Lamppost Expressions...

The last of my Clear Dollar Stamp previews are stamped with their new set called, "Lamppost Expressions". It's such a unique collection of images and I was quite surprised that I had the honor to play with them first. So here are the two cards that are made based on our design team challenges. The blue green one was part color challenge and the make it sparkle challenge. The burgandy merry card was based on making a card with any glossy paper technique. I chose to do crayon resist. Unfortunately I didn't have the standard white color crayon to start with for the technique so I use a yellow glitter crayon instead. Either way I sure do like the effect.



If you've never heard of the crayon resist technique or you'd like further information on how to make a card with this technique Beate has a fabulous tutorial on SplitCoastStampers.com. Here's the link: CRAYON RESIST.

On another stamping note, the owner of CD Stamps debuted her new blog today!!! You can find her site at http://clearlyistamp.typepad.com. She posted a fabulous tutorial too! I hope you have a chance to check it out!






CARD DETAILS:
Clear Dollar Stamps Lamppost Expressions &
Lamppost Blessings
Cosmo Cricket Wonderland Papers
Miscellaneous Scrappaper Cardstock
Palette Ink
Versamagic Ink
Copic Markers
Yellow Dollar Store Glitter Crayon
Stickles
Crystal Lacquer
Prima Flowers
CTMH Flowers
Nestability Dies
MS Punch
Mini Bling Jewels
Sheer Ribbon
Mini Polka Dot Ribbon

And MORE!

Sorry I am so late in posting tonight. We stopped by our friends house for an evening game of Settlers and some computer techie support and before you knew it was late-late. That's what happens when your having fun. Doesn't it?!

Tonight's Clear Dollar Stamps previews are mainly on their new set called "Lamppost Blessings". This is an expansion sentiments set to the main "Lamppost Expressions" designs. I am kinda doing it backwards by showing you the expansion sentiments set samples before the main set. I hope you don't mind because I was saving it for my grand finally of sneak peaks. (Actually the pavement image is from "Lamppost Expressions").



The first one is a very simple design. I think it holds it own just the way it is. To add much more would take away from the sentiments and image. The second card is just plain cute! I used "Christian Critters" with the new "Lamppost Blessings" for this card. Not only that the sketch was a design team challenge from our coordinator Laurie Wilson, Clearly Delightful.

It's late and I can hardly think to write for now... night-tee-nite!

:-)



Faith Card Details:
Clear Dollar Stamps Lamppost Blessings
CDS Lamppost Expressions
Retired SU! Cardstock
Palette Ink
Versamagic Ink
Brads

Duck Sketch Card Details:
Clear Dollar Stamps Lamppost Blessings
CDS Christian Critters
Basic Grey Designer Papers
Palette Ink
Copic Ciao and Spica Markers
Stickles
Liquid Lacquer
Michael's Paper Flowers
Mini Bling Jewels

Answered Prayer Journal

One of the many reasons I love Clear Dollar Stamps is that they have stamps that encourage me to have a relationship with God. Next month CDS is adding a set called "Prayer Journal" and "Scallop Boarder" and I had the privilege to be one of the first to create with it. Instead of making a standard prayer journal I made mine as an answered prayer journal. It's nice to be reminded of all that God has done for me and that's why I included two post-it note pads to write reminders to take with me throughout the day. There was also room to include some pictures of my blessings. I hope you'll want to make an answered prayer journal too!




This is a 4x4 coaster journal bound with the Bind-It-All System. I used one 4x4 acrylic BIA cover for the front and to get the corners rounded like the coasters I trimmed the edges with my KIA scissors and carefully sanded off the rough spots. At first I wasn't sure if trimming the edges would work but it came out perfectly. The rest of the journal is pretty standard but if you have any questions about how I made my journal please shoot me an email. I'd be happy to share.




