Ten Amazing Cards by Ten Amazing Bloggers!

OK... I know I have been a crappy blogger... but and an even crappier swap hostess! I was suposed to post ALL these cards before the end of May, nothing like waiting until the last minute huh! :) I NEED to share these cards with you... and I have WANTED to share them for some time; it just didn't happen... until today!

PLEASE be sure to visit the blogs of these amazing stampers... I am always so pleased with these blogger swaps; the participants always really rise to the challenge and create wonderful cards. Plus I ask each of them to send me an extra card that I then donate to a local Assisted Living Facility I used to work with. So it's stamping for a cause too!

This card was created by Erika at Stampin' Mama. She one of my true blog buddies... don't ya love making real friends online! I think this card is so cool; how she embossed in clear and then sponged over the embossing to darken the surrounding cardstock (like on the flower)... but then some of the embossing, also stamped/embossed in clear happened to turn out a bit darker than the cardstock she stamped on (like in the yellow area). It's just good experimenting and lots of stamping practice at work!

This card was created by Terri at Stampin' Terri. I love these fresh bright colors and I think this stamp set looks fantastic with these papers!

This card was ALSO created by Terri at Stampin' Terri. Here is Terri again; she was in two of my groups. Can you see all this wonderful glitter! Yum! And she MADE those white brads which I will have to try... I love white brads.

This card was created by Jen at Inking Along. This technique is called Pergamano... it's actually pierced paper! WOW! This is a ton of work for swaps huh? But it was worth it; it's such a lovely card!

This card was created by Kecia at 4th and Goal. I think her watercoloring here is fabulous! Was a soft and delicate look!

This card was created by Nancy at Nancy's Creative Mess. How cute is this! With the cool quilty look! Wonderful color choices and a simple but dramatic design!

This card (see below for the unique surprise inside) was created by Anne Marie at One More Thing. I love how she hid the scalloped oval inside the card... it's a very fun surprise! I also really appreciate the simple layout here and the little details like the "bling" on the front and the glitter on the little fairy.

This card was created by Colleen at Stampin' with the Goddess. It's a 6X6" card; simple but bold, and it just could not be any more cheerful!

This card was created by Connie at Is That Your Monkey? This card has a unique but simple fold that I find myslef using more and more. hard to see in this pic are the little glitter touches (stickles) on the flowers... so great! I need to tell you Connie is also an overachieving swapper... her cards are always FIRST at my house! :)

This card was created by Denise at All Things Stamped. Denise's designs are always so right on the money... she never over complicates a card and her layouts and color choices are fresh and appealing.

Thanks to all of my WONDERFUL swappers!

More Sideshow Designs

Sorry I have been absent... deadlines, illness, out of town guests... excuses, excuses!

I did have a chance to play with some of my Sideshow Stamps tonight... wanted to share.

I love this stamp... you just know these three are off to have a great time in their fashionable footwear! Paper; Almost Amethyst, Chocolate chip and Very Vanilla by Stampin' Up! Patterned Papers By Making Memories. Ink; Brown Staz-On, images colored in with Stampin' Up! and Copic markers. Accessories; Little "bling" on center shoes by A Muse, Ribbon and brads by Making Memories.

I adore this little hula hooper with his coonskin cap! He looked so striking stamped in Basic Black I just left him "as is" and brought the color in with this wild paper (by K&Company) and the rainbow stared ribbon (maker unknown). The card base is by Stampin' Up! and the words "good times" are rub ons by American Crafts.

Why I am Covered in Glitter

Here are a couple of the reasons I am covered in glitter... I made these for a contest my upline is having; we were challenged to create something with Dazzling Diamonds. Special thanks to my Darling Hubby who snapped these pics so I could get out the door on time yesterday. This week is so darn busy!

The scoop on this card can be found HERE. Most of the Dazzling Diamond application on this card was done with Heat and Stick Powder... a product I love! Even the brads were glittered with Heat and Stick Powder.

What to do with all those red Mailboxes you bought at Target??? I used Dazzling Diamonds and heat and stick powder to coat a sheet of Whisper White paper and made it into "snow"! Shee the rest of the details HERE.

