Wednesday, December 31, 2008

Flower Power Challenge

Happy New Year All!

Hope everyone has some fun things planned for this evening. I wish you all a wonderful and safe New Year's eve and a happy and healthy New Year!

I just recently posted a new Whimsy Challenge on PCP. This one is called Flower Power. Make a project using flowers in some way....you can stamp them, use floral paper, add flower embellishments, anything with flowers. I'm getting tired of winter already and want to see some touches of Spring! Have fun with this one. Oh, and if you have a Whimsy image, please use it! I love to see all your fabulous Whimsy creations! You'll have until Saturday, January 10th to enter and I will choose one random winner to receive a free Whimsy Stamp!


This is the card I made for the challenge. I got lots of flowers for Christmas from my good friend Jo, as well as from Santa...;) my hubby!

I started with a base of pink and added some Parisian Summer dsp from SU!. I used my spiral punch on the edging, first time I think I've used this one too. I also distressed the edges. The main image is my Whimsy Animals Skunk. I colored him with an aquapainter and re-inkers and a Brick White Copic, the grass is also a Copic. Still haven't mastered the use of these markers, I need to see a tutorial! Anyone? The other embellishments are Vanilla HPH and a heart shaped piece of metal, and some ribbon.

Thanks for popping over! Have a wonderful holiday! Happy Stamping! :)

Monday, December 29, 2008

Katarina's Sketch 37

Happy Monday All!

Hope your week is off to a good start. I had time to stamp today, so it's been a good day here! :) I have this card to share with you. I made it using Katarina's Sketch challenge on her blog. The challenge is open until January 4th and you have a chance to win a free Whiff of Joy stamp.

I've had this Alpine ribbon from SU! for a while now, so this was the basis for my color combo. I used Chocolate Chip, Riding Hood Red, and Kiwi Kiss. I ran the red through the CB with a paisley folder, but it's mostly covered up so it's hard to see. The Kiwi pieces have been stamped with a paisley pattern from the set Fresh Fillers by SU!.

The main image is my Whimsy Animals Frog. I colored him with Twinkling H2Os then added some white gel pen accents. The final touches on this card are distressed edges, Prima flowers and a button, and a vanilla HPH oval. The sentiment is from the Whimsy Sentiments Collection.

Thanks for stopping by today! Hope you have a good night. Happy Stamping!! :)

Sunday, December 28, 2008

Whimsy Guest Designer

Hi All!

Hope everyone had a wonderful holiday! It's been great to be home with my family, relaxing and spending time together. I hope to have some time to stamp this week too. I feel like I haven't made anything in forever. Plus, Santa was very good to me and I have lots of new things to try out! :) Hope you got lots of new goodies too.

As some of you may know, our Whimsy Stamps Guest Design call for the month of January ended yesterday. I want to thank all of you who participated in the call for Whimsy Stamps. We had the honor of seeing fabulous creations from very talented crafters. And choosing a new guest designer was an extremely tough decision. We appreciate the time each of you took to make your cards and we hope you had a fun time creating them.

Please remember if you weren't chosen this time, we will be having a new guest designer call each month, so please try out again. Don't be discouraged, continue to pursue your design goals.

Our next guest designer, for the month of January 2009 will be Ellie Stover of Live*Laugh*Love....and stamp. We are very excited to have Ellie as a guest designer. She has a very sweet style in her card making, one we feel will fit well with our Whimsy images. Her attention to detail really adds to her creations, each accent is perfectly placed and carried out.

We hope you'll help us in welcoming Ellie to our team. Please be sure to see her Whimsy Stamps artwork during the month of January on her blog as well as in the gallery at WhimsyStamps.com.

Have a wonderful evening and start to the new week. Hope to see you soon with some new stamped projects!

Happy Stamping!! :)

Tuesday, December 23, 2008

Teacher Gifts - Snowman Soup

Hi All, happy Tuesday!


I can't believe we are only 2 days away from Christmas! I haven't even finished wrapping all my gifts yet. I did just hit the grocery store this morning, before the all the crowds. And of course I forgot something so now I'll have to head back. Ahhh, maybe later.

I wanted to share the teacher gifts I made for my son's Kindergarten teachers this year. I found this idea on Rach's blog, Papercrafts by Rach. She had the cutest poem for snowman soup. I found these tins at SpecialtyBottle.com. I filled them with hot cocoa, Hershey Kisses, and candy canes.

The tin has been wrapped with Ski Slope DSP. I added ribbon and felt snowflakes as accents along with a JOY ornament for his teachers to keep. The top image is a penguin stamp from Firecracker Designs colored with ink re-fills and an aquapainter. I used my Coluzzle and circle nesties to make the tag for the lid.

I made this card to go with the gifts. The image is a new design from Whimsy Stamps and will be available for purchase on January 1st. This is our Whimsy Animals Seal! The papers are Blue Bayou, Baja Breeze, and Ski Slope DSP. I added grosgrain ribbon, a felt snowflake and button, a clip and a tag for accents. The sentiment is from Whimsy Stamps as well, available January 1st.

I colored this little guy with a black marker and an aquapainter. Then added some white gel pen accents. He is framed in with a scalloped circle Nestabilities. I also added some white gel pen accents around the card.

Thanks for stopping by today! I hope you're all ready for your holiday festivities! Have a wonderful and safe holiday season!


Happy Stamping! and Happy Holidays! :)

Sunday, December 21, 2008

Sketch Saturday - Sneak Peek!

Happy Sunday!

We are in the midst of another snow storm here today, so it's a perfect day for stamping! Plus, with all the holiday preparations, I haven't stamped in days. While out blog hopping, I came across a sketch on Jeanette's blog. This one is for Sketch Saturday's weekly challenge. This is the sketch you need to use. Then you can post your creation and leave a comment for the Sketch Saturday team. The DT cards are just beautiful!

