Happy Mail X2

Happy Friday!!  Don't you just love to get Happy Mail?  I do!  I received two (yes, two!) boxes in the mail today!  WOOT! 

I immediately tore into the first box from A Cherry On Top.  My "boss", Fia from Sketches4all had given me a gift certificate recently and I finally used it.  Look at all the goodies I got!!

There are two collection kits.  One is Here and Now by Lori Whitlock and the other one is Bella Blvd - All American.  LOVE THEM BOTH!!  I actually wanted to use my gift card and buy the new Webster's Pages Citrus Squeeze and Plum Seed.  But they didn't have these in collection kits so I grabbed all the paper I could from these sets too.  They are just so beautiful I couldn't resist.  I also had to get the little bags from the Citrus Squeeze collection too.

 



Next I grabbed the other box thinking maybe they hadn't gotten everything from A Cherry On Top in the first box but no.....  It was from Crafter's Companion not A Cherry On Top.  It was my new Claudine Helmuth Rock a Blocks and two new 6" x 6" Die'sire Embossalicious embossing folders - Chevrons and Gun Metal!!  WOOT!  I just love free goodies!

I obviously can't wait to start playing with these new things.  You can expect to be seeing something using them from me soon!!

Happy Friday!  Only 3 more days of school until SUMMER!!!! 

Until next time....happy scrapping!

Stacy H-W

Want to Learn Something New?

Happy Thursday!

Who wants to learn something new today?  I have a fun little trick to share with you using some alcohol ink and a can of Compressed Gas Duster (or a straw and your own air blown through it).  This is super easy and a lot of fun to do.

(Ultra High Gloss White)

 



Stuff you will need:

1.  Paper - I used Ultra High Gloss White Cardstock for one card and Luxury Centura Pearl Cardstock on the other one.  This technique works best on a shinier surface.  You could even use gloss photo paper.
2.  Ink - I used a couple of Spectrum Noir alcohol ink refills. But you could use any alcohol ink that you have.
3.  A Can of Compressed Gas Duster - I used 3M Dust Remover but you could even use a straw and just blow through it.
4.  A Sentiment Stamp - I used Sheena's A Little Bit Sketchy EZMount Stamp Set - Always Floral and Sheena's A Little Bit Sketchy EZMount Stamp Set - Only Words - From The Heart

 



That's all you need so let's get started.  First I trimmed my paper down to a manageable size.  I didn't actually trim it down to the exact size I needed because I like to see what I come up with and then trim the paper to include the part I like the best.  (smile)

(FYI -Alcohol ink dries incredibly fast so you will need to have everything ready to go before you start dripping ink on your paper.)

Next you decide which color of ink you want to work with on your project.  I went with super bright colors as you can tell  and I used two different types of paper to show you how it looks on each.  So play around and see what you like best.  This is the fun part!!

(this is ink on the Luxury Centura Pearl )

 



Here we go with the easy as pie directions - lay down your paper on top of a covered work surface (this can be messy).  Then make sure you have your Duster ready to go (or your straw handy) and dip down drops of ink randomly on your paper.  Immediately start blowing the drops around with your Duster (or straw).  

(this is ink on the Ultra High Gloss White)

 



Next you pick another color of ink and drop it down on the card and blow it with the duster.  You can add more colors of ink if you want but I find that 2-3 works best for me. 

That's it!  See how easy it is?!  Now you just decide which part you like best and how you want your finished card to look.  I decided it was better for me to go very simple since the design I made is so eye popping but if you used more muted colors you could easily work with patterned papers and more embellies.

 

 



I decided to stamp my sentiment directly on top of my "art".  I used StazOn Ink in Jet Black after my alcohol ink had dried.  This ink will take a bit of time to dry or you can heat set it with a heat  tool.  Stamping the sentiment was one of the last things I did.