My justjohanna stamps are also on their way to me... so I am planning projects in my head and sketching. I can't wait to hold them in my hands and STAMP with them! I can't even THINK about all the other stuff I need to get done this month... it's just crazy around here. Meanwhile I am trying to clean up my stamp area and clean out all my retiring stuff; watch for an online garage sale real soon!

I WILL Stamp Tonight!

I am off to stamp... right now... but first I though I would enable you all.
Aren't THESE the coolest! I need to try to get my hands on these... I love them ALL!

Have a Swinging Day!

Almost forgot to share this card with y'all! You can find the recipe HERE on splitcoast. Of course I grappled with the "wee"... it should probably read "whee"... but it didn't look as cute for some reason... I dunno why.


Thank goodness for Karen Foster Snap Stamps. They are such a great compliment to my A Muse stamps. I heard they are being discontinued too... so get 'em while their still available! I found mine at Create for Less.

A*muse*a*palooza Update!

There is so much happening on the A*muse*a*palooza blog I can barely keep up! A really cute guessing game AND a New Challenge with a sketch! I am so impressed with all the amazing stuff they are giving away... and there is still so much more to come! Be sure you are registered so you have a chance to win some cool stuff! Tell 'em Sarah Moore sent ya!

A*muse*a*palooza 2007 fun fact: When you visit the A*muse*a*palooza Blog, note the list of potential Ambassadors... 28 terricfic stampers... and four of them named Sarah, and all of them with an "h". No other name is duplicated either! Isn't that weird? I should add; I never met a "Sarah-with-an-h" that I didn't like. :)

I have been so busy working on some other projects (involving copious amounts of glitter!) that I haven't had much time to play along with all the fun this week... but tomorrow night I should have some new stuff to check out. Meanwhile; the A Muse swap I am hosting is almost full! I added an ATC swap too... so go join up... lots of great stampers participating! Come play with us!

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Proof that Octopus are Trendy

You heard it here. Octopus are cool. Proof is in the puddin'... 35 pages of cool stuff on Etsy from the search "Octopus".

Why can't I find a cool graphical Octopus stamp? Help me!

p.s. Also "in"... Squid, Squirrels, Deer, Robots and all things Japanese.

Loving this Scroll Set!

I am really having a great time with this scroll set of stamps from Tuscan Rose. Patty sent me some fun collage sheets too; and I love busting out of my shell and playing with these...

So the boring details of this card are HERE. But what might be tough to see in the PICTURE is that the butterflies are cut out of Tuscan Rose Collage papers... not stamped. I inked the edges with a sponge to add some depth and make them look more realistic. I love how my Retired SU! Petal Point Chalk Inks faded into the Kraft paper... it turned out very rich!

Guess who got engaged! My little sister... to Steve.. at a White Sox Game... on the jumbotron and all (we still like him even though he's a south sider... "go Cubs"). Anyways I made this card to celebrate their engagement. The "scoop" is HERE.

This card was inspired by my desktop wallpaper; it was downloaded from American Crafts' Website. I'm really happy with how it turned out!

I dig letterpressed cards... but I don't have a letterpress... duh! These two cards are inspired by the letterpress look. HERE are the details on this card.

And the details on this card can be found HERE.

Some Mother's Day Weekend Fun...

A Mama and her Llama.
This Llama loved me... and nuzzled up to me like this... and I liked it. She was a cute cuddly baby Llama... aw!

Andy actually climbed up this HUGE slide BY HIMSELF and jumped! It was like 2 stories high! He's just getting too big.

We all got sunburned and had a great time! Pictures were taken by Aunt Angie! :)

My trip to the Kane County Flea Market!

The Chicagoland Craft Collective and I attended the Kane County Flea Market last weekend. There was just so much to either write about or keep me busy this week that I wasn't able to write about it until today!

My pal Martha wrote about our trip on her Blog too... She even scrapped it already (overachiever)! You can see some more pics on this post.

Note... this is what we Did NOT buy... but we felt these items at least deserved to have their picture taken.

Love these glasses... and note that AWESOME color green... my new fave color; and I think close to SU!'s new Wild Wasabi! I can't wait. oh... Looks like the new Groovy Guava is in there too... on the left! Trend spotting! :)

As if you needed more proof that Red and Turquoise look cool together... I love the idea of framing a vintage game board. This gal's booth was so great too... I could have moved in.

