Tagged!

Marie at The Stamp Lounge tagged me ... now it's time for me to answer a few questions and tag someone else!

1. Stamping Style: Hmm, not sure I have just one. I tend to like clean & simple lines and sometimes opt to focus on a single image ... but then I'll get into an 'altered' mood and start roughing things up and layering quite a bit. I guess on the blog, I've tended to post some of the projects that fall more into the 'quick stamping' category since I assume everyone is time-crunched like me.

2. Inspiration: Almost any magazine can spark a layout or color idea, I love checking out graphic design mags, and, of course, other stampers creativity ... color inspiration comes from everywhere ... sometimes just seeing a couple paper scraps on my studio table or ink colors from different projects blended on my grid paper.

3. Color: I tend to go for stronger colors ... black, white with hot pinks, reds & oranges ... seems I've done several hot pink & orange combos. Recently I've been doing more with chocolate brown and also love 'retro' color combinations. I just saw an artists work that uses teal and rust - going to have to try that.

4. Workspace: I have a 2-car garage that is now my studio. The back corner has lots of work surface area, cabinets all around and craftsmen tool chests under the work surfaces ... still feel like I could some more organizational help but it's a start! The front of the garage has a long table from Ikea that can seat 10 - perfet for classes - or just when I need to spread out for a sewing project or some other activity.

5. Perfect: Sleep in, yoga, chill with a magazine and a cup of coffee (or sometimes tea), time with friends, time to create, time to spend with the husband, time to explore, laughing, lots of music, more sleep.

6. First Job: Guessing the first job would be at A&W - it was short-lived as I quickly found a job at a bookstore but there business wasn't doing too well so I ended up working the rest of the summer at Yum-Yum donuts. As a student, starting work at 6am puts a major cramp in your summer activities ... and I didn't eat donuts for years after that -- surrounded by fried sugar and with a 'donuts anytime' policy, they were no longer appealing. I still opt for an english muffin, bagel or toast over donuts ...

7. Wildest Dream: I wanted to be a rock star when I was a kid ... now, I dream of doing voice-over work while Grady makes creative works for hire giving us plenty of money and time to do other things for ourselves.

8. Ink: Love the Stampin' Up! ink - can't go wrong with the easy color matching and the quality is great. I tend to use more classic (dye-based) ink - but also like working with craft (pigment-based) ink for custom embossing colors. Craft ink is also great to use like paint on small projects, too. Staz-On is perfect for watercolor and other special techinques. Versmark - can't go wrong for a clear embossing ink. I also like Tim Holtz distress inks and Adirondak alcohol inks for some aging and altering things.

9. Family: Originally from California - Mom's still in the area and lives in the same town as my in-laws so easy to see everyone at the holidays. Father in Idaho. Brothers in Idaho and NY. Brother- & sister-in-law & nieces live just a few minutes away from us in San Jose so we get to see them quite a bit - others from bro-in-laws & family are in Napa, Austin and Volcano (Hawaii) ...

10. Biggest Challenge: Time. Relaxation. Pacing. Working a full-time corporate gig doesn't always leave much time or headspace for creativity ... I have to remember to also leave time to just chill out and do nothing - sometimes that's when the creative ideas show up.

Now ... to tag some more folks ...

Heather at Witty Title Here

Dawn at Treasure Oiler Designz

Rabbit Moon ...

A friend of mine sent me some clown heads for a future art project I want to do (I'm surprised how difficult it has been to find clowns). To thank her, I made this card. She loves bunnies ... has several of her own and helps with bunny rescue.


Stamps: I used a stamp set called "Rabbit Moon" from Taiwan that I found at a local stamp store.

Inks: I like the pen brush stroke illustration style used for these images. Colors are Ruby Red, So Saffron and Creamy Carmel.I stamped off the So Saffron to lighten the sun a bit.

Paper: I used a pre-cut/scored notecard from Stampin' Up! and layered with Night of Navy and Whisper White textured cardstock. Last touch ... a small piece of decorative Japanese paper.

Need to get this card in the mail ...

Happy Valentine's Day ...

Here's another card from my January class ... paper flowers for Valentine's Day!

Making the flowers is much like making the Valentine Treat Toppers ... stamp, punch & stick.