So I made my card base and layered some matting under the "art".  Then I stamped out my sentiment.  To finish I added some Skittles in coordinating colors.  I'm obsessed with these Skittles that my friend, Carri at DoubleClick - AKA Abusybee , makes and sells.  I've been using them on all my projects.  If you want some for yourself, you can get them HERE.

 ( Luxury Centura Pearl)

 

You can tell by looking at the two cards that on the card using the Ultra High Gloss White cardstock the ink is brighter and the one using the Luxury Centura Pearl cardstock has softer and more muted colors.  You can tailor your project by the papers and ink colors you use.

Have fun with it!!

Until next time...happy scrapping!

Stacy

Want to Vote?

Voting is open at Colorful Creations if you would like to vote for my layout this week.     Click here to vote for your favorite layout to continue on in So You Think You Can Scrap!    I would love to have votes if you like my layout.       Hope you are having a great Wednesday!    Stacy H-W

I Love This Face!

Happy Memorial Day! (if you are in the U.S., if not, Happy Monday instead!) :-)

If you follow me at all you know that I have been competing in the So You Think You Can Scrap Challenge at Colorful Creations for the last 21 weeks.  We started out with over 60 people competing and now we are down to the last 8.  And now for the last few weeks of the competition we will be given a sketch each week to complete and then our layouts will be voted on.  The two layouts with the lowest votes each week will be eliminated. 

Here is my layout for this week.

 

I really had fun using my stencils and two of my Dylusions ink sprays in Vibrant Turquoise and Lemon Zest.  I pulled out my new stamp set from Crafter's Companion, Sheena's Floral Fantasy EZMount Stamp Set - Bluebells & Daffodils.  I stamped out two daffodils and colored them with my Spectrum Noir markers  using CT1, CT3, CT4, BGR1 and CR1.  After I colored the images, I fussy cut them out and rolled the petals gently to give them a bit of dimension.

 

 

I have the Martha Stewart circle edge punch and I punched out a 6 inch doily and inked the edges with Ranger Distress ink in Peacock Feathers.  I also inked my wooden letters and some white alpha stickers with the same ink.  I inked the "arrow" with Ranger Distress Ink in Squeezed Lemonade.  I made the arrow by using the letter "V" and the lower case "L".   I actually didn't have a wooden "L" for the word "love" either so I cut off part of a "D" and made myself an "L".   This just shows you that you need to think outside the box sometimes and make what you have work for you.

 

I really like how this layout came out and I hope you like it too!!  If you do, I would be thrilled if you would go to vote for it on Thursday this week at Colorful Creations.   There will only be one day of voting and if you aren't already a member of this NING site you will have to join but this doesn't take very much effort if you want to help a sister out!! LOL

 

And if you want to see more of these gorgeous new floral stamps from Sheena Douglass that just launched this week you should rush over to Crafter's Companion and check them out!!! 

 

Thanks for stopping today and checking out my layout!  I hope you are having an awesome Monday.

 

Until next time...happy scrapping!

 

Stacy H-W

Winner WInner!

Sorry I missed posting a winner yesterday but I totally forgot that it was Saturday!  We are having a four day weekend and I'm off a bit.  But now I've remembered and here is the winner....


Drum roll please.........

The winner is:

Joanne!!

JoAnneMay 16, 2013 at 4:03 PM

Wonderful giveaway Stacy...please count me in! I'm a long time follower and no big summer plans here, just will take every opportunity to enjoy the weather.

 

Congratulations Joanne!!!    Please email me at Scrapwithstacy(at)gmail(dot)com with your full name and mailing address.  You have until June 1, 2013 (I'm extending it a day since I'm late) to do this.  After this date you will forfeit your prize.

 

Thanks for all who entered to win.  I will be having another giveaway very soon so please check in regularly if you are interested in joining in to try to win.

 

Happy Memorial Day weekend!!

 

Stacy

"BEE" utiful Sheena Floral Fantasy

TGIF!  Happy Friday!  We are lucky to be having a 4 day weekend that started today.  I wanted to show you a card I made using the new Sheena's Floral Fantasy EZMount Stamp Set - Violets.  

