More Happy Halloween Mail!

I went to my mailbox after a busy morning of "no stamping" and had two beautiful cards waiting for me!  Isn't it exciting to get mail that isn't a bill or junk?!  This one is from my super bloggin' friend Wendy:

The background has been CB'd with a cute Halloween folder; the ribbon & DP are a great shade of Vintage Violet, and little Reilly is just so adorable sittin' on that broomstick.  Even the little bats have sparkly eyes.....so cute!  Thanks, Wendy.  Please go visit her blog.....you can see it here.  She made the CUTEST s'mores kits yesterday.  She has so many creative ideas, I love visiting!

And this one is from a relatively new blog friend, Pam:

I admired this card on her blog, Stamping with Serendipity, so she made one for me!!! Wasn't that sweet of her?!  Her stitching is PERFECT.  And I just love this rich cardstock!  She has an awesome blog, too, so be sure to visit her and give her some feedback!  I can just tell she has a wonderful, giving personality!  Thanks Pam!!!  Both of these cards have fun insides, too, but I forgot to photo them :( !!!

My dad is visiting me for the weekend, so we have family obligations and lots of other activities going on, so I am not sure how much stampin' I'll be doing!   Right now he is watching the Phillies parade....I am certainly glad I am not in Philadelphia!!!  If I stick my head out the window, I can almost hear the roar of the crowds!  Have a great weekend, everybody!

I Love Fall

Well, the rain & wind are gone, the sun is shining, it's warm and THE PHILLIES WON THE WORLD SERIES!!!!  Yahoo!!!  Okay, now that I have that out of my system, let me share a couple fall-ish things that have been sitting on my desk waiting to be finished!

I made this little box based on one I had seen on Margaret's blog here. 

It is made with the Sissix envelope diecut from SU and embellished with different DPs. I then cut apart the main image from Thankful Thoughts that had been watercolored.  I had a watercoloring class on Tuesday and one of the things I stressed was to use Shimmery white paper or Watercolor paper for watercoloring.  If you use any other, you run the risk of bleeding and getting warped paper.  You can see this on my project, as I used Confetti White paper!!!  (A bleeding sunflower, yuck!)

Anyway, this has a cute little apple candle in a tin inside; this will be my door prize for my stamping event tonight!

I was visiting some blogs earlier this week in search of some sketches and I came across Mercy's blog here.  I hadn't visited her blog for a while, and I was berating myself because she has such beautiful things!  So I shamelessly cased THIS card!  I already had a pumpkin image stamped, again, from my watercolor class, so I made it into a fall card:

I didn't do all the detailed stitching as I am in a hurry today (when am I NOT?), but I did add some faux stitching, as well as an added panel inside so I don't have to try to write on Chocolate Chip cardstock!:

Thanks for visiting today!  I am not giving recipes, but if anyone needs info, just email me!  Have a glorious day!

LeAnne

Haunting Me

Well, I had this perfectly cute image colored from an OLD SU set---this is from 1998!!! Anybody remember this? Back when SU had cute line drawing sets. So anyway, I decided to use this sketch from CPS. But then I kept adding stuff & changing stuff and sponging stuff and punching stuff and I just gave up because I have to go to work and don't have any more time to fool with it!:

And here is the inside:

The speckles are on the words because I smudged the black ink; that's also why the DP is down the side....more "oops"! But I am done and it's gonna be sent to someone......not sure who!!! Have a great day!

• Stamps: A Haunting We Will Go (ret SU), Itty Bitty Backgrounds
  
• Paper: Shimmery White, Tangerine Tango, WW, Green Galore, Lovely Lilac, Basic Gray, Frosty Day DP
• Ink: Stazon, lots of colors!!!
• Acc: Square Punches, Circle Punches, Nesties, Deckle Edge Scissors, Mike's Ribbon, Word Window Punch, White Gel Pen, Sponge Daubers

Color Throwdown Challenge #17

Wow!  It's a Halloweenie Challenge!  Make sure to check out our Throwdown blog as Kisa is giving away candy--not the fattening kind, the FUN kind!  Here are our challenge colors this week:

And here is my card:

Isn't this little witch sweet?   This card kind of grew and evolved into something a little more than I had originally planned!  It's hard to tell from the photo, but the DP has glittery stripes, and the cut-outs are all punched from SU's Brushed Silver cardstock.  The little witch is stamped on watercolor paper and colored with various inks.  I do love Crafty Secrets images!  This also qualifies for the Crafty Secrets challenge on SCS here, which is to use black & orange.  Thanks for looking and be sure to play along--you might win that blog candy!  Link your creation to a comment post on our blog, or to your gallery at SCS.  Be sure to use the word "CTD17"!  Now lets look at what the other designers have come up with:

• Broni - Splashes of Watercolor
• Kisa - Kisa's Paper Cuts
• Tammy - Stamp Happy
• Cathy - Crafty Thoughts

Thanks for visiting today!  I may have one more Halloween card to show you before the end of the week!

• Stamps:  Crafty Secrets Halloween
• Paper:  Lovely Lilac, Watercolor, Only Orange, Green Galore, DCWV Glitter MatStack
• Ink:  Stazon, Lovely Lilac, Watercolor, Only Orange, Green Galore, Sahara Sand, Really Rust, Eggplant Envy, More Mustard, Blush Blossom
• Acc:  Large & Small Oval Punches, Circle Punches, Word Window Punch, Designer Label Punch, 1/16" Punch, Black Brads, Scallop Edge Punch, Grosgrain Ribbon

Just for Me

I was able to carve out some stamping time just for me, just for fun, today.  I really wanted to try some challenges from other blogs.....I "collect" all these blogs that post challenges in my favorites bookmark, but never do any of them.  So I treated myself today.

The first one is from Poetic Artistry, a sketch; but I also used a technique from Our Creative Corner called Vintage Verve.  It uses neglected stamps from Papertrey called Believe, as well as some hoarded Cosmo Cricket Be Good paper:

The images are heat embossed with Gold Glory EP, then sponged with More Mustard & Creamy Caramel for the Vintage Verve "glow".  I wish I was a better photographer so I could capture the true warmth of this card....it really looks much better IRL!

The next one is also a sketch from Technostamper. 

This uses the Faux Diamond dust technique on the circle embellishment:

 

Now I am off to make cupcakes for my girls tonight!  Thanks for visiting and remember to stop back tomorrow for the Color Throwdown Challenge!

• Card 1 Stamps:  Believe, PTI
• Paper:  Cranberry Crisp, Naturals Ivory, Be Good, Cosmo Cricket
• Ink:  Versamark, More Mustard, Creamy Caramel
• Acc:  Corner Punch, Oval Punch, Burgundy organdy ribbon, daubers, Gold Glory EP, Heat Tool, dimensionals

• Card 2 Stamps:  Winter Post, Star-Studded Season (ret)
• Paper:  Ski Slope, Shimmery White, Handsome Hunter, WW, Baja Blue
• Ink:  Real Red, Versamark, Handsome Hunter
• Acc:  Iridescent Ice EP, Heat Tool, Nesties, Corner Rounder, Baja Breeze ribbon, Glitter Dots (Gina K)

Happy Mail

I am busy prepping for a couple classes I am having, so I thought I would post some RAKs I received recently! 

This is from my funny friend Dana.    It has a spooky CB'd house on the front with shimmery windows & moon!!  And she hinted that the witch on the front might just be her? She?  I need the grammar police!

 

 

 

This lovely is from my UK stampin' friend, Jodi!  We exchanged catalogs---such a fun thing to see UK's catty!
Thanks, Jodi!

 

 

 

 

 

 

And this little sweetie is from my downline Linda.  I donated blood at our church and she sent this as a thank you!  I just love it!

 

 

 

Well, we are having a nor'easter today here in SE PA; cold, blustery, nasty weather.  A good day to stay in and STAMP!  Have a great one, hopefully I will have time to do that myself!

Double Hi!

