Verve Project Parade

It's the last day of November, and there's a parade going on over at the Verve Blog. If you haven't seen all the fabulous projects the divas have been sharing, boy have you been missing out. There are some pretty inspirational gift ideas. I'm hosting today's Triple Play project, so if you'd like to see a closer view, along with some other creative ideas, head on over to the Verve Blog right now. You also have an opportunity to win some Verve images. Now if that isn't tempting, I don't know what is!! :o)

Happy stamping my friends!!
Tosh

Tree of Lace

First of all, I want to wish all my American Friends a
Happy Thanksgiving.

I have a short post for you today. My son is home from college for a couple of days, and I want to spend as much time with him as possible. I know, I know, I could have post dated this card, but I was so busy with preparations, I never got around to it. So about this card.

Since it's Thursday, I made this card for our CCEE Stamper's Challenge. Cindy has challenged us to use lace. Can you find the lace on this card? *grin* I used a variety of laces on this cardstock based tree, and I couldn't tell ya where each is from. I also added some Frosted LACE (hee-hee) stickles to give it a bit of sparkle.

The sentiment is from the Verve set Holiday Phrases, and the dp is from Fancy Pants' Tradition line. I also added a MS border punch, a PTI button, some Green Burlap string, and some sewing.

That's it ya'll. Be sure to stop by the CCEE Stamper's Blog to see what the other girls have created this week. We'd also love to have you join our challenge.

Have a super weekend. Hope you get a chance to get creative!!
Happy Stamping!
Tosh

JustRite Christmas Tags

I love my Nestabilities Dies!! Spellbinders such a wonderful variety of shapes, so I thought it would be fun to make some tags with them. I made three tags using a combination of the JustRite sets From Our House, and Hearts Come Home. You can find these sets, and many more wonderful Holiday images at Stamper's Dream. I used Labels 9, Labels 13, and 14 Nestabilites Dies, as well as the Classic Squares, and Petite Ovals. The dp is all from Pink Paislee's Father Christmas Line, the Rhinestones are all from Kaisercraft. And all the edges are ink distressed with Vintage Photo Ranger Distress Ink. I also added some Buttons, lace, and some Satin Ribbon to finish off the tags.

For this first tag, I used Labels 9.

I used Labels 14 for this Tag.

Labels 13 was used for this tag.

Stamps: From Our House, Hearts Come Home
Paper: Ivory, Spring Willow (Prism), Father Christmas (Pink Paislee)
Ink: Tuxedo Black (Memento), Vintage Photo (Ranger Distress)
Accessories: Labels 9, 13, 14, Classic Squares, and Petite Ovals Nestabilities (Spellbinders), Copics, Rhinestones (Kaisercraft), Ribbon and Buttons (PTI), Lace, dimensional tape

That's it folks. Stop by tomorrow for a CCEE challenge.
Thanks so much for visiting. I hope you're having a super week!
Happy Stamping!
Tosh

Fall has arrived!!

Can it be Thursday already? Wow!! As usual, time is flying by. Especially since Fall is sneaking in. It figures, my favorite season will have come and gone before I can get enough of the beautiful leaf colors and cool, crisp air. But, I'm going to soak it in as long as I can. Therefore, I made a Fall card for today using the JustRite Fall sets A Day in the Country, and Hangin' Around. Cindy is in charge of the CCEE Challenges over at the CCEE Stamper's Blog this month, and she's challenged us to include buttons. No problem. I LOVE buttons!! I added a couple of leaves behind mind too.

I don't normally do the inside of the card, mainly because it takes me forever to create the outside, and by the time I'm finished, I'm too lazy to do the inside. This time, though, I just had to add the sentiment from the Hangin' Around set because it's perfect!!
That's it for today folks. Thanks so much for stopping by. You can find the links (colored names) to the products I used listed below. Now head on over to the CCEE Stamper's Blog to see all the buttons the other gals have added to their cards.

Happy Stamping!!
Tosh

Stamps: Hangin' Around, A Day in the Country
Paper: Curio (Basicgrey), Ivory and Brown (PTI)
Ink: Tuxedo Black (Memento), Antique Linen and Vintage Photo (Ranger Distress)
Accessories: Copics, Hanging Sign (Tim Holtz), Petite Oval Nestabilities (Spellbinders), Border Punch (Martha Stewart), Button, Embroidery Thread, Scor-Buddy, Sewing Machine, Corner Tag Punch (SU!)

