Starting the Week Off Right

Good morning and happy Monday to everyone. I had one hectic weekend. My Friday started with a migraine and my two year old kicked into full terrible two mode. Her aunt and cousin came to stay with us Friday night as well. Little Miss A was horrible in gymnastics and got in trouble with her teacher a few times... I must admit it was funny watching her make the teacher chase her around the balance beam. As a stern mom I went out and had to use the threat "If you are not a good girl and listen to your teacher NO MORE GYMNASTICS". Needless to say she finished class, got her stamp on the hand, and passed out in the truck on the way home. There are only two things that can make me happy within seconds..... ICE CREAM (preferably Cold Stone) and shoes. I am a shoe-aholic! I think having kids is a great why to stop buying them cold turkey! Well I turned to Reebok Run Tones and Walk Tones.... even a more expensive choice than my average heel cost. I love shoes. I could wear heels anywhere...even to the grocery store. I am even planning on having our bathroom remodeled (maybe next year or the year after) to include  shelving for my shoes. Taking out our tiny tiny shower will be a very big improvement. 

When I saw this stamp for the January Stamp of the Month Program I had to have it. Is this not a beautiful shoe? I would I love heels that tie and I have never had embellishments on my heels but a nice fabric similar to like an Asian print style but roses in a shiny satin mmm black with bright red... I should start making shoes lol. My fiance would put his foot down with that. I have enough hobbies between cooking, baking, cross stitching, and now cards or paper crafts!

I really hope you enjoy this card. It was a quick simple make. The papers are just black and dark red cardstock. The design paper is My Mind's Eye - Union Square. I colored the Rose Shoe (F516) with copics   and once again used the stamp Je t'aime (A137). I used some pearls in all assorted sizes and some lace from Really Reasonable ribbon. 

Make sure to come back tomorrow to see a new creation Jenny made to share with everyone.

Stop by my blog for any extra details I may have left out

and last but not least

make a GREAT IMPRESSION!!!

Sunday's Fun-Day's!!

I thought since Sundays are open days for us right now I'd fill them in a little bit with whatever pops up!

I'm really excited to see we have 99 followers that's awesome!!! Thanks to those of you that are following us and joining us each day for a look at the DT's work.

Today I wanted to share with you the SOTM (Stamp of the Month) program. I know you have seen on the sidebar a photo of some projects made with the SOTM and wanted to explain it a bit.

(Lace Background)

These stamps when they first come out are ONLY available to local craft stores. So right now....this stamp^^ is only available in stores until February and then it becomes open stock. I think this is really a great program because I am all about supporting our local small businesses and this is a perfect way to do so. Along with the SOTM there are other stamps that are new as well, stamps that go along with the SOTM....as you can see on the project board

To see close ups of these cards you can go HERE
(there is a high heel that I MUST HAVE!!!)

Here are the other stamps that are new that coordinate nicely with the fabulous lace background....perfect for Valentines Day cards!

For a list of stores that might be near you go HERE AND....there are a handful of online stores that carry the SOTM as well...these are online websites for the local store for those of us that don't have a store close by...we can shop the web!

Puppy Love

Hello Everyone and Happy Saturday 

Today The Queen has a really adorable 

card created using one of 

Great Impression Stamp for her 

Design Team Post Day... 

Woof  #G269

Who could resist that face and floppy ears...

.

The Queen used brown card stock to

create the shape around the stamp.

Raised it up with mounting tape to make

it pop ... and tied a sweet tulle bow 

The stamped image was colored with 

copic markers and The Queen used

her Royal White Gel pen to highlight 

Fabulous Friday~Birthday Diva

 Oh my goodness...it's finally Friday!!! My son was off school for 3 weeks for winter break and this was his first week back. Let me tell you it was not easy getting up this week. I got way too spoiled with sleeping in and going to bed late over break.
Today I have for you Birthday Diva. She has a TON of gifts...I could not color all of them (maybe it's just laziness) so the one's that she is juggling I paper pieced with scrap DP!