Oh, when I saw that Kay was yesterday's Featured Stamper, I was so excited!  She always has wonderful cards and I couldn't wait to play.  But I had to wait until today, so I decided to combine today's technique challenge with the FS challenge!  I chose this card of hers to case, since I already had this set on my desk from something I was working on Saturday.  I had some pretty striped napkins from this summer, so I tried the Napkin technique--lots of fun, and easy to do.  And I even had freezer paper already!  So here it is:

Aren't these colors yummy!?  And here is the other card I made; it used a sketch from Heather Rolins' blog:

Thanks so much for visiting.  I'll have some RAKs to post tomorrow--some happy mail!!

• Stamps:  Say it with Scallops, All in a Row (ret); Leaves Backgrounder, CHF
• Paper:  Kiwi Kiss, Regal Rose, Text. Sahara Sand, WW, Old Olive, Really Rust, Fall Flowers DP (ret), Hallmark napkin
• Ink:  Craft White, Regal Rose, Kiwi Kiss, Really Rust, Old Olive
• Acc:  Square Scallop Punch, White brads (Making Memories), Taffeta Ribbon, SAMJ, Dimensionals

Check out this Blog Candy

Be sure to check out Jennifer's Cuppy Cake blog for some nice blog candy as well as some cute cards!

Flat Bird

Sharon Johnson's challenge today was to make a flat card--not totally, one-layer flat, but something that would only require one stamp.  I tend to make my cards like that anyway--frugal, I guess!  I also wanted to participate in Denise's bird challenge, so I played around & came up with this kraft & white Christmas card:

There is no glitter or bling on this card, it's kind of homey, simple & warm, although there is embossing!  I do feel like it is missing an element or something--feel free to critique and give me some feedback.  Thanks for looking!!

• Stamps:  Best Wishes & More, Perfect Presentation, Snowflake Spot (both retired SU)
• Paper:  Kraft, WW, Kraft Patterns (Hostess Pack)
• Ink:  Craft White
• Acc:  White EP, Grosgrain, Linen Thread, Nesties, Needle

Two Pink Leaves

Wow, what a challenging challenge for today's SCS Limited Supplies challenge:  to use a leaf image in your creation.  That's not difficult; but all the challenges this month are supposed to use PINK for Breast Cancer Month.  Hmmm..a pink leaf??  So, I made two cuz I really wasn't lovin' the first one:

This also fulfills yesterday's challenge, which was to use one word, and also Kristina's Color Challenge, shown here.  Here is the other one:

Have a great evening!

• Stamps:  Pocket Silhouettes, Best Wishes & More, Everyday Flexible Phrases, Warm Words
• Paper:  WW, Pretty in Pink, Pink Pirouette, Bella Rose
• Ink:  Riding Hood Red, Pink Pirouette
• Acc:  Taffeta Ribbon, Tool Kit, Dimensionals 

A Couple of Quickies!

I had a very busy day and a busy week coming up, so I don't have anything real new to show, but I did a couple cards last week that I was saving up for a day like today!  Here is a birthday card I made for someone special:

• Stamps:  Pocket Silhouettes, Paper Tray, PTI
• Paper:  VV, K&Co Roam Mat Pad, Confetti White
• Ink:  Baja Breeze, Cert Celery
• Acc:  Mini Bling, Nesties, Daubers

And I pulled out some RAK images my friend Tammy had stamped for me a long time ago, and made a quick easy birthday card:

I don't have Copics, so my coloring is not as good as Tammy's but he was still fun to do, and I love his glittery balloon.  I also made a "marquis" in glitter around the sentiment panel to match the glitter on the cardstock.  Fun card for a child!

• Stamps:  Q.T. Hooty, Pink Cat Studio
• Paper:  Apricot Appeal, DCWV Glitter Stack, WW, Green Galore, Ballet Blue
• Ink:  Stazon
• Acc: Markers, Glitter & Glue

Thanks for stopping by!  I have to go mourn as the Phillies are LOSING!