Punches Used:

• Scallop Circle Punch


• 1 3/8" Circle Punch (or 1 1/4 Circle Punch depending on the size of your stamp)


• 1/2" Circle Punch

Stamp Sets: Big Pieces, Little Pieces, Holidays & Wishes

Colors (inks & cardstock): Groovy Guava, Wild Wasabi, Purely Pomegranate, Soft Sky, Blue Bayou ... and Whisper White craft ink.

To make the flowers petals ...
I punched 2 scallop circles of textured cardstock (2 pieces so that I could put the wire stem in the center and still have a finished flower back).

To create the centers ...
I stamped images from Big Pieces and punched them out with the 1 3/8" Circle Punch. Then, I stamped images from Little Pieces and punched them out with the 1/2" Circle Punch. To complete the centers, I attached the 1/2" circles to the 1 3/8" circles using brads (a paper piercer works great to create a starter hole for the brads). Next, I attached the 1 3/8" circles to one of the scallop circles using Stampin' Dimensionals.

To finish the flowers ...
I cut a piece of wire (approx. 6"), folded it in half and twisted ... creating the stem. I sandwhiched the wire between the 2 scalloped circles using Sticky Strip.

To attach the flowers to the card ...
I used Stampin' Dimensionals behind one flower, and Sticky Strip behind the other (creating some depth). Finally, I punched two small holes with a paper piercer on either side of the wire stems and tied with a small piece of linen thread.

Last Steps ...
I used a Stamp-a-ma-jig to place the "Happy Valentine's Day" greeting ... stamped in Whisper White craft ink on textured Purely Pomeagranate cardstock. The final piece is attached a Whisper White greeting card ... ready for sending.

Have Fun!

Valentine Treats ...

While playing around in the Stamp Garage last month, figuring out what valentine stamp projects to include in my class, I decided one of the projects should be "3-D" ... as in, not just another card. Well, of course chocolate and Valentine's Day go great together so a chocolate-filled cello bag was a start. I didn't want to make the project to complicated or time consuming (we're all crunched for time) and wanted something beyond the standard tag ... enter the punches! Lots of them!

For this project, I used 6 punches:

• Scallop Circle
• 1 3/8" Circle
• 1 1/4" Circle
• 1" Circle
• 1/2" Circle
• Double Rectangle

Stamp Sets: I used 'Circle of Friendship' and 'Little Pieces.'
Cardtstock: Pretty in Pink, Chocolate Chip, Pink Passion, Whisper White
Ink: Chocolate Chip, Pink Passion

Steps to make your own sweet treats goodie bag ...

Punch out one piece of Pink Passion cardstock using the Scallop Circle punch. Then punch two rectangle slots from your Pink Passion scallop circle using the Double Rectangle punch.














Next, punch out a Pretty in Pink circle using a 1 3/8" Circle punch and a Chocolate Chip circle using a 1 1/4" Circle punch. Then, stamp your favorite saying from the 'Circle of Friendship' stamp set using Chocolate Chip ink on Whisper White cardstock. Punch out the image using a 1" Circle punch. Stamp your favorite image from 'Little Pieces' in Pink Passion ink on Pretty in Pink cardstock and punch out using a 1/2" Circle punch. Adhere the 3 larger circles using your favorite adhesive -- leave the 1/2" circle for later.














Run a piece of ribbon through the slots on the Pink Passion scallop (I used pink and white gingham ribbon that is 3/16" wide). Next, attach the Pretty in Pink (1 3/8")circle to the front of the Pink Passion scallop using a couple Stampin' Dimensionals. (Be sure that your ribbon runs out the back of the scallop so that you can tie your treat topper to the cello bag.) Adhere the small Pretty in Pink (1/2") circle to the center of your 'Circle of Friendship' (1") circle using a Stampin' Dimensional.














You're now ready to fill your cello bag with your treat of choice and tie on the scallop decoration. Voila!














For my treats, I used small cello bags (3" x 5") - they were the perfect size to share a small handful of Hershey's Kisses.

Hope you have a great Valentine's Day next week. And, if you're not celebrating Valentine's Day - use black cardstock for your scallop and go with an Anti-Valentine's Day treat ... everyone loves chocolate. ;)