The card I made with this sketch uses a new Whimsy Stamps image, one that will be released on January 1st. So I guess this is a little sneak peek along with the challenge! This is our Whimsy Animals Collection Polar Bear, but now that I think about it, he could be any kind of bear with a little color.

I started with Baja Breeze cardstock and layered on various pieces of Ski Slope DSP from Stampin' Up!. The accents on this card are felt snowflakes, rhinestone brads without the brad, snow writer pen and glitter, and wide grosgrain ribbon. The sentiment is also a new one from Whimsy Stamps, available on January 1st!

Thanks for stopping by! Have a great Sunday!

Happy Stamping!



Friday, December 19, 2008

Sketch Something with DRS Designs

Happy Friday All!

I'm so happy that this week is finally over! It's been a long one! We have a new challenge for you over on STAMP SOMETHING and this challenge will run for two weeks. We are taking a break for the holidays, which means you have extra time to play along.

Our challenge this week is a sketch made by our DT member Emily. Thanks to Emily! We also have DRS Designs as our sponsor! They have generously donated stamps for the DT to use on their inspiration projects as well as a free stamp for one lucky winner. To enter, please create a card using the sketch and then upload your creation by commenting on the Stamp Something site by Thursday, January 1st 2009, by 7pm EST. Can you believe it, 2009!

This is the card I created with the sketch and a DRS stamp. The colors are Eggplant, Moss, Plum, and Ivory. I used my Cuttlebug to emboss the moss piece, then I sponged ink on the embossing to make it stand out more. The image was stamped, colored, and then distressed with the cracked glass technique. I added ribbon, hodgepodge hardware, paper piercing, and rhinestone brads as my accents.

Thanks for stopping by, hope you'll find some time to sketch something with us this week and next! Have a wonderful holiday season!


***this Friday, Saturday, and Sunday ONLY, save 20% on your entire Whimsy Stamps order! Use the promo code HOLIDAY to save! Happy shopping!***
Also, there is still one week left to try out for the Whimsy Stamps monthly guest design spot for January 2009! Click here for more details!






Tuesday, December 16, 2008

Whimsy Stamps Monthly Guest Designer - Design Call!

****This design call is now closed****

Monthly guest designer for January 2009, design call now open!

We are looking for a talented crafter who loves to stamp, create and share! Each monthly guest designer will be asked to create atleast one Whimsy Stamps project per week. This project must then be posted on your blog. Whimsy Stamps will post your artwork on the gallery page of our site. We also ask that you participate in any other Whimsy related challenges.

Important:
-Anyone from around the world may enter this design call.
-Monthly Guest designers must have their own blogs to share and promote projects featuring Whimy Stamps.
-Enter as many times as you would like.
-It is not necessary, for this particular design call, to use a Whimsy Stamps image, however if you have one, please do.

Monthly Guest Designers will receive free Whimsy Stamps, during their design period, and links on our website to their blog!

To enter the Whimsy Stamps Design Call for January 2009:
-Make a card or scrap book page using atleat 3 layers and 3 embellishments with an animal image or Whimsy image
-Post this card on your blog and announce our guest designer call
-Upload a picture of your project on PCP and/or SCS with the tag whimsydesigncalljan09
-Leave a comment on this post with a link to your entry

If you would like to guest design for Whimsy Stamps, please follow these guidelines and enter by Saturday, December 27th! Good luck!

Holiday Teddy Bear

Morning!

Hope you're having a good Tuesday. I've been able to get back to stamping now that power is back, school is open, and life is getting back to normal. Although, I know for some, power is still out here in NH. Hopefully, it won't be too much longer.

I made this card this morning using my Favorite Teddy Bear set from SU!. This is a retired set that I dug out of the back of my closet. It's adorable, so I think it will be staying in the front of the closet when I put it away. I never think to drag out some of the retired sets I have, but I'm going to change that! Too many good sets not to use them!

I started by coloring my teddy bear image with watercolor crayons, then added a paper pieced scarf and holiday gift. I added crystal effects and chunky glitter to the bottom for snow. I used Ski Slope DSP and felt snowflakes to complete this card. It's simple, but I like it. Now I need to find my Christmas card list and get this little guy in the mail!

Have a great day, thanks for stopping in! Are you up for a challenge? Head over to PCP and join in the Whimsy Winter Challenge for your chance to win a brand new Whimsy Stamp! Click here for details!

Monday, December 15, 2008

Chilly Skunk!

Hi All!

Well, boy am I glad that the weekend is over! I don't think I've ever been happier for it to be Monday before! We finally got our power back on at 11:30 last night, just shy of the 72 hour mark. We are very fortunate as there are still many many people without their power. We've never experineced anything like this before. It was a cold, dark, and boring weekend! I'm looking forward to life getting back to normal and getting back to stamping!

I have a card to share today, one I made last week before the ice storm. I used my Whimsy Skunk for the main image on this card along with SU! Ski Slope DSP and felt snowflakes.

I colored my skunk with markers and then added iridescent ice EP over the whole piece. To me this skunk screams sassy. So I wanted to glam her up with the glitter! I also randomly adhered some tiny rhinestones to the snowflakes and the DSP for added bling.

Thanks for stopping by, I'm looking forward to visiting all of you today too. I've missed being able to blog hop!

I'm also hoping to add a new challenge on the Whimsy group over at Paper Craft Planet today. Hope you'll check it out and maybe even play along! Have a great day! Happy Stamping! :)

Saturday, December 13, 2008

No Power

Hi All!

