Sites of the week

**FIRST…THANK YOU to all of you that commented on my post yesterday. I will have more commentary about all your suggestions later, but I just wanted to say THANKS. You all are AWESOME**

HOORAY!!…
I got to do the sketch challenge today and my stamp room is all put back together…not necessarily in that order, tho. First, here’s a pic of my card that I did for the SCS Sketch Challenge for today…

I had to change up the dimensions a little bit, because I was using an 8×8″ piece of patterned paper {DCWV Nana’s Nursery}. So, the long side measures 8″ instead of 9″. The stamp is from Hero Arts. I passed up purchasing it several times, but last time I saw it I knew it was meant to be. Don’t you love when that happens!?! It’s almost as good as when the stamps just leap off the shelf into your cart. The ribbon and ink are SU!’s Regal Rose and are a perfect match to the flowers on the DP. Again, love when that happens! As I sit and stare at this card, I think that I want to add some crazy stitching around the white on the inside. I’ll have to ponder that some more and maybe give it a go. I’ll be sure to re-post if I do.

Now, here is what I have been doing for the past couple of days. THANK YOU Susan for coming over to help me get through the “Oh my goodness, what have I started?” stage!!

Looking into the room…

From the top…stuff, stamps, paper, clear/unmounted stamps in cd cases, embellishments…

Pretty good shot of the stash of paper and ribbon I have. The stuff on top of the shelf going across is PTI stuff, ribbon scraps, magazines, more ribbon and a 3 drawer organizer with envies, bags and such in it…

Different View, a little more to the right…

The desktop…

From the top… stuff, random tools {light table, heat gun, glue gun, etc.}, Cricut and Cricut stuff, Cuttlebug and Bind-it-All and their stuff, Janome Sew Mini and sewing stuff.

Have I mentioned RIBBON!?!…

I have tons of alterables hidden away in cabinets and drawers, too. That is why I started ABC Friday…LOL!…to make myself work with all those fun goodies. Well, I hope you have enjoyed a peek into my stamping world. I am going to work on challenges tonight and hopefully have 2 cards for you tomorrow.

So…I had all these grand plans to do this and that and guess what?? I did the other thing. The other thing being cleaning out my stamp room. I’m still knee deep in paper, flowers and alterables, so I have nothing to share. HOWEVER, I am hoping that you will share with me. I have a couple of questions that I hope that you will so very kindly take a moment to answer.

1. Do you like the weekly stuff I have going? {TCP Tues, ABC Friday and SFYTT on Saturday}
2. What do you want to see more of {although I make no promises here, I am listening}
3. I usually mention my products in the body of my post. Do you like having a recipe, too? Or, does it not matter.
4. Anything else I should know?

Today brings another card from the newest Verve Visual release. This is from the Father Figure set. As you may know, making a masculine card can prove to be quite difficult at times. I scoured through my DP for something that might work and I felt that it was just too girly, so I stuck to the basics. I did manage to great my own DP by repeatedly stamping the sentiment, “Happy Father’s Day,” on the long skinny panel. I LOVE working with clear stamps when I do this because it means easy peasy lining up! When I make a masculine card, I usually end up distressing part of it and this card was no exception. I took my paper distresser along the edges of the main panel and the larger Chocolate Chip panel. Other details on this card are the three brads in a pewter color. I knew I wanted to use some sort of hardware, but the plain silver brads seemed a little “bright.” Fortunately I had these on hand and I think that they are a perfect match to the feeling that I was trying to achieve. I also used my Cutter Bee Piercing Bug {<--click to see more about these cool tools}. I did not apply enough pressure to pierce through the paper using the CB piercing bug, so I was able to get a "dotted" effect along the edges. I also used my regular paper piercer and template to create straight lines of piercing. Finally, the last finishing touch that I put on this card was to lift up the word "Dad" on dimensional glue dots. I like using my glue dots better then my SU! Dimensionals most of the time because I think that they are more sturdy and they are thicker.

Detail shot of the main panel…

I have a lot going on this week. This coming weekend is the Arlington Shoebox Swap. Lots of people, including MFT Kim and TCP Alma, are flying in for this event. I have a ton of cards, and a door prize to make for this event. I also got some fresh rubber and clear stamps in the mail this weekend that are just hollerin’ for some ink. AND…my class went so well on Friday that I will be doing another class with Copics and an alterable class, both of which need samples to show the store owner. In case it sounds like I am complaining…I am SO not. I am thrilled with all that is going on. Busy, but thrilled. I am trying to make it a personal mission to complete some blog and SCS challenges this week, so if there isn’t a post first thing in the morning it’s because I’m stampin’ and I’ll post later. I hope everyone has a great week!!!

PSSSST…Verve is having a sale on all their star stamps AND there is FREE shipping over $40

The class I taught last night went GREAT! I even got to do a little shopping afterward…YAY! Amazingly, no stamps made their way home with me; however, I did get a very cool 6×6 paper pack. It is Karen Neuburger Serenity line from Paper Salon. Pink, pink and more pink…love it!! What does pink, pink and more pink call for?…a baby card, of course!! Since I didn’t have my sample made up yet {shhh, don’t tell anyone} I came home and used the paper immediately. Yes, folks, you read correctly. I did not hoard it; I actually used it right then and there. {{GASP!!}} So, let me cut the yipyap and show you what the sketch is and the samples…

This week’s sketch…

My sample using that fun new paper and the giraffe from the SU! Wild About You set…

This is Guest Designer, Sarah Green’s, sample… P.S. Sarah, THANK YOU for that pic of McDreamy you have on your blog!! YUM-O!!

Detail shot…

Thank you Sarah for being an AWESOME Guest Designer and playing with all of us this month!!

As always, check out more great samples from Amy, Carole, Shannan {although she like to “alter” hers a little…LOL } and Susan.

Please link your projects to this post, and if you upload to SCS, please use the keyword SFYTT. Have a SUPER weekend!!

TGIF All! I hope everyone has a great weekend planned. Tonight I am teaching a class at my LSS. This is the first class that I am teaching there and I am super excited. We are going to be working with Copics and MFT Stamps. It should be a blast!
For today’s ABC Friday projects, I am showing off a project that I did using Clear Scraps coasters. You can see their site HERE. Alma {TCP’s owner} sent these to us {DT members} to play with. They are so much FUN {Thanks, Alma!!}! We first saw them at CHA and everyone oooooh’d and aaaaaaw’d at how cool they were. They are definitely in the top 3 neatest things that I saw there. I could swear I put them in a blog post since I had about 800 {maybe exaggerating there} pics of them, but I am now thinking I did not do a post with them because so many others did. Hmmm??
Anywhooooooooo….
Here is the project that I made using the trio of Clear Scraps coasters. Each of the coasters is 4×4. After I backed them with DP {Cosmo Cricket Little Girls Biography Collection} and did all my other altering, I attached them together using green satin ribbon. The top pic is the trio all together hanging on my door and the others are the detail shots.

This pic of Ellie was taken in my parents backyard in Phoenix last November…

Heidi Swapp bling bling and Prima flowers for this square…

My little Ellie talking to “Auntie” on her play phone. She always says that she is talking to Auntie when she is on the phone. {{Hi Auntie!!}}