order from my uncle who likes.. plain. it fit the bill.

Apologies for the poor quality photo. I took it quickly to send it and tried different settings, then I gave the card away.

thanks for looking,
Amanda

happy neighbourhood

So this card almost hit the garbage pile a few times. I think i may have rescued it?? Whadda ya think?

The image is "Happy Neighbourhood" from Stamping Bella. She just released it yesterday. My colouring is so NOT Emmabella's:} And my colour scheme? What was I thinking? Well, I took it from the bright paper selection. The paper is core paper that is coming into a craze. When you send, tear, distress, it has an underlying colour. I put it through my cuttlebug and sanded the raised parts to get the white parts. capiche? The sentiment is from Papertrey Ink "Year round puns".

Cutting the image on an angle and raising it on pop dots helped and the sentiment also. My lovely husband, the engineer, just wasn't feeling the love of it until it was totally completed. Now I think he accepts it for what it is.:} In it's creation process, he looks at it and says, "sooo, what would you use that for? " At that point, I think I said, "scrap". lol

So there you go. A behind the scenes peek into my stamping process.

Thanks for looking,
Amanda

Sittin' on the fence

I was so productive yesterday. Thank goodness, as I could crank nothing out today. And there is so much for inspiration...
New magazine with pages folded down of ideas I want to try, a trip to Michael's and Stamping Bella!! Great goodies from there. I even have some stamps that are not out yet. Hot rubbah from the scissors. But no such luck getting anything out.

So here is a card from yesterday. I cased it from Jen Del Muro
http://iheart2stamp.com/2008/04/02/mft-release-day/ What a great idea. Thanks Jen.

I decided to try it with kraft paper. And I got to play with the only other big die cut set I have from Quickutz, revoluion. I don't have the package anymore, so sorry, once again, I don't know what it's called. But fun to play with. And can you tell I;min a bit of a funk? My intent was to create a nice, spring feeling card! huh? Bit dark no? I intend to make this card again with a white picket fence and some brighter colours. The sentiment inside is from Papertrey Ink,"Green Thumb" set. oh yes, the little snail is from SU set "Garden Whimsy"

I better get my nightly bowl of cereal and hit the hay before anyone wakes up.I'm in my stamp room up in the attic, the rain sounds nice on the roof.

thanks for looking,
Amanda

Bootiful dresses and bathing suits and umbreallas oh my!

I had a great day today playing with other people's ideas. That lead to a few ideas of my own. I've been on the lookout for cards that are 3D. Here are is an example from Barb Schram at http://barbschram.blogspot.com The bodice of the dress uses the boot from Papertrey Ink's Green Thumb set. And the skirt uses the strawberry bottom. The hanger uses 2 stem pieces. Isn't it ingenious? It inspired me to make the bathing suit also. I was set out to make a onesie, but without sleeves,it looked more like a bathing suit.

I also played with my cookie cutter dies from QuickKutz. The largest scallop circle was the card base. Can you pick out a little embossing on it?? The embossed edge is really big right now with the use of Spellbinder's Nestabilities. I bought my cuttlebug so I could buy them, but haven't yet. But Surprise,surprise!! It happened (a little) with the cookie cutter. SU paper doubled is thick. Guess that's why it happened. bonus.

I've added the umbrella since last night. The handle is a gold,as this colour scheme is for a bridal shower. I need a new gold ink pad.


Thanks for looking.
Amanda

Introducing Ella and Looloo

I LOVE This stamp. Looloo's hair reminds me of my daughter's hair. One thing I hold dear is being able to bury my face in the back of her head of fine, fine, curly hair when she cuddles with me. So soft and whispy. Now you think I'm crazy don't you?lol

These friends are from Stamping Bella. Yes,it's true. There are so many other lines than just bellas! And I saw some sneak peaks of ones to come! Cool Beans!

Anyhow, the first one uses some SU brown paper from Berry Bliss and the pink check was bought a while ago at a LSS. I coloured with my SU markers and blender pen, but after playing with the Prismas and mineral spirits,I want those now. I need a job!

On the 2nd card,I had a little girl in mind, who is turning 2 tomorrow. Hence, the #2 in the corner. This time, I paper pieced the elephant with the same pink check as the 1st card. I like it. I think I'll piece him again. The brown paper was put through my cuttlebug with an embossing die. (You think I could remember the name,I only have one large embossing die!) I used the valley side instead of the mountain side. (I can't think of the term for that now either... inverted and extroverted?? )

Well, that is enough to send me to bed. :}

Thanks for looking,
Amanda

How to keep your husband busy

Ever seen a Jacob's ladder card? Ever made one? Easier than it looks. I think it was harder to fill up all the sides.