Just wanted to let you know that we are without power here in NH and could be for quite a while. We had a major winter ice storm Thursday night and power has been out since 1am on Friday! We are hopeful it will be up and running soon, but that may just be wishful thinking. Luckily we have family in the area with power, so we could check email and other things.

I promise to be back blog hopping and visiting as soon as power is restored! I miss seeing all of the creative things you all post. Having no power for more tan 36 hours is getting really old and really boring!

If you are placing orders for Whimsy Stamps, we will process those as soon as power becomes available again. Sorry for the delays.

Have a great weekend!

Friday, December 12, 2008

Red, Green, Gold Somethings Challenge

Happy Friday!!

We have a new challenge for you on STAMP SOMETHING today, a color challenge! It's red, green, and gold! Make anything you wish for this challenge as long as you use these colors in your project! I'm happy to share that Whimsy Stamps is sponsoring the challenge this week! We'll be giving away 2 free stamps to one lucky winner. If you'd like to play along, please post your entry by 7pm EST, on Thursday, December 18th.

For my project, I chose to make an ornament using a chipboard coaster. I got this idea from Vicki Parson, of Stamped Smiles, she's always got super creative ideas!

I began by covering the coaster with printed paper, then I added a jumbo eyelet for the ribbon. The ribbon is red taffeta with gold elastic cord tied around it. I stamped and colored my moose, available now from Whimsy Stamps. Then I cut him out and glued him to the coaster. I added some snow under his feet with a snow writer pen and glitter. The sentiment is from Short and Sweet, a SU! set. The final touch was to add a scarf around his neck! This scarf came from the set Favorite Teddy Bear, also SU!, but retired.

These are so easy and fun to make, I decided to make another. This time I used my Whimsy Owl, also available now at Whimsy Stamps. I added a frame using my oval scalloped Nestabilities. I also added Iridescent Ice EP around the owl image. The accents on this ornament are felt snowflakes, white taffeta ribbon with gold elastic cord, a rhinestone brad, and some stickles.

Thanks for popping in today, hope you'll head over to STAMP SOMETHING and check out the design team samples and then maybe stamp something red, green, and gold with us this week!

Have a great weekend! Happy Stamping!! :)

Thursday, December 11, 2008

Holiday Wreaths

Good Morning!


Hope you're having a good week. All day yesterday I was thinking it was Thursday, so now that today is actually Thursday, that was a bit disappointing! It's also another gross weather day here, been rainy and icy all week. Hope the days are sunnier where you are!

I have a couple cards to share today, ones that I made to send to friends for the holidays. I've almost finished all my holiday card making, then it's on to the school teacher gifts. I'll be happy when everything is done!

This first card uses A Cardinal Christmas from SU!. I took the holly image stamp and created this wreath design, then added the berries with the circle image from Heartfelt Thanks. The printed paper is a retired SU! dsp. The sentiment is also from A Cardinal Christmas. I added the ribbon by punching 2 holes in the wreath and making a bow. Not the best best bow maker, they never end up even or straight for me!





This next card is similar, but I made the wreath with the two floral images from Heartfelt Thanks and the circle again for the berries. This card also uses the same retired designer print paper.



Thanks for stopping over today! Be sure to check back tomorrow for the new STAMP SOMETHING challenge! There's also still time to enter the PCP Whimsy Sketch Challenge, I'll be drawing one random winner on Saturday this weekend.

Have a great day! Happy stamping!! :)

Tuesday, December 9, 2008

Owl For You

Hello All!

This week is off to a quick start, I have so much to do between house stuff and kids and holiday shopping. Time is just flying by! I'm sure it will be like this right up until Christmas too. Hope you're having a good week so far.

I did some stamping yesterday and took a break from holiday card making to make a non holiday themed card. I wanted to make a card with my new Whimsy Animals Collection Owl, so I grabbed some printed paper and made this card.

I think he's just the sweetest, it's hard to resist that face! The printed papers are SU! Parisian Summer dsp and Chocolate Chip and Pink Pirouette cardstock. I stamped my owl in brown staz-on ink and colored him with watercolor crayons. The embellishments are buttons, paper flowers, and a pearl. I also added some stitching with my sewing machine.

Thanks for stopping by! Hope you have a wonderful Tuesday! Happy Stamping!! :)

Monday, December 8, 2008

Merry Moose-mas!

Happy Monday!!

Hope you had an enjoyable weekend. We actually starting our holiday shopping, but still have lots to do. We always seem to wait until the last minute! I did find some time to stamp this weekend too and I made a card using some new Whimsy stamps.

This sweet guy is our Whimsy Animals Collection Moose, he's available now at Whimsy Stamps! I used some watercolor crayons and an aquapainter to color him in. Then added some snow and glitter all around him using a snow writer pen. The papers are SU! Ski Slope DSP. I also added some red ribbon, felt snowflakes and rhinestone brads to finish off this card.

Now, I'm off to finish my holiday cards and get those in the mail today! Hope you have a good Monday. Happy Stamping! :)

Friday, December 5, 2008

Snow Somethings with Firecracker Designs

Good Morning All!

Yay, it's Friday! We have a new challenge for you over on STAMP SOMETHING and this week our challenge is being sponsored by FireCracker Designs by Pamela! The challenge is super easy too, it's Snow Somethings! Create a project with the theme of winter and snow. To enter for your chance at the blog candy prize... visit us at STAMP SOMETHING, participate in this challenge and post your project by 7pm EST, Thursday, December 11th. Be sure to also check out all the design team creations, they are snow fabulous! :)

Here's my card for the challenge this week. I used this cute penguin image from FireCracker Designs. I colored him with Baja Breeze and Blue Bayou re-inkers and an aquapainter, then added some glitter to the fringes of his hat and coat. He's standing in the snow, which was made using a snow writer pen and dazzling diamond dust. I used some felt snowflakes, a rhinestone brad, and grosgrain ribbon to finish off this card. The sentiment is from SU! Short and Sweet.