I fell absolutely in love with the gorgeous bee stamp in this set and rushed immediately to my scrap desk to stamp it out and get it colored!  I used my Spectrum Noir markers of course.  And then I decided that this little beauty needed some sparkle.

I pulled out my Star Dust Stickles and carefully added dots of glitter to each circle on the bee.  I set her aside to dry and got busy layering some purple and silver paper on to my white card stock base.  I had this fun purple and silver leopard print ribbon in my stash and it was just the perfect addition to this card.

I just love how it turned out. You need to go check out Sheena's new stamp collection.  It just launched in stores today. 

Thanks for stopping and looking.  Expect for projects coming soon using these cool stamps!  I've colored several other images now I just need to make something with them! lol

Until next time...happy scrapping (and Happy Memorial Day weekend to you folks in the US)!

Stacy

Humphrey Father's Day

Happy Sunday!  I've been scrapping today and here is one of the projects I wanted to share with you.  I've made a Father's Day card for my kids to give to my hubby.  (shhhhh don't tell him!! lol)

I just had to use the Humphrey EZMount Stamp Set - Father's Day.  This set is so darn adorable.  I have been waiting patiently to use it since I received it.  I stamped out little Humphrey and colored him with my Spectrum Noir markers - TN1, TB2, TB3, TB4, TB9, GB8, GB9, IG1, IG3, GG1. 

I had some great masculine papers from Close To My Heart that just worked beautifully with my colored image.  I finished up the card with some blue flowers around the image.  I didn't want too much frou frou since I wanted to keep it masculine.  I think my hubby is going to love it!

I'm going to enter it in the Color Me Creative - Anything Goes Challenge.

AND it works perfectly for this months Crafter's Companion Masculine Challenge that is going on right now.  If you haven't already entered you need to pull out your Crafter's Companion goodies and get busy making a masculine project to share.  You could win the prize this month!

Expect more posts from me soon.  And while you are here be sure and sign up for my giveaway HERE.  Winner will be announced on May 25th.

Until next time...happy scrapping!

Stacy

GIVEAWAY!

Who is interested in a little giveaway?  Crafter's Companion has a new ideas magazine that they are putting out now and I was lucky to get a free copy of the Spring Issue.  However I was so excited about this magazine that I actually had already ordered it before I knew I was getting a copy free. So I've decided to pass it on to one of you.

Here is the box with the magazine and all the goodies inside

 

 



You will not only get the 84 page ideas magazine but you will also get a few goodies that are included with the magazine:

32 pages of papers and decoupage
CD-ROM containing papers, tutorial videos and SVG files
Angelica & Friends, Meadow Cottage Bears & Sheena Douglass stamp set
Embossalicious embossing folder
Faceted beads & cord kit
Centura Pearl Card Stock

Sadly because of the high cost of international shipping, I am going to be limiting this to entries with U.S. addresses this time.

Who's interested in getting this??  To be entered to win you just need:

1.  to be a follower of my blog
2.  have a U.S. address
3.  leave a comment sharing your summer plans
4.  check back on the 25th to see if you have won.

That's it!  Nothing too complex.  This giveaway starts today, May 16th and ends on May 23rd.  Winner will be announced on May 25th.  The winner will have until May 31st to respond, after that I will choose another winner.

Until next time...happy scrapping!

Stacy

Camden Town Release!

Today there is a new stamp collection release at Crafter's Companion.  It is the Camden Town release!  There are two "male" stamp sets and two "female" sets.  I've decided to use a couple of the stamps from Female #1 set

 



I really loved the sweet little bird house and bird so I pulled out my favorite paper to use with my Spectrum Noir markers, the Ultra Smooth Premium White Cardstock and stamped out these two images with Tuxedo Black Memento ink.  I also stamped out the sentiment.

