A Wintery Hello!

Hello, all!  I'm on the LDRS Inspiration Page today with a winter themed card. I don't know about you but this time of year I'm not really sure what type of card to make!  I settled on a Wintery Hello card that could be sent for almost any occasion!

Please check out the LDRS blog post for all the details and links to products used!

Thanks for stopping by today!!

Laurie

WINNER, WINNER!!!

Hello everyone!!  Today's the day I give away the $20 gift certificate to Studio Katia!!  But before I do, I just wanted to say a HUGE THANK YOU to all those that left comments.  You are all so sweet and I loved reading each and every one of them!!

I used a random number generator to pick the winning comment.  So without further ado, the winner is.....

ANNALISA YOUNG, you've won!!! Congratulations!!  Please contact me through email or by leaving a comment on this post.  Because it's such a busy time of year, I'll hold the GC for you until December 27th. 

Thank you lovely ladies for all your support and encouragement!!

Laurie 

Studio Katia December 2017 Release Blog Hop!!

Hello, friends!!  I'm super excited to be a part of the December 2017 Release from Studio Katia!!  We are celebrating with a Blog Hop full of inspiration using these latest products!  Keep reading for all the giveaway details!!

This release is absolutely amazing! From florals to coffee to of course, Kobi!!! Everything was created to work together in this release, which I love!  I created two projects for you today to show you how well everything can work together.

Ever since Kobi the Bear made his debut, I was smitten with him.  So let's introduce ourselves to the new Kobi's Hugs & Kisses and the Best Ever Stamps  and Co-ordinating Dies!!

Isn't he adorable!?  There are so many images in this set that Kobi can hold on to, as the dies provide the cutting lines to tuck things under his arms.  I used the "best" and "ever" dies as well as the "mom" sentiment from the Best Ever sets to create my sentiment.  To finish off, I used the brand new Cupid's Kiss Crystals Mix for a light sprinkling of colour and sparkle.

I wanted to show you one more card just to demonstrate how well these new stamps and dies work together!!

Here, Kobi is holding an iced beverage!  That sweet little image as well as the sentiment is from the new Sweet Latte Stamp Set which also has Co-Ordinating Dies!!  For the background, I used the new and super cool Dotted Loops Die.  I used the negative portion (because I had that left over from another project) as a stencil.  I simply laid it over a panel cut using the Dotted Patterns Set 1 die set and lightly sponged some blue ink to create some ombre circles.

The embellishments on this card are also new!!  The Mint Dream Crystals are beautiful! Now, on to the giveaways!! 

 Make sure you leave a comment on the Studio Katia Blog for your chance to win a $50 gift certificate, there will be 2 to give away!! You can also increase your chances of winning by following Studio Katia on Instagram and "liking" them on Facebook!!

I'm also having a giveaway for a $20 gift certificate for comments made of THIS POST!! Just leave me some love by December 22nd and I'll announce the winner HERE on December 23rd!!

You should have arrived from the lovely Tracy!!  

Next stop on the hop is the super talented Olesya!!

If you get lost along the way, just return to the Studio Katia Blog!  

HAVE FUN HOPPING!!!!

Laurie

All Dressed Up at the North Pole!!

Hi, Friends!!  Just wanted to quickly let you know that I'm up on the LDRS Inspiration Page today with this card!!

This was made using a combination of winter and non winter products and it was a total blast to make!!

Hope you can drop by and say hello!!

Have a great day, everyone.

Laurie

Festive Florals Card

Hi Friends!!  I wanted to do this post tonight to give huge praise to one of my favourite stamp companies.  And that's Lil'Inker Designs.  If you follow me on Instagram, you'll know that I'm a huge fan of Laura the owner and her products.

Recently, I posted this card and mentioned that I did not own one Christmas stamp set from Lil'Inker!! I was shocked by this because I am a super fan :).  Laura was so sweet and offered me a Christmas set from her shop!!  I was beyond excited and super grateful.  This is why I love shopping from small, home-based businesses like this.  You cannot beat the customer service and the appreciation of these owners have for their customers is second to none!

So without further ado, the stamp set I chose was the Festive Florals.  I should also mention that she sent me the co-ordinating dies!!!!  I tried, I really did, to make a softly coloured card.  I wanted to make the poinsettias white, which I have a hard time with!

