I am a Design Monkey!!!

Hi! As you might remember from this post, I am fan of the Little Monkeys stamp storage system. I am excited to announce that I am now on the brand new Little Monkeys Design Team, whoohoo! Starting today and going through the whole month of October they are celebrating Little Monkeys turning one year old. There will be giveaways and contests all month long, so head on over to check out all the fun things going on over there!

This is a sneak peek at one of the new stamps being released Wednesday by My Favorite Things. Annie LaPoint is the artist for this wonderful image which is the 5th stamp in the series of herb pots. I stamped the image on Sage Shadow and colored it with Copic Markers (I totally stole this technique from Michelle Giraud, FlaxyChick). Copic markers are fabulous for this because the colors stay pretty true even on the colored cardstock base. I inked up the Cuttlebug folder on the side that has writing on it and ran it through the machine with a piece of Really Rust cs. The embellishments are little studs from a package called Bangle Bling I found at Michaels in a clearance basket for $1. I just attached them with a little liquid glue.

My Favorite Things (www.mftstamps.com) is having a New Release Cocktail Party on Wednesday, October 1 from 9-11 p.m. Eastern time. This month there are SIX new sets being released, plus a new storage system for your MFT stamps that you are gonna love!Head over to the MFT forum on www.splitcoaststampers.com to find out all the details and to find out how YOU can be the next MFT Guest Designer. We hope to see you there on Wednesday night.

Thanks for stamping by!
Laura~

Who's That Girl Challenge Week #3

Hi! Here's my card for this week's Who's That Girl Challenge featuring Let's Go for a Walk. You can find all the Who's That Girl stamp sets at My Favorite Things. This actual challenge is to use elements of the stamp set in a unique or fun way. I used the polka dot background stamp as a border for the image and used one of the party hats to make dp for the bottom of the card. I used watercolor pencils and a blender pen for coloring. I am really stuck on the watercolor pencils right now. I think I reach for them because I know just how to get the effect I want. With Copics, I am still trying to get to a point were they just do what I want them to do.

Please play along with any Who's That Girl set you have on hand. Use the keyword MFTWTG3 when uploading to SCS so we can see your creation!

Thanks so much for stamping by!

Laura!

Sprinkle a Little Happiness...

Hello! I know kinda lame title, but I just got up from a nap and am feeling a little punchy. I finally got to participate in The Cat's Pajamas Challenge this week to use Sprinkle the Cat. I heart Sprinkle. I love the these challenges that get you inking up unloved stamps. I used paper from Imaginisce All Kinds of Happy again, do you see a theme going here? There is still time to get 30% off your ENTIRE order (not just one item) at Paper Addiction, just enter the coupon code NOWOPEN at checkout, easy peasy. I am personally handling all the shipping and have been able to ship ALL orders by the very next day. Our mission is to get you the best deals we can on fun papercrafting supplies! I stamped Sprinkle on cream cs with Black Memento Ink and colored the present with ink pads and a blender pen.

I needed a card I could mass produce pretty quickly for a show that I am going to. This is what I came up with using Hallowhimsy paper and stamps from Imaginisce. I stamped the image onto a circle I cut out with nestabilities. I added just a tiny bit of color with ink pads and a blender pen and distressed the edges of the circle. I just love that little spider
I will be back a little later with this week's My Favorite Things Who's That Girl? Challenge. Have a wonderful day!

Thanks for stamping by!
Laura~

All Kinds of Happy:)

Hi! I made this for Beate's Weekend Sketch using the line from Imaginisce called All Kinds of Happy:) We have bundled the stamps together at Paper Addiction so you get 6 clear stamps for $5.75, but during our grand opening sale the 30% off price is just $4.02, very happy indeed! Remember you have to use the code NOWOPEN at checkout to receive the 30% discount on all items in your cart, whoohoo!

On to the card! I stamped the images with brown Memento ink and colored it with watercolor pencils and a blender pen. I added some diamond stickles to highlight parts of the cupcake, yum:). I added some doodling to the panels with a Chocolate Chip SU! marker. The crystal brads are from Making Memories.

