May Swap

This month's stamping club swap theme was "Tulips, in spring colors, with a bow to tie it all together".  I wanted to use some of the Woodland Walk DSP, but there wasn't any pink in it, so out came the brayer and Pretty in Pink Classic ink pad, and ta-daaa.....a lovely pale pink background for the Maidenhair fern patterned paper!

The tiny tags greeting is from the Teeny Tiny Wishes set.  I just inked the words I wanted with a Stampin' Write Marker, stamped them, then punched with the Jewelry Tag punch. It was sheer luck that the font from "Happy Birthday" and "Friend to Friend" was the same!
Stamps: A Flower for All Seasons, Teeny Tiny Wishes
Cardstock: Garden Green, Very Vanilla, Rose Red, Woodland Walk DSP
Ink: Rose Red, Regal Rose, Pretty in Pink, Garden Green, Soft Suede, Daffodil Delight
Accessories: Framed Tulips embossing folder, 1-3/4" Circle Punch, Jewelry Tag Punch, Big Shot, Blender Pens, non-SU also used - 2" circle punch, 1-5/8" circle Nestabilities die, twine

CAS Spring Wishes

This is a RAK card sent to someone who shall remain nameless because she hasn't received it, yet. And the way the weather has been, her letter carrier may not get it to her for another week! Yeesh, enough with the frigid temperatures, already! Think Spring. Think Spring. Think Spring. Maybe if we all concentrate hard enough, we can drive away the cold, ice, and snow, and welcome warmer, milder temperatures. Maybe? Please??? Punxsutawney Phil says so!

I really have nothing to complain about here in sunny Southern California, but I have many friends and family in harms way. If YOU are one of the many affected, please be safe; don't go out in it unless it's a life or death situation. Just stay hunkered down and ride it out.

Thank you for visiting!

Stayed tuned tomorrow for some love birds!!!

Stamps: A Flower for all Seasons, Easter Blossoms
Cardstock: Whisper White, Old Olive, Pear Pizzazz DSP, Watercolor Paper
Inks: Basic Black Classic, Cajun Craze Classic, Daffodil Delight Classic, Pear Pizzazz Classic, Soft Suede Classic, Poppy Parade Stampin' Write Marker, White Gel Pen
Accessories: Blender Pen. Scallop Rectangle Clearlits Die, Big Shot, Dotted Scallop Ribbon Border Punch, 1/8" Old Olive Taffeta Ribbon, Stampin' Dimensionals

Christmas in January

As threatened promised yesterday, here is the Christmas card for the January challenge. Those of you who have followed me for a while know that I vowed a couple years ago to never again be late on my Christmas cards, and to fulfill that vow, I challenged myself to make four cards per month through November so I'd be ready to mail them in December. Well, that was two years ago, and since then I've added quite a few people to my Christmas card list! So now my minimum is six cards, but by December I'll probably need more. :-)

My inspiration for this card came from Gretchen Barron's card. I just love that frame!

Stamp: A Flower for all Seasons, Baby Blossoms
Cardstock: Crumb Cake, Very Vanilla, Deck the Halls DSP
Ink: Basic Black Classic pad plus Regal Rose, Rose Red, Pear Pizzazz, Old Olive, and Poppy Parade Stampin' Write Markers
Accessories: Petals A Plenty embossing folder, Big Shot, Basic Pearls, Old Olive 1-1/4" Grosgrain Ribbon, Wide oval Punch

Thanks for stopping by today!

Stayed tuned tomorrow for a Spring RAK!!!

2011 Sale-A-Bration Blog Hop

Welcome to the 2011 Stampin' Addicts Sale-A-Bration Blog Hop, showcasing the wonderful FREE items you can earn from the Stampin' Up! Sale-A-Bration catalog!  If you are taking the tour in order, you just arrived from Holly's blog, where she featured the adorable Ornate Blossom.  Starting your hop here?  You can complete the tour of all 21 blogs by clicking on the links at the bottom of each post, but if you get lost, not to worry!  Just click on the banner above for a complete list.

