Dasher Fun!

I'm back, and with flair. I can't begin to describe how busy it's been around my house lately but luckily I'm getting ready for a Christmas Card class and thought I'd share a couple of the creations we'll be putting together. I hope you enjoy this little preview . . .

I really like the way this card turned out. The colors are Kraft, Soft Suede, Ruby Red and Always Artichoke. I antiqued the edges using the Soft Suede pad.

I was also happy with the way this one turned out. Colors are Old Olive, Chocolate chip, and Very Vanilla. The Designer Series Paper is from "Merry Moments".

Monochromatic Thoughts

I'm here, I'm here! Don't give up on me. Sorry, I've been MIA.

I had time tonight to do some stamping for the first time in what seems like an eternity. So, I thought I'd share with you all.

I thought I would try a little monochromatic card, and really wanted to do it in purple (AKA: Lovely Lilac) but unfortunately I don't have that stamp pad (yet). So I used creamy caramel, and I don't think it turned out too badly. The background is "Sanded" stamped with versamark. the large stamp is from "Baroque Motifs" and the ribbon is grossgrain eggplant.

Hope you enjoy, and I truly hope to have more time soon to catch up on my stamping and post more pictures.

as always, thanks for looking!

New goodies and time to play!

I got new goodies and time to play . . . this is what I made. . . .

This little birdy is from a CTMH stamp set. . . just too cute! I made him for a friend of mine. . . shhhh can't say who.

I made this for a sympathy card. They are always difficult for me, but I think this one turned out well.

As always, thanks for looking!

Many Thanks

First of all, don't forget to show me your toilet paper card. I'll be choosing a winner from the comments on THIS thread tomorrow (Monday, 4/14/08)!

Long ago I labeled myself an admitted copy-cat. I take ideas from SCS, friends blogs, magazines, and the Stampin Up Catalog. From there I tweak colors, design, layout and images to suit my taste. So tonight, I thought I'd give you a little example of this. . . .hope it's useful.

Let's say this was the card I found in a catalog (it's really not, I made it. . . but let's pretend). Not my usual colors and not completely crazy about the stamp on the bottom right. So I usually mentally make note of the design but for your benefit I've actually drawn out the template.

Here you see each element in a slightly different color. I've changed the square with the sentiment to a circle, but as you'll see in the samples below it's not a hard and fast rule, just guidelines.

Here I simply took the template and two coordinating colors, and the Delight in Life stamp set. . . pretty simple.

I mixed it up a little more here, looking for extra notions and adding the ribbon (It was driving me crazy that the other card didn't have ribbon).

For the next card, I simply rotated the card and left the layout as-is (like I said before it's just a suggestion, don't stress about getting it perfect!).

This is probably my most favorite. . . . and if you look closely you can tell that it's the same layout just rotated.

When you get in a slump, or are looking for card ideas try to view the sample cards you look at with a good bit of imagination and very little perfectionism. Don't have the stamp set, no big deal! Use one you have. . . don't like the colors? Change them! The one thing that drew me to stamping (and keeps me coming back) is that your creativity has no end. There is no right way and no wrong way. You do what is comfortable and visually pleasing for you!


Some people may not like my style, and I'm sure I've seen cards out there that I won't be copying any time soon, but that's the beauty of any art. . .


as always, thanks for looking!

Embrace Life, From the Heart

Well, so maybe the title is a little lame, but at least the card isn't. Once again, I'm trying to get away from my normal colors and style. I'm not sure about the green piece of floral on the right, but other than that I like the way it turned out.

Hopefully tomorrow I'll have time to upload pictures from tonight's stamp club.

As always, thanks for looking!

Grateful Flair

I made this card this past weekend while in "groove" mode. I love these colors and actually like the way the brown ribbons work together.

As always, thanks for looking!

