New Release Day for The Alley Way Stamps

It's the most wonderful time of the month...the new release blog hop for The Alley Way Stamps (TAWS)!

This is a particularly fun release as it includes quite a mix of styles and occasions - a fun border/background set (since it's Halloween today, be sure to check out my Halloween card here using the borders), a photo frame set and a Christmas set - all of which are in the fun and unique style of TAWS!!

Since I already used Background Checks, for today I played with Framed and Jolly Holiday.

I love the photo frame - you could put ANYTHING inside the frame.  And...this is the big one but there's a small one too!  (FYI: the sentiments and frame are from the new Framed set, but the little bird is from last month's Trees Company.)

What I particularly love about this stamp is the size.  I am not a big user of dsp - and definitely not overwhelming patterned paper like above.  But I could add this big frame and the bold patterns just became a nice accent. (My sketch for this card came from Sketchbook Saturday - picture below.)
In a totally different mood...check out this charming little guy from Jolly Holiday.  Isn't he sweet?


This is already one of my favorite all-time Christmas sets.  This guy is cute - but there's also the most charming Santa that I have ever seen.  I'm sure you've seen him on this hop (if not, check out this post on the TAWS blog.)
(My sketch for this card came from Merry Monday - picture below.) Be sure to head to Lyndal's blog next! Here's the official IMPORTANT stuff: One person is going to win ALL 3 NEW SETS!!! So if you want that person to be you.. all you have to do is comment on all the hop posts and head over to the TAWS blog to find out how you can get additional entries. 

Here are the DT Blogs to visit

Alison
Annette
Arielle
Audrey
Danielle
Jessica
Kim <===You Are Here
Lyndal
Tracy

We Click!

• Stamps: TAWS Framed, Trees Company
• Paper: Basic Grey June Bug, Stampin' Up Night of Navy
• Ink: Stampin' Up Night of Navy, Copics
• Accessories: Cuttlebug heart cut and emboss, Stampin' Up Basic Gray ribbon
• Challenge: Sketchbook Saturday

Winter Wonder

• Stamps: TAWS Jolly Holiday
• Paper: Bo Bunny Powder Mountain, Stampin' Up Bliss Blue (long retired) and Going Gray, Papertrey Smokey Shadow, Best Creations glitter white
• Ink: Papertrey Ink Smokey Shadow, copics
• Accessories: Embossing folder (no name on it, sorry! - but it has a fun frame in the middle which is covered by my image and the embossed strip is actually part of the folder), Bo Bonny button, Spellbinders snowflake

My First Ever Scary Card

I just had to do a quick post today to show you my first ever scary card.  For my entire crafting career, I have either made for the church (absolutely NO creepy stuff allowed!) or for my young children.  Now that I have teenagers, I HAD to buy the new Tim Holtz Halloween Blueprint set!


I didn't do much decorating on the card because teenagers really don't care.
I did ruin the scary effect by using this stamp on the inside...

This is from an Inkadinkado set that is all humorous tombstomes - perfect for my sarcastic teen!!

Gotta run - I'm actually being social (that's unusual).  I have a dozen ladies showing up in an hour for a luncheon.  And...if my husband - who has been sent on an emergency trip to the grocery store for onions - gets home while I am typing - this would be MY tombstone!!

Background Check with TAWS

It's a sneak peek day for The Alley Way Stamps and I get to show you a fun new set called Background Check.  It's a variety of wonderful borders that can easily be extended to an entire background!  Given it's Halloween week - I had to go with one more little ghostie...


The strip of dots is actually only four dots across - a full strip is on the four left of the card.  Then I just kept adding strips, moving down a little bit each time.
I hope you are watching the sneaks at The Alley Way Stamps blog.  It's a fun release month - the three new sets are completely and totally different.  The first peek was last Friday and then one more tomorrow - followed by a fun and inspirational hop on Wednesday!  (I just realized Wednesday is Halloween and I should have saved this card for the Hop - ooops!!)
My colors come from the color throwdown.

