RAK of Chocolate Love!

Welcome to Monday everyone!
I had a fantastic weekend, did you? Friday and Saturday I spent in the York, PA area with one of my upline's Jan Wakeland and her group of RemARKable Stampers. The meeting was just flat out FUN and I met some really incredible ladies - I have photos to post later on so stay tuned for those.
Also, Emma competed in Richmond on Saturday and took Bronze! Yay! I'm so proud of my little skater - she never ceases to amaze me!

I have just a cute, quick project share for you today - this little beauty came to me from my friend Barbara Dondero in NJ. She is a member of my GoDivas swap group and she was so sweet to include this in her last swap package to me.

It's a decorated candy tin that is filled with NEW goodies for me! She used the beautiful Vintage Vogue stamp set along with Tiny Tags and some of SU!'s retired Organza Ribbon (loved that stuff!) to decorate it. Isn't it gorgeous? I really didn't want to open it, but when I heard rattling inside, I couldn't help myself. Look what I found:

Yumm! Caramel filled kisses! Oh, yeaahh! Barbara knows me so well - I'm a chocolate girl!
Thanks so much Barbara - you ROCK!

Have a great day everyone and be sure to stop by later for photos and projects from my fun weekend!
Stamped Blessings,
~~Robin

Stamping 411 Saturday Sketch Challenge - SSC151

Can you believe it's been almost a year of Stamping 411?! Yep, next week is our One Year Anniversary and it's gonna be so fun - be sure to mark your calendars and check it out, ok?
For this week, we have this cool sketch from Selene, our sketch Queen! She said to use any shape, but I took the oval as it was to create my card.

I actually started with the focal point on this one, cutting an oval with the Ovals Die and my Big Shot using Glossy White cardstock. I then stamped the dress image from the Blissful Bride stamp set in Basic Black Craft ink and heat embossed it with Iridescent Ice embossing powder. I really adds a cool sparkle to the image in real life - it just didn't photograph well.
The ribbon treatment is done with the Whisper White Organza Ribbon which I dyed Pretty in Pink with my Sponge Dauber. I love that you can dye this ribbon easily with any color so this card would work for any wedding or bride.
I then used my Heat Tool again to ruffle it up the same way I did in this post here. Once it was ruffled, it was much easier to place around the back of the oval piece using Sticky Strip Adhesive. I then attached a second oval cardstock piece behind it with more Sticky Strip to secure the ribbon well.

Following the sketch, I added two layers of ribbon around the background piece. This is actually a piece of the Presto Patterns paper, the crosshatch design, but again, the photos don't show it well. Trust me, in real life, it adds so much texture to the card. I used the Silver Foil Smooch Spritz on that paper to add a little more glimmer to the card.
The ribbons are more of the dyed White Organza layered with a piece of Basic Gray Taffeta.
The Taffeta is also what I used for the bow accent, it's attached with Mini Glue Dots.

The greeting is stamped using Basic Gray ink on a piece of the Presto Patterns Paper and punched out with the Small Oval Punch. It's layered on a piece of Basic Gray cardstock punched out with the Large Oval Punch. I simply adhered this with SNAIL adhesive.

To create the inside, I used sticky notes and the Scallop Trim Border Punch to create a mask that I placed over a piece of Whisper White cardstock. I then used the Silver Foil Smooch Spritz again but only along the bottom of the card to create a fun border design.

A piece of Basic Gray Taffeta just above the smooched border finishes it off nicely and adds another touch of elegance to the inside.

I'm so glad you stopped by today to visit - be sure to check out all the other Operator's creations with this sketch by visiting the Stamping 411 blog. Then create your own and share it with us using the Mr. Linky widget provided there. We LOVE to see what you create!

Have a great weekend everyone - I'll see you on Monday!
~~Robin

Supply List (All SU!):
Stamps: Blissful Bride
Inks: Basic Black Craft, Basic Gray, Pretty in Pink
Cardstock/Paper:
Basic Gray - 5 1/2" x 8 1/2" folded to make an A2 card measuring 4 1/4" x 5 1/2"
Presto Patterns Paper - 4" x 5 1/4"
Whisper White - 4" x 5 1/4"
Glossy White - cut with Oval Die and Big Shot
Accessories: Big Shot and Oval Die; Whisper White Organza Ribbon; Basic Gray Taffeta Ribbon; Scallop Trim Punch; Sticky Strip; Iridescent Ice EP; Heat Tool; Silver Foil Smooch Spritz; Stampin' Dimensionals; Small and Large Oval Punches

Neo-Vintage Floral Card

Good morning stampers! I hope you've had a great week - we've been really busy around here, but that's nothing new, right?! Today as you read this, I am on my way to Pennsylvania to meet with one of my uplines Jan Wakeland. She has invited me to speak at her meeting tomorrow and I'm driving up early to spend a little time with her. I just know it will be a great time and I'm really looking forward to being with her group tomorrow.