How Sarah Got her Groove Back

First of all, let me say thanks for the nice comments about my new blog layout. I'm glad that you all like it as much as I do. Secondly, I'm sure you've noticed that I haven't been posting very frequently lately. I lost my groove. Not really sure where it went, I'm hoping at least one of us went some place nice with palm trees, warm breezes and random little cabanas. So, in an effort to lure my groove back home I spent two weeks working on different crafts (more on that later) then today I used some of my free time to clean and reorganize my craft space.

After my space was cleaned and organized. I pulled my favorite magazine and decided to use the pictures for inspiration and try to make cards that were different from my "normal". So I left my baroque background set in the drawer and pulled out some other sets.

This was the first card I made. I haven't used Doodle this in quite a while. The colors are from a picture of daffodils in my magazine. . . . and look. . . . BLING :)

This was the second card I made. I liked the way the layers were going until I got to the stampin' part. I couldn't get the words straight which frustrated me a little but, I still like the overall look.

This was the last card I made, and by far my favorite. I love the colors and I truly think this stamp set has much better potential in someone else's hands other than mine, but I was pleased with the overall outcome.

Hopefully there will be more to come soon. Hope you like these cards.

As always, thanks for looking!

More Thank You Cards

Here are some new Thank you cards that I made last night. I was so proud. I actually got about 11 cards done in a couple of hours. These were 11 different designs too. That's got to be a record for me. Here are my favorite two. . .


The background paper is the summer set from the current mini catalog.

Once again I had to use the Baroque background set. I love this pink on pink look and I think the green ribbon ads a nice touch.

Watch for the April Project Pack coming soon and remember you only have about a week left to order the March Project Pack if you are interested.

As always, thanks for looking!

March Project Pack

It's time for the new Project Pack! Okay, actually I'm running a little late, but better late than never, right? Here is the information for the March Project Pack. If you have any questions, please let me know. Also, if you have any requests for upcoming Project Packs I would love to hear them!







as always, thanks for looking!

Easy Does It

I've been noticing lately that there is a new trend to purchase ready made, store bought, "hand made cards". These cards seem to be doing well (I got a number of them for Christmas cards, almost as many as true hand made cards). The design on most of these cards are developed with time and cost in mind, but they are still adorable in their own right and I got to thinking. It usually takes me a solid hour to make one card, due to the fact that I sometimes think that I HAVE to have ribbon, 17 layers, and 14 embellishments (yes, okay, so that was exaggerating a little).

So, todays challenge/thought is to make it as simple as possible, and then go EVEN SIMPLER! I have a few cards below from my own take at this challenge. When making my own cards I also decided to focus on the Sale a Bration stamp sets. These stamp sets will be gone soon, and I'd like to use them while I still can!


This card was made using Blush Blossom Card stock and rose red ink pad (classic). The stamp set is (SAB) Birthday Whimsy.

This card was made using Chocolate Chip Card stock and ink pad (classic). The stamp set is (SAB) Birthday Whimsy.

This card was made using Tempting Turqouise Card stock and Not Quite NAvy ink pad (classic). The stamp set is (SAB) Birthday Whimsy. The "string" for the ballon is the silver chord from the discontiued holiday mini catalog (sorry, it just fit perfectly!).

This card was made using Pretty in Pink and Wild Wasabi Card stock and black staz-on ink pad (classic). The stamp set is (SAB) Merci. I used the watercolor technique for the SU! Markers and stamped the image on SU! Watercolor paper. The ribbon is Wasabi double stiched and the wasabi layer is punched all the way around. . . still so simple, yet pretty!

This card was made using Wild Wasabi Card stock and black staz-on ink pad (classic). The stamp set is (SAB) Merci. Again, I used the watercolor technique for the SU! Markers and stamped the image on SU! Watercolor paper. The ribbon is Pretty in Pink Teffeta. This is probably my favorite card out of this set.

Just another something to think about next time you sit down to make a card or two. Please let me know if you participate in the challenge. I'd love to see your "Easy Does It" creations!

As Always Thanks for looking!

Sarah