• Stamps: The Alley Way Stamps Background Check (released Nov. 1), Ghoul-Friend (words) and Fa-La-La (face from an ornament)
• Paper: black and white
• Ink: ColorBox Frost White, Stampin' Up Celery, Amethyst, copics to match Pumpkin, Amethyst and Celery for the gems (see my side bar for a downloadable match list)
• Accessories: Papertrey Orange Zest button and Ghost die, My Favorite Things Fishtails LAYERS die.

A Few of My Favorite Things...

This is a weekend of farewells.  Yesterday was my last post for Dynamic Duos and today I say goodbye to the Sweet 'n Sassy Design Team.

I have had the honor and joy of serving on the Sweet 'n Sassy Design Team for the past year but, very sadly, this is my last official day.  As we all know, life often has surprising and exciting new plans for us and with the changes in my life, I simply do not have the time to give my Sweet 'n Sassy cards the focus that they deserve.

I love Sweet 'n Sassy Stamps and wanted to give you a few samples of what I so love.

First, Rhubarb and Cocoa...two of my favorite  characters!!  Here's Rhubarb all dressed up for Christmas!!  Cocoa is an absolutely charming mouse with his own line of stamps.

Second, Sweet 'n Sassy Stamps do cute well, but they also have a variety of lovely and elegant stamps.   (Thanks to my friend Kris for this color/layout inspiration.)

Third...Christian stamps!!  Many of their stamps are beautiful enough to stand alone.  There are also a large array of gorgeous florals and birds and wedding and baby sets and more, each of which includes Christian sentiments.

I do love Sweet 'n Sassy Stamps and they will continue to be an important part of my own card making! 

Rhubarb Santa:

• Stamps: Sweet 'n Sassy Rhubarb's Christmas
• Paper: Stampin' Up Lucky Limeade and Raspberry Ripple, TPC Studio Sweet Christmas dsp
• Ink: Memento Black, Copics
• Accessories: Stampin' Up Lucky Limeade ribbon, Papertrey Ink Simply Chartreuse button, Martha Stewart bow punch
• Challenge: Sketch from Technostamper

Harvest of Blessings:

• Stamps: Sweet 'n Sassy Autumn Collage, Friendship Background, Vintage Postcard
• Paper: Stampin' Up Very Vanilla, Early Espresso, River Rock
• Ink: Stampin' Up Early Espresso, River Rock and little sprinkles in Cajun Craze, Summer Sun and Old Olive
• Accessories: Prima Wood Buttons

Trust in Him:

• Stamps: Sweet 'n Sassy Our Refuge
• Paper: Stampin ' Up Crushed Curry, Authentique Essentials dsp
• Ink: Stampin' Up Early Espresso
• Accessories: Stampin' Up Crumb Cake seam binding and scallop border punch, unknown embossing folder (sorry...there's no name on it!)

Hey! Hello! You're Special!

This is my third post today!

Click here for Dynamic Duos.

I was browsing the early pages of my stamp index - (yes, I stamp every single stamp that I buy into an index AND I do it by category...I've stopped buying sets with a variety of sentiments because it takes too long to stamp some in the birthday section, some in the thanks, etc!)  My early pages go back at least a decade - and I ran across a Hero Arts set that is perfect for a girlfriend.  She is in hospice care and I am trying to send a card a day.  There's so little that I can do - but I can try to give her a smile!

This set had three birds that I wanted to use so I was thrilled when I saw that Less is More is a sketch challenge with three squares.

I do have to say that this card has gone slightly beyond my personal definition of CAS.  I think it's just the kraft background.  I know that most CAS definitions say that "white space" is just "open space", but most of my CAS cards are white so this doesn't feel right to me.  However, I did try it with white and silhouetted birds but it just wasn't "warm" enough to send to my friend.  So I thought of the CASual Friday challenge to use kraft.  Kraft and yellow was my solution!

• Stamps: Hero Arts Tiny Bird Messages, Envelope background
• Paper: Stampin' Up Crumb Cake and Crushed Curry
• Ink: Versamark, Colorbox Frost White (the background(
• Accessories: Zing embossing powder, Stampin' Up Crushed Curry ribbon, Derwent Inktense pencils

Flying by to Say Hi!!

This is my second post today.

Click here for Dynamic Duos.