These are the Copic markers I chose:

I kept it very pastel.  I think if I had the C2 it would have turned out a bit softer.

After everything was coloured, I used the dies to cut everything out.  This is the arrangement I came up with after about 1/2 hour of fiddling!!  For the cardbase I used Soft Sky cardstock from Stampin Up which is the perfect match for the B11 marker.

I stamped and embossed the sentiment, which is also from the Festive Florals set, onto a banner cut using the Stitched Scallop Border Die. Everything was adhered with a combination of tape runner and foam adhesive.  And of course, some glitter pen, Glossy Accents and clear sequins finish it off!

Thank you so much for stopping by, I hope you enjoyed this card!  And thank you to Laura from Lil'Inker who is absolutely amazing!!  Please check out her shop if you aren't familiar with her products!!

See you soon!!

Laurie

Paper Smooches Guest Designer Entry

Hello everyone!!  So, this is a very last minute entry into the Paper Smooches Guest Designer Search for December 2017!  I love me some Paper Smooches so I thought what a great way to have a play with some stamps and dies AND possibly get to be a guest designer!!

One of my all time favourite PS sets is Chubby Chum Pals.  That moose gets me every time:)  I also used leaf images from the Natural Beauties stamp set.  All the images were stamped with Versamark ink onto watercolour paper and heat embossed using a combination of Zing Chestnut and Brown Sugar Embossing powders.  Just a side note on those powders..I've had these for ages and have never used them.  They are a chunkier powder that seems to emboss nicely but they smell terrible!!! Seriously, almost toxic smelling!!  So embossing powders go bad??

Anyway, let's have a look at the card I created!  After, using my Tombow Dual Brush Pens to do some simple watercolour, I used the co-ordinating dies, here and here to cut everything out.

I then cut out the Frame 2 die to act as a backdrop for my moose.  I used Broken China and Brushed Corduroy Distress Inks to add the colour.  After making a dry run on how to place the images, I decided I needed that super sweet bird, also from the Natural Beauties set, to sit on the moose's head!

I adhered almost everything with foam adhesive to add some great dimension.  For the sentiment, I used the one that always makes me smile!  The "I miss your face" comes from  the Fun & Flirty stamp set, which is one of my all time favourite sentiment sets!

I added a little extra detail with a white gel pen, Clear Wink of Stella (which is impossible to see here) and Glossy Accents!

Thank you for stopping by today!! 

Until next time...

Laurie

Coffee Card for Butterfly Reflections Ink

Good morning, Friends!!  I wanted to share a little peek at the card I have up on the Butterfly Reflections Ink Blog.  I always get so excited when I get asked to help out :)

I hope you'll swing by and say hello!!!!

Thanks, 

Laurie

Honey Bee Stamps Season's Tweetings Holiday Release Blog Hop!!!!!

HELLO CRAFTY FRIENDS!!!  I am so excited to be a part of the Honey Bee Stamps Holiday Release!!  The release is now available in the store and it's super awesome!!

To celebrate the new release we are having the Season's Tweeting Blog Hop.  So get comfy and hop along with us!! Be sure to visit each blog and leave a comment for your chance to win!!! We will be giving away a $50 gift certificate to the Honey Bee Stamps store.  The winner will be posted on the Honey Bee blog on Monday, November 13th!!!

My projects today use the new and adorable Season's Tweetings stamp set.  This is a LARGE set filled with the sweetest bird images and beautiful sentiments.  Once I started I couldn't seem to stop using this set!

I made two very different cards to showcase how versatile this set is.  The first card is more of a fun one.  I used only one bird image and created a "pile of birds" using the masking technique.  Masking is something that I don't do often and when I do, it's simple as possible!

I started by stamping one bird at the bottom of my panel and simply worked my way up. I think I used a total of 4 masks. The colouring was done with some basic Copic colouring.

I stamped the word "tweeting" repeatedly with Versamark ink onto the grey card base and heat embossed it with silver embossing powder. I simply stamped "Season's" onto some white cardstock with black ink and trimmed it into a banner shape.

I fussy cut around the top of my pile of birds and foam mounted that piece onto the card base.  A little glitter pen and Glossy Accents finish this card off!!

