Inspired by Punch Art ~ Snow day Fun with Breakfast

I don't usually show things that arent stamping related... As I think of it, EVERYTHING can be stamping/creativity related if you try hard enough..

Had I not made a bunch of punch art animals, I might not be so creative with pancakes. My hubby is working from home today (i love having him here), so I made a special treat for him and Alexis. What do you think of my punchy pancakes??

DCBD 112 ~ A Color Challenge

When I see this color combination, I just think Birthday!!!

I have sort of a double challenge in mind here. I am a proud member of the late night stampers design team and this week's challenge is to make some tags.

Tags do not have to be something that's very elaborite, and you can still make something look really nice with not a lot of supplies or effort! So, lets talk about the card with the tag first... I cut some designer series paper down to 4.5" x 3.25" and ran it through my sizzix machine with the new texture z plates. When it came out, I had a gorgeous dry embossed piece to adhere to my pink passion cardstock. Before I did that, I thought that sanding the surface a bit with a sanding block would really make the pattern pop out better, and I am very happy with the result. The rest is all pretty straight forward. I used straight markers to color the image and added some baja ink with a blender pen.

I'm starting to feel like I'm getting back into the swing with my blog. I took a bit of time off to tackle some personal things, and I'm very happy I did! My plan is to start posting daily again, so please check back often!

The second part of this, is an actual tag. I made the base again out of shimmer white cardstock and it is 3.5" x 2.5". it's plenty big for the front of a package, but it is so pretty on it's own! I'm planning a birthday stamp a stack in february and i'm thinking that i should use these colors, or similar colors for one of the projects. I'm very happy with the results here.

Have a great week and please check out the other designer's work here.

Chris Austin
Connie Babbert
Dannie Graves
Dee Tollaksen
Heidi Michel (Mrs Diva)
Jennifer Van Wart
Julie Semones
Kristen Moore
Lisa Freeman
Selene Kempton
Vivian Swain

Card From My Open House this Weekend and RAFFLE WINNERS!!!!

I'm sort of catching up on posts... I had the cards to post, I guess I'm just a post SLACKER!!! This was inspired by Stamp with Jodi. I changed the card to use it with my new hostess stamp set from Stampin' Up!

We had such a good time playing with all my favorite tools from the new catalog. I'm not sure if you can see the texture on this background. It's so pretty in real life!

Now, without further delay... If you're waiting to see if you won a prize, here's the list!!!

Here is the winner list and what they won!!

Very Punny ~ Cheryl B.
Love and Joy ~ Christine M.
Live like you mean it ~ Diane T.
Country living note card kit and Stamp Kit ~ Leigh Ann P.
Happy Harmony ~ Amy T.
Fall Flair ~ Nicole M.
Party Punch ~ Judy M.
Tags on board ~ Karyn I.
Delight in life ~ Deb T.
Delight in life ~ Kim M.
Delight in life ~ Michelle J.
Delight in life ~ Jenn B.

Happy Heart Day

With so many new things in the catalog, it's easy to lose sight of what you already have sitting lonely on the shelf. I found this great little guy in my retired stamp set pile. I was excited to figure out that I had inadvertently put it in the wrong pile and it actually is in the new catalog! How fun! I pulled out my new circle cutter from Stampin' Up, and cut the big pink circle on the left hand side of this card.

Then i ran two layers through the sizzix machine with my new texture z dies that dry emboss in SECONDS!!!

To make the scallop border around the circle, i punched a 1 3/8" circle out of some scrap paper, then punched a scallop circle punch out of that scrap paper. it leaves me with a scallop that has a hole in the middle. i snipped the sides of the scallops to be able to "work" the paper and attached my new scallop edge to my large circle. It took two scallop circles with holes to complete the entire large circle edge.

Next, I stamped my mouse image on some designer series paper and cut out JUST the heart. I punched a flower with my 3 hole punch and removed a stone from it's casing using some paper snips. I used crystal effects to attach that stone, and thought that the heart would be fun if it was shiny. So, I ended up using crystal effects for the whole heart. There is a bunch of texture and fun with this card! I hope you like it! Thanks for visiting today.