Thanks for stopping by! Have a great weekend. :)

One more thing...
the Whimsy Stamps shop is up and running and we've just released three new images and two sentiment sets! Stop by and check them out! Happy Stamping!! :)

Thursday, December 4, 2008

Layers of Peace

Hi All!

Hope your week is going well. It's been busy here, I always like when the week's go by quickly! :)

I have a card to share today that was recently posted in my Layers of Color gallery. I made this one using the Renaissance Hearts set. I love this image. I was going for more of a holiday look with this one and so I used Burgundy and a forest green for the cardstock colors. The image was colored with watercolor crayons. I cut out the birds and adhered them with glue. The sentiment is from SU! All Holidays.

Be sure to visit the Layers of Color site to see more ideas and creative inspiration using these exclusive art stamps.

I'll be back tomorrow with a card made for the new challenge over on STAMP SOMETHING! Have a great day, happy stamping!! :)

I'd also like to mention that my friend and blogging buddy Jo of Only Joking is celebrating her blogoversary! Hop on over and take a look! Happy Blogoversary Jo! :)

Tuesday, December 2, 2008

Whimsy Sketch on PCP

Hi Again!

I'm back! I have my card to share that I made for the first Whimsy Stamps Challenge on Paper Craft Planet! This challenge is a sketch challenge, here's the sketch! Please note: this is a PCP challenge, projects must be posted on PCP to enter. PCP membership is free!

If you'd like to play along, please follow this sketch and then post your creation to the PCP photo gallery with the tag whimsysketch1, all lowercase and one word. You'll have until Friday, December 12th to enter. For this challenge, you don't need to use a Whimsy Stamps image to play along but if you have one, please do use it! :)


I used the Whimsy Animals Collection Turtle to make my card. The cardstock colors are Always Artichoke, and Soft Sky. I also used Wintergreen DSP. I colored my image, then added some crystal effects and glitter to make the water. The accents are grosgrain ribbons, silver HPH, brads, paper flowers, rhinestones, and eyelets. The sentiment if from SU! All Holidays.

Thanks for stopping by! I hope you'll join in the challenge fun. Be sure to check out our sneak peeks in the post below. Happy Stamping!! :)

Final Sneak Peek!

Hi All!

I want to share a final sneak peek at the new stamps being released this Friday from Whimsy Stamps! We are super excited for the release!

Now, you've already seen our owl, but here he is again and we also have our moose and skunk! What do you think? The actual stamp sizes will be...


owl = about 2.5" X 3", the moose = about 3" x 4", and the skunk = about 2.75" x 2.75". And just as our original three stamps, these little guys will also be mounted on cling cushion/EZ mount and will come untrimmed.






In some other news, as I mentioned before, we now have a Whimsy Stamps group on Paper Craft Planet. And this week, I'll be adding a bi-weekly sketch challenge and maybe a little candy prize too! To play along, please visit us at Paper Craft Planet, membership is free! We'd love to have you join! I hope to have the sketch posted later today! :)

Have a great Tuesday! Thanks for stopping by!

Monday, December 1, 2008

A Whimsy Christmas

Good Monday Morning All!

Hope everyone enjoyed the weekend. We stayed home for most of it and just relaxed. It was nice. I got to read, the kids played, and the hubby did some work around the house. I started the Twilight series, well let's just say not much else got done this weekend, including stamping! I'm addicted! Can't wait to get the next one!

I did make some time today, after my book was finished (hee hee) to stamp. I made a holiday card using my Whimsy Frog image and some holiday designer print paper from SU!. I also tried out my new sewing machine (hubby bought it for me for my birthday, in May) to do some stitching around the edges. I'm still trying to figure it out! I hate to sew, but it was fun on a card! :)

I also took out my heat embossing tools and added iridescent ice EP to the image piece once my stamping and coloring was complete. The accents here are felt snowflakes and brads, wide ribbon, a metal clip, and oval punches with the sentiment.

I do have some Whimsy Stamps news to share today as well! Vicki Parson of Stamped Smiles is going to be the first monthly guest designer for Whimsy. She'll be making projects for the month of December! We are lucky to have her fabulous talent contributing to Whimsy Stamps! Thanks Vicki! I hope you'll go over and visit her, she always has amazingly creative ideas to share!

Whimsy also has a new group on Paper Craft Planet. Membership on PCP is free and fun! I hope to use the Whimsy Stamps group to post announcements, news, challenges, and also have a place for lovers of Whimsy to share their work and creations!

I think that's about it, at least for now! Thanks for stopping by. Happy Stamping! :)

Saturday, November 29, 2008

Blog Award

Good Saturday Morning!

I wanted to make a quick post today to share an award I received a while back from my friend Jeanette of Happy Thoughts and Inkspots. Shame on me for taking so long to post this Jeanette, I'm very sorry.

It's an honor to receive this from Jeanette, she is a super fabulously talented stamper and I only hope to one day be able to color as well as she does! Maybe she'll teach me ;)! Thanks so much Jeanette, it means a lot coming from you!

I don't remember the rules for this one, so I'd like to pass it on to all of the wonderful friends I've made in this little blogging land! Thanks for visiting and leaving such lovely comments for me, it's always wonderful to ready them!

Enjoy the weekend! Happy Stamping!! :)

Friday, November 28, 2008

Black Friday Somethings

Happy Friday All!

Hope those of you in the States enjoyed your Thanksgiving holiday and that my international friends have had a nice week too. We have a new challenge for you on STAMP SOMETHING today and it's one in honor of another special day here in the US. Today is know as Black Friday, the busiest, craziest, holiday shopping day of the year. Many people get up super early in the morning, stand in long lines, waiting forever, all to get that special one day only price on all their holiday gift giving needs! I've personally never really ventured out, but we are going to this year!

