Sushi

Okay.... I don't know about you, but I have conversations with myself all the time about "NEEDING" stamp sets. You all know how I am when I go to eP, or when I get my order and my friend Mounds has sent me some images.....I think I need them. I saw this cute Sushi set when it came out and I've been trying to talk myself out of NEEDING it ever since. Well, piffel (my grandma's word), I caved. I ADMIT IT.... I caved. Did the whole deal... got them all. I ADMIT it....and I'm not sorry. I really did need it.... I did. I LOVE these sets! Look at the fish? Who can resist that fishy face! Not me....... I'm truly beyond help.

It's an eP exclusive... you can see it here: Be warned...... be prepared to talk yourself out of it. Good luck with that... snort! Wait till you see my washer...... all I want to do is color fish. I added a bit of glitter with my Sakura Glitter Pen, some shine and dimension with Glossy Accents, and some embossed card stock with my Cuttlebug and I've got a cute card to surprise my husband with. Because he is indeed, a GREAT catch. *wink*

Here is the recipe:

Stamps: The Sushi eP Exclusive
Paper: Whisper White, Real Red, Intense Orange(Prism), Cool Caribbean.
Ink: Memento Tuxedo Black, Copic Markers
Other: Glossy Accents, Sakura Glitter Pen, Dimensionals, Stripped Ribbon, Cuttlebug, Nesties, Embossing Folder, Bold Bright Brads, Crafter's Tool Kit, Scor-Pal.

Hope you had a terrific day...... mine was just fishy baby! Thanks for stopping by!

Life is in Bloom

Remember this card? It's a stamp made by Printworks (thanks girls). Here is another flower that I cut out and around from the one image. I LOVE these flowers. :)

My Aunt shared some of her Nesties with me, and I can't stop playing with them. They are SO cool... I need them.... NEED them. The little pearls are from Ellen Hutson's store... you just peel and stick... gotta love that. The ribbon is Cindy Ribbon, and the dots are made with my Cuttlebug and the Swiss Dots embossing folder. I also used some Cotton Candy Stickles to add some glittah in the center.

Of course my flower is colored with Copic Markers... but shoot, I forgot which colors I used. I'll try and be better about that.

We spent the day at the lake. The weather man called for rain, but it was a gorgeous day. SO much work to get the cabin all ready for friends & family and summer fun, but it's totally worth it. Going back tomorrow... I'm hoping for another sunny day. Hope you have a terrific holiday weekend. Stay safe my friends,

Happy Birthday Cat

Ha... look at this fat cat! Isn't he cute? He's new from Penny Black in a set called Bubbly. And, look, I did yellow again... I think yellow and I will become friends after all. :)

The designer paper is old stuff from Stampin'Up! I'm not sure of the name of it either... sorry. I just liked the shades of purple. The yellow paper is the lovely Prism textured card stock. The dark purple is Elegant Eggplant from Stampin'Up! Sentiments are from Lizzie Anne Designs called Sketched Sentiments. Dang, that cat just makes me smile. He's colored with my awesome Copic markers and popped up on dimensionals, on Nesties.

I am wishing you all a Happy Monday. Thanks for stopping by!

My First "Certified" Creation

Oh... the pressure! YOU GUYS! You are all so sweet. I'm totally going to share what I learned, but remember I'm still playing with these and trying to apply what I've learned. I've been using them SO wrong. Well, not wrong, but totally NOT to their potential. First jaw dropping moment for me was when Marianne took a marker and literally smashed it on the paper. I gasped... out loud. I've been treating them SO gently like the tips were delicate or fragile. My Stampin'Up! markers are so frayed and I've always been gentle with them.... it's a bit disappointing, because I love SU! So, I invested in a small handful of these markers. I've been oh so careful with them, and then Marianne grabs one and says, "look what you can do"...... she was showing us a technique, but all I could do was gasp about her pounding on the end of that marker. Like seriously, my stomach was upset. She made me "smoosh" one before she would certify me.... it was REALLY hard to do. LOL. I'm practicing my smooshing Marianne! (I know that will make her proud... and I want to make her proud). So, first tid bit, don't be afraid to push and smoosh. The tips are QUALITY and will not fray. But, do not pull out the brush side to refill your markers... do the other side. Only pull out the brush tip when you are replacing them....which you do NOT have to do often... even if you smoosh.