Tomorrow is also a big day for my Emma - she is competing in Richmond tomorrow morning, doing her singles program. She and Mark will drive down in the morning and she skates at around 11:30 am. It just kills me that I can't be there, but when we planned the weekend, we thought she'd be skating on Sunday! Oh, well, hopefully the girls at Jan's meeting will be able to put up with me hanging over my phone for the results! I just know she will do great!

So, I know you didn't check in here to read all about my life - or did you?! haha!
I do have a creative project to share with you and here it is!

I designed this card with two purposes - one it was my card for my Trinity Design Stampers Shoebox swap last weekend AND it was supposed to be my Mother's Day card for my Mom on Sunday. I say supposed to be because somewhere between the restaurant and her house, it fell out of her bag and is probably laying forlornly in a parking lot somewhere. I hope whoever finds it enjoys it! (Yes, I AM making her another one!)

Well, the girls on my team loved the card and I know my Mom will too once she gets it! You all know how much I love the vintage style and lately I'm enjoying mixing it with a more contemporary feel. This card kind of embodies that style.

To create my focal image, I stamped the flowers from the Elements of Style stamp set using Soft Suede ink onto Naturals White cardstock. I then took my Not Quite Navy Watercolor Wonder crayon and lightly colored in the blossoms then went over them with my Aqua Painter to actually 'watercolor' them. While the paper was still damp, I crumpled and tore it several times to distress it and then added it to my dsp and cardstock panels with Stampin' Dimensionals.

The ribbon treatment is just Kraft Taffeta wrapped around those panels with the bow added afterwards with Mini Glue Dots. This focal panel was added to a folded Soft Suede card front.
I used my new Smooch Spritz and added two colors to the entire card front - Log Cabin and Gold Glow. I read a tip somewhere online for using these cool spritzers - 'Commit to the Spritz.' Meaning, when you spray, go for it, don't do it halfway. It does work much better than trying to just do a little bit. I was much happier with my coverage when I followed that advice!

For the inside, some simple stamping and some Gold Glow finished it off.

I simply added the floral image to two of the corners of a piece of Naturals White cardstock with more Soft Suede ink and used markers on the greeting which was from the stamp set, A Beautiful Thing.
So, you can be vintage, without giving up a clean and simple look. I'd love to know what you think so leave me some comment love - I really enjoy hearing your thoughts!

Have a wonderful weekend everyone! I've pre-scheduled my Stamping 411 card to post tonight so be sure to come back and see this week's sketch, ok?
Stamped blessings,
~~Robin

Supply List (all SU!):
Stamps: Elements of Style, A Beautiful Thing
Inks: Soft Suede
Cardstock: Soft Suede, Not Quite Navy, Naturals White
Accessories: Soft Suede Patterns DSP, Smooch Spritz - Log Cabin, Gold Glow; Kraft Taffeta Ribbon, Watercolor Wonder Crayons, Aqua Painter, Stampin' Dimensionals, Stampin' Write Markers - Soft Suede, Not Quite Navy

UDI Inspiration Challenge - Modern Art?

You know what stamping friends? It's not often that I am at a loss for words, but this week's Inspiration Photo just stopped me dead in my tracks. I had one of those "You've GOT to be kidding me!" moments when I opened the file from our challenge Mom, Maria.
My next thought was "What the HECK is THAT?" Yep, that pretty much sums it up.

Growing up, my Dad and Mom owned a picture framing store and art gallery, so I was exposed to LOTS of different art from about the age of 10. I credit the experience of working for them with a lot of the creativity I've developed over the years as a stamper. My Mom was also a really good oil painter. Watching her paint over the years taught me that I couldn't do it at all! I even have a painting I did at the age of 12 or 13 hanging in my studio as a reminder that I'm not an artist! And even though I didn't need a reminder of that fact, along comes this week's inspiration photo to prove it once again. Honestly folks, I did the best I could here - I'm just kind of at a loss...

Here is the inspiration picture:

Yes, that is REALLY it! Would I lie?!

