Late day....

As some of you know, Brenda's husband had not been well these past months or more.... Well, this past week Harold let go and moved on to his next sdventure in this world, whether up to heaven or watching us closely as an angel.... Or. Move at peace and taking it all in for when others begin to show up. Whatever the plan is, Brenda has been the most respectful and dignified lady I have know - a true southerner through and through ..... Very. Much an woman to look up to for grace under pressure!

I hope she realizes how much we all love her and her shop!
So no card samples to post today but maybe tomorrow if I can get something done....

Till then. Happy Monday a coming!
Happy stamping
D

Special President's Day post..... ;o)

So, since I am off on President's Day, I still consider it to be part of the weekend right now..... and as I mentioned in my last post, there might be a bonus post this weekend.... here it is!
First let me say, I feel a ton better.... Friday was defitinely a turning point.... I was finally able to go to the gym on Saturday afternoon and was lucky (in a way) that hubby had to work so I was forced to take the one more day to rest a bit.... we were supposed to go to the stamp show in Columbia, SC for the day, but since I was sick, he told a co-worker he could help with the project they were trying to get done..... so, with nothing else to do that day, I rested... and by the afternoon, I was itching to get out.... felt much better AND had seen a post from my LSS that they had just gotten in the distress markers.... and was that enough to get me out.... HECK YA!  So, I dressed for the gym and headed to the LSS incognito - even sneaked past my fellow stamp store regulars/co-workers and worked my magic, counting to make sure I had picked them all out!!!!  And yes, they were mine!  While I was there, I got to be part of creating a project with a customer - wow, do they put a lot of faith in me ;o)..... then, since I was dressed for it, I headed to the gym.... yes, me at the gym on a Saturday - let me say, that has NEVER happened before.... but, lucky for me since I needed to get another day in exercise-wise and it was fairly empty at that time..... so, burned some calories just in time for the hubby to say he was getting close to coming home..... the plan.... Sunday to get up early and head to Columbia since the show goes on both days.... wow, this was getting better and better by the moment..... new markers set AND a trip to the stamp show!  Lucky me!  Well, it DID NOT disappoint... as always, Stampers Anonymous was out in force... Ted always knows what I love to see and made me my own piece of art (I am starting a Ted collection).... after 3 trips to his booth, amoung all the others.... we decided 3 hours of walking at the show was enough for us.... packed all my goodies into the car and hit a local hot spot (amoung the peeps of Columbia) - Pawley's Front Porch.... as seen on Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives, this did not disappoint.... salad and half a sandwich later and I felt like I needed to be wheeled out to the car.... then the drive home - uneventful, thank goodness... and then, put away all the goodies.... not able to happen in one evening so I had to continue the project today... but, have all the distress markers put away along with my Copic markers... they were $4.99 each - what a freaking deal..... had to complete some of my color families with a deal like that...... although, now that I have so many, I may need more storage space.... a revamp of the craft room may be in the near future!  I need to sort, clean and sell..... anyone interested in anything in particular, let me know... chances are - I have it!
OK, enough of my rambling..... here is the real post for today!  Wedding Card!!!!

One of the booths I spent some time and money at was the Heartfelt Creations booth.... Now, while I love their images, I am not yet sure what my opinion is of it all..... I will say, that the image used for this card, Wedding Bell, was extremely hard to stamp, and I ended up using my Sakura Micron to trace over the outlines of many pieces since stamping over and over was getting frustrating.... I even got a new ink pad, stamped on hard surface, then stamped on stamping pad... nothing helped.... ok, enough moaning and groaning.....  stamped with Tuxedo Black from Memento (my fav) several times, colored with Copic Markers (some of my new ones), fussy cut them and glued them with some curl to them..... the final piece was cut with a framelit die from Stampin Up, the red cardstock was cut with the next larger die and they were added to the gray/white pattern paper with foam tape.... red and white pearls placed all around for accent.....

Well, I better get myself ready for bed and work tomorrow... and we are going to a charity dinner with the Checkers.... cocktail attire!  I am super excited to be able to get dressed up... maybe a picture might make its way to the blog.... MAYBE..... oh, and one last bit of news.... some of you know that with my hip surgeries the last few years, I have gained a bit of weight and was finally cleared to get back into shape.... well, it is going quite well and the dress that I am wearing tomorrow still had the tags on it, and they are a 4P.... needless to say, the dress is loose and that is probably the only way I can fit into it, but still, coming from wearing 16 jeans earlier this year, that is a huge thing for me!  And the jeans I purchased at the beginning of my weight loss adventure as "incentive jeans" in a size 8 were able to be put on today with no trouble!  Now, that is the exciting part....jeans that fit????? seriously?????  I am over the moon happy about that!  Well, it is the gym in the morning calling my name, that causes me to need to get off this computer.... until next time....

happy stamping!
D

MIA - don't you hate being sick????

I have been down for about a week with an upper respiratory infection..... from the woman who sits next to me at the office is my guess..... why would you come into the office with a hacking cough and sneezing up a storm??????????  and to continue for weeks???????  I just don't understand.... and now, I am still suffering.... although, I have to say, not nearly as bad as yesterday - which seemed to have been the absolute worst day ever for me.... I was close to tears, and those of you who know me, know that it takes quite a bit to bring my eyes to watery..... But, this morning, I had a burst of creativity..... and lucky for me, because I was looking head on to a deadline for the new releases at Tiffany Doodles.... let's see what I can show you to tempt you....

OK, so interest peaked?????  I certainly hope so.... stay tuned for more peaks on the Tiffany Doodle blog..... you will love what you see, I know I do!

so, for the rest of today, I think I will try and get a little physical activity and explore a little more creativity in my craft space... no promises... but there may be another post today or tomorrow!

until then, happy stamping!
Dani

Tasty Valentine....

When Matt takes me to stamp shows, he always picks out a booth that I might normally head towards and we get one item from them to try out..... Last year, during this very senario, I got an adorable rubber stamp that was a smore snowman-ish looking thing.... wait, you will see it in a sec..... funny in that we always say "i love you", and "i love you more"..... in looking at this image, I instantly had a thought.... however, our thoughts don't always transform into action at the time we hope..... but, better late than never, right......

Here is my I love you SMORE valentine to my darling hubby.....

The image is stamped on PTI white cardstock with Memento Tuxedo Black ink.  The sentiment, from the new Hero Arts digital set, was printed on the same piece of cardstock, however, I added the "I" and "SMORE" strategically to the image...... the fun smore-man was colored with Copic Markers, layered on Chocolate Chip cardstock which then was popped up on Soft Suede cardstock.... a layer of burlap is tucked under the botton half and stitched along the sides of the card base..... red hearts punched out of paper are coming out of the "u" and the brown button is tied with twine..... fairly simple, but I think he will love it!

Thanks for taking a look..... hope you like....
happy stamping!
Dani

Happy Monday - quick post

So I was super busy this weekend and got no stamping in, but did get to help celebrate a very important event with a very important person.... She is the bright light at the end of a tunnel, the most supportive and kind person, always doing more and more to help others... She is truly an inspiration and lucky for me, she is my close, dear friend.....

Also, I was super busy trying to keep up with all the posts and tweets coming out of CHA! I only wish I were there to see and play with all the new stuff coming out! And hubby said that we should plan to attend next year! So, if anyone wants to plan a big trip to CA in January.... Let me know!

With hubby headed out of town in the morning, I will hopefully have some stamping time in the evenings to get some submissions done for PaperCraftsMag... Due on the 6th.... Just days away, believe it or not!

Well, off to sleep I go... The gym is calling early in the morning....
Happy Stamping!
D

A double dose of stamping!

Since it has been over a week since my last post, I thought I would show 2 cards today!

I have been really in love with Memory Box, but when I had the chance to take one of Dave's classes.... it was all over!!!  Now, I can't get enough of them..... I love them so much and the steel dies that they are manufacturing are out of this world!  So for this post, I am pulling out some of my older stamps.... ones I purchased a while back but had yet to get inky..... why is it that we continue to "need" more stamps, but the poor things don't see ink???????  I am trying this year to make an effort to use all my stamps, or put them in a box and take to the used stamped sale.... it is now or never!

Ok, enough of that.... this first card is one that I was surprised at how much I liked it.... Not usually my kind of thing, I wanted to try stamping on acetate and coloring with Copic markers on the back.... I took the Inspire Butterfly Collage stamp.... I stamped it twice... once on acetate with Stazon Jet Black ink - be careful that you have a steady hand as the ink/stamp will tend to slip on the acetate..... and once on PTI white with Memento Tuxedo Black ink..... After letting the acetate image dry, I cut it out with scissors and then used my Copic markers to color on the back of the acetate (not the side with the inked image)...... I computer generated the words "you" and "me" so that the card sentiment reads You Inspire Me..... I glued the acetate butterfly on with glossy accents just right behind the body part.  The PTI image was matted with black cardstock and the edges were distressed with Tumbled Glass distress ink from Ranger..... I cut a background layer from Basic Grey Out of Print 6x6 paper pad, tied a twill ribbon, and added the bling - they were ivory self adhesive pearls from Want2Scrap and I colored them with my BG05 Copic Marker to change them to the blues I had been working with..... a couple more pearls placed around the image, and it is ready to go!

card recipe:

Paper: PTI Black, White, Basic Grey Out of Print 6x6 paper pack, Acetate from office supply store

Stamp: Memory Box Inspire Butterfly Collage G1352

Ink: Memento Tuxedo Black, Stazon Jet Black, Copic Markers – B05, BG05, BG09, BG15, Tumbled Glass Distress Ink

Embellishments:  Black Twill Ribbon from stash, Want2Scrap self adhesive pearls – colored with BG05

Computer generated text “you” and “me”

And for card #2 today.... we have a very similar image - the Adore Peony Collage stamp by Memory Box.  This time, I stamped the image twice with Memento Tuxedo Black on PTI white cardstock..... I cropped the image close, and took my Y13 Copic marker to make a yellow border around the edge..... matted that to orange and then to black.... the second stamped image was colored with Copic markers and then detail cut with scissors.... the flower pieces and leaves were glued to the main image panel..... the background paper is also Memory Box 6x6 Pixie paper stack....  keeping them similar, I used black twill ribbon again on this one.....

card recipe:

Paper: PTI Black and White, Memory Box Pixie 6x6 paper pad, orange paper from stash

Stamp: Memory Box Adore Peony Collage G1433

Ink: Memento Tuxedo Black, Copic Markers – G21, G24, G28, RV21, RV23, RV25, Y13

Embellishments: black twill ribbon from stash

And, finally, I wanted to thank everyone who participated in the Tiffany Doodles blog hop!  All the comments were amazing to read and I hope you were all inspired to try something new.....

I suppose, I must now say, Let the week begin.... even though I want the weekend to last a little longer..... I must admit, while I love working at my LSS, yesterday wore me out and I didn't really feel like doing anything today... but, I am proud of myself for getting off the couch and creating 2 cards.... got to keep the creativity flowing, right????  And, yesterday was a blast - what is better than doing what you love all day????  I even had a fabulous new customer at the end of the day, and just the rush of putting together a new project is totally worth it!  While I love the regulars who really just know what they want/need.... it is so much fun to see the lightbulb that illuminates when someone "sees" what you are trying to show them.... I think that is probably why teachers do what they do... it is so rewarding!
Ok, enough of that.... time to get myself prepped for the week ahead!  I hope it is a great one for all of you... and try to get some stamping in... I know I will try....

Happy Stamping!
D

It is BLOG HOP time!!!!!

Thank you for joining us at Tiffany Doodles for our first blog hop of 2012! We're so glad you're here! It's ALSO the second anniversary of Tiffany Doodles! 

You're going to find lots of inspiration along the way, from several talented ladies. Be sure to leave each of them a comment by Sunday the 15th for your chance to win something of your choice! That's 19 chances to win! All winners will be announced on the Tiffany Doodles blog Wednesday January 18th.

If you've arrived from Ruby you're in the right place! If this is your first stop, please go back to Jessica's blog so you don't miss anything! 

For my blog hop card, I chose the adorable Ducky image….. isn’t he super cute????  I decided that I would try a new technique (for me) – make a window card and have him “floating” in the window…. I used a Spellbinders Nestabilities Die to cut out the window, attached acetate on the inside and covered with another layer that also had the window cut from it…. that was a little tricky, and next time, I would likely try and run them through the die cut machine at the same time (both layers that is) so that I could ensure the window turns out exactly where I would like it…. I did pretty good, but I would normally have tried to center them both a little better.

So, I started with my base cardstock in Buttercup from Amuse.  With the paper cut in half, the perfect A2 card is created.  You can alter the “opening” of your card by which direction you cut your 8 ½ x 11 paper.  I cut length wise, and scored at 5.5 – creating a top fold card that is portrait. I cut the Amuse Gingham printed paper in Buttercup to make the top layer.  The Ducky image was printed several times on white cardstock from PTI – my go-to white paper these days.  I used copic markers to outline color the duck… I really didn’t want to mess with too much color, so the outlining hints at color – sometimes my favorite way to highlight or hint….. I detail cut the image out twice – allowing for additional paper at the bottom where it would tuck into the backing of the card front.  Pretty much sandwich him in between the paper, acetate and second “backed” image….. is that clear as mud or what????  I stamped the sentiment from Hero Arts on the top and bottom surrounding the window…. Thought it needed an extra touch of some kind…. So out came my buttons and twine….

I hope you're feeling inspired! Before you hop over to JoAnn’s blog, remember to leave a comment for your chance to win! You have 3 days to comment on the postings.  Tiffany is giving away the entire January release and all you have to do is 1) to create a card using a Tiffany Doodles image  2) blog about it and link to our hop  3)  add their link to INLINKZ on the Tiffany Doodles post.  Winner will be posted on Wednesday, January 18^th……

Thanks for hopping along with us; we look forward to seeing your creations!