Sassy & Sweet Notes

Fish Print and be HAPPY!

Two weekends ago we took a day trip down south of here to Salado, Texas. One of the shops we stopped in is a stamp shop called Stamp Salado.

I was OVERLY excited to see a poster in the shop featuring realistic nature prints (including fish!) by stamp artist Fred Mullett. The shop is hosting a few workshops with Fred in late August, but unfortunately didn't have any of this stamps in stock the day we were there. I had to have one of his fish stamps. At least one! Maybe MORE! So, when I got home I looked Fred up online and placed an order from his website right away!

I have wanted some fish prints like this for so LONG, but just hadn't found anything that caught my eye. Fred's images REALLY caught my eye! My order arrived earlier this week. The design above was my first attempt stamping with one of Fred's stamps. What FUN!

This design was created using a watercolor wash stamping technique, along with blending and spritzing, followed by detail popping over-stamping.

Color me HAPPY!

i don't do mornings.

In fact, I'm full-on grouchy in the morning. I have always been this way. Some people are morning people. They wake up easily, bright and cheerful. Not me. Ugh.

To make things worse, I like really nice quality sheets and I'm convinced nice sheets make NOT being a morning person worse. Good sheets are a good thing. Having to get out of good sheets in the morning ... well, that's not such a good thing.

Memory Box recently released 18 new penguin images, and being the crazy penguin lovin' morning grouch that I am, I had to have Curler Penguin and the supporting sentiment "i don't do mornings". It's so ME! I think this penguin looks a bit too cheerful to be me, though.... I'm grouchier than she is for sure!

Are you a morning grouch?

Is there a cure for the morning grouchies?

Itty Bitty Vintage Postcard...Card.

I was in the mood for more Crafty Secrets vintage tonight, so I pulled out the Journaling, Mini Memories, and Journey Crafty Secrets stamp sets and created this little faux postcard themed card. I used some of my Ranger distress ink pads to age the papers. Seems I always reach for the same ink colors when I create cards in this style. Walnut Stain, Vintage Photo, Caramel and Black. Maybe I should try using blues, or greens, or even pinks for a change...

The patterned paper for the base of the card is from one of the Crafty Secrets paper tablets. I added some faux stitches around the edges for a bit more detail. The base of the card was cut out using an AccuCut die. While I would LOVE to have more of these cards to use, I only have a few more. A big thanks to Sandy from Crafty Secrets for sharing them with me when I was at CHA earlier this year! I must find a way to make MORE!

I'm so glad it's the weekend! Mom and Dad are still visiting, and since it's going to be nearly 100 degrees this weekend, I think we'll try and find things to do that allow us to stay out of the heat of the day. Maybe Mom and I will do some crafting... maybe we'll do some swimming... maybe we'll make some homemade ice cream! Regardless of what we do, I'm pretty sure we'll have some fun!

Hope you have a cool, fun weekend as well!

Inspired by Inchies

One of the blogs I've been reading for a couple of months is the Hero Arts Club Blog. There have been a few cards shared there this week that really caught my eye. Big thanks to Shari Carroll for the inspiration provided for this card!

I hadn't jumped in on the "inchie" craze yet, but now that I've finished my first project using them, I might have to do a few more projects using these little 1" canvases! They're fun! I started out with six white 1" squares and temporarily adhered them edge-to-edge to a piece of scrap paper while I worked on them.

 I stamped various Crafty Secrets images using various inks, used Twinkling H2O's for a bit of gold on the cherub, inked the edges, spritzed them with water for some "age spots", added a sparkly crystal, inked the edges again, and then mounted them on cream and black mats to set them apart from each other. The base of the card is a subtle polka dot paper by Bo Bunny. The slight texture to the paper made stamping and inking the edges great fun! I bought the same paper in a variety of colors and can't WAIT to use more of these cute little dotted papers in my projects! You can expect to see a LOT more dots in future projects!

Shhh... a sneakie peekie!

Normally, I don't have a hard time keeping secrets - I keep my lips SEALED. But when it comes to soon-to-be-released Whipper Snapper stamps, I can BARELY contain myself! Sometimes, I'm just not able to contain myself at all! That's the case for this card!