Second thing... I was not saturating enough. Start with your light color and go one or two colors up (they are numbered), then you blend the two together with the lighter color. So, do your light, then your darker shades, then go back and blend with your light. You can blend and blend and blend. You keep saturating until they blend. You want to turn your card stock over and see it all bled through to the back... if you don't see that, you are not blending enough. See this image? I totally colored on it ALL DAY. I had polka dots on the flower... I started with it all pink... I kept changing my mind and adding and blending. THERE IS NO PILING.... after ALL DAY of adding colors and blending. Picking up my jaw again.

Next jaw dropping thing for me. The blender pens. TOTALLY opposite of what we do with Stampin'Up! blender pens. Instead of blending, you are taking the color away... or more like pushing it. If you make a mistake and go outside the lines..... use the other end... I think it was called the chisel end (you can use either, but I like the chisel end for this) and "push" it back in. Let it dry and keep doing that process until the ink is pushed back into the line! How cool is that? *Close my mouth... jaw is hanging open again. That blender pen refill... or "The Magic Juice" as Mounds, Leann and I call it, is amazing. YOU NEED IT. Buy it by the gallon.... kidding... I don't think they sell it by the gallon. Maybe I should check? We learned SO many cool things with it. But, for now, I'm going to let this information soak in... get it? Soak in..... SNORT. Seriously... get out your markers, start with the light color, add your shades and blend again with the light. If that is darker than you want, get out your blender pen and take some color out.

For those of you that don't have any Copics (I'm really sorry... I wish I could give you all some).... I highly recommend getting them in groups of shades just a few numbers apart. I started with the eP eSsentials because the shades are very close to the Stampin'Up In Colors, but I've found that I reach for them a lot and will continue to build on those colors. I've since added a few pink shades (go figure) and some blue. Needless to say, I've placed another order and I am counting down the days until they arrive.

Okay.... I'm going to continue sharing everyday some tips and bits I've learned, otherwise, this post could be pages long. For those of you who are debating about these markers... they are a lifetime investment. If you are going to use markers, they will totally pay off and be HALF of what you will spend on others in the long run. Hey... I'm not working for Copic, but I swear I would if they'd stock me up with markers baby. I need a bumper sticker.... "will work for Copics", or "Where is Marianne?". I could totally be her stalker.

Okay... the stuff I used:

Stamps: Lazy Days (Penny Black), Tiny Talk (Stampin'Up!)
Paper: Intense Orange Prism, Neenah White, Chocolate Chip, Imaginisce, A Shore Thing.
Ink: Brilliance Graphite Black, Copics
Other: Round Punches 3/4 inch + 1 inch, Ticket Corner Punch, Spica Glitter Pen, Dimensionals, Gingham Ribbon, Robin's Nest Island Blossom Dew Drops, Scor-pal.

Busy day... I'm going to post again tomorrow, but I'm afraid it will probably be later in the day. Thanks everyone.... I love reading all your comments and recipes. Practice same color blending... that is your assignment. :)

Happy Indeed!

I love this image. Is it Penny Black? My friend Mounds (of Joy) sent it to me and I couldn't wait to color it! Yes... Penny Black, you can see them here. Oh my ... I want some! Look at the hedgie in the boot!

I'm so excited! Joy and Leann are coming to Eugene to take the Copic Certification Class with me!! I get to hang with them ALL WEEKEND!!! Oh, the things we get to color! And I'm telling yah, Leann can COLOR! Remember when I was in Portland? She was magical with Sharon's Copics. It's not too late to join us getting all certifiable with Copics!!

Here is the recipe:

Stamps: Teed up (Penny Black)
Paper: Summer Picnic Designer Paper, Whisper White, Bashful Blue, Chocolate Chip.
Ink: Brilliance Graphite Black, Copic Markers
Other: Dimensionals, Swiss Dots Embossing Folder, Cuttlebug, Gingham Ribbon (SU), Rub-Ons (SU), Uni-ball White Gel Pen, Crafter's Tool Kit, Ticket Punch (SU), Janome Sew Mini, Scor-Pal.
Size: 4 1/4 x 5.5

Hope you all had a great weekend! Thanks for stopping by!

