I'm Back!!

Hello everyone!!!

I am so sorry for being silent for the past few days, but my Internet decided to take a rest from me!! LOL!!! Really, it's not a laughing matter as I feel so cut off from the world if my Internet goes wonky like that!

And, I've had my precious grandson Cameron since last Wednesday!! He's a busy 3 year old that doesn't leave me much time for anything else! To all of you out there who are moms with young kids, or single moms, my hats off to you!!!!

With all of that being said, I have not forgotten about last week's GCA winners or this week's GCA!

For GCA10 there are two winners!! As I've said before I'm a sap and hate to chose if there is only 2! Brandy and Cathy claim the winning spot once again with there wonderful creations! You can see both of their cards here. I have cards/stamping goodies to send out to both of you!! I also discovered, buried under papers on my stamping table, items I thought had gone out last week!! So I have many "thick" envelopes to send out!!

Since it is already Tuesday, I am skipping GCA11 for this week and will post it on Sunday, October 5th! Maybe sooner if my grandson lets me!!

Happy Stamping!!!

~~~Ann~~~

GCA#10 - Spotlighted Stamper challenge!!!

Hello everyone! This week for the GCA we are focusing in on a spotlighted stamper and her wonderful creations.

Since I am running somewhat late today, I am piggybacking onto the Featured Stamper challenge posted every Sunday on SCS. But...there is an added challenge for my GCA!! Now you didn't really think I would let you off that easy did you??

The FS on SCS this week is E3stamper AKA Shannon!! Shannon is a fantastic stamper and has an outstanding amount of creations to choose from. She is also a guest designer with Treehouse Stamps and so this is doubly appropriate for this week's GCA. I have not found my card I wish to CASE yet, but as soon as I do I will get my sample done and posted.

Here are the guidelines you need to follow for this challenge:

* Follow the Featured Stamper guidelines found here.
* Go to Shannon's gallery, or blog, and choose a card to CASE.

Now for the twist!!

*Once you have chosen your card to CASE, and following the FS guidelines, changed at least 2 things on your card, I want you to leave one element on your card EXACTLY as Shannon did on hers.
* This can be the same brads, eyelets or ribbon.
* It could be the same color cardstock or type of designer paper.

Please make sure you point out what changes you made and what the one item is you left exactly the same.

To be entered in the challenge drawing, make a card/project using Shannon's creations 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 26, 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 GCA10 (NO SPACE IN BETWEEN GCA AND 10) 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!!

Happy Stamping!!! I can't wait to see what everyone comes up with!


~~~Ann~~~

GCA#9 - Winner!!

Hello everyone!!! Yes, I know I am late in posting the winner for GCA#9, but I've had a very busy weekend!!!

I co-hosted a large stamping event with 7 other demos yesterday, and at the end of the day I was dog tired! Every muscle in my body ached.

Today I had a workshop, so I am just know settling down to post the winner and post the GCA for next week!

And the winner is........ Cathy!

You can see her wonderful card on SCS! She did an awesome job with her paper piecing. Thank you Cathy for playing along again. And I will have quite the thick package out to you in the next few days! (I'm a little behind!)

Next post is for GCA#10 and it's a fun one!!

Happy Stamping!!

~~~Ann~~~

Blog Candy Winner!!!

Hello everyone!!! I am pleased to announce the winner of my 10,000 hits blog candy is:

Sue - and this is her comment:

Holy Toledo! What a nice blog candy you have...(oh that sounded like the big bad wolf didn't it LOL) Congrats on 10K...seriously that is too cool.
September 11, 2008 10:07 PM

Congrats Sue!! I hope this helps you to put your stamps and creativity to good use!!

Sue please send me your address to pinkstamper06@yahoo.com and I will get your blog candy winnings out to you!

Thank you to everyone who stopped by and entered my blog candy contest.

Happy Stamping!!

~~~Ann~~~

It's here - GCA#9!!! Paper Pieced lately?

Hello everyone!! Sorry for the delay on getting this week's GCA posted, but I've had some computer issues! All is well for now!

This week the challenge is Paper Piecing! This is a simple, fun, yet still packs that WOW punch to your creation. For a detailed tutorial visit SCS resource forums on Paper Piecing.

While most paper piecing is done with patterned paper, you can also paper piece with solid cardstock. This just adds to the WOW of your creation!

On my sample here I have done both. And remember you need an outline image stamp to get the best results with this technique. I used one of the newest sets from Treehouse Stamps - Olivia's Christmas - which is now available on their site! You must check them out as so many of their sets are perfect for paper piecing! I also used CC#183 - Going Gray, Riding Hood Red and Green Galore. With these colors I couldn't help but make Christmas cards!!

This card is also my card for FS#84 - LazyLizard AKA Liz!! She is a sweet person and leaves the most sweetest comments on everyone's creations! Please keep her and her family in your thoughts and prayers as they are recovering from Hurricane Ike!! You can see the Liz's card I cased here.