Thanks for stamping by!
Laura~

Cheers!

Hello! Well we have already gotten some orders at PaperAddiction, whoohoo! You guys are just fabulous! See previous post for all the details. Remember, you have until 12p tonight to get free shipping on discounted orders over $40. Use the code NOWOPEN at checkout.

This stamp is from American Art Stamps. I printed the sentiment on the computer and used a nestability to cut it out. 'Cheers' is the phrase that kept coming to mind while I was coloring these cocktails. After I colored the images with watercoloring pencils and a blender pen, I used Crystal Effects to add a little dimension to the glasses. Excuse me for a moment while I get something to drink....Okay I am back, hiccup! The ribbon is from Michaels. The paper is from Imaginisce Snowy Jo collection.

Thanks for stamping by!
Laura~

Paper Addiction Open for Business

NOW OPEN....

I cannot even begin to tell you how excited I am that Michelle and I finally have stock in our store, Paper Addiction. I got a big order from Imaginisce today and a somewhat smaller order from BasicGrey. I am happy to say that all the cute Halloween Paper from Imaginisce I have been using is now sitting in my studio waiting to be sent out! To kick off the store opening we are offering 30% off your entire order AND free shipping on orders over $40 (after the discount has been applied. You have to place an order of $58 after the discount has been applied it will total $40.60, and then the shipping discount will be applied) Free shipping will be offered until 12p Friday, September 26. As I said before we want to treat this as a sort of co-op for cardmakers. Our main goal is to have some extra goodies to play with every month while sharing cool products with our stamping friends. The coupon code is NOWOPEN.

I had some scraps to play with while I was away over the weekend and stamped this fun mini card (2 x 3 1/4). The stamp is Imaginisce Snag 'em Haunted House and can be yours for the mini price of $.70. You can't beat that with a broomstick. But we only ordered 12 of them so you better snag 'em while you can!

Thanks for stamping by!

Laura~

Charming Snowman Sketch

Hi! This is for today's Way to Use It and My Favorite Sketch Challenge. I stamped the tree from My Favorite Things Branch Out (such a versatile set) with brown ink and colored it a brown watercolor pencil and a blender pen. I stamped the snowflakes from My Favorite Things Baby It's Cold Outside with VersaMark and used a sponge applicator to apply blue chalk to make them pop. For the snow, I added Liquid Pearls to the tree where snow would accumulate. The paper is from Imaginisce, Snowy Jo line which we will have in stock in a couple of days at Paper Addiction. Stayed tuned for a coupon code once the order gets here, you won't be disappointed:)

Thanks so much for stamping by!
Laura~

Coffin Box

Several of you inquired about what I worked on this weekend, your wait is over my stamping friends. Because sales were brisk, I only had time for this box and some small cards that I will share later. The coffin box comes in a kit, it includes the box with the lid, instructions for folding and 3 cards/inserts. I sewed my inserts together (thanks Angela) and decorated them as a mini scrapbook, but you could easily make cards or some other creative thing. No paper or embellishments are included, but I did use the Hallowimsy line from Imaginisce and a couple misc. stamps from My Favorite Things. I am not going to go into a lot of detail about the specifics of how I decorated the box, because I would love to see what you do if you get it. We have one left for sale at Paper Addiction, but are expecting some more. Please let me know if you are seriously interested in getting one or more so we can hook you up! (Retail is $7, but our opening special price will be $5, whoohoo!) Please let me know if you have any questions about how I did any portion of the box or book.

Outside top of box...


Front cover of book with faux stitching. I left room for a cute little candid pic of some little goblin.
Inside front cover of book
Outside side view of box (cause I can't figure out the order of uploading pics:(
More inside pages...

I just embossed the back of the book with the skull Snag Em' stamp and clear ep for a little extra somethin', somethin'

Please, just ask if you have any questions. Thanks for stamping by!

