A Sneak Peek for Tomorrow / SFF #052512 / My Challenge #23

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Hey y'all. Happy Thursday. Question-Why do 4 day weeks seem to fly by when 5 day weeks drag? Doesn't make sense.

Well, today is the last day of our current catalog and the new one goes live tomorrow at noon. Are you excited? Having seen the catalog, I can tell you I'm sooo stoked! I've already got a huge wishlist. There are a few things I'm sorry to see go, but the new catalog is so Amazing & I can hardly wait for you to see it. If you don't have a demonstrator and need one, I'd love to send you a catalog. :)

I got this new stamp set a few weeks ago and have just been so entranced by the ease of Betsy's Blossoms I didn't get to play with it much. I inked it up this weekend and I have to say I love it too! I thought I'd pair it up with a challenge and get my Clean and Simple card of the week thrown in at the same time. My stampin buddy April, laughed at me the other day and said "Shan, you just can't make a one layer card can you?" It would appear not. I wanted to do a one layer with this one but I think it would have been to stark, so I think I may have to simply resign myself to two layers. :)

As I said yesterday, I'm not always the brightest bulb in the pack and for the love of me I can't remember the name of this new set...something like Forever with You, kinda-sorta-maybe? Augh! I'll have to get back to you on that since I can't look it up in the catalog on line like I normally would. *SMH*

I used this sketch over at Sketch Frenzy Fridays for my inspiration-

Thanks Robbie Rubala for a great sketch. (Which I obviously didn't look too closely at before finishing up since there are 4 lines in the corner instead of 3. Sorry!) I thought this would be a great time to get out my Simply Scored tool and I thought this stamped image would be perfect with this sketch.

I started with a base of Midnight Muse, my favorite of the new colors and quite possibly destined to be one of my new all time favorites. Such a rich, velvety color. I wasn't sure we needed another dark blue, but it's Fabulous! Over that is layered a single piece of Whisper White. I used my Simply Scored with the Diagonal Plate to make the score lines. It doesn't show up well on the picture, but in real life it's just a nice subtle accent. I inked up my stamp by coloring the image with my New In-Colors Markers in Midnight Muse, Gumball Green, Raspberry Ripple and Primrose Pink. This panel is popped up with dimensionals and I was done.

Here's a closer look at my stamped image-

I love this image, the sentiment, the font everything. I can't wait to play around with it even more!

So, normally I would have an inside to show you too, but not today. Initially I wasn't sure what I wanted to put on the inside and then I just ran out of time, but believe me when I say I'll make it as pretty as the outside. :)

Thanks for stopping by today. I hope you liked the card and I hope it inspires you to make something for that special person who makes everywhere seem like home. If you liked today's card, feel free to leave me a comment. I love hearing from you! If you liked it and would like to +1 or Pin it, I've put the buttons on my sidebar for your convenience. Friends and Followers are always welcome as well! :)

I hope you'll come back tomorrow for this week's End of the Week Technique. Till next time-

Remember- Life is often more about the storms than the peace they seek to overwhelm. It's not about Waiting for the storms to pass, but Learning to Dance in the rain.

Be Safe,
Shan Pin It

A Special Fun-Fold Graduation Card

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Hey y'all. Happy Humpday, just two more days until the weekend. I love short work weeks! :) I hope your weeks been Amazing so far!

It's that time of year again...graduation time. I thought I was pretty much done with that, at least until my nephews manage it (and Heaven forbid, my baby brothers) but there's still 4 more years before I have to worry about that. Whew! However, I have a special friend whose daughter is graduating this weekend. She is such a sweet and funny and altogether tremendously special girl, how could I not make a card for her. So I started looking around for ideas. I found a couple that gave me a good jumping off point. In fact, I made two and couldn't decide which one I liked better so guess what she gets? That's right! Both of them!!!! :) If anyone deserves two, it's A. I'd really love to be sending her some sweets. I love baking goodies for her and she loves eating them. See, I told you she was special and worthy. :) However, I fear they would not make the trip as her dad loves him some home-made goodies too. Oh well, maybe I'll just put a little I.O.U in with her cards.

I didn't want to create just any regular ole' card for A. No-siree-Bob. It needed to be as unique as she is. I've seen lots of this style card around blog-landia. Some call it a "kriss-cross" card, some a "square-petal" fold, I just call it fun. I got the inspiration for this card from Debbie Henderson's blog. Mine has a lot of the same elements, just done in a different way.

Here's today's card-

Fun Fold Graduation Card with Owl

I knew saving those little punched owl pieces would be a good idea! I sponged the sky background, in Bashful Blue, because I wanted the feeling that the sky's the limit and for A, I'm sure even the sky couldn't hold her back. The sentiment is from a retired hostess set I got as a door prize. How cute is that font?

Here's a closer look-

You know how I like to do a little something special on the inside of my cards....well this whole thing is the inside. LOL! I added a little sparkle to the butterfly for that something extra. I also popped the sweet little owl up with dimensionals to make it look like he was flying. I really hope she likes this.

This fold is soooo easy. If you check out the link above it shows you how to do it. It all starts with a 7.5 x 7.5 piece of cardstock and folds down to fit in one of our standard envelopes. When it's closed this is what it looks like-

For the inspiration piece I think she just flipped it over to make a graduation "cap". I wanted to do something a little "more" for A's card so I made a belly band and cap. Here's what it looks like-

I punched a strip of Silver Glimmer Paper with my Scalloped Border Punch and adhered it to the underside of my belly band. I then made a miniature of the big card for the cap. I did this, instead of just cutting a square, so the cap could have some added dimension. I punched a 1/2" circle and elevated it with a dimensional for height and so I could use it to secure my bakers twine. My sentiment from Teeny Tiny Wishes was stamped in Black Staz-On an punched out with my Word Window Punch. I used a Mini-Glue Dot to secure it in place.

Here's a closer look-

 By placing the cap on an angle, it effectively covers the "seams" created by closing the folds. I thought this was kind of clever if I do say so myself. :) When you slide the belly band off, you can see just how to open the card, no flipping over necessary.

Now, you know I'm not necessarily the brightest light-bulb in the box right? Hey, everyone should be aware of their assets as well as their shortcomings. At least I'm honest about them....As I'm typing this I realize I could have hidden the seam on the belly-band by simply placing the cap over it. DUH!!! I guess that would be too easy though. I noticed this as I was about to, excitedly, type that I had not left the seam uncovered. *SMH* Oh well, let's just call it another design element shall we? Here's what I did-

I carried the glitz over from the front of the card by punching a medallion from the Silver Glimmer Paper with my Small Scalloped Circle Punch and adhering it over the seam with a few Mini-Glue Dots. I'm so  happy with how this turned out. I think it looks so pretty from either side. I really hope she likes it. I know I enjoyed making it for her. And if she doesn't well at least she has a second card, and a promise of Noms! :)

That's all I have for you today. I hope you liked it and I hope it inspires you to try something new for someone special. I'd love to hear what you think about today's card. Your comments always make my day! If you liked today's card and would like to +1 or Pin it, I've put the buttons on my sidebar for your convenience. Friends and Followers are always welcome too!

