103 Days

You have 103 days left until Christmas! If you were to make one card per week that would only be 15! Eeek! Better get started! ;)
The card I'm sharing today is one we made in our last Stamper's Night Out at the Scrappin Pad. We used two different sets of stamps for this card and some pretty striped Basic Grey paper.
Since this is a pretty simple card, I'm just going to give you a supply list and I'm going to tell you how I stamped the background!
Supplies:
- 5x6.5 inch Card Base in Kraft
- (2) .5x5 inch striped pieces of patterned paper
- 5x3 inch piece of Watercolor paper
- Tree and Banner Stamps by My Mind's Eye
- Happy Holidays Stamp by Technique Tuesday
- Stampin Up markers and inks in Baja Breeze, Cherry Cobbler, Old Olive, Early Espresso
- Stampin Up Blender Pen

Happy Holidays Background:
1. Take your clear acrylic Happy Holidays stamp and ink with Early Espresso. Stamp where you want your colored phrase to go. (I stamped mine with enough room to put the two trees to the left.)
2. Clean and ink your stamp. Stamp with different ink colors around the main phrase as in the photo above. (It's easy to line up the clear stamp, but if you are using a wood mount stamp you can simply use the Stamp-a-ma-jig to line it up.)
3. Once you are finished stamping your Happy Holidays phrases, use your markers and blender pen to color in the letters.

This card is simple and fun! The background technique can be used with just about any sentiment stamp! If the sentiment stamp you want to use has solid letters you can change it up! I would stamp the main phrase in different colors and the surrounding phrases in the same color! So fun!
Well I hope you like today's card!

Welcome Tooth Fairy!

We had a visit from the Tooth Fairy at our house last week!
Brodey's tooth has been loose for a while and it started to bug him when he ate. I knew it was coming out soon so I asked him if he wanted to help me make a Tooth Fairy Box! He was so excited!
I die cut a pillow box with my Big Shot out of white cardstock. I gave it to Brodey and let him color it however he wanted to! (He only chose green lol)
I stamped the Tooth Fairy stamp onto watercolor paper and colored her with my watercolor pens, blender pens, and ink. I punched her out, added the strip of Tempting Turquoise paper, and topped it off with the punched Tooth Fairy! SO cute and personalized by Brodey! He loved it and was so proud of it!
Thank goodness we made it! That very night he pulled his tooth! He put his tooth in his Tooth Fairy pillow box and tucked it under his pillow. The Tooth Fairy left him a little note saying how proud she was that he took good care of his teeth and she loved the box he made! He was more excited that she left him $8! ;)
We had fun making the Tooth Fairy pillow box and it reminded me that Brodey and I need to make more things together!
This was a quick post, but I'll share a card tomorrow! I've been busy scrapbooking this week! If you have the Creating Keepsakes Scrapbooking Tips and Tricks Summer Fun and Travel Issue check out page 65! I have shared a fun technique using the large Medallion stamp!
Enjoy your Wednesday!

Flowers Flowers Flowers

I LOVE flowers! They are all over my back porch, on my front porch, and around my pool. Every year I can't wait for springtime to bring them all back out and plant new ones!

Creating Keepsakes Scrapbooking Tips and Tricks came out at the perfect time! This issue is ALL about flowers. While this blog is my cardmaking blog that doesn't mean you can't take an idea from a scrapbooking layout and translate it into your cardmaking! Flowers look beautiful on ANY project! ;)

My layout in this issue is for the Latest and Greatest column. They sent me some goodies and I had to make scrappy magic with them. I can't post the whole layout on here, but I will give you a sneak peek!
The sneak peek pic above is of a clothespin I added to the layout to hold Brodey's note. (I wanted it to be removable since it's a keepsake.)
I used the Punch Potpourri stamp set and stamped the flowers onto the clothespin with brown Stazon ink. I then took my markers and blender pens and colored in the flowers. I attached the clothespin to my layout with Glue Dots. I thought it was a fun way to add memorabilia to a layout and it's always fun to color flowers!
To celebrate the flower issue I made a card with some fun tissue flowers! We first made a tissue flower card in my March Stamper's Night Out. For that card I used the smallest flower in the Island Floral die for my Big Shot.

