Shady Tree Studio Christmas in July

 This sweet snowman stamp from Shady Tree Studio is called Embrace Christmas. You can see the whole set here. We are continuing to celebrate Christmas in July at STS and are looking forward to our blog hop and new Christmas stamp release on the 29th! I hope you will join us!

 I stamped it in Versafine and embossed with Ranger Holographic and painted it in shimmer paints. I used it to decorate the cover of a Christmas card portfolio. These are super cool little portfolios which can be decorated for any occasion. I get mine from Creative Cuts and More.

 This card is for Summer Card Camp. The colors are really giving me fits. I never work in these colors, and I'm finding that it is stretching me so much that I don't even know what looks good anymore! I am loving the camp overall, it's big fun, but I really haven't loved any of the cards I've made for it. It's hard to love a card made with colors I don't like.

 AHHH....This is more my speed. Here are some colors I can get behind!

Buttery yellow, soft green, and a little pop of blue! Isn't that Crafty Secrets image the cutest? We had a big rain last night, and Troy and I spent many an hour sucking up water in the basement, fun times. Things are drying out down here slowly but surely, and of course, it's raining again. I LOVE the rain, but my 100 year old basement isn't quite watertight! Toodles, girlfriends! I hope you are staying cool and dry!

Of Friendship and Paradise

 This card features A Muse Studio's Vintage Labels stamp set and the coordinating Labels Dies. I love these because they come with a clear positioning plate, which allows you to mark exactly where the metal die should be to cut your stamped image perfectly.

 Of course I added some ribbon and some handmade paper flowers, and a couple from my Prima stash. Those things last forever, don't they? The sentiment is a Basic Grey rub-on.

 Here is some Crafty Secret goodness! The ocean truly is paradise for me! White sandy beaches and blue seas-that's the life for me**SIGH**

You may remember me pondering whether I should apply to be on the CS design team. Well, at the last minute, I did apply, and was not one of the lucky (and super talented) ones chosen. The same day I found out I had not made it, several CS cards sold in my Etsy shop. I guess I'm finally old enough not to be much bothered by these things. While I'm certainly not happy I didn't make it, I am also not especially bothered by it either. I love Crafty Secrets. It has been one of my top three favorite companies for about six years now. I adore their products, and always have fun when I use them. They sell with great regularity from my Etsy shop. Really, is there anything to be upset about? Those of you who are much younger than I may not have reached this easy ability to let things go. But, as the Rolling Stones always say, "You can't always get what you want, but if you try, sometimes you get what you need!"

Toodles girlfriends! Remember, we are doing this for fun!!!

Bookmark, Tags and Junior High Kids

One of my worst photographic efforts ever, but I still love this little Crafty Secrets cherub! I stamped and sponged him and layered him with punched ovals.


I'm doing a series of dead white guy bookmarks. This is John Winthrop. He's dead. And white. Seriously, though, these are cut from a 1947 American Literature textbook. I have a lot of fun putting them together. I reread the history and keep decorations to a minimum, so they are easy and educational. I have actually sold some of these in my Etsy shop, so apparently they appeal to others as well.

I am loving my junior high kids. I like teaching JH better than high school. I never thought I'd say that! I have two HS classes, and my speech class is full of seniors. How jaded, angry and rude they seem compared to my sixth graders. Have they always been like this and I never noticed? They whine constantly about being tired, their school work, the school itself, everything to do with school and each other. Or are my JH kids just so sweet and open and excited that 18 year olds seem especially obnoxious?

Anyway, today I'm grateful for my junior high students-every wild, innocent, wiggly and irritating bit of them!

Baby's First Mother's Day

This is one of six cards in a custom order over on Etsy. The mom's favorite color is purple. I had a hard time finding purple patterned paper in my stash. The base is Bling, then the other solids are scraps. The patterned paper is very old Stampin' Up! The gorgeous image is of course Heartwarming Vintage by Crafty Secrets. I get my image and journal notes at Creative Play Stamps. They have competitive prices, lightening fast shipping and are just nice people. Lots of Lavender Stickles and Primas were my final touch.

Crafty Secrets

I made this card after the one below, and I really started to get nervous, because again, it's just not that great a card! I was worried that I left my mojo in the Oklahoma Panhandle! If I did, that's too bad, because I'm not going back there! Not even for my mojo! Holyoke, CO is such a pretty little town! I feel like I'm in Alabama, except without the heat! They've had seven inches of rain here in the last three weeks. It's like a jungle. I LOVE the green, the Panhandle doesn't have any green. It's all brown and gold. I swear that damages the phsyche.

