Thank You

I've deleted the 2 previous posts. I was not seeking a pity party, my emotions are raw from an unrelated incident, not even stamping related, and just should have kept my mouth shut.

I apologize.

Hello, Friend~

CHF Designer Style Blog Challenge. CASE something from another CHF DT member's gallery. I chose Kristine and this card: Seed of Friendship.
I changed up a few things but the original card can be seen in my version.

Stamps: Friend Centers by Mona Lisa Moments for CHF Ink: Olive Pastel by ColorBox Fluid Chalk Paper: Butter Cream Prismatic by Prism Patterned Paper: Times Nouveau by Graphic 45
Baby to Bride by Graphic 45 Accessories: Antique mini brads, Prima flowers, Piercing template and tool, Distressing tool

V.~

The Shoe Boutique~

Stamps: The Shoe Boutique by Rummage Bin for Cornish Heritage Farms, Broad Stripes Backgrounder by Cornish Heritage Farms Ink: Brilliance Graphite Black by Tsukineko, Lime Pastel ColorBox Fluid Chalk Ink by Clearsnap Paper: Natural Smooth, Twilight Dark, Black Prismatic by Prism Patterned Paper: Sophia Harlequin from 5th Avenue by Making Memories Tools: Cuttlebug by Provo Craft, Nestabilities Petite Scallop Circle and Circle Dies by Spellbinders


Stamps: The Shoe Boutique by Rummage Bin for Cornish Heritage Farms, Script Essentials by Mona Lisa Moments for Cornish Heritage Farms Ink: Versafine Vintage Sepia by Tsukineko Paper: Natural Smooth, Nautical Blue Light by Prism Patterned Paper: Jack from Animal Crackers by Making Memories Accessories:
Ribbon by Michaels Arts and Crafts, Buttons by My Mind's Eye, Brown mini brads, Distressing tool by Making Memories, Dimensional foam


The Shoe Boutique by Rummage Bin for Cornish Heritage Farms .
Release date, Tuesday May 13th.

V.~

Anniversary Wishes....

To the perfect pair ;)

Pear is a single image from The Landing Pad set which will be released tomorrow by Kim Hughes for Cornish Heritage Farms. The stamped image is a little inchie, I haven't done too many of these, but thought that this would be a fun way to highlight the pears. The pear was masked and stamped again in order to get the 2 pears together, now that I look at it, the one behind should have been stamped a wee bit higher to create the illusion of it sitting behind the first pear - oh well, that's the way it will stay! After stamping, they were colored in with Copic Markers
( YG11, YG63, Y11, W1) and Glossy Accents were applied. The inchie is mounted on a brown scalloped square ( Nestabilitie die) with dimensional foam.

The rest of the card is easy peasy - A Muse Kitchen Collection patterned paper is adhered to the Neenah Classic Crest Natural White base, a length of ribbon from Michaels is added, the sentiment from Mona Lisa's Classic Essential Espressions is stamped in the same ink as the pears, and finally the image is adhered with dimensional foam.

A side note, I discovered a terrific blog some time ago when I was blog hopping. It's not craft or stamp related at all....now I know some of you might not go there because of that, which would be a sad thing. Her writing style is so fun, her recipes to die for, and it's a great place to get lost if you have the time, be prepared to be there a while and laugh out loud!

The Pioneer Woman

V.~

Boys will be Boys~

My writing brain isn't engaging this morning, even after 2 cups of coffee! The stamping part of my brain seems to be doing fine as I started this card just before 8 am, stopped and took the kids to school, and returned home to finish. Poor Riley is looking at me with her sad eyes, patiently waiting for her morning walk.

This image is called Boys will be Boys Collage by The Rummage Bin for Cornish Heritage Farms. It's an upcoming release and a brother image to the Sweet One Collage that was released in March.

I stamped the image twice, once in Rich Cocoa Momento ink by Tsukineko onto Neenah Classic Crest Natural White and once again in Sea Breeze Versamagic ink by Tsukineko. After trimming the cocoa stamped image down to size, I cut the Sea Breeze image out with precision scissors, sponged the edges, and attached it to the cocoa layer with dimensional foam. The sentiment is from Script Essentials, a fantastic word set by Mona Lisa Moments.

The rest of this 5 1/2" square card is comprised of A Muse Kitchen Collection patterned paper, aqua mini brads, pumpkin and aqua striped ribbon, distressing, and sponging. I thought the clean, dot pattern of the A Muse paper was a fun contrast to the rustic feel of the image.

V.~

We Grow Great~

Here's another card I made the same time I put together the teacher appreciation set from a previous post. The images are pulled from 2 new sets by Kim Hughes for CHF - Making the Grade and The Landing Pad. Both sets avail this Friday. The Landing Pad is a fun set that you will want to use with all your bird stamps, it's chock full of limbs, leaves, fruits, a bird bath, a few fun sentiments, and more. The caterpillar and small leaf image are from The Landing Pad, the leaf line from Making the Grade, and the sentiment from a wonderful set called Motivational Centers by Mona Lisa Moments for CHF.

When these sets hit my stamp area, I was drawn to the leaf line and the caterpillar immediately. I thought of The Very Hungry Caterpillar by Eric Carle, and the way the caterpillar ate his way through the entire book on his way to becoming a beautiful butterfly. So taking my inspiration from that, I created this card and thought that the sentiment was a perfect fit.

The leaf images are all paper pieced with various colors of Prismatics papers: Tawny Dark, Intense Orange, Spring Willow Medium, Wizard Dark, Blush Red Dark, and Sunflower Dark. After trimming the pieced images, I punched a hole into each leaf with a 1/8" hand held punch and then adhered the leaf images to the card base with dimensional foam. The caterpillar and small leaf are pieced as well. The base of the card is created with Prismatics Iced Teal and Spring Willow Medium. White ribbon from Michaels is tied where the two card stocks meet.
The only ink used for this card is Versafine Vintage Sepia.

Dream great!

V.~

Today's FUN field trip~

Diane and Michelle
Fun display at the rear of the store, look at all those little drawers!

Display that faces the front window

LOVE this black display cabinet!

Cute little tablescape display

Ahh, a new stamp/scrap store, something desperately needed in San Diego! There are a few around, but not very many given the size of San Diego. Sure we have our share of Michaels and JoAnn's, but they just don't have the same feel as a small, well loved store, you know? When I read on Julie's blog that there was a new store opening in San Diego, I bookmarked the page and went down as soon as I had the time.

Paper Tales, located in the Pt. Loma/Sports Arena area of San Diego, is a wonderful, boutique style stamp store. They had me the minute I walked in with the celery walls, a comfy couch, a table for the kiddos to draw while you shop, wonderful and organized displays, and lots of heavy weight, beautiful patterned papers! A Muse stamps are their primary stamp line, I've never seen so many A Muse images in one place! If you are an A Muse addict this is your one stop shop. In addition, there are many other stamping/scrapping supplies. I'm a hands on kinda gal, and to be able to touch and see the beautiful products is a big bonus for me. Online is convenient as one can order in pjs and unwashed hair LOL, but to touch...well, I'm a touchy feely kind of crafter. So to have a place, somewhat locally for me, where I can touch and feel and that is candy for the eyes is just fabulous. I walked out with a few new supplies and more patterned papers....a girl can never have too many sheets, can she? My only wish, that Paper Tales was closer to me!

And Michelle the owner, nice and as friendly as can be! Thanks Julie for the heads up! I wish you could have been there too!

So if you live in, or are visiting, the San Diego area, please visit Michelle and Paper Tales. Be sure to say hello from me!

V.~