I changed:

* Colors and stamp set

* Theme of the card

* Placed my ribbon and swirl clip in a different spot

* Added a background panel

To start with you need to stamp your main image first, and build from there. For Olivia's wings I stamped the image onto retired dsp by SU!, Charbon. I like the effect the small pop of polka dots gives on here. For the scarf, I stamped the image onto Green Galore cardstock and then used my white gel pen to color in the dots. I then stamped the bow onto a piece of Riding Hood Red and cut that out.

I used my snowflake embossing folder and the Cuttlebug Smoosh technique for the background image. I then went around the edges with Going Gray ink to create more contrast.

I can't wait to see what everyone comes up with using this creative and fun technique!

To be entered in the challenge drawing, make a card/project using the posted colors 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 20, 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 GCA9 (NO SPACE IN BETWEEN GCA AND 9) 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!!

My thoughts and prayers go out to everyone who is dealing with the aftermath of Hurricane Ike and the recovery process.

Happy Stamping!!!

~~~Ann~~~

GCA#8 Winner!!

Hello everyone!!! I am happy to announce the winner for GCA#8 is Cathy!!!!

As she was the only entrant, she was my logical choice! But I know Cathy and she is jumping up and down right now as she reads that she has won! Again!!

C'mon and join in the fun with the rest of us! You know you want to!!

To see Cathy's winning creations go here. Check it out and give her a big congrats!!

Thank you Cathy for playing again this week! GCA#9 will be posted tomorrow.

Happy Stamping!!

~~~Ann~~~

10,000 hits Blog Candy!!!

Hello everyone!!! I know it's been a few days since my last post, but I've been "under the weather"!

I do have the 10,000 hits blog candy to offer up to you today!! I still am in awe that my counter went over the 10,000 mark! And in commemoration, and deep appreciation, I have the above blog candy winnings for one lucky stamper!

Here's what you'll receive:

* One 12 x 12 unopened pack of Temping Turquoise dsp

* One brand-new package of Fun Fiber adornments

* 2 Versa color cubes in Neptune & Hyacinth

* One 2008 Sale-A-Bration stamp set - Lots of Thoughts.

* One "Sweets for the Sweet" from Treehouse Stamps

* Package of holographic butterflies

* Package of baby embellishments by Jolee's

* One Stampin' Up! ink pen

* One package of yellow/pink silk flowers

* One package of Bradletz Big Flowers

* 5 spools of ribbon

Is this awesome or what?? I can't wait to send this off to the lucky winner! And what do you need to do to enter, you ask? Simply leave a comment to this post telling me your best stamping tip, and that's it! And please, only one post per visitor.

This blog candy offering will be open until September 15, 2008 at 12 midnight. I will choose a winner, by random number generator, on September 16, 2008 and post by 6pm.

Good Luck and Happy Stamping!!!

~~~Ann~~~

GCA#8 - Creative Color!!

Hello everyone!!! This week we are playing with color! I was looking through some of the old Color Combos from SCS and landed on CC55. I was looking for some colors I haven't used in awhile and that would definitely be Pink Passion and Pixie Pink!

So the colors are:

Pixie Pink

Pink Passion

Chocolate Chip

Close to Cocoa

Now you have your choice here of using either Chocolate Chip and Close to Cocoa or only one of them. If you do not have the pinks, use what you have that is closest to them! I'm flexible! I just want us to have fun and use these colors to get us stamping!! If you upload to SCS, don't forget the CC55 along with your GCA8!

I'll post my sample later, once my son returns my camera!! I swear he has it more than I do!!

To be entered in the challenge drawing, make a card/project using the posted colors 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 12, 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 GCA8 (NO SPACE IN BETWEEN GCA AND 8) 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!

I'll have the 10,000 hits blog candy details up later today!!!

Happy Stamping!!!


~~~Ann~~~

GCA#7 Winners!!

Hello everyone!! This week's winners are Cathy and Elaine!!! I am such a sap and do not like haivng to choose between people if I don't have too!! Since they were the only entrants, I choose them both!

You can see Cathy's card - here. Check it out and give her a big congrats!!

You can see Elaine's card - here. Check it out and give her a big congrats too!!

Thank you ladies for playing along again!! Much appreciated!

