Valentine Pinwheel

A special thanks to Dawn Griffith for inspiring this card. I love this technique and hope to use it a lot in the future. It's perfect for using up small amounts of leftover designer series paper as I have done here.



The pinwheel is created by using two 2 5/8" square pieces of cardstock (in this case red) layered on top of one another but off set. You then punch out 8 squares using the 1 1/4" square punch, 4 each of two designs. Adhering only one corner of each piece, you place them in an overlapping fashion to the cardstock. When you reach the last one, you tuck it under and you're done! It looks much more complicated than it is. Let me know if you have any questions!

Stamps: Teeny Tiny Wishes

CS: Pretty in Pink, Real Red, Very Vanilla

DSP: Sending Love Specialty (retired)

Ink: Real Red

Punches: 1 1/4" square, Modern Label, Word Window, Trio Flower (retired)

Other: Pretty In Pink brad, Basic Pearls

Sending Love

The design for today's card was inspired by the card on page 18 of the new Occasions Mini Catalog. I love using our catalogs as jumping off points for my own designs.


I would have liked to use black ribbon on this card but the satin was too shiny and the grosgrain was too stiff. I really hope that we will get the seam binding ribbon in every color we carry! Wouldn't that be awesome?

Stamps: Love You Much

CS: Very Vanilla Textured, Cherry Cobbler, Basic Black, Very Vanilla

DSP: Patterns DSP Stack

Ink: Cherry Cobbler, Basic Black

Punches: Spiral Border, Heart To Heart

Other: Cherry Cobbler seam binding ribbon, black brad

Special Thank You

Today's card is for a special mentor of mine. I hope she likes it! It was not a quick and easy card for sure but it was fun to make.


The flower was made by punching out a total of 5 scalloped circles and then folding 4 of them into fourths and then adhering those onto the fifth scallop. Before I folded them, I spritzed them with a combination of alcohol and champagne shimmer paint to give them a little shine and crumpled them up. I gave the leaves the same treatment. I like how it turned out. Let me know if you have any questions. Thanks for stopping by!

Stamps: Vintage Vogue, Thank You Kindly

CS: Chocolate Chip, Crumb Cake, Baja Breeze, Pear Pizazz, Very Vanilla

Ink: Chocolate Chip

Punches: 1 3/4"Scallop Circle, Scallop Trim Border, Decorative Label XL , Corner rounder (non-SU)

Die: Birds and Blooms

Other: Chocolate Chip Satin Ribbon, Self Adhesive Rhinestones, Sending Love brad (retired)

Fang-tastic Halloween

Hi there!

Welcome to my first Mojo Monday attempt. Okay, it's not my first CARD I've made from the inspirational sketches, but it IS the first one I've managed to post.

I love the way this card turned out.

I started with a base of Old Olive card stock and then layered it with Whisper White that was sponged with old olive ink. A layer of the striped paper from Wicked Fun Specialty designer paper is attached to Rich Razzleberry at both the top and bottom with machine stitching. Don't you love how perfectly straight the scallop edge is? Want to know my secret? I punched out three flowers out of card stock using the Fancy Flower Extra large punch. Then I cut off two scallops at a time and laid them side by side. Cute, huh?

The cute little witch is stamped in black Staz-on onto Whisper White card stock and is colored in with markers. The sentiment is stamped on a piece of Old Olive card stock that has been punched out with the new Decorative Label punch that was then cut in half.

My "buttons" were created using a 1/2" circle punch, a 1/16" circle punch, versamark ink and embossing powder. I love these flatter "buttons" for mailing. The card is topped off with a piece of Rich Razzleberry polka dot grosgrain ribbon that has the polka dots turned to the inside.



I hope you enjoyed this card!

Stamps: Fang-tastic, Teeny Tiny Wishes

Card stock: Old Olive, Whisper White, Rich Razzleberry, Basic Black

DSP: Wicked Fun Specialty

Ink: Black Stazon, Pumpkin Pie, Old Olive, Rich Razzleberry, Versamark

Punches: Fancy Flower, Designer Label, 1/2" circle

Other: Rich Razzleberry polka dot grosgrain ribbon (retired), clear embossing powder

Amour Box

Hi friends!

Today I made a box to share with you. My pictures don't do it justice of course. I really need to improve my photography skills!

Anyway, this was a really fun project to put together. The box is made from a 6"x6" piece of black cardstock and a 6"x6" piece of designer series paper. Both sheets are scored at 1" on all sides, tabs cut on two sides and adhered to make the box shape.

I decorated the top of the box with the Artistic Etchings stamp set and some of the yummy new Cherry Cobbler seam binding that is available September 1st from the new Holiday Mini. Have you received your copy yet? If not and you would like one, leave me a comment and I'll be happy to contact you to get yours to you.