 



I colored them with shades of pink and rose and orange with my Spectrum Noir markers using CR1, CR2, CR4, PP1 and OR1.  I really thought that these colors would be really grounded with a bit of black.   So I added some a bit of black paper and black bow made from ribbon in my stash.

 

I think now I need to get to coloring some of the stamps from the Male sets!  They would be perfect for our Masculine Challenge this month at Crafter's Companion!    lol  Go check out these new stamps at Crafter's Companion.  And then be sure to join in the Masculine challenge this month!

 

 

 

Until next time...happy scrapping! 

 

Stacy

MORE Happy Mail!

Who wants to see more happy mail!?  Yes, I broke down last week and ordered the Mystery Box from Bella Blvd and it arrived!  Here is what I pulled out of the box:

I took a couple of photos as I pulled things out of the bag:

flowers, buttons, chipboard and flags

 

Here is some more:

 

look at this giant stack of paper!!!!!!

 

Here is even more:

 

Some of the paper

 

Stickers

 

And more stickers!

 

I'm pretty happy with this awsome box and I can't wait to play with my goodies!!  I did put together the mini album from my Sprinkles Box.  I just need to add photos and the title work.  I promised to show it to you so here is what I have so far...

 







 

 

I will share it again when I get it completed.  Thanks for looking today. 

 

Stacy

Happy Mail!

Hi!  I wanted to share my happy mail with you today.  I ordered one of the cute little Sprinkles boxes from Webster's Pages this month.  I mean really, for $10 and free shipping, how can you go wrong?  Here is what it looked like when I opened the box:

 

Here are all of the individual goodies:

 

 

There is a free downloadable tutorial on how to turn all of this into an adorable mini album.  I'm off to do that now...  I will share the finished project with your tomorrow! 

To end...here is a photo of my kid sitting next to me in my scrap room playing video games... 

 

He is so engrossed in the game he didn't even notice me taking the photo!!  lol  He played his final two lacrosse games of the season today.  Won one, lost one.   It will be weird to not have any more lacrosse until fall!!

Thanks for visiting!

Stacy

Spectrum Noir Coloring Enthusiast!

TGIF

TGIF!  Yeah it's Friday!  I'm really ready for the weekend this week.  How about you?  Do you have any fun Mother's Day plans (if you are in the US)?  My kids are threatening to take me out to eat at Red Lobster for Mother's Day.  They wanted to take me to the movie but there isn't anything out right now that I haven't seen that I want to see so I asked for a rain check.  Next week Star Trek Into Darkness comes out and I'm dying to see that movie so maybe we can go see that.  How about you?  Are you into Star Trek?  Are you waiting to see this movie too?  The first one was awesome!  I'm hoping this one is as good.

This week is our last week of lacrosse for this season.  There is a jamboree on Saturday and my son plays in two games.  It will be weird to not have cross practically every day of the week!!!   ha  Wish us luck!

 



I have a little card to share with you today. I was inspired to make it for two challenges.  My friend, Cheryl has a Word Prompt challenge and her word was SUN and the Sun Challenge over at Docerela Creations.  Pretty self explanatory! lol 

I think it is kind of a happy card!  What do you think?

Well, I need to rush off and take my kids to school.  Have a great weekend!!  Happy Scrapping!

Stacy

Say Cheese!

Mother's Day is coming up this Sunday (here in the US) and I had a package to mail to my Mom just waiting for me to add a couple of photos inside.  So I took my kids out in the front yard and tried to get a couple of good pics.  They were out of control like usual but most of the photos turned out cute!  Yeah!  So I did finally get that package in the mail.  So mom if you are looking at this and want to be surprised at your photos, stop reading now...... :-) 

 



Here is a layout I made using two of the photos from this "photo shoot".  (smile)  I used the challenge parameters from this weeks So You Think You Can Scrap challenge at Colorful Creations.  See....this great challenge is totally "making" me do more layouts! ha  I love it!

 



One of the rules of the challenge was that we could not use a trimmer, scissors or a knife except on the photos.  This was actually easier to deal with than I thought it would be.  I just tore my paper along the edge of a ruler.  Worked perfectly.

