I'm thinking .....

My plan is to do Technique a week on Thursday, however this week that is just to close to the wedding day so I'm doing it today. If this technique has an official title I don't know what it is. I call it dusting in the Amelia Bedelia sort of way! It's not removing, but adding just a touch of color around the edges of a project. It can make all the difference in the world. It helps pieces to pop out and gives them definition. Around the edges of a card it can give you the aged or worn look. As you see around the bunny , I dusted the Whisper White with Pretty in Pink, otherwise the different parts of the bunny would not have definition. I also did it around the Happy Easter. This is a very useful and much used technique when stamping. So, get out your sponges or sponge daubers and try it out on your next card. All you do is hold your card stock in your hand and dust the edge with the sponge or dauber with an up and down motion to add a little color to the edge. Easy peasy! Gotta go. Have a very blessed day.

April's reason's to stamp

Here are some not so well known reason's to stamp(like we need reason's).

April is Autism Awareness Month, National Kite Month, National Pet Month, and Southern Belle Month

The First Week of April is Laugh at Work Week

The Second Week of April is Garden Week

The Third Week of April is National Volunteer Week

The Fourth Week of April is National Dance Week

The Fifth Week of April is National Pie Week

April 2nd is International Children's Book Day

April 10th is National Sibling Day

April 18th is Wear Your Pajamas to Work Day

April 23rd is Talk Like Shakespeare Day

April 29th is National Pet Parents Day

Of course, I really like "Southern Belle Month"! oh, and national pie week, who wouldn't like that a whole week to honor pies! Pecan, Pumpkin, Apple Pie...this is why I have fat thighs! Just a little ditty from the past. Laugh today it is good like medicine! Be Blessed.

Easter is coming!

I love this time of year. Spring is in the air, flowers blooming, you should see my roses, the real ones, not the knock out ones, they are beautiful. As you may have read we are preparing for a wedding next Saturday. I know, the day before Easter! What was that girl thinking! But it will be beautiful. I have been stamping place cards and gift bags and embossing napkins and making favors and ...... the list goes on. It has been fun and I plan on sharing these things with you after the wedding.

But, in the middle of this chaos I have had a few other things to do. I am sharing at a MOPS group this week, we are doing two really cool cards. I'll share the cute one with you today. I always have a little trouble with the whole bunny thing at Easter, it is such an important day in my faith and I really don't think there were cute little bunnies hopping around at the foot of the cross. Never the less, it is fun for the kiddos and I love cute little bunnies! When my children were growing up, we did celebrate the Easter bunny on Saturday before Easter and then prepared our hearts for Easter Sunday! It worked well. Anyway, here's the card. It was inspired by two ladies, Jan and Gwen, love their work. The base is natural white card stock layered with Marina Mist and Bashful Blue. The bunny is made with 2 small ovals(retired), 1 inch and 1 1/4 inch circles, and the modern label punch for his feet. Oh yes, don't forget the Boho blossom small flower for the little tail. I dusted the outer edges of the pieces with Pretty in Pink. The clouds are the top of the cupcake punch. I used the large oval for the Happy Easter out of Tiny Teeny Wishes. The back ground is stamped in Marina Mist and Rose Red using the Pocket Silhouettes stamp set. The little flower is from the small punch trio set punched out of Rose Red with a little bling embellishment. Cute, huh? I hope the ladies enjoy doing it. Well, blog post is getting too long. Gotta run. Be Blessed!

Technique A Week

Hi Stampers,

I am adding a new addition to my blog, "Technique a Week". I am going to be featuring a new stamping technique each week. The birthday card I shared on my last post is an example of Spotlighting. It is a simple technique. First, you stamp your image on the cardstock you plan onusing as a layer and then again on a small piece of cardstock the same color. Using a punch, punch out the area to be spotlighted. This smallpiece will be colored in with markers, watercolor crayons, pencils, blender pens, whatever you want. Next, punch out a second piece the same shape but a little bigger for layering. Adhere these two pieces, then layer them on the card over the design matching the borders as much as possible. This technique can also be done in reverse. In the reverse the "spotlighted piece" would be left not colored and the larger piece would be colored. I hope this new feature will be helpful to yall in your paper crafting. Have a great day and be blessed.

Never enough time

Well, friends and fellow stampers another almost 2 months has flown by. And I mean FLOWN. WE have been busy with wedding preparations around here. Our daughter, Jennifer, is getting married in a couple of weeks and it has been crazy. Well, maybe I have been crazy!!! I have made a ton of wedding invitations and some other cute stuff and also have been trying to keep up with my hostess clubs. Therefore, the blog has suffered neglect. I would like to share a cute card I made for our younger daughters 22 birthday in February. Isn't this a great card. I love the bright colors. This stamp set is called packed for birthday and and it is packed with cute birthday designs. The Packed for Birthday stamp set is in the Occasions mini catalog which is current through the 30th or April. There is also a great Packed for Dad and Baby and Mom. You can even get them as a bundle and save! For just a few more days you can get the "Celebrate" out of the Sale-a-bration cattie for FREE with a 50.00 order. So head over to my online website and place your order today.

Home from Leadership

Lots going on. I am home from San Antonio after attending Leadership conference with Stampin' Up! It was great. It is the best company to be partnered with. Learned lots of new stuff, saw some sneak peaks (cool new stuff) and came home with a lot of giveaways!!! Most of the pictures are still on the camera! Anyway- I have blog candy to give away! Check back in the next couple of days and leave me a comment so I know you were here! Later.

If you are looking for reasons to stamp...

Just in case you need a reason to get stamping this month...January is International Creativity Month, Hobby Month, National Thank You Month, National Polka Music Month, and Be Kind to Food Servers Month. The First Week of January is Celebration of Life Week, The Second Week of January is Kid Film Week, The Third Week of January is National Book Week, The Fourth Week of January is Clean Out Your Inbox Week, The Fifth Week of January is Catholic Schools Week. January 2nd is the Rose Bowl Game - January 6th is Three Kings Day January 12th is Secret Pal Day-January 18th is Winnie the Pooh Day (A.A. Milne's Birthday) January 24th is National Compliment Day-January 31st is Inspire Your Heart with the Arts Day.

Personally, I never need a reason to stamp, but these are interesting national events that can inspire us to be creative. We all need time to relax and let our creative juices flow. So, if it's cold outside( it actually is here today High of 44, however it will be back to 70 by Saturday)and you have some free time, make some cards for a secret pal for Secret Pal Day, or get busy making Thank you cards for all the people that service you throughout the month. What a great way to start a new year- Being thankful and stamping! Can't get better than that! Be blessed stampers and be a blessing to those around you. Oh, Don't forget today is the last day to order from the Holiday Mini, just in case you want something before it retires tonight at 11:59pm. Click here to see mini.