For today's card I used the Daisies #2 die. I LOVE this die! There are three different sizes of daisies on it! Remember that with the Big Shot you can cut just about any type of material out! It's AWESOME!
This card is very simple to make so I'm just going to give you the directions for making the flower. (If you need directions for the entire card sent me an email at aprilmassad@yahoo.com)

Here are the stamp sets and ink colors I used on this card:
Four Frames - Melon Mambo and Pretty in Pink Frame Around the Sentiment
Sincere Salutations - Old Olive Best Wishes
Love and Care - Melon Mambo, Pretty in Pink and Old Olive Flowers

Supplies Needed to Make Flowers:
- Big Shot Die Cutting Machine
- Daisies #2 Die (or any flower die)
- Light Pink Tissue Paper (Largest and smallest flowers)
- Dark Pink Tissue Paper (Medium flower)
- Scrap Paper
- Circle Punch
- Paper Piercer or Small Hole Punch
- Brad

Directions:
1. Take your tissue paper out of the package but DO NOT separate the sheets. (By keeping the sheets together you can cut all of one flower size at once)
2. Cut a square out of the pieces of tissue paper close to the size of the largest flower in the die. Lay the square of tissue paper over the flower and run through your Big Shot.
3. Repeat with the two other sizes of flowers.
4. Take the smallest flower and begin separating the tissue paper with your fingers. It's easier to do this by just rubbing the center of the flowers between your fingers. As you separate each flower, feed it onto a pencil, paper piercer, or paintbrush. (This helps them stay centered and keeps them from blowing away)
5. Repeat with the other sizes of flowers.
6. Punch a circle out of scrap paper the size closest to the flower you are using. (I used all three flower sizes in the die so I punched out a 1 inch circle.)
7. Punch or pierce a hole into the center of your circle.
8. Slide the tissue flowers off and put the punched circle on the back of the flowers. Feed your brad through the hole to hold your flowers onto the circle base.

And now you have a beautiful Gerbera daisy!
I hope your Thursday has been a happy one!

P.S. I just wanted to let you know that if you scroll down my blog, on the right side there is a product index. There are products, colors, stamp sets, etc that you can click on and see what projects I have shared using those items! This might be helpful when you get that stamp set in your hands and you can't kick your creative side into gear! ;)

You ROCK!

No YOU rock! ;) Metal is FUN! And I don't mean heavy metal...hardy har har!
Monday I shared with you a Father's Day Card and a How To on faux metal background! It's super fun and super easy!
Today's card is for the tween, the teen, the birthday girl, or whatever rockstar in your life!

Supplies:
- 4x5.5 White Card
- 3.5x5 Faux Metal Sheet (Instructions HERE)
- Two Embossing Folders of your choice
- 3x4 Piece of Rose Red Cardstock
- 2x4 Piece of Rich Razzleberry Cardstock
- Rose Red Ink
- Stazon Ink in Black
- Markers in Daffodil Delight, Rose Red, Rich Razzleberry, Tempting Turquoise
- Blender Pens
- Watercolor Paper
- Border Punch
- Decorative Label Punch
- Stampin Dimensionals/Foam Adhesive Squares
- Friends Rock Stamp Set

Directions:
1. Take your Rose Red ink and ink around the edge of the card front. (Optional)
2. Emboss your faux metal sheet. Apply adhesive to the card front and adhere the faux metal sheet. (Applying your adhesive to the card front instead of the embossed sheet will prevent you from smashing your embossed design)
3. Take your piece of Rose Red cardstock and punch with a border punch.
4. Emboss the piece of Rich Razzleberry with the embossing folder of your choice. Adhere this on top of the piece of Rose Red. Adhere to the card.
5. Stamp your sentiment, star, heart, butterfly, and guitar onto watercolor paper with Stazon Ink. (You must use Stazon Ink for the outline to be permenant)
6. Color your images and sentiment with your markers and blender pens. Cut your images out with scissors and punch your sentiment out with the Decorative Label punch. Ink the edges of your punched sentiment with Rose Red ink.
7. Adhere your sentiment and images onto your card with Stampin Dimensionals.