Look at  these flowers. They are soooo sparkling!!! I took this picture at the perfect time of day today when the sun was shining right in the window upstairs so you can actually see that the glitter is glitter and sparkling!

Products Used:
Image~Great Impressions Birthday Diva F528
Prima Flowers
Ice Stickles
CS~SU!
Sentiment~SU!
Copics
Spica Pens
Heart Clip from Recollections
SU! Ribbon
KaiserCraft Rhinestones
Glue Dots
SU! Dimensionals

A Thousand Winds of Memories

Hello, hello!

I'm typing up my Thursday post and my card is sitting here beside me drying. I had the original card designed and made a couple of weeks ago. When I had picked up my December Stamp of the Month (SOTM) stamps from my favorite local stamping and paper crafting store (Hello, Simple Pleasures in Colorado!), I was fully intent on making birthday cards...and I did!

Then two nights ago I was looking at my card, thinking about Valentine's Day and had an idea...yeah, well, you know the saying about 'best laid plans' and all?

To make a long story short (you can read the longer version and more on the making of this card on my blog)...this picture is NOT my first attempt at getting the idea in my head wrapped around this project...

Also available as Stickables.

...but I am persistent.

Fluffy clouds, shiny balloons and recent Life events inspired this card. I'm glad I decided to  'go with it' and reimagine my original idea.

This is definitely a better IRL (In Real Life) kinda card!

Have you recycled an old idea into a new or improved one? Tell us about it!

I'm sure it was great...

Inky hugs,

Angi

Stamps:  Great Impressions Stamps Water Swirl Border (H200), Patterned Balloons (F514), Always Cherish Memories (E745)

Inks:  Memento Tuxedo Black; Tim Holtz Distress Ink Vintage Photo, Versamark Watermark; Tim Holtz Distress Stain Picket Fence

Patterned Paper:  Scraps from my Stash

Tools: Sizzix eclipse and eCAL; heat gun; needle; Tim Holtz Blending Tool; heart punch

Embellishments: brown twine, Flowersoft Polar White

Other: foam tape, tacky glue, Diamond Glaze

Thank you

Here's a quick and easy thank you card I made with left over scraps from Christmas cards.

Supplies used:

Great Impressions stamp:
#G214 Wildflowers
Cardstock:
Smooth Ivory, Bazzill True Red, Ivy, Buttercup
Spellbinders Nestabilities:
Classic Scalloped Rectangles Lg - 3 5/16"
Classic Rectangles Lg - 3 1/16"
Labels Trio - Smallest die
Marvy LeplumeII Markers:
#13 Ochre
#15 Olive Green
#46 Crimson Lake
#85 Mocha
Lace, ribbon, glue dots, adhesive
Cardstock Measurements:
Red 4 1/4 X 5 1/2" card base
Buttercup 2 1/4" X 4 1/4"
Ivy 5/8" X 5 1/2"
Ivory (used 3 1/16" die)
Ivy scallop (used 3 5/16" die)

Breakfast Anyone?

Did you know that breakfast food is all the rage in stamping land right now?  Really??  

I just didn't get it until I saw this little number from Great Impressions.  Found it at my local craft store and just had to have it!  I have the wood version, but you can also get it in the new Stickables.

Such a retro feel to it don't ya think?  

Perfect fit for October Afternoon's Modern Homemaker DSP.

To start, I stamped the toaster on some textured metallic card stock in Memento Black.  I Let the ink set awhile as it will want to smear on metallic papers (learned that the hard way!)  While this was drying,  I stamped the image again on heavy weight ivory card stock with Memento Rich Cocoa, colored the toast and drew grill marks.  Do this before you 

fussy cut out the toasts so you have a larger area to hold on to.

When the ink was set, I fussy cut the toaster.  I used some tiny silver brads for the knobs and glued on the googly eyes.   Again, because of the smear factor, I hand drew the smile on my ivory cardstock, colored it, then cut and glued it on the toaster. 

I choose a couple of red brads to highlight my sweet sentiment.  Then popped up 

both the toaster and sentiment for lotsa yummy dimension.   

You will find I rarely make a flat card (lol!)

