A DIFFERENT TYPE OF STAMPING - BUT WAY COOL!

Hi all!! I have been merrily stamping away but I can't share anything yet since the classes are today and tomorrow and I like it to be a surprise for my customers :-) BUT, I do have some really fun stamping pictures to show you - a little bit different than what we normally do, but pretty cool!!! We are having our patio put in and we decided we wanted stamped concrete so I thought I would share some of the pics!  This first one is the fresh concrete after it has been smoothed and the lines put in - amazing to watch! They have these cool little knee skates that they skate all over with and they were having fun....I wanted some for me, lol!! 

 The next one show them putting down the stamping powder - kind of like embossing powder since it is what makes the image of the stamps visible. Although they use a lot more and it is a HUGE mess of powder!!  And, it does not come in cute little jars but huge 5 gallon drums, heehee!!!  I had to shut the door quickly because there were huge clouds of powder dust in the air and I did not want them coating my entire house - I just got it all clean *wink*

So, this third pic shows them laying down the giant stamps that create the textured impressions in the wet concrete - I am amazed at how big these stamps are and how each one is different but they all somehow work together to make one beautiful patio!  And, then they use this huge stamping tool to add pressure to the actual stamp plates and get a nice crisp "image" in the concrete. I have GOT to get me one of these, LOL!!!!

This last picture gives you an idea of the stamped images left behind - it really is cool to see IRL.  It is not dry and they still need to "cure" and stain it, but I just thought this was so stinkin' cool that I just had to share.  I hope you all have a fabulous weekend - I will be back with some fun stamping projects tomorrow so until then - HAPPY STAMPING!!!!

FRIENDS NEVER FADE....PREVIEW ALERT!!

Hi all!!! Oooh, I have a fun card to share with you today - it features some of the new sneaky peek items from the new catty - YUMMY! I made this card for the sketch challenge this week over at Stampin' Connection! My fabulous fellow DT gal Liz is the sketch artist this week and it is FABULOUS!!! So, if you are a demo, get on over there and check it out!!!  So, now back to the card, LOL!!! Lots of fun new products on this one! I used a new stamp set called Friends Never Fade and I LOVE LOVE LOVE it!! Lots of great images in this set and I adore the sentiment! And, doesn't it pair up nicely with the yummy new patterned paper called Greenhouse Gala??!! Ummm....yeah :-)  But, that's not all folks - check out the embossing on the Old Olive card stock......yep, that is a brand spankin' new embossing folder called Vintage Wallpaper!  I love how it looks and think it will be a definite favorite for sure, heehee!! I also sparkled it up by spraying some Vanilla Smooch on there but it is hard to see here.  I made this card for a friend of mine that is very dear to me and has been wonderful to lean on the last few weeks so I wanted lots of pretty details.  I added some stitching around the main images - I just love stitching on my cards! And, I used the scallop border punch on the patterned paper and then added several silver brads to accent the card. Finally, no card is complete without some ribbon so I got out my chocolate chip wide satin ribbon and just love how warm it makes this card!! I really hope she likes it - she is not a computer gal so I am okay with posting this, lol!! She should get it tomorrow in the mail and I really hope it makes her smile! So, there you have it - lots of fun new previews from the new catty that goes live on July 1st! And, don't forget:  you still have time to order some of your favorites from the current catty before they all go byebye on the 30th of this month!! If you need to place an order, you can shop online at my store here or send me an email!  And, if you need a new catty, email me so that I can get one out to you!! Now, off to prep for my class later on and to do some stamping! Thanks so much for stopping by, I love when you do!! Pop in tomorrow - I have something really fun to share!!! Bye for now!!
Card Recipe:
Paper - Chocolate Chip, Old Olive, Baja Breeze card stock, Greenhouse Gala Designer Series paper
Inks - Chocolate Chip and Old Olive classic inks
Stamps - Friends Never Fade
Accessories - Vintage brads, Mat Pack and paper piercer, Chocolate Chip stampikn' write marker, playground button, twine, Chocolate Chip wide satin ribbon, Vintage Wallpaper embossing folder, Vanilla Smooch Spritz, Circles 2 Big Shot Die

SCRAPBOOK WALL ART

Good morning all!!! Sorry, I meant to share this with you yesterday but I was feeling pretty bad as it seems I have yet another sinus infection...uggghh.......I think living in CA is going to kill me, LOL!!!!  But, better late than never, right??  This is the canvas that we made in my canvas class last week - I have to say, this is one of my most popular classes and one of my favorite to teach!! I just love that when we are done, everyone has something they can hang up on their wall and enjoy!  I have several of these on my walls in my home and I still smile when I walk by them and often stop and look at them all over again since they always remind me of fun family moments!  Each person gets to pick their own colors from several neutral ones that I have availalble so although the layout is the same, they all turn out looking quite different!  For my class sample, I chose to use pics of Tyler from our houseboat vacation last summer - something about these pictures really gets to me.  I just love them!! We also used To the Nines designer series paper as it has wonderful base colors to choose from.  The letters are from the alphabet stamp set called Lovely Letters and they really are! And, we stamped them on tags we punched out using both the large and small tag punches - love them!  We also used the stamp set called a Sense of Time; the clock was stamped in Versamark then embossed with gold embossing powder and cut out.