So for the challenge we thought it would be fun to have a Black Friday Somethings theme. All you need to do to play along is make a project that includes the color black in some form or another. It could be black paper, ribbon, buttons, anything you can think of as long as there's something black, it counts! Post your entry by 7pm EST on Thursday, December 4th for a chance at this week's blog candy prizes! That's right I said prizes...there will be two lucky winners this week!

Our new sponsor, JessicaLynnOriginal, has generously donated a $20 gift certificate and a free designer stamp as blog candy this week! Woo Hoo, thanks Jessica! Be sure to check out the design team samples for this week too, they are fabulous in black!

Here's my take this challenge....

I started with black cardstock and then layered on a piece of white cardstock embossed with the swirls embossing folder and my CB. I used A Cardinal Christmas from SU! as my image. I used the coluzzle to cut the white oval and then my scalloped oval nesties to cut the black oval. The final touches were some taffeta ribbon and white gel pen dots.

Thanks for dropping in! Hope you'll have some time to stamp something black with us today! Have a great weekend! :)

Wednesday, November 26, 2008

Whimsy Blog Candy Winners!

Good evening!

Thank you for all the kind and wonderful well wishes you've all left over the past week for Whimsy Stamps! It means a lot to me personally, as Whimsy is my dream! We have the website up and running now, however the shopping cart service is taking a bit longer to publish. Hopefully everything will be running smoothly tomorrow! If you'd like to take a look at Whimsy's site, please click here.

Now, on to the 3 blog candy winners....there were over 90 entries! I did have to remove some multiple entries as well. So here we go....as chosen by random.org...

Here are your random numbers: 33 87 51
Timestamp: 2008-11-26 20:21:01 EST

Those numbers translated are...

#33 Nicola said...
Congratulations on your new adventure. I wish you lots and lots of luck with it. I have linked you on my blog both in a post and in the side bar. These images are just the cutest ever. http://gorillamamagreats.blogspot.com/ HugsNic

#87 Katarina said...
They are so full of personality. Good call on the designers :) I've written about the line and your candy on a seperate post on my blog:kamadesign Thanks for the chance to win.

#51 flipflops4sherri said...
These are just as cute as can be! Just adorable! I posted them on my blog :). http://sherri-iloveflipflops.blogspot.com/ Congratulations on a new venture!

So ladies congrats! Please contact me with your mailing info and your choice of 1 stamp; either the frog, turtle, or duck and I'll get those mailed out ASAP!

Thanks to all of you for playing along. I loved reading each of the comments and checking out the links and your blogs. I hope you'll continue to visit and leave comments about Whimsy Stamps!

Have a great night! :)

Whimsy Sneak Peek

Good Morning All!

I can't believe it's already Wednesday, time is flying by this week. I hope it's been fast for you too. I don't have a card to share today, but I do have a couple Whimsy Stamps updates I wanted to share as well as a sneak peek at a new stamp being released on December 5th!

We've been working very hard each day to finalize the website, but have experienced a few technical issues that will hopefully be figured out today. My plan is to have the site up and running in the next couple days. Thanks for your kindness throughout this process and for your patience!

There is still time to enter the Whimsy Stamps blog candy drawing. I'll be randomly selecting 3 winners this evening after 7pm EST. If you'd like a chance at a free Whimsy Stamp, be sure to check out the post here!

Now on to the sneak peek! This little guy is our Whimsy Animals Collection Owl, he is one of 3 new stamps being released on December 5th! I hope you enjoy him as much as we do!

Thanks for stopping by today, be sure to check back in tonight for the announcement of the Whimsy blog candy winners! Have a great day.

Tuesday, November 25, 2008

Turtle Happiness

Good Morning!

I had some time to play around with my new stamps and wanted to share a card I made with the turtle from Whimsy Stamps. Between website configuration, emails, laundry, kids, etc....I really needed some stamp time! Hope you like this little guy! He was lots of fun to color.

I have to run, so if you'd like the details on this card, please feel free to email me. Hope to have some new Whimsy news soon! Stay tuned for some sneak peeks too!:)

Check out the Whimsy blog candy chance here, only one day left to enter.

Have a great Tuesday, happy stamping!! :)

Monday, November 24, 2008

Ducky Wishes

Happy Monday All!

Another weekend flew by, and here we are starting new week. We're gearing up for the Thanksgiving holiday here in the States and so there's lots to be done.

I did want to make a quick post today to share a card made with the duck from the Whimsy Animals Collection. I'm hoping to have the website up and running in the next couple of days.

Here are the basics for this card...Bashful Blue, Pumpkin Pie, Riding Hood Red cardstock, Washington Apple DSP, and white cardstock. The image was stamped with Staz-On ink and colored with watercolor crayons and Copic markers. The embellishments are grosgrain ribbon, hemp twine and a clear button, and photo corner punches. The sentiment is from SU!'s Short and Sweet.

Thanks for stopping in today, hope you have a nice Monday. Happy Stamping!!

There's still time to enter for your chance to win a free Whimsy Stamp, check out the details here!

Friday, November 21, 2008

Thankful Somethings Challenge

Happy Friday!

We have a new challenge for you over on STAMP SOMETHING and this one is all about being thankful! With the Thanksgiving holiday right around the corner, we figured this was the perfect challenge theme. So all you need to do is make a project having to do with giving thanks, saying thanks, or even Thanksgiving itself. We realize not everyone celebrates this holiday, so we're keeping the interpretation open to just having to do with THANKS! Have fun with this one. We have some Magnolia images up for grabs as blog candy, be sure to enter by Thursday, November 27th at 7pm EST for your chance.


