GCA#7 - A sketch inspired by Cathy!

Happy Sunday everyone! Here we are at week 7 of the Getting Creative with Ann challenge. I tossed around a few ideas for this week, but when I received a thank you RAK from Cathy M., I knew just what the GCA would be! Her card is pictured above and the sketch layout is just below. I left the sentiment panel off in the sketch and you can place it, or not, on your card where you feel it fits best.

I'm sure you can tell from both Cathy's card and my sample what the different layers are. The box in the main image panel IS NOT part of the sketch. As I said, the sentiment panel can be placed at your choice and embellishments are up to you!

On my sample I moved the sentiment panel to the left of the card and on top of the image. My main image panel is slightly larger than the one in Cathy's card, so that is one reason why I moved it.

I used my Fresh Cuts set from SU!, new Bella Rose dsp and my base card is Tangerine Tango. I did crimp my third panel, just as Cathy did, but that is an option too. You can use a crimper or run the panel through a Cuttlebug or Big Shot, it's up to you.

To be entered in the challenge drawing, make a card/project using the bedding for your motivation , upload it either to your blog, or to an online gallery and post a link to your card to this blog entry as a comment by September 5, 2008 at 12 midnight. I will choose the winner through a random number generator and post the next day.

Even if you can't make the drawing deadline, PLEASE feel free to participate in the challenge and upload your creations at any time. I would love to see it!If you upload your card on SCS, please put GCA6 (NO SPACE IN BETWEEN GCA AND 7) in the keyword section. That way everyone can look at all of the creations at once! If you've been waiting to join in the fun, jump on in and have some fun!! I can't wait to see what everyone comes up with!

Happy Stamping!!

~~~Ann~~~

GCA#6 Winner!!

Hello everyone!! I am pleased to announce that Brandy is this week's winner!!! I used my son (whose 21!) to help me pick the winner and he chose her card. Not very scientific I know, but with only two entries I needed to spice it up a bit!!

You can see Brandy's card on her blog, Brandy's Stamp and Share. Check out her card, and blog, and give her a congrats for winning this week!

GCA#7 will be posted on Sunday. Come on over and play with us!!!

Happy Stamping!!

~~~Ann~~~

Let's Celebrate!!

Hello everyone!! The card I have for you today has special meaning for me! I created it using my 3 new, and FREE, sets from SU!!! How did I get 3 free sets you ask? Well, let me tell you.

I entered, and won, the August Stampin' Success contest entry: Tricks or Treats. For this category you were to create a 3-D Halloween project. At first I wasn't going to enter since the only SU! Halloween set I had was Booglie Eyes, and it's retired!

But, remember when I did the Bag in a Box tutorial? After I created my 2 samples for here, I thought this would be a neat project done for Halloween! Actually, for any holiday this project is great. But I still needed a Halloween stamp set, so I called one of my sideline demos, Judy T., and asked her if I could borrow her Batty for You set. I so wanted to order this set last year when it came out, but I had Booglie Eyes and I didn't need 2 Halloween sets.

Now I can't post a pick of my winning project, yet, but I will after the October SS is out later in September. I must say I about fell off my office chair when I read the email from SU! stating I had won!

So, what sets did I win? I choose 2 brand new Fall-Winter sets and one that just came out in the Spring-Summer book.

* Flower Fancy

* On Your Birthday

* Frames with a Flourish

All three sets were used on this card, along with SC190 and CC180 -Ruby Red, Close to Cocoa & Blush Blossom and WT180 - All Torn Up.

I started with the Blush Blossom piece from stash that was already stamped with Canvas in Close to Cocoa and then followed the sketch. To cover up the dividing line of the Ruby Red/Blush Blossom piece, I used a strip of Blush Blossom and my scallop edge punch on each side to create the ruffled look. I then layered it with a piece of white taffeta.

I just love how the sentiment fits just right into the circle frame, which fits in the 1 3/8" circle punch!! And yes, I cut out all those flowers and leaves to make this!