It kept my 4 year old son and my husband occupied about the same amount of time to play and figure it out. lol

Stamps are from SU Tart and Tangy, Mini catty and Friendship Blossoms, from the Saleabration catty. Paper is Summer Picnic from the mini also.

I got some flocking today. I'm now on a learning curve people, a learning curve! I tried it on a superboy cape. Cute. I also tired it on a dress,not so consistent. Think I may need to get a glue pad.Oh, just something else to buy! Does it ever end?lol

Thanks for looking,
Amanda

Argyle prezzies and chit chattin'

Whew! What a busy weekend!

On Saturday, I went to a stamping workshop... at Da Bellas! Yes, That's Stamping Bella. Bella's sidekick, Nikkabella, gave a great workshop. I learned something new. And I was pleased with it. It was colouring using Prisma pencils and mineral spirits. I've read a lot about them, but never quite got it. It is therapeutic in itself to see the colours blend. nice. Thanks Nikki. If I ever get caught up and a moment to myself, I'll take pics of the cards to show you. And, I bought some new stamps. No bellas, well, a grillafella I've been wanting for awhile and then 2 kids stamps. More on that later.

I rushed home, hugged the kids and went out with the hubby for bad sushi and a Musical theatre show, Brigadoon. It was a group I used to sing with, and will sing again with in the fall. Was sooo nice to see so many of the people I first met when I came to Toronto. I consider that my "other life" before I became the girlfriend, wife and Mother! lol

Home late, then up early to sing 2 church services, then off to give a card workshop at someone else's house. Needless to say, when I actually sat down there, I kinda crashed. Met some wonderful ladies and hope they had fun. The stamping world is a nice place, isn't it?

Well, that was a lot of chit chat. You still here? Here is an easy card for today's class. I like the argyle paper from SU's East Coast Prep DP line. Here is a card you can use for a male birthday. Easy stamping, easy layout. You can crank out a few of these in quick order. I like the button brads. Sorry, don't know who they're from. The stamp set is from the Saleabration catty, Birthday Whimsy.



I have a zillion ideas in my head, new supplies and can't wait to make and share them with you.
Tomorrow, I'll show you a Jacob's ladder card. Fun to make. Hint: Do NOT glue down the woven strips. lol Ask me how I know!

THanks for looking and listening,
Amanda

Wedding card

I've had this idea in my head for a few days. it turned out close to what I had imagined. Was just trying to find the right paper.

Paper is from SU Spring Silhoutte and stamp set is from Baroque Motifs. The little oval on the bottom is from Quickutz and joy stamp and double stitched ribbon are from SU.
Do you think this fits the bill for a wedding card?

Thanks for looking,
Amanda

hero birdies

This was fun. I only had a short time to play and hadn't unpacked all of my stuff from the Church session.
One of the ladies stamped this combo in a monocromatic scheme. I just loved it. I bought the bird a few weeks ago and hadn't inked it yet. Didn't know what to do. So I thank you, Vicki for the inspiration.


Next I coloured on the flower with the markers. Love being able to do this. I want to try the colouring on stamps with markers and misting before stamping on watercolour paper technique. How's that for a long sentence!


And then in a different colour scheme. I did a little dry embossing at the edges with my envelop-per. it has grids so you can make your own envelopes. Great tool for that difficult sized card.
I think I'll make a bunch of these as a gift pack and put them in an altered tin. Or, maybe I should buy a few more of the birds first, and an owl... hmm.
I'm going to Da bella's store this weekend to take a class. Yes, that's Emmabella of Stampingbella.com . I'm so excited. I'm sure I'll buy a goodie or 2 there also.

ginger notebook

whew! I survived the large crowd at my Church's craft morning. We did 3 projects and the ladies worked really hard on them. It was fun. A large number of them let loose on card making. no specifics, no guidelines and no proper glue!, well, not enough proper glue. I only brought partial 3 bottles. What was I thinking for 30 women? lol Dorothy to the rescue! Thanks Dorothy! You're a gem. I may have converted a few of them.

So this little notebook came from the dollarstore. I think there were 4 to a pack. Just a piece of paper from the scrap box for the front and a little ribbon and stamp. Think next time, I'll make the mat black for a bit of pop,

Must make a few cards for my upcoming class on Sunday, so stay tuned.

Thanks for looking,
Amanda