A Gift from God

Hello my friends! I hope you all have recovered well from the hustle and bustle of the Holiday season, and that you have many wonderful memories to treasure.

One thing I treasure, and I'm sure many of you do too, is a special friend. And this sentiment from the JustRite set Simple Blessings, is perfect to honor that friend. It says "A friend like you is a gift from God". So true! And this set is even on sale. It has a gorgeous stained glass window, and a beautiful Church scene, along with more sentiments.

I stamped the sentiment with Onyx Black Versafine onto ivory cardstock and diecut it with one of JustRite's new Nested Frame Custom dies. I then added a Julia Tuscanny Butterfly by Prima. These guys look even more gorgeous irl!! Seriously. As if I didn't already have enough sparkle with the butterfly, I just had to add some gorgeous Magnificent Crystal Champagne and Chocolate Rhinestones (Zva Creative) behind him.



For the bow, I used my Bow-Easy and some Organza Ribbon, along with some Chocolate Embroidery Thread. I heated the Organza with my heat tool, just a bit to give it that crinkly look. For the Center I added a Webster's Pages Sparkler.

Lastly, I added some borders with an EK Success Punch, and a Martha Stewart punch, along with a sweet little pom-pom ribbon border, and all the edges were ink distressed with Black Soot Ranger Distress Ink.

Be sure to check out the Sales and Specials over at Stamper's Dream!! Michelle has quite a variety of supplies discounted!!

That's about it for today ya'll!!
Happy Stamping my friends!
Tosh

Merry Christmas!

I received this Penny Black image, Sending Love, from Stamper's Dream, and thought, although it's not a Christmas one, it's fitting for this week. I want to thank all of you for your continued support and encouragement this year, and wish you the Merriest of Christmases as we celebrate Jesus' birth.

I stamped this globe with Tuxedo Black (Memento), and colored it with Copics. I added some Frosted Lace and Cotton Candy Stickles inside the globe to emulate snow. The dp is Fancy Pants, and I added some Tinsel Trim by Webster's Pages over the lace.

Lastly, I used a Fiskars punch for the border, and did a bit of sewing along the edges.

That's it for today my friends. Have a very Merry Christmas!!
Happy Stamping!
Tosh

Mojo Birthday Wishes

I tell ya, I'm so in love with Verve!! The images can stand by themselves, can be used as background, and are super fun to combine with creative decorative papers. I also love sketch challenges, especially when I want a card to come together quickly. I combined this weeks Mojo Monday sketch 170, with a sentiment and paper pieced bird from Verve's Wordy Bird set, along with dp from MME's Fine and Dandy True Blue paper pad. Of course, a card of mine isn't complete without some Spellbinders' dies, so I used the Mega Oval and Mega Scalloped Oval with Labels 14 as it's base. The sun was made with Circle and Inverted Circle Nestabilities dies. Lastly I added some lace, sewing, some Zva Creative Rhinestones, and a Martha Stewart border punch. Oh, and all the edges were ink distressed with Bundled Sage Ranger Distress Ink.

Are you ready for Christmas? I can't wait!! We're counting down the days!!
Happy Stamping my friends!
Tosh

Stamps: Wordy Birds (Verve)
Paper: White (PTI), Birchtone Dark (Prism), Fine and Dandy True Blue (MME)
Ink: Onxy Black (Versafine), Bundled Sage (Ranger Distress)
Accessories: Labels 14, Mega Oval and Scalloped Oval, Circle, Inverted Circle Nestabilities (Spellbinders), Rhinestones (Zva Creative), Border Punch (Martha Stewart), Sewing Machine, Lace

A Dragon Birthday

Hello stampers!! It's a wonderful new week filled with Holiday preparations, parties, and family gatherings! All in celebration of the birth of our King!! How awesome is that!!

Well, some people are blessed to be born during this time, and that means doing our best to make the birthday special apart from celebrating our Lord's birth. One of those special people happens to be my nephew. I think this JustRite Dragon from the Adorable Dragon set is just darling! I love his heart shaped tail, and his expression seems to say "I have a secret".

Well, I stamped him with Versamark onto watercolor paper, embossed him with Detail Black ep, and colored him with my Tombows.

I decided he needed a castle in the background, so I embossed the panels with a textured Cuttlebug folder, and punched the top with EK Successes Binding Edge Edger Punch. I then diecut the window with Spellbinders' Long Rectangle die and stamped the "Happy Birthday" sentiment from the Adorable Dragon set inside. I wish now that I would've cut out some vertical windows in the base of the turret, but, alas, the card is now in the hands of my nephew.

The kraft bg was also embossed with a Cuttlebug embossing folder.

If you like any of the products used, click on the highlighted words. They'll take you directly to the "One Stop Shopping" online store Stamper's Dream!!