I hope you enjoy and am inspired to create your winning projects!!

Happy Stamping!!

~~~Ann~~~

Have a Witching Halloween - Oh My!!

Hello everyone!!! While I've been busy stamping this week, I haven't had time to upload anything!!! Tonight I have 1 of the cards to show you using a new set from Treehouse Stamps!!

This is for Ashley's Brainwave Wednesday Challenge she does every week. And yes I realize it's Thursday, but I finished this up last night and was just too tired to post it!!!

I used the Creepy Crawly set, which is available now from Treehouse Stamps. This is an adorable Halloween set with great sentiments and images. BWC20 this week was a sketch, and to see that sketch check out Ashley's blog!

I went with CC181 this week of Kraft, Rose Red & Black. I wasn't sure how this would turn out for a Halloween card, but I like it! I stamped my witch's hat in Black Staz on and used the "Out of the Box" technique to show it off more. Not sure how well you can see, but I also cut out the spider's legs! Look real close! I also stamped the hat again onto Rose Red dsp and cut out the larger circles and glued them onto the hat. I used my gel pen to color in the smaller circles. I then used my white gel pen on the black bottom piece to make my "Faith dots"!

The bat was stamped onto Rose Red cardstock, cut out and adhered using foam tape. The entire main image panel is up on dimensionals.

The swirled background is a small stamp with this set, and I just stamped it several times until I liked the coverage. I did "stamp off" once onto scrap paper and then stamped my card, in Rose Red ink.

I also am using up retired SU! ribbon, which is the polka dotted Pomegranate on here. The sentiment was stamped "full strength" in Rose Red and the star was stamped in black stazon onto Rose Red dsp.

Don't forget about this week's CGA! I'd love to see your creative idea based on the bedding!

Happy Stamping!!

~~~Ann~~~

GCA#6 - Creative Idea!!!

Hello everyone!! For the GCA this week, we are using bedding to help motivate us to create! I saw this bedding in the Ginny's catalog I received last week. My own bedroom is done in these colors and I love it!

For this challenge you can take any element in the photo to create your card or project. Use the colors, lines on the bedding or the overall feeling the bedding invokes. You can go the bedding section of Ginny's for more photos of this bedding, or choose a different set entirely. If you use another bedding set, make sure you mention the name of the set.

On my card I took the lines of the comforter and built up from there. As I knew I needed to make a sympathy card, I had to use calm patterned paper and stamp set. I went to my standard sympathy stamp set, Close as a Memory, and used one of the "calmer" sides of the Bashful Blue dsp.

For the effect on my flowers I first colored them with different blue SU! markers, lightly spritzed my watercolor paper and stamped. This gives your image a wet watercolored look. I also used my ticket corner punch to mimic the pillow shams.

Again, using straight clean lines I created my sentiment panel. An oval clip from the retired Aged Copper HPH with a piece of chocolate chip gg and my Martha Stewart butterfly punch, I was done. Now I did use the "busier" side of the Bashful Blue dsp for the butterfly, but this piece is smaller and doesn't overwhelm the card.

To be entered in the challenge drawing, make a card/project using the bedding for your motivation , upload it either to your blog, or to an online gallery and post a link to your card to this blog entry as a comment by August 29, 2008 at 12 midnight. I will choose the winner through a random number generator and post the next day. Even if you can't make the drawing deadline, PLEASE feel free to participate in the challenge and upload your creations at any time. I would love to see it!

If you upload your card on SCS, please put GCA6 (NO SPACE IN BETWEEN GCA AND 6) in the keyword section. That way everyone can look at all of the creations at once!If you've been waiting to join in the fun, jump on in and have some fun!! I can't wait to see what everyone comes up with!