Let It Snow

When I saw today's SCS Sketch Challenge, I thought I would pass, but I remembered I had some of this neat Frosty Day DP I hadn't played with yet, and thought that this sketch would be perfect for it:

Too bad you can't see the shimmery-ness of the cardstock as well as the glittery snow sitting on Mr. Snow's hat and the letters!  This card just makes me smile!

• Stamps:  Big on Christmas, Short & Sweet
• Paper:  Bashful Blue, Shimmery White, Kiwi Kiss, Frosty Day DP, Close to Cocoa, Tangerine Tango
• Ink:  Stazon, Close to Cocoa, Tangerine Tango, Kiwi Kiss, Bashful Blue
• Acc:  Glitter & Glue Pen, Aquapainter, Dimensionals, Gingham & Taffeta ribbons

Thanks very much for those of you who expressed concern for my daughter Dana after her house fire.  She is fine, we are all a little shaken, and I am continually amazed by God's watchfulness and compassion.  Thanks for visiting me today!

Color Throwdown 16

Wow, this week's challenge was really a challenge for me: Ballet Blue, Green Galore, Creamy Caramel & Chocolate Chip. Still not sure about this card but I just couldn't come up with anything that really floated my snowflake! I wanted to play with some stamps that had never seen the ink of day, and I pulled out some Impression Obsession winter ones. I already had an assortment of other snowflake stamps out, so I went with that theme:

You can't tell from the photo, but the snowflakes at top are stamped in craft white, then brushed with white/gold Pearlex. The bottom snowflake is heat embossed with white EP. The blue snowflake is a Martha Stewart punch. The word collage and the "Brr" are from the Impression Obsession set; the fun thing about clear stamps are that you can "bend" them to make a fun run like this! The snowflake centers are glitter dots from Gina K.

So let's see how you approach this challenge! If you don't have these exact colors, substitute something close! Leave us a comment at the Color Throwdown blog and link it to your blog, or your SCS gallery. Be sure to use the keyword CTD16 if you do! Now lets see what the other CTD designers have come up with:

• Broni - Splashes of Watercolor
• Kisa - Kisa's Paper Cuts
• Tammy - Stamp Happy
• Cathy - Crafty Thoughts

• Stamps: Winter Seals, Impression Obsession; Best Wishes & More, Short & Sweet, SU
• Paper: Green Galore, Ballet Blue, Chocolate Chip, WW, Christmas Mat Stack from Michaels
• Ink: Creamy Caramel, Craft White, Chocolate Chip
• Acc: MS Snowflake Punch, Glitter Dots,White EP & Heat Tool, Pearl Ex

Eastern Blooms

I received this stamp set free at convention and have rarely used it, so I "challenged" myself to use it in today's SCS Color Challenge of Chocolate Chip, Pirouette Pink and Kiwi Kiss.  I also used Beate's Weekend Sketch:

Unfortunately, I seem to be needing get-well cards, so I  used a sentiment from Papertrey's Mixed Messages.   The DP is some I had in my stash, don't remember what company it is!  The image stamped on the background paper was inked in Pretty in Pink first; then I colored right over top of the stems with a Chocolate Chip marker.

• Stamps:  Eastern Blossoms, Mixed Messages, PTI
• Paper:  Chocolate Chip, WW, Kiwi Kiss, Misc DP
• Ink:  Chocolate Chip, Pirouette Pink, Pretty in Pink, Kiwi Kiss
• Acc:  Marker, Circle Punches, Taffeta Ribbon, Blush Pearls from Kaiser

Edited to add:  Here is a photo of the inside of the card, which I changed after posting!

 

 

 

 

On a more personal note, I would covet your prayers for my daughter.  I got a phone call in the wee hours of the morning (never a good thing) that the house she & her boyfriend were renting was on fire.  Apparently the coal stove caused a chimney fire.  Thankfully, no one was hurt, but she will need to find a new place to live!  The Lord was watching over them and my prayer is that she recognizes that!  Thanks for visiting today & be sure to stop back tomorrow for the Color Throwdown Challenge!