Hope to see you back soon, I've still got this weeks challenge card and the End of the Week technique to show you. Till next time-

Remember- Life is often more about the storms than the peace they seek to overwhelm. It's not about Waiting for the storm to pass, but Learning to Dance in the rain.

Be Safe-
Shan

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Military Inspired Thank-You

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Hey y'all. Happy Tuesday or Monday-Tuesday as I like to call these Tuesday's after Monday Holidays. It's a Tuesday but it feels just like a Monday. :( I hope you had a safe and enjoyable holiday weekend and I hope you are feeling well-rested.

I got to spend the weekend stamping with my best stamping buddy April and getting to see some old friends as well as meeting some new ones. I enjoyed a weekend mostly free of the computer, so I didn't get to post yesterday. However, my thoughts were not far from those Brave Men and Women who have given some and some that have given all. With that in mind I thought I'd show you a card I made a few weeks ago. I kept meaning to post it but somehow other things (mostly 3 challenges last week) managed to keep getting in the way. No worries though it worked out just as it should so I can post it along with my Thanks to all those in the Military.

I've been wanting the stamp set Courage for the past few years and it often got pushed down on my Have-to Have list by other sets. When I saw it was retiring I knew I had to get it and quick. Now I don't usually purchase retiring product because I'm not going to use them very often on cards I make for here or for my classes, since my clients wouldn't be able to purchase them. This one however gets to stay in my collection and I'm sure you'll see it from time to time in my rotation as well.

I recently had an interview at a Military Installation and when I decided to design a thank-you card instead of just using some stationary, I thought what better stamp to use than this one.

Here's today's card-

Thank-You card with Courage Stamp Set, Heat Embossing and Embossing with Simply Scored Diagonal Tool 

I started with a base of Sahara Sand. Such a nice color, but so under-used / over-looked by many of us. I think it was perfect for this card. Added to that were layers of Very Vanilla and Cherry Cobbler. I used my Simply Scored Tool with the Diagonal Plate to create the Diamond Embossed background. This was inspired by a card we did at a recent team meeting and is actually featured today Robin Merriman's blog over at Trinity Design Studios today. Ha! Kind of funny since I'm the one that inspired her to do the card and now that card has inspired me. LOL!

It's not noticeable in the above picture but I heat embossed both the image and the sentiment with clear embossing powder. I wanted the images to really "pop". Here's a better pic-

Heat Embossed Image, Courage Stamp Set

While I think the card itself would have been nice enough without the two embossed details, I think they really "made" the card.

Here's a look at the inside-

Very simple, no extra fuss or muss here. I used Soft Suede for the sentiment and left it at that. Geesh, I hate when I decide to do that, but I don't think the LTC I was sending it too would appreciate any extra adornment. I hope he liked the card and I really hope that not only did I impress him during my interview, but that I followed up with a hand written note and card. So many of us (myself included) forget to do that after an interview. I know it's kind of old-school, but you never know...there were only 5 of us interviewing, could be the little things that set us apart.

That's all I have for you today. I'm battling a wicked headache that's been hanging around like my shadow for three days now. Hopefully it will head out soon. I hope you enjoyed today's card. I'd love to hear your thoughts, they always make my day. If you liked it and would like to +1 or Pin it I've put the buttons on my sidebar for your convenience. Friends and Followers are always welcome too. :)

Don't forget to order your favor retiring products before they're gone. You only have 2 more days. You can shop my ONLINE STORE 24-7 to get everything you want and need.

I hope to see you back real soon. If you see a Military Member or Spouse, I hope you'll think about taking the time to tell them "Thanks". They don't hear this nearly enough. Till next time-

Remember- Life is often more about the storms than the peace they seek to overwhelm. It's not about Waiting for the storm to pass, but Learning to Dance in the rain.

Be Safe,
Shan

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End of the Week Technique #33 - Clear Block Background Stamping #2/ Let's Try Again

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Hey y'all. Happy Friday! I hope you've had a great week and are looking forward to a spectacular 3 day weekend. :)

For those of you that are new here, or for some reason missed last weeks EWT, I'm giving this technique a second try. How could others get such pretty results and projects and mine stink!?! (Ok so that's just my opinion and I'm told it didn't really stink, but by now most of us know I'm a little hyper-critical of my own short-comings and last week made me want to tuck my little Scaredy Cat tail between my legs and I just couldn't have that!)

Here's today's card-

Clear Block Background Technique with Easy Events/ Clean and Simple

Can I just say I am sooooo much happier with this card!

There are two new elements to this weeks card, but I believe I would have been happy even if I had not added them.

Here's last weeks card-

 For this weeks card, instead of making it a one-layer card I added a base of Bashful Blue, still C&S though. I also added a few extra hearts floating above the tree. Looking now, as I just added the second picture, I also see I changed the orientation on the blocks, however that was un-intentional.

If you look back at last weeks post, you can check it out HERE, my biggest complaint with this technique was my inability to get even coverage on the blocks, especially the accent colors, and being unable to mask the center one to make it appear to be layered above the other two blocks of color. Every time I tried the mask, even as thin as it was seemed to make it even harder for me to get decent coverage. :(

After I posted last week and thought about what could have been causing my problems, I thought I remembered reading somewhere to use a soft mat to stamp on instead of a hard surface. That the mat would have some give and allow for more even coverage. So I decided to try again. I got my computer mouse-pad and used it under my c/s and the difference was Unbelievable! The coverage was nice and even and I got beautiful edges around my masked center piece.

SCORE!!!!!! Ok , so now this won't have to be considered my Least Favorite Technique any longer.

Here's the inside of my card-

I inked up the little heart from a new stamp-set I got as a bonus for recruiting during SAB. (And for the love of me, I can't remember the name of it right now!) Any-whoo - its a sweet little solid heart image, the one that's all red above. For the other two hearts, I simply used my Stampin Write Marker's brush tip and outlined just the edge of the stamp by holding my marker almost parallel to the stamp and lightly stroking it over just the edge of the stamp. I think it's the first time I've tried this and I have to say it gives the look of two stamps from one. Love that! I then let Tink have her way for just a moment. I'm a firm believer that the inside of a card should be pretty too. Why should the outside have all the fun?!? :D

Here's how to do this technique-

1- Start with a clean block and tap it on your ink pad until you get it covered completely.
2- Lay your cardstock over a soft surface- this could be your Mat-Pack pad or computer mouse pad or something similar just so long as it has some give. This is definitely the key to consistent coverage with this technique! It made all the difference!!! :)
3- Stamp on your cardstock with your block, applying firm pressure and lift straight up.
4- If you want to add multiple layers of colors, stamp your first section again on a post-it style note and use that to "mask" your stamped area so no new ink gets on it.
5- Ink up your chosen image, either by inking it in all one color with a pad or by coloring it in with your Stampin Write markers (like I did) and stamp your image.
6- Smile and be happy when you think of the smile your card is going to bring to someones face


That's all I have for you today. Hopefully you thought it was worthy of a re-do. Now I feel like this is a technique I will try again. Thanks to those of you that encouraged me to not give up after last weeks attempt!