I thought I was done with Halloween, but as I sorted them out to mail - oops - I'm missing one (and I'm missing for one of my kids but I have a few more days to worry about that!)  This card had to be sweet and cute so I found this Pink Cat Studios stamp in my digital collection and realized it would fit nicely in this week's Freshly Made Sketch.

I'm also going to link up at Stampin' Royalty and The Pink Elephant for their Halloween challenges.

• Stamps: Pink Cat Studios digital: Itty Bitty Betty Broom Ride, Hero Arts Happy Halloween clear set (this is an entire set of Halloween sentiments)
• Paper: Stampin' Up Eggplant Envy and Peach Parfait (both retired), Pumpkin (just the little scallop under the sentiment), Echo Park Happy Halloween Spooky Dots
• Ink: Memento Black, Copics
• Accessories: Glitter Tulle (Hobby Lobby had an end cap with lots of different colored rolls of glittery tulle!), Queen & Co. gems

Monochromatic Week at Dynamic Duos

It's monochromatic week at Dynamic Duos - one of my favorite weeks - because I love the elegance of a card done in monochrome.  This week includes a lovely pair of colors...

I did add one neutral this week to make my music stand out...


I came across this lovely music stamp and set of dies by Impression Obsession while I was visiting South Dakota last week.  They have a charming little store, downtown, right next to an old-fashioned candy/soda shop.  It's a wonderful stop if you ever get to Rapid City!!
I spent way too much time than I should have on this simple card.  I felt like I needed to show you creativity and uniqueness - I tried embossing the birds, I tried adding flowers and ribbons and pearls - all kinds of stuff.  But I finally sat back and realized that a lovely stamp just doesn't need anything else!
Definitely be sure to check out the rest of the Dynamic Duos design team this week.  It is with a very sad face and a heavy heart that I have to say it's this design team's last week with Dynamic Duos.  I know that it's been an amazing experience for me.  The color combos have been fresh and fun and I will continue to be a regular player.  Simply serving with this group of talented ladies - all of whom have a permanent place in my Google Reader - has been an honor!!

• Stamps: Impression Obsession Birds on Music, unknown sentiment
• Paper: Stampin' Up More Mustard, So Saffron
• Ink: Stampin' Up Going Gray
• Accessories: Impression Obsession Bird Die Set

It's WILD week at CASology!

This week's cue card at CASology is "WILD".  I knew that I had some wild gems that I had picked up Hobby Lobby and wanted to work a card around the gem...

You can see the gem details a little better here...it's wild!!!

• Stamps: Stampin' Up All Thru the Year (heart), My Favorite Things Little Loveosaurus (sentiment)
• Paper: Stampin' Up Basic Gray
• Ink: Black, Tim Holtz Wild Honey
• Accessories: Stampin' Up embossing folder, Spellbinders label, The Paper Studio gemstones

Over the Edge with PTI

This is my second post today - it's just a short scroll

down for CAS(E) this Sketch!

I just added this to the CAS-ual Friday Over the Edge challenge and after I hit submit, there were ZERO minutes left on the link.  That is really cutting it close.

Too bad I was in such a rush - because I could have spent a little bit more time in Photoshop making this card look white, instead of gray!!

I didn't really have any great ideas for CAS-ual Fridays but then I started seeing Papertrey Ink Blog Hop challenge cards popping up and when I took a look, there was a great color challenge...

There are actually a number of color choices for the hop - all slightly non-traditional holiday colors! 

• Stamps: Papertrey Ink Bells & Boughs
• Paper: white
• Ink: Papertrey Ink Spring Moss, Berry Sorbet, Harvest Gold
• Accessories: Papertrey Ink Bell die, misc ribbon (that matches Melon Berry)

CAS(E) this Sketch! #3

We are already on our third sketch at CAS(E) this Sketch! and I cannot believe how exciting it has been - hundreds of entries each week!  The biggest "problem" that I am having is the number of new-to-me blogs that I am finding and loading into my Google Reader - pretty soon I will be spending all of my time reading other's blogs and not working on my own!

This week's sketch is quite flexible - check out the CAS(E) this Sketch! blog to see what the design team has done with it - you can see the sketch in each creation but other than that they are all completely different!