JOUNAL DETAILS:
Clear Dollar Stamps Prayer Journal
CDS Scallop Boarder
Pretty Little Scriptures
Cosmo Cricket Designer Papers
Bind-it-All Acrylic Covers
& Silver Wire
4x4 Coasters
Gold Pigment Ink
Palette Ink
Gold Embossing Powder
Post-it Note Pads
Mini Bling Jewel
Su! Punches

CDS Sneak-a-PEAK

It's that time of the month again to post my contribution of sneak-previews for Clear Dollar Stamps! This time around I have a wonderful collection of styles to share. Tonight I am going to show you the cutsie ones out of the bunch. The debut stamps that I used here are two single individual stamps are called "Sally Sheep" and "Little Lamb". I love that I can combine them together to make a card or use them separately. Both are easy to design with!



I saw that CDS now has Polyshrink in their store. Polyshrink is perfect for making coordinating embellishments for us cardmakers. I made my little bauble with "Little Lamb" and Palette Ink. How simple it was to hit it with the heatgun to get it shrink down to size. By the way, if you haven't already given Polyshrink a try Laurie Wilson of Clear Delightful has a great tutorial on her blog to get you started. CLICK HERE for the link.



Ready for more CDS Previews? Check out the CDS Design Team blogs:

Alexandra Maldonado
Frenchy
Jan Hunnicutt
Jen Ofiana
Joan Ervin
Katie Renz
Kelly Hampton
Kim Teasdale
Laurie Wilson
Linda Anderson
Linda Borneman
Lindsay
Lorelie
Lori's Gallery
Suzanne Dean
Tori Wild

Blue for EWE Card:
Sally Sheep from Clear Dollar Stamps
Imperial Monogram from CDS
Charlie Frolic from CDS
Blank Scalloped Note Card from OTC
Retired SU! Blue Cardstock
Palette Ink
Copic Markers
Spica Copic Pen
Cuttlebug Embossing Folders
Scallop Square Punch
SU! Trio Flower Punch
Mini Bling Jewels

Pink Little Lamb Card:
Little Lamb from Clear Dollar Stamps
Charlie Baby from CDS
Blank Scalloped Note Card from OTC
Pink Speckled Designer Paper from Costco
Polyshirk
Palette Ink & Versamagic Ink
Making Memories Flowers
Sheer Pink Ribbon
Mini Bling Jewel

Scrap PAGE

Our weather and sunlight is really changing fast. It's moving to more of a winter time feel... darker longer and very snowy. Lately there has been many snow drifts to plow through in the road ways. If we lived in a city I wouldn't want to go out all with these kind of driving conditions but since it's Barrow I don't mind as much. Our dirt roads have turned to ice roads and most drivers are use to the slipping and sliding. I am more likely to get stuck in the snow than anything. Thankfully up here there is always someone that will help push you out. We've even had the pleasant surprise of lending a tow every now and then too. Anyhow, what I was really wanting to share is that we went out for breakfast before work last Friday and it was such a treat to go out and have a warm start on such a cold, snowy, dark morning. What a blessing to have bacon and plain french toast restaurant style together. Going out like this certainly isn't something we do very often. So much so that this happened to have been Ellie's first breakfast dining out experience in Barrow. We let her play with the jelly packets until we discovered that she could get them open!

I hope you had a wonderful Monday.

Many blessings and smiles,


Digital Scrap Page Details:
All the digital elements were from the ShabbyPrincess.com. If you see any digital elements on my page that you like and want some for yourself, please visit their website. They have the most awesome kits and fabulous freebies to learn with. Just like what I am doing! :-)

Gone Digital!

Whelp, I didn't get to stamping today but it was my own fault. I had the luxury to sleep in this morning and then I felt kinda bad and then spent the rest of my day with my family. We took a short trip to the library and dropped by the AC to pick-up some ice cream. YUMMY!

It wasn't a complete non-creative day because I did sit down and play with some digital scrapping/cardmaking downloads. I am so thankful to the ShabbyPrincess.com for sharing digital downloads for to learn off of. Their new free kit off the month is so fresh and awesome!!! It's called "Spontaneous Delight" and I couldn't wait for our slow internet to finish downloading it because I had the perfect picture in mind to shabby up.