JustRite 12 Weeks of Christmas Blog Hop 11

Welcome to the 11th week of JustRite Stampers’ Wednesday feature, 12 Weeks of Christmas Blog Hops! Every Wednesday up until Thanksgiving some of your favorite designers will be joining some of the JustRite design team for a series of Christmas blog hops, showcasing JustRite’s entire Christmas Collection of stamps! Don’t forget that JustRite has some Christmas stamps in their newly released CLING line of stamp sets, too -- you can find them HERE. This week, we, the Stampers Dream Design Team, are joining the JustRite design team along with a few other special guests!

For the month of November, some designers will be sharing holiday gift ideas using JustRite stamps, so be watching for those, too, during the November’s hops! And in celebration of JustRite’s Christmas Blog Hops, you can take 25% off All JustRite Original Christmas Stamps now through November 29!!

Okay, now for the project I made for today's hop.

I made a Christmas card with a snowflake image from the set Sparky and Friends. I loved the elegance of the flakes and decided to use them in an Ink Resist pattern. I started off by stamping the snowflakes with Champagne Encore Versamark. By using a colored pigmented ink, I could see where I was stamping the image. The white embossing powder covered the metallic easily. I then took a sponge dauber, and gradually added Tumbled Glass (Ranger Distress Ink), starting at the edges and working my way in to give the center a bit of a glow. When I got the color I wanted, I took a paper towel and ran it over the embossed snowflakes, and woila!! Finished. I then added some Viva Decor Transparent Gel to the snowflake centers with some Ultrafine Transparent Glitter.

The snowflake is covered with Mica Flakes and a Rhinestone by Melissa Frances.

I also added white Satin Ribbon (PTI), a button I got while in Missoula, Montana, some Silver Metallic String, and the "Joyeux Noel" sentiment, stamped with Smokey Gray Versafine, from the Sparky the Snowman JustRite set.

The back panel was scored with my Scor-Pal, with the edges being punched with the SU! Corner Tag Punch, and the bottom border was made with a Martha Stewart Border Punch. I also framed the snowflake circle with Spellbinders' Lacey Circle Die.

That's it for my project today. Be sure to check out what the rest of the gals have made to share with you today. I've included the Blog Hop list below. Have fun. I hope you're inspired!!

Happy Stamping!!
Tosh

JustRite Inspiration Blog
Beate Johns
Debbie Olson
Michelle Rodgers
Sankari Wegmen
Tosha Leyendekker ~~~You're here :)
Kazan Clark
Lori Craig
Amy Sheffer
Stephanie Kraft
Denise Marzec
Michelle Kovack
Carolyn King
Barb Schram
Jenn Balcer
Cindy Lawrence
Angela Barkhouse
Christina Fischer
Heidi Blakenship
Mariana Grigsby
Terre Fry
Teresa Kline

One layer with Silver Berries

I just love the berry branches from the Verve set Merry Wishes!! And I thought they would be beautiful in silver. Unfortunately, trying to show you the silver shine, along with the embossing was quite the challenge. I took some close ups to better show the detail. But first, let me explain the card. It's one layer, with the Bottom being made with a Martha Stewart Border Punch. Above that, I scored two horizontal lines, and then added the Silver embossed berries. Then two more scored horizontal lines, followed by a panel of scored vertical lines, and lastly one more horizontal scored line. I then added a satin ribbon with a Vintage Rhinestone button, and the silver embossed sentiment along the top with 3 rhinestones. That's it. The hardest part was photographing it. *grin*

Here's a close~up of the rhinestone bow with the vertical scored lines.

Here's a close~up of the sentiment with the vertical embossed lines and some of the berries.

That's it for today ya'll. Stop back tomorrow for JustRite blog hop. Fun stuff!!
Happy Stamping!!
Tosh

Stamps: Merry Wishes
Paper: White
Ink: Versamark
Accessories: Silver Embossing Powder, Scor-Pal, Border Punch (Martha Stewart), Satin Ribbon (PTI), Vintage Rhinestone button (Bazzill), Rhinestones (i~Rock)

Veteran's Day and a Christmas Card

Before I get to my card, I want to give a shout out to all the Veterans who have sacrificed so much so we can feel safe!! Thank you to you, and all your families from the bottom of my heart!!