Supplies
Click on a thumbnail to shop

InLinkz.com

Thanks for letting me share a little bit of creativity!
Have a wonderful day stampers!

Hugs,

Jenny

Bookmark Us!

Good morning everyone. I hope everyone's having a great start for the new year. The first week is already over. Seeing all the post this last week was so much fun. I really hope you enjoyed seeing different creations daily. I am so excited to be working with a bunch of talented creators. I tell you this week we have some good stuff coming up so come back each day and check out some of our creations.

I decided to do something different this week and make a bookmark. I really need a bookmark for my notebook that keeps me organized with all my design teams and commissions. So I did something very clean and simple (CAS). 

I used an Ink Essentials Manilla tag and covered it with crumbled up tissue paper for texture. Once that dried a little I went ahead and used a Tim Holtz stamp and embossed it with Sparkle n Sprinkle's clear embossing powder. I then used distress inks tumbled glass and worn lipstick to get the colors I got. I really loved the Romantic Postage (F425) so I used this stamp with Sparkle n Sprinkle's gold detail powder (My favorite powder so far). I then stamped Je t'aime (A137) all over with Memento's tuxedo black ink and finished it off with some jute string at the top. It was so quick and easy to make. I think you might spend more time waiting for it to dry if you are an air dryer (I used my heat gun). I really love this stamp so you may see it on a few upcoming projects!

This was a real easy bookmark to make. we would love to see your creations using some Great Impression Stamps. The store will hopefully be opening up February 1st. They are working hard to get it all put together.  Also, the January stamp of the month program should be coming put to stores shortly! 

Make sure to come back tomorrow. Jenny has something yummy planned for you tomorrow.

Stop by my blog for any extra details I may have left out

and last but not least

make a GREAT IMPRESSION!!!

Formal DT Introduction!

What did you all think of our very first week of posts? These girls are really amazing and I'm so thankful they have joined Great Impressions to help me get this wonderful company known all over the web!

Unfortunately the web site is not up and running yet....Great Impressions is now shooting for Feb. 1 but until then...there are a few online stores and local craft stores that carry Great Impressions stamps so you can still get your hands on them!!!

Click on this link FIND A STORE and see if their are any retailer's in your area or an online store you like to shop at!

I wanted to formally introduce our Design team to you, so now not only will you know their name and blog's but you also get to see their beautiful faces and learn a bit more about them!

DELORIS

Deloris is showing off her beautiful puppy :-)

My hubby and I are retired and live in a small town in Ohio.   The puppy in my photo is a very spoiled miniature poodle that we rescued from a animal shelter last Christmas.  He is my crafting buddy.  He loves sit on my lap and watch what I am working on.  I enjoy all types of crafts like painting, sewing and crochet, but my favorite is creating projects with rubber stamps.

JENNY

Hi! My name is Jenny and I call a little town in Southeastern Wisconsin home. My life is blessed with 4 wonderfully busy children and a DH that is still in shock mode when it comes to my little stamping addiction. Did I say stamping addiction?....I meant paper....bling...alterables...I love it all! I'm known for hoarding my supplies too. (grin) When my crazy schedule allows, and I'm not in my crafty room, you can find me on a tennis court or working out. I'm super excited to be designing for Great Impressions Stamps! If my creativity inspires you in some way, than I am one happy gal!

THERESA

Hello my name is Theresa and I have been crafting for as long as I can remember. I had
the opportunity to manage a popular craft store for over 6 years and enjoyed inspiring
Other’s to create. I starting my blog The Scrapbooking Queen as an additional outlet for
my crafting and it interact with other like mind crafters. My blog has now grown to over
2500 followers and it has been a joy to share my love of crafting with others via the
internet. I have extensive experience in marketing and feel it is one my greatest
strengths. Currently my husband and I co-own a Notary service. I am the mother of two wonderful adult girls and a sweet grandson Jason , a have 4 fur~babies, Princess Penelope, Ringo, Chip and Annabella who you see also inspire some creative of the own

ANGI

Colorado-based crafter Angi Crandall has been making stuff most of her life. Fueled by her endless curiosity and embracing “it takes a village…” she has been learning from and being inspired by the artists around her and has journeyed into photography (can you say Mamarazzi?!), hybrid scrapbooking, stamping, painting, fiber arts and most recently mixed media art.