This rockin' card takes no time to put together! Plus this stamp set is so much fun to color! By simply changing the colors this could be a masculine card!
Well I hope you like today's card!
Tomorrow I'll be sharing a sneak peek of a layout I have in the new Scrapbooking Tips and Tricks issue where I used the Punch Potpourri Stamp Set! This issue is FILLED with fabulous flower ideas! AND since YOU ROCK....I'll be giving a copy away!
So be sure to tune in tomorrow!

Sunny Thanks!

Well it WAS a beautiful sunny Oklahoma day, but then severe storms decided to roll through! Now it's a cool 62 but I'm still in 80 and sunny mode so I'm posting this cute card!
This super cute card was made with the Sunny Fun stamp set from the new Summer Mini Catalog!
To color the sweet kiddos I used Blender Pens and Markers! To make the pretty turquoise sky and water I used my Tempting Turquoise ink pad, squished ink into the lid, and picked it up with my Aqua Painter.
The cardstock accent flowers were punched with the Blossom Bouquet Triple Punch and the Boho Blossoms Punch.
This is such a fun stamp set! I had a hard time deciding whether to use the flip flops, popsicles, or kiddos!
If you have any questions about this card send me an email at aprilmassad@yahoo.com!

It's a Girl!

Okay my friends...don't get too excited! I'm not preggers!! My wonderful friend Christie's daughter-in-law is! Congrats Ciara! Christie owns the Scrappin Pad which happens to be right down the road from my house! It's a wonderful scrapbook retreat where I teach classes! Christie is one awesome gal and if you ever want to stay at a beautiful CLEAN cute scrapbook retreat you should check it out! PLUS I could come and see you! ;)
She asked me to make Ciara's baby shower invitations and I was very excited to do so! Ciara chose the colors and she loved how they turned out.
I stamped and hand colored the little onesie and hearts from the Baby Bundle set. I love how they turned out! :)
So I'm sorry I have been absent for a while! I've missed everyone!
I have been wearing my scrapbooking hat and working on scrapbook layouts that you will see in Creating Keepsakes this summer!


Before I go I have to share this FUN blog award I received from Julie DiMatteo! I was so surprised to come back from my blog hiatus to see she awarded me the Cherry on Top Blog Award! Thank you so much Julie! You made my day! :)
So now I have to pass it on to 5 wonderful bloggers and list 3 things about myself!
Here are some fun bloggers:
1. Michelle Last
2. My friend Kris from SUDSOL
3. Patty Bennett
4. My Stampin Up Upline Kris
5. Amy Celona
Love your blogs girls! :)

So here are my 3 things!
1. My sweet hubby and I have been together for 18 years and have been married for 9! Our parents went to high school together(yes both of our parents were high school sweethearts as well) and we have known each other almost our whole lives. I used to go over to his house and play all the time. We were even boyfriend and girlfriend through many elementary and junior high school years.
I had a layout published about it a couple of years ago in CK.

2. I LOVE to cook almost more than I LOVE to eat! ;) I cook at least 6 nights a week. I share recipes sometimes on my personal blog, Scrap Happens.
3. It's near impossible to embarrass me. The only person that can achieve that is my son when he misbehaves in public! Luckily it doesn't happen very often!
I have no problem getting on stage or speaking in front of people. As a matter of fact my DREAM JOB is selling stuff on QVC!!
I LOVED being in theater in high school and college! No one would EVER describe me as shy....right Christi? ;)

Well I hope you enjoyed the invitation share today! If you have any questions about recreating it yourself just send me an email at aprilmassad@yahoo.com!
Please remember that Sale-a-Bration ends March 31st! If you want to host a Stampin Up night OR place an order let me know!

Thinking of You

Happy Wednesday! I'm snowed in with the hubby and son! I'm lucky I was able to finish this card! ;)
I stamped this colorful card with the Sweet Summer set from the Sale-a-Bration catalog! (Aw summer would be VERY sweet right now! Haha!) You can view Sale-a-Bration items HERE!
I simply stamped the different images with Stampin Up ink to create this scene. I then took my blender pen and blended the stamped color into the image! Quick and easy with beautiful results!
If you have any questions about this card please don't hesitate to send me an email at aprilmassad@yahoo.com!
The boys are trying to find me! I think I'll go hide in the laundry room! ;)

Keep it Simple Day 2

The boys are still here! While I LOVE them being home I get way more accomplished when I'm alone! ;) So today I am sharing another super simple card.
I was uploading a photo to the gallery at Split Coast Stampers and this card by Emily Keaton caught my eye.