If you liked today's card, please feel free to leave a comment. I love hearing from you! Also, if you liked it and would like to +1 or Pin it, I've put those buttons on my sidebar for your convenience. Friends and Followers are always welcome too. :)


I hope you all have a safe holiday weekend and come back to check out more projects soon. May you have a weekend full of Family, Friends and of course plenty of time for creativity!


Till next time-


Remember- Life is often more about the storms than the peace they seek to overwhelm. It's not about Waiting for the storm to pass, but Learning to Dance in the rain..


Be Safe,
Shan

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Sneak Peek- Embossed Betsy's Blossoms / Freshly Made Sketches #36

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Hey y'all. Happy Thursday! Just one more day until the long weekend. Woo-Hoo! Do you have any fun plans? I'm having an Open House, Friday, Saturday and Sunday to celebrate our New Catalog. I'm also going to be featuring Scentsy Home Products and the delish New Velata Premium Chocolate Fondue. So if you're in the Metro DMV and want to come by and make a project with new product, smell some great scents and enjoy yummy snacks, hit me up..I'd love to see you!

I know the plan had been to do my EWT today....best laid plans and all that. I saw a sketch over at Freshly Made Sketches and just had to play along, (and wanted to go ahead and be able to post ) so this weeks EWT will come tomorrow.

Can you believe 3 challenges this week? It's been a while since I did that. :) However when I saw this sketch I knew exactly what I wanted to do. So rare for that to happen, so when it does it just doesn't make sense to not go with it! I'm using this for my Clean and Simple card of the week because even though it has a lot of embossing and sponging, the overall look is Clean and Simple. The C&S card I had planned for today will simply get moved to next week.(Whew now the stress is off for me to do another in the C&S style! Score!!!)

I hope you're not getting tired of Betsy's Blossoms because I am so loving it! Here's today's card-

C&S Betsy's Blossoms with Embossing, Freshly Made Sketches Challenge #36

Although I knew what I wanted to do with this sketch this is not the first color combo I planned on. I haven't decided how I feel about our New In-Color Summer Starfruit. I think it's the "Peach Parfait" of the 21012-2014 Collection. (You know what I mean, you know you do.) I had the card-base cut, scored and folded and just couldn't do it with this card. I think once I get some DSP that coordinates with it, maybe I'll have better luck. I am, however, loving this New Midnight Muse!

Here's the sketch I used-

My goal with this card was, even though it was such a great clean and simple sketch, to add a surprise to take it up a notch. I stayed true to the layout only flipping the orientation. I made the sky by sponging Bashful Blue over the edge of a scrap piece of c/s I punched out with my Large Scalloped Circle Punch. I did this multiple times and then went back and lightly rubbed the sponge all over the piece to give a "soft, airy" appearance and to ensure there were no harsh lines. I think this really helps to make my embossed images stand out.

Here's a close-up look-

Embossed Betsy's Blossoms

It was really hard to capture the embossing , but I think this few gives you a little glimpse. I used Midnight Muse, Primrose Petals, Marina Mist and Gumball Green and heat embossed them with Clear Embossing Powder. In person the embossing just "pops" out at you. It's really so striking and you just want to rub your hands over it to feel the texture, especially on the sweet little bird and middle blossom. I used my 1 1/4 square punch to punch out my elements after embossing and then sponged the edges with the matching color. The 3 squares are adhered with Tombow. The center panel is elevated with dimensionals.

Here's the inside-

I stamped the sentiment from Teeny Tiny Wishes in Midnight Muse. Next I masked the bottom of my card with post-it notes so I could be sure to get a straight line. I then stamped my two floral images from the Betsy's Blossoms stamp set in an alternating, random style, flowing pattern. I used Primrose Petals for the smaller flower and Raspberry Ripple for the larger one, stamping off once to get a softer look. A little visit from Tink gives it just a little sparkle and means the inside of my card has a pretty little surprise for it's recipient.

I'm so happy with how today's card turned out. I hope the fabulous ladies over at Freshly Made Sketches like it and that you do too! If you haven't checked them out yet,make sure you do. Their DT does Amazing work and the sketches are always fabuous!

If you liked today's card, feel free to leave me a comment. I love hearing from you and getting your input. If you liked it and would like to +1 or Pin it, I've put the buttons on my sidebar for your convenience. Friends and Followers are always welcome too. :)

I hope you'll come back tomorrow for my Surprise End of the Week Technique. Thanks for stopping by and sharing my creative journey with me!

Till next time-

Remember- Life is often more about the storms than the peace they seek to overwhelm. It's not about Waiting for the storm to pass, but Learning to Dance in the rain.

Be Safe,

Shan

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A Bright & Cheery Farewell - SFF 051812

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Hey y'all. Happy Humpday! :) Just two more days to go until the long holiday weekend and the un-official start of the summer. Woo-Hoo! Hope you're  having an amazing week.

I've got another challenge card for you today. I love the sketches over at Sketch Frenzy Friday! Those ladies have some fabulous sketches and cards to go with them. I saw this sketch last Friday and knew it was one I was going to want to play with. On Saturday I went over to my stamping buddy April's house for a little relaxation and stamp therapy. She showed me a card she had done that morning in her stampcamp and I loved it! I used it as my inspiration for this week's SFF card. Thanks April!

Here's today's card-

SFF Challenge Card, Domestic Goddess DSP, Butterfly Punch, Petite Pairs Stamp  Set

Do you ever look at DSP in a catalog and not be overwhelmed by it and then see it in person and go "Awww, it's so cute! or I love it!"? I did that with this collection. I actually swapped some DSP I had for these and it's hard to believe now that I went the whole year without it! If you like it, don't wait too long it'll be gone in just a week. (I think it's going to be easier to get a feel for the look of our DSP in this years catalog though. They've done a great job showcasing them!) I've got two firsts on today's card. This is the first time I've used my sweet little butterfly punch. I'm so sad it's retiring. :( It's also the first time I've ever used Tangerine Tango. I love  how our colors and DSP's coordinate so well. The actual color that coordinates with this paper is Calypso Coral, but the Tangerine Tango matches and even Poppy Parade matches too. I added a thin little rim of Dazzling Diamonds around the edges of my butterfly wings and some rhinestone jewels to bling them up a little, I also popped them up with a dimensional instead of Mini-Glue Dots for a little extra height. (Am I the only one that thinks height always looks mis-spelled?) I stamped the sentiment from Petite Pairs in Daffodil Delight, sponged the edges in Tangerine Tango and then matted it with a piece of Tangerine Tango c/s. Both were punched with the Modern Label punch.