Okay, now for the card I have to share with you today. Do you ever make a card, photograph it, edit it, upload it, and finally realize you made a mistake? Nope, me either. *grin* NOT!! Well, looking at this card now, I'm releasing a huge sigh of regret. I meant to have the lighter panel on the left instead of the right in order to have more contrast between the sentiment tag, and the buttons. But alas, the card is up, and I'd have to start from scratch. So NOT going to happen. LOL Anyway, I really loved this week's Mojo Monday Sketch #164. And I knew the papers I wanted to use right off. Not to mention how perfect Verve's new Vintage Oval Frame and Die would be in the sketch!! So I set to work stamping the Oval die with Onyx Black Versafine, and then stamping the sentiment from the set Merry Wishes inside it. And how perfect to add on the little tab "from all of us". Sweet!!

Well, since it's Thursday, that means there's a CCEE challenge to incorporate too. Our challenge this week, provided by the sweet Cindy Haffner, was to have a store bought flower on your card or project. Easy for me, since I have a HUGE (seriously...it's almost a sin) stash of flowers from Wild Orchid Crafts. Head on over to the CCEE Stamper's blog to see how the rest of the gals incorporated flowers into their projects. We'd love to have you join our challenge too!! :o)

Lastly, I added some ribbon, buttons, a Jillibean Soup Sugar Pick, and some sewing to finish off the card.

And I want to take a moment to thank all those who offered sweet wishes concerning my camera fiasco!!! The surgery went well, and he's made a complete recovery. Thanks to the ever capable camera repair man, the glass shards were removed, as well as the UV filter with no damage. He even made me feel better when he showed me his "damaged filter stash". So, I'm not the only one!! LOL And oh, Danielle, you made me feel so much better with your story. Although, I'm so sorry for all your camera losses.

I tell ya, the stamping world is filled with warm and wonderful souls, and I'm so grateful to be a part of that incredible group!! Thanks guys!!

Happy Stamping!!
Tosh

Stamps: Vintage Oval Frame, Merry Wishes
Paper: Oasis (SEI), Spring Willow Medium (Prism), White and Ivory (PTI)
Ink: Onyx Black Versafine
Accessories: Vintage Oval Frame Die (Verve), Copics, Buttons (PTI), Ribbon (SU!), Flower (Wild Orchid Crafts), Sugar Pick (Jillibean Soup), Rhinestones (Kaisercraft), Border Punch (Martha Stewart), Twine (May Arts)

A Day in the Country

I'm just heartsick. In all the years I've worked with my Canon, I've never, ever dropped it. Until now. I had it sitting on my desk, picked it up to go to my photo tent, and the strap hooked on one of the drawer handles. I didn't have a tight enough grip. *sigh* It shattered the UV protection filter as well as denting it, so I can't get it off to see if the lens is okay. It's too late to head to the camera shop, so I have to be patient (so not a strong suit of mine), and go tomorrow instead to see what the extent of damage is.

So, this photo was taken with my little Nikon point and shoot. At least you can see the charming barn scene. I so fell in love with this scene when I first saw it. It's from the JustRite set A Day in the Country that I got from Stamper's Dream. I've always loved old red barns, and have even photographed a few in the midwest. You just don't see many of them in the west.

My son is away at college, and is anxiously awaiting Thanksgiving break to come home for a spell. So I thought I'd send him a card for a bit of encouragement. He misses the farm, and this sentiment is spot on. "A day in the country soothes the soul". Okay, living around thousands of cows can clear the sinuses at times, but there's nothing like being out on the farm.

I colored the image with Copics, and added some sewing, buttons, twine, and a border punch. The side panel was made with the Octagon Nestabilties die by Spellbinders. The dp is Fancy Pants, and the netting is May Arts Ribbon. All the edges were heavily ink distressed with Walnut Stain (Ranger Distress) too.

