The King of the Yard

Hi my stamping friends! Phew - it's nice to take a breather after the mad rush of the Waltzingmouse release!

My card today was created for three challenges!

Teapot Tuesday

Taylored Expressions Sketch TESC127

The Shabby Tea Room Week #27

Teapot Tuesday this week is all about the dogs - inspired by a teapot decorated with a frolicking pup - we are to bring whatever kind of dog we have to the tea party. We also need to help provide enough sanitary facilities for all these canines - hence my row of leafy trees! My sentiment is a fun sticker by EK Success. The cute little pooch is Rag Dog by American Art Stamp/Emerson Quillin and the trees are Teeny Trees by Waltzingmouse (I told you I can't stop using this set!!).

I used Taylor's fun sketch for my card and the colors of cream and greens inspired by the Shabby Tea Room photo - to be inspired by Nature and Green!

Thanks for stopping by today! I'm back to work this week - but surprisingly it's ok!!??

Oh - and I keep forgetting to tell you all! My new little Grand Nephew arrived 10 days early - Landon Holmes Caggiano was born on 9/7/10 (due 9/17!) and since I was home on vacation - I was able to go to the hospital and wait with my sister for the arrival!

Landon's middle name (Holmes) was my father's first name (his mother's maiden name). My dad died suddenly at the age of 66 when I was just 28. Only my son (who was 3) knew grandpa but we always talked about him to our kids. So my sister and I were in tears when Katie told us Landon's full name (they had kept the name a secret until he was born). Landon is my sister's first grandchild and my first grand-nephew!

Here he is about 7 hours old!

And here's the new little family! Katie, Landon and Greg

Thanks for indulging me!!!

Stamps: Waltzingmouse - Teeny Trees, Rag Dog - American Art Stamps/Emerson Quillin

Paper: Bazzill Green Dots, Rustic White & Dark Chocolate - PTI

Ink: Ranger Distress - Peeled Paint, Bundled Sage, Crushed Olive, Wild Honey, Barn Door, Memento Rich Cocoa.

Accessories: Vintage buttons and satin ribbon - PTI, Nestabilities - Circles & pinking circles, Sticker - EK Success Phrase Cafe, Copics: Y26, YG63, R35, foam dimensionals.

WMS September Release DT Blog Waltz!

Yippee! We're finally here! The long anticipated WMS September Release Day! Claire and the Design Team are celebrating with a Blog Waltz.

Please start the waltz over on Claire's blog. If you came here from Laurie's blog - you are in the right place!

For my first card today I used Nutcracker Sweet and Music Backgrounds. I stamped the tree 3 times, colored the circles and hearts with colored pencils and gamsol, then layered pieces over the initial stamping with foam dimensionals. I sponged the card edges and tree with Tea Dye ink then added some Dazzling Diamonds on the tree and the garland for holiday sparkle!

(I actually stamped the bar of music upside down - but don't tell anyone - OK??!!)

For my 2nd card I just had to use Teeny Trees again - this set is just so fun to use!! Today I just stamped the little leaves across a piece of Linen Vellum along with the sentiment and adhered the strip to my card base. Easy peasy and oh, so cute - don't you think??!

For my third card (someone stop me please!!!) I just had to use this cute little car in the Half Pint Hero's set. My card is 6" x 3" and very CAS - I stamped right on the cardstock and only added a strip of patterned paper. I used Copics to color my image.

And I couldn't end the sneaks without making at least one card using the Bountiful Basket Additions could I??? Here's another CAS card - I stamped directly on the cardstock, stamping the flowers, masking them and then stamping the basket. I dry embossed the framing with Labels 9 and colored with my Copics. I cut the sentiment with Spellbinders Tag Trio. Then I just added yellow stickles to the centers of my poinsettias.

You can see my tutorial on dry embossing a frame on my previous post hereAs always - you can win a WMS stamp set of your choice during the Waltz just by leaving comments on our blogs - you get one chance by leaving a comment on Claire's blog and another chance by leaving comments on the DT's blogs (a random winner will be chosen from one of the DT's comments!) You must leave your comments by 11:59 pm EST 9/14/10 to be eligible to win.