Back to the card: I used a Domestic Goddess Creative Scrap as the main image here. This is for the Mojo Monday sketch. I usually use Verve stamps for this challenge, but I hadn't unpacked that box yet when I made this. I did find my Verve stamps last night, so that was a relief. I hope this card qualifies, because I had to tilt a couple of the elements to make it work.

There's not much sparkle here. Just a dab of Crystal Stickles on the fairy's wand and wings, and a few shots of shimmer spray. If you are looking for an all purpose Stickles, Crystal is the one!


This card is for CSSC73 over on SCS. The challenge was All About Me. I just had a hard time with this card! It didn't turn out very well, and I don't know how well it tells you about me, but I'll explain it as best I can. First, I think Altered Art, the Crafty Secrets stamp set I used for this challenge, was my first CS set. I LOVE CS, so that's definitely about me! Also, the frame underneath the face is an Inkadinkado stamp. It's beautiful on its own, but I use it this way a lot, too. It's called Ornate Bird Frame. Second, I love to emboss, and I love copper, so there's Classy Copper ep, copper cord, and Copper Stickles on this card. I love birds and music, and I also like for my cards to look a little different from everyone else's. It's okay with me if I am not on top of every trend. Finally, I love purple, but I hate this Vintage Violet InColor from '07, I don't think I'll ever get it used up. About my personality, I'm the scattered creative type, and this card is definitely scattered! Maybe I did better on the challenge than I thought!!

Don't forget to scroll down for Stampin' Up Blog Candy!

A picture of our new house!

Just some Crafty Secrets goodness here! I made a crepe paper flower, then added some die cut flowers, a large Prima and a Bazzill flower and sewed them all together with a button. I use a Sizzix die to cut my pattern tissue flowers, and I do about a dozen layers at a time. They are fun and quick to make, and I use them on almost every card. For a little extra sparkle, I added Gold Stickles throughout the card. The card base is just a piece of Crafty Secrets Pastel Pad paper folded in half, so this card is 6x6. The main image is from Creative Scraps-Garden, I added a making memories rubon. I love the way rubons show so well on top of other stuff. Sometimes I feel that a stamped image won't have quite the impact, or show well enough on a printed or distressed surface. That's when I pull out a rubon. If you have rubons and don't use them, I suggest you get them out and use them, as they do go bad. I had to throw away an entire package of Basic Gray rubons once. I never buy them on sale. The savings is not worth the trouble of trying to get them to lay donw right, or even worse, scrap them off when you only got part of the rubon down.


This one's all Unity, and some DP I don't know about. The maker strip is gone, but the colors are cool, and I followed them for the card. I made this for a Unity challenge. When I went to upload it, I read the challenge more carefully and discovered that it was a MONOCHROMATIC challenge. Oh, well, I still love the card. It's not my usual style, but I had a lot of fun with it, and was pleased with the way it turned out. I colored the images with markers and reinkers, after embossing them with VersaFine Onyx and Crystal Clear ep. I did a litlle sewing, a little punching, a scrap of ric rac and a button. There is Angel Dust Art Glitter on the cloud, and Aqua Stickles on some of the green parts of the images. Not as sparkly as usual, but sparkly enough to keep me happy! The base of this card is Leapfrog Green Mono #4 Bazzill Canvas. I get all my Bazzill at Creative Cuts and More.

Don't forget to scroll down for Stampin' Up! blog candy!!

Crafty Secrets and GinaK

I made this pocket for the weekly Crafty Secrets challenge over on SCS. Marcy challenged us to make a pocket of some sort. I have had these library pockets for years and years. I guess they are one of the many things I have been saving. For what, I don't know, but there it is.  I first stamped the lily of the valleys in VersaMark and embossed them in clear. Then I sprayed the pocket with Black Cherry Glimmer Mist. I added the trim with a line of Diamond Glaze, and added Crystal Stickles on top. The hanger is from a package of CS Sweet Chips. I love these things. They are white. I dyed this one with a pink pad, then painted with glue and followed that with a generous dusting of Miss Muffet Art Glitter. Miss Muffet also had her way with the roses. I stuck the frame into the pocket with one large glue dot. I feel that this is a strong enough bond. Anything too heavy for that would rip the pocket anyway. 