Since we are moving out of Barrow I've been trying to take more photos and yesterday one of my former office mates dropped by our building to get something so I stole a moment to snap this shot. I know I look kinda funny but I think Bob will appreciate it for it's quirkiness. I also thought that it would be nice to add some digital elements to it to make as a memento/thank you card. What's even better is that I had Beate's Weekend Sketch#63, Fresh & Fun, to use as my layout. I always like to do her weekend sketches. In some way it makes me feel special... silly haw? I try my best to keep my creations as close to the inspiring sketches as possible but this time around I had to tweak it a tad to make it work. I also cropped and designed it at 4x6 so that I can have it printed off as a real picture from the photo lab.



I hope you like my digital take on Beate's fab sketch and that you are having a very blessed weekend.

Smiles,


DETAILS:
ShabbyPrincess.com
Beate's Weekend Sketch #63

1 Month to go...

We officially have one month till we catch our flight to the "real world". No not the "The Real World" the MTV show. I mean the "real world" as in south of the arctic circle. I still have yet to start packing. We have plenty of tape, boxes, and totes to get us taken care of thankfully. Since I am still working it's been tough to be motivated to start packing. Officially I've started to go through my things and we've discussed what rooms are mine to box up. It really isn't that bad and I thank God that He's got a plan for me or this moving business would be much harder than it is.

Anyhow, I've been getting inky this week stamping out my Clear Dollar Stamp design team samples. I can't wait to show you what I've been up to! However, I can show you what I haven't been up to this week... the dishes!!! Here's my buddy, Mr. Skillet, waiting for his turn to be scrubbed! If you ask me I'd rather have inky hands than dishpan hands! With that being said I better get going and check out Beate's weekend sketch so I'll have something to start with tomorrow when I sneak off and stamp.

I hope you are having a wonderfully blessed day!

Smiles,


By the way... if you wondering how I got the bubbles to make the frowning face in the skillet, I didn't do it. It just so happened to wind up that way on it's own. My son pointed it out to me and I snapped a photo. :-)

Team Spirit!

Our football season has recently come to an end. We made it to one step of the playoff's which is phenomenal. It wasn't that long ago that high school football didn't exist up here on the North Slope of Alaska... so making it to the playoffs is a very big deal. In Barrow Basketball has always been king... actually it still is. Anyhow, I haven't shared much on our football endeavors really until tonight and even at that it's not really all that footballish. Here are some cards that I put together for a customer themed around our football team. I used one of Beate's, Fresh & Fun, weekend sketches as the main inspiration. The moment I laid eyes on her sketch I knew that this was design that I wanted to use to make these cards. Originally I had a total different idea set in my mind. Maybe I'll do the other design next time.

THANKS BEATE!!!





CARD DETAILS:
BHS Logo Printed off our inkjet
Clearance Alphabet Stamps (Unknown Maker)
Stamping Up! Blue Cardstock
DCWV Textured Golden Yellow Cardstock
Blue Palette Ink
Cuttlebug Embossing Folder
Xyron Machine
Creative Memories Circle Cutting System
Nestibilities Circle Die

Remember ME?

I made this card not to long ago and I wound up giving it to one of my coworkers as a birthday/get well card. To make a long story short the recipient of this card decided to pin it up on his office wall with a thumb tack. Well... once I saw that my hard work wasn't going to be thrown away I thought it would be nice to have a frame to coordinate with the card. It was difficult to find just the right one so I went ahead and altered a naked square wooden dollar frame from Michael's. I happened to of picked up a small stash of them while I was out of Barrow over the summer. Anyhow, my card didn't quite fit into the small opening in the center so I used a BIA (Bind-It-All) 4x4 acrylic cover to make a front pocket for the card to slide into. I popped up the acrylic with double sided foam tape to form the pocket and then covered it with some distressed cardstock. This was a pretty easy project to complete and I am glad to have saved this handsome cowboy from being left to hang by a thumb tack.

:-)

More SNOW...

