Monkey 81 - Thanks/Friend + Sketch

Here's a pretty cute sketch that was featured on A La Card Monkey this week. Don't you just love the picture of the kitten and ducks?   I wasn't able to participate in time for my rendition to be posted. You know how it is, life gets in the way.  However I did make an entry and even though the challenge is closed I thought I'd share my take on the sketch with you. 

Before I do that,  I just want to take a moment and congratulate the winner and spotlighted Monkey Princesses who will all be guest designers for A La Card Monkey in weeks to come.  Marie received the prestigious "Monkey Princess" for her adorable little deer friendship card.  I think you'll agree it's just so stinking cute!  Congrats Marie! 

And way to go,  to all the other gals who participated; especially Luciana and Jennifer who were chosen as upcoming guest designers.  Jennifer actually made two cards which is awesome!  Make sure you stop by their blogs to congratulate them and check out their wonderful creations. 

And here is my "non-entry".  That'll teach me to procrastinate and do some unimportant stuff like housework and dishes.  Lol!

Because this sketch is about friendship and thanks, I thought what better stamp set to express this than Stampin' Up!s  "Friends Never Fade" (pg.107 Idea Book & Cataogue [IB&C]).  I love the floral shapes and sentiment in that set. 

This set of 4 stamps is so reasonable priced.  It comes in wood mount (118750 for $21.95) or clear mount (120618 for $16.95).  At $4.25 per stamp for clear mount, that's an awesome deal.   Although the Greenhouse Gala DSP I used is now retired this set also works well with the "Beyond the Garden" papers offered on page 185 of the IB&C.

I wanted a floral paper for my background layer and remembered I still had some Greenhouse Gala Designer Paper in my stash which matches this stamp set perfectly.  I loved the richness and colours in this DSP and it's really worked for me in past projects, so I thought why not.  Once I chose the DSP the ink colours and cardstock were a no-brainer.  That's one of the things I totally love about Stampin' Up! products, they all coordinate so beautifully! 

This picture shows a bit of the upper detail in the card where I've tied a bow with Whisper White Tafetta Ribbon and added three little sentiments stamped in Pear Pizzazz ink on Jewelry Punch tickets. The three cardstock colours I chose for this card are Whisper White, Peach Parfait and Pear Pizzazz.  

I'm not a big fan of large scallops so decided to use the Lacey Ribbon Border punch (pg. 211 IB&C) rather than a scallop on the card front.  I cut a 5 1/4 x 1 1/2" piece of Pear Pizazz cardstock to layer under the Lacey Ribbon border strip.  This adds a bit more definition .  Instead of using brads or flowers I picked three of the beautiful large size basic pearls and added them to the bottom of the Lacey strip. 

Finally, I layered up the sentiment "Friends Are Flowers that Never Fade" with Peach Parfait, Pear Pizazz and Whisper White cardstocks.  The sentiment which is stamped in Pear Pizazz is adhered with dimensionals to the Whisper White layer.  Building the layers up from the main cardstock colour to the sentiment seems to really make the words pop off the card.

As I mentioned earlier I love the floral stamps in the "Friends Never Fade" stampset and rather than add designer paper or cardstock detail to the inside of the card I chose to showcase the floral stamps and the sentiment on their own. 

To accomplish this I began by stamping the sentiment which is from a retired set called "Best Blossoms", in Whisper White ink, and then embossed and heat set it with Whisper White Embossing powder.  I did the same for the floral images.  By using white ink to reflect the negative image on the front of the card, I believe this makes the lines of the card flow better.  

Okay so even though I wasn't able to make the deadline for entering my Monkey 81 card into the  A La Card Monkey weekly challenge,  I still had fun showing it to you and hope you like it.  See you next time and hope you draw some inspiration from my card. .

Stampin Queen's Sketch Challenge #11

Have you checked out this week's Stampin Queen's Sketch Challenge SQSC11 yet?  If not click here to check out what the guest designer's have come up with and all their fabulous cards. 

This sketch has tons going on  in it, but you can make it as simple or as complicated as you want.  Don't let it scare you off as there are prizes this week and you won't want to miss out on!

As in past week's I'm sticking to my "Holiday" theme with a vintage flair.  I chose the family silhouette from the Welcome Christmas stamp set (pg 36 IB&C) for my stamped image.  The image was stamped in Early Espresso ink on Whisper White cardstock.  This piece of cardstock was mounted on a 1 3/4 x 2 1/2" piece of Garden Green.  

The card base is Whisper White cardstock layered with a 5 1/4 x 4 piece of Cherry Cobbler that was texturized with the Snow Burst  Textured Impressions Embossing Folder (12406 pg 33 Holiday Mini).  I loved the plaid papers in the Frost Wood Lodge Designer Series paper (124002) pg 28 Holiday Mini) so decided to layer pieces of this DSP onto Garden Green cardstock to make the two of the required panels in the sketch.  The third panel is a 1 1/2" x 3" piece of Crumb Cake that was texturized with the Stripes Embossing Folder (123128 pg 218 IB&C).  The edges were distressed with Crumb Cake ink for a vintage look.   

