Me --- An Emmy??

Well I'll be jiggered! Who knew that one of my favorite "TV Places" (StampTV) was giving out Emmy awards?? I didn't know that! (I have been out of the stamping loop for a few months now - between work, being out of the country etc.) I just haven't been in touch with all my favorite places!  So imagine my surprise when I got a sweet message congratulating me on my recent Emmy!

You can find a link to my gallery here.

They featured this card of mine on Monday (apparently it goes all week)

And this one was yesterday's pick...

Thanks to StampTV and the StampTV Talent Scout (see the page on Facebook) for the honor!

This hobby and the group of paper crafters around the world is AMAZING! Have a great day all!!

Stampin Pam :-)

Challenge Crazy!!

Wow I got some time to play and play I did! I have so neglected my dear StampTV friends and challenges so I jumped in on those and, finally I also got to play along with CR84FN this week too. Here are the cards I worked up:

1st - for the February Color Challenge at Stamp TV - a nestie shaped card that swivels open - colors green, yellow plus one neutral. Stamp set Oh Baby bu Gina K Designs.

2nd - The February sketch challenge at StampTV - LOVED this sketch - so fun. Stamp set Spring Florals by Gina K.

3rd - String it up - no ribbon challenge - Stamp set Autumn Beauty by Gina K plus sentiment from Tag Lines.

Finally - I combined this week's Mojo Monday sketch with Mona's CR84FN color challenge - the gray was a bit of a stretch for me but I got there.
 

JustRite stamp set Stitched With Love and Nested Sentiments.

I was quite happy in my creative "space" this weekend and today's holiday! Thanks for popping in.
Hugs n smiles and have a GREAT WEEK!

A few challenge projects

Hi gals,
Well I got a chance to do some playing along with a couple of challenges so I have several cards to post. Not a ton of detail cause I'm ready for bed now.

First up - Joan's Garden -Joan is hosting a new weekly challenge so I wanted to try and play along this time. We were to use any Just Rite floral stamp set and to use pink, green and yellow. So here's my card:

I used the Plant a Little Love set from JR. It's beautiful and I love the large size! I colored with copics and did a second layer which I cut out and popped up for some dimension. I added a little yello-green glitter to the flower centers, used some tiny pink rhinestones around the scallop and larger rhinestones on the corners. The DP is Lemonade from Basic Grey.

Here's a closer look:

Next up - A joint effort card from Selma Stevenson and me... when Selma and I returned from Joan's workshop we had a little time to play. Selma created this card and I finished it up (heh - all I did was add ribbon and the large flowers). But I was able to send it to my DD in Germany just to let her know I'm thinking about her - her last visit home got cancelled because of that volcano in Iceland.  Check out how Selam makes the fabulous vellum flowers. Here tutorial is HERE.

I also had a chance to get back over to Stamp TV for a couple of quick challenges. First up is this week's color challenge - Pink, Orange and Green.  SERIOUSLY? Oh boy now this is what I call a challenge - BUT I think I got it... and here it is...

I used the Spring Florals set from Gina K Designs - masked and stamped 3 sets of these fun flowers. Colord some pink and some orange.  Nestie matted with the Large scallop oval and then added another mat of green. Some CB embossing and a MS punch - ribbon and sentiment. All done!

Here's the inside - super fun to carry through the flowers...

Last up - one more Stamp TV challenge - to make a Christmas card and let the sentiment be the main focus of the card.  Here's my simple card for this one.

Stamps are from Gina K. I added a little bit of Eskimo Kisses DP and used the sketch from Waltzingmouse Stamps again.

I added another senti to the inside:

Whew - ok I'm officially tired now - I think I was in my stamp studio for a good three hours!
Thanks for popping in - do you have a favorite from these? I'd love to know which one if you do.

Have a great rest of your weekend.
Hugs n Smiles,

Secret Sister Book Exchange!

Hey girls - as y'all know I'm an active member of StampTV.  Well there are a group of us who started a Book Readers thread in one of the forums there - to chat about our favorite books - we do sometimes do something other than papercrafting LOL. :-)

Well - we came up with the idea of a Secret Sister book exchange for the holidays. SO here is my big reveal.... this is the AMAZING gift package I received from my Secret Sister...

Not only did I get the long- anticipated next book in the Cedar Cove series by Debbie Macomber (these are such fun light reads - just what I need after a stressful day of work) - but look at all the other goodies. There is a FANTASTIC and fun hand crafted bookmark - it's magnetic and nice and thin so it fits nicely in the book and I can't lose it (LOL). A box of my favorite candies (Riesens - don't have to have a reason to pop one of these in my mouth!) and adorable mug filled with "snowman soup" - it's darling - and has a cute saying on the back as well. Then there is an ornament for my tree - my SS didn't know that I love snowmen but it's just adorable AND hand made and to top it all off - a gorgeous Christmas card - using Gina K's Festive Frame and the cardinal (it IS the Illinois state bird!!) from the holiday StampTV kit. That cardinal is popped up and just stunning with all the coloring and cutting! ROCKIN AWESOME!!! I am truly blessed by this fantastic group of women from StampTV - I have made so many Cyber Friends who feel like real friends - and some I've met - some I WILL be meeting.

