Cute Christmas page

Here is a layout I used with the new Christmas paper - Candy Cane Christmas. It has red sparkly lines and dots on it!  You KNOW I love that!  I wanted to add some circles to the page, so I used them to add some little accents.  For my accents I used the new Cute Christmas stamp set from the holiday mini that is coming out TOMORROW!!!  Yippee!  I love all of the new stuff in the new mini!

Here is an upclose picture of some of the images - I just watercolored and added glitter.  The pictures are not really great because I haven't been able to get home before 9 or 10 at night, so there is no daylight left to help get a clear picture.  Sorry!  We'll try again with the next item I make...
Paper:  Garden Green, Blushing Bride, Baja Breeze, Candy Cane Christmas DSP, Real Red
Ink:  Night of Navy, Marina Mist, Early Espresso, Real Red, Garden Green, Baja Breeze
Stamps:  Cute Christmas
Accessories:  Sponge Daubers, red glitter, circle scissors plus, rub-ons (non-SU), rhinestones (non-SU)

Sketch-a-thon coming soon!

Are you ready for a sketch-a-thon?  I sure am!  Join me at http://sketchesforyou.ning.com/ for lots of back to school and fall fun!

Guest designers include Nikki Sivils and Cherie Averill!  I can't wait to see your creations!   

Heat embossing on thick window sheets

I used some of the paper out of the new mini catalogue for this page - it uses Cherry Cobbler and Always Artichoke as a color combo.  I made Cherry Cobbler poinsettias for it with the 5 petal punch - I embossed, spritzed with homemade silver shimmer mist and distressed.  The center is an Always Artichoke brad.  For the title, I used the same clear top note die cut and smudged silver  craft ink (retired) on the edges.  24 hours later it was still wet....so out came the heat embosser!  And out and in popped the top note!  Oh, well.....it made for a very interesting bit of texture on the layout....now if I can just keep it on the page!

Ink:  Silver craft ink

Paper:  Cherry Cobbler, Deck the Halls DSP

Accessories:  Always Artichoke ribbon, thick window sheets, top note die cut, big shot, chipboard numbers (retired), embossing folder, Always Artichoke brads, 5 petal flower punch, heat embosser, alcohol/silver shimmer paint

I love the owl punch!

Here's a sweet little page using my favorite new punch - the owl punch.  This page was inspired by the Simply Scrappin' class at the Sunny Stampin' online class.  I made almost the entire page out of scraps - just the background pieces were not scraps.
Stamps:  Rough Type, Cheep Talk, Jumble Alphabet
Paper:  Write Stuff DSP, Pacific Point DSP, Pacific Point, Soft Suede
Ink: Pacific Point, Soft Suede
Accessories:  3/4", 1", 1 1/4" circle punches, owl punch, bitty flower punch, rhinestones, stampin' write markers, crystal effects, dazzling diamonds, sponge daubers

Fall layout

Here is a quick little fall layout that I made with the only 3 pics I had from last Thanksgiving (I don't know how I only made it home with 3!!!).  Anyway, I used a diecut from Provocraft on the leaves and used a few different texture folders to emboss them.  It made them much more realistic!

Here's a little closeup of the title and the leaves.   You can see I used chipboard letters on a thick window sheet top note die cut for the title.    Here you can see the texture on the leaves - it makes it really pop.

Thank you fairy much!

You know, I'm super cheesy sometimes....I saw the cutest idea for the sentiment on a birthday party website - it said, "Thank you fairy much!"   I just couldn't resist making a sweet little card to go with the sentiment!  I added just a smidge of glitter and pearls to dress it up.  Isn't it darling?!

Grammy's love scrapbook page

Here is a scrapbook page inspired by my blog queens, Andrea Walford and Sophia Landry.  I used the same idea to create this page about my mom and her two grandkids.  I used some On Board Lots of letters chipboard for the title and covered it with Georgia Peach DSP. 

Here, I took the sketched and rotated it, using the same elements from the first page. 

You'll notice some really sparkly glitter on those big hearts - you'll be able to get that starting September 1st.  It is called silver glass glitter and I absolutely adore it - plus it was free at convention!  That makes it 10 times better at least!  Hee hee!