Patty Treat Basket

Are you sick of seeing my patty treat basket? I made this one for Beate. Not to give to Beate... although I would if she didn't live so far from me and she didn't hate peppermint patties, but for a tutorial on SCS. If you are signed up for the newsletter, you saw it yesterday. Thanks for all the sweet comments! :)

I wrote a tutorial for this little basket last year and I demo'd it for Stampin'Up! Regionals in Portland last October.... boy was THAT scary. I did it though.... I got up in front of ALL those people.... with a little help from my friends baby. :) I stood on stage with Shelli AND, I got a handmade card from her....... I'm saving it FOREVAH!

My sweet friend Asela Hopkins designs stamps for Cornish Heritage Farms and she sent me some of her ADORABLE stamps. Click here to see Asela's line of stamps! Asela is an amazing artist... AMAZING. You can click on her name to check out her blog if you don't already visit. I thought they would be perfect for a little patty Easter basket! I love all of her stamps... thank SO much Asela!!

I found some round easter chocolates at Walmart that fit perfectly too! They are Palmer brand and come in a big bag mixed with bunny shaped chocolates. I used the Round Scallop punch from Stampin'Up! to cover the candy and for the front and back of the box. The next scallop circle punch is a Marvy Round Circle punch (the yellow one). I got that at Gina K.Designs. The bunny is punched out with my Stampin'Up! Round 1 1/4 inch circle punch.

Thanks again for the nice comments.... I'm thrilled you like my little basket. I'd love to see what you do, so if you post to your blog or SCS gallery, leave me a link okay?

Have a great day everyone! I need to hit the dreaded grocery store today. Oh man... have I told yah how much I loathe going to the grocery store? I'm getting my coffee down and then going.... TODAY. No more puttin' it off. :)

~Cambria

More Stampin Weekend Fun

More cards I made this weekend with my friends Bev and Pam. We had limited supplies, but I'm happy with how they turned out. It was great fun stampin with my friends!!

The bottom two images are from Eclectic Paperie. :)


Check back in the next few days for some blog candy!!! :)

Thanks for stopping by!!
~Cambria









This image is from A Muse.... borrowed from my friend Pam. Paper is My Mind's Eye. :)

Holy Cow Baby :)

Omgosh... I have so many things to share! My friends Bev Barton (who came from CHICAGO) and Pam Becker (From Bellvue, WA), came to stay with me at the lake house for the weekend!! We had SO much fun. I haven't stamped this much for ages.

We had limited amounts of stampin supples... although if you ask my husband and sons who loaded the boat, they would not agree that we were limited. But, we really were. I had to leave my precious sewing machine at home... lucky for me, I had my Lizzie Anne Shapes and Stitches set. I will do my best listing supplies, but some of the paper I have no idea where it came from... other than from my friends Bev and Pam. :)

This cute cow is a stamp from Penny Black and was sent to me by my friend Jenny (thanks babe!). We had SO much fun stamping the boots out with designer paper! I did the coloring with Stampin Up! Watercolor Crayons on Shimmery White card stock. The thanks so much is from the SU! set Riveting. I had a blast using those new Large Eyelets from SU! with my Crop-a-dile. :) This one is my favorite. The paper is some that Bev brought.. I fell in love with it.

This one is paper that Pam brought... again, I have no idea what brand or where it's from, but I love the little flowers on the pink part. I used the new corner punch from SU!, and brads from the soft subtle collection. The paper is Shimmery and Rose Romance with some Bashful Blue. the sentiment says, "You're absolutely Fabulous" (LOVE that set).

Last but not least, is the cow with the sparkle boots! I had all these gel pens from Costco along with the paper (My Mind's Eye), that I hadn't used in forever. That is not really stitching from my machine, but from my Lizzie Anne Design set Shapes and Stitches. I love my LAD sets... and they were SO easy to pack up and take along!

All the ribbon used is May Arts from Miss Cindy over at Starlitstudio.

Okay... I have a ton of laundry to catch up on, and more company coming in on Thursday for Averie's birthday weekend (today she is five.... my baby is FIVE). I will try and post more later.

Thanks for stopping by!! Hope you are all having a fun August!!
~Cambria

More Hot Stuff from eP

I'm playing with my new stuff from eclectic Paperie. I got some beautiful Chatterbox paper and that set from My Favorite Things, Hot Stuff. I LOVE that stamp set!