Next in the Waltz line is our wonderful DT coordinator Lisa

AND don't forget to take your shopping list over to the WMS store and order up these wonderful stamps before they are gone!

Merry Christmas:
Stamps: Waltzingmouse Stamps - Nutcracker Sweet, Music Backgrounds

Paper: Vintage Cream, Ripe Avocado - PTI

Ink: Ranger Distress - Forest Moss, Peeled Paint, Aged Mahogeny, Tea Dye

Accessories: Koh-I-Noor Colour Pencils, Gamsol, Foam dimensionals, sponge and Applicator Inkssentials/Ranger, Quickie Glue Pen, Dazzling Diamonds - SU

Happy Thanksgiving:

Stamps: Waltzingmouse - Teeny Trees

Paper: Simply Chartreuse, Linen Vellum - PTI

Ink: Memento Tuxedo Black, Ranger Distress - Barn Door, Mustard Seed, Spiced Marmelade, Crushed Olive

Zoom Zoom:

Stamps: Waltzingmouse - Half Pint Heros

Paper: White, Text Style Black and White Basics - PTI

Ink: Memento Tuxedo Black

Accessories: Copics - E35, E51, R32, R35, R59, R20, Y13, T2, BG10, 100, Silver Gelly Roll Pen - Sakura

Season's Greetings:

Stamps: Bountiful Basket Additions, Nutcracker Sweets (sentiment)

Paper: White - PTI

Ink: Memento Tuxedo Black

Accessories: Nestabilities Labels 9, Spellbinders Tag Trio, Eclipse Tape, Foam dimensionals, Copics: BG10, E02, E13, E35, RV11, R35, R59, Y15, Yellow Stickles - Ranger.

WMS Sneak Peeks - Day #3 - Have a Blast!

Happy Saturday dear friends! You're getting 2 for 1 here today! I'm sneak peeking a new WMS set called Half Pint Hero (that will be released tomorrow!!!) AND I'm using the Saturday WMS Sketch to do it! whoo hoo!!

So here's this week's super sketch: And here's my card: Isn't this the greatest little rocket ship?? and look at the little kid's head inside!!

I stamped the rocket on the panel - then stamped it again - cut out the body of of the rocket, punched out the window and layered it over the panel with foam dimensionals.

I stamped the sentiment "have a blast on your big day!" vertically right on the designer paper to enhance that feeling of the rocket taking off - going up, up, up!!

Finally on the inside I stamped the count down along with "Happy Birthday!"

This great kids set has 3 different 'modes of transportation', about 15 sentiments, several single words, 7 little faces and some other fun stamps.

So check out the WMS Sketch Blog and see the great sketch cards the Mischief Makers and other DT members have created this week! Some of them may be using new release sets!

Then make up your own card using the sketch and link it there by Thursday 9/16 at 11:59 pm EST - you could be a Top Mouse next week!!

And now - off you go to check out Claire and the DT sneak peeks linked below - I can't wait to see what new sets they are working with today!

See you tomorrow for the big release! Claire and the DT are having a Blog Waltz and you will have 2 chances to win any WMS set you'd like!!! You won't want to miss it!

Claire

Lisa

Julia (me!)

Mona

Carly

Jennifer

Bonnie

Lynn

Anya

Belinda

Laurie

Stamps: Waltzingmouse - Half Pint Heros (to be released 9/12/10)

Paper: Green Bazzill, Seafoam Dot/Bo Bunny, ocean tides & Rustic white - PTI, DP Cosmo Cricket/Mr. Campy/Go jump in a lake

Ink: Memento Tuxedo Black

Accessories: 3/4" circle punch, foam dimensionals, Copics: R20, E00, E11, YR07, YR23, YG11, BG10, T2, Creative Memories silver pen, curvy punch - EK Success

WMS Sneak Peeks - Day #2 - Tags For You

Hello dear friends! Welcome to Day #2 of the Waltzingmouse Sept Release Sneak Peeks! Didn't you just love everyone's creations yesterday?!