That about sums it all up!
Thanks for dropping by. Hope you're having a good week.
Happy stamping my friends!!
Tosh

The True Gift of Christmas

It's a new week!! And I'm excited to share this card with you today. I LOVE this cross image from Verve's new set Richly Blessed! It reminds me of the fun puffy heart stickers you used to see...well, back in the day. *grin* I thought it would be fun to make it kinda puffy too, so I stamped the cross with Sea Breeze VersaMagic onto Ivory cs, and then coated it with Viva Decor Transparent Gel. While the gel was still wet, I sprinkled some Cool Highlight Glitter Ritz glitter over it, and woila...you get a sparkly, puffy cross that I think is just charming. Oh, I forgot...I stamped the cross, then the new Sweet Scallop Tag in Vintage Sepia Versafine, and then cut it out with the oh, so FABULOUS new Sweet Scallop Die that Julee has come out with. I so "heart" this die. It's just super charming!! THEN I added the Gel and glitter. Why, do you ask, is that so important? Well, because first, I decorated the cross experimenting with the gel, framed it, let it dry, then ran it through my cuttlebug with the new Sweet Scallop die. DUH!! The cuttlebug smooshed my puffy cross!! *sniff* I had to start over. (Nothing new here though...I'm constantly starting over....LOL)

Here's a close up of the sparkly cross:

Lastly, I embellished a bit with, Chocolate Gross Grain Ribbon, a Sparkler (Webster's Pages), some Rhinestones (i-Rock), Border Punches (EK Success), Scoring (Scor-Buddy), and my sewing machine. The dp is Sam (Dream Street Papers)

That's it for today.
Have a super week, and Happy Stamping!!
Tosh

Naughty or Nice?

Click on the photo for a closer look.

Since it's Thursday, it's time for another CCEE Challenge. And this month's challenges are brought to you by our sweet Cindy Haffner!! Her first challenge this month is to make a Winter Themed card.

So, have you been naughty or nice this year? Hmmmm? Well, just pull a tag out of the mitten to see what Santa is thinking. If you pull out a "Naughty" tag, don't fret. There's still time to be good. If you pull out a "Nice" tag, good for you!! You're on the right track. (My husband and daughter both pulled out "Naughty". Shame, shame!! They have some work to do before Christmas. *grin*)

To make this interactive card, I paper pieced JustRite's mitten image (from the set Sparky the Snowman) that works with the Spellbinders Mittens die. How fun is that? I then took JR's Curlz Font and spelled out the phrase "Naughty or Nice", stamped it along the bottom, and made individual tags with the Tag Trio by Spellbinders. The sketch design is Jen's SFYTT from last Saturday.

I also added a sparkly snowflake (MS), a button, and a punched border with a touch of bling.

We'd love to have you join our CCEE Challenge this week. Just make a Winter themed card, and use Mr. Linky on the CCEE Stamper's blog so we can see where your creativity is taking you this week.

That's it from me today. Hope all is well in your stamp studio!!
Happy Stamping!
Tosh

Stamps: Sparky the Snowman, Curlz Font
Paper: White, Black (PTI), Winter Time (Echo Park)
Ink: Onyx Black Versafine, Aged Mahogany (Ranger Distress)
Accessories: Mitten and Ribbon Tag Trio (Spellbinders), Snowflake (Martha Stewart), Baker's Twine (Jillibean Soup), Button (PTI), Quickie Glue Pen, Glitter, Border Punch (EK Success), Rhinestones (Zva Creative)

Joy to the World

Hello stamping friends!! How's your week going? Have you started your Christmas cards yet? Well, I have another one to share with you today. The sentiment is from one of Verve's newest Plain Janes called Joy, and is colored with copics. It's one of my favorites because of its clean lines and simplicity. And don't you just love that sweet little wreath for the "O"? I decided to keep my card pretty clean too. Just some scored lines on the white cs that I made with my Scor-Buddy, (If you click on the image, it's a bit easier to see.) and a sweet little border with a Martha Stewart border punch. Then of course, there's the dramatic Silk ribbon that I got from the Stamp Simply Ribbon Store.

That's pretty much it for today's card. Did you get to see Verve's latest Winter release or the Verve sneak peeks last week? If not, don't you worry. Click HERE to see all the newest sets, and HERE for some inspiration from the divas. These are must haves I tell ya!! Talk about Fantastic sets!!

That's it for today ya'll. Thanks so much for stopping by.
Happy Stamping!
Tosh