Laura~

Haunted Sketch

Hi! I really have no idea what I am going to do with all these Halloween cards, but I am having such a great time making them! This is the house from the MFT set called Monster Squad. Kim is having a special for today only...if you purchase Totally Witchin’, Monster Squad and Fright Night. If you purchase all 3, you’ll receive a full sized sentiment set for FREE! You can choose one of the following: Grateful Greetings, Happiest Birthday, Wishes, Lotsa Love, Tis the Season. Just add the sentiment set you would like to the comment section when you are checking out.

The sketch is from today's SCS sketch challenge. I stamped the image on PTI white cs and colored it with Copic markers. Just as I was finishing with all the inking and distressing I got a smudge on the house, arrrggghhhh. I think it adds charm:) Instead of coloring another image, I called Michaels to see if they had any Martha Stewart Fence punches left. The clerk found one hiding and said she would hold it for a little bit for me. Can you see now why it takes me most of the day to get a card done. After I went to Michaels I stopped in at Ross and then was famished and had to eat. So four hours later I have a card to post. I really think the fence is perfect, I had absolutely refused to buy it before. The paper is from Imaginisce. We should have some bundles for sale at Paper Addiction within 8 days (crossing my fingers).

Thanks for stamping by!
Laura~

Relax

Relax is not in my vocabulary the past few weeks. I went to the scrapbooking weekend and was very excited when they offered to let me bring the items that Michelle and I were going to list for sale on Paper Addiction. Imagine my surprise when I completely sold out the Halloween line from Imaginisce and most of the Christmas line we had ordered in. I spent the day yesterday doing and inventory and getting another order together, which will hopefully be in before the end of this week. You have been very encouraging about our endeavor and I would like to say thanks for your patience.
I made this card for week 2 of the Who's That Girl Challenge. The featured stamp is Time for Bubbly, MFT's iconic bubble bath set! The challenge to go with it is to use the main color blue, 4 brads and 1 piece of ribbon. Please play along even if you don't have that particular stamp, we would love to see your creations! When uploading to SCS use the key word MFTWTG2.

I stamped the image on PTI white paper and colored it with watercolor pencils and a blender pen. The layout is not fussy at all just one piece of dp from Close to My Heart. I did emboss the tub several times with white ep to get a little bit of a porcelain look.

One more item of business, one of my stamping friends and fellow MFT sistahs is doing an amazing thing. If you haven't heard by now, Carolyn King (Cammie) is having a GIANT blog candy give away on her blog to benefit the Alzheimer's Association. To win the more than $1000 prize, all you need to do is read her post and follow the directions. She is such a fabulous girl doing a wonderful thing, please consider supporting her cause. I contributed 2 cards to the giveaway.

Tomorrow, I am going to post a picture of a coffin box I made on my weekend away!
Thanks for stamping by!
Laura~

Boo!

Hi! This is for 2 challenges. The first is the My Favorite Sketch Challenge, hosted by Frances (stampowl) this week. The second is the SCS Way To Use It Challenge, to use a silhouette. I don't the latter very often so I pulled out one of my newly released stamps from MFT called Branch Out. I stamped just a partial image and added the ghosts and then colored them lightly with a black watercolor pencil and blender pen. Super simple. I used a stipple brush with black ink to add distressing to the image panel and the sentiment panel.



I mentioned that I was going to be teaching some classes. I did this card (below) on Monday night with a group of very fun stampers and we had a blast. I showed them the watercolor pencil and blender pen technique. I didn't have my camera with me to get a group shot, but I was so impressed with their cards and walked away with some new ideas!
I am packing today for my scrapbooking weekend (I will be making cards, thank you very much:) I don't know if I will get a chance to post any other cards. I had a request for extra card kits from Monday night, so I need to get those put together. Is that something any of you would be interested in? I am selling the kit for $10 and it includes all the cut ingredients and stamped images to make this card and the Happy Haunting card from a few posts back. I can have orders shipped out on Monday and offer a discount on multiple kits. Have a fun and safe weekend!