 



I used papers from the American Crafts - Dear Lizzy- Neaolitian paper pad.   Actually the embellies and alphas were from this pad too.  I did pull bling from my stash and I stamped out some of the gorgeous vines and flowers from the Sheena Douglas - A Little Bit Sketchy - Always Floral stamp set.  I LOVE this set.  Well...I LOVE all of the Sheena Douglass stamps as I am sure you notice if you follow my blog. ha  I'm super excited because she is coming out very soon with another cool Floral collection!  I've seen these new stamps and they are fabulous!  Anyway...

I stamped out one of the flowers on the title and added some opaque white embossing powder and heat embossed it.  I did this in the lower right corner of the other page of the double layout too.  It is a little harder to see.

I decided to print out my photo and then cut it in sections to be a little different.  I like how it looks.  What do you think?

 



I will end with a funny photo that my kids had me take.  This will be getting scrapped soon too!! ha

Stacy

A Friend is Someone...

Happy Tuesday!

Here's a card I made using one of my favorite stamp sets from Sheena Douglass - A Little Bit Sketchy - Through The Rain. 

 



I stamped out the image on to Ultra Smooth Premium White Cardstock using Ranger Tim Holtz Distress ink in Evergreen Bough.  And then I heat embossed it with clear embossing powder.

This card when together really quickly.  I used scraps of patterned paper that I had on my desk to build the layers onto a Kraft paper base.  I popped the sentiment up off the paper with some double sided adhesive squares for dimension.  I pulled some pink roses and pearls from my stash and tied them together with a pink ribbon bow.  To finish I added some Skittles as bling.  

Thanks for stopping and looking.  Don't forget to join in the Crafter's Companion May "Masculine" challenge this month.  Don't you want to be the winner of this months prize?! 

Until next time...happy scrapping!

Stacy 

Highs and Lows

Lots of highs and lows this last weekend.  My sweet son, Quinn became a teenager on Sunday.  I can't believe he is already 13!

 



My son, Jesse, had two lacrosse games on Saturday.  His team won the first game by a mile but were creamed in the second game by the undefeated #1 team in the league.  One of his team mates broke his arm during the first game.

 





Sadly after we came home from the games we found out that our sweet dog, Sophie had died.  She has been struggling with cancer for the last 10 months and she finally succumbed.  And even though she was with us for 15 years and we knew that this was coming, it is still such a difficult thing to have happen.  She was my kid before I had kids and I will really miss her so very much. 

 



One of the hardest things was having to get dressed up to go to the Ladybug Ball (a charity event for Blind Children in Nevada) after burying her.  We really were expected to be there so we sucked it up and went.  It was a very nice event at the Aria.  There was a silent auction and my hubby bid on an Imperial bottle of champagne (giant bottle that holds 8 bottles of champagne) and won it.  He was really excited about it. 

 



With all that was going on this weekend I was not able to scrap at all which was disappointing since it was National Scrapbook Day on Saturday.  Maybe next year.

Pinspired and Crafter's Companion USA Joint Blog Hop

Welcome to the Pinspired - Crafter's Companion Joint Blog Hop! 

So glad you could come and hop along!  If you arrived from Roxanne's blog than you are on the right track.  If not, you might want to head to Annette's blog so you don't miss any blogs along the way.

Just in case you are new to either Pinspired or Crafter's Companion, here is a little bit about them both:

 

 

Crafter's Companion
Crafter’s Companion is a U.K.-based company with offices in Anaheim, CA and Northern England. Well known for their innovative paper crafting tools and accessories, their products are distributed and sold worldwide. their most popular products include Spectrum Noir Alcohol Markers, the Ultimate Crafter’s Companion Tool, the Ultimate Pen Storage, embossing folders, and EZMagnetic Storage panels for metal embossing and cutting dies. Their staff prides itself on top-notch service with a 100% customer satisfaction philosophy.