Here's the Sketch Frenzy Friday (SFF) sketch I used-

Great sketch and one that I'm sure I will use again. If you haven't checked out their site, make sure you pay them a visit. Better yet, play along with us all....just finish here first. :) I didn't stick to it strictly, choosing instead to use it as a jumping-off point but you can still see the sketch in my card. For those of you that have been around my Scaredy Cat site you know how hard it would have been for me to say that last sentence as recently as the beginning of this year. :) HA! I also mixed DSP papers something that just gives me such anxiety. I can't wait for that session at convention. LOL

Here's my friend April's card that was my inspiration for this sketch and today's card. (She doesn't have a blog, I'm trying to talk her into starting one) If you like her card, leave her a little love here and I'll make sure she sees it.

My friend April's card- my inspiration for today's card :) She used Poppy Parade and  Just Add Cake DSP

Here's the inside-

I kept it really simple. I used the rest of the sentiment from the front. (Love that font!) I cut a strip of matching DSP and added some Dazzling Diamonds to the little flower images in the DSP for my something pretty for the inside.

That's all I have for you today. I hope you liked my card (and April's too). If you did, I hope you'll take a minute to leave a comment. I love hearing from you and I'm sure it would make April smile too. If you liked it and would like to +1 or Pin it, I've put the buttons on my sidebar for your convenience. Friends and Followers are always welcome too! :)

Hope you'll come back and see me tomorrow. I've got this week's EWT...you might be surprised by it. I know I was.

Till next time-

Remember- Life is often more about the storms than the peace they seek to overwhelm. It's not about Waiting for the storm to pass, but Learning to Dance in the rain.

Be Safe,

Shan

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Sneak Peek - Betsy's Blossoms and Floral District / SSC #256 / My Challenge #22

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Hey y'all. Happy Tuesday. It's rainy and gloomy here in the DMV and I'm fighting the migraine (that is threatening to hit full force) it has brought me. :(

You guys know I love the peeps over at Stamping 411 and all the great sketches they have for us. They really motivate me to step out of my Scaredy Cat self and stretch myself creatively. Well they have another great sketch this week and as soon as I saw it I knew I wanted to make something with it.

Here's today's card-

Thank You Card with all new Betsy's Blossoms and Kindness Matters stamps and Floral District DSP

This card is a little of a departure for me. I rarely use DSP as a complete background. I looked back over my posts and it looks like I've only done this 9 times for full cards and 3 times for 4 x4's out of about 160 cards/projects. I tend to use it more for an accent/element. Geesh! I probably wouldn't have nearly so much old DSP if I did this a little more often. LOL! Another departure for me is the use of Rich Razzleberry. It's the first time I've ever used it all, no cards, no projects, no accents, nothing. Poor R.R. must have been feeling so unloved. The colors/design are also a little bold for my cards, but I went with the DSP for my color choice. Ha! I guess I should change that first line to say "This card is a BIG departure for me!"

This is a pretty simple card all in all. Rich Razzleberry base, Floral District DSP, (First time it's getting used but it def won't be the last. Love every design in the pack!) Daffodil Delight (another lonely c/s color) for the mat and a little Baja Breeze joins the other two colors for my floral accent.  I stamped my sweet little bird in Baja Breeze twice on c/s, using one to cut out the wings which I popped up with dimensionals, and once on a post-it note. I then cut out the one on the post-it note to "mask" my stamped image for two reasons. 1- so I wouldn't get ink on it when I stamped my other images and 2- so it would give depth to my stamped panel where it looks like the bird is flying "in front of or over" the floral image.

I used the sentiments from Kindness Matters for the front and inside of my card. I got this set for free during SAB and am finally getting to ink it up. :) I used R.R. to stamp my sentiment and one of my "must-own punches", the Word Window Punch to punch it out. I punched individual flowers with my BoHo Blossoms Punch. I'm so glad both of these are hanging around in the new catalog!!! I curled the edges of the flowers up with my stylus, adhered them together with Tombow, added a little pearl (another under-utilized item) and adhered them all to the card with more Tombow. The right side end of the sentiment is elevated with a dimensional as is the Daffodil Delight layer. All other layers in my card utilize Tombow.

Here's the Stamping 411 sketch I used for my inspiration-

I stuck pretty close to it just changing the orientation and moving the sentiment and embellishment over to work with the orientation change. If you haven't played with the great gals over at Stampin 411, this is a wonderful sketch to start with! One of the things I like most about their site (other than the great sketches!) is they give dimensions for their cards and all the layers to help with your design. I don't know about you, but that's one of the things that takes me the longest to figure out! What a time saver to not have to guess, and cut and then re-cut! Thanks Ladies!!! <3

Here's the inside-

Once again the sentiment is from Kindness Matters and is stamped in R.R. I stamped the flowers in R.R. and D.D. and then let Tink have her way with them. It's been far too long since I just let her have her way. You know me, it just hurts me to not have a little something pretty on the inside. Why shouldn't the inside be as pretty as the outside?

For those of you new to my blog, You will see Tombow used a lot. My team-mates tease me about this all the time, even promising to break me of my Tombow addiction (or compulsion) if you will, especially before I begin my Convention Swaps. It's a pretty good bet that the only time you will see SNAIL used on one of my cards is to hold down ribbon. I use Sticky Strip for the "major" stuff, Dimensionals for elevation and Mini-Glue Dots mainly to adhere ribbon or embellishments. Most people ask me why I take this extra step especially since the SNAIL is sooo much quicker, not to mention less messy. Due to the humidity in the area I live, I've had "Snail-Fail" before on cards/projects I've made and stored. (I store all the cards I make for my blog until I either sell them or have an occasion to give them to someone. Sometimes that can take a little while.) Having found card elements in my storage box separate from their cards I would never want that to happen on a card I gave to someone and certainly not on a card I had sold. (Horrors!!!) I read a post a year or so ago about someone who gave a card to a family member and when they picked it up off the mantle to show a friend it fell apart. :'( How sad!!!! Please, don't get me wrong....I think SNAIL is a great product, I just don't think it works for me where I currently live. I know if I give you a card that I've Tombowed, those layers are staying put!

That's all I have for you today. Hopefully it's sunny where you are today and if not, that today's card brings a little cheer your way! If you liked today's card, feel free to leave a comment. I love hearing form you. If you liked it and want to +1 or Pin it, I've put the buttons on my sidebar for your convenience. Friends and Followers are always welcome too. :)

Till next time-

Remember- Life is often more about the storms than the peace they seek to overwhelm. It's not about Waiting for the storms to pass, but Learning to Dance in the rain.


Be Safe,
Shan Pin It

MDS Monday- Sympathy Card

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Hey y'all. Happy Monday! I hope you all had a great weekend and are ready for an amazing week. Just four more days until the long weekend. Woo-Hoo!!! :)

I don't know about you but I always find Sympathy cards difficult. It just seems like such a hard line to toe, pretty but not frou-frou and finding just the right words to say is so hard. I sold one of my sympathy cards recently and the purchaser commented to me that she loved the fact that unlike most commercial cards the sentiment was short and sweet. *Whew* :) That made me really appreciate the sentiments SU has.

I was trying to figure out what kind of card/project to make for today's MDS Monday and decided to use a sketch as a jumping-off point. I found one over at Sunny Challenges and Creations  that I thought looked do-able. Then I looked through my handy-dandy notebook of all my current downloads and found one I thought I could incorporate into the sketch.

