Just Give Me Stamps...

Super Busy...

I just wanted to post a quick note here and let you know that I might not have anything new to show you for a couple of days.  We are soooo busy and as hard as I tried to "juggle" things around, I just don't see any stamping time for me.  Sigh....  It's hard when you have new stamps sitting...waiting for you....and NO TIME to use them!  Oh well, they will be there when I do have time!  LOL!  We have some company coming tomorrow (not to mention that tomorrow we are gone all day  with appointments in town), a VERY busy time in school right now, things I need to help my DH with on the ranch, and countless other "little things" that needs to be done all at the same time!!  And of course...my DH is gone in hunting camp right now..AND two of my kids are sick!  UGH!  When it rains...it definitely pours!  O.K....I'll quit complaining now!  I do hope you guys all have a great day...and hopefully I'll be able to get everything done soon and get back to stamping!  ~Laurie                                    

"Cracked" Santa Ornament...

Happy Monday!!  Finding time to stamp on Monday is really a hit or miss thing for me...so being able to participate in today's Technique challenge was a treat!

I guess you know by now, that I adore this fun Santa!  I used my Coluzzle to cut out a Real Red circle and embossed the little snowflake (from Perfect Presentation) with white e.p. randomly all over it.  I stamped the Santa on Whisper White c.s., colored his face, beard, boots, & mittens in (using a watercolor brush and my ink pads), then paper pieced his hat and suit on.  I cut the Santa out and adhered him to the red circle.  I then covered the whole thing with Versamark ink,  poured Glassy Glaze (UTEE) over it, tapped off the excess and embossed it.  While it was still hot, I poured on more Glassy Glaze, tapped off the excess, and embossed it again.  I repeated this several times.  Once I was satisfied with the thickness, I put my shiny Santa circle in the freezer to quickly cool it down (this also helps it "crack" easier). After it was cool, I gently "bent" it in several directions so that it would crack.  I Finally, I rubbed some Sahara Sand ink over the cracks to help them show up better.

That's it!  Definitely a fun technique that I will be doing more of this winter!  Have a great day!  ~Laurie

Recipe   Stamps: Naughty or Nice, Perfect Presentation   Paper: Whisper White, Real Red, Wild Wasabi, DP from Rob & Bob Studios   Ink: Versamark, Ink pads for coloring, Palette Noir   Other: Coluzzle, Rhinestones, Glassy Glaze, White e.p., Corner Rounder, Red grosgrain, Frosted Lace Stickles

Wish Big...

O.K....I'm back!  Remember the "new stamps"  I was telling you about in my last post?  Well, if you've been on Splitcoast the last couple weeks, chances are you have probably seen a banner for these adorable Elzybell stamps!  As soon as I saw them, I couldn't resist getting some!  They are just precious!

This is my second card for today's Featured Stamper Challenge.  Here is Chat's card that I chose to case this time.  I stamped this little angel on Shimmery cardstock (it's so hard to capture that in a picture!!) and colored her in with my ink pads and a blender pen.  I (of course) had to add some sparkle!! 

I hope you all enjoy your evening!  ~Laurie

Recipe   Stamps: Short & Sweet, Elzybell stamps   Paper: Misc. DP, Shimmery c.s., Vellum c.s., Wild Wasabi, Ballet Blue   Ink: Palette Noir, Ballet Blue, Wild Wasabi, Barely Banana   Other: Crafter's Tool Kit, Rhinestones, Rhinestone brads, 5/8" Brocade Blue grosgrain, Stickles, Ticket corner punch, Marvy Oval punches

Soft & Fabulous Flower...

Happy Sunday!  I hope you all had a good weekend!  I finally feel like I've caught up on everything (isn't it amazing how even just a few days gone can create so much work???)! 

The Featured Stamper (for the Featured Stamper Challenge over at SCS) is Nitestamper!  It was such a treat to choose a card of hers to case!  I love her use of fun embellishments..ribbon...and of course my all-time FAVORITE flower!!!  LOL!  Click HERE to see her card.

I received this gorgeous Twill like ribbon and fun mini brads from a friend recently.  I couldn't wait to use them!

I have something new for  you later this evening (using some brand-new stamps)!!  First, I have to clean up my disaster area (other wise known as my stamp room).  I'm telling ya...it's BAD!  I have never let it get like this before...sigh...  Anyway, my space is very small...so the good news is that it won't take me long to clean!  LOL!  (Shhh..don't tell my DH I just said that....I've been dropping hints for a bigger space and I don't want to negate all of my work )!

Have a wonderful day!  ~Laurie

Recipe   Stamps: Fabulous Flowers, Baroque Motifs   Paper: Whisper White, Soft Sky, Gable Green   Ink: Chocolate Chip craft, Soft Sky, Gable Green, Versamark   Other: Ribbon, Mini brads, Iridescent Ice e.p., Clear e.p., Stickles

Last Pictures From Yellowstone (I Promise!!)...

Here are the last pictures that I have to share with you (I actually have a TON more...but I promise not to bore you with them)!

This is what is called "Roaring Mountain" (just North of Norris in Yellowstone).  The diversity of the sights in Yellowstone is just AMAZING!!!  Our older two children each chose three things that they want to research further when we got home...and this "steaming" mountain is one that my 8 yr old son, Jared chose! 

   

These are "my boys" :-) (actually DH with our three boys).  This is the start of the walkway that led to the "Upper Terrace".  My daughter Ali and I didn't think it was anything too special...but they just couldn't get over how the mineral had coated all of the grass and weeds to make these hard strands!  Boys!  

Oh, if you're wondering where my daughter is...she was absolutely mortified at the thought of me posting her picture!  I guess she's like her mom in that sense....

 

Speaking of boys being boys...LOL!  Out of everything there was to see, it was the insects that captured my 3 (almost 4) year old son Bryan's heart!

I love this picture of David (our almost 2 year old son)!  He was pretty sick for most of the trip, but really came "alive" when we visited the Upper Terrace at Yellowstone!  I'm not sure if it was the waterfalls, interesting mineral deposits, insects, or maybe just the fact that there was a looooong walkway in which he could RUN!  LOL!  Here he's showing DH some waterfalls!  This kid loves water!

Thanks so much for "putting up" with all of my pictures!  I will have something stamped to show you tomorrow!  :-)  ~Laurie

More Pictures From Yellowstone...

I've had some trouble with my site today...I kept getting an error message every time I went to post.  Finally, everything seems to be working so I will now share with you some more pictures that I took on our trip. 

While driving back to West Yellowstone for the night, we saw a small herd of Elk grazing across the river.  I just love the soft evening light in this picture (I am NOT a photographer by any means...but even I couldn't mess this up too badly :-)!

I took this picture from the "Upper Terrace" at Mammoth (very close to the North Entrance to Yellowstone).

This amazing "hill??" was on our way out of the parking area for the Upper Terrace!  Isn't this the coolest thing?  There is water (I'm not sure if it was totally water) spraying out of the side of this!!!

I have just a couple more pictures to share...but I will continue them in another post so I don't jam your in boxes!  Sorry for the "side tracked" nature of these posts...I just can't help myself!  The scenery was just amazing!!  ~Laurie

Copper Kindness...

Happy Friday!! We are still trying to catch up from being gone.  It's amazing to me how much there actually is to "catch up on" when we were only gone a few days!  I did, however find a little time to stamp last night!  Yay!

 

I made this for Beate's Weekend Sketch #25.  To see the original sketch, check out her site "Fresh & Fun".  The only thing I changed, was to make the front panel an oval instead of a rectangle.

I wanted to use colors that would work for the Fall, but I also wanted it "dressy" enough to use as a Thanksgiving card.  I embossed the swirls using Chocolate Chip craft ink and Clear e.p.  The flowers and sentiment are embossed with Copper e.p.  Aside from the hand stitching (I stitched along the left side using a bronzish/brown metallic embroidery thread) this card is fast enough to mass produce if needed!

To see some more gorgeous samples using this sketch, make sure to check out what Beate, Charmaine, Jenn, Lori, Mary Jo, & Sharon have come up with!  I will be back tomorrow with something for tomorrow's "Sweet & Simple Saturday" feature!  Enjoy your day!  ~Laurie

Recipe   Stamps: Baroque Motifs   Paper: Very Vanilla, Chocolate Chip, Brushed Copper c.s.   Ink: Chocolate Chip craft pad, Versamark   Other: Clear e.p., Copper e.p., Embroidery thread, Antique Copper brads, Coluzzle

We're Back!

Hi!  We're back from our little "getaway" trip!  Thanks so much for all of your sweet comments and well-wishes!  We all had such a wonderful time!  I can't remember the last time I laughed so much!  Late Fall is my absolute favorite time to see Yellowstone!  The people are scarce and the animals are abundant!  I have just a few pictures from our trip and a card I want to share with  you today.

This is what is called the "Grand Canyon of Yellowstone".

There were so many buffalo along side the road...it made it easy (and safe) to get a great picture!

This is my husband's favorite part of the whole trip!!  LOL!  Because there was so few tourists, the Elk were closer to the road than they usually are.  With a good zoom lens attached to my camera, I was able to get a pretty decent picture of this big guy!

I will have a few more pictures to share with you tomorrow!  I hope you don't tire of seeing these, but there was so many interesting things we saw (not to mention the amazing scenery) that I can't help but share!

Here is a card that was completely inspired by the gorgeous colors I saw this past few days!  The cool crisp air, the Fall colors, and the fresh snow all made for some amazing colors!

I started with a 5 1/4" square Old Olive card base.  I combined the snowflake circles from Seasonal Circles with the snowflakes from Winter Wonder (both sets are from Verve Visual).  The wide Olive green satin ribbon is some that I bought from Jacksonbelle's Embellishments (it is exactly like the Pomegranate and Chocolate satin ribbon from Stampin' Up!...just a different color).  I used the backside (an antiqued solid Sage color) of some Dutch Girl (by Cosmo Cricket) DP to stamp my snowflake background.

I will be back tomorrow with some more pictures from our trip and a sample for Beate's Weekend  Sketch Challenge!  Have a great day!  ~Laurie

Recipe   Stamps: Winter Wonder, Seasonal Circles (from Verve Visual)   Paper: Sage Shadow, Old Olive, Dutch Girl (Cosmo Cricket) DP, Vellum c.s.   Ink: Versamark, Tea Leaves and Oasis Green Versamagic Dew Drops   Other: White e.p., Old Olive brads, Olive green satin ribbon, White gel pen, Coluzzle

Bright & Colorful Season...

I hope you all are enjoying your week!  We should be back from our trip tonight!  As promised, here is another fun card I made using Verve Visual's new Seasonal Circles set!

I always have such a hard time photographing these tall cards (I will have to work on that!!).  This card measures 6 1/2 x 3 1/8 (perfect for Stampin' Up!'s small open end envelopes)!

One thing that I have found VERY helpful using this set, is my Stamp-a-ma-jig!!  It helps me get my Poinsettias and sentiment perfectly centered in the circles!

Have a blessed day!  ~Laurie

Stamps: Seasonal Circles (Verve Visual)
Paper: Infuse (Basic Grey), Whisper White, Pretty in Pink, Real Red (Stampin' Up!)
Ink: Pretty in Pink, Real Red, Handsome Hunter (Stampin' Up!), Versamark (Tsukineko)
Accessories: Pink Taffeta ribbon (Stampin' Up!), Coluzzle, Adhesive Rhinestones

Make The Season Bright...

Happy Tuesday!  I have another card that I made with Verve Visual's newly released stamp sets to share with you!

I just love the warm, rich colors in this new Cosmo Cricket paper (Be Good collection)!  Just a couple of quick notes about this card...the black dots in the middle of the snowflakes is made from my Black Sakura pen.  I purposely made this card with minimal embellishments, because I was trying to make something that could be "mass-produced" and not break the bank!  LOL!

I have another post scheduled for you to see tomorrow!  Have a great day!  ~Laurie

Stamps: Seasonal Circles, Winter Wonder (Verve Visual)
Paper: Be Good (Cosmo Cricket), Very Vanilla, Basic Black, Cranberry Crisp (Stampin' Up!)
Ink: Noir Black Hybrid (Palette), Cranberry Crisp, Creamy Caramel (Stampin' Up!)
Accessories: Black organdy ribbon, Black Rhinestones (K&Co), Corner Rounder punch (Stampin' Up!)