I don't have any Thanksgiving stamps, so I went with a thank you card. Many of you know this has been a busy and exciting week for me with the launch of Whimsy Stamps, so I have lots to be thankful for! And because it's been a busy week, I haven't had too much time for stamping. So this is a pretty simple card.

I used some Autumn colors and then Pocket Silhouettes to make this card. I started with a base of Cocoa cardstock and stamped it with the Canvas BG from Stampin' Up!. Then I layered on a strip of Pumpkin, Washington Apple DSP, and then the image with Riding Hood Red. The images were stamped with Pumpkin and Saffron ink. The final touch was an elastic cord and button. The sentiment is also from Pocket Silhouettes.

Thanks for stopping by, we hope you'll find time to stamp something with us this week. Be sure to stop by STAMP SOMETHING and check out all the design team samples too! Happy Stamping! :)

Oh, and there's still time to enter into the Whimsy Stamps blog candy....check it out here!

Thursday, November 20, 2008

First Whimsy Stamps Card!!

Hi all and happy Thursday!

What a week this has been! I have a card to share today, the first ever Whimsy Stamps card! I'm so excited to share it. I made this one with each of you in mind! Thank you for visiting this week and leaving such wonderfully kind and generous comments. Your support has been amazing! I can't wait to see what you all create with these stamps, enjoy!

I also wanted to share our completed company logo, designed by the marvelously talented Elisabeth Bell! She's one of the nicest people and being able to work with her was a pleasure. She took a simple photograph and created the beautiful logo you see today. I think Elisabeth captured Whimsy Stamps perfectly with this logo, it's whimsy, fun, and carefree...like the subjects in this logo. They are my children who make my life fun and wonderful each day! Thank you Elisabeth!
Don't forget you have until Wednesday, November 26th at 7pm EST to enter for your chance to win a Whimsy Stamp. Check out the link here. Have a great day and happy stamping! :)

Wednesday, November 19, 2008

Whimsy Stamps Design Team

Hello All!

Thanks for all the well wishes for Whimsy Stamps, it's a very exciting time for me personally! Your support means a lot to me and my family. I'm super excited that we can finally share these stamps with the world! :)

Today I'd like to introduce you to the Whimsy Stamps Design Team. Each of these wonderful ladies, brings an individual and special talent to Whimsy Stamps. I'm thrilled to be able to work with each of them and I'm honored to share their creativity as part of the Whimsy team!

I hope you'll stop by and visit each of them. We'll all be sharing Whimsy artwork in the coming weeks!

So without further ado... here they are!

Erin Bailey of Scrap, Stamp and Be Merry
Catherine Martinez of Inksomnia
Hanne Skogvold of Hanne's Kreative Krumspring
Jeanette Comerford of Happy Thoughts and Inkspots

Thanks for stopping by today, be sure to check out my previous post which contains stamp sneak peeks and a chance to enter a blog candy draw for a free Whimsy Stamp, check out the link here.

Happy Stamping!! :)

Tuesday, November 18, 2008

BIG HUGE SUPER EXCITING NEWS!!

***This blog candy drawing is now closed***

Hi All!

I have some pretty big personal news to share with all of you, news that I've been wanting to spill for some time now and today, I finally can do just that! So hold on to your hats....here goes!!!
I have decided to end my old stamping career as a Stampin' Up! demo to start my new stamping career with my very own stamp company! This has been a huge dream of mine and with the love and support of my wonderful husband, I've begun the adventure of small business owner! I'm super excited to announce the launch of Whimsy Stamps!

Whimsy Stamps is our family owned and operated business located in New Hampshire. With the help of wonderfully talented artists we are please to bring you our exclusive whimsical and fun rubber stamp designs. Our stamps are crafted from deeply etched rubber and mounted on cling cushion. They will come untrimmed, but once trimmed they will be ready to mount on acrylic blocks and ink up!

We will officially launch our website and online shop next week, fingers crossed, but for now I have a couple treats to share on my blog. First, here are some sneak peeks at our first three stamps...




Whimsy Animals Collection Duck $6.00 US, actual stamp size is approx. 2.25" x 3"








Whimsy Animals Collection Frog $5.50 US, actual stamp size is approx. 2.35" x 2.7"









Whimsy Animals Collection Turtle $6.00 US, actual stamp size is approx. 3" x 2.25"







These images were designed by our artist Katie Sowa for the Whimsy Animals Collection. Each of these images will be available for purchase on our website soon and we will ship to all US locations as well as internationally.

But, you won't have to wait until the website is up to get your hands on these little cuties! We will be offering a pre-order period starting today. If you are interested in placing an order, please email me at whimsystamps@verizon.net and I will send you a link to make your purchase via Paypal. All pre-orders will be filled and processed in the order in which they were received and will be mailed Flat Rate Priority mail via the USPS beginning on Thursday this week. All USA shipping rates are $4.80 and international are $11.95. If you have any questions, please feel free to email me! edit to add: these shipping rates are on PRE-ORDERS only. Once our website is up and running shipping rates will be Priority Mail based on the weight and destination of each purchase.


Now, on to the second treat....

BLOG CANDY!!! If you would like a chance to win one of these little guys to add to your stamp collection here's what you need to do. Add a post on your blog telling everyone about the launch of Whimsy Stamps, link back to my blog, and then leave a comment here. You will have until Wednesday, November 26th to enter for your chance to win. I will draw 3 winners using random.org on Wednesday evening at 7pm EST. Each winner will have his/her choice of 1 of these new Whimsy Animals Collections stamps! Pretty easy right! :)

Stay tuned all week for more updates! I will be introducing you to the Whimsy Stamps design team, sharing some projects featuring Whimsy Stamps, and maybe even giving you all another sneak peek, this time at our December 1st stamp release! I will also make an announcement when the website is up and running!