Back to School with the Color Coach

Here's a little bit different color combo that I got from the new Color Coach.  Real Red, Tempting Turquoise, and Tangerine Tango.  Again, a color combo that I wouldn't have put together, but it made for a quick and easy school page with a little different color scheme!
I used the First Day stamp set and stamped the tiny apples on the background page.  I colored the apples that are open with Smooch top coat.  Next, I stamped the A+ stamp in Tempting Turquoise and colored in the A+ with the Tangerine Tango marker.  I outlined the circle with crystal effects and then dipped it in Orange glitter and layered it with a scallop circle and some Tempting Turquoise ribbon.  It was that simple!

Use those scraps!

I love it when i can make a card completely from scraps!  I used my color coach (love that thing!) to come up with a color combo-Pear Pizzazz, Tempting Turquoise, and Rich Razzleberry.  Next, I surfed through the endless piles of scraps to find a few pieces in those colors.  I stamped the image in Pear Pizzazz on watercolor paper and spritzed it with Rich Razzleberry.  Finally, a little clip and a tiny piece of Tempting Turquoise ribbon and the card is finished.  I left it blank so it could be for any occasion. 

I love my husband! Oh, yeah, and a vintage card, too!

Oh, how I love all things vintage! Not that I really have any vintage pictures to scrapbook, but I sure do love the look.  As you already knew, I fell for the Artistic Etchings stamp set as soon as it was available for pre-order.  The next set I fell in love with came from the gorgeous Idea Book and Catalogue for this year.  Notably Ornate was my to die for stamp set - I just loved the bird and the lined stamp that I used for this card....I just couldn't live without it!  It is perfect for scrapbooking!  And cards, of course.

So now you get to find out how much of a dork I really am!  My hubby bought me this boxy suitcase that is the perfect size for setting in my lap as we drive cross country.  He knows I, unlike my mom who easily gets carsick, love to read and use my time wisely in the car, so I guess he decided that I could scrapbook and make cards, too!  How could you not love a husband like that?!  He was right!  I have made a mini-album, scrapbook pages, and countless cards (including this one) all in the front seat of the car!  So, either I am a terrible multi-tasker or a complete dork....but I love that my husband encourages it! 

So, enough rattling on....I made this while driving through Colorado....

I used a kraft card base and the Love Letter DSP.  The background stamp used Sahara Sand.  After plenty of cutting, I sponged it with Riding Hood Red.  The Artistic Etchings stamps were all in black - now you can't see it, but the Eiffel Tower actually has Smooch all over it, which makes it really shiny.  And what good vintage card doesn't have pearls?  If only I had some ribbon with me....oh well!  Maybe I'll give to that husband of mine that I love so much!

Challenges at Sketches for All website

Here is a darling little card that I made the other day to play with this little fairy stamp set.  I finally gave in and bought this set so I could do a fairy themed birthday party for my daughter's 4th birthday in November.  This set is just so fun for coloring! 

To make it, I stamped the image with StazOn ink on watercolor paper.  I colored the image with a combination of watercolor pencils and ink using my blender pens.  I played with my distressing kit to curl up the edges - I really like that distressing kit!

This card was for the Let's Ink challenge made by Denise, our Guest Design Team Member.

So here is the challenge I made using My Digital Studio.  You will find both of these challenges under the Groups tab (membership is FREE!)  This is under the group, Let's get Digital (it kind of reminds me of the song, Let's Get Physical by Olivia Newton from the 80's!)  It is a card sketch I made using MDS. 

Here is my sample card I made using the Night and Day DSP kit, Button Bouquet, Write Stuff, and Friends 24-7 stamp brush on My Digital Studio.  The bird image is for the outside of the card.  I simply copied the same page and changed the inside of the card to leave room for the sender to write a little note to the recipient.  I love that you can make a card in 5 minutes or less on MDS! 

Our summer scrapbook for 2010

I am so excited to share an album I've been working on to share our pictures from our summer vacation.  It includes pictures from a trip to Pompano Beach, Florida, with our friends Alfie, Melissa, Aiden, and Madelyn.  In addition, pictures of our recent trip to Utah and all the national parks we visited are in there.   I made it on my computer using the My Digital Studio software you can purchase at my website:  http://valeriedurham.stampinup.net/
Enjoy!