Christmas Card Samples

Hiya everyone, it's been awhile since I've posted but I'm excited to share with you some Christmas cards I have made for samples for the store where I work. Simple Pleasures here in Colorado.

We carry the much loved Stampotique line and I'm

always honored to make samples for the store.

I just love all of the Stampotique line of stamps and I like how they can be used in so many different and unique ways. 

For these cards, I used all the following stamps:

Sonia Winter, Nina As Fankie, Agatha Antlers all by Magda Polakow

Snowy Owl - by Terri Richardson

Holly Wally - By Karen Hayselden

I hope you enjoyed my cards. If your ever in the Colorado Springs area come by the store and say hello.

Merry Christmas!!!

Simple Cards

Hello all and welcome back to the blog today. I wanted to share with you some simple cards that I have been making. Mostly for my daughter who went off to college. I like to send her a card at least once every other week and these are some of the cards I've made

The first two cards are some that I created with Stampotique stamps:

Leaf Tree - By Terri Richardson

Animal Cube - By Magda Polakow

The next two cards were made by using Stamping Up stamp and die sets. I love these two they are so fun, thanks to pinterest for the inspiration haha!

Thanks so much for stopping by, I hope you like my Simple cards... I love your comments so if you have a chance let me know what you think.
CHEERS!!

A Dashboard for my Travelers Notebook

Hello everyone and welcome to my blog. Today I am sharing with you a dashboard that I made for my Chic Sparrow travelers notebook. I use this planner as my wallet and carry it in my purse, it is my go-to for all my planner needs. I bought my newest calendar with months, October, November and December from Chic Sparrow and I really like to decorate my own cover.

For this cover I used Stampotique Stamps:

Arnold and Sargent by Daniel Torrente

Animal Cube by Magda Polokow

I used mostly acrylic paints in my background and just printed out my own sentiment in Word

I used the new Enamel Accents and created a few little dots in yellow. They are raised and add a nice little touch.

I had so much fun with this. It's so relaxing to just throw some paint on a page and just go with it. 

Don't forget about Stampotique's ATC  swap on our Facebook page there is tons of inspiration there and on

Pinterest

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Homemade Coasters with Stampotique

Hello everyone, thanks for stopping by today. I wanted to show you some coasters that I made for my daughter and sister featuring Stampotique stamps and some Dylusions sayings.

I also want to invite you to come over to the Stampotique Designer's Challenge Blog and join us this week in our challenge. We always have some great prizes.

this project took me all of about two days to finish. I made two sets of 6 coasters for a total of 12. I created my backgrounds, two by two, all the same so that I could make two sets of coasters pretty quickly.

For the backgrounds I used mostly acrylic paint (since it's permanent and won't smear when I get ready to seal them)

If I used inks it was mostly Archival that I used. Distress or anything else would smear. I love to add washi tape and doodles into my backgrounds as well.

Most of my stamped images were stamped onto thinner cardstock and colored and then fussy cut out. (that what takes the longest in this process) 

The first set were made for my sister. She is a fun and sarcastic person so I used some of the Dylusion's stamped sayings on them.

The second set were made for my daughter and I used mostly Stampotique's sayings

Even though the backgrounds are the same, the coasters came out very different. 

This was so much fun and I loved making them. Time to buy some more blank coasters and make more!!!

(At the bottom of this email I will list with links, the Stampotique stamps I used.)

Don't forget about Stampotique's New ATC  swap on our Facebook page, there 

is tons of inspiration there and also on

Pinterest

Stampotique Images:

Starfish Cube, Dog Cube, Reggie, Rudy, lovelyarethesound, Friend, Bla Bla Bla = all by Daniel Torrente

Willow, Casper = By Tracy Scott

Phrase Cube - By Terri Richardson

Sealife Cube, Animal Cube, Agatha Flower, Ignis - By Magda Polakow

Wally - By Karen Hayselden

Design Cube 2 - By France Papillon

Sorry it's been awhile!!! Pocket Letters

Wow, it's been way too long since I've updated my blog. So sorry.... I've had so much on my plate lately and just haven't had enough time in the day. 

If you haven't already seen the new release from Stampotique and taken a trip on the blog hop, you have to check it out HERE!

There are some fabulous new stamps and a new designer too!

We have a fun ATC swap going on too at the Facebook page

If you can I would encourage you to join us.

I wanted to show you a pocket letter that I created for a swap with one of the Stampotique design team members.

I love pocket pages but haven't made one just yet. I really don't have a clue what I'm doing haha!

Funny thing is, I ended up making two of the pocket letters haha!

I used loads of new stampotique stamps and also some older ones.