Can I say I am overwhelmed by the generosity of my SS. Thank you a million times over - you are indeed a Christmas Angel.

Oooooohhhhh you want to know WHO my Secret Sister was????? LOL

It was none other than the amazing, talented, creative and fabulous.... Geri Utterback!!!! Huge thank you, enormous hugs and giant smiles to you Geri - you made my day, and my week!!! Blessings to you Secret Sister!!!

StampTV Challenges!

Here are several cards I made recently for some StampTV Challenges. I LOVE StampTV and don't get to play the challenges as often as I would like. SO - in no particular order...

Madonna and Child - using Split Negative technique (Gina has a video on how to do it on StampTV)
Features a stamp I have owned for more than 20 years and it's mixed with two NEW stamps from Nina Brackett's Vintage Borders set, available from Gina K Designs.

For this week's StampTV Sketch challenge - again using the new Vintage Borders plus some Gina K papers which I LOVE. I really like the deep brown with the red as opposed to black. A touch of gold embossing makes things pop.

Finally, this project was the Potluck Friday challenge this week to make a card ON a card.

The little flower opens up to reveal a simple sentiment on the inside...

And then the WHOLE card opens up to have another sentiment and image on the inside....

That's it for now - I've got more Just Us Girls to work on, an upcoming Stamp TV Members Blog Hop, and a surprise and FUN special Blog Hop soon that you're going to LOVE!

Autumn Blessings

Whew - it has been an exhausting day of autocrossing. I won the "family prize" of being the first one to do a full 360º spin out in our Mini! LOL I had this card done last night but was too tired to post so here it is now - although brief.

This card is for this week's Color Throwdown Challenge #63 AND Stamp TV's color challenge for the week. I worked with Gina K's soft sand, green apple and chocolate kiss papers plus PTI's summer sunrise.

The sketch is from iheart2stamp.


Sunflowers are from Theresa Momber's Autumn Beauty (available from Gina K Designs.) Masked, colored with copics, cut with nesties, light sponging. A few clear stardust spica for the center of the flowers.

Buttons and ribbon are PTI.

Sorry no more time to write more - I'm plum worn out AND I have to get these posted NOW.

Thanks for looking.

Bitty Blessing

Just a quick post today with a new baby card. I've been off the "baby card wagon" for a while since I made lots of them a while ago - so it was time for a new card since one of my Tech Support guys' wife just had their first baby.

I started with a sketch challenge over on StampTV. I also loved the recent My Time to Create Inspiration Challenge (see post here) with the blue and brown combo and I just got a new border punch :-) All those ideas are what spurred this newest Bitty Baby Blessings creation. The steps are all pretty obvious. Stamping, coloring, sponging, nesties, CB. I did have to stamp the "for baby" sentiment onto two lines to make them fit into my 1" circle.
I added a bit of matching punched CS to the inside with two of the sentiments and stamped and paper pieced the larger sailboat onto the envelope.

Thanks for looking. Have a great week.

Copic Containers and a 3D Challenge

The lovely Donna Baker is hosting a 3D challenge this month over on StampTV - she made it super easy on us this month - we just had to make a pencil cup! Hmmmm - I have a homemade pencil cup on my desk that my oldest daughter made for me when she was in Kindergarten (20+ years ago). I love that pencil cup so I HAD to play along.



Here's the final project I made for the StampTV challenge - several pencil (aka copic) cups, actually. The details (for anyone who is interested) follow below.


This is how I have been storing my Copics... I have been looking for alternative storage solutions for a while so this sounded like a fun project.

I started with an empty can of Salad Crispins... cleaned out the container - cut it down to 4-1/4" in height, cut out the center of the plastic top but left the rim.


I covered the can with designer paper and Scor-Tape - in a color that would quickly identify the copic colors in the can. (I don't store by copic codes R, RV etc. but by the color they appear to my eye so when I'm coloring something PINK I look for all my pinks then figure out which ones blend well.) Added a touch of ribbon and a scalloped edge to the bottom. Did that for 3 colors of Copics. (That's all the empty cans I had on hand.)

After I made the three holders I still had a bunch of sketch markers in my plastic box. I got out an empty Planter's Almond can and went to work on it, too. I had to cut it down just like the others. I didn't add the scallop edge to the bottom because this one is temporary and will probably move elsewhere on my desk once all my copics are sorted by color - I'll add embellishments at that time.

So - this is how I NOW store my Copic markers (ok well at least some of them - I have to eat a whole lot more salad crunchies to finish all of them and lots are still in the plastic boxes!!)