I'm totally addicted to those double slider cards. They are super easy and so much fun. If you haven't checked out the tutorial on SCS by Beate, you should it's super easy to follow. She is the best at writing tutorials!! You can see it by clicking here.

Here is the recipe:

Stamps: Hot Stuff, MFT
Paper: Violet Dahlias, Chatterbox, Apricot Appeal, Whisper White, Shimmery White, Night of Navy
Ink: Stazon Timber Brown, Apricot Appeal, Soft Sky, Night of Navy
Other: Round Tab punch, Crafter's Tool Kit, Grosgrain Ribbon, Dimensionals, Janome Sewing Machine, Aquapainter, Word Window Punch, 3/4 inch Circle Punch




Hope everyone has a super day!! I have a ton of grocery shopping and baking to do today. My cousins arrive on Friday.... I'm SO excited to see everyone!!

Thanks for stopping by!!!

~Cambria

Coffee & Friends Baby

Two of my favorite things... coffee and friends. I got a few things from my friends over at eclectic Paperie. LOVE that place. I wanted this set the minute my peeps landed on it. I'm so happy eP is carrying some My Favorite Things stamp sets!! This set is called Hot Stuff, and I can't wait to play with it some more!

I just had a minute, so I grabbed some of the kraft I had already stamped up for a swap and my sewing machine (cuz I can sew) and colored her dress with my aquapainter and craft white.

Hopefully, I'll have some more time soon to play some more!!

The recipe:
Stamps: Vases in Vogue, Hot Stuff (MFT)
Paper: Basic Black, Purely Pomegranate, Kraft
Ink: Basic Black, Purely Pomegranate, Craft White
Other: Janome Sew Mini, Vintage Brads, Aquapainter, Cutter kit.

Hope you all have a super day!!! Thanks for stopping by!
~Cambria

Cheaper Than Therapy & You Don't Need an Appt.

Yes..... I've been over at Eclectic Paperie AGAIN. This is my last visit for awhile. I couldn't resist..... She is just TOO cool... isn't she? She is Nay, from Rubber Romance! Go and check out those RR stamps! OMGosh! I wanted the girl in the car SO bad, but they were out of stock! :(

That background paper is Hannah from the Oh Baby! Girl collection (Basic Grey). I stamped her twice. Once on shimmery white card stock, then again on the paper so that I could cut out the pillow and have a pretty pillow case. I also used those shimmery H2O's on the candy boxes and the fancy pillow. My friend Heather sent me some pretty pink crystals for my birthday and I thought they look divine on the edge of that pillow. I had my Sakura Gelly Glitter pen out to fancy up those chocolate wrappers, so I added an anklet to her tiny little beautiful legs! LOL. Her britches are done with the Linen background stamp from Stampin'Up!, stamped onto shimmery then cut out and glued on. I used regal rose and the aquapainter to add more color and shadow to her new jean cut offs. I used the aquapainter for all the coloring.

I stamped her out one more time onto copy paper, covered her up and then stippled bashful blue all around her. Clipped those corners with the ticket punch and added some vintage brads layered on ruby red card stock, then on a certainly celery base. She is done....well, after I stamped the rest of the sentiment inside. Look at those kisses! I LOVE that saying!

Are you all sick of Easter chocolate? Nah... you NEVER get sick of chocolate right?

Post-It Desk Cover/Matching Card

I couldn't resist these stamps when I saw them at Eclectic Paperie. Create a flower by Paper Salon is the name of this cute set that comes in it's own tin! You get a great variety of flowers, stems, leaves, and flower centers. It was love at first sight. It is my first unmounted stamp set. I was surprised at how easy they are to use. They are rubber, similar to Stampin'Up!, but you do need to mount them on your own wood, or use acrylic blocks. I LOVE how they store. The paper is Bon Bon from the LILYKATE collection of BasicGrey. Ribbon is May Arts. Card stock is Stampin'Up! Certainly Celery, Buckaroo Blue, Close to Cocoa, and Shimmery White. OMGosh..... I can't wait to play with some of the other flowers in this set! Two of the five different stems in the set are words.... I love that. On this stem, it says "Friends are flowers in Bloom".