Stampotique stamps I used are:

Medium Bee with Tiny bee - By Jo Capper-Sandon

Bella and Lola by new designer - Tracy Scott

Small Homes Quote - By Janet Klein

Kassa's Bloom - By Karen Hayselden

Phrase Cube and Lightening Bug - By Terri Richardson

Beach Huts - By Kate Crane

Flower Cube, Animal Cube and Agatha Flower - By Magda Polokow

Take your Time - By Daniel Torrente

Whisker Monster - By Kira Nichols

Paisley Background - By Arwen McCullen

Whew!! That's a lot of stamps!!! These pocket letters were a lot of fun to put together and I hope my partner likes them :)

Thanks for stopping by and Have a wonderful day!!!

Stampotique Challenge 247 - Boo

Hello all and welcome back to another week and another fun challenge at Stampotique....

Before I get into the challenge I want to tell you some exciting news! I've been published! YAY! I'm so excited, this will be my first time in a magazine and I'm thrilled to pieces!

Stampotique's designers had a two page spread in Craft Stamper Magazine's June issue and I was one of the designer's

Check it out!!

This is the full photo of my Tag:

How cool is that? I'm so excited!

Now onto the Stampotique challenge for the week

Our Hostess this week is Coby and she has challenged us to a "Boo" of a challenge. Here is what she says:

""Say Boo to little children and they will laugh.... use the word Boo in your projects this week to let us laugh."

So let's see how you can use the word Boo this week"

I decided to do a bookmark this week, I thought it would be fun to have a bookmark with the word Boo on it haha!

I used Stampotique Stamp:
Agatha Witch - By Magda Polakow

One of my favorite books is To Kill a Mockingbird and I love how Agatha peeks her head out of the top of the book, too cute, right??

I really hope you will join us this week at the Stampotique Challenge Blog  and thanks for stopping by. Have a wonderful week!

For more inspiration see us on

Facebook

and

Pinterest

Stampotique Challenge 245 - Circles

Good afternoon or morning or night to you all today. I am running a little late on this week's challenge. My daughter graduated from high school this passed Wednesday and we were celebrating with her. We also had family over to celebrate with us so it's been a very busy week/weekend

I did however have time to put something together for this challenge, it's just a bit late.

The theme this week is "Circles" and Kristen Catalano is our hostess. Here is what she says about this challenge:

"I love to use circles on my projects, so this week I'm asking you to get creative and show us what you can do with circles"

I worked in a tag book that a friend of mine sent to me

I can't tell you how much I love the Mabel stamp from Karen Hayselden, it's been a "goto" for me

I also used Stampotique stamps - Kate's Doodle Square by artist Kate Crane and also, Agatha Text #1 by artist Magda Polakow 

We hope you will come on over to the Stampotique Challenge Blog and join us this week.

For more inspiration see us on

Facebook

and

Pinterest

Stampotique Challenge 241 - TV Show or Movie Inspired

This week over at Stampotique we have a super fun challenge for you. Kristen is our hostess and she is challenging us to  "TV Show or Movie Inspired"

Here is what Kristen says about this challenge

"This week I want to see what you can create that is inspired by one of your favorite TV shows of Movies."

I have a bunch of TV shows and Movies that I love so this one was tough for me. I went with an oldie but goodie movie and I decided to do a journal page. 

I used Stampotique Stamps:

Cecil The Cow - By Karen Hayselden

Dog Cube - By Daniel Torrente

Gucci Walking - By Magda Polakow

Blocks - By Maryse Carrier

I just love how all the Stampotique stamps go so nicely together even though they are from completely different artists. 

We hope you will come on over to the Stampotique Challenge Blog and join us this week.

For more inspiration see us on

Facebook

and

Pinterest

Stampotique Challenge - 227 Color Blobs

Hello everyone and welcome back to the blog today. It's Wednesday and that means another challenge over at Stampotique Designer's Bog

This week Arwen McCullen is our hostess and she is challenging us to "Color Blobs" she wants to see blobs of different colors in your design this week.

For this challenge I decided to do a journal page. I love the idea of colorful blobs all over my page. 

I used Tim Holtz Distress stains on my background and kind of just blobbed them on. I love that splatter effect

I used Designer Magda Polokow's stamp called Young Ignis

I think anytime your just vegging with your

favorite stuffed animal it's a "happy" time. 

I also used Daniel Torrente's Circle Cube in the upper lefthand corner of this page. I colored each circle the colors of my background. 

Come on over to the Stampotique Challenge blog and join us this week

For more inspiration see us on

Facebook

and

Pinterest

Stampotique Challenge 226 - Trees

Happy New Year and thanks for coming by the blog today. This is the first challenge for Stampotique in the new year and I'm really excited. 

I am hosting this one and my challenge to you is "Trees"

"Trees have always been such a source life for many living creatures, I just love them. I am challenging you to create something with trees"

My project is a journal page

This page was so much fun and I used Stampotique stamps:

Agatha Traveler - By artist Magda Polokow

Dog Cube, Tree - By Artist Daniel Torrente

I really hope you will come by our Stampotique Designer's Challenge Blog and join us this week. We always have two lucky 30.00 winners each month.

