Long time, no see!

Did you think I'd abandoned you?  It has been almost a week since my last post...and what a craaaazy week it has been!  Not much time for stamping...or blogging!  Hopefully this week will be a little calmer!
On Saturday we attended my nephew's third birthday party.  He is a big fan of Toopy and Binoo, so I decided to try creating a punch art Toopy for his birthday card.  Here is what I came up with:

Punch Art Toopy birthday card with sentiments from Yippee Skippee, Just Sayin' and Remembering Your Birthday.

I wasn't too sure I had him right, but both my son (still a Toopy fan at 7!) and my nephew recognized Toopy, I figured I must have done alright.  For those of you wanting to try to recreate him, here is a list of the punches I used...all are from Stampin' Up!:

• Head - 2" circle in Sahara Sand
• Snout - 1-3/8" circle and Small oval (the current one) in Sahara Sand
• Nose - 3/4" circle in Basic Black
• Ears - Large Oval in Sahara Sand
• Inside of Ears - Small oval (the retired one) in Blushing Bride
• Mouth - Large Oval in Sahara Sand
• Inside of mouth - Small oval (the retired one) in Basic Black
• Tongue - Small oval (the retired one), trimmed in Blushing Bride
• Eyes - 1" Circle in Whisper White
• Pupils - Smallest circles from the Owl Builder punch in Basic Black
• Eyebrows - hand-cut in Basic Black
• Neck - Large Oval in Sahra Sand
• Body - 2-1/2" Circle in Sahara Sand
• Shirt - 2-1/2" circle, trimmed, in striped DSP (you can use whatever pack you have...just as long as it is striped...Toopy always wears striped shirts!)
• Sleeve - Small Oval (the retired one) in same DSP as shirt
• Arm - Word Window in Sahara Sand
• Hand - Petite Petals punch in Sahara Sand, trim off two petals, keeping three for the hand

 The key with any punch art is to sponged all of the pieces.  I sponged all of the Sahara Sand pieces in Sahara Sand ink, as I did the 1" circles for the eyes.  The Blushing Bride pieces for the insides of the ears are sponged in Blushing Bride ink.  The pink on the snout and tongue is Melon Mambo ink.  I added the little dots with the Project Life Journalling pen.  The black nose is sponged lightly in Whisper White craft ink.

The rest of the card is pretty straightforward.  I die cut a bunch of word bubbles using the Word Bubbles framelits, using sentiments from several different sets to create a little rhyme for the front of the card:  "Yippee Skippe, Woohoo, A Birthday wish that's just for you."  I thought it sounded like something Toopy might say!

The birthday boy quite liked it...well as much as a three-year-old cares about the card when it is attached to a present...lol!

Something Worth Celebrating

Today is the final day of my week-long Blog-a-versary celebration.  I hope you've enjoyed the series of birthday cards I've shown you as much as I enjoyed making them :)
Don't forget to leave a comment on Monday's post to be entered in my draw for some sweet loot.  I'll announce the winner tomorrow, so be sure to leave your comment by midnight tonight.
Now today's card is one I designed for my Dog Daze of Summer Card Buffet that is happening tonight; though I really should have called it the "How-can-it-be-this-cold-in-August Card Buffet"...it is FREEZING here this week!  Anyhow...I digress.  Here is my project...

Birthday card featuring the Mixed Bunch stamp set with sentiment from Remembering Your Birthday.

I pulled out my long-neglected Mixed Bunch stamp set for this one.  I really love this set but haven't used it in ages!  I started by stamping the larger blossom in Blushing Bride in and the smaller one in So Saffron and then ran the card stock through the Big Shot with the Honeycomb TIEF. 

The punched blossom is also stamped in Blushing Bride and punched with the Blossom punch.  The centre is stamped in So Saffron and punched with the 7/8" Scallop Circle punch.  I added some baker's twine and a few pearls that I coloured with the lightest shade in the Old Olive Blendabilities set...it is soooo close to the shade of the Pear Pizzazz card base!  The sentiment, from the Remembering Your Birthday set, was inked with Pear Pizzazz and Blushing Bride markers and die cut using the Ovals Collection framelits.

On the inside I stamped the floral images again and added the corresponding sentiment, also from the Remembering Your Birthday set.  A quick and easy card, perfect for a buffet!
Be sure to stop by tomorrow to see if you've won my give-away and to check out my new contribution for this week's challenge at the Technique Twist...you'll get a sneak peek at some new Holiday Catalogue products!

Happy New Catty!!