 

Totally Random

Well, I totally forgot!  Christine at ChristineCreations tagged me a while back and challenged me to give up 7 random facts about myself.  So you all will probably think they are boring (hers are cute & interesting), but let's see what I can come up with.

1. I have cold feet.  I take a blanket with me to church from early fall to late spring, and sometimes even in the summer if the air conditioning will be on.  I just can't keep my legs & feet warm in dress shoes & clothes!!!  Or sometimes even with warm socks on!
2. I love the combination of orange and chocolate together, even as a kid.  I started a tradition with my daughter of getting her a chocolate orange at Christmas--yum yum!
3. Speaking of Christmas, I have some of my grandmother's glass ornaments that I hang on my tree.  From an objective standpoint, some of them are pretty ugly--faded, spotted; but I still use them because they have sentimental value and meaning to me.
4. I grew up on a farm and at one point, my dad had a terribly mean rooster.  It would hang around the yard until I came out the door to go to the bus stop and then it would run & peck at my ankles.  I was terrified of it; my dad finally had to "dispose" of it.  This is a favorite family story, by the way!
5. I love to square dance.  Before I met my husband, I belonged to a club and danced every week.  Now I just stamp.  I still love to dance; he doesn't.
6. Blue is my favorite color; growing up, it was orange.
7. I went to school for Fashion Marketing, but my longest-lasting jobs were all in the automotive industry as a bookkeeper.  Go figure.

Now, if anyone else wants to play, be my guest!  I have too many blog friends to tag everyone, so if you feel like opening up & revealing 7 random facts about yourself, have fun!

Pink Twinks

Just one more quick post for the day....today's SCS challenge was to use watercolor pencils and Twinkling H20's to make a pink card. 

I had just used my "twinks" at my stamp camp, so they were close at hand, and I must say, I forgot how fun they are to use!  You can't see the shimmer in the photos, but it is there and really adds a nice dimension to your cards.  I used an adaptation of Fall to Layout #11 from the Clean & Simple blog for my card.  TFL!

• Stamps:  Flowers for Daisy, Gina K; Mixed Messages, PTI
• Paper:  WW, Basic Black, Regal Rose, Shimmery White
• Ink:  Stazon
• Acc:  Nesties, CB Swiss Dots, Twinkling H20's, Watercolor Pencils, Aquapainter, Mike's ribbon

Creative Corner Christmas

I participated in Our Creative Corner's challenge yesterday, which was this sketch:

I had been wanting to play with my Crafty Secrets Vintage Christmas set, PLUS I got one of the new 6x6 scrapblock stamps from Cornish Heritage Farms, Aged Sheet Music, so I decided to combine the two:

I really would have liked to have added a couple more embellishments to this: ribbon, or something; but at midnight, I just couldn't think straight to come up with anything! So this is how it will stay! I added some stamping to the inside as well:

The clear set really stamped a nice clear image; I was quite impressed! And the 6x6 is wonderful because you don't have to worry if your image is not going to cover the whole cardfront. Great products!

• Stamps: Vintage Christmas, Crafty Secrets; Aged Sheet Music, CHF
• Paper: VV, Bravo Burgundy, Kraft, Mellow Moss
• Ink: Bravo Burgundy, Mellow Moss, Sahara Sand
• Acc: Tag Punch, Antique Brad, Linen Thread, Daubers

Ink-E Challenge

Yesterday's Featured Stamper Challenge was Emily.  She is only 18 and what a nice little gallery she has!  I chose this card to copy and this is what I came up with:

 

• Stamps:  So Thankful, Inkadinkado; Falling for You, MFT; Stitch Fun, Inque Boutique
• Paper:  Sage Shadow, Shimmery White, Autumn Vine
• Ink:  More Mustard, Really Rust, Sage Shadow
• Acc:  Twill, Sage Grosgrain, Circle Punch, Markers, Nesties, Buttons & Thread

A New Blog Friend

Being part of the Color Throwdown Challenge allows me to meet all kinds of stampers from all over the world!  I even got an email recently from a crafter in Russia!   Lately I have noticed Barb from Paper Pursuits has had some really nice cards.  Check out this one she did for the last Color Challenge here.  I think this is so pretty!  I guess I just like her style and she is a very friendly person as well!   So go check out her blog and see what you think....leave her a comment too!   Actually, I love to see what EVERYBODY comes up with!  I try to comment on each & every one---if I have missed anybody, my apologies, because I do try to check them often!  Each & every one is unique and individual, just like the stampers themselves! 