 Here is a closer view so you can see how pretty the embossing looks - it has such a great shine to it and the details of the stamp really stand out!  And, we added some of the cogs from our new cogs punch which can be found in the Summer Mini; such a fun punch!  The chocolate chip wide satin ribbon is soooo yummy and looks really good with these colors and then we accented them with some Old Olive Taffetta ribbon as well. This is where the sentiment is also attached.

The sentiment was actually handwritten on some card stock that was punched out using the designer label punch and mounted using one of the pretty pieces from the Very Vanilla Hodgepodge Hardware - here is a closeup so you can see it a little better!  This is a super fun project and is a WOW everytime!  I am actually teaching this class again this Friday night so if anyone from the local area is interested, I do have three seats still available and would love to have you join us!! Just contact me via email or phone and I will get you all set up!  So, now I am off to run some errands, have lunch with a friend, and then back home to prep for Club and classes later on this week! I hope you all have a fabulous day and thanks soooo much for stopping by, I love that you do!

FATHER'S DAY CARDS

Hi all!! I know I have been a really bad blogger - life has been a little rough lately and I have let things get in the way of what I enjoy doing so I needed to take a step back and remember what is important.  Without getting too personal, there are people in my life that are not very kind and usually I can let it roll off but I have had a harder time of that lately and since in-laws are a necessary evil, I have to learn to live with it.  So, I am resuming my routine of posting and blurfing and teaching and having fun with my stamps!  This weekend I had a canvas class and I will share those with you tomorrow - I have to say, they turned out really nice! I also had a workshop on Saturday and then spent the day yesterday with my husband which was really nice!  I wanted to share some of the dad's day cards I did for a class a couple of weeks ago - the first one is the one I actually gave to Tony and he loved it!  We did five different ones and these are two of them! For the first one, we used the King of the Grill set from the Summer Mini - I think I like this stamp set because it sort of reminds me of the Voila chef from the main catty (which is retiring, *sniff*) I just think he is super fun and he makes me smile!  The patterned paper is Nouveau Chic, one of my faves that I am sad to see go.  I think this particular pattern looks like charcoal and smoke so it went perfectly, lol!!  No ribbon since it is a guy card (so hard to leave off) but we did add some of the jumbo silver brads that look soooo good on every project! Fun card to make!

This second card uses the Totally Tool stamp set - perfect for any guy card you want to make! The background is embossed with the fabulous Square Lattice folder in the Summer Mini - love this folder!  We stamped the sentiment from the Teeny Tiny Wishes stamp set on the Twill tape and then threaded it through two jumbo eyelets. The colors are Chocolate Chip and the retiring Close to Cocoa, love them together! I have not used them in soooo long and remember how much I love them so I think you will be seeing some more of these in my future projects *wink*  The center image is actually from the Always Stamp set and make a perfect "A" when spelling dad!  We all had a great time making these cards and the gals were quite happy with them when they were all done.  We mixed and matched colors so not everyone had the same cards and I have to say, they got quite creative when putting theirs together!!  Tomorrow I will be back to share the canvas we made and the sketch card for the SC sketch that was posted today!  Now, I am off to blurf some and then get ready for my downline meeting tomorrow night - lots of fun stamping on my agenda today!!  Thanks for stopping by and leaving me some love, I love YOU for it!!
Card One Recipe:
Paper - Mellow Moss, Going Gray, Ivory card stock, Nouveau Chic Designer Series Paper
Inks - Black Stazon, Mellow Moss and Going Gray stampin' write markers
Stamps - King of the Grill
Accessories - 3/4 inch and 1 inch circle punches, scallop border punch,. word window punch, modern label punch, jumbo silver brads
Card Two Recipe:
Paper - Chocolate Chip, Close to Cocoa, Ivory card stock
Inks - Chocolate Chip class ink
Stamps - Always, Totally Tool, Teen Tiny Wishes
Accessories - Twill Tape, Jumbo Eyelets, 1 3/4 inch 1 3/8 inch and 1 1/4 inch circle punches, Square Lattice embossing folder

BUTTERFLIES - MONDAY STAMPIN CONNECTION SKETCH CHALLENGE

Good morning all!! Well, Kayla and I arrived back home at midnight last night so today is full of unpacking, laundry, and catching up on mail and bills.....*sigh* back to reality!!! But, I need to share this week's sketch challenge over at Stampin' Connection first because it is my week to post the sketch!! I decided I wanted to use my buttefly embosslits today - I just love them!! And, since Cottage Wall is some of my favorite paper and is retiring at the end of the month, I pulled out my last few scraps and set to work! It came together fairly quickly since I used a lot of Big Shot items.  And, the beautiful Elements of Style stamp set from the Summer Mini - I love how the flowers make every project pop!!  If you want to play along with the challenge this week, here is the sketch:

It is fairly simple and leaves a lot of room for your own interpretation! If you are a demonstrator, please upload your sample to the Stampin' Connection using the Keyword SCCSC21.  If you are not, but want to play along, leave a link in your comments to me so I can come and take a peek - i would love to see what you do with it!! Now, I am off to do the laundry, finish unpacking, and all the other various tasks that need to be tended to, LOL!!  I hope you are all having a fabulous start to your week! Thanks so much for stopping by, and please leave a comment so I can read them - I just love them all!!!