Our wonderland is here for the long months of Fall, Winter, and Spring. I've had my turn with shoveling the driveway and scrapping the ice off the car windshield now many times over. It's kinda bittersweet to know that in a short six weeks I won't be here any more. Instead we'll be enjoying the beauty of the leaves turning all shades of reds and browns and knowing the Fall time hours of sunlight outside of the arctic darkness.

It's been such a blessing to have spent a portion of my life here in Barrow. I thank God for giving me a time away from everything else and to learn what life is really about... STAMPING!!! Just joking! Yes, I admit that stamping is a huge part of my everyday life now but in the grand scheme of things it's not the most important. Anyhow, thank you for looking in on me. I promise I will have something stamping related to post soon.

Smiles,

And the WINNERS Are...

I can't believe that the random number picker actually picked commenters numbers THREE, TWO, & ONE! In that order! CRAZY!!!

Congrats to
Sandy who lives in St. Mary's County, MD
Shemaine
AND
Just B from Oklahoma

Please email me your addresses so that I can get your prizes in the mail. By the way if you were wondering who the actual second commenter was... it was a spam message that I deleted. Need I say more? ;-)

Thank you all for leaving me the sweet comments and I hope you had a wonderful cardmaking week!

BIG SMILES,

Blog BLESSINGS!!!

Don't forget to leave me a comment over at this post for your chance at some blog candy!!!

:-)

Scroll down to see the post or click here.

A Little Something...

I love TheShabbyShoppe.com's monthly freebie. I usually don't share my ShabbyShoppe desktop freebies but I just couldn't help it this time around. Take a look at my curlie-sue!

I hope she makes you smile.



If you want to get your own ShabbyShoppe.com freebie go and checkout their store. I love their style!

Eskimos X's Two...

I love these little eskimo girlies. The stamp was a gift from a friend. THANKS FRIEND!!! You can find this wonderful eskimo stamp along with the other stamps in this series from The Stamp Attic in Anchorage, Alaska.

I colored both of these images awhile back and I am just now getting a chance to use them up. As for the coloring technique I used my small assortment of Copics to do the main coloring and then blended in some of my Prismacolors to add more of a variation. To top it off I used Crystal Lacquer to highlight some of the details. Oh, she's so cute! She makes me want to smile!



Thanks for stopping by and seeing what I've been stamping!

Smiles,

First Snow!

I remember the first snow coming by the end of October. What a surprise to arise last Thursday to find our season's first snow. Now we've had quite a few flurries since the middle of September but it never stuck like this day. Ellie had a check-up first thing in the morning so we had the pleasure of taking Daddy to work. I thought I'd share some of the pictures I shot of our morning drive. I hope you don't mind me sharing.

:-)



p.s.
Monday October 6, 2008
Today's Verse:
The grass withereth, the flower fadeth: but the word of our God shall stand for ever.
Isaiah 40:8 / KJV

Howdy...

Can you believe it?! Two posts in one day?! I really can't!!! Every since I returned to work and we've decided to move I just haven't had my time to blog. I've gone through withdrawals so many times! December is my target month where I might be able to get back on track? I think. Anyhow, I checked over at Beate's blog for her weekend sketch challenge and here's my card with WSC #60. I kinda skewed the deminsions so that I could get Charlie Horse in. He's just so cute that I couldn't resist! :-)

I hope you had a blessed Sunday. Thank you for stopping by.

Smiles,




CARD DETAILS:
Clear Dollar Stamps
Charlie Gets Giddy
Hoofin' It
Cake Occasions
Designer Paper Scraps
Palette Ink
Versamagic Chalk Ink
Copic Markers
Shimmer Chalks
Liquid Lacquer
Brass Spiral Clip
Brass Brads

World Cardmaking Weekend Goodies!

Hey LADIES!!! It's that time of year again to celebrate world cardmaking day and I have some cardmaking stamps from CDS to giveaway.


I have three separate goodies to send out to three lucky commenters. So if you would like to win some of Clear Dollar Stamps please leave me a comment. I'll randomly draw the winners next Sunday, October 12th.



There are so many fabulous cardmakers throughout the papercrafting world and I am happy to be a member of that world.
Many blessings,