My next card is a little more sophisticated, still cute, but a little more elegant.  I started by stamping 3 of the birds onto Bristol paper and coloured them with my Tombow Dual Brush Pens.  I fussy cut them out but there are co-ordinating dies for this set (which will make their way to my craft room, I'm sure :))

Because these bird images and sentiments are quite large, I decided to make a longer card.  3 1/2 X 9, as a matter of fact.  Again, I used Bristol paper and ink blended a night sky, snowy hills background.  I used Tumbled Glass for the snow and Spun Sugar, Picked Raspberry, Dusty Concord and a bit of Chipped Sapphire for the sky.  After that had dried, I heat embossed that beautiful sentiment with silver embossing powder.  I LOVE that script!!

Finally, I foam mounted each of the birds onto the panel and foam mounted the panel, as well, to the white card base.  I added a few "stars" and "snowflakes" using a white gel pen and added some Glossy Accents to certain areas of each bird.

This set is amazingly versatile. Beautiful sentiments and the cutest bird images I've ever seen, a definite must for your stash :)

Finally, I just wanted to show you quickly a project made using the new Miracle of Christmas stamp. This is the most beautiful sentiment!!  This card features the Hexagon Solid Stack Honey Cuts and the Hexagon Stitched Stack Honey Cuts and some simple ink blending.

The sentiment is really all you need on a card, it's just beautiful!!

Thank you for hopping along with us to celebrate the new release!!

Here's the complete Blog Hop Lineup: 

Amy Rysavy

Bibi Cameron  

Emily Midgett

Kelley Kohout

YOU ARE HERE!!

Lisa Cisneros

Melissa Bickford

Nichol Spohr

Taniesa Vlasak

Yulianna Neginskaya

Vera Yates

Thank you so much for stopping by and thank you to HoneyBee Stamps for letting my participate in this awesome release and hop!!

See you soon,

Laurie

Hugs!!

Hello!!!  I wanted to stop in and share a card made using some new goodies from Butterfly Reflections Ink.  This is by far my favourite shop!!  I've gotten spoiled with the ridiculously fast shipping and awesome customer service from Vanessa!!

My last order included the The Crew: The Garden Club Stamp Set and its Co-ordinating Dies.  I've recently become addicted to colouring people and houses. And while I'm currently waiting for my next "house" stamp set to show up, I thought it would be fun to colour in a few images from this set.

I also ordered the Bold Alphabet Die Set a while ago and have never used it.  I'm not sure why because this set is AWESOME!!! Now, while this set is quite pricey, in my opinion it is worth every penny.  These are some big letters that can easily stand alone on your card!

Let's get to stamping and colouring!!  I started by colouring up some flower pots, a table and one of the pretty girls from the Garden Club set.  I used my Copics to colour.  I definitely need help in the skin tone department, but I try :)

I then die cut the letters H, U, G and S from the alpha dies and used some Faded Jeans Distress Inks to get an ombre look.

I got a huge fingerprint on the "g" but hid that later!  Next, I adhered a piece of navy cardstock onto a white A2 cardbase and placed a white mat on top of that.  I foam adhered the letters to roughly the middle of the white panel.

I strategically placed the little girl on top of the "g", this hid that ugly fingerprint. I added the flower pots beside her.

I finished off by adding a few Sparking Clear Confetti.  I was tempted to use a white gel or glitter pen but I resisted.  

I love the way this card turned out and I hope you do too!!

Thank you for stopping by today!!

See you soon...

Laurie

Christmas Memories with LDRS Creative

Hi everyone!!  I wanted to share with you my latest project for LDRS Creative!  It uses a bunch of new products, especially dies, that are now available in the shop!!

I hope you have a chance to swing by the Inspiration Page for all the details!!

Thanks for stopping in!  I'll be back soon!

Laurie

Final Guest Design Project for CDD!

Hi everyone!!  Today I'm sharing with you the final card I made using the newly released Nice List stamp set from Craftin Desert Divas!

I've had an absolute blast with this set and highly recommend it!  I went back to the Santa image and wanted to try something a bit different and something I haven't done in quite awhile.

