Carousel Birthday Card Class

Saturday's class started out a little crazy but ended great.  We had a last minute change of venue which made things hectic but once the class got started it was great.

It was so nice to have my girls back together for an afternoon!!  We had a few of my Sweet & Sassy's missing but we also had two newbies who made the class so much fun!

Truth be told, I planned this class while in a flu-induced haze so two of the creations we made were not Christi originals.  The first card and the gift bag came straight from a Stampin' Up! monthly workshop but I am still in love with how they turned out and I think the class fell in love as well.

First the card:

Then the most adorable gift bag!! (The picture does NOT do it justice)

When I first saw the Occasions magazine I knew my first purchase would be the Lift Me Up bundle (I've already told you about my hot air balloon obsession) and I wanted another set that would compliment it.  Carousel Birthday is the perfect pairing set!  You can easily mix and match both sets and you'd never know they came from different sets!

I also fell in love with the Cupcakes & Carousels Embellishment Kit which is where the gorgeous tag on the gift bag came from.

I don't normally purchase the embellishment kits but I am so glad I did!  Out of all the images from each set I thought the cupcake ferris wheel would be my favorite but it's actually the circus tent from Carousel Birthday.  Isn't it adorable?!

Our final card was a Christi-original that was quickly put together a few nights before class.  At first I wasn't loving it but I have to admit it's growing on me.

The sketch is from this week's Hand Stamped Sentiments Sketch Challenge which I thought worked perfect with my hot air balloon and showcased the designer paper nicely.

Thank you to my Sweet & Sassy Stampers for another amazing class and I hope you've enjoyed my samples today.  Since this week is spring break for my kiddos I am hoping to have a little more stamping time so hopefully I will have more eye candy for you soon!

Product List

Carousel Birthday Clear-Mount Stamp Set [142832] $19.00	Lift Me Up Clear-Mount Bundle [144712] $45.75	Bermuda Bay 8-1/2" X 11" Card Stock [131197] $8.00	Calypso Coral 8-1/2" X 11" Card Stock [122925] $8.00	Very Vanilla 8-1/2" X 11" Card Stock [101650] $9.00
Cupcakes & Carousels Designer Series Paper Stack [142744] $10.00	Bermuda Bay Classic Stampin' Pad [131171] $6.50	Calypso Coral Classic Stampin' Pad [126983] $6.50	So Saffron Classic Stampin' Pad [126957] $6.50	Cupcakes & Carousels Embellishment Kit [142767] $12.00
Pearl Basic Jewels Embellishments [119247] $5.00	Petite Café Gift Bags [135826] $6.00	Stampin' Dimensionals [104430] $4.00

Links by TheseAreMyStamps.com

2

Love With All Your Heart

Happy Sunday! 

It is an insanely gorgeous day here in Texas!  After church and lunch we ran by the house, picked up the puppy, and had a nice family time at the park.  It was amazing to be out in the sunshine and fresh air after being home sick in bed for the past week.  

Last night I was itching to stamp, so I decided to participate in a few challenges.  I started out wanting to participate in this week's Color Throwdown Challenge but no matter what I tried I just couldn't make it work.  So I decided to just stick with this week's Mojo Monday sketch and go more simple on my color scheme.

Verve Stamps has another amazing digital freebie set!!!  It is available for download from now until February 14th called Love From Me and I LOVE it! ;) 

I still do not have a printer but my wonderful cousin let me use her printer so I could get my hands on these wonderful digi stamps!  I was so excited!  

I colored one of the hearts with my Blush Copic marker, cut it out, and popped it up on dimensionals to give it more depth. 

For the half circle I used a doily that Julee had included in my last Verve order (thank you sweetie!!) and the paper is from an old Stampin' Up! stack called Banbury (which after a quick Google search I realized is completely nonexistent).

I wanted a little more bling than just the gingham bow so I added some silver metallic thread just to add a hint of shimmer but I think I let it get away from me.  

I still love this card and think it will be a wonderful feature card at my next stamping class. :)

I am off for some more family time.  The boys want to play Life.  We played Monopoloy last night and I won big time so I think they're ready for payback. ;) 

Stamps: Love From Me Digital Set (Verve Stamps)

Paper: Basic Black, Whisper White, Banbury DSP (SU-Retired)

Ink: R20 Blush Copic Marker, Pink Pirouette (SU)

Accessories: Dimensionals, Lace Doily, Silver Metallic Thread (SU), Sponge Dauber, Wide Black/White Gingham Ribbon

1

Winter Coffee Lover's Blog Hop: Have A Little Joy in Your Cup

I had no idea that they had a coffee lover's blog!  Where have I been??  Well, they had me at coffee. ;)   AND they're having a super huge blog hop?  I'm down!

When I went to look for a coffee stamp set in my stash I realized I've given them all away since I never thought I would stamp again. *sniff*  Trust me, this WILL be remedied!

Have you SEEN all the amazing creations on the hop yet?  If you haven't check them OUT!

I also wanted to play along with this weeks Mojo Monday challenge and combine it with the coffee lover's blog hop.

I tried my best to draw/cut out a coffee cup and stamped it with the butterfly from Verve's Easter Joy set.  I used a Sakura Stardust glitter pen and put dots along the stamp to give it a little bling, added a red Swarovski jewel in the middle, and popped it up on dimensionals. I used a flourish from Filigree Fantasy to look like steam coming out of the cup, and the sentiment is from the Floral Whimsy set. 

The paper is from the Adventure 6x6 stack from My Mind's Eye that I distressed with my scissors.  I didn't realize until after I glued everything down that the vanilla panel was supposed to go over the espresso ribbon panel.  Oops!  I hope the challenge police don't disqualify me for that! ;) 

I only had a little of my cocoa gingham ribbon left so I had to improvise a bit but all in all I don't think it turned out half bad!  The Coffee Lover's Blog Hop theme is winter and that to me means rich, warm colors and nice, hot coffee; not just snowflakes and Christmas. 

There are so many amazing sponsors included in the Coffee Lover's Blog Hop including Verve Stamps!!  If you do not have a coffee stamp Verve has an amazing FREE digital stamp set.  I wanted to use it but my printer bit the dust a few weeks ago and we can't afford to replace it yet.  No worries though!  I saved it for later use. ;)

Enjoy the hop!

Stamps: Easter Joy, Filigree Fantasy, Floral Whimsy (Verve Stamps-all retired)
Paper: Early Espresso (Stampin' Up!), Adventure (My Minds Eye)
Ink: Early Espresso (Stampin' Up!), Rich Cocoa (Memento)
Accessories: Cocoa Gingham Ribbon, Dimensionals, Real Red Grossgrain Ribbon (Stampin' Up!), Red Swarovski Crystal, Sakura Stardust Glitter Pen

23

Stamping Saturday: Feeling Inspired

I cannot believe the holiday season is already upon us!  Truth be told, I am thankful that 2016 is almost over.  I had such high hopes for this year but despite a few shining moments the majority of the year has not been so great for me or my family.  Usually by this time I am sad to see the year end but this year I'm looking forward to it and cannot wait to see what 2017 has in store!

One of the things I am SO glad that has happened this year is me stamping again!!  I have my first Stampin' Up! class next Saturday and am busy getting everything all together.  It's going to be a small event with some of my girls from my old classes back in the day which should be a blast!  To break up the monotony of continuous cardstock cutting I thought I would participate in Verve's November Inspiration Challenge while it's still November!

2