Thanks for stamping by!
Laura~

Holiday Wishes

Hello! I am absolutely in love with these images from American Art Stamps. They are very whimsical and totally fun to color!


I stamped her on vanilla cs with Rich Cocoa Memento ink and colored her with watercolor pencils and a blender pen. I followed the sketch from today at SCS. The paper is from Imaginisce and we will have some available for you on Tuesday at Paper Addiction, whoohoo.

I am going on a scrapbooking trip this weekend and have lots to do to get ready, so I am going to keep this short.

Thanks for stamping by!
Laura~

Friendship

Hello! For today's color challenge on SCS, I pulled out an old favorite, Boho Blossoms, from My Favorite Things. I know I have mentioned before that color challenges are the most difficult for me so I just used touches of Real Red, Basic Grey and Always Artichoke. I just got that wonderful BasicGrey Butterfly paper yesterday from my LSS and it has touches of these colors, yay me! I stamped the flower on vanilla cs with real red, cut them out and distressed them with rust and chocolate chip. I added a row of paper piercing and a little more distressing to the vanilla layer. The bookplate is made from scrap chipboard. All done!

I am really going to try and get my Cat's Pajamas challenge done, also a color challenge...aarrrggghhh!!!!

Thanks for stamping by!

Laura~

Add some bling!

Hello! I am so excited to be hostessing my first SCS My Favorite Things Forum Challenge. You know I love My Favorite Things stamps, but sometimes I need a little push to use all that I have. To that end, Toni (Toners) and I will be taking turns featuring a Who's That Girl Stamp every Monday. This week it's the stamp set Rain or Shine with some added bling. I wanted to use the set a little differently so I chose the umbrella. I stamped it with VersaMark and Pumpkin Pie onto PTI white cs. I embossed it 2 times with clear ep and then a third time with Iridescent Ice ep for a pretty shimmery effect. I added some Platinum Stickles under the umbrella. The raindrops were also embossed with shimmery ep. It's so hard to capture how shimmery this card is IRL. If you have this stamp set and want to play along use the keyword MFTWTG1 when uploading to SCS. If you upload your card by Wednesday at Midnight you will be entered to win a $5 MFT store gift certificate.

Some of the MFT Design Team girls played along, go check out their stuff!

Toni

Cindy

Frances

Joanne

Kimmie

Carolyn

Jessie

In addition to the challenge Toni and I are hosting, the rest of the team is busy with keeping fun things going on for each day of the week...

Mondays: Play along with Who’s That Girl?

Tuesdays: Find out more about MFT crew and fans on Thread Starter Tuesday

Wednesdays at 9pm EST: Chat it up MFT style!

Thursday: Get a little sketchy

Friday: a little Oldie PLUS Goodie

In case you want a head start (or order your set's:), here's the line up for the next 3 weeks

Time for Bubbly (Sept. 22)

Let's Go For a Walk (Sept. 29)

Meet Me at the Cafe (Oct. 6)

but you will have to wait for that day to see what the challenge is for that stamp;)

Thanks for stamping by!

Laura

Chillin'

Hello! I am working on lots of samples this weekend and thought it would be fun to play Jen's SFYTT. My LSS just started carrying My Favorite Things stamps and they need some samples. I am trying not to get crazy with them:) Since they don't carry Copic markers, I am focusing on using watercolor pencils and a blender pen. I used Diamond Stickles for the snow. The paper and sparkly snowflake is from Imaginisce.

Speaking of Imaginisce, Michelle and I finally got our first orders in for Paper Addiction, but it's going to be just a few more days until we get everything ready to be posted. This line from Imaginisce will be in a bundle once everything is ready to go!

Thanks for stamping by!

Laura~

Happy Haunting

Hello! This is for this week's MFT sketch. I used the MFT stamp set Fright Night. I stamped the image on PTI white cs and colored the image with watercolor pencils and a blender pen. The DP and black glitter brads are from Imaginisce. I am teaching a card class on Monday night so this card is doing double dute as a sketch and sample for the class.