Card Recipe:

Paper - Kraft, Palu Plum, Old Olive card stock, Cottage Wall Designer Series Paper
Inks - Rich Razzleberry classic ink
Stamps - Elements of Style
Accessories - Butteflies embosslit, Finial Press embossing folder, Scallop Frame Oval Big Shot Die, Large Oval Punch, twine

I AM ON VACATION - WHOOOHOOO!

Hi All! Kayla and I are leaving today to fly down to see my mom and sister in Anaheim and then we are all going to head to San Diego to do some fun things there like Sea World and all kinds of other amazing agenda items :-)  I was going to try and get some posts set up but I taught a class last night, was up late packing, and decided that I needed to remember that sometimes I have to take that superwoman cape off and just be me, LOL!  Soooo, I am going to do NOTHING but relax, enjoy my daughter, time with mom and sis, and will be rejuvenated and ready to go when I get back next week!! I will be checking you all out as I cannot miss my blurfing but I won't have anything new to share (well, maybe some vacay pics, *wink*) until I am back!! Enjoy your week, thanks for stopping by!!!

*STAMPIN HUGS* Alex

GOING, GOING.......

almost gone!!! Here it is, the last month of the current catty, and well, it is time to say goodbye to some faves so we can welcome in the new crew next month, lol!!! I had a workshop last night where I showcased some of my favorites that are destined for retirement (mine have earned it, sure used the heck out of 'em!) so I thought I would share them with you today!!! I know I have been a bad blogger lately - bad sinus infection, husband out of town, and kids finishing up school will do that to a gal!! So, now that things have settled down (a little) I hope to be back to being consistent about posting!!  So, on to the cards!! The first card features some of my all-time favorite items including the stamp set True Friend, just love it! Such a great set with so many possibilities!  I paired it with the Bella Bleu Designer Series paper which is soooo beautiful....and of course I just had to accent this with Kraft card stock and taffeta ribbon.....yummy!!! I love that ribbon, sooooo pretty!! I also used the Boho Blossoms Punch, another fave that I will truly miss! Don't those little flowers look fabulous with the Brocade Blue brads??? This was a fun card to make, I enjoyed using some of my faves together on this project!

This next card features the super cute set called Love Owlways - I just love owls and the ones in this set are super adorable! I had one of my customers laughing at me when I told her that my little winking owl is one sexy bird, LOL!!!  Come on Andrea, you just know he is *wink*  I also used the little background stamps from the Sprinkles set - I love this one, and pull it out quite often so it will be missed in my stamp room!  I did use my new Square Lattice embossing folder - the gals loved the Big Shot demonstration and how this particular folder actually changes the texture of the paper to a cloth feel - LOVE it!! The arrows on this card are also from a retiring arrow punch, lots of fun ways to use arrows and this punch has three different sizes so lots of options there as well! And, of course the super fun Pink Flamingo Designer Series paper - such great paper for those bright summery projects! I had such fun stamping with this group of gals - although two of them were new to me, they are all seasoned papercrafters and they loved these projects - we had a great time laughing, stamping, and sighing about our faves that are leaving!  But, I also gave them a sneaky peek at the new catty, so they are all looking forward to the new ones coming as well!! If you are interested in booking a workshop with me, email me and we will get you all set up! I would love to come and stamp with you and your friends :-)  Need to place an order?  Go online to my website and shop away, the store is open 24 hours! Now, I am off to finish prepping for my techniques class but first, I am treating myself to another cup of coffee and some serious blurfing - gotta catch up with all you talented gals!!! I hope you have a fabulous day, and thanks so much for stopping by, you make my day with your sweet, sweet comments!
Card Recipe (True Friend):
Paper - Brocade Blue, Kraft, Very Vannilla card stock, Bella Bleu Designer Series Paper
Inks - Brocade Blue classic inks
Stamps - True Friend
Accessories - Ticket Corner Punch, Circle Scallop Punch, Kraft Taffeta ribbon, Kraft Corduroy brads, Boho Blossoms Punch, Brocade Blue brads, Stampin' Dimensionals
Card Recipe (Love Owlways)
Paper - Cameo Coral, Ruby Red, Whisper White card stock, Pink Flamingo Designer Series paper
Inks - Cameo Coral, Ruby Red classic inks
Stamps - Love Owlways, Sprinkles
Accessories - Whisper White Taffeta ribbon, 1 3/8 inch, 1 1/4 inch, and 1 inch circle punches, Circle Scallop Punch, Scalloped border punch, Square Lattice embossing folder, Stampin' Dimensionals