Box of Thanks

Posted on August 23, 2014 by amyoneillblog

I have another Convention display project to share with you today. Since Fall is right around the corner, I thought this project would be appropriate.

I think it’s so fun to decorate the Kraft Gift Boxes. They come in two sizes in the annual catalog, and there will be a cute small size in the Holiday catalog too.

I started by stamping this box with the Hardwood background stamp before assembling the box. I then die cut the leaves using the Autumn Accents Bigz die and embossed them with the Woodgrain embossing folder.

I used a sponge dauber to apply the Hello Honey, Pumpkin Pie, and Early Espresso inks to the Seasonally Scattered stamp and stamped it on Very Vanilla card stock. I used a die from the Apothecary Accents framelits set to cut out the “thanks.

All of the convention display stampers are posting their projects to a special Pinterest board so you can see all of the display projects in one convenient place. Just click on the button below to see it.

Enjoy your Saturday! Thanks for stopping by!

A Summertime Fall Fest

Posted on August 21, 2014 by amyoneillblog

Here we are back in the heat of Summer, and I’m trying to make another Fall card. I do love pumpkins and all things Fall, so the new Fall Fest stamp set was on my must-get list.

This set has a coordinating framelits set, which not only includes the pumpkins but also the little leaves. The dsp is also from the upcoming Holiday catalog and comes from two different packs, Color Me Autumn and Motley Monsters.

I was inspired by the sketch over at RetroSketches this week:

Enjoy your Thursday! Thanks for stopping by!

Hey Feathers — FMS150

Posted on August 20, 2014 by amyoneillblog

It’s the last Wednesday of Summer vacation for my kids, and I think I’m probably sadder about that than they are. I love having them home for the Summer, and I love the relaxed schedule that Summer provides. I’ll have one in high school, one in middle school, and one in elementary school again this year. And that means three different start times, and lots of activities to keep track of.

Of course, Wednesday also means it’s time for a new sketch at Freshly Made Sketches. And this week the always delightful and majorly talented, Linda Callahan has a fabulous sketch for us.

One of the new sets in the upcoming Holiday catalog that I love is the Four Feathers set. Just like the name says, there are four fabulous feather stamps in this set. And to make it even more fabulous, there is a coordinating framelits set. I love that!

I decided to flip the sketch over on its side to better accommodate the feathers. I embossed them with Pool Party and Crushed Curry embossing powders, and added a little Strawberry Slush Thick Baker’s Twine on the black button. The sentiment is from the Hi There stamp set.

I hope you can find some time to join us and play along with this challenge. We always love to see what you make. You can drop by the Freshly Made Sketches site to get some inspiration from the design team. They always inspire me!

Enjoy your Wednesday! Thanks for stopping by!

Hello Fall Colors — Monday Montage #26

Posted on August 17, 2014 by amyoneillblog

Here we go with another Monday Montage blog hop! There are ten of us participating, and you can follow along by clicking on the “next” buttons