Here's today's card-

MDS Sympathy Card - All Original Downloads

I love our My Digital Studio program. Although I have downloaded some new items (mostly punches and a few kits) I have been able to create most of my MDS projects with items that came with my original purchase of the full program. I'm so excited about the New MDS 2 coming out later this year, especially the ability to color stamps with multiple colors. How exciting is that!?!

For this card I started with a base of Night of Navy. I layered Brocade Blue and Night of Navy Textile DSP on top and added a Night of Navy grosgrain ribbon and knot. For the focal point I added two medium oval punches that I enlarged a little. I love having the ability to change the size of the punches to make them just what you want and need. Such a cool feature. I like to use MDS to get ideas and try sketches and cards before actually using cardstock to create. Although it may take a little time to do two cards, I don't end up wasting c/s trying to get my measurements just right. I know exactly what sizes to cut because the card sizes match up perfectly. :) My favorite feature however, and I use it almost every time I do a project is the Opacity feature. I love being able to change the depth of color just like stamping off in real life. I used this feature to lighten the floral element in the center. It's actually Night of Navy lightened to about 60%.

Here's the inside-

MDS Sympathy Card- Inside

Although I wanted to keep the inside elegant and simple, you know it was killing me to think of a "plain" inside. What to do.... carry over the image from the front, enlarge it (love that you can change the size of stamps too!) and lighten it just this side of a "watermark". I think it makes a nice addition without detracting from the sentiment. What do you think?

It's the first time I've played along with Sunny Challenges and Creations and didn't realize until I pulled up the site to link it here that their challenge was also using current In-Colors. I hope they won't mind too very much that I submitted even though this only meets half their challenge. Ooops.

That's all I have for you today. What do you think? I'm pretty happy with how it turned out and although I don't have that particular DSP, I'm sure I could use one from one of the Color-Stacks and make an equally beautiful card.

If you liked today's card, feel free to leave a comment. I love hearing from you! Also if you liked it and wanted to +1 or Pin it, I've placed the buttons on my sidebar for your convenience. Friends and Followers are always welcome too. :)

I hope you'll come back soon, and see what I've got for you. I've even already got not just a Clean & Simple card but a one-layer C&S one at that ready to go.

Wishing you an Amazing Day!

Till next time-

Remember- Life is often  more about the storms, than the peace they seek to overwhelm. It's not about Waiting for the storm to pass, but Learning to Dance in the rain.

Be safe,
Shan







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Sooo Excited! I Made the Showcase :)

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Hey y'all. I'm so excited that I made the Stampin 411 Showcase this week as an Operator's Pic. Woo-Hoo! If you didn't see the post, it's HERE.

Here's the card-

Father's Day Card, Origami Shirt

Thanks Stampin 411 Operators for making my day!

Thanks to my friends and everyone who has stopped by and looked and those that left comments too. 

You are all so very appreciated!

Till next time-

Remember- Life is often more about the storms than the peace they seek to overwhelm. It's not about Waiting for the storm to pass, but Learning to Dance in the rain.

Be Safe,

Shan

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Bordering on Romance Pocket Card

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Hey y'all. Happy Friday! I hope you've had a great week and are getting ready for an Amazing weekend.  For those of you that follow me and sent up prayers and/or positive thoughts for my interview this morning, I feel good about how it went. I was in the top 5 candidates chosen to interview, so we'll see. Even if I don't get picked this round they will have more openings soon so... Will let you know as soon as I know. :)

I had a lot of running around to do last night and didn't get to stamp :( so I was trying to figure out what I could post today. I looked at my photos on my phone and found one that I hadn't posted yet. I actually did today's card for a team swap months ago when the Occasions Mini first came out. I think it was the first pocket card I had ever created. I have been meaning to do this as one of me "De-Constructed Card" posts where I show how it evolved but I realized this morning that I didn't have the other "failure pics" loaded on my phone. (Every once in a while I like to show how my cards came to be. You know, the ones that took two or three or more tries to get right. I hope it makes all the other Scaredy Cats out there realize they're not the only ones who struggle.) Guess I was trying to spare my self the agony. Lol! Will get those loaded and do that post another day.

Here's today's card-

Bordering on Romance Pocket Card

I don't know about you, but I'm so glad this stamp set and the DSP were carried over to the new catalog! I think the theme for the team swap that I made this card for was "Fun Folds or Something other than a standard card". I decided to try a pocket card and I knew I wanted to use this set and DSP, so it seemed like an easy idea. WRONG!!!! But in the end I was happy with how it turned out.

I started with a base of Island Indigo, even with our New In-Colors this is my all time favorite color. I don't remember whose blog I saw the angled cut on , but I thought it would make a great addition to my card. I used my edgelet to create the decorative edging and it not only cut the beautiful edge but left me an embossed look as well. *Bonus!* I used Sticky Strip to close the side and bottom. 

Here's a closer look at the pocket portion of my card-

I ran My Twitterpated DSP through my BigShot with the Vintage Wallpaper Embossing Folder and then sponged some CrumbCake lightly over the top to make the embossing stand out a little more. My pleated ribbon was  tucked underneath my DSP with SNAIL and then the entire piece was Tombowed. I really wish this pleated ribbon had made it to the new catalog. Do you have any idea how much distress pleating my own ribbon causes me? Sends my OCD into overdrive! 

Here's the pull-out piece of my card-

For my pull-out card, I stamped my image with Black Staz-On and used my blender pens and Classic Ink pads to water-color. I look at this now and compare it to my recent "Copic-Style" watercoloring on our watercolor paper and am truly amazed at the difference. I don't think the shading was too bad considering it was my first real attempt at this type watercoloring and it was on regular cardstock instead of the watercolor paper. Looking back I think maybe I should have added a few pearls to the center of the flowers for an added touch. Oh well, hindsight and all that. Guess I'll have to add them when I get home. :) Actually, looking back now I think I may have added some Dazzling Diamonds to the flowers, for my swaps, to give them a little extra pop. I used my Crop-a-Dile to punch a hole at the top of my card and used Island Indigo Bakers Twine to loop through for the pull.

What do you think? I love pocket cards but so often forget about them, as well as other card types, when I sit down to create. Do you do that too?

I hope you liked today's card and that it inspires you to try something new. If you liked it, I hope you'll consider leaving a comment. I love hearing from you! Also, if you liked it and would like to +1 or Pin it, I've put the buttons on my sidebar for your convenience. Friends and Followers are always welcome too! :)

I hope you have an Amazing weekend filled with Family, Friends and of course plenty of time for creativity. I hope you'll stop back by and see me soon.

Till next time-

Remember- Life is often more about the storms than the peace they seek to overwhelm. It's not about Waiting for the storms to pass, but Learning to Dance in the rain.