Happy Stamping!!

~~~Ann~~~

Coffee and 10,000 Hits!!!!

Hello everyone!! I just noticed my counter went over the 10,000 hit!!!! Woohoo, that means I'll be offering up some Blog Candy!!! I'll go shopping to see what I find and get the 10,000 hit blog candy up this weekend! Thank you to everyone who has helped me get so many hits! I hope you keep coming back for more!

My card I have for you today is for LSC184: Orange Roasters. I have to admit when I first read the title I thought, "Orange Roosters? I don't have any rooster stamps!" Then I re-read Silvia's post and noticed it said roaster, not rooster! It was kate and I was tired, ok! LOL!

I also combined this with WT182 - Speciality Paper. I've had this stack of DCWV Pocket & Posies sparkle dsp for quite some time! Not that I don't necessarily want to use it, but I forget I have it!! LOL!!I found a color combo using this paper I would have never thought to put together too! I used Tangerine Tango, Apricot Appeal and Sage Shadow. But I have to say the Sage Shadow works on here!

I put CE on the spots on the coffee cup and on the "coffee" part. Not sure how well that shows up in the pic. This wonderful coffee/latte set is NOW available from Treehouse Stamps!! For any coffee lover this set is a must have!I used the coffee bean with this set in all the colors on the white middle strip. Covered up most of it!

Had to cut out the steam again! It's a given with this since steam isn't flat, right?

I also used the sketch I am featuring this week's GCA. One of my first players, and winners, sent me a RAK with this sketch and I just loved it! She found it on Julee Tilman's blog. There is still time to play in my challenge this week and be entered in the raffle. You have until 12 midnight Friday 9/5. Come on and get creative with me!

Happy Stamping!!

~~~Ann~~~

Butterflies & Lattes - What a perfect combo!

Hello everyone!!! I have 3 cards to show you today!! Yes, I have been busy stamping up a storm, but my camera was MIA for awhile so I had to wait to take pictures.

The other day I was going through my scrap bins, yes I have bins, and was astounded to see how much useful cardstock I had! And to explain, I have my scraps stored in plastic shoe boxes according to SU! color families. Little anal-retentive, but most nurses are!! So I decided to challenge myself to see how many cards I can make using ONLY pieces from my scraps! Here's what I've done so far!

My first card is for this week's color challenge on SCS: CC182 -Monochromatic. Sometimes I have a very hard time using this kind of color scheme, but in the end I like how this turned out! The colors I used are More Mustard, So Saffron reg & dsp and Barely Banana with Whisper White as my neutral. I didn't have a set layout to begin with, but just played around with my scraps and such, and went from there. All three circle pieces were found in my scraps which is how I came up with the panel for the butterfly.

I am just LOVING my new SU! scallop edge punch and use as often as I can! It certainly makes short work of creating scallops, but what an impact it gives! I used my Paisley background stamp on the white panel and then spritzed it with my So Saffron marker. The Word Window pieces are each of the colors and then I used Barely Banana brads. The butterfly panel is up on dimensionals and I them stamped the polka dotted butterfly in More Mustard on Barely Banana, cut it out and adhered with Tombo glue. Iused my new SU! set - Flight of the Butterfly.

The next card is for Ashley's weekly challenge: BWC20. This week she presents a sketch for all us. You can see the sketch on her blog here. A simple and easy sketch to try!

I used the soon-to-be-released set: Friends & Lattes! Love this set, but then anything having to do with coffee makes me happy!! This set will be available on Friday, September 5th!! Again, I used my scallop edge punch on the large square, but only to make a frame and not punch out the entire piece. Then I just layered my other pieces inside.

I seem to have an obsession with cutting this coffee cup and the steam out, as you will see in the next card too! I colored the coffee cup with my SU! markers and then went over it with my white gel pen. The coffee cup and the scalloped edge square are all up on dimensionals. The steam is glued to the corner of the cup and then just rests on the upper left corner of the square.

And my last card for today is for the Sketch Challenge on SCS: SC192. A simple and clean sketch, but with many possibilities to it!! Again, this card is made using only scraps from my scrap bins, which made the overall size of this card 5 1/2" x 4". The Sage Shadow piece was just a tiny bit narrower, but overall I like how the card turned out!

As I went searching through my scraps, I came across this retired dsp from SU!: Wintergreen, and seeing how it matches the Sage Shadow and Kraft, I used it. And who doesn't love a hot cup of coffee on a cold day? (Too bad it's 90* here in Michigan this week!!!)

Again, I colored the coffee cup with my SU! markers and then cut it out, along with the steam! I found these wonderful aged copper large eyelets at Hobby Lobby and just had to have them! I used a strip of chocolate stitched ribbon (non SU!) where the two dsp's meet.

The entire image panel is up on dimensionals, as well as the coffee cup and steam. I did some paper piercing around the Kraft layer, but with the shading I'm not sure how much you can see.

That's it for today!! Must get back to working as I am working from home this week.

Happy Stamping!!

~~~Ann~~~

Trick or Treat - Black Magic style!!

No, I'm not delving into forbidden arts, but I did try a new technique called Black Magic! This is the TLC on SCS for this week.

I have the hardest time using my Prismacolor pencils and today was no exception! I used Goo Gone as my blending agent and I don't think that helped me any better than using the Gamsol!

Oh, well, in the end I like how the card turned out, but it was frustrating getting there!!

And all the pieces and parts to make this card came straight out of my scraps!! Oh cool is that??

All images are by Treehouse Stamps and now available! Inside I stamped "Smell my feet, give me something good to eat" and Happy Halloween. These come with the set.

Happy Stamping!!!

~~~Ann~~~