Thanks for stopping by today and allowing me to share this news with you! I can't wait for you to see some stamped stuff made using Whimsy Stamps, be sure to stop back!

Happy Stamping!! :)

Monday, November 17, 2008

Gingerbread Fun!

Happy Monday All!

I can't believe another week is under way, the weekends are just too quick! Hope you enjoyed yours though!

I have a holiday themed card to share today. I've seen so many fabulous holiday cards lately, some people are even finished with their card lists for what they are mailing out this season. I haven't even really started, I need to get moving! I think Christmas is only about 40 days or so away, pretty crazy! I haven't started shopping yet either, big surprise!

Anyway, here's my card. I used this cute Rachelle Anne Miller image of a gingerbread man. He was easy to color and cut out, bonus! I added some CE and glitter to him too. I started to make this card for Beate's weekend sketch challenge, but it turned out a little different than the sketch. I like it though.

My cardstock colors are Riding Hood Red, Old Olive, White, and Baja Breeze. I ran the red through the Cuttlebug with the Swiss Dots folder. I tied ribbon around the olive piece, add the white and then mounted those to the red. I added some snowflakes with baja ink to the white piece.

The final touches are a clip, a Very Merry tag and a snowflake button all attached to the ribbon. Then I also added some "snow" to the bottom of the gingerbread man. The snow is a snow writer pen thing that I got at the craft store.

Thanks for stopping by today, have a great Monday! Happy Stamping!! :)

Friday, November 14, 2008

Queen Kat Sketch Challenge

Happy Friday Everyone!

Hope you're all having a good week. Now with Friday here, that means a new STAMP SOMETHING challenge! This week we have a sketch challenge and some yummy blog candy generously donated by Queen Kat Stamps! There are also loads of fabulous samples using this sketch. Not only do we have the STAMP SOMETHING design team samples, but we have a guest designer this week as well has some samples from the Queen Kat design team! Head over to STAMP SOMETHING and check them out.

Here is the sketch....

Please design your card or project based on this sketch. Then post a comment on STAMP SOMETHING by 7pm EST next Thursday, November 20th for your chance to win the fantastic blog candy goodies.


This is the card I made with this sketch. It was tough at first, but I'm happy with the way it turned out. I decided to get two for the price of one with this challenge and make a card for a child's birthday party we have next weekend.

Here are the details for this one: the cardstock colors are Bashful Blue, Pumpkin Pie, So Saffron, and White. I also used Washington Apple DSP. The stamps are Zoofari and Hugs and Wishes, both Stampin' Up! sets. I colored the images with reinkers and an aqaupainter, cut them out and mounted them to the squares. The accents are brads, photo corner punches, circle punches, paper piercing, buttons, and hemp twine.

Thanks for coming by today, have a great weekend. Hope you'll find some time to sketch something with us this week! Happy Stamping!! :)

Thursday, November 13, 2008

Simple Cardinal Christmas

Hi!

So it's Thursday, another week almost over. I have a very quick post today to share one of the cards we made last night at stamp club.

We made two different holiday cards using this stamp set Cardinal Christmas. I liked the way this one turned out better than the other one, so I'm only sharing this one with you. :)

The base of the card is Confetti Cream, stamped with holly in Kiwi Kiss. The image was also stamped on Confetti Cream and then colored with reinkers and an aquapainter. I layered the image piece on Riding Hood Red cardstock and added a piece of red taffeta ribbon. The final touch was to tear the edges. This is a very simple card aside from the coloring! :)

Thanks for stopping over, have a great day! Happy Stamping!! :)

Wednesday, November 12, 2008

Sweet Blues

Hi All!

Hope you're having a good week. It's been busy here, but I had some time to sneak in some stamping today. I actually should be planning cards for stamp club tonight, but I'm procrastinating as usual. Plus, I need to get the creative juices flowing and what better way to do that than stamp! :)

I made this card using an image my good friend Jo sent to me a couple months ago. She was kind enough to stamp me a whole folder filled with sweet little Sugar Nellie images just like this one. I adore them, they are fun to color and always put a smile on my face. Thanks Jo!

Here are some quick basics about this card, as I really need to get to my club projects. The colors are Close to Cocoa and Bashful Blue along with some Washington Apple DSP. Then I added a scalloped oval which was cut with my Nesties. The embellishments are flower brads, a metal clip, grosgrain ribbon, and some white gel pen accents.

Hope you have a great Wednesday! Happy Stamping! :)

Monday, November 10, 2008

Layers of Color Monday - Rose Heart

Happy Monday!

Boy, did this weekend go by fast! They always do though don't they. Hope you had a fun and relaxing couple of days.

I have a card to share with you today that is now up in my Layers of Color gallery. This card was made using one of my favorite Layers of Color stamp sets, called Renaissance Hearts. I think it's a very beautiful and romantic image. It's perfect for wedding, anniversary, and all those "love" cards.

To make this card I started with Old Olive cardstock and layered on a piece of Chocolate Chip and White. The white piece has been dry embossed with the Cuttlebug and flower CB folder. The main image was stamped in Staz-On Timberbrown ink, colored with blender pens and reinkers, then mounted on Riding Hood Red cardstock. The final touches are brass eyelets and organdy ribbon.

Thanks for stopping by today, hope you're Monday is a good one. Happy Stamping!! :)

Friday, November 7, 2008

Simple Somethings

Happy Friday!!

We are celebrating our 6 month anniversary over on STAMP SOMETHING this week! It's been such a fun 6 months too and we hope the fun will continue for many more! We've enjoyed seeing all the wonderful talent and meeting all kinds of people from all over the world. We are very grateful for all of your support! And to celebrate we have an easy peasy challenge this week and a great blog candy offer! Head over and check it out!