Great colors once again... These vintage blogs were so fab.

Hello... there is that Green again... this time on some flour sack fabric.

I love these oak leaves. Acorns rock and so does the color combo of burgundy, brown, rose, pink and vanilla.

Sort of scary... sort of cool. Circa 1982.

Ladies... PUH-LEEZE do NOT buy your clip on hair at the flea market... this is an absolute fashion DON'T!

Martha bought this amazing toy chest... At least I know it has a good home.

I heart salt and pepper shakers... and deer.

Terrific color combo... and I SO WISH I could have a red rotary phone... Especially if it had a little red light on top of it and the label "The President"... or "Superman" on the front.

The theme of the day had to be circus... but who doesn't love Johnny Appleseed??? I think he's cooler than Paul Bunyan even... at least he wears a better hat.

Hard to judge the size here... but that Donkey is about 5" wide. This is serious bling for a SERIOUS McGovern fan. I would love to see the Red White and Blue dress that was worn with it!

Another great color combo... an a slightly scary clown.

Yay Nurses!

My Grandmother is a retired nurse, my mom and aunt are nurses... and I used to work in Heathcare too... so I love nurses. They work their tushies off and get paid far too little!

My mom currently manages the nursing staff at a pediatric office. She wanted to do something special for her staff for National Nurses Week, so I bought A Muse's "Florence"... (cute name right?)... to help her out!

Here is what we came up with...

Simple, simple, simple... I stamped her in black inside this adorable scalloped oval... a perfect fit! The only color on her is the little red cross on her hat. The yummy cookies were a custom order from Jarosch Bakery in Elk Grove, which is our favorite local bakery.

Happy Nurses Week!

A*muse*a*palooza Challenge Two!

The second A*muse*a*pallooza challenge (posted yesterday) is a TOUGH one! I am so dependent on Black ink... and this challenge forbid it! EEK! Here are three cards I made last night for the challenge.

Also a note about challenges... You should really participate... even if you are a new stamper r not the "contest" type... these aren't "who has the best card" contests.... but random drawings! The more you enter the more chances you have to win! And you don't need to have a blog or anything... Just upload your card to splitcoast, and post it to the Challenge post on the A*muse*a*pallooza blog. Fun!

If your name is Charlotte and I am married to your son... you should really not look at the last card in this post! (wink).

Full details on this card can be found HERE.

Full details on this card can be found HERE.

Full details on this card can be found HERE.

A Whirlwind Week!

What a week I have had! I have been on pins and needles waiting for a phone call. A very special Phone Call from justjohanna Rubber Stamps. I had applied for the design team... and at the very last minute too! I literally overnighted my designs to them! Well, I got the call! It was so funny... Johanna was calling from a bad line (it was a windy day in California)... and she had me on speaker phone... so all I heard initially was the word "stamps"... and that was all I had to hear to know it was the news I'd been waiting for! I made the Design Team!

I am so excited. I am a HUGE fan of justjohanna's Designs; funky whimsical birdies, critters and flourishes... I mean how can you resist a teeny bird dressed like a Pirate? You can't... don't even try. You can see the rest of this amazing, and worldly team HERE. I feel so blessed to be a part of this creative bunch of women. I can't wait to get started!

Here are some of the projects I submitted with my DT application.

Details for this Card can be found HERE.
My favorite part of this card is the Photo Corner Created with Ribbon.
I just adhered the ribbon to a piece of scrap paper with sticky strip and cut it to shape.

Details for this card can be found HERE.
Don't you love that ribbon! Found inn the $1 bin at my Michael's!

Details can be found HERE.
The charms for the bracelet are made with Shrink Plastic.
Here's a close up...

But wait... there's more!
As if this wasn't enough wonderfulness for ONE month... combined with the Tuscan Rose Design Team, and Just Johanna... I am the Featured Guest Designer for the month of May at Gina K. Designs! I just can't get over it all! Did I say I felt blessed... cause I do, I really do!

I am especially glad to be a part of Gina K.'s Stamps for a Cause. She plans on offering more sets in this series; giving a portion to charity each time. The current set raise over $3000 for Autism Speaks, and I am so glad to be a teeny tiny part of that. Her products were wonderful to work with, and I recommend them wholeheartedly! High quality stuff.... deeply etched, great packaging... etc. You can view her line and more at Stamping Freak.