Pinspired Challenge Blog
Pinspired Challenges was created by a group of girls that LOVE Pinterest and crafting.... They came up with the idea of the challenge in the latter part of 2012 and the challenges launched in January of 2013. Their DT, or as they like to call themselves, "Pin Heads" have scoured Pinterest to bring you some amazing inspirational pins. They will post a brand new challenge on the 2nd and 4th Tuesday of every month. You will have until Thursday of the following week to link your entry onto the challenge post. That's 9 whole days to play along!!!! Inspirational photos are for you to interpret anyway you want.  You can also feel free to make any kind of craft you want as well, whether its a card, layout or altered item.

This hop runs from May 3 - 5 and will be showcasing Crafter's Companion stamps from Sheena's - A Little Bit Floral collection. You have TWO chances to win! You can hop around and comment on all of the blogs for one chance to win a gift certificate from Crafter's Companion.

For a second chance to win, you can play along with this challenge!

Using the image above to create a project and post it using InLinkz on the Pinspired Blog. You have until May 9, 2013 to participate in the challenge for a chance to win a gift certificate from Crafter's Companion. If you create AND comment on the Blog Hop, that gives you two chances to win!

Here is the full Hop List:

Annette
Audrey

Chrissie

Christiana

Denise

Erica

Jean

Jennifer

Kendra

Khristen

Lalo

Laurel

Mary Dawn

Roxanne

Stacy - You are HERE.

Stephanie L.

Stephanie S.

Trena

When you are finished hopping around to all the blogs head over to the Pinspired Blog to finish up.  But while you are here please check out the sympathy card I made using Sheena's A Little Bit Floral EZMount Stamp - Floral Corners.
.

 

I colored the stamped images with my Spectrum Noir markers - PP1, PP2, OR1, EB2, EB4, CG1, CG2, CT1 and then fussy cut them out. 

 

 



I'm obsessing over my new 6 x 6 Embossalicious embossing Folders so I pulled out the Lattice one and embossed the pink paper to add a little more texture to my card.   I am happy with the results and I hope you like it too.

 



Now it is time to go to Stephanie L.'s blog.  Thanks for hopping along today!  Have fun!

Stacy

Martha Stewart Circle Edge Punch

I recently purchased the new Martha Stewart Circle Edge Punch starter kit from HSN.

My mother came to visit and I guess she is an avid HSN viewer and was just going on and on about how cool it was. SO of course I rushed to my computer and bought it!! LMBO (yes I have a problem - ha)

ANYWAY, it is super cool. Here is what it looks like all taken apart

You can change out the cutting cartridges very easily. They are sold separately (well mine came with 3 different edge punch cartridges) As soon as I ordered the starter kit my Mom bought me 2 more cartridges at JoAnns! (I'm spoiled I know! ha)

Here are the edge punch patterns I have. Aren't they cool!?!

 

To work this cool punch, you pull out the cutting base from the bottom of the cartridge. It is stored in a plastic cover on the bottom of the edge punch cartridge. (you can see this in the top photo) You push back the lever and easily slide in the plate.

Next you decide what size you want your circle to be. You can make circles from 6 inches to 12 inches. There is a dial on the side and one on the front and you just have to set them both to the number of the size you want. Super easy.

Here is the side dial. (I'm cutting an 8 inch circle)

 

 

Here is the front dial. (Set the number the same here too)

 

Now you cut out a square piece of paper a little larger than the circle you want. I cut mine to 8 1/2 inches and marked the center with a pencil mark.

 

The edge punch cartridge and the front knob are both magnetic. You center the paper under the knob. This is easier than you would think because you can see down inside the knob and there is a crosshatch inside. And the knob attaches to the magnet easily.

 

Then just attach the edge punch cartridge. It will pop on the magnet easily too.

 

Then you just punch and then turn the knob, punch, turn the knob, punch, turn the knob until the circle is punched out.

 

What do you think?? Think you need to own one??

Stacy