And here is my pitiful attempt at an interpretation of it:

Actually, it does look better in person, but that's no comfort to me at the moment! HA!
So, I'll give you the brief rundown of what I did and just leave the rest to your comments....

I used the Kind and Caring Thoughts stamp set and stamped the clover in Versamark on Whisper White cardstock. Using the Poppin' Pastels technique, I added 3 colors with my Sponge Daubers to the stamped flowers - Not Quite Navy, Elegant Eggplant and So Saffron.
Once I was done adding color, I took the small flower stamp from the set and inked it up with Whisper White Craft ink, stamping it randomly on the main panel to mimic the white squiggles in the picture. I then used my heat tool to emboss with White Embossing Powder.

The whole main panel is matted with a piece of Not Quite Navy cardstock and is popped up on Stampin' Dimensionals on a folded card base of Whisper White measuring 3 1/2" x 6 3/4". It's a pretty big card in real life.
Now for the ribbon treatment (this is my favorite part):

I simply took a length of White Organza ribbon and heated it with my Heat Tool, giving it the curl you see in the photo above. Amazingly enough, I did not set it on fire and it really gives the ribbon an interesting look. A second, smaller piece was tied around the cross piece to make a faux bow. I used this ribbon technique for my card that will post on Saturday for the Stamping 411 Sketch this week, so be sure to come back and see what I did with it on that one!

So, there you go - love it or hate it - it is what it is! I think I'll send this one to my Mom because as I told my friend Lissa today - it's a card that only a mother could love! :)

Be sure to check out the other UDI challenge team's projects by visiting the UDI Blog - I know they will inspire you!

Blessings,
~~Robin

Chicken Little and the Coconut Cup

Happy Wednesday everyone!
First of all, I want to thank all of you who commented or e-mailed me yesterday with info on how to handle a migraine. I hate that so many suffer with those headaches, but it's also nice to know that I'm not alone and now I have a better idea of how to handle them. Hopefully I won't need to worry about that again, but if it happens, I'll at least know what the heck is going on! HA!

Now, you want to hear something funny? Totally non-stamping related?! Great, bcuz I'm gonna tell you anyway! Have ya'll ever heard of Chicken Little? You know, the little guy who was running around shouting "The sky is falling, the sky is falling!" Well, get this -
Yesterday we were driving back from Emma's skating session in Fairfax and were sitting at a traffic light on 123 just minding our own business and "Wham!" we heard this big thud from the front of our car and out of the corner of my eye, I saw something bounce away. Well, lo and behold, when we looked on the ground next to us, there was a big hamburger, bun and all, laying there beside the car. We looked around and didn't see anyone standing by the road so we don't think it was thrown at us, but hamburgers just don't fall out of the sky - do they?!
I can honestly say that this is one of the strangest things that's ever happened to me and I've had some doozies! I mean, it had been raining all day, but seriously? A hamburger?!
Do you think if I pray hard enough a stamp set or two will come next? The clear mount though, wood mount might leave a dent!

Anyway, on to the CREATIVE project!
While on the SU! cruise oh, so long ago..... I photographed this adorable card on the display board:

This was a swap card created by fellow demonstrator Amanda Coughlin.
It was so adorable, I decided to try and create my version of it. So here is my CASE of her original:

As you can see, mine is a little different, I like putting my own spin on things.
I used Soft Suede cardstock for the coconut cup itself and texturized it in the Big Shot with one of the Texturz Plates. It's then sponged with Soft Suede ink to bring out the striations. I used Rose Red cardstock for the flower, cutting it out with the new Island Floral die and my Big Shot. That's what was also used to make the leaves and flower center, I simply used Old Olive and Pumpkin Pie DSP for those pieces.

All the flower parts were sponged and I added a 5/8" Chocolate Chip Brad for the center. The flower is attached with Stampin' Dimensionals. The little umbrella was created with more Pumpkin Pie DSP and a barbeque skewer.

The inside was done with Whisper White cardstock and I used Stampin' Write Markers to color on the greeting stamp.
All in all it is a pretty simple card, but it's super cute! I'm so glad Amanda thought of the original idea and shared it with us! I also hope you like it because we will probably be doing this card at Just Cards class next Tuesday - are you registered yet? If not, better do it now so you don't miss the fun!

Have a great day everyone and hey, if it's raining where you are, watch out - you never know what might be coming your way! LOL!
Blessings,
~~Robin

How Do You Spell S-I-C-K?