WOOHOO!!  Today is the BIG day!  The brand-new, hot-off-the-presses 2014/15 Annual Catalogue goes live today!  I am SOOO excited about this awesome book filled with fantastic new products that I can't wait to get my inky little hands on!  To browse the new catalogue right now click the image below...but be warned:  anything else on your agenda for today might just have to wait!!  Enjoy...

Click the catalogue to view it online!

To celebrate this big day I have a project I created using the new Work of  stamp set: 

Birthday card featuring the new Work of Art stamp set

I think this may just become my favourite stamp set in the new catty.  It will be this year's Gorgeous Grunge (the one set I can NOT live without!) for me.  I love the simple, versatile images and the fact that there are sentiments included.  To create my watercolour flower I stamped one of the brushstroke images repeatedly in a circle with Crisp Cantaloupe ink, both full strength and then stamped off.  Then I repeated the process with Calypso Coral ink...I love the depth the use of two shades gives.  For the centre I used the same brushstroke and So Saffron ink and again stamped repeatedly, both full strength and stamped off.

The sentiment is stamped in Basic Black ink.  I added a bit of bling with some rhinestones and a Vintage Faceted button, held on with some Baker's Twine.

Inside view with sentiment from Remembering Your Birthday

On the inside I stamped two more brushstrokes using Crisp Cantaloupe and Calypso Coral again.  The sentiment is from the Remembering Your Birthday and is the exact same font as the sentiment from the Work of Art set...how cool is that??

So...do you have a copy of the new catalogue yet?  If not, drop me an email with your mailing address and I will send you a copy FREE...no strings attached!  

Pink with Sprinkles

Who wouldn't like something pink with sprinkles on their birthday??  Here is another card I designed for my Birthday Card Buffet coming up this weekend...

Birthday card featuring the Create a Cupcake and Remembering Your Birthday stamp sets

This is the perfect girlie birthday card, no?  Lots of pink and lots of bling...what more could a girl want?

I don't have time today to go into the details of how I put this one together, but it is fairly straightforward...I bet you can figure it out!  Here is a shot of what I did on the inside:

Inside view.

If you haven't yet registered for the Birthday Card Buffet, there is still time!  The Friday evening session is full, but there are still seats available in the Saturday morning class.  Check my website for details and to register. 
Today is Tuesday, so that means a new crop of Weekly Deals to share with you!

	Stampin' Write Marker New Color Kit Item # 130034 Regular Price: $37.95 Discounted Price: $28.46
	Extra Large Oval Punch Item #119859 Regular Price: $22.95 Discounted Price: $17.21
	Vintage Faceted Designer Buttons Item # 127555 Regular Price: $7.95 Discounted Price: $5.96
	Shaker Frames Item # 124155 Regular Price: $5.95 Discounted Price: $4.46
	Scallop Trim Border Punch Item # 118402 Regular Price: $20.95 Discounted Price: $15.71
	Epic Day This and That Designer Washi Tape Item # 131269 Regular Price: $6.50 Discounted Price: $4.88
	Blushing Bride Classic Stampin' Pad Item # 131172 Regular Price: $7.25  Discounted Price: $5.44
	Reasons I Heart You Swatchbook Template Item # 129013 Regular Price: $13.95  Discounted Price: $8.37

 Have a wonderful Tuesday!

New month, new sketch!

It's time for a new inspiration sketch.  I'll admit that last month I did a less-than-great-job of posting variations on the sketch...June is such a crazy  time for  us teachers!  But now I'm on holidays and there is absolutely no excuse for not staying on top of it.  So, here is the sketch for this month:

Inspiration sketch for July

...and here is my first sample:

Birthday card featuring the Sketched Birthday stamp set and Birthday Basics DSP.

Inside view with sentiments from Remembering Your Birthday.

I just love this Birithday Basics DSP!  It has such fun  patterns and trendy colours and is so much fun to work with.  I had a hard time choosing the patterns to use on this card...I love them all!  I was really glad to see some new birthday stamp sets in this year's catalogue.  Birthdays, by far, the occasion I get the most requests for at classes and workshops and  I was getting a little tired of the same old sets I had.  These new ones offer great images that are fun to colour and some new sentiments to boot.
Now in case you missed it, there is a great deal on DSP this month.  When you purchase three packages of Designer Series Paper from the new Annual Catalogue, you get to choose a fourth pack absolutely FREE!  If you're a DSP addict like me this sale will be right up your alley!  Call, click or email to place your order today!