No sense posting all those cards on my blog I suppose... you can view them HERE.... recipes included. But here is a sneak peek... these are the new Palate O'Prints sampler papers from Stampin' Up! See my Specials on my Stampin' Up! website for more information.

Copyright Gina K. and Stampin' Up! 1990-2007

Because Martha Told Me To!

No... not THAT Martha! This Martha... I have tried to resist the new Martha Stewart Crafts collection that debut at Micheal's this week... but Martha Stewart has proved to be the Borg of papercraft...and she assimilated my scrap pal Martha Bonneau... and then Martha assimilated me.

Yes; I know there are a bunch of A Muse Stamps in here too...
I will get to THOSE in a minute... Just keep reading.

I have a confession. I love to hate Martha Stewart. I watch her show exclusively for the train wreck... I adore watching her awkward pauses... and I picture the "off with their heads" moments that likely occur during each commercial break. I cringe when the blender doesn't work; because I know someone just got fired.

Proving my point is Julie Balzer; who receintly attended a taping and agrees that Martha doesn't really know how to craft "hands on". I saw her fumble with a Xyron Machine on air not long ago... it appeared as though it was her first time TOUCHING a Xyron. She had no idea if she was laminating or applying adhesive... it was awesome!

All this being said; I am a loyal subscriber. Her "Food" monthly is the BEST cooking magazine ever. And "Blueprint" is uber cool. I have to hate Martha... otherwise the feelings of guilt and self loathing she dishes out would overtake me completely.

Martha at Michael's
Rumor has it the merchandise was placed on the racks by staff wearing white gloves... per Martha's demand. Overheard at the Marketing meeting... Martha: "They are to wear white cotton gloves if they dare touch my precious paper!". Flunkie: "As you wish my'lady!"

Close up pic of amazing paper; 24 sheets of 12 designs $10.99, Rick-Rac Rub-on's $ 3.99 and cool journaling stickers $1.99.

Yes, that is an adorable 1" scalloped circle... teeny tiny! Value price ribbon... 12 yards for $2.99, 1.5oz. bottles of ultra fine glitter for $4.99, and self adhesive ribbons... some plasticly/glossy, some silky like fabric... all adhesive backed and cute... $3.99.

My sister in law Angie and I agreed... the prices were not that bad... AND as the 40% off Micheal's Coupons state they exclude Martha stuffs... we were thrilled when our clerk took our 40% Joanne's AND Hobby Lobby coupons no questions asked! Zoink! Take that Micheal's!

Bird Stamps by Martha, 2 for $9.99. And lookee at ALL my NEW A Muse stamps! There are some New Summer Sets in there too! Thanks to my Husband... this was my Mom's Day present! :) The Cottage Stamper in St. Charles had their Anniversary sale today... so Angie and I got 25% off all our A Muse Stamps! Whoo Hoo! I also bought some Copic Markers, and A Muse Creative Candy mini stars.

Enough about Martha... More on A Muse!

We loved shopping at the Cottage Stamper! If you live close enough to St. Charles it is completely worth the visit. Karen and Louise were so helpful, so nice and so excited! They had all sorts of products to try out and sample, and they spent TIME with us... even though they were swamped!

The Cottage Stamper had everything we needed... and nothing we didn't! :) They are planning classes during A*muse*a*palooza that will feature the new Holiday Stamps! Wowza! Christmas in July??? Count me in!

Look how cute the shop is!

Did I mention how much we liked Karen and Louise?

We left with some free goodies from Cottage Stamper; eyelets and a cool template for me. They even had snacks; because shopping is hard work! Oh, and those Copics I bought... they will refill them for me when they run dry ($1 each), and they even wrote down the colors I bought... they keep track for you so you will remember what you need next time! Talk about service! Plus they have a nifty point system, and when I hit a certain amount in purchases I will get 10% off for life! We will be back! You can visit the Cottage Stamper online HERE.

Don't forget to Register for Amuseapalooza! Weekly drawings and stuff...

And if you feel like swappin' A Muse cards... you can join us HERE... still spots available!