April Showers Bring Sunflowers!

Today I am sharing a card that we made at my Terrific Techniques class last week. We've had tons of snow lately here in Colorado, and I needed a pretty flower to brighten my skies, since my real garden has taken a hit from all this spring snow.

I used the Poinsettia Punch and made a cute sunflower card. I CASE'd Cindy MacLean's card. I changed it slightly, but couldn't improve upon her design.

Stamp Sets:  Hardwood, A Dozen Thoughts
Ink:  Smoky Slate, Basic Gray
Cardstock:  Smoky Slate, Crushed Curry, Old Olive, Early Espresso
Accessories: Poinsettia Punch, 1 1/4 Circle Punch, Washi Label Punch, Linen Thread.

Thanks for looking!

Inking Idaho on the Road Displays

Back in March, I went to a wonderful event, called Inking Idaho On the Road. It was put on by my favorite stamper, Becky Roberts. If you don't follow her blog, Inking Idaho---you should. She's an amazing stamper!

I also had the opportunity to design some projects for her event. Here is a pic of my display:

My theme was the Bold Butterfly Bundle, and the Watercolor Wings bundle. I made several cards, a diamond shaped box, and a large box to hold all the cards. :) I also used the adorable Pretty Petals paper in my theme. What do you think?
You can see Becky's post about it HERE!   
Thank you Becky, for asking me to create a display for you! It was my honor! 

A Sketch Challenge

So each week, my Stampin' Up group, Inking Everything, has a weekly stamping challenge. Last week, it was a color challenge using these colors:

 

Here is my take on those colors:

(I used Black for my neutral instead of white) 

First I punched a 1 3/4 circle from a sticky note and used it to place my moon on a Whisper White background. Then I sponged my background using Old Olive, Crushed Curry, Tangerine Tango and Tempting Turquoise. After the background was done, I lightly sponged Curry and a touch of Tangerine onto my moon, to make it tri-colored. Then I took Basic Black Archival Ink and stamped the Flower images using the Wild About Flowers stamp set. The greeting is from this set too. Tie a basic black ribbon around, and mount it to a black cardbase. Very simple and quick card with a WOW effect. If you want to see my first attempt, check out my FB Page, Rocky Mountain Hi Stamping, HERE!

Thanks for looking!

The Retiring List is out!

If you want to see a list of what's retiring, click here:
Stampin' Up! Retiring List 2016
So I am offering a sale to you. This is my RETIREMENT PARTY pricing!
ANY RETIRING STAMP SETS are Buy One Get One 50% OFF, from now until May 31st! That's right BOGO 50%. This is NOT on the accessories, stamp sets only! 

 I am sad to see a few sets go, but you will not believe the stamp sets coming to replace them! Woohoo! My favorite catalog in YEARS! I will be hosting a catalog kickoff party on June 1st, if you want details, let me know!  If you're out of state and would like a catalog, email me and I'll send you one. It's $5 and I will send you a coupon with it for $5 off a $30 order.

The Last of the Weekly Deals!

Good Morning Stampers!
Today I am going to post the final Weekly Deal from Stampin' Up!
After careful consideration, they've decided to do more random sales throughout the year, and not offer Weekly Deals.
Get these DEALS before they're gone! You have through Monday, April 18, 2015, unless they sell out faster.

Contact me, using the form on the left, or you can shop straight from the Shopping Button on the right!

Creative Crew Blog Hop

I was nominated by Janey of Inspired Stamping by Janey Backer to participate in the Creative Crew Blog Hop! Janey and I met through our Stamping Group, Inking Everything.

The rules of the Blog Hop are as follows:
1) Create a project exclusive to the Creative Crew Blog Hop.
2) Answer a few questions.
3) Nominate two stampers that inspire me!

Here is my project made exclusively for this blog hop:

An altered Journal!
The Kraft Grid journal is from Stampin' Up! Annual Catalog. I love these little journals! It's so easy to alter them and make them into something adorable! I used the Irresistably Yours DSP from the Sale-A-Bration Catalog, and sponged on some Basic Black ink. I loved the dark grey look of the black on the paper, so I didn't sponge it too dark. The top part of the background is Whisper White Paper, embossed with the Polka Dot Embossing Folder, and the Texture Boutique. The Flower is a single stamp called Blended Bloom, and it's colored with the Cherry Cobbler and Daffodil Delight Blendabilities. I love using these markers as they make me feel like an artist...even though I am not! They add such dimension to your coloring. Here's a closer look:

The ribbon is Daffodil Delight Chevron Ribbon, and that's an Antique Brad. I did sponge very lightly around the white polka dot border, to give my journal a little pop!  Hope you like it!


Onto the Questions:
1) What are you working on?
Currently, I am working on projects for my next two classes: My Chalk Talk Class, and my Butterfly Basics Class.

2) How does your work differ from others in your genre?
If I had to put my finger on one specific thing, I would say that I love Shabby Chic. The one thing that differs about me is that I can't ever totally pull off Shabby Chic, because I am so Type A that I cannot leave my projects too shabby! LOL...I think my right brain collides with my left, so I am left with Not-So-Shabby-Chic!

3) Why do you create what you do?
Well...Usually I am steered by current trends, but I just love certain new color schemes, and certain things I see in the craft stores or on Pinterest, and run from there.

4) How does your creative process work?
When I am trying to design for a class, the first thing I do is pull out some Designer Paper, pick out coordinating solid colors that match, grab a good stamp set, then set it to the side for a day or so, until all sorts of pretty ideas come running into my head, and then I can whip out three or four things in an hour or two. I carry a planner with me, and I am always jotting down sketches from my head to use later.

Last...but certainly NOT least...I am going to nominate Krista Murphy from Krista's Blog, because she always makes adorable projects!

And I am going to nominate Raquelle Clifton from The Lady and Her Stamps because Raquelle always comes up with something wonderful!

Janey...thank you SO much for nominating me to participate in the Creative Crew Blog Hop!

Painted Petals Journal

Can you tell I love this stamp set?
This was a project from my Painted Petals Class in January. It's a tiny little Composition Book that I altered. I bought it at one of the big box stores during school supply season. I see school supplies and my eyes bug out! I like no...LOVE them!

It was super simple to cover this little notebook. I just took some Sticky Strip, ran a piece down the spine, the right side of the front cover, and the left side of the back cover, cut my DSP to fit, and rounded the corners before adhering. Then, I just made the cute tag with the Scalloped Tag Punch, and tied the ribbon. Super easy, fun project that you can make multiples of quickly. Here's a close-up of the ribbon:

Ingredients:
Stamp Sets: Painted Petals
Ink: Daffodil Delight, Pear Pizzazz
Paper: Pacific Point, Whisper White
Accessories: Painted Petals DSP, Daffodil Delight Chevron Ribbon, Whisper White Thick Baker's Twine, Scallop Tag Topper Punch, Dimensionals.