Being on the move as a mother of four and a military spouse has challenged her to ‘adapt and overcome’ and has encouraged her love of upcyling and recycling as evidenced by the found and vintage items in all areas of her art, including paper crafting.

Believing that the creative process should be “fun, empowering, renewing…whatever it is that we need in our lives to help us continue our journey and to leave a legacy of who we are with those we love…”she shares her passion to create through stamping and altered art workshops designed to encourage women to discover their own fabulous creative selves using an assortment of mediums, foundations and techniques.

With her fun lovin’ smile and her sunshine attitude Angi invites you to join her:“Life’s messy, so jump in and make a little creative mayhem – we’ll clean up later!”

SHANNA

Hi everyone my name is Shanna Shands. I am a SAHM to one crazy little girl and one little fur baby. I started out with cross stitching then worked my way to scrap-booking and then I found ... card making! I am addicted to copics. I have almost every single one. I really love to color. If I had to describe my style... I would say I am a work in progress. I have yet to define it as I see so many ideas out there but I will eventually settle down into my own I guess when I find it. I live by the philosophy of practice, practice, practice... and I can never stop learning and applying what I learn to daily things!

APRIL

(I hate doing this stuff)

Whelp....I'm April Lower and I have been stamping for over 10 years now. I got started by going to an SU! party (thinking at age 22...what  on earth do I want to "stamp" for), I came home with a catalog and the rest is history. I have come a long way since that first party and have branched out A LOT! Three years ago I got my first NON SU! stamp (Stamping Bella) and I realized there is this whole other world of stamping....I started a blog, got more and more stamps from different companies, even started getting digi's and then began trying out for DT teams!  And here I am today! I have two children a boy and a girl and they are the light of my life. I am currently a SAHM and devote my non family duties to crafting! I have been married to my husband for 15 years and we just separated from the Air Force this past year and are currently settled in North Carolina. Being that we have moved all around the past 15 years I'm not sure how long we will be in North Carolina but it's a good start to our new civilian life!

Teddy Wishes Kinda Day

Happy Saturday everyone and 

welcome to The Queen's 1st official post

for Great Impressions Stamp Company as one

of their new Design Team Members...

The Queen's is so excited to showcase this

adorable Old Fashion Teddy Stamp isn't just so cuddle.

The Queen used My Minds Eye Paper Stack

you can get MME Stacks from The Hen's Den

The Queen used her Spellbinder to 

create the perfect setting for the 

sentiment and inked it with 

Tim Holtz Distress Ink

Sentiment is Take it Easy #E671

The cute Old Fashion Teddy is #G66 and he

was colored using copic markers... 

Ribbon is a perfect touch with it's sweet bow...

Now make sure you check out the 

New Great Impression On-Line store and

wonderful blog... 

Fabulous Friday~When it Rains

Have you all enjoyed your week full of wonderful creations from the DT? We still have one more to go on Saturday so make sure you stop back by for Theresa's post and then Sunday I will have a post up to formally introduce the Design team to all of you!

I guess we have all been on the same path this week with our nice bright fun colored cards...it just seems that once you get through Christmas you don't want to look at another Christmas card or winter card let alone make them!

I decided for my very first post to use "When it Rains". It's such an adorable stamp with those cute rain boots and it kinda' fits me since I love cute shoes in general a great card to put a smile on a friends face.

I have been dying to make my first post because I wanted to tell you about the Great Impressions rubber. It's amazing!!! It is so deeply etched that you get the best stamped image every time. I promise you if you have never bought from Great Impressions before you will not be let down by the quality of these stamps.

I have used the following items on my card:

Great Impressions Image~When it Rains (F448)

Cardstock~SU!

Designer Paper~Prima Marketing

Rhinestones (I kinda lost the packaging)

Copic markers

SU! ribbon

Martha Stewart border punch