Today I made some tags. On my first project - I used the new Nutcracker Sweet set that has this great round stamp with the nutcraker's head and sentiment in it, the pretty garland, wreath and berries as well as the snowflake! There are also two complete nutcrackers as well as two size Christmas Trees plus many more sentiments and little trimmings!
First I did all the stamping - then I sponged around the edges with Ranger Tea Dye Ink and swiped down the center with Mustard Seed to brighten it. I layered the store bought tag to a piece of cardstock that I had punched on the bottom edge. Then I just trimmed close to all the edges around the tag. Finally, I spritzed the tag using a mini-mister filled with water and a little bit of Gold Perfect Pearls. It has a little shimmer all over IRL - hard to see in the pic. This would make a lovely gift tag.

For my second tag I used a sentiment and snowflake from Nutcracker Sweet as well as two stamps from the Music Background set. I stamped one of the music stamps randomly on the tag as well as some single notes.

Again - I sponged the edges, this time with Tumbled Glass, adhered the tag to a piece of punched card stock and spritzed with the water and Gold Perfect Pearls mix. It can blur the ink a little but I like the look! This would make a nice gift tag or bookmark don't you think?

Are you getting excited about all the new sets Claire has designed for us??! They'll be available to purchase on Sunday, Sept 12th so start writing down your wish list!

Off you go to check out Claire and the DT members linked below - let's see what new sets they are working with today! I'll be checking them out right along with you! We'll be here again tomorrow with more exciting things to show you! Can you stand it?!?!?

Claire

Lisa

Julia (me!)

Mona

Carly

Jennifer

Bonnie

Lynn

Anya

Belinda

Laurie

Stamps: Waltzingmouse - Nutcracker Sweets, Music Background (to be released 9/12/10)

Paper: store bought tags, Scarlet Jewell - PTI, Night of Navy - SU

Ink: Ranger Distress - Tea Dye, Forest Moss, Crushed Olive, Bundled Sage, Aged Mahogany, Mustard Seed, Chipped Sapphire, Stormy Sky, Tumbled Glass

Accessories: Copics: YG11, YG95, E50, Mini-Mister, Perfect Pearls Gold, wrinkled Seam Binding - www.PrairieBirdBoutique.etsy.com, scalloped edge punch - SU, lacey edge punch - Martha Stewart, blending tool Inkssentials Ranger.

WMS Sneak Peek Day #1 - Give Thanks

Today begins the Waltzingmouse Design Team's Sneak peeks of five wonderful new stamp sets Claire is releasing on Sunday 9/12/10.

I have not been able to stop creating with the set I used today called Teeny Trees - I have enough projects already made from just this set to post for 7 days! (but don't worry - I won't - not all in a row anyway!! LOL!)

This set is SO versatile - it includes 13 sentiments for that many occasions and 7 styles of trees (not to mention little leaves, flowers and birds! Oh my!)

Today I made a fall theme card using one of the tree trunk stamps and one of the round 'leaves' stamps as well as one of the little leaf/petal stamps! I stamped the leaves twice - cut them out and layered them over the initial stamping for some dimension. Then I did a lot of sponging. This textured Coredinations paper is to die for. It's like embossing without having to! LOL!

So off you go to check out Claire and the rest of the DT linked below - let's see what new sets they are working with today! You're going to love what you see - I guarantee it!!!
Claire
Lisa
Julia (me!)
Mona
Carly
Jennifer
Bonnie
Lynn
Anya
Belinda
Laurie

Hope to see you back here tomorrow for more Waltzingmouse sneak peeks!

Stamps: Waltzingmouse - Teeny Trees (to be released 9/12/10)
Paper: Vintage cream, dark chocolate - PTI, Bazzill tan dots, Coredinations - Oxford
Ink: Memento Rich Cocoa, Ranger Distress - Rusty Hinge
Accessories: Sponge & applicator Inkssentials Ranger, foam dimensionals, rectangle nestabilities, modern label punch - SU, Vintage Buttons & silk ribbon - PTI, glue dots.