As soon as I saw it my light bulb came on. I LOVED the scored stripes at the bottom of the card, but what if I scored it on the opposite side and then used the skinny side of my marker to draw in the line? And that's where the inspiration for today's card came from!
It's very quick to make and you can personalize it with the All in the Family stamp set! The scored lines are difficult to see in the photos, but look so cute in person!

The color combo for my card is Tempting Turquoise, Old Olive, and Tangerine Tango. LOVE this color combo! It makes me think of summer!

Supplies:
All in the Family Stamp Set
Family Accessories Stamp Set
Sentiment from the Fun and Fast Notes Set
4x5.5 Inch White Card
Three Orange Brads
Score Pal or Bone Folder
Scallop Square Punches or Dies
Black Stazon
Markers in Blush Blossom(for skin), Old Olive, Tangerine Tango, and Tempting Turquoise
Watercolor Paper
Cardstock in Tempting Turquoise
Stamp-a-ma-Jig

Directions:
1. Stamp your little person onto a piece of watercolor paper using the Stamp-a-ma-Jig to line the stamps up. Color in with your markers.
2. Punch or die cut the person out with your square scallop punch or die.
3. Punch or die cut a larger scallop square from the Tempting Turquoise cardstock. Adhere the smaller square to the larger square with foam adhesive squares.
4. Take your card and score (outside up)at 0.5 inches from the bottom and two more lines at .25 inches apart. Use the skinny end of your markers to draw a line in the scored lines of the card. (This is best done while your card is still on the Score Pal.)
5. Ink the sentiment only from the birthday stamp in the Fun and Fast notes set. Stamp on the card right above the highest scored line. Outline with the skinny end of the Old Olive marker.
6. Add three orange brads just below the sentiment between two of the scored lines.
7. Adhere your scalloped squares to the card.

This card was a ton of fun to make and the kids LOVE having a card with a cartoon look alike! ;) You don't even have to make it a birthday card! That stamp set has a ton of different accessories with it! The possibilities are endless!
Well I'm headed back into the scrapbook room to try and finish a layout! We will see how that goes!
If you have any questions about this card send me an email at aprilmassad@yahoo.com!

Keep it Simple

Keeping it simple isn't always easy, but it sure is a good thing to keep in mind when you are running out the door to a wedding shower!
I always want to add more and more to a card, but there have been plenty of times I waited until the last second to make a card for a wedding shower, baby shower, or birthday party. This card can be made in no time!
I combined two stamp sets for this card. I used the happiness stamp from the Heard from the Heart set and the flower stamp from the Thanks for Caring set. Both of these are beautiful and versatile sets that are good to have on hand.

Supplies:
Watercolor Paper
Cardstock (Blushing Bride and Certainly Celery)
First Edition Designer Series Paper
Markers (Soft Suede, Blushing Bride, Pink Pirouette, Certainly Celery, Old Olive)
Blender Pen
Heard from the Heart Stamp Set
Thanks for Caring Stamp Set
Scallop Border Punch
Basic Rhinestones
Stamp-a-ma-Jig

Directions:
1. Trim your watercolor paper to 5.75 x 5.5 inches. Score the shorter side at 2.75 inches.
2. Take the happiness stamp from the Heard from the Heart set and ink the small words with the Soft Suede marker. Ink the happiness word with the Certainly Celery marker. Go back and ink only the happiness letters with Old Olive to make them stand out. Huff on the stamp and stamp onto the card.
3. Use your Stamp-a-ma-Jig to position the flower stamp from the Thanks for Caring Stamp set. (You can line this up at the end of the line from the happiness word.)
4. Take the stamp and ink the leaf and stems with your Certainly Celery marker. Ink the flowers with the Blushing Bride marker. Huff on the stamp to remoisten the ink and stamp with the Stamp-a-ma-Jig.
5. (optional) Take your blender pen and lightly go over the stamped sentiment. Use your blender pen to blend the leaf and stems. Take your Pink Pirouette marker and color in the centers of the flowers. Use your blender pen to blend out the color.
6. Top the flower centers with the rhinestones.
7. Trim a piece of the First Edition DSP to 0.75 x 5.75 inches. Adhere to the bottom of the card.
8. Punch your Blushing Bride cardstock with the Scallop Border punch. Trim (2) pieces to 5.75 x 0.5 inches. Adhere one piece to the top of the card and the other piece to the top of the First Edition strip.
9. Trim a piece of the Certainly Celery cardstock to 0.25 x 5.75 and adhere to the top of the pink scallop piece.