I stamped him onto some watercolour paper using Versamark Ink and white embossing powder.  I used my Tombow Dual Brush pens for the colouring.  I tried to get as vibrant of colour as I could by laying each colour after it had dried.

I have to be honest, I love everything about this, except his eyes. No matter what I did, I could not seem to get them to look right.  Oh well, this is still my favourite card!  I die cut him out using the Inside Scalloped Circle Dies and using Scotch Tape, I adhered the frame and inner portion together.

I also used one of the circle dies from the Stitched in Circles Dies to cut a piece of kraft cardstock.

As I was looked at the Inside Scallops die set, I thought it would be nice to use some of the extras that come in that set.  You not only get the circle dies, you get floral and leaf dies, as well!!  I die cut these out of watercolour paper and used my Tombows again.  I used liquid adhesive to adhere them to the circle panel.  

I took some "wood look" paper and adhered that to a 4.25 X 4.25 card base and adhered the focal panel on top!  White gel pen and Glossy Accents finish this card!

So, what card was your favourite?  I'd love to know!

Thank you so much for stopping by today!  

Have a wonderful day,

Laurie

Guest Post #3 for Craftin Desert Divas

Hi, friends!!  Today is the third card I made using the adorable new Nice List stamp set from Craftin Desert Divas.  I had so much fun using this set.  In fact, this is a record for me!  I have never used a single stamp set for multiple cards...ever.  It was actually fun and challenging at the same time!

Today, we are going to use the a couple of the cute critter images.  This time, I created a scene with one of the cute reindeer and the squirrel.

I started by stamping and colouring with Copics then fussy cutting the images.  For my scene, I knew I HAD to use the newer Fall Border Dies!!  This is a must have set of dies in my opinion!  I started by cutting the tree line and snow bank out of white cardstock.  I knew I wanted all my edges to have that great stitched detail, so I simply placed the pieces into the smallest rectangle die from the Fancy Frames Die Set, this way they matched perfectly with the blue background.

This card came together quickly.  Everything was mounted with a combination of foam and liquid adhesive.  I added white gel pen snow to the blue panel and a lot of glitter pen to the tree line.

I love the way this turned out!!

Thank you for stopping by!  I have ONE more card to share with you this week, so stay tuned!!

Laurie

Craftin Desert Diva Guest Post #2

Hello, all!!  Welcome back!  Today, I'm sharing the second card I've created using the new Nice List stamp set from Craftin Desert Divas October Release!

Today, I've used the super cute "round man" from this set, otherwise known as Santa!!

Isn't he adorable??  I coloured him and the North Pole sign using Copic markers then fussy cut them out.  For the background I did a bit of ink blending with water droplets and used on of the Stitched in Circles Dies to cut it out.  Now here is where I thought outside the box!!  I looked through my stash of CDD dies and came across the Garden Border Die Set.  I think it's lumpy enough to look like snow, plus it has die cut lines in it to easily tuck images in!!  Second idea..those snowflakes, aren't actually snowflakes!!  They are floral images from the same Garden Border set only cut from glitter paper!  Clever, right?

I stamped that awesome sentiment on to a panel cut with one of the Fancy Frames, foam mounted the Santa circle and adhered the panel onto an A2 top fold cardbase.  And keeping it in my style, glitter pen and Glossy Accents finish this card!

Thank you so much for checking out this project!  I'll be back soon with another!!

Have a fab day!!

Laurie

Guesting for Craftin Desert Divas!!

Hello again, welcome back!!  I am super excited to be a guest designer for the October 2016 Craftin Desert Divas release!  Through out this week, I'll be sharing four cards made with the new Nice List stamp set.

This 4X6 set is adorable!  I had a lot of fun working with it!  Let's take a look at my first card!!

I used the cute notebook paper die from the Mini Shaker Clips Die Set, masked the edges of each die and stamped a few of the images inside.  Everything was coloured with Copic Markers, including the background of each square.

I cut some white cardstock using the Fancy Frame Die Set (one of my all time favourite sets to this day!) and foam mounted my little pictures.  Before adhering the panel to a blue card base, I stamped one of the sentiments from this set in black ink.

To finish off and for a pop of red, I added those sweet hearts, which are also a part of the Mini Shaker Clips set!  A little glitter pen and Glossy Accents and my first project is done!!

