I love craft kits. I like to have a craft kit subscription delivered to my home each month.  It’s like a little gift to myself and I always take an afternoon to do a little easy crafting in front of the TV. This month’s kit came in a pretty box that I’m using to store my extra backgrounds and bits that I have left over from crafty sessions.   Product List 152392 103579 165674 147042 100082 131527 100730 121045 119681 100079 131901 110755 132708 102300 147042 126185 118485 137858 137860 Thank you so much for stopping by!  ..read more

This week’s Atlantic Hearts Sketch Challenge (atlanticheartschallenge.blogspot.com) inspired me to try a new stenciling technique.  Just when you think you’ve tried all the techniques, you find a new to you idea you can’t wait to try. This week’s sketch challenge:   I have a lot of stacking die shapes, but I don’t have a diamond shape! I do have squares and I decided to use those and turn them on their side.  I also wanted to use the new Changing Leaves bundle that I just got from the Online Exclusives for July at Stampin’ Up!  I make it a point to use my stamps and d ..read more

Welcome to video 2 of my technique files for card makers! I have a video walking you through 6 techniques and a printable for each technique that you will find the links for below! I’m making a technique binder to replace the one I made years ago.  Time for an update! You can check out all the techniques on my video here:   Technique 4: Kissing   This is a great way to add some interesting pattern and texture to a big, bold, solid stamp. You basically ink up a solid stamp and then touch it to a background stamp with a pattern that you love.  It will remove ink and leave ..read more

I have several relaxing hobbies that I pursue daily.  Card making and scrapbooking are two of those, as is crochet. All three of my crafty passions are easy hobbies for any person to pick up and excel at. Card making should be an easy and relaxing hobby.  We are adding stamped images, sentiments, and pretty papers that actual artists designed. One way to make easy is to have the right tools to work with.  One of those tools is a set of card sketches that you can easily browse through to get inspired when making a card. I have a sketchbook full of card layouts that I’ve been addi ..read more

Stampin’ Up! sells two kinds of stamps: cling stamps and clear stamps.  They are both wonderful!   CLING STAMPS Cling stamps are made of red rubber and they are the classic stamps from childhood for many of us. I often call them rubber stamps, but you will see them listed as cling stamps in the catalog and on the website.  Stampin’ Up! makes their own stamps in Utah and it’s an interesting process to watch. When you receive your red rubber stamps, you get a sheet of red rubber with the stamps laser cut around and a sheet of stickers to add to the back of your stamps.  All ..read more

I have a new sketch to share with you for the Atlantic Hearts Sketch Challenge for this week.   How pretty is this?  We all have a shelf full of floral stamps and dies that would work for this sketch! Here is my card:     Yep! Still playing with those whimsical birds from the Bird’s Eye View stamp set from Stampin’ Up!  I can’t stop! I was so happy that I had just purchased the Wildflower Designs Bundle.  The die set came with 3 hexagonal frame shapes.  I used the scalloped one and I kept the piece that was die cut from the center.  I added dimension to ..read more

I started a new project today!  I’m creating a video series for cardmaking techniques and I’m creating a free printable for each technique.  You will find 3 printables below for techniques using the Stampin’ Write Markers.   I purchased a set of 12 of these little photo albums from Amazon a couple of years ago.  I pulled one out today to start a technique binder. How many times have you seen a new technique, tried it, then forgot about it? Too many if you are anything like me! I decorated my little binder with some of the ephemera bits from the ephemera packets that I have ..read more

This week’s Atlantic Hearts Sketch Challenge is up for the week!  We would love to have you participate and share your creativity with us!  You can share from Facebook, Instagram, Pinterest, or your blog.   Fun and different! Here is my take on this sketch:   I used my Irresistible Blooms stamp set that really has been my go to floral for the spring this year.  I added a touch of the To the Market Designer Series Paper as well. Those sweet, layered dragon flies are from the Happiest Day stamp set.  I love them!  This stamp set has some fun images and filler ..read more

I absolutely loved making this project!!! I created a mini album and all the pages have interactive elements. I made the album out of the new Sunny Springs Card set and the Calming Creek Card set from the new Stampin’ Up! Annual Catalog.   I love how this turned out!  I used pieces from all three of the ephemera sets that I currently have, including the Fully Flowering, Something for Everyone, and the Labels and Layers. I also purchased the Dandy Designs DSP from the Clearance Rack.  This paper pack has 48 sheets of 12 x 12″ double sided patterned papers.  There are 12 dif ..read more

For the month of June, we have a sketch challenge going at the Challenge YOUrself Scrapbook Challenge blog.     I always love the months we use a Page Maps sketch for our challenge.  This is a fun one!       Here is my take on the sketch:   So the designer series paper pack that I’m playing with for the month of June is the To the Market designer series paper.  I also used a couple of scraps of last month’s dsp paper pack which was the Country Lace DSP set. You can also see more of the Flowering Florals Ephemera pieces along with more of the birds I m ..read more