The little Post-It note cover is another great idea from SUDSOL. Paula Goff wrote a tutorial with photos. Have I told ya that I love SUDSOL? ;) I used the thin weight coasters and cut them down to 3.5x3.5, cover them with designer paper(cut to 4.5 x 4.5). The inside card stock is 3 1/4 x 6 3/4 and scored at 3 1/4 at from each end. The flower on the outside is also stamped on to the thin weight coaster, cut out and colored with the aquapainter. The heart chipboard piece is from the On Board Accents bunch from Stampin'Up!, covered with craft Ink, then stamped with Timber Brown Stazon. I can never find my Post-It notes on my desk!! Next, I'm making one for me so that I can find them!!

Thanks for stopping by..... if you have a chance, go to Joy and Daisy's store and check out the goodies they have. Be warned though..... you'll want everything! Have a super day!!!

Inky Antics

My good friend Bev Barton sent me some Inky Antics images, a crayon box and some ribbon and gave me a challenge. I LOVE these images and had a lot of fun playing with them. My other good friend Beate, who always takes pitty on me since I'm craft store deprived, sent me a bunch of scalloped punched out shapes. I now NEED those other scalloped punches. Beate is such an enabler!! The paper was a birthday gift from my super friend Heather McNally. It is called The Pocket full of Posies Stack by DCWV. It is beyond beautiful. It has all these raised up spots with glitter. I love the entire stack! I'm so blessed with wonderful friends.... thanks girls!!




The crayon box it wheeled with craft white and my favorite jumbo wheel, Petals... out of the Spring Mini.





If you look closely, you can see that friend is spelled out on the bottom corner of the card with the kitty. I got those from JoAnn's. They are clear peal and stick letters. They show up better IRL. Some of the images were too big or too small for the square scallops, so I either cut the images out, or added the slit punch with a little flower on the side. I love my slit punch... have I said that?




The sun has decided to peek out, and I'm SO happy I can send the kids outside!! I'm going to get my van cleaned out so that we can take a trip to Eugene tomorrow to see my cousin's new sweet baby girl!!!! Costco here I come! The kids are excited to try out a swimming place called The Wave. They are SO ready to get out of the house and do something fun for spring break.

Have a super day!!! Thanks for stopping by! :)

Thank You Kathi Ann!!

I had a workshop today. I love my hostess club gals.... they are so good to me. This workshop was at one of my friend's church, so everyone was welcome to attend.

I met this very cool chick from SCS... actually, I've met a TON of very cool chicks from SCS, but this one I got to meet a year or so ago when she came to my house to stamp as a guest of one of my club members. It was SO much fun to stamp with her. Come to find out that her parents live in a nearby town called Lakeside and she was visiting. Well, I was THRILLED when she actually MOVED here!!! Unfortunately, she started school at our community college and I rarely get to see her... not to mention stamp with her. Like, pfft.... what's with that? She studies instead of stamps. Yah, well, I still love her. SNORT! Today, she got to come to our little gathering!! And... look what she made for me! How sweet is that? I thought it was totally clever of her to cover that little box with paper. Pink chocolate and Chai tea.... how awesome is that? Thanks so much Kathi Ann! I'm so happy you got to come and stamp with us today!!

I'll share what we did at our meeting soon. And, the clever ideas my girls came up with!!

Hope you all got to do some stampin' this weekend!!

Bella, Bella, Bella......

How addicting are these cute images from http://www.stampingbella.com? My friend Bev Barton sent me some images to play with after my other friend Lisa Zappa sent me some and I couldn't put them down. Thanks so much girls..... I've been trying SO hard to resist them, but I am probably going to break down and purchase some.

I got some Snap-Stamps from Ellen Hutson last week and just had a chance to use them... they are SO cool ( I know, I know.. I'm so behind the times). The wonderful stamp was sent to me by my friend Val and the font matches pretty closely I thought. It has a flower on the stamp next to the word wonderful, but it just didn't look right so I added a flower over the top with the flower punch from Stampin'Up! The paper is from the SAB scrappin kit Delightful. The tab from the side is the new Round Tab Punch... you all know how much I'm loving that new punch!

I'm including one of the matching coaster fridge magnets along with a matching clippie. You can never let teachers know how much they are appreciated. Now, I just have three more teachers to go. :)