That's it ya'll. I hope you are all have a blessed week with family and/or friends!!
Happy Stamping!
Tosh

Viva la Verve Week #3

As parents, have you ever used the phrase "Do as I say, not as I do"? Well I have to use that phrase for this card. *grin* I wanted to participate in this week's Viva la Verve challenge, and I believe I got the sketch down perfect. However, I forgot about the challenge part which is a theme: Ornaments & Winter Decor ...yeah...missed that part. (hanging head in shame)...oh well...hopefully I get points for getting the sketch right.

For today's card, I used images from one of Verve's newest releases called Amazing Wishes. It has two sweet flowers and a charming tag, along with a wonderful variety of sentiments. I stamped the flower onto two different dp patterns, cut them out, and used a stylus on the back to give it a bit of depth. The leaves were punched with a Martha Stewart punch from dp also. All the dp is from Graphic 45's "Once Upon a Springtime Collection". I framed the sentiment with Spellbinders' Labels 1 die.

Lastly, I added some sweet little pearls under the sentiment and some fun stitching. That about sums it up.

Please check out the Viva la Verve challenge HERE. And remember to include the theme Ornaments & Winter Decor. Just a little heads up. :)

Stamps: Amazing Wishes (Verve)
Paper: Ivory (PTI), Suede Brown Medium (Prism), Once Upon a Springtime Collection (Graphic 45)
Ink: Onyx Black (Versafine), Antique Linen (Ranger Distress Ink)
Accessories: Labels 1 Nestabilities (Spellbinders), Pearls (Kaisercraft), Sewing machine

Thank you so much for stopping by! I hope you have a fabulous weekend!
Happy Stamping!
Tosh

It's all about mittens at CCEE

It's Thursday! And that means it's time for another CCEE Stamper's Challenge. Charlene challenged us to use mittens on our card. Now, I haven't had a use for mittens in years. *sniff* How I miss building forts for snowball fights, making the perfect snowman, and just plain enjoying the stillness in the morning after an evening snowfall. Okay....enough reminiscing...onto my card.

I used Spellbinders' mitten die and embossed it with the Houndstooth Cuttlebug folder while still in the die. I then ink distressed it with Pumice Stone Ranger Distress Ink. I made a sentiment tag to put into the mitten with a sentiment from the JustRite set Christmas Nested Frames. The inside sentiment is also from that set and both were framed using the new Nested Sentiment Custom dies. The sentiments and dies can be found at Stamper's Dream. Be sure to check out the Sales and Specials section too.

I also added a Martha Stewart punched snowflake with some Transparent Viva Decor gel and glitter to the center, along with a few buttons and Burlap Twine. The border punch was made with a Martha Stewart border punch.

That's it for today. Thank you so much for stopping by. Be sure to check out the CCEE Stamper's blog to see what the other gals have done with mittens, and we'd love to have you join us.

Happy Stamping my friends!!
Tosh

A 4x4 Verve Trio

I have a sweet little trio of cards to share with you that I shared with the Verve Forum Release party awhile back, but haven't shown here on my blog yet. Julee recently released a set that has just totally taken my heart!! It's made up of 3 sweet images (two hearts and a little sailboat), and sentiments with matching text!! It's called Text Objects, and it is the most versatile. You could use these images for a Friend card, a Birthday card, a baby, a wedding, anniversary, etc. I stamped each image with Tuxedo Black Memento ink and colored them with copics. The rest is pretty self explanatory.

Here's each card individually.

Thanks so much for visiting. I hope you are enjoying this holiday season. I know I am treasuring it.

Happy stamping my friends!
Tosh

Do You Hear What I Hear?

Is it Thursday already? Yikes!! Sorry for the long absence. I've been busy with Christmas decorations, etc. Christmas will be upon us in no time!! What fun!!

Well, being that it's Thursday, I have a CCEE Stamper's card to share with you. Charlene has challenged us to make a card inspired by the song "Do You Hear What I Hear?" Of course I thought of a lamb, music, star and manger scene. Well, I don't have a lamb image, so it's just the manger scene for me. I thought about adding some music too, but in the end, I just stuck with Manger Peace by Stampendous. I think this scene is just precious. I stamped it with Tuxedo Black (Memento), and colored it with Copics. I added some sparkle to the wings also with my trusty Quickie Glue Pen and some Glitter.

I did use a new toy on this card too!! Spellbinders has paired up with JustRite to make some diecut sets that go with their images!! Now that made my heart go pitter-patter I tell ya!! I framed my sentiment with the label frame from the Nested Frame set. The sentiment is from JustRite's Christmas Nested Frames and Occasions set.

The dp is all from BoBunny, and the punches are EK Success and Fiskars. I also added some Seam Binding Ribbon, a PTI button, some Burlap String, and a couple of Kaisercraft Pearls on the tag.