The sweet butterfly is a DoubleMates diecut from Creative Cuts and More. I got a bunch of them because I knew I'd love using them this summer. The cool thing about having them cut from DoubleMates, is that you have two color choices on every butterfly! I have been on a butterfly kick, which you will see in the next few days if you check back! I followed the same steps on the butterfly as I did on the pocket. I added a tinsel pipe cleaner for the antenae, a few adhesive gems, and outlined it in Pink Stickles.

I made this card for a color challenge over at GinaK's StampTV. Have you been over there? I love that place. BTW, I saw a card over there made with the new summer set and a circle die cut card that was WAY cooler than my version. As soon as I saw it, I thought, "Wow! Now why isn't mine that good?" I'll try to find the link and link it here so you can see it, too. Isn't it wonderful that we can share the way we do? I am so inspired by the stamping that I see every day. It's truly amazing! FOUND IT! Here it is buggin2stamp's fish card.

My Girl

Big Fun happens every Tuesday over at the Crafty Secrets forum on SCS! This is for CSSC68. Darlene challenged us to use flour or flowers on our card. I decided to do both! This sweet image is from the Homemade Notes booklet. These booklets are so much fun to work with! They provide instant gratification, and the images are beautiful!

Creative Cuts and More Blog Hop!!!

Graphic 45 Brides to Baby paper, Crafty Secrets Love & Romance Vintage Cuts, Primas, book paper flowers, brads, Cotton Candy Stickles 



Are you having fun hopping through blogland? I hope so!! If you did not start at Diecut Diva's blog, that is where you need to be to hop along with us! Terry is over there waiting for you to stop by!

 This little gem is CC&M's 4x4 Mini Album Kit! I had it cut out of Autumn Red Double Mates, which is so cool because each page has a dark side and a light side! Check out these deets:

This is a ten piece die cut set. 
You will receive two covers,
four dividers and four pages.
The cover has scored folds.

Plus you will also receive three 1/2" rings.

How cool is that? This is such a fun size to work with. It's a good value because you have 20 pages to decorate, which is quite a substantial mini album. It's also very economical because I didn't even use up one whole sheet of the Graphic 45 paper I used! 

I have lots more pics, and will post more in a few days. I didn't want my blog to take too long to look at since you need to go see what kinds of wonderful things Kim has been up to over at her blog!! 

Adorable Little Man!!

I made this for the Crafty Secrets challenge over at SCS. This is CSSC66, Feeling Snetimental. Marcy asked us to make the sentiment the main image of our card. I've had these sweet Cotton Scraps for more than a year and had never used them before, but I thought this might make a cute card! All the paper is SU!, including Bashful Blue, Barely Banana and a scrap kit. The little stork is from a Crafty Secrets sticker sheet. As a finishing touch, I added some fiber, brads, and Crystal Stickles. I get my Crafty Secrets at Creative Play Stamps.

Simple Pleasures

There's a lot going on here! Usually I don't have QUITE this many manufacturers on one card, but my cards have a mind of their own. I sometimes think I'm just a facilitator. The first thing I want to mention here is the background stamp. I was asked by Anita over at Anita's Arts to show off this gorgeous Anna Griffin Elegant Borders Clear Stamp Kit, which she carries in her store. Of course I said, "Yes!" The kit comes with 21 GORGEOUS AG border stamps, a brown pigment pad and a mount. It's all in a pretty little box, too!! Anita has a large selection of Anna Griffin products, including some of her beautiful punches, and card kits! I can't wait to show you some of the other stamps, I love them all!

I made this card for CSSC65 over on SCS. The primary image is from the Garden Creative Scraps, which I am really enjoying. I adore all CS images-their graphic designer is a genius. The  vine stamp is from Unity.

Crafty Secrets Creative Scraps

Crafty Secrets has a new product out called Creative Scraps. They are much like the images from the Notes booklets, but they are on cardstock, so they are sturdier. There are several themes, such as Easter & Garden, which this one is. I actually won this one from Vicki Chrisman, who is the DT coordinator for CS. I stalk a lot of the CSDT blogs because they are an incredinly tallented bunch, and Vicki is no exception! She had blog candy a month or so ago, and I won! THANKS, VICKI!!!

This card is also for CSSC64 over on SCS. We were to use two types of ribbon or trim. I thought it was a fun challenge! Come play with us sometime, we love to welcome new players!

Everything on this card except for the main image and the Stickles came from HOTP.