They may not be a long term solution for storage but they are pretty, cheerful and colorful on my desk AND they are at my fingertips! Thanks for looking and THANKS DONNA for a great, fun challenge! (Sorry to be so long-winded!)

Sketch Challenge - Anniversary Wishes

Hey Hey - it's time for another sketch challenge - this time from StampTV. I love trying new layouts to help spark my creativity :-)
This one was hosted by the talented Melissa Shultz.

So, I just received my package of new paper that I won (woo hoo) from PaperTemptress during the Stampin' Out Alzheimer's event. It was more beautiful than my wildest dreams! I have been dying to use Rupa's new set from Gina K Designs called With This Ring. I decided to use this week's Stamp TV sketch challenge and my new Luster Laser Silver paper along with the new Vintage Silver Luster paper to create this anniversary card. I couldn't completely keep to the sketch with the embellishments but since this is a non-traditional card size (4x8) I added my pearl embellishments along the bottom.

The luster laser silver paper has a pattern to it that makes it just gorgeous in person. It is hard to photograph so I apologize that I'm not doing it justice. I tried to photograph a close up so you could see the luster laser.

I used the vintage silver luster for the inside and as the mat for the front and it is amazing! It's always a challenge to try non-traditional card sizes but this one allowed me to really use several of the images from this set!

Thanks for looking - hugs n smiles.

StampTV and My Really Exciting News

Oh me oh my - I am jumping up and down - well, that is, after picking myself up off the floor first. LOL. I just got the news that I was selected to be "Center Stage" on StampTV. What does that mean? It means that five other Center Stagers and I will be part of the Gina K design team blog hop in June. We will each receive one of the not-yet-released stamp sets to feature during the blog hop. Woo Hoo! You can read Gina's official post here.

I am both honored AND humbled to have been selected for this thrilling opportunity! Thank you to all who have supported me with your kind comments and encouragement. The motto of StampTV is "Watch Your Creativity Grow" and I must say this is exactly what has happened to me. I joined StampTV on the first day it was revealed to the world and I have never looked back. It's AWESOME. Please come check us out - and if you join (it's free) be sure to add me as your friend! See you on the StampTV forums!

Huge HUGS n Big SMILES :-)

Flip Flop Fun

This week on Stamp TV, Joanne Basile posted "No Squares Allowed" for the Friday Potluck Challenge. "Make a card that is NOT a square or rectangle." Well, we had our first 80º day since October so I was in the mood for summer and pulled out a favorite template to make this "flip flop" birthday card for a friend. The template comes from Sara Sandberg, www.timeforcrafting.co.uk - Thanks, Sara!

I used Gina K's brand new Springtime in Paris digital paper (ohh love the colors) for the card. I printed it on white card stock so it would be strong enough for the card to stand up on it's own. Then a couple of flowers and a rhinestone embellishment to hold the "strap" on and my card was ready. You can see on the inside that I also paper piece the inside cover to hide the brads.

I used one of the flowers from Gina K's Elegant Flowers with the thumping technique for the mixed color effect. A simple birthday sentiment added the finishing touch. Simple but fun. I do not mail these flip flop cards since the straps would get "squished" in the envelope so I save these for friends that I can give to in person.

Thanks for taking a look. May warm, sunny skies be headed your way!

Clean and Simple Challenge

This week's StampTV Sketch Challenge from Kurtis was to create a clean and simple (CAS) card. This was a really hard challenge for me since I typically use lots of layers, and accessories etc. BUT, I did make two - one is a CAS birthday card and I kept it to just the one layer and a sentiment. I used the cupcake from Gina K's Sweetest Blessings set, colored the cupcakes with copics, added some glitter and crystal effects and I was done.

The other one is a 4.25 x 4.25 square card and I did add one layer of BG paper to it. No other "bling" or accessories were needed. There is an additional sentiment on the inside. Great little $5.00 add on set of images from Papertrey called With Sympathy Loss of Pet. Thanks for looking! Have a great week.

"You're Amazing" Giraffe

This week's Stamp TV Technique Challenge was to use Nestabilities somehow. Woo Hoo! Finally an "easy" challenge for me. BUT I did try a double nestie layer - I don't have multiple sets of all the shapes yet but I do have all the rectangles. This ADORABLE giraffe image is from Gina K's Whatever Floats Your Boat *** it is the set I selected when I won a free set from one of the STV Challenges *** (THANK YOU Gina!) I had absolutely NO children's stamp images (probably cause I have grown children and no grandkids yet) but this set also could be used for baby cards too and I wanted to get myself something I would not normally buy for myself.
I colored the image with copics and then tried using the blender pen to make "clouds" in the window which you can see in the closeup. I also cut out the entire image and that allowed me to pop open the window - I colored the back of the window so when you look at it from the side it's not just a white spot. All the layers are popped with dimensionals but they don't show up real well in the photo.

The papers are digital papers from Gina K's Neopolitan sets. Love the digi papers!