According to my husband, it's probably M-i-g-r-a-i-n-e!
So there I was yesterday, just chugging right along cutting cardstock for my stamp camp at Tall Oaks last night and BOOM - I got this awful pain in my head, the room started to tilt and I was very sick to my stomach. About an hour and a half later my daughter came home from school to find me curled up on the floor next to the studio. I think I scared her to death, poor thing, but I was so sick! Needless to say, I didn't get to stamp with my Tall Oaks group last night but spent the evening curled up on the sofa hoping to feel normal again.

The past few days I've had these sharp pains in my head, but I thought it was sinus trouble because I have seasonal allergies, but when Mark researched Migraines online, he found that those are signs that one is coming on. And, apparently I'm "at that age" (don't you just love hearing THAT!) when migraine headaches can occur because of hormonal changes. I have to say, this is NOT the birthday gift I was hoping for in a couple of weeks!
Anyway, if you have any words of wisdom for me, I'm all ears - this is an entirely new thing to me. Fortunately I'm feeling better this morning and I can tell ya -I don't want to feel that sick again!

Ok, enough whining - here is a card for you today:

Something bright and kinda fun to start your day! It's kinda funny how a card project starts for me sometimes, this one came about because of that little strip of designer paper. You see, it's the opposite side of the paper I used on this card here the other day. I'd actually started that project with this side in mind, but my mind went a little south seas on me and you got a different look instead. So, I had this little piece just laying on the counter all lonely like and I thought well, I can't just throw it away! So, I designed this card around it.

It was pretty easy to decide to use the Tropical Party stamp set again, I've been having fun with that one, but I pulled out a Texture plate with my Big Shot that hadn't seen the light of day in a while and I love how it combined with the other elements. You can see the texture best in the last photo of the card.

Most of the card came together fairly easy, but I would change one thing:

As much as I like the ribbon treatment here, I wouldn't do this for a class - it's a pain in the patootie! Unraveling one side is easy enough, but MAN, the other side took forever! Not fun for the easily frustrated, so when we do this card in class - and we probably will - I'll have a different ribbon treatment for you, ok?

The little greeting was done with the Tiny Tags stamp set which carried over from the Mini Catalog so it's still available - yay! I simply markered it for the two tone effect before turning it into a circle tag with the little tie of Linen Thread. There is a Stampin' Dimensional behind it to keep it in place.

And for the inside, I just huffed on the stamp from creating my focal image and added the palm tree for a little color there too. Most cards need something on the inside, dontcha think?

So, there you go - the story of my life for the last 24 hours and a fun card too. I'm hoping to get back in the studio today and stamp a bit, I've got some design team work to complete and I'm also getting ready for Becky's party on Thursday night then I leave on Friday for Pennsylvania. I've had the honor of being asked to speak at Jan Wakeland's RemARKable Stampers Meeting this weekend and I'm really looking forward to being with this fun group!
Let's just hope Mr. Migraine doesn't pay me another visit - can ya say a prayer or two for me? Thanks stamping friends - ya'll are the best!

Stamped blessings,
~~Robin

Supply List (All SU!):
Stamps: Tropical Party (clear mount), Tiny Tags (wood mount)
Inks: Stampin' Write Markers - Old Olive, Chocolate Chip, Rose Red
Cardstock: Old Olive, Whisper White, Rose Red
Accessories: Island Oasis DSP, Rose Red 1/4" Grosgrain Ribbon, Linen Thread, 3/4" Circle punch, 1" Circle Punch, 1/16" Handheld punch, Stampin' Dimensionals, Big Shot, Texturz Plates

Beautiful Butterfly RAK

Good Monday morning everyone!
I'm just popping in here to share another RAK from a stamping friend - this time it's Kay Kalthoff who sent me this super sweet card.
I met Kay this past year at her first Founder's Circle Retreat - she was one of the new Rising Stars last year! Kay is also a great stamper and I invited her to be part of my GoDivas swap group. When she sent along her package of swaps this last time, she included this card:

She's used two of my favorite colors - Baja Breeze and Pink Pirouette - which are coming back to us on July 1st! The lovely butterfly stamp is from Garden Whimsy and she used the Rock-N-Roll technique to ink it up. My favorite part is the Eyelet Border, that is actually the edge of the card and it lifts up to reveal the Pink Pirouette panel underneath - so pretty!

I hope you have a wonderful Monday - I'm busy, busy in the studio today preparing for my stamp camp at the Tall Oaks Community Center in Lake Ridge tonight at 6:30 pm. We'll be doing 5 fun card projects that you all will love - I just know it! Hope to see you there!

Blessings,
~~Robin