I am off to take my daughter to school, so I have to keep this short. Thanks for stamping by!

Laura~

You Can Do Anything...

Hello! I really like the sentiment in this stamp set, Angels 3, from American Art Stamps. I used the sketch challenge at SCS for this card. I stamped the image onto PTI white cardstock and colored it with Copic markers. The dp is from my paper remnant bin. Pretty basic today.

I will be back tomorrow with this weeks My Favorite Things sketch challenge. Starting on Monday, I will be hosting along with Toni (Toners) a brand new challenge for My Favorite Things called Who's That Girl. We are going to use that week's featured stamp and adding a small challenge to go with it. The first featured stamp is Rain or Shine (one of my personal favorites), but you will have to wait until Monday to find out what the rest of the challenge is:)

What’s in for you? We thought you’d ask! So we decided to offer a $5 store gift certificate to one lucky winner each day! And on top of all that goodness, the daily winners will be thrown into a monthly drawing for a $25 gift certificate! Now that’s a reason to celebrate, don’t you think?Keep your eyes peeled and be ready to party on Sept 13th. Wanna know a little secret to get you started? You’ll need Rain or Shine for the very first challenge, so from now through Sept 13th, it’s 20% off, just to get you in the mood!

Thanks for stamping by!
Laura~

I'm back!

Hello! The golf tournament was successful, over 18k was raised to donate to the American Cancer Society! On the day that I made my last post I found out that one of my best blogging friends, Sandy, found out her mother-in-law has cancer. They are absolutely heart-broken. She is asking fellow bloggers for RAKS. Please send a card her way if you can.

I am amassing quite the collection of The Cat's Pajamas stamps so hopefully I will get to play most of their Tuesday Challenges. This week was a color challenge found on Jen's blog. I don't usually reach for these colors, but I think this card is pretty fun with all the circles, which were done with Nestabilities. I colored the image with Copic Markers and added a touch of Crystal Effects to the glass and flower. I also added a little Star Dust Stickles to her collar. The sentiment is from the new birthday set.

I hope to get lots of stamping done over the next week, so be prepared:) Thanks for stamping by!

Laura~

Wishing You a Stress-free Holiday Season

Hello! It's time for another MFT Sketch Challenge. Remember, you don't have to use MFT stamps to play along. I would love to see what you come up with!

I stamped the image from Merry Christmas? with Black Palette ink and colored it with a combination of watercolor pencils and pearlescent watercolors for a pretty shimmer IRL. I used silver stickles for the tree garland and candy can stickles for the ornaments. This was a great sketch that I can see using again.

I won't be posting again until at least next Tuesday. 4 years ago we got a phone call that no one wants to get. My father-in-law was diagnosed with stage 4 colon cancer. He started treatments and was able to hang on for about 9 months after the diagnosis, he was just 58. Eight months after his death, his son, my 38 year old brother-in-law was diagnosed with stage 3 colon cancer. He went for a colonoscopy because he had promised his father he would, it saved his life. My husband and his family have gotten very involved with the American Cancer Society, turning part of their grief toward a cause that is dedicated to fighting cancer. My mother-in-law is chairperson of her local Relay for Life annual event. This weekend I am helping with the second annual Thomas J. Canale Golf Tournament for Cancer Awareness and Research. I am so proud of them for being dedicated to this cause that touches so many families and for having hope that we can find a cure.

Thanks so much for stamping by. Have a safe weekend!

Laura~

Falling for You

Hi! These stamps sets are getting me so in the mood for fall. Don't you just love this time of year? For me only early spring is more enchanting.

For the scarecrow card I used the stamp to be released on Wednesday called We're Not Scared. Isn't he adorable! I stamped him with Memento Rich Cocoa ink and colored him with Copic markers. The DP is from Cosmo Cricket.

This set is called Branch Out. The swirly sentiment reminds me of autumn wind, that probably doesn't make a lot of sense. I colored the image with SU! Markers and stamped it on vanilla cs and then used the cracked glass technique. If you are not familiar with that you emboss the entire image with clear embossing powder at least 3 times and then put it in the freezer for a minute or so and then bend it until it cracks.