Before adhering all the pieces to the top, the box received a light spritz of champagne shimmer mist. It is so pretty in person.

I overworked my score lines on the designer series paper and one of the corners tore a little bit when I was putting the top on. So I reinforced all four corners with the word window punch. It looks a bit like the bits of strapping on an old-fashioned suitcase and I love it!

Stamps: Artistic Etchings

Cardstock: Basic Black, Very Vanilla

DSP: Newsprint

Ink: Black Stazon, Cherry Cobbler

Punches: Word Window

Other: Antique Brads, Cherry Cobbler seam binding, Champagne shimmer paint

New or old? Does it matter?

Hi friends!

Recently there was a discussion on one of my favorite stamping message boards about using up your stash of retired paper that really got me thinking. I LOVE buying and using new paper (and stamps, and accessories, and punches, etc.) as much as the next stamper! But what sometimes happens, at least with me, is that we buy so much new stuff and our "old" stuff gets shoved to the back of the closet or underneath all the new stuff. I have unearthed what was "new stuff" not long ago which is now retired and I never even opened the package! Please tell me this happens to other people too! I'm not alone in this, right?

I have decided that I really need to use what I love and that means that sometimes I will be using retired product. Most of the cards and projects I make can be adapted to any paper or any embellishments anyway. And while I would LOVE to sell new products to you, I also want to encourage you to use what you have. Use it in a different way than you ever thought you would. Try some color combinations that you think don't "go". Use some stamp sets that are in the back of your closet and pair them with some of your newer sets. Have some fun! Plus, remember that you can get a great deal on some retired items by checking out the Clearance Rack in my online store (link to my store is on the right sidebar). Of course if you must buy some new things too I'll never tell!

Today I put my money where my mouth is and I present my own version of a "hybrid" card. Only instead of mine being a hybrid of traditional and digital cardmaking, they are hybrids of new and old product.

Both cards are very similar and were inspired by a great card artist, Vicki Burdick.

Stamps: Apple Blossoms (level 2 hostess set), Teeny Tiny Wishes

Cardstock: Crumb Cake, Cajun Craze, Very Vanilla

DSP: Fall Flowers (ret.)

Ink: Crumb Cake, Cajun Craze, Early Espresso

Punches: Large corner rounder (ret), Spiral Punch

Other: Orchard ribbon (ret), vintage brads (ret), library card template from Heather Nichols



Stamps: Apple Blossoms (level 2 hostess set), Teeny Tiny Wishes

Cardstock: Crumb Cake, Brilliant Blue (ret), Real Red, Very Vanilla

DSP: Summer Picnic (ret.)

Ink: Crumb Cake, Real Red, Early Espresso

Punches: Large corner rounder (ret), Spiral Punch

Other: Striped grograin ribbon (ret), playground buttons (ret), scallop envelope die (for pocket), library card template from Heather Nichols

Do you use mostly new products? Mostly old? Does it matter to you?

So, what do you say? Let's be trendsetters and show how the latest and greatest can be combined with last year's latest and greatest to create some fabulous projects!

Happy Birthday, Baby!

Hi there! No, I haven't forgotten about my blog OR stamping! It seems like time is just going by way too quickly. I picked my daughter up from college in the middle of May and then we were on vacation. Since then I have been creating cards and sending them out in order to meet deadlines and keep forgetting to photograph my projects first.

Today I remembered and took a minute to take a picture before heading out to my great-niece's first birthday party!



This was a fun card to make since I just LOVE the Fox and Friends stamp set. I am so glad it was included in the new 2010-2011 Idea Book and Catalog!

The card base is Crumb Cake with a layer of Chocolate Chip on top of that. The squares are Melon Mambo and the images are stamped onto Whisper White with Pumpkin Pie and Chocolate Chip. I am making myself hungry typing this list!

The ribbon I used is no longer available (sob!) but there are several ribbons in the new catalog that could be substituted.

By the way, if you would like a copy of the catalog let me know. They are $5 plus shipping if you buy from me directly. If you are local to me, I am happy to deliver it to you to save you the shipping fee.

Thanks for stopping by!

Stamps: Fox and Friends, Teeny Tiny Wishes, Tiny Tags

Cardstock: Crumb Cake, Chocolate Chip, Melon Mambo, Whisper White

Ink: Chocolate Chip, Pumpkin Pie, Melon Mambo

Punches: 1 3/8" square, 1 1/4" square, Modern label, Word Window, Medium Jewelry Tag

Other: Melon Mambo polka dot ribbon (retired), dimensionals, linen thread