Be Safe,
Shan

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Well...I Finally Found my Least Favorite Technique! / End of the Week Technique #31- Clear Block Background Stamp

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Hey y'all. Happy Thursday! Just one more day to go till the weekend. I'm actually really excited about tomorrow, because I have an interview for a job I've been trying to get for over 2 years. Five candidates are being interviewed so, for those of you that believe in a little divine intervention, (via prayer), or just good energy, I'd appreciate it if you were able to send a little my way. :)

***Disclaimer*** If you're not new to my blog you know I always try to be honest with you. I've often said how easy it is to be frustrated by the seeming perfection of other stampers blogs. You know what I mean, how the cards always look just right and no-one ever seems to have any difficulties. Well, I can assure you if perfection is what you're looking for you've stopped at the wrong site. Don't get me wrong, I'm pretty happy with most of my creations. My gold standard is "would receiving this card put a smile on my face?" If the answer is yes, than I feel good about posting it. While I would definitely be happy to receive today's cards from someone else (because they had taken the time to create something just for me) my OCD is simply not allowing me to be overly happy with my results. I realize this is in all likelihood, a fault in my own reasoning and hope you will try your hand at this technique anyways. I am posting both cards today even though they are not my favorites because today's blog is about the technique and not my ability to be happy with the results produced by an inherently, non-consistent technique. At the end of the day though, my blog is about trying new things and stepping out of my comfort zone, both of which I did with today's technique.

On to today's End of the Week Technique. This is #32 for me, or about 8 months worth of techniques. I finally found one that I really didn't enjoy making. :( When I came to this realization last night it made me very sad. I wasn't sad because I had a least favorite (they can't all be favorites, right?) I was sad because I have loved so many cards done with this technique. However, I guess I shouldn't be too surprised, it's not new information that I'm a little OCD (have you seen the title of this blog?) and this technique does not lend itself to precision or predictable outcomes. I even did two samples and still ended up with the same sense of dissatisfaction. Hopefully though, when you try this technique you will enjoy yourself.

Here's today's card-

Clear Block Background Stamping

In addition to using this as my EWT, I am using this as my Clean & Simple card of the week. I was hoping to be able to get a one-layer WOW card with this technique, but it didn't quite happen that way, for me at least.

I really had high hopes for this when I stamped my center, Bashful Blue section. The coverage was so even and even looked a little textured. I was doing my little *happy dance* and then I stamped the Certainly Celery, and So Saffron blocks and I stumbled and felt like "Elaine" from Seinfeld doing her dance. *tear* 

I had initially masked off my B.B. section and it seemed like even that little bit of elevation was throwing off the ability to get even coverage. I laid the block back down without the mask to try and get a little better coverage which is why you can see just a small line of C.C. below the leaves of the tree and S.S. in the middle of the leaves. I stamped my image from Easy Events by coloring my image with my Stampin Write Markers in Real Red, Garden Green and Chocolate Chip.

I decided to try again without the masking. Here's the second attempt-

Clear Block Background Stamping

While I'm much happier with the fact that these are all more consistent in their appearance, I really liked the idea of the center section being just B.B. so that it, in my mind at least, looked like it was lifted above the others giving it a layered effect. Perhaps I just need to do a single block or a single color. I'm hoping some of you will chime in and let me know if I'm being totally off my rocker on this. The more I'm looking at the second one, it's starting to grow on me a little.

Here's what you'll need to for this technique-
Clear Blocks,Colored Classic Ink Pads (I think light colors would probably work best for this) and the stamp of your choice.

Here's how to do this technique-

1- Start with a clean block and tap it on your ink pad until you get it covered completely.
2- Stamp on your cardstock with your block, applying firm pressure and lift straight up.
3- Ink up your chosen image, either by inking it in all one color with a pad or by coloring it in with your Stampin Write markers (like I did) and stamp your image.
4- Do one of two things, a- admire your creation and think of the smiles it's going to bring or b- curse loudly at your inability to be content with what you consider to be non-symmetrical, un-even, not perfect results. Three guess as to which one I did and the first two don't count. :)

In my defense I don't even do things like "Tie-Dye" because of the unpredictability of the results and the irregularities inherent in the process. :(

I do however think I will try this at least once more but maybe on a smaller card where I only feel the need for one color.

I don't have an inside to show you today. :( I feel like such an "Epic Failure" with today's post. *SMH*  In my despondency over what I felt to be my failure to create a beautiful card, I kinda lost my Mojo and couldn't think of anything for the inside. I stamped a sentiment from the now retired P.S. I love you (I had really hoped this would carry over, it had such nice "loving" sentiments) and just couldn't think of anything else to put inside. I think I'll go back later and maybe put a few punched hearts inside.

Can I just say this technique drove me to chocolate last night! AUGH!!!

Well, that's all I have for you today. I hope you, at least, liked today's card. I really hope my dissatisfaction with my inability to produce a card I was thrilled with doesn't keep you from trying your hand at this technique. As always, I would love to see what you're able to come up with. Like I said, I've loved others cards with this technique, just not my own.

Till next time-

Remember- Life is often more about the storms than the peace they seek to overwhelm. It's not about Waiting for the storm to pass, but Learning to Dance in the rain.

Be Safe,
Shan 

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Sneak Peak and a Challenge

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Hey y'all. Happy Humpday. I hope you're having an Amazing week!

The sun is shining here in the DMV and the birds nested under my window are singing. Should reach low 80's today...Sweet! Although I hear my little friends all day, you know what I haven't seen yet? Butterflies. I love them, always have. I especially love when you are lucky enough to have one come and rest on your hand. How  Incredible is that? We must seem like such huge, moving, giants and yet they trust enough to come and settle on us. WOW!!!

What's got me thinking butterfly's? Mr. UPS left me a package on my doorstep yesterday and I went in, sat down and promptly started going through all my new sneak peak goodies. One of my goodies was the new Patio Party DSP which I got as part of a recruitment bundle. SU takes such good care of us. I got two new stamp sets, DSP and new ribbon too!

I don't know about you, but whenever I get my DSP I look at each page and flip every other sheet around so when I go to look for a DSP to use I can see all of my selections without having to flip them over. Saves me time and frustration. When I was looking at and setting up my Patio Party DSP, I saw a sheet with nothing but pretty little butterflies. I knew I had to use it. I even had two different sketch challenges in mind to use it with. :) How often does that happen? For me not very. LOL

Do you ever know just how you want your card/project to turn out and have it seem so simple and then not have it look or feel right? That's what happened to me last night as I was putting this card together. I chose my sketch, a very simple and straightforward one, and yet I struggled. In the end, I was happy with my card, but what I thought was a short straight path turned out to be, at least mentally, twisty and bumpy. Let me know what you think.