Last night I was fiddling around with some of my yet-to-be-released Whipper Snapper images, and am just thrilled with the results of my painted poppy! To finish the card, I used the "thinking of you" sentiment and bird image from the set called Sweet Expressions, which was released mid June. The swirl is from Good Times, also released mid June. But the poppy?! Well, you'll just have to wait and see what we've got in store for July!

Ooooh, I can't WAIT!

Only Young Once...

I picked up a new Inkadinkado stamp set this week and thought I'd put it to use tonight. Seems I was in a very clean and simple mood when I created this card. I stamped the image in black StazOn ink and colored the image with Copic markers. I added a bit of Spica glitter pen to the lady's hair. I figure if I've got "sparkly" hair, she should have "sparkly" hair too!

I used a note card from Memory Box for the base of my card. The color is Key Lime, and it's one of my favorites!

Happy Wednesday!

Whip, Stir, Fold...

I am crazy tired right now, but wanted to share this little cutie I put the finishing touches on this evening. This adorable little piggy chef image is by High Hopes Stamps. The image is stamped in black StazOn ink and painted with a water brush and Stampin' Up reinkers. I added a bit of Dazzling Diamonds glitter to the hat and to the cookies for lots and LOTS of sparkle!!

I was flipping through some of my old card galleries last night and noticed how little my "style" of stamping has changed over the years. I've always been a fan of clean and simple layouts that feature a larger, main image. I've used designer paper for as long as I've been stamping (it was an easy way to add detail and interest to my cards before I had a lot of stamps to use). And as for ribbon and sparkles .... they'll always be a staple supply on my craft table.

Has your stampin' or craftin' style changed much?

Fresh and Fruity!

Here's a little fruity drink design to get you through a weekend! I stamped the images, which are from my recently released Whipper Snapper set called Good Times, in black StazOn ink. Then I painted the images with a water brush and Stampin' Up ink refills. I liked the black designer paper with this image - it makes me think of colored confetti!

I added a line of sparkly Diamond Dust glitter to the rim of the glass, for a bit of "sugar". This looks like a nice, refreshing treat for a hot, Texas weekend on the farm.

Happy FRIDAY!!

You're My Favorite

This evening I had time to put the finishing touches on another card using my newly released unmounted Whipper Snapper set called Sweet Expressions. I chose to use the little standing bird image, and created a little crowd of birdies. The images are stamped in black StazOn ink, and colored with a water brush and Stampin' Up Ink refills.

I found some cute plaid paper in my paper stash, made a quick little sentiment banner, added some foam dimensionals to main image layer, and stuck it all together. Oh, and I added some faux stitches around the edges. Easy Peasy!

Happy Wednesday!! We're one day closer to the weekend!

Introducing Sweet Expressions & Good Times!

Today is an exciting day for me and Whipper Snapper! Today, two new unmounted stamp sets release for the month of June. Yahoo! I created this little 4x4 note card using two images from the Sweet Expressions set. I stamped the cupcake and sentiment in black StazOn ink, and colored the image with Copic markers. I added a little sparkle to the image with a Spica glitter pen. Oooh, ah!

I am so excited about Sweet Expressions! I was able to pull some of my favorite sentiments into the set using small, whimsical fonts. I added some doodled images at the bottom of the set, just for fun.

The second set releasing today is called Good Times. It was designed with summer parties and FUN in mind. Assorted fruity drinks and little summer images help splash some cheery, hot fun into your projects!

Be sure to check out the creations from the Featured Designers! The best part of any release for me is seeing what the Featured Designers create. I love their creative energy!! Here are their names for you one more time:

Karrie Baker
Blog: http://www.stampgirl.typepad.com
SCS Gallery: http://www.splitcoaststampers.com/go/karrie_baker

Kittie Caracciolo
Blog: http://kittiekraft.typepad.com
SCS Gallery: http://www.splitcoaststampers.com/go/kittie747

Laurie Schmidlin
Blog: http://justgivemestamps.typepad.com
SCS Gallery: http://www.splitcoaststampers.com/go/lauraly

Michelle Wooderson
Blog: http://michellewooderson.blogspot.com
SCS Gallery: http://www.splitcoaststampers.com/go/michelle_wooderson

Vivian Peters
Blog: http://vivlyndesigns.typepad.com
SCS Gallery: http://www.splitcoaststampers.com/go/vivlyn