Happy Stamping!!!


~~~Ann~~~

GCA#5 Winner!!!

Yes you read that right, there is only one winner this week! And the winner is: Elaine!!!! Her winning card can be found here. Elaine please email me your address at: pinkstamper06@yahoo.com so I can send out your goodies to you!

I am thrilled that Elaine was able to join the GCA this week. Her card is simply beautiful and perfect for "Minimum Materials"! And I just love what she did with her ribbon!!! So head on over to SCS and give Elaine some good cheer!

GCA#6 will be posted shortly!! I hope you can join us for another fun challenge this week!!


Happy Stamping!!


~~~Ann~~~

New Treehouse Stamps Available now & Coming Soon!!!

Hello everyone!!! I have 3 cards to show you today which highlight 2 news sets from Treehouse Stamps available now and one coming in September!!!

The first card showcases the "Friends & Lattes" set which will be available on September 5th. I just love this coffee set, probably because I love coffee so much, but this set is just so fun to stamp with!!! This card is also for Ashley's Brainwave Wednesday Challenge (BWC19) found here. I love the combo of pink and brown and put coffee with it, what an awesome combo!! I also took some of my design from the picture Ashley posted, like the crib bed ruffle and they have a scalloped feel to them.

I went a little crazy with the coffee cup as I paper pieced every part of it and did paper tole on it!!! The coffee cup is raised up from the saucer. Not sure what I was thinking when I decided to piece all these spots on the cup, but I do like the way it turned out!

And what about the steam? My intent was to just cut around the outside edges and put it on, but as I was cutting I wound up cutting more than I first anticipated, but the final result was worth it! It looks like the steam is actually coming right out of the cup!!

And you can't have coffee without a snack so how about a cupcake? I put crystal effects on the cherry and on the "coffee" in the cup. If you love coffee as much as I do, you HAVE to order this set on September 5th!! The creations with this set are endless!

My next card uses one of the new Halloween sets "Creepy Crawly". This set has the most adorable Halloween images! I'm not into the scary, gory images, but cute and crazy ones I can go for.

I used CC179 and SC189 on SCS for my colors and layout. The colors were Taken with Teal, Old Olive and Elegant Eggplant. I think these colors lend themselves to Halloween very nicely, so that's what I went with. I did a technique here I learned from Technique Junkies called the Bandanna technique. It's very fun and easy to do. If your a junkie you know all about this, if not click on the TJ logo on the right and find out what your missing!!

I stamped my images in black staz on and colored the spider with my SU! markers in Perfect Plum and Pale Plum. The sentiment is in Elegant Eggplant. I used my distressor tool on the 2 inside panel edges.


My third card uses the new "Happy Fall Y'all", now available. This set has wonderful fall images of pumpkins, leaves and a farmhouse. I was having a low mojo day when I created this card, and while I like how it turned out, I feel like it needs something more.

I used my Pumpkin Patch spectrum pad to stamp the pumpkins in and to edge the torn piece on the scarecrow. He is colored in with my SU! markers.

And I used these adorable white button brads I have on his jacket!

I'm working on more projects for my annual SU! Open House this Sunday, so be on the lookout for more pics!



Happy Stamping!!


~~~Ann~~~

Sharing some RAK's

Recently I've received some beautiful RAK's in the mail and I wanted to share them with all of you!





The first two are from my Divine Secret Sister (DSS) over on SCS, Amanda M. I know her name because the last round just finished up. Each round goes for 3 months and the group I am in, Ultimate Unos, requires each "sis" to send at least one card every month and a $10 gift by the end of the round. I usually spend more than I'm supposed to, but it's so much fun!!! Both of Amanda's cards use the Life's A Breeze set from SU!

The next RAK is from Cathy M. Cathy is just the sweetest person! She has been weekly participant in my GCA, and has won each week! This her thank you card to me! Thank you Cathy for playing each week!!

The next RAK comes from Stephanie S., AKA SmilynStef on SCS. Stephanie is the hostess of the Inspiration Challenge each Saturday on SCS. This was the her sample card for IC135. I just love it! Thanks Steph!


RAK's are wonderful gift to send someone and if you have an extra card, think about sending it to someone who could use a "Happy Mail Day!"


Happy Stamping!!!