Also, if your not a member of our Facebook group, come and join us for lots of inspiration.

CHEERS!!!

Stampotique New Release, Blog Hop and Giveaway

Welcome to the Stampotique New Release and Blog Hop...

You should have arrived from Coby's Blog and if you didn't, you may want to start the blog hop from the beginning at the  Designer's Challenge Blog

If you haven't had a chance to see what's new, you can do that over on the Stampotique's website HERE

We'll be giving away a $30 gift certificate for stamps and a grab bag of stamps on two of the blogs-but you won't know which ones they are, so stop by and visit them all and make sure to comment on each blog along the way. We will pick the winners on our first challenge in September.

For my projects today I did a few Altered Playing Cards

I used Stampotique new release stamps:

Just Keep On and Foxy by Kate Crane
Nina as Frankie and Reindeer By Magda Polakow
Swirlywurly (in the background of the second APC) and
 Tree-O By Jo Capper-Sandon

I also used pre-released stamps:

When I Grow Up - Carol's Collection
Front Door Shrubbery - By Daniel Torrente

I also have a BIG announcement to make, Kim Howard our wonderful and amazing Design Team Coordinator is stepping down after years of leading this wonderful team. 
She will be turning over the reigns to me and I am honored and thrilled to be taking over to lead this superb design team for Stampotique and I thank Kim for all the help and support as I prepare to take over. Kim isn't leaving us for good, she will still be lurking around behind the scenes. I'm sure I speak for everyone on this team when I say a heartfelt "THANK YOU" to Kim for the amazing job she has done.

And with that, I hope you have enjoyed my Altered Playing Cards, Your next stop on the blog hop is:
 Valerie's Blog 

Remember to leave a comment on each blog for your chance to win!! 

CHEERS!!!

Altered Puzzle Week 13 - The Last Pieces

Hello and welcome back to the blog today. This is the week 13 post for the Altered Puzzle Challenge and the last post. Can you believe it's already the last post of this challenge? Wow! Suggestions on what we should do next?? Let me know int he comments section.

Here are the links to the previous posts for this challenge

Week 1

Week 2

Week 3

Week 4

Week 5

Week 6

Week 7

Week 8

Week 9
Week 10
Week 11
Week 12

Our Facebook group is here:

Facebook Group

This week I'm doing some simple but fun pieces

To begin I used Tim Holtz distress paints and spread a few colors on my craft mat... I then spritzed with water and ran my two pieces through the colors

Doing this gives a marbled effect to my backgrounds, it's beautiful, I set those aside to dry completely

Next I took a die cut leaf and my puzzle piece and distressed the edges with some brown archival ink

I stamped the background with a stamp called Seaweed by artist Jo-Capper Sandon and stamped that onto my background.....
I then used a stamp called Reggie by artist Daniel Torrente, stamped and colored him and added him to my background along with my leaf
(both stamps from Stampotique Originals)

I used these little beads called Mini Prills to the bottom of my puzzle piece to imitate sand at the bottom of the sea

I used glossy accents as a glue for this and applied it to the bottom of my piece

I then dropped the "Prills" on top of the glue

Lastly I went around the edges with my Copper pen

 This is my first finished piece, I love those little pills on the bottom, they are so fun

For my next piece I used a couple of stamps from Stampotique as well, these are from the New August release 
One is called - Agatha Flower and the other is Agatha's Watering Can both are by artist Magda Polakow

I simply stamped them, colored and cut them out and glued them on (simple)

I used Distress Glitter in the middle of my flower to make it shine, I applied glossy accents as my glue and sprinkled the glitter onto the flower

Here are both pieces together

and here is the final completed puzzle

and close ups of each side

I have a secret to share with you, remember this piece from week 10? It was a piece that I had done complete as one piece
Well if you look at it closely, I accidentally created the piece upside down. The edge is on the left here and it should be on the right.... Want to know how I fixed it?

My friend Terri Richardson and I brainstormed and she came up with the idea to separate the cardboard top from the bottom
I used my Xacto knife and did just that... you can see here that I flipped the cardboard bottom around

Here I put the top decorated piece over the cardboard piece to see what I need to do to fix it and make the two pieces look right

I ended up decorated potions of the cardboard piece, like the rounded potion on the left, to match my top
Here you can see the top and bottom together after I colored the bottom cardboard piece

Next I glued the top piece to the bottom cardboard piece and cut around the edges to make it look like a piece that was always correct.
In the following photo if you look closely you can see how I had to make adjustments and cut the pieces. The edge is now on the left side of the piece, like it should be

So the piece went from this (upside-down)

To this

Here is the corrected piece in my puzzle

Pretty cool right? Thanks to my friend Terri for the suggestion!! 

Thanks everyone so much for joining me in this challenge, I really hope you had as much fun as I have with this. 

I'm so excited about my finished puzzle, I just love it!! 

I cannot wait to see your final puzzles. 

CHEERS!!!!