Happy Fourth of July!

The stars are made from chipboard, inked up with Really Red, Whisper White and Night of Navy. Since the card says Sparkle, I had to add some Dazzling Diamonds!

Thanks to all who have served, or are serving in the military. Because of you, I can enjoy my freedom and make silly little cards all day. I do not take the sacrifices you've made for granted. I appreciate you and hope you have a wonderful Fourth of July too.

Bless you and thank you!

June (Happy Birthday Penny!) Stamp Camp Samples

Love this Designer Paper - Island Oasis - it's so bright. The Bitty Shapers punches and Bitty Buttons were added to the top. Gretchen Barron's inspiration.

My style tends to be whimsical, but I love a classy card too. The stamp set, Watercolor Trio, is so elegant when used with the Old Olive and Rich Razzleberry ink. Linda Grames inspired this card.

Saw this layout on Karen Graff-Povis' blog and thought the new July Fourth stamp set would work great with it. Reminds me of watching fireworks!

I love a new technique! This card is made by stamping with bleach on the outside panels! It's a really cool effect if you can handle the bleach fumes! Next time I'll get the scentless bleach. Whew! The middle image is stamped with Soft Suede and Sahara Sand, then punched with the Curly Label punch, and popped up with dimensionals. A tiny little clip is added at the top. Taunya Thurman Rivers.

Pink and orange are so dramatic together. Since Only Orange and Green Galore are retiring, I thought this happy little card would be a great fond farewell. Andrea Walford.

My motto is "Less Is More". How much cuter could you get than this card? It is so simple, but so perfect. Less is more! Used Very Vanilla, Chocolate Chip, and Regal Rose ink and card stock. Sweetness.

Guest Stamper - Phyllis Phegley

My good friend, Phyllis Phegley, is an awesome stamper. Recently, she needed a special birthday card for her son, who likes to fish, and found this 'fisherman's vest' card on Splitcoast Stampers. She immediately set to work on recreating it. I am just blown away at how adorable it came out. Those are real lures, which her husband, Dave, removed the hooks for her to attach on the front. In the second photo, you can see the little card that comes out with a hemp pull. On the back of that, she made a pocket for a gift card or check or money.

She has given me her recipe for this, and if you would like to have it, let me know, and I will email it to you.

Thank you, Phyllis! This card is just as cute as it can be!

Flower For All Seasons Note Card Holder

I recently attended my family reunion in Texas. It was so nice to see everyone. The kids are growing like weeds, and really fun to be around. My parents (ages 80 and 85!) were able to attend too, and we enjoyed having them with us.

I wanted to bring something special to the McClung ladies, and found these note cards and holder on the Studio 52 blog. Too cute! It uses the Flower For All Seasons stamp set, and was perfect for showing them how much I love them. Hopefully, when they use the note cards, it will remind them of our 2010 McClung Family reunion!

'Sweet' Firecrackers

Who knew Lifesavers could be explosive? I saw these little cuties on the demonstrator sharing website. They are made using the Red, White & Blue Jumbo Wheel on Kraft card stock, with Night of Navy underneath, all wrapped around a roll of Lifesavers! The 'explosion' is made by fraying a 1/2" Real Red striped grosgrain ribbon. The 'fuse' is Hemp Twine.
This is a 'sweet' and safe way to enjoy firecrackers!

Summer Means....Lemonade...Yeah, That's It...Lemonade!

I just love this card. You have probably seen it before, but because it is so flippin' cute, I am posting it again. It's made using the Card Stock Vellum, and takes a bit of maneuvering to place it just right, but the results are worth it. The lemon and strawberry are from the Tart & Tangy stamp set. You can just see them peeking out of the glass that has been sponged with Summer Sun. The salt, I mean sugar, at the top of the glass is made with Sticky Strip and Chunky Glitter. Doesn't it make you want to go make yourself a margar....lemonade?

Summer Means Flip-Flops!

I am a big fan of the Flip-flop! If it didn't get so darn cold here in the winter, I would wear them all year long. So these two samples really appealed to me.

The top one is a card I copied from Splitcoast last year. It is so bright and cheery using the Razzleberry Lemonade Designer Paper. The 'flops' were traced from a template and then outlined with a Uni-ball Signo Gel Pen to give it punch. The polka-dotted Bermuda Bay grosgrain ribbon was used for the straps. The little flower accents were made with the Trio Flower punch. Love it, love it, love it!

The next example is using the Big Shot (you really need this little gizmo!). With the Daisies #2 Die and Fun Foam, you can take a boring pair of cheap flops and jazz them up! I used the Build-a-Brad in the center to give it a little color. What a cute little summer gift.

May Stamp Camp

I really need to get some better lighting in my stamping room. This card is made with Pretty in Pink satin ribbon and card stock, along with Tea Party Designer paper. I used the new stamp set, Sweet Scoops, and heat-embossed my vanilla ice cream scoop. Cutting it out was a bit tricky, being white on white, but worth the effort. Looks good enough to eat. The cherry was finished off with Crystal Effects. Both the scallop corner and border punches were used to make it just a bit frilly.

Graduation time! The stamp set called Starring You is so versatile for this kind of celebration. The base card is Sahara Sand and the punched stars are Crushed Curry. There is some Soft Suede peeking out too. Stole it from Nancy Riley.

One of my favorite In Colors is Crushed Curry. It looks so pretty and bright when matched with Dusty Durango. (Doesn't that name sound like an old cowboy movie star?) Notice the scalloped circle looks just like the sunflowers? To get that effect, after you punch your scalloped circle, place it either on a post-it note or Dotto on paper, slip it back into the scallop punch. Line it up, then slightly turn so that the points are on the scallop. Then punch! Voila, a sunflower! Found this on the Demonstrator's website by Paula Fats Cannon.

I get bored with standard size cards and thought this one would be fun to make. It uses the Wellness Wishes bandaid stamp popped up with Dimensionals and a small, punched heart popped on top of that. The original was a square and made by Crystal Lenssen. So cute.

I got the idea of a magnetic memo board from my stampin' friend in Texas, Diane Burns. She made one for me and I knew I wanted to demonstrate them at a camp. My version uses a 5 x 7 sheet of galvanized 'step flashing' (don't ask me!) from True Value Hardware. (I truly believe I bought all there was in North St. Louis County!) We used the Sweet Pea Designer Papers and felts. (Gonna miss those!) I love the results. Used the Crop-o-dile Corner Chomper to round the edges and Crop-o-dile hole puncher for the Old Olive wide grosgrain ribbon. Now, I need some memos!