~~~Ann~~~

Getting Creative with Ann #5 - Minimum Materials

Can you believe this is the 5th week for the GCA??? Time sure flies when your having fun!!! I know I'm having a ball bringing these challenges to you every week, as they help me grow as a stamper as I hope they help you!

This week we are working with Minimum Materials! What are minimum materials you ask? This is where we contain the amount of materials used on our creations, such as; cardstock, embellishments or even the type of card we make.

This week for minimum materials I want you to have NO MORE than:

* 3 layers (and this includes your base layer)

* 2 different types of embellishments

* you must have 1 dimensional portion to your card

* your card can be any theme

My sample for you this week was inspired by a swap I received at convention this year. I'll post a pic of that swap tomorrow after my camera batteries charge!

I used the Batty For You Halloween set to make a simple, yet cute, Halloween card. I made a change from the swap card, and that is the addition of the one circle punched image on Whisper White and raised up with a dimensional.

As you can see, even with minimum materials you can still create a beautiful card!!

To be entered in the challenge drawing, make a card with the listed minimum materials, upload it either to your blog, or to an online gallery and post a link to your card to this blog entry as a comment by August 22, 2008 at 12 midnight. I will choose the winner through a random number generator and post the next day. Even if you can't make the drawing deadline, PLEASE feel free to participate in the challenge and upload your creations at any time. I would love to see it!If you upload your card on SCS, please put GCA5 (NO SPACE IN BETWEEN GCA AND 5) in the keyword section. That way everyone can look at all of the creations at once!

If you've been waiting to join in the fun, jump on in and have some fun!! I can't wait to see what everyone comes up with!


Happy stamping and creating!!!!

~~~Ann~~~

GCA#4 Winners!!

Hello everyone!!! Brandy and Cathy are at it again! The two talented ladies are each winners in this week's Getting Creative with Ann challenge!!!

You can see Cathy's projects here and Brandy's here. Please take a moment to check them out and leave them a comment. Each one will receive some stamping goodies from me to help them create more wonderful embossed projects!

Would you like to receive some stamping goodies from me? All you need to do is play along in my weekly challenge, post your creation either to your blog, SCS or both and place a link or comment back here so I can find it!!

Look for GCA#5 to be posted sometime tonight. I have alot of work to do for my annual SU! New Catalog Open House I am hosting next week.

Congrats again Brandy & Cathy!!!

Happy Stamping!!

~~~Ann~~~

Getting Creative with Ann #4 - Heat Embossing

Hello everyone!!! This week for the GCA were are focusing on Heat Embossing!! So get out your heat guns and embossing powders to create some beautiful cards!! This technique was the first one I learned as a new stamper and I still remember the awe I felt when that embossing powder melted and created that beautiful shine on my image. My heat tool was my first "major" stamping purchase!!! Oh the early days!!

I still love to heat emboss and do it frequently. Whether I am embossing only my sentiment, main image or several images on my card I always love the way it takes my card up just a notch!
My samples for you are an "oldie but goodie" and scrapbook page I submitted to SU! for Convention M&T helpers (I wasn't chosen : - ( )! My son borrowed my camera for the weekend so I am pulling from my files to use as my samples!!!

I had extras from M & T kits we could order after convention 2006 and have played around to use them up. This is actually a modified version of the card from convention. I used white craft on the flower and embossed in white ep, added another circle to the center image and stitched around it with the gel pen, and used Old Olive for the Circle of Friendship saying instead of black. The black from the original was too *out there* for me. And finally I added a sentiment at the bottom.

I really like using my chipboard and and the possibilities are endless as to what you can do with it!!! Embossing on chipboard makes your embossed image stand out even more!!! Please note: You DO NOT have to use chipboard on your creation!

My scrapbook page uses subtle heat embossing to highlight certain elements. Both of the chipboard flowers are inked up, covered in Versamark and clear embossed. Honestly, I can't remember what the colors are!!

On the sentiment panel, I stamped the sentiment first, then I overstamped the fern image in Versamark and used clear embossing powder. I like doing this just to give a highlight of an image without overwhelming the main image.