I decided to use a stamp set that was a completely spontaneous purchase for me.  It's from neat & tangled and it took me back to my childhood.  Do you remember cartoons like Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer?  Of course you do because these days it plays 100 times on 20 different TV channels, not to mention the DVD, before Christmas.  In the good old days - it only played once - and that made it so special and magical.  My family looked forward to it every year.  We brought out the TV trays and were allowed to eat dinner in the living room.  We sat around our small little TV (with three channels and no remote) and we sang along with the songs and fell in love all over again with the charming elves...

Be sure to check out the other design team creations and I look forward to seeing your entry!

• Stamps: Neat & Tangled Elves at Work
• Paper: Stampin' Up Poppy Parade
• Ink: Memento Black and Copics 
• Accessories: Martha Stewart Punch All Over the Page Quilted Daisy Pattern, Liquid Pearls

Feel Better Soon with Verve

Over on the Verve stamp blog, there has been a sketch contest running all month with the random prize being the entire holiday release!  (It's been running all month, but it closes tomorrow!)  I love Verve - they have a great graphic style and aren't afraid of Christian sentiments.  I have stamp sets from them dating back to when they were called Verve Visual and they used red rubber!


I'm not huge on dimensional flowers but I am IN LOVE with these velvet flowers by Maya Road (just called Velvet Pleats).  I purchased them recently and they perfectly match Stampin' Up's So Saffron and Basic Gray - isn't it a gorgeous color combo??
I also updated my paper collection with a big My Mind's Eye pad at Hobby Lobby's recent 50% off sale.  It's a huge 12x12 pad called Bramble Rose...half of it is the weathered wood that is showing everywhere and half of it is chevron prints which is showing everywhere else!!

• Stamps: Verve Fluttering By, Hope Blooms
• Paper: Stampin' Up So Saffron, Basic Gray, My Mind's Eye Bramble Rose pad
• Ink: Stampin' Up So Saffron, Basic Gray
• Accessories: Maya Road Velvet Pleats, Stampin' Up Basic Gray Taffeta, misc saffron and white ribbon

A VERY Merry Monday

I have a fun new set to play with so no matter this week's Merry Monday sketch was, I was going to make it fit!!

Aren't they wonderfully festive drinks??  I went back and forth on the glitter paper because the actual stamps each have different and very fun patterns for the drinks. 

I also decided to stick with Christmas reds and greens for the Christmas Stampin' All Year Long challenge.

If you have been watching my blog the last few days - I do have a few more pictures from South Dakota.

This is my son in front of the Carold Heier Gymnasium.  Carold Heier was my father.  He was the assistant principal and then principal of my high school.  In those days, principals were very well known and respected across the town. When he died unexpectedly in 1977, they honored him by naming the gym after him.
Erik was particularly impressed with the inside of the gym because they just don't build high school gyms like this anymore...at least in Colorado.  I'm always disappointed with the local gyms as they simply do not measure up with what I grew up with!
While Erik and I were eating at Taco John's - something else that I grew up with that they don't have in the Denver area - we ran into a gentlemen who knew my family in the old days.  He told my son stories about the great man that his grandfather was.  It was truly wonderful to hear and to see Erik learn about and be proud of a man who died long before he was born or even before I was an adult.  
(The Taco John's wasn't quite as wonderful as I remembered it!)

• Stamps: Stampin' Up Happy Hour, Curly Cute
• Paper: Bo Bunny Mistletoe dsp, Papertrey Ink Pineforest, New Leaf, Stampin' Up Riding Hood Red, Stampin' Up Champagne and Red glimmer, unknown green glimmer
• Ink: Stampin' Up Early Espresso, Riding Hood Red, Papertrey Ink New Leaf
• Accessories: My Favorite Things Fishtails and the new Fishtails Layers dies, Spellbinders circle and scalloped circle, Stampin' Up Espresso twine

Peace with TAWS Trees Company

There are so many fun and funky trees and birds in the set by The Alley Way Stamps called Trees Company.  You can tell by the name that it is a lot of fun.  But tucked in the set is also a pine branch and a solid shape that could be a leaf or a pine cone.


I thought that the ornament idea would work perfectly with the sketch from clean & simple stamping.

To get a dimensional effect on the pine branches and pine cones they are inked in a lighter color then thumped with a darker color pen.  As a last step I added some sparkly stickles.

Yesterday I showed you a funky Nebraska photo from my road trip last week.  Here is a classic South Dakota photo...

I grew up in the shadow of Mt. Rushmore and I would think that at some point I would get tired of it - but it still gives me a thrill every time that I see it.  This time was particularly wonderful as it was the first time that my son remembered seeing it.  Having said that, he was much more excited with the next stop on our tourist trip - Reptile Gardens!
The Black Hills is an odd mix of beauty and tourist traps.  You have to know what you are getting into when you go there.  You can look at it as tacky, but I prefer to see it as old-fashioned fun.  If you ever go, don't spend all of your time at the tourist traps - you will miss the beautiful Black Hills!

• Stamps: The Alley Way Stamps Trees Company, Christmas Magic (sentiment)
• Paper: Stampin' Up Confetti White, Cherry Cobbler, Soft Suede
• Ink: Stampin' Up Wild Wasabi pad with Garden Green pen, Soft Suede pad with Early Espresso pen, Cherry Cobbler
• Accessories: Sizzix embossing folder, Spellbinders ornament die, Stampin' Up Soft Suede ribbon and stickles, Theresa Collins Christmas Cottage washi tape

Casology:Night and Chevrons

Hi!  I'm back!!  In the last six days I drove back and forth to the Black Hills of South Dakota!  I took my youngest son and had a lot of fun exploring the places that I got to know well in the first 20 years of my life.  I also spent quite a bit of time hanging out with a friend from the last 48 years as she is in hospice.  It should have been a difficult time, but she has always had such an incredibly happy outlook on life, it's hard to be too sad.  Sending prayers to Tammy and Jeff...

So I'm back and left myself 30 minutes to get a card posted for CASology to keep my streak unbroken.  I had also seen the challenge at Just Add Ink to Just Add Chevrons.  The theme at CASology was Night and I thought I would try to use chevron stripes to replicate a sunset/sunrise.  Unfortunately, even I, who knows what was intended, can't see the sunset/sunrise in this card.  But...with 30 minutes to go...here it is...

The gray is the silhouetted horizon, then the bright yellow and coral of the sun, then the lighter blue before the night sky.  Get it???
One picture from our trip.  This is NOT South Dakota but a very fun picture...

This is Carhenge outside of Alliance, Nebraska.  With an active 12-year old in the car, I had to find lots of excuses to stop and walk around.  Carhenge was just a short side trip.  Erik just shook his head and said "people in Nebraska have way too much free time".

Dynamic Duo: Pumpkin Pie and Die Cuts!!

It's black tie week at Dynamic Duos - that means we give you black and one other color plus a dessert option.  This week the color is Pumpkin Pie and the dessert is die cuts.

I'm having the typical photo problems.  My bright orange flower is really Papertrey Ink's Orange Zest felt and their Orange Zest is almost exactly Stampin' Up's Pumpkin Pie.

Some of my die cuts are the flower - I cut four felt flowers from Papertrey Ink's Beautiful Blooms #1 die, the biggest flower.  Then I folded each into quarters.  I didn't have any glue specific to felt - so I simply took a little stitch in each to hold them together.  This is definitely not an original idea to me, I have seen these folded flowers on many other cards.  I have not seen them in felt and I'm not sure I would recommend it - it is so thick and bulky.  On the other hand, it's a very warm look - like a fuzzy blanket!

Check out the rest of the design team at Dynamic Duos - then I hope you play along, I love looking at what you have created!

• Stamps: Hero Arts Many Birthday Messages
• Paper: black and white
• Ink: black
• Accessories: Papertrey Ink's Beautiful Blooms #1 die and Mat Stack 1 and Layerz dies, misc ribbon, Stampin' Up embossing folder

CAS(E) this Sketch #2: Tiny Trick or Treat

I'm back for the second week of CAS(E) this Sketch!  It was a great week last week - I am so thrilled that so many of you played along.  This week will be just as fun.  Check out this wonderful CAS sketch that has so many unique possibilities (just check out all of the design team cards on their blog to see how different each of our cards is!)

I keep thinking that I am over Halloween - but I stumbled on a display at a local store of these teeny tiny stamps by Rosie's Road Show.  They were using them for miniature calendars which I really never do, but the stamps were too cute to pass up.  When I got them home, I could not figure out how to showcase something so tiny.  This sketch is the perfect opportunity....

I used various die cuts to layer up a frame that highlighted my "Moonlight Cat" - problem solved!!
I hope to see you all playing along - my great joy is to spend the time over my first morning cup of coffee browsing all of the challenge entries - I LOVE CAS cards and I love everybody's unique ideas on these sketches!

• Stamps: Rosie's Roadshow Moonlight Cat, Papertrey Ink Tiny Tags II
• Paper: Stampin' Up Basic Black, Basic Gray and Summer Sun, Doodlebug Haunted Manor (chevron)
• Ink: Memento Black Copics
• Accessories: Papertrey Ink Linen and Canvas Impression Plate (one side on the white, one side on the gray), Stampin' Up Apothecary Accents dies and Jewelry Tag punch, Doodlebug twine, Papertrey Ink Smokey Shadows button, Martha Stewart Crystal Fine Glitter (covering the Summer Sun circle), Yellow Stickles (on the moon)

Merry Monday Guest Designer

This is my second post today.

I was thrilled to receive a shout-out at the Merry Monday challenge for my card, Peace on Earth in Plum and that means that I am the guest designer for today's Merry Monday sketch!!

Here's the sketch...

I just received an order from WPlus9 full of Christmas goodies and I pulled out a couple of new toys for my card...

The twine is actually another new toy and I'm not as happy with it as I had hoped.  It's a Maya Road twine called shine gold - if you look closely you can see a twist of shiny gold.  (I also got it in silver).  What I don't like is its bulk - it's a true, classic string so fairly thick.  I had to pop all my panels because nothing would lay flat.  It has potential for these rustic cards - I just have to figure out how to use it. Have fun with this week's sketch!  I was a little sporadic with Merry Monday at the beginning of the year, but now I haven't missed a challenge in months!
I'm also linking this to Christmas Stampin' All Year Long as this week is anything goes.

• Stamps: WPlus9 Folk Art Flurries, Pretty Patches: Tree (the sentiment)
• Paper: Stampin' Up Cherry Cobbler CS and dsp, Crumb Cake, Papertrey Ink Vintage Cream
• Ink: Stampin' Up Crumb Cake, Papertrey Ink Vintage Cream
• Accessories: WPlus9 Seasonal Sentiments die ("joy"), Maya Road Twine Cording Shine Gold, Spellbinders ovals, Stampin' Up border punch

You're a Lifesaver

I love challenges - have I said that before??

First I saw this week's Fall to Layout at clean&simple stamping.  It's my day to post over at The Alley Way Stamps blog and I had the new set Kid 'n Caboodle set out with its charming boat and the sentiment "You're a Lifesaver".  The layout is the perfect sea scene.

Then, just when I thought it couldn't get any better - Fab Friday came up with this color combo!

Here's how it came together...

I have so many people in my life who deserve this card!!
My cutting skills are not great - so I printed out the sketch on regular printer paper.  Luckily it printed out at 4 x 5 1/4" so I could cut it out and have my own template!

• Stamps: The Alley Way Stamps Kid 'n Caboodle
• Paper: Stampin' Up Midnight Muse CS and dsp, Island Indigo dsp, Summer Starfruit dsp
• Ink: Stampin' Up Midnight Muse and Summer Starfruit, Memento black, copics
• Accessories: crochet thread

Sympathy in Plum

I actually made this card for a challenge and then realized that I had read the challenge wrong - OOOPS!  But I still liked it so thought I would show you.


It also gives me a chance to tell you that I won't be around much this week.  In just a few hours I am taking my youngest son on a road trip to my home state for his fall break!  I have posts scheduled on Monday and Thursday so be sure to check back - but that's all for the week!

• Stamps: Papertrey Ink Framed Out 4
• Paper: Stampin' Up Perfect Plum, black
• Ink: black
• Accessories: Memory Box Amira Flourish die, Essex Label die, Stampin' Up Perfect Plum Taffeta