Here's today's card-

Sneak Peek, Patio Party, 2012-2014 In Colors

Love, love, love the New DSP, ribbons and In-Colors. This card is chock-full of sneak peeks for you. I started with a base of Primrose Petals and layered on the Patio Party DSP. It makes me think of a summer night where someone has run through a meadow and surprised the butterflies and sent them soaring. I adhered a new strip of 1/4in stitched grosgrain ribbon to the edge of the DSP with SNAIL and tucked and secured the ends underneath the DSP. For the butterflies I used my Beautiful Wings Embosslet and the new Midnight Muse, Raspberry Ripple, and Summer Starfruit from the new In-Colors and a few Baja Breeze ones for accents. They were mounted with Mini-Glue Dots to punched circles of Baja Breeze and Whisper White c/s. The banner is from the new Itty Bitty Banners. There's a set of framelets that coordinates with these, but since I totally forgot these were part of my freebies, I didn't order them. Silly Shan!!! I inked the stamp with our my Midnight Muse Stampin Write Marker to get just the sentiment, stamped it and then handcut the banner. A few butterflies and 3 little pearls to echo the sketch and the front was done.

Here's the Sketch I used. It's from Sketch Frenzy Friday and if you haven't given them a try, I highly suggest it. They have great sketches each week and a fabulous group of ladies on their Design Team.

I stuck pretty close to the sketch. My only differences was to stagger the circles and to use pearls on the flag instead of off to the side. I hope they'll like my offering.

When it came to the inside, I was totally stumped! I actually considered leaving it till later and just not showing the inside. If you have seen any of my posts, you know this is just simply not done! I just couldn't think of a sentiment or decoration. As I went through my stamp sets for a sentiment I could use, I found one in one of my favorite sets Petite Pairs and I was off and running again. Here's the inside-

Truth be told as soon as I saw this sentiment, I thought of my sister Lisa. She is my Rock! We keep each other going whenever times get tough and luckily it's not too often that we have to "raise each other up". Being with her is so easy, like watching butterflies effortlessly floating skyward. I don't think she reads this everyday, but if you're reading today Lis... Love You! You're the Best!!!!!

I stamped the sentiment using our new ink-pads. LOVE THEM! OMGosh, they are soooo amazing! Getting a complete set is on my wishlist. If there are any stamping fairy god-mothers out there who listen out for heartfelt desires...Hear Me! :)  I added more butterflies to the inside, alternating them so the embossed and de-bossed sides showed. I then added some sponging and a little Dazzling Diamonds for a sweet little glittery surprise and my card was done.

Well, that's all I have for you today. I hope you liked today's card and I hope it makes you think of someone special in your life and inspires you to create something new. If you liked today's card, I hope you'll leave me a comment. I love hearing from you! If you liked it and would like to +1 or Pin it I've added the buttons to my sidebar for your convenience. Friends and Followers are always welcome too! :)

I hope to see you back soon for this weeks End of the Week Technique.

Till next time-

Remember- Life is often more about the storms than the peace they seek to overwhelm. It's not about Waiting for the storms to pass, but Learning to Dance in the rain.

Be Safe,
Shan

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Early Father's Day Card- Stampin 411 SSC #255 / My Challenge #21

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Hey y'all. Happy Tuesday! It's another rainy, gloomy day here in the DMV. At least it's not cold....glass half full and all that. :) I hope it's warm and sunny wherever you are.

It's time for this week's challenge card. I actually found a couple different ones that I liked this week but decided to go with this one over at Stampin 411. You can always count on them for a great sketch. I chose it because I thought it would provide a good frame for the focal point I had in mind.

Here's today's card-

Father's Day Card, Origami Shirt, SSC #225

I'm sooo happy with how this card turned out. I'm sure, like me, you've seen these little shirts everywhere. I've seen them in this size and in a bigger one too, but I love that this one is made with a piece of 4 x 6 cardstock so you can get 6 of these cute shirts out of one piece of DSP. Woot! I used the Letters to Santa DSP for mine. This was so easy! I'm definitely doing one for my upcoming Father's Day Stamp-Camp.

Want to know the hardest part about this card? Tying the paper "thread" I used on the buttons. I used my Paper Cutter to cut real thin strip of Bashful Blue c/s and threaded the button holes with it. I used the Mini-Buttons that SU sent me for free during one of their promotions. Love It! I oh-so, carefully tied it in the back and then Tombowed the ends up to the middle to secure it. A Mini-Glue Dot gave a little extra security and attached the buttons to my shirt-front.

Here's the Challenge Sketch I used for my inspiration-

Love this Sketch! I stuck pretty close to it too, even leaving the orientation the same. The only elements missing are the bow and the small pink layer which it seems like most people are interpreting as a ribbon layer. I just couldn't find a way to incorporate the bow and because my boxes were a little bigger than the sketch I left out the small pink layer. Hope the fine ladies over at Stampin 411 will think it fits. :)

So, if you've been following along with me at all, you probably know about my inability to mix and match DSP. *SMH* I tried with this, I really did! I had the other DSP's in this set out to use but just couldn't do it. So instead I added a lot of texture with my Embossing Folders. It's so funny, because I just now realized that the sketch incorporates the Stripes  and Lattice Folders. I almost used both but at the last minute decided to just stick with the Stripes. I did however use the folder to make a "plaid" background on my Certainly Celery panels that echos the plaid DSP on my shirt. I also used the Stripes Embossing Folder on my Bashful Blue layer at the bottom of my card-front.

I drew my colors directly from my DSP, only leaving out the Riding Hood Red. The base is Marina Mist, paired with Chocolate Chip, Bashful Blue, and Certainly Celery. I sponged the edges of my Whisper White piece with Bashful Blue. I also sponged this color over the stripes to make them stand out a little more. Some Certainly Celery sponged over those panels helped make the embossing "pop". I used Stampin Dimensionals on all of the center panels to elevate them. The Bashful Blue layer is Tombowed directly to the card-front.

Here's the inside-

How sad am I, that I had nothing special to put on the inside of my card? :'( There are some origami ties tutorials out there, I may have to try. If they're not too bulky, perhaps I can add one. I'm sure a guy wouldn't notice or be upset at the lack of a "little something extra" on the inside, but I sure do! I did sponge around the edge of my W.W. c/s for a little added dimension, but I just want more. The sentiment is from Teeny Tiny Wishes. I really don't know how I made it this long without that set and to think I was still reluctant to buy it. Silly Shan!

Well, that's all I have for you today. I hope you liked today's card and I hope it inspires you to try something new. Why don't you swing over to Stampin 411's page and play along too? If you liked today's card I hope you'll leave me a comment. I love hearing from you! Also, if you liked it, please feel free to +1 or Pin it. I've put the buttons on my sidebar for your convenience. Friends and Followers are always welcome too!

Till next time-

Remember- Life is often more about the storms than the peace they seek to overwhelm. It's not about Waiting for the storms to pass, but Learning to Dance in the rain.

Be Safe,
Shan

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MDS Monday- A Little "Spring" In My Afternoon

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Hey y'all. Happy Monday! I hope everyone had a wonderful weekend, especially all of you Fabulous Moms.

I've been inspired by my team-mates to try and do a little more with my MDS. They've been doing such Amazing scrapbook layouts I thought I'd try my hand at it too. Since my go-to MDS site over at Utah Diva's didn't give a heads-up as to what this weeks challenge would be, I decided to do a scrapbook page.