That's it! Pretty simple, right? You can make changes to simplify the card.
- You could just use paper strips instead of the Scallop Border punch.
- You can skip the blender pen steps.
You will still have a beautiful card just minus the little details! ;)
I hope this post finds you warm and well! We still have a ton of snow here in Oklahoma with the wind chill at 3 degrees. I'm ready for summer!
If you have any questions about this card please don't hesitate to email me at aprilmassad@yahoo.com!

Shadow Stamping

Hi all!! I hope your week has been fab!
Today I'm sharing a card that is a variation of a card we will be creating in my February Stamper's Night Out class!
My students will get to learn this FUN shadow technique in person, but I'm going to give you the quick How To today. I will be sharing my class card and a more detailed How To after my classes.
For this card I used the Thanks for Caring and Nature Walk stamp sets. I also used the Botanical Gazette Designer Series Paper.

The ink pad colors I used are:
Floral Stamp (Old Olive)
Birdcage (So Saffron for background and Early Espresso for the outline)
Butterfly (Pumpkin Pie)
Sentiment (Marina Mist)

Now the technique is the same for all of the stamped images on the card, but to make it short I'm only going to tell you how to do the birdcage image.

Birdcage Image:
1. Ink your stamp with So Saffron and stamp onto watercolor paper
2. Use your blender pen and go over the image with it so that it blurs the lines. You are just creating a shadow and this does NOT have to be perfect. The messier it is the better!
3. Ink the same stamp with the Early Espresso ink and use your Stamp-a-ma-Jig to line up the image and stamp right over the blurred image.

That's it! That's how I created these beautiful images!
For the images that are one color, I simply stamped off on a scrap piece of paper before stamping the first image. Then I just blurred it with my blender pen as in the steps above and stamped the second time with the same color!
I hope you have fun with this technique! If you have ANY questions please don't hesitate to send me an email at aprilmassad@yahoo.com!

Sale-a-Brate Good Times....COME ON!!!

I'm sorry if you can't get that song out of your head now! ;)
I have some exciting news! Sale-a-Bration starts TODAY!!
If you are new to Stampin Up, Sale-a-Bration(SAB) is a super sale that lasts from January 25 to March 31 2011.

During this time:
-Earn one FREE Sale-a-Bration product of your choice for every $50 you spend!
-Host a $300 workshop and earn one FREE Sale-a-Bration product of your choice!(Not to mention some really great hostess benefits)
-Join Stampin Up during SAB and receive 15% off your kit PLUS $50 in bonus products!

If you have ever considered hosting a Stampin Up workshop OR joining SU this is the time! A Stampin Up workshop is a fun night where you get your friends together to make a couple of cute projects(like the one above)! It's free to attend and the hostess benefits from the sales that night! It's also a perfect excuse to get out of the house! ;)
I have several of the stamp sets that are listed in the SAB mini catalog! HERE is a card using the So Many Thanks stamp! There are also several brand new and super cute stamps sets as well as embellishments, ribbons, papers, and decor elements. To view a PDF of the SAB catalog click HERE!
Well I just wanted to let you know about Sale-a-Bration! Wahoo! If you would like to receive a SAB mini catalog in the mail send me your mailing adress. I can also email you a PDF of all of the additional Sale-a-Bration stamp sets that are listed in the back of the SAB mini catalog. If you have any questions please send me an email at aprilmassad@yahoo.com!

Bitty Bot Card!

Wow! It's Friday already!?!?! Having Brodey home for the second snow day in a row has made the week fly by!
This last week I have been (not so patiently) waiting on my new Stampin Up goodies to arrive. These new goodies are what we will be using in our next Stamper's Night Out classes. So...you can imagine that I am very anxious for them to get here! They have been delayed because of "adverse weather conditions" so hopefully they will get here this afternooon!
In the meantime I have been trying to use some of my stamp sets I haven't used very much! The Lots of Bots set falls into this category. I used it to make this little bitty Get Well Soon card.

