New Kitty for KittyStamp!

Introducing..... our newest addition... Lupin!  We have now set the world's record for saying "He's so cute!" in one day.   It is impossible to say anything about him without using the "cute" word.

Lupin is a Norwegian Forest Cat.  We went back to the same breeder where we got our wonderful Hagrid.  These guys are really BIG cats and the breeder said that this little tank is ahead of the pack in size.  

It has been really hard NOT to take pictures when he looks so CUTE!

He already loves stamping.  He and Hagrid can really make a mess of my stamp room in no time.  He especially loves stamping sponges.  I have to keep them out of sight!

Chester (our golden retriever), Hagrid and Lupin all have to play with the same toys.  It is like having three toddlers in the house.

 Lupin loves Chester and curls up next to him to sleep.  Chester is incredibly patient as both cats have to check out his bones, treats and all his doggie toys.  

Hagrid is beside himself with happiness.  The other older cats never really wanted to play with him and now he has a full time wrestling and romping partner.  NF cats are a very high energy breed and the two of them sound like a herd of buffalo as they race through the house.

Don't let the pink ears and nose fool you.  Lupin is NOT a sissy cat.  He is more assertive than Hagrid already.  He has a very bold personality.  He is named after the Harry Potter character that is a werewolf and we think that is pretty appropriate as he is always into some mischief.

There is a Norse legend about a cat that lives in the mountains and can climb a sheer rock cliff.  Norwegian Forest Cats are the best climbers of all cat breeds so there is some speculation that they are the cats of this legend.  After seeing how this little bruiser can run, jump and climb I think that must be the case.

You can see past posts about our critters HERE.

Distress and Burn

Any Pirates of the Caribbean fans out there?  Those movies have been favorites in our family.  I think I have heard the sound tracks to those movies at least a 1000 times!  This card reminds me of those fun times.

I started by stamping the ship's log image from the Open Sea stamp set in Early Espresso on the piece of DSP from the Woodland Walk that looks like light colored wood.  (Love that paper!)  Next I heat embossed the ship image with white embossing powder and distressed it by sponging Early Espresso ink over it and around the edges.  I burned the edges unevenly to make it look old and did the same to the sentiment which was stamped on piece of Very Vanilla.  The whole thing is mounted on the DSP that looks like dark wood.  Another quick, masculine card for my stash!

Fun Flowers Large Card

When working with larger elements I like to make cards bigger than standard size.  That way I have lots of room for my design and as a bonus there is plenty of space for writing a note inside.

This card fits a business size envelope.  The base is 8 inches by 9 inches, folded in half to make a 4" X 9" card.  The vanilla layer is cut 3 1/2" X 8 1/2" and dry embossed with the Manhattan Flower folder.  The flowers are Woodland Walk DSP cut with the Fun Flowers die.  I curled the petals slightly before adhering them to give some dimension.  Super easy!!

Old Stamps-- New Colors

One last graduation card for the year...

Back to my old stand-by stamp set Happy Harmony.  But this time I used some of the brand new In-colors that will be available in the 2011-2012 catalog starting July 1.  I paired Calypso Coral and Lucky Limeade with a touch of Daffodil Delight.  I used markers to ink up the stamp starting with the yellow first then adding the Coral and Limeade.  The Vintage Wallpaper embossing folder adds bit of texture to the background and pearls plus a butterfly are the final embellishments on this simple card.

Stampin' Addicts Retiring Stamps Blog Hop

Welcome to the Retiring Stamp Mega Blog Hop!  

It is that time of year when we say good bye to some lovely stamp sets to make way for new ones.  Members of Stampin' Addicts have some of their favorites to share.  If you have been following the hop you have just arrived from Sarah's Blog.   Weren't her projects with the Cardinal Christmas set awesome??!!   You can see the full line up of blogs HERE.  Have fun hopping!

I chose the stamp set Blowing Kisses to share.  The simple line art is so sweet!

My first card features watercoloring with a blender pen.  I picked up a small amount of color with the pen to shade the bunny and the hearts.  After cutting them out I placed them on a free-hand cut hill nestled inside the Framed Tulips embossing folder.  A cloud punched with the Cupcake Builder punch and a sentiment with a fringed ribbon add to the breezy motion of the card.

The next card features a simple paper pieced balloon layered on a scalloped rectangle.  The card front is embossed with the light and airy Elegant Lines folder.  A few rhinestones, a piece of black ribbon and a layered sentiment add the final touches to this happy card.

Next up is a uniquely shaped card which has a topper cut with the Table Setting die (also retiring).  The focal image is layered on a trimmed scalloped rectangle.  The sentiment is on the side with a sliver of black ribbon peeking out.  In-color DSP from the hostess pack makes a fun border at the bottom.

My last project is a table decoration using the retiring pop-up cake die.  The first and third layers have images from the Blowing Kisses set that are stamped and colored with markers.  The middle layer is two pieces of window sheet with white craft ink tinted with a re-inker and punched hearts and flowers sandwiched in between.  A watercolored bunny sits on top surrounded by paper flowers that were dyed with a re-inker.

That is it for this sweet set... now it time to hop on to Rhonda's blog to see what she has done with the versatile Birthday Bliss set.

Thanks for visiting!

Nautical Expedition Graduation Cards, Blog Candy Winner and a Stampin Addict Blog Hop Announcement

The bold patterns on the Nautical Expedition DSP inspired this set of graduation cards.  