The challenge theme is Simple Somethings, which to be honest, wasn't exactly simple for me. The challenge rules are to use only one layer of cardstock. You can embellish it, stamp on it, color it all up, anything you wish, but you may only use one layer of cardstock. That's why it was tough for me, I really like to layer!

I'm not totally happy with the way this turned out, but it is what it is, I guess. I do love this new stamp set from Stampin' Up! called Cardinal Christmas. I think it makes a beautiful holiday stamp.
My card is one layer of Natural Ivory paper, stamped and colored. Then I tore the edge, sponged on some red ink and added the taffeta ribbon and hat pin accents. The sentiment finishes off this card. Very simple!

Stop by STAMP SOMETHING and check out the design team samples and stamp something simple with us this week! Have a great weekend, happy stamping!! :)

Thursday, November 6, 2008

For You

Hi All!

I can't believe it's already Thursday, my week is flying by. Which of course is a good thing, but I haven't been a good blogger. I've been so busy, I haven't posted anything new or visited any of my friends. I promise to visit soon!

I did make some time to stamp today. It felt really good too. I haven't made a card "just to make a card" in a long time. So, I thought I would share it with you.

The image is a Whiff of Joy and the printed paper is Washington Apple DSP. I embellished with buttons, a rhinestone brad, a clip, hemp twine, and ribbon.

Hope you're all having a great week. See you tomorrow for a new STAMP SOMETHING challenge! Happy Stamping!! :)

Tuesday, November 4, 2008

Two Birthday Cards

Happy Tuesday!!

I have a couple cards to share today, ones I used for a workshop this past weekend. They are pretty simple and quick to make. One is more masculine and the other feminine.

The first card uses Loads of Love for stamps. The cardstock colors are Baja Breeze, Pacific Point, Kiwi Kiss, and White. I pretty much CASEd this card from the Idea Book and Catalog. The only enbellishment is ribbon and then some distressed and torn edges.

The second card uses Pocket Silhouettes and All Holidays for stamps and then the cardstock is Sahara Sand, So Saffron, White, and Parisian Summer DSP. I also added some ribbons, a brad, and paper piercing to this card. This card was a layout CASE of the card on the back of the Idea Book and Catalog. I hate to CASE, but for workshops and keeping it simple, sometimes CASEing is the best option!

Thanks for stopping in, have a great day! Happy Stamping!! :)

Monday, November 3, 2008

Layers Of Color Monday - Color Blocks

Hello All!

Hope you had an enjoyable weekend. It was chilly here, but the sun was out both days. We had a busy weekend too, visiting with family and running errands. Hope you're all recovered from the Halloween festivities too. It was a fun week and weekend, but I'm glad it's over! Now on to November, can you believe it!

I have a couple cards to share today from my Layers Of Color Gallery. I made both of these cards using the stamp set Architectural Blocks. These stamps are great for creating backgrounds and/or focal points.

This first card has a sunflower design for the focal point, stamped on Very Vanilla cardstock and colored with watercolor crayons. I framed it with a piece of Old Olive cardstock which was punched with a square punch and then paper pierced around the frame. I then added gold eyelets to the corners. I layered this finished image piece on to Summer Sun, Pumpkin Pie, and Chocolate Chip cardstock.

This next card demonstrates how you can use these images to create a background and a focal point. I used this cross image on my Artichoke cardstock. Then I added a piece of designer paper and ribbon. The main image, the same cross as the background, was stamped on Very Vanilla in Artichoke ink and mounted on River Rock cardstock.

Both of these cards were very simple to make but also contain a good amount of detail, which these intricate images create. Thanks for stopping by today. I hope to be back tomorrow with a couple workshop cards I made this past weekend.

Have a great Monday! Happy Stamping!! :)

Friday, October 31, 2008

Halloween Somethings

Happy Halloween and Happy Friday!!

Our challenge this week over on STAMP SOMETHING is of course, Halloween Somethings! Share your spooky and spectacular Halloween ideas with us and you'll be entered in our blog candy chance! This week we have a special blog candy offer too, one lucky winner will be chosen to design along with us for two challenges in November! So for a chance at a guest design spot, be sure to submit your best work and something that has the theme of Halloween! Have fun!

My project is one I made for my son's kindergarten class. They are having a party today to celebrate Halloween and parents were asked to supply some items. So what better than candy corn treat bags for the kiddos and some nugget candies for the teachers!

For the treat bags, I stamped the cellophane bags with black Staz-On ink and then filled each with candy corn candies and tied on a scalloped circle tag with black hemp twine. The images and sentiments are from Haunting Halloween. I used watercolor crayons and aquapainters to color the image. I had to make 20 of these, so I kept them simple!

The nuggets have been wrapped with Halloween themed designer paper and then packaged in metal tins. I wrapped some ribbon around the tin and added a tag similar to the bag tags. These are two very simple and easy to create Halloween treat ideas!

Thanks for stopping by, be sure to check out all the Halloween haunts the design team has created this week! If you would like to be considered for the guest spot blog candy, be sure to have your project entered on or before Thursday, November 6th by 7pm EST! We'll announce the winner that evening! Happy Stamping!! :)

edit to add:
Hi again! Our fellow DT member and friend Cindy, is experiencing some blog troubles and technical difficulties at the moment. She made this fabulous card for our challenge today, but it might be hard for you to see it on her blog. It has been posted, however it's showing up at the end of her page. We hope that things will work out for her soon and everything will be back up and running as normal!
Please hang in there Cindy! And if you are a friend or follower of Cindy's blog, be sure to keep checking in. And if you like amazingly creative ideas, be sure to stop by her blog often too! You won't be disappointed! :)