This poor little guy is so cute I want to give him a hug and a kiss on his little metal cheek! ;)
I got out my paper crimper for this one. I haven't used it in well over a year and I love how it adds a little texture to the card!

Directions:
1. Trim your Baja Breeze card stock to 3.5x7 inches. Score lengthwise down the middle at 3.5 inches.
2. Take the nuts and bolts stamp from the Lots of Bots set and stamp randomly on the front of the card with Baja Breeze ink.
3. Trim a piece of Pumpkin Pie cardstock to 0.75x3.5 inches. Stamp the numbers stamp from the Lots of Bots set with black ink. Attach this piece to the front of the card at 1.5 inches from the top.
4. Trim a piece of Cherry Cobbler cardstock to 0.75x3.75 inches. (always add at least a quarter of an inch to the length of cardstock when crimping it with the paper crimper) Run it through the paper crimper and adhere below the Pumpkin Pie strip.
5. Stamp your Bot image onto watercolor paper. Using the blender pen, color the bot with Pumpkin Pie, Cherry Cobbler, and Baja Breeze markers. Punch out the image with the scallop square punch. Add metal brads to the corner and adhere to the center of your card.

Supplies:
Lots of Bots Stamp Set
Cardstock in Baja Breeze, Cherry Cobbler, and Pumpkin Pie
Blender Pen
Markers in Baja Breeze, Cherry Cobbler, and Pumpkin Pie
Black Ink Stazon
Metal Brads
Paper Crimper
Scallop Square Punch

If you have any questions please feel free to send me an email at aprilmassad@yahoo.com! You can buy any of these supplies by visiting Stampin up!
Have a wonderful Friday and STAY WARM!! :)

For the Kids!

Who says Valentine's Day is just for lovebirds!?! I say Valentine's Day is for EVERYONE you love!
At my last Stamper's Night Out we made cards for everyone on our love list...even the kiddos! We cherish everything they make for us so wouldn't they love something we made for them? Of course they would!
Everyone who came to SNO had so much fun making this card! I think the hardest part was deciding what people to make with the All in the Family stamp set. I had a few girls who made them for their hubbies with cute little people holding tennis raquets or wearing a suit and tie. It was fun and we had a few laughs! ;)
You can find the supplies I used to make this card listed below!

Stamp Set: All in the Family
Heart Border Punch
Heart Punch
Markers
Blender Pen
Temping Turquiose and Cherry Cobbler Cardstock

You can shop for these items 24/7 on my Stampin Up website. If you would like to get some of these products for free you can always host a workshop! You bring the friends and I bring the fun! We will make a couple of cards and you will be rewarded according to the workshop's total sales! It's that easy!
If you have any questions send me an email at aprilmassad@yahoo.com! I would love to hear from you!

Scrap Card: Friends for the Long Haul

Do you scrapbook? I do! After I finish a page I always have little patterned paper scraps laying around. They are usually perfect size for a card and that's what I used for this little card today!
Supplies:
Greenhouse Gala Paper 117167
Cardstock 121077
Loads of Love Stamps 115022
Loads of Love Accessories 115024
Stampin Up Markers 119702
Blending Pen 102845
Perfect Polka Dotz Texture Impression 117335

What I love most about Stampin Up is that all of their colors match! I can find the exact marker, watercolor pencil, ink and cardstock to match my paper! That makes it so easy to ink any stamp to suite your project!
The Loads of Love stamp set I used on this card doesn't really go with the Greenhouse Gala paper, but since I inked it the colors to match the paper it is perfect!
The scraps on this card are from a layout I made today! It just might be a scrapbook class in the future! ;) Speaking of classes...if you were thinking of taking the Bag of Tags class next week you better sign up! It will be fun!
Oh I almost forgot to tell you!!! Stampin Up has jumped on the Black Friday sale week wagon and offered some AWESOME deals!!! Go to my website HERE and click on the link at the bottom that says ONLINE SPECTACULAR! Great deals on stamps, dies, supplies, and My Digital Studio software is half off! Also if you place an order of $150 or more your shipping is FREE! Check it out!
The next time you have scraps left over from a project you should whip up a little card! :)
I hope you have a terrific Tuesday!
If you have any questions feel free to email me at aprilmassad@yahoo.com!