I work in Washington, D.C. and every afternoon I walk to the commuter line for a ride-home. (We call it the slug-line. Pretty weird name huh? Basically it's called that because you're supposed to sit there like a "slug" and not make yourself noticed.) I've been noticing all the beautiful flowers along my afternoon walk and have been stopping to take pictures of them. I'm sure I look like such a tourist and that people are wondering why I'm taking pictures of the flowers in front of the buildings, especially since I'm using my stoopid BB. :) On top of that it's just sooo nice to be outside, especially after hearing the birds who nest under my window A.C. unit talking all day about how Spring is finally here. No, seriously...they chirp for 8 1/2 hours straight talking to God and Mother Nature about the weather. I can almost hear the things they're saying. When it's sunny, they chirp about how nice and beautiful it is out. When it rains, I swear their tone changes, you can hear them "yelling" about how wet and yucky it is out. All day, chirp, chirp, chirp. And then I go outside to head home and I get to see the bright, little bits of God's love all around us that they've been chatting about.

Here's today's MDS Project-

MDS Scrapbook Page

I used a base of Garden Green and then added one of the Photo Layout Templates that comes standard with our MDS Program. All I did was drop in my pictures and add mats and drop shadows to them. For the text boxes I added two mats to give my text a background. The hardest part was picking the pictures I wanted to use.

This is only the second scrapbook page I've done and the first one where I've used a template. What do you think? I like it except now I think the tulips look too bright and crisp compared to the other flowers. Maybe I'm just being too OCD and too critical? Overall though, I think I'm pretty happy with it.

Well, that's all I have for today. I hope you liked today's MDS offering and it inspires you to step out of your comfort zone and try something that you're not real comfortable with. If you liked my page, I'd love to hear from you. Friends and Followers are always welcome too. :)

I hope to see you back real soon. If you'd like to do some Digital Crafting and don't already own our Amazing MDS product, you can get a FREE 30 day trial and try it out. Just head over to my ONLINE STORE and get your FREE TRIAL. As fabulous as our program already is, we're getting an upgraded version later this year. If you purchase it now, you'll get an automatic upgrade to the new program. That's a $19.95 value for Free.

Till next time-

Remember- Life is often more about the storms than the peace they seek to overwhelm. It's not about Waiting for the storm to pass, but Learning to Dance in the rain.

Be Safe,

Shan

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Happy Mother's Day

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Hey y'all. Just dropping in real quick to say Happy Mother's Day to all you Fabulous Moms.

I'm not getting to see my Momma today and I can't tell you how sad that makes me. I keep trying to talk her in to moving up here to the DMV from Florida, but for some reason she's a little resistant. LOL! Hard to blame her, I know. I miss her everyday.

She reads my blog so I know she'll see this. I actually even got her card in the mail in time for her to get it this year, so I know she's got a little piece of hand-crafted paper love too. I think about her everyday and every time I hear this song, it makes me cry because I miss her sooo darn much. Heck, I'm all teary eyed just typing this and I haven't even put the video in yet.

Here's a special video for my Momma and for all the rest of you Mom's out there too-

I hope you all have a Blessed Day and that the children in your lives take a few minutes out today to show you how much they appreciate you.

I Love You Momma!!!!!!


Till next time-

Remember- Life is often more about the storms than the peace they seek to overwhelm. It's not about Waiting for the storms to pass, but Learning to Dance in the Rain. 

If your Momma helped you to learn to Dance in the Rain, be sure to tell her Thanks!

Be Safe,
Shan Pin It

A Quick and Easy Thank-You

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Hey y'all. Happy Friday! I hope you have had an Amazing week and are looking forward to an even better weekend. I've got one last card for you this week, I hope you're going to like it.

A while back, I said I was going to try and do more Clean and Simple type cards. The goal was to do one a week and I've been getting some done but they sure are hard for me. :) hey're just way outside my comfort zone. Today's card is more of a Quick and Easy than Clean and Simple. I call it that because it has just a little-bit more going on with it than your regular Clean and Simple card. At least I think it does. You be the judge-

Here's today's card-

Quick and Easy Thank-You featuring Easy Events Stamp Set

I started with a base of Garden Green c/s, which I actually had to open up for this card. Such a pretty color, but it sure doesn't get used much. Now with the cute Gumball Green, who knows when it will get used again. LOL.

Next I ran a piece of Whisper White c.s through my Big-Shot with the Perfect Polka Dots Embossing Folder for a little added detail. I topped this layer with a piece of Daffodil Delight Seam Binding that I secured under the W.W. c/s with a little SNAIL. Love me some SNAIL... (for securing ribbon, HAHAHA)...bet you never thought you'd hear me say that did you!?! I added a sweet little double bow to this that I secured with a Mini-Glue Dot.  I then adhered this layer to my base with Tombow.

My focal point was actually inspired by our new catalog. In the accessories section they have a container with framelets that have a little heart punched out of them with DSP showing from underneath. I decided to step it up a little by making the DSP layer a mat as well. To do this I colored my flowers from the Easy Event Stamp set with my Stampin Write Markers in Garden Green and More Mustard. I positioned my #2 (next to the smallest) Label Framelet over this so there was extra space to the left where I would punch my flower. (I used an old retired punch, but the flower in the Bitty Punch Pack or Boho Blossoms would work just as well.)

Here's where I tell you to do as I say and not as I do-

****Punch your design first and then attach your DSP to the back. Don't attach your DSP and then punch through both.*****

I didn't think about this (it was at the end of about 2 1/2 hours of stamping after a full day at work) and had to punch through both layers. Even though the DSP is thin it was still a little tough to punch. It actually almost tore the W.W. piece since it was so close to the edge. Thankfully, it still looks good enough to give or sell, but I don't recommend you do it that way. I made the DSP mat by cutting two DSP labels and then cutting them both in half (opposite ways) to form the mat. I adhered this over my Seam Binding with some leftover dimensional pieces. For me this extra punching and matting is what moved it from a C&S to a Q&E card, but I may be a little weird like that.

Here's the inside-

For the inside I inked up the sentiment portion of the stamp in Basic Black with my markers and stamped. I then inked up a single flower from the image on the front of the card with my markers and stamped it. I let Tink come out and play to give my flower and leaves a little sparkle and my card was done.

The most time consuming part of the card was the stamping. I'm really happy with how this card turned out. What do you think? I hope it will make someone's day just a little brighter.

Well, that's all I have for you today. I hope you liked today's card and I hope it inspires you to make something just a little outside your norm. If you liked it I would love to hear from you! Also if you liked today's card and would like to +1 or Pin it, I've put the buttons on my sidebar for your convenience. Friends and Followers are always welcome too! :)

Don't forget to check out the RETIRED LISTS in my ONLINE STORE. The Accessories are going quickly and they are While Supplies Last ONLY! You're favorite Retiring Stamps will only be around until the end of this month.

I hope to see you back here soon for all new projects. I wish you a fabulous weekend filled with Family, Friends and of course, plenty of time for creativity.

Till next time-

Remember- Life is often more about the storms, than the peace they seek to overwhelm. It's not about Waiting for the storms to pass, but Learning to Dance in the rain.


Be Safe,
Shan

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