Thank you for stopping by today and I look forward to showing my other 3 cards I've created using this stamp set!!

Have a fabulous day!

Laurie

Miss You card with LDRS!

Hello and Happy Thursday!!  I wanted to share my latest DT creation for LDRS Creative.  This card uses  a lot of different dies.  All the products in the shop go together SO well!

Today, I chose an image from All Dressed Up.  These stamps are among my favourites.  So much fun to colour their outfits!!  This set is an amazing deal!  It's called Girl's Night Out and it includes 3 different girls, each 4" tall!!

I hope you'll check out the LDRS Blog for all the details and links to the products I've used!!

Have a wonderful day, everyone and thanks for stopping by!!

Laurie

Paper Smooches and Penny Black!

Hello everyone!!  Sorry there has been a bit of a lapse in my posts.  Life, ya know!  But be sure that I am still on my Making Use of My Stamps mission!!  Todays projects include stamps from Penny Black and stamps and dies from Paper Smooches.

I have exactly one Penny Black set, yes, one.  I would love to grow my collection but that would kind of defeat the purpose of this series.  I'm trying NOT to buy a lot of new stuff.  So this card uses the stamp set, Buddy and Duck.

This dog is so cute!  I did some masking and used the fabulous Cloud Stencil from MFT.  I used Scattered Straw, Spun Sugar and Shaded Lilac Distress Inks.  The puppy was coloured with a combination of Warm and Cool Grey Copics.

A bit of Sparkle Pen and white gel pen details finish this cutie off!

The next card uses the Bitty Bungalows Stamp set and Co-Ordinating Dies.  

I created a little scene with a cute pink house and car! The rectangle that the scene is on is an awkward size and looked kind of weird on an A2 card.  To remedy that, I turned it into a 4.25 square card.

It looks a little like a Polaroid, doesn't it?  To stir things up a bit, I stamped the sentiment in Hollyhock Ink from Simon.

Thank you for stopping by today and continuing to follow along with me!!

I will see you soon!!

Laurie

Big Hello with LDRS Creative

Hi everyone!  Here's a little peak of my latest project which is up on the LDRS Blog!  I used a ton of product on this card including lots of the fabulous dies offered in the shop!!

I hope you have a chance to swing by for all details and products used!

Have a great day, everyone!!

Laurie

Starting with "P"!

Hi everyone!!  Last week I picked a new letter for my "Making Use of My Stamps" series.  The letter picked was P.  I knew I had a lot of Paper Smooches stamps and dies but as I was going through my stash, I realized that I also have a lot of Papertrey Ink!!  I don't keep my PTI stamps in with the general population so I totally forgot about them...bad me!!  In this portion of the series, you'll also see some Pretty Pink Posh, Poppy Stamps and Penny Black.

I posted this card on Instagram yesterday for the 30 Day Colour Challenge hosted by the beautiful Kathy Racoosin!  It features the Forest Whimsy Stamp Set from Paper Smooches.  I haven't used my pencil crayons in quite some time so that was my medium of choice.  I have the Lyra Rembrandt Polycolor pencils and I love them!!

I also used the Leaves 1 Dies and the Pinked Circle Dies on this card.

The next two cards feature PaperTrey Ink.  I love PTI products but have not ordered from there for a long time due to shipping costs :(  This first card uses the Lovely Layers Stamp Set and the Co-ordinating Dies.  These dies are solid, which I'm not really a fan of (only because my stamping is ALWAYS off!).  I used all Catherine Pooler Inks for the stamping, love these inks for so many reasons, but that's another post!

Because the colours are so vibrant, I left the card fairly neutral.  I also used the Basic Bookmark 3 Die.   As an afterthought, I added a strip of sparkly washi tape to one side, I felt like it needed some shine!

And my final card for today uses one of my all time faves from PTI,  the Be Happy Stamp Set. Unfortunately, I could not find this set on the PTI website.  The shop still carries the Dies, which can totally be used on their own!

Again, I used CP Inks for the stamping.  This card is so happy, love the way it turned out!

I think I'm really going to enjoy the letter P!!  From whimsical and cute to classy and elegant, this is going to be fun!!

Thanks for stopping by today, I really appreciate it!

Hugs!

Laurie