Each is designed to fit in larger size envelopes to accommodate the design.

Striped Grosgrain ribbon is tied with Baker's Twine and a compass stamped with the Open Sea set is dangling from one side.

Baker's Twine is wound around a thin strip of cardstock in the upper left corner.   The sentiment is from Teeny Tiny Wishes.  This fits in a 6 X 6 envelope.

A knot of Baker's Twine and the sentiment from Word Play finish this card.  It fits in a standard business size envelope.

I hope everyone enjoyed the UStamp Blog Hop over the weekend.  It is not too late to join the website to get all the tutorials for the designer's projects.  Just click on the blinkie below!

   

Also we have winner for the Free Pass to the next I ♥ the Holidays session.   I used random.org to select the winner:

szbacn1 said...

What a great idea!!! And a way to use up that leftover DSP, too!

Please email me at kittystamp7@yahoo.com with your full name and the email address you would like the invitation sent to.  Congratulations!

This weekend will be the Stampin Addicts which will be featuring all retiring SU products.  So many beautiful stamps are retiring to make way for new ones.  I am using one of my favorites; stop back on Friday!

Ustamp World Showcase Blog Hop

Welcome to the World Showcase Blog Hop!  If you have been following the hop from the beginning you have just been wowed by Ilina's purse and card set.  Wasn't that just the cutest thing??  If you are just joining the hop, no problem as you can start at any point.  The blogs are linked together so you will be able to see ALL the super projects we have for you.

For my project I chose a summer theme.

Gathering shells and rocks on the lakeshore is a favorite of our family and that was the inspiration for this set.  It consists of a bracelet, coordinating Simply Adorned insert and a picture frame.

Cant you just imagine bracelets in lots of colors to match your summer wardrobe?

With a necklace to match.

And the frame can be made any size so you can customize it to any photo.  You can show off all your vacation photos in style!

As a special Thank You for stopping by my blog I am giving away BLOG CANDY.  Please leave a comment about my project to be entered for a chance to win a FREE PASS to the next Ustamp session - I ♥ the Holidays!! I will randomly select a winner to be announced on Monday so please check back to see if you are the lucky recipient.  If you have already joined I ♥ the Holidays!! for the Special Party Pricing and you are selected as the winner, you will get a FREE Pass to the NEXT event after I ♥ the Holidays which will launch in the Fall.

AND now for the really cool part!  By clicking on the blinkie below you will be taken to THE WORLD SHOWCASE BLOG HOP WEBSITE!   There you will find the tutorials for all the blog hop projects PLUS live chats, challenges and more prizes!  You will even have an opportunity to be considered for a spot as a Guest Designer.  It is all FREE so tell your friends and join the fun with UStamp with Dawn and Friends.  The website will be active starting at 3PM Friday.

Click on the blinkie below!!    

  

   

AND last but certainly not least you can hop on over to Nancy's blog where she has a nifty little phone book to show you.

  

                  

AND last but certainly not least, please hop on over to NEXT BLOG where you will find Nancy with a nifty little phone book to show you.

Thanks again for stopping by!!

Gal Graduation Cards

Again this year we have many friends graduating.  It has been such a delight to see these kids grow up.  I have had the privilege of teaching so many great kids in our homeschool co-ops over the years- now they are off on new and exciting adventures.

One of my favorite graduation sentiments is from Happy Harmony- a set I received when I first became a demo.   I coupled it with a background done with colored embossing powders.

The picture for this one is not-so-great--  I had forgotten to take a picture of it and it was time to go the open house so I snapped a very quick photo.    For this one I printed a Bible verse using My Digital Studio and cut the background paper to be the focal point.

World Showcase Blog Hop

The very first Ustamp Blog Hop is this weekend!   Ustamp designers around the world are creating projects for this fun event.  There will be blog candy, prizes and free pdfs of each project!  The hop starts Friday June 10 and runs through Sunday June 12.  Be sure to come back and check out all the action! 

Guy Graduation Card with Mini MDS Tutorial

It has been a while since I have been able to post.  We were without power since Sunday when a windstorm caused a significant amount of damage in our area- lots of trees, utility poles and electric lines were down.  We are all enjoying having the electricity back on tonight!  

Last week (before the lights went out!) I made several graduation cards. One of the things I like about My Digital Studio is it can help me with the placement of words or images on a page when I am making hybrid cards.   I wanted to be able to print several verses on a page to conserve paper, then be able to cut them easily with my paper cutter and have the correct placement for the stamps.  I use punches as place holders to guide the placement of my elements. See below for the general directions for doing this.

Here is the finished card:

1. To get the correct spacing, begin with a 8-1/2" X 11" blank page.
2.  Add a square punch and resize it by using the rulers at the side to the dimensions you want the finished piece of cardstock to be.
3.  Add the text or images on top of the punch.  (Here is where I use the align function to make sure I have the text exactly in the center of the punch.  If I were adding other images I would do that at this point.)
3. Group the text and the punch.  Copy and paste this punch and arrange on the page.

4.  Delete the punches.  They were only place holders.
5.  Add overlay stamps if desired.

Here is another example:

Now it is easy to cut these apart and the text is exactly where I need it.
I used this same technique to get the spacing for making business cards which you can see in this post.