This is stop number 17, featuring the stamp set called A Flower for All Seasons.  It's a very versatile little set, with a stamp for each season, and can be found on the back page of the SAB catalog. Note: you can click on the images below to enlarge them.

I'm going to get the first card out of the way, because....well, because it's Christmas-themed and I am sooo done with Christmas for now! I'm ready for the soft colors of Spring and bright colors of Summer, how about you? The non-traditional colors soften it a bit, but still.....

Up next is another card, but one much more to my liking! Now THIS speaks of Spring, and rebirth and renewal. This card would work equally well for Easter or Mother's Day, too, don't you think? And the Framed Tulips embossing folder was just made for that basket of tulips!

For the final card, I just had to make it "Thinking of You", because that frog has a look of longing in his eyes. Maybe he spies a yummy little bug hiding behind a flower petal. ;-)

And now, for the 3D project! Many of you are in the throes of a very harsh winter, and have to be dreaming of warmer times to come. Nothing says a sunny 'hello' more than cheerful little sunflowers! My local home improvement store has seeds for a dwarf variety that only grows to about 16 inches tall, but has 6" blooms(!) - perfect for bouquets of fresh-cut flowers, without completely overwhelming my small garden space.

I make an effort to "spread a little sunshine" every day, and think this gift would be a good way to do it. The card kind of imitates the stamped image on the row marker (with seeds attached), and the pot imitates the card! Check back on Monday for the "recipe" for this card.

Next stop is Tanya's blog, Tinkerin In Ink With Tanya, where she's gonna wow you with Itty Bitty Bits!

This blog hop is brought to you by the wonderful people over at Stampin' Addicts, where their motto is "Positively Creative! Positively Stampin' Up!" I hope when you finish the hop that you'll hop over and check out the warm, friendly, creative folks there, and sign up (it's free)!

A Poinsettia CASE

Today I am eternally thankful for the talented people who so freely share their creative genius on their blogs....without whom I would be stuck for inspiration.  Occasionally two of my brain cells bump into each other and I'll have a great idea of my own.  But more often than not, I turn to the creativity of others to help get my mojo going.

Today's card is just such a piece.  This card was the source of creativity for today, found on Deb Burgins's blog, Heartfelt Inkspiration.  Thanks, Deb, for getting some ideas popping in my head!!!

First Thanks

I have a bunch of thank you cards to send out this week, so I've been pretty busy in the stamp cave.  It's absolutely killing me, because what I really, really want to do is play with all the new stuff I pre-ordered from the Holiday Mini.  They lounge there on the desk, singing their siren song, beckoning me toward certain doom.  Okay, well maybe not doom, but certainly toward ignoring the dust bunnies and hungry husband, and pile of laundry that grows larger by the day, not to mention finishing the thank you cards.  Not that I really have to be enticed to ignore that stuff, you know! :-D

Anyhoo, this is one of the scads of cards (I'm making three of each style) that I've been working on.  AND this is another color combination from my new best friend, the Color Coach.  It is Sahara Sand, Bravo Burgundy and Pink Pirouette.  Isn't it loverly?

I'm really trying to use up some of the retired Designer Series Papers, so this is from the Hostess Level 1 "Welcome Neighbor" paper pack, from Sale-A-Bration earlier this year.

Stamps: A Flower for all Seasons (111592), Thank You Kindly (111700)
Cardstock: Whisper White (100730), Sahara Sand (121043), Bravo Burgundy (105123), Pink Pirouette (111351)
Inks: Sahara Sand Classic 105208), Basic Black Classic (101179), Bravo Burgundy Classic (105214), Pretty in Pink Classic (101301), Pear Pizzazz Stampin' Write Marker (119807 - set of 5 In Colors)
Accessories: Basic Pearls (119247), Pretty in Pink 3/8" Taffeta Ribbon (109067), Blender Pens (102845), 2-3/8" Scallop Circle Punch (118874), 1-3/4" Circle Punch, Scallop Trim Border Punch (118402), 2" circle punch (non SU)