Tour de Freaks Occasions & Sale-A-Bration!

Well, the Occasions catalog and SAB have been in full swing for a couple weeks now, and we just can't get enough of the awesome new products! I'm first on the Tour de Freaks blog hop, but you may have landed here from Wendy's Wickedly Wonderful Creations blog. Weren't her creations awesome?! Just follow the links to see all five participating blogs.

I knew immediately which set I wanted to use - HOME TO ROOST. It's in the Sale-a-Bration flyer on page 11. You see, I'm a crazy chicken lady even though I don't have any chickens....YET. I used to have them about 30 years ago, and I WILL get some this year, by golly!

Anyhooo, I loved the rooster image and knew it would be fun to color with Stampin' Blends. I managed to get the iridescent look on his tail feathers by starting with Bermuda Bay, then adding Night of Navy and Basic Black over it. He sure is a handsome 'roo!

For the next card, I just wanted to use the wheat image. It was stamped in Pear Pizzazz, with Mossy Meadow stamped over. The greetings included in this set are a lovely group of "just because" stamps, don't you think?

The Old Olive Linen Thread and Braided Linen Trim worked well together. I thought about coloring the Braided Linen with a Mossy Meadow Stampin' Blend, but then thought it looked fine just as it is on the Crumb Cake DSP.

Up next is Kelly Acheson, at A Stamp Above. I can't wait to see what she's made!

My Inky Friends Time to Sale-a-Brate Blog Hop

It's our favorite time of year - SALE-A-BRATION, and My Inky Friends have cooked up a fun hop showcasing some of the great items you can earn for FREE with a qualifying order. Holly over at The Rubber Redneck was before me, so you may have landed here from her page. If you follow the links at the bottom, you can take the whole tour!

I chose Lovely Lattice because, well....flowers! And coloring! As soon as I saw this stamp set, it zipped to the top of my SAB "must have" list.

I wanted to show off the image on the clean gingham background, but I sure didn't want to fussy cut the whole thing! Using my Stampin' Trimmer, I cut just up to the image, which left about half - the EASY half - to fussy cut, 'cuz I'm smart like that, LOL!

After it was colored and cut, I put Mr. Big to work with the Subtle embossing folder to give the image a bit of texture. Once it was mounted on the gingham background, I slipped the greeting from Well Said under and adhered it all to the card base. (I figured since flu season is upon us, I'm probably going to need a get well card soon.)

Some Gingham Gala sequins were added for a bit of sparkle. It sure is easy to use those adhesive-backed embellishments! When the card was complete, the envelope flap was dressed up with the single flower stamp that's part of the set.

That's all from me today. I had other ideas, but Mom is visiting, so I didn't have time to make them a reality. Up next is Staci Miserlian, who is featuring Precious Parcel.

Product List

Lovely Lattice Cling Stamp Set

Well Said Cling Stamp Set

Whisper White 8-1/2" X 11" Card Stock

Gingham Gala 6" X 6" (15.2 X 15.2 Cm) Designer Series Paper

Tuxedo Black Memento Ink Pad

Petal Pink Stampin' Blends Markers Combo Pack

Calypso Coral Stampin' Blends Markers Combo Pack

Mango Melody Combo Pack Stampin' Blends

Daffodil Delight Stampin' Blends Markers Combo Pack

Granny Apple Green Stampin' Blends Markers Combo Pack

Mossy Meadow Stampin' Blends Combo Pack

Lemon Lime Twist Classic Stampin' Pad

Big Shot

Subtle Dynamic Textured Impressions Embossing Folder

Gingham Gala Adhesive-Backed Sequins

Medium Whisper White Envelopes

Lasting Lily Sneak Peek

This was one of the Sale-a-Bration sets that I thought I wouldn't want or need, until I took a closer look at the sentiments. There are greetings that cover love, friendship, thanks, and sympathy....quite a spectrum. So, I went ahead and chose it for my free SAB item. It wasn't even in the house 24 hours when I needed to make a sympathy card. (Gosh, there have been a lot of those recently.)

I found that when using the DistINKtive stamps, I get a much better image if I ink the stamp using a sponge dauber, rather than pressing the stamp on the ink pad. Because they are so finely detailed, the ink tends to get in the grooves and mess up the details. A light inking with a sponge dauber works quite well for me! For good measure, I huff on the stamp before pressing it on the cardstock.

The soon-to-be-available Rectangle Stitched Framelits were used here, but I shortened both the image and the greeting panels. How, you ask? Easy! After cutting the image and the greeting (with both of them placed close to one side of the Framelit), I popped them out and then moved the Framelit over to cut off the part I didn't want. You can feel when the "teeth" fit into the previously cut stitches, so it lines up perfectly. Feed the cardstock through the Big Shot with the part you want cut off going in first. You only need the make sure the first part goes through (don't crank it all the way through!), then back it out.

Here's another tip: Cut a mask by stamping on a sticky note and trimming just inside the edges of the image. Make sure some of the masked image is showing when you stamp the next layer because the stamp won't reach right up to the mask, leaving a gap as shown between the two larger lilies. I did better when I stamped the smaller lily.

As pretty as this card turned out, I sure hope it's a long time before I need to make another one.

Product List

Whisper White 8-1/2" X 11" Card Stock

Rich Razzleberry 8-1/2" X 11" Card Stock

Rich Razzleberry Classic Stampin' Pad

Mossy Meadow Classic Stampin' Pad

Big Shot

Rectangle Stitched Framelits Dies

Subtle Dynamic Textured Impressions Embossing Folder

Lace Dynamic Textured Impressions Embossing Folder

Mini Stampin' Dimensionals

Sale-A-Bration Sneak Peek!

Safely home from my stamping adventures in Orlando (other than bringing a nasty cold back with me), and I wanted to share a quick sneak peek at a Sale-A-Bration freebie coming in January.Ohhh, this is just such a pretty set! It's called Lovely Lattice, and it's a JOY to color!

There isn't a coordinating die, so I fussy-cut it and popped it up on dimensionals. Some Wink of Stella was added to give the blossoms a subtle shimmer.

There are three other sneak peeks on this card.....can you spot them? The obvious one is the Gingham Gala DSP that's coming in the Occasions catalog. It's a 6" x 6" pack of small and medium gingham print in Daffodil Delight, Balmy Blue, Highland Heather, Lemon Lime Twist, and Grapefruit Grove. Love it!

The other two peeks are the Calypso Coral 3/8" Satin Ribbon, and the Old Olive Linen Thread. Believe me, there are some fabulous things coming in January! Keep checking here, because I'll have some more sneak peeks in the coming days and weeks.

Product List

Whisper White 8-1/2" X 11" Card Stock

Tuxedo Black Memento Ink Pad

Flirty Flamingo Stampin' Blends Markers Combo Pack

Calypso Coral Stampin' Blends Markers Combo Pack

Daffodil Delight Stampin' Blends Markers Combo Pack

Granny Apple Green Stampin' Blends Markers Combo Pack

Old Olive Stampin' Blends Markers Combo Pack

Light Soft Sea Foam Stampin' Blends Marker

Big Shot

Subtle Dynamic Textured Impressions Embossing Folder