My favorite, and go to embossing powder, is Clear. You can do so much with one jar of clear embossing powder, Versamark and any color of ink!!! You do not need to have pigment or craft ink to emboss with. As long as you have a Versamark pad, you're good to go!!


Here's how it works:

1. Stamp your image in the dye ink of your choice.

2. Stamp immediately onto your Versamark pad - (Your pad will get messy doing this, but it DOES NOT impact the Versamark ink for future stamping!!!)

3. Stamp your image directly onto your cardstock.

4. Cover with clear embossing powder and heat!

How simple is that?!?!


So get busy with your ideas, get out your heat tool and CREATE!!!!

To be entered in the challenge drawing, make a card with the listed technique, upload it either to your blog, or to an online gallery and post a link to your card to this blog entry as a comment by August 15, 2008 at 12 midnight. I will choose the winner through a random number generator and post the next day. Even if you can't make the drawing deadline, PLEASE feel free to participate in the challenge and upload your creations at any time. I would love to see it!If you upload your card on SCS, please put GCA4 (NO SPACE IN BETWEEN GCA AND 4) in the keyword section. That way everyone can look at all of the creations at once!


Happy Stamping & Embossing!!!


~~~Ann~~~

GCA3 winners!!

Yes you read the title correctly!!! There are again 2 winners this week for the GCA - Creating with Color!!!

And the winners are Cathy and Brandy!!!!! Click on each of their names to check out their awesome cards posted on SCS!! And thank you for being so loyal to my new weekly challenge!

Come on ladies and join in the fun too!!! I know you want to! Check back either later tonight or tomorrow for the next weekly challenge!! I'm still trying to decide what to do!!!! LOL!!!

Congrats Cathy and Brandy!!!!

Happy Stamping!!

~~~Ann~~~

GCA2 Winner!!

Since there were only 2 entries for this challenge, both lucky ladies will each receive a card from me with some stamping goodies!!

And those lucky stampers are Cathy and Brandy!!! Congrats to both of you and your goodies will be in the mail by the end of the week.

Come on ladies and join the fun!!! Be sure to check out GCA3 in the post just below. And you can check out Cathy and Brandy's cards on SCS here.

Happy Stamping everyone!!

~~~Ann~~~

Getting Creative with Ann #3 - Color!!!

Hello everyone!! For the GCA this week we are focusing on color!

The color combo is

Brocade Blue

Groovy Guava

Wild Wasabi

If you do not have Groovy Guava or Wild Wasabi you may substitute Cameo Coral and Old Olive.

My sample features 2 of the new sets I received at convention: Inspired by Nature and Flight of the Butterfly. You wilol be seeing much more of these sets soon, I promise!!

To be entered in the challenge drawing, make a card with the listed colors, upload it either to your blog, or to an online gallery and post a link to your card to this blog entry as a comment by August 8, 2008 at 12 midnight. I will choose the winner through a random number generator and post the next day. Even if you can't make the drawing deadline, PLEASE feel free to participate in the challenge and upload your creations at any time. I would love to see it!If you upload your card on SCS, please put GCA3 (NO SPACE IN BETWEEN GCA AND 3) in the keyword section. That way everyone can look at all of the creations at once!


Have fun and Happy Stamping!!!

~~~Ann~~~

Convention was AWESOME!!!!!

Hello everyone!!! I'm back safe & sound from Salt Lake City and the 20th anniversary SU! convention!!! What a blast I had! This was my first convention with all demonstrators together and it was fantastic!

I must say the new Fall-Winter catalog is filled with wonderful new products and I can't wait to show what they are! The stamp sets we received in our bag are just amazing and the Make & Takes we did were over the top. As soon as I unpack my camera I'll get pictures posted.

I also haven't forgotten about the Getting Creative with Ann challenge and will post #3 later tonight. I had very limited computer access while I was in SLC.

Happy Stamping everyone!!

~~~Ann~~~