My Favorite Things (http://www.mftstamps.com/) is having a New Release Cocktail Party on Wednesday, Sept. 3 from 9-11 p.m. Eastern time. This month there are SIX new sets being released, plus one from a new line at MFT: BCDzyns.*The Girl Who Wants It All special for the The September Collection, which is one of each set being released, except for the BCDzyns set, is $58.95.Head over to the MFT forum on http://www.splitcoaststampers.com/ to find out all the details and to find out how YOU can be the next MFT Guest Designer. We hope to see you there on Wednesday night. Say hi if you are in the forums!

Thanks for stamping by!
Laura~

More MFTeasers

Hi! This is from a new set being released on Wednesday night at MFT called Who's That Ghost. I picked up this little wooden box from Michael's last week thinking it would be cute for something. Here it is put to use as a little Boo Box. It measures 4 1/4 x 5 3/4 x 2". Perfect for a little somethin', somethin'. I painted it black inside and out. I stamped the ghost with black Palette Ink on PTI paper. To get a little bit of a distressed look I pounced a stipple brush with black SU! ink onto the paper and added the tiniest amount of shadowing with a grey pencil. The black strip under the image was done with decorative scissors. This project went together fairly quickly and would be easy to reproduce as a fun little thinking of you gift.





My Favorite Things (http://www.mftstamps.com/) is having a New Release Cocktail Party on Wednesday, Sept. 3 from 9-11 p.m. Eastern time. This month there are SIX new sets being released, plus one from a new line at MFT: BCDzyns.*The Girl Who Wants It All special for the The September Collection, which is one of each set being released, except for the BCDzyns set, is $58.95.Head over to the MFT forum on http://www.splitcoaststampers.com/ to find out all the details and to find out how YOU can be the next MFT Guest Designer. We hope to see you there on Wednesday night.





Thanks for taking a peek!


Laura~

More time to play!

Wow, I can't believe I am getting in 2 posts in one day, but when I saw Jen's SFYTT, an idea popped into my head and wouldn't go away, and you know how I feel about going with your mojo while you have it. Did you know that The Cat's Pajamas released new stamps on Friday? This adorable cake and sentiment is from a new set called You Say It's Your Birthday! I stamped the image on PTI white cs with black Palette Ink. I colored it in with colored pencils and a blender pen. Your eyes aren't going goofy, I trimmed all the paper with some funky angles because I wanted to mimic the shape of the cake. The ribbon is some OLD stuff from my stash.

Thanks for stamping by!

Laura~

A MFT New Release Peek

Happy Labor Day! I am having a great time today stamping and catching up with a few things. I am going to BBQ chicken a little later. It's time already for another My Favorite Things release party, whoohoo! We have another new bathtub from Annie LaPoint this month. I really love these sweet tubs. I stamped the image onto MME dp (the reverse of the circle pattern) with Rich Cocoa Memento ink pad and used watercolor pencils and a blender pen for the coloring. I colored a prima flower with SU! Artichoke ink to compliment the design. The embellishment on the red strip of paper is adhesive paper ribbon from K&Co. fun stuff!

Kim is having a little contest to get you all fired up for the release, it's worth a $25 shopping spree! You can't beat that with a broomstick!

I have to admit to being a bad blogging community member. I have recently been given some blogging awards that I haven't acknowledged. I have no excuse because I am always so honored to receive them. This one is from one of my very favorite blogging friends, Sandy! She has been a friend to me since I started blogging and is a very talented stamper on top of it. Thanks Sandy!

I know I am supposed to nominate others for this fun award and this is where I go from bad to worse. The people who I would normally give this award to have already received it. But I know when I first started, I wasn't getting any of these fun blogging badges. If you have a blog that you would like me to visit and post a link to, please leave a comment. I really do like blog hopping, but have serious time issues lately.

Thanks so much for stamping by!

Laura~