Rubber Hugs,
Selene~

Bloggers Challenge # 83, Red, Kiwi, Black White

It has been a WHOLE week since I've stamped. That NEVER happens to me! I've been fighting some fires on the home front and things have finally slowed down, thank goodness.

It was such a joy to open the box with my new texture plates for the sizzix and my new Sympathy stamp set, Thoughts and Prayers.

This color challenge comes at a great time for me. A close friend just lost her dad and I want to send a card to her mom just because. I don't think I would have used black with this stamp set, and I'm so happy I did.

The new texture Z from sizzix is featuring the stampin up artwork for a dry embossed image that takes seconds. I cant wait to show my new toys on Sunday at the open house.

If you have time, please also check out the amazing work of my stampin sisters, the bloggers challenge group to see what they came up with for this challenge.

Have a good night!

Selene~

Bloggers Challenge #82 ~ Same but different

I'm so sorry for this late post, but I had a CRAZY week after being in Orlando last week. I had back to back clubs on wed and Thursday, a potential new team member (stampin sistah) this morning and tomorrow I have a workshop. I have been so crazy! This week's bloggers challenge is to do two projects the same but different. I did two very similar layout's for my Technique junkies club last night, but the cards are VERY different!

Thanks for looking!

DCBD 110 ~ A Card For Paul

Last week I travelled to Stampin' Up's leadership conference and while I was there, my brother Paul (whom I haven't seen in 6 years) met me there for dinner on Wednesday night. He joined me and 7 of my stampin girlfriends for dinner! He was happy I think, but not as happy as all of us to have my wonderfully funny and entertaining Brother, making us laugh all night.

I have been meaning to make him a card since I got home. I did go slightly outside the challenge colors because I wanted the card to match his real red truck. He wasn't even sure what we do (as most of my family doesn't really know what I do, but made the best of 8 of us TOGETHER all talking shop! I'm going to send this out today, to let him know how much I appreciate him driving down to meet us... I think I will probably add crystal effects to the truck to make it shiny before I send it.

I was really happy to see my favorite big brother (he's my only big brother ~ get it ~ elbow elbow). ;-) Back to work!

Selene

Color Challenge #37 ~ Good Friend

It's quite hysterical, that I'm lacking sleep, and while my family is taking a nap this afternoon, I couldn't resist stamping with my new stamp set! This "good friend" stamp set (which will be in the new catalog) was given to us at leadership conference and I needed to use it! So, I checked out Kristina Werner's color challenge to see if there was any fun colors to play with!

My favorite part of this card was coming up with some faux feathers. I didn't have time to let the glue to dry before photographing, but it will be clear later on, so I might swap the photo later. I used tombo multipurpose adhesive and the chunky white/clear glitter from SU!

I removed a brad from it's casing for the eye, and attached it with a glue dot. A bit of ribbon for this little guy to build his nest and the card was complete. A simple card that didn't take long, but I had fun using my new rubbah!

Selene~

Bloggers Challenge ~ Designer Series Paper Challenge

I'm still making swaps... Well, by now I'm swapping my swaps!

This beautiful card is mainly about the raspberry tart designer series paper. Out of all the cards I made for swapping, I'm most proud of this one. It's not that it took more time. It just does "it" for me. :)

First, I embossed the sentiment on whisper white paper, and embossed the ice cream on designer series paper. Letting the swirl pattern show through. Then, i laid crystal effects on the glass and let that dry. I used a 2 way glue pen to adhere that to the white scallop and layered a rose red scallop behind it. The background of my card... Maybe you can see the hearts? Well that's the new trio punch that will be available from your demonstrator on January 19th. I just used glue dots to adhere the hearts on. I just used a pair of snips to cut the excess of the sides.

This card is so much fun and was fun to make. It didn't take that long to make 12 of them... So it's cute AND it didn't take forever to make! A keeper for sure! :) Thanks for checking this out. Please also check out the fantastic work of the other bloggers who take the weekly challenge! I think you'll agree their work is top notch!

Another Swap card!