That's it everyone. Be sure to check out what inspired the rest of the gals over at the CCEE Stampers Blog.

I hope you all are enjoying the Christmas Season.
Happy Stamping!
Tosh

Where there is Love...Verve Release

Verve just had another release yesterday, and you really should go check out the new sets found HERE. One of the charming sets Julee introduced is called Text Objects, which has wonderful sentiments along with the text version of those sentiments. I used one of the texts on this card along with the new Wildflower Plain Jane. Everything was stamped with Onyx Black (Versafine), and ink distressed with Pumice Stone (Ranger Distress Ink). The sentiment is framed with the Labels 17 Nestabilities die by Spellbinders, and I added some Black Twill ribbon and a button both by Papertrey. The bottom border was punched with a Martha Stewart Border Punch, and the two scored lines above were made with my trusty Scor-Pal. That's it...

Thanks for visiting. I hope you're having a wonderful weekend.
Happy Stamping my friends!
Tosh

Verve Sneak Peek Day Two ~ Text Objects

It's day two of the Verve Sneak Peeks, and that means I get to share a card I made with some of the text images from the Text Objects set. It's filled with Julee's typical fabulous sentiments, and they're written in text form also. I went crazy with this set. Lots more to share at the release party tonight, and on my blog tomorrow and next week. It's a wonderfully versatile set that also includes some stitched hearts and a sweet little boat. So it can be dressed up or made to be more whimsical. It's a must have set imho!!!

For the background, I took one of the scripted sentiments stamped it with Onyx Black Versafine, and alternated it with a stitched line stamped both ways. I then ink distressed the edges with Pumice Stone Ranger Distress Ink.

I also used the flower from the Amazing Wishes set. I just stamped both sizes with Tuxedo Black (Memento) ink onto red cardstock three times each, cut them out, spritzed them with water (gave them a pretty good soaking), scrunched them up into a ball. I then gently unfolded them, dried them with my heat tool, and glued all the pieces together. Of course it needed some sparkle, so I added some Cinnamon Stickles to the petals, and Frosted Lace stickles to the leaves that I cut with a Sizzix die cut.

For the inside, I included the beautifully fonted sentiment that matches the script, along with some scallops that I made with an MFT die.

That's about it for my card today. Wanna see what the rest of the divas have for inspiration? Check it out!!

Julee
Laurie
Susan
Tosh <~~~ you are here! :o)
Jen D.
Charmaine
Jen T.
Shannan
Lynda
Michelle
Amy
Teresa
Jackie
Sankari
Mercy

December Verve Sneak Peek ~ Wordy Birds

I'm so excited. Verve is having another release tomorrow, and the images are just the sweetest ever!! And again, the variety is amazing!! I'm peeking the Wordy Birds set today. It comes with two different sized birds along with 5 beautifully fonted sentiments.

I stamped the bird twice with Tuxedo Black Memento ink and colored him with copics. I cut out the wing of the second image, and glued it to the first image to give it a bit of depth. I mounted him on a flourish branch (Sizzix) that is covered with some Inkssentials Opaque White dots. The base is a rhinestone covered lace doily die (MFT), that I got from my dear friend Frances for my birthday. And the dp is from My Mind's Eye Fine and Dandy True Blue 6x6 Paper Pad.

That about sums up my card for today. Be sure to see what the other divas are sharing today. You won't be disappointed. These girls have some serious skills!!

Julee
Mercy
Sankari
Jackie
Teresa
Amy
Michelle
Lynda
Shannan
Charmaine
Jen D.
Tosh <~~~ you are here :)
Susan
Laurie

Thanks for stopping by for a visit!!
Happy Stamping!
Tosh

A Jolly Christmas

We're halfway through the week, and it's the first day of December. How is everyone coming along with their Christmas shopping? How about Christmas cards? Well, I have a Jolly Christmas card to share with you today using one of the sentiments from the JustRite set called Whimsical Christmas. It includes 6 charming images with 6 different circular frames, making a huge variety of combo possibilities. You can find this set, along with a number of other JustRite sets at Stamper's Dream.

This card came together in very little time. I just stamped the sentiment with Onyx Black Versafine directly onto some Winter Time Echo Park dp, and cut it out with a Petite Scallop Circle Nestabilites Die by Spellbinders. I then added some Viva Decor Transparent Gel dots around the border along with a coating of blue glitter.



Lastly, I added some Seam Binding Ribbon, and an antique button by Tim Holtz. The punched border was made with an EK Success Punch. And the rhinestones in the corners are Kaisercraft.

That's it for today's project. Be sure to stop by tomorrow for a Vervaliscious sneak peek.
Happy Stamping my friends!!
Tosh