I chose the 3/8" Quilted Ribbon Satin Ribbon on page 20 of the holiday mini for my ribbon and bow.  I think it goes perfectly and adds a bit of country charm to my card.  The buttons are tied with thin strips of Garden Green cardstock. 

The sentiment is from the Merry Crittermas stamp set which retired last year. 

DAY THREE MY DIGITAL STUDIO EVENT & FREE DOWNLOADS

MY DIGITAL STUDIO EVENT & FREE DOWNLOADS

ONLY TWO MORE DAYS TO GO!

Learn more about digital scrapbooking and card making and get your free download.  Simply complete a quick survey at http://www.mydigitalstudio.net/

and your ready to access these amazing free products. 

If you miss out on this offer/opportunity you will still be able to get these digital products after November 7th, however they will have to be purchased.  So why not take advantage and get them FREE today and tomorrow!

I love the fact the My Digital Studio is so easy to use.  I whipped up this Christmas tag in a matter of minutes.  Once printed out I can make a hybrid tag by simply adding some embellishments and bling.  The really neat thing about this is that I can also make a whole sheet of tags in a matter of seconds.  Something that would have taken considerably longer in my craft room. 

To learn more about My Digital Studio - click here.  There are great tutorials and samples and discussion threads you can follow. 

To shop online 24/7 - click here

Have a great creative weekend!

Day Two Free Digital Downloads

Hi Everyone.  It's day two of Stampin' Ups! four days of Free Digital Downloads and I want to share a card I made with this fabulous program. 

This is the first card I've made using MDS.  While it may be a bit busy looking, the elements seemed to all work together, so I went with it. Let me know what you think.
 

The outside of this card uses elements from Home for the Holidays.

I kept the inside of the card fairly plain but if I was doing a bunch of these to send out in the mail I'd incorporate one of our pictures from our holidays this year.  Since there's no extra charge for this when they're printed that would be a great idea.   Come back tomorrow when I'll have a tag and another scrapbook page for you.  Happy Stamping and Scrapbooking!

Digital Scrapbooking Days Are Here - Get Your Free Download Today

Hi Everyone.  Today is a very special day because it's the start of Digital Scrapbooking Days.  That's right.  Today through November 7th celebrate with Stampin' Up by joining in their Digital Scrapbooking on-line event. 

All the downloads are compatible with most design software.  To access the downloads, you will need to fill out a short survey to help Stampin' Up! track the success of the FREE DOWNLOAD CAMPAIGN.  And that's all there is to it.  Go check it out for yourself on MyDigital Studio.net.

Over the next few days I'm going to be adding projects made with these free downloads and to start things off here are some pictures of my mom taken before Halloween.  All I did was drop in my photos and add some text and voila it was done.  That's just how easy this program is.  Let me know what you think.

Here's my mom working on her Halloween Cards.  She's adding stickers to the cards and envelopes before sending them out to her eleven grand/great grandchildren. 

Monday Monster Mash Halloween Count Down Blog Hop - Week Twelve

Monday Monster Mash Halloween Count Down Blog Hop has finally come to an end after 12 fun filled weeks. Shirley sure puts on a good party and I'm glad I played along. Here's my last card and

a little crow that I whipped up just for fun.  Hope you enjoy.  I'll be back to fill in the details later on. .

He's got some attitude. 

IT'S GOOD TO BE A HOSTESS NOVEMBER 1 TO DECEMBER 15TH

Be A Stampin' Up! Hostess. November 1^st through December 15^th and you will earn

an additional $45.00 in “It’s Good to Be  the Hostess” rewards!   Call me today to book your event!

If your workshop sales total is	You earn hostess dollars		It's Good to Be the Hostess	Total Free Stampin' Up! Merchandise	Plus, you earn full-priced items at 50% off
$450	$70	+	$45	$115	---
$525	$90	+	$45	$135	1 item
$650	$110	+	$45	$155	2 items
$1000	$160	+	$45	$205	3 items
$1,350+	$210plus 15% of amount over $1,350	+	$45	$255 plus 15% of amount over $1,350	4 items

That's right!  Book a workshop with me during the specified time period  and you will receive an additional $45 in free Stampin' Up! products when your workshop totals $450 or more (excluding tax and shipping)! This is in addition to all the other benefits a Stampin' Up! hostess normally gets!

This special offer is only available on customer, demonstrator, and workshop order types that qualify for this promotion. Online orders do not qualify.

• Orders must be $450 or more to qualify.
• Orders larger than $450 are not eligible for additional hostess free merchandise dollars. For example, a $900 workshop does not receive $90 in additional dollars. All orders over $450 always receive $45 in additional free hostess dollars.

Hostesses may use their additional $45 in free merchandise on any catalogue/mini catalogue products.

Qualifying orders must be placed by the following deadlines:

• Phone: Thursday, December 15, 2011; 6:50 PM (MT)
• OEX: Thursday, December 15, 2011; 11:50 PM (MT)