A Little Bit O'Plaid

I needed some congratulations cards and yesterday's SCS challenge was to use plaid.  Today's challenge was to use only one DP, some blue in your card, and eyelets and ribbon.  And Sharon Johnson's challenge today was to use only a sentiment or background stamp on your card, no picture!  So I came up with a little set here:

I can't honestly say that any of these make me jump up and down with excitement.....I think it is because the blue in the plaid, even though it is SU, doesn't really match any of the SU blues.....not Bashful, not Soft Sky, and not Baja Breeze.  It's a little frustrating, because they usually coordinate fairly well.  I think they're just too plain--even for me!  But onward I stamped.......and made another one. This one qualifies for Sharon's and yesterday's challenges only, because I used the flip side of the DP as a little accent. 

• Stamps:  Say it with Scallops, Boho Backgrounds
• Paper:  Sahara Sand, VV, Bashful Blue, Kraft
• Ink:  Sahara Sand, Bashful Blue
• Acc:  Paper Piercer, Blue Eyelets, Cropadile, Vanilla Grosgrain, Dimensionals

Now I LOVE this one---sweet, simple, cool colors, and a little bit o' bling on my die-cut flower!   I wish you could see the bright color IRL--much better than this photo!

I used Papertrey stamps and some DP from K & Company's Small Wonders Boy Mat Pack.  The flower die cut is SU's new Birds & Blooms, and I used my Nesties for the sentiment.  Sugar-coated brad is from Doodlebug Designs.  I actually broke into my PTI Aqua Mist cardstock for the card (why do I hoard it?) and used Soft Sky for the scallop.

• Stamps:  Green Thumb, Paper Tray
• Paper:  WW, K & Co. Small Wonders Boy, Soft Sky, Aqua Mist by PTI
• Ink:  Certainly Celery
• Acc:  Nesties, Bird & Blooms Die, Sugar-coated brad, Dimensionals

Finally, a fun little project I found yesterday while visiting Margaret's blog.  She made a cute little box using the envelope die cut.  Hers is much more elaborate than mine, but since I still have Laura's Sissix I am trying to use it as much as possible before I return it!  So very quickly (honest!) before Stamp Camp last night, I cut out four envelopes from Tangerine Tango and literally threw this together.......I didn't put much thought into it, but for a quickie, I thought it came out cute:

You can't tell, but there are orange-creme-filled Oreos inside the bag, which was stamped with Stazon.  Very quick project and lots of fun! 

• Stamps:  Holiday Blitz, IBBG
• Paper:  Tangerine Tango, Ghostly Greetings DP, Kiwi Kiss, WW
• Ink:  Black Stazon, Tangerine Tango, Kiwi Kiss
• Acc:  Envelope Die Cut, Cello Bag, Ribbon from Mike's

Thanks for visiting---have a great Friday!

 

Christmas in October Stamp Camp

Last night was my Christmas in October Stamp Camp.  I really struggled with the design of these cards....just wasn't "feeling" it!  But everyone seemed to enjoy them and they got to try out the new Sissix (thanks, Laura!) and were quite impressed.  So here they are:

We also made a card to donate to SCS's Cards for a Cause.  I chose Chemo Angels since October is Breast Cancer Awareness Month.  We made 12 cards to send!

This card was made with Pirouette Pink and Bravo Burgundy, but these colors seem a little challenging to photograph!  But it was a fun easy card to make and hopefully will go far to brighten someone's day.  

I have a little bit of free time today, so I am going to try to do some challenges, and I have a cute quick project to show as well.  Come back later!