I'm in a "wow" swap, and I hope that this fits the bill. This is the new jackpot designer series paper and buzzing by stamp set, not yet available. It will be available through your demonstrator on January 19th! Isnt this set adorable??

I stamped the bees in chocolate chip ink and masked the bee flying in front. Then i stamped the hive over it. I colored the image with a waterbrush and markers.. Barely Banana, apricot, Mustard and Real Red.

The background is the Belle Toille background stamp with Mustard Ink on Mustard paper. I added dazzling diamonds with a 2-way glue pen to the bees. I hope my swapping friends like this card!

Selene

DCBD 109 ~ A pretty cool sketch challenge

My dance card is full this week with going to leadership and I'm in 3 swaps which I had to design 4 cards. This card will be used for one of the first swaps, tomorrow afternoon. Thanks for the inspiration Heidi! I love the sketch and had fun with this one.

This card is basic grey and certainly celery. I stamped the background image in versamark to make the lower half of the card and stamped the sentiment right on top, omitting the oval, but it's there in your imagination, right??

I added paper from the "love story" simply scrappin kit which is NOT retiring (woo hoo) and stamped the main image with basic grey ink on shimmer white cardstock. This is a really pretty combination and I hope you enjoy. I'm early this week because i'm off to Orlando in the AM, please check out what the other diva's are up to tomorrow. here are the links to their blogs.

Stay tuned, i'll be posting my other swap cards while I'm away! Have a great rest of the week!

Selene

Chris Austin
Connie Babbert
Dannie Graves
Dee Tollaksen
Heidi Michel (Mrs Diva)
Jennifer Van Wart
Julie Semones
Kristen Moore
Lisa Freeman
Vivian Swain

Totally Fun!

This week's mojo Monday sketch from Julee, comes from her brand new blog! Way to go on creating a blog just for Mojo Monday. I really enjoyed this sketch and noticed a striking resemblance to some new Designer series paper I got. So I went with the colors on the sketch too!

It's much more sparkly in real life. I added dazzling diamonds to every edge of the black paper, and to the top of the black brads, it's really quite beautiful with all the sparkle. The main rose image is stamped on shimmer white. I really love this sketch! I had so much fun, and I really wouldn't have put these two prints together if it wasnt for your sketch... Awesome.

Amy's first "solo" card!

I had an unscheduled open stamp night here last night. I had a new person in attendance Amy T. Amy went to a class in New Jersey with her mom and recieved a whole bunch of stamping goodies for Christmas.

I showed her how to cut the paper and she was off! She made this card in just a few minutes and started working on several others! Isn't it cute?? Hopefully Amy will join us again, it was fun!

Bloggers Challenge #80 ~ Color challenge Baja, Chocolate, Red

I've been dragging my feet getting going with stamping after the holidays, but once I got going with this one, I had FUN!

It sort of turned out like a masculine valentine's card. I started with Murfield Designer Series Paper. It's so pretty. I used the solid Baja patterns and just put them up against one another. Also, I've been eyeballing the Poetic Artistry blog all week with this fabulous sketch #67 that Julee, put up Monday for her weekly Mojo Monday challenge. Click here to play along!

I decided not to shade or color the birds at all.... Somehow it looks masculine and clean that way. I really had a blast putting this quick and easy card together! Great sketch and color combo.

Please check out my girlfriends work with the bloggers challenge group. I cant wait to see what they came up with for this rich color combo!

Happy New Year ~ A project for my mom

Happy New Year to Everyone! I had so much fun making this latest project. My mom gave me a package of photos that my daughter Alexis and her took of one another. Alexis was three at the time and is a pretty good photographer already! This album is also a 2009 calendar. My mom's birthday is Saturday, and I plan on picking her up for lunch and giving her the book while we're out. I think she's going to love it. There is also one photo below that I wanted to show. In order to seal the innermost page, I used a two way glue pen, let it dry, so now, the inside red piece is removable and resealable!
To see larger versions of each of the pages below, just click on the small photo and you'll be able to view a larger version.
Happy New Year and I wish you all a safe, happy and healthy 2009!
Selene~