Friends Like You

Hello stamping friends! The CAS challenge on Split Coast this week was to use this sketch for our card.

I used a Bold Floral stamp from Rubbernecker for my image that I cut down to a 3x3 square and cut that into 4 - 1 1/2" squares. Then I mounted it on a 3 1/4 x 3 1/4 piece of black and adhered it to the card using foam dimensionals. I made my felt flower with dies from PTI. Then I just added my sentiment. Clean and simple!

Don't forget to stop by tomorrow for the start of my Waltzingmouse Sneak Peeks!!! You're gonna love 'um!!!

Stamps: Rubbernecker - Sentiment Tea Time Set #457, Bold Florals - Daisys #168-06
Paper: White - PTI, Black - SU
Ink: Ranger Distress Stormy Sky, Memento Tuxedo Black
Accessories: foam dimensionals, blue felt, flower dies - PTI, ceramic brad - Basic Grey, Glue dots

Flowers & Butterflies

Happy Tuesday everyone! I'm on vacation this week - so everyday feels like Saturday to me ......... what a great feeling that is!

So Tuesday is also Teapot Tuesday over on Split Coast and this week's 'story' is all about butterflies and a school for butterfly behavior, and we're all going to Coconut Creek FL - the butterfly capital of the world for out teaparty this week - We have to bring beautifully behaved butterflies and beautiful flowers!

So I put my butterfly and flowers on this cute watering can card - that I made from Claire's free template over at the Waltzingmouse Store. Isn't this a fun shaped card?! All the stamps are by Waltzingmouse. I stamped the watering can with a background stamp from Pic-Nic Patterns to give it some texture and I also sponged the edges. The flowers are from Big Blooms Chrysanthymums

Here's what I stamped on the inside. The sentiment and frame are both from Fancy Phrases

Every week Cindy also has a destination station to go with our teaparty - she finds people who need encouragement or cheering up - and we can send them our teapot cards. So my card will be going postal to fellow stamper Jackie - who was recently diagnosed with cancer. She loves flowers and butterflies - so hopefully this will give her a little bright spot in her day! You can read all about the challenge and the destination challenge here.

I thought I'd share some pics I took at Gloucester and Rockport, MA when Kent and I went there this past Sunday! It's just about 40 minutes from where we live.

First we drove through Gloucester and took a 30 minute hike through a small part of Dogtown where there are a lot of huge boulders that the glaciers dropped here many moons ago!

A man named Roger Babson decided to have some of the stones engraved so people walking through the woods would be inspired to live morally!

There are a total of 22 engraved stones throughout the reserve - here are just 2 of them.

There's quite a strange history to these 5 square miles of woods called Dogtown. You can read about some of it here if you are interested! Kent and I are going to go back to explore some more of it another time!

Then we drove down the highway a bit to Rockport, MA. The red building is the famous Motif #1.

This giant sunflower was growing in someone's front yard along one of the main streets! I was standing up straight taking this picture - so this must be about 8 feet tall!

We ate lunch at this fun little hot dog restaurant called Top Dog - it was hardly bigger than what you can see right here - they had a few picnic tables out front and out back and a few bar table areas to sit inside - and no air conditioning! But the dogs were good!

This is the artery clogging hot dog I ordered - bacon and cheese! (but it was a turkey dog!) That's two big curly strips of bacon you see sitting on top of the cheese there......

And here's the beautiful sunset just as we were leaving. What a perfect day!

Just a reminder: My Waltzingmouse Sneak Peeks start Thursday!! Hope you'll be able to stop by!

Stamps: Waltzingmouse - Pic-Nic Patterns, Big Blooms Chrysanthymums, Fancy Phrases

Paper: stone, White, Orange Zest - PTI

Ink: Ranger Distress Spiced Marmelade, Peeled Paint, Pumice Stone, Tea Dye

Accessories: Foam dimensionals, glue dots, rhinestones - Kaiser, Watering can template - WMS freebie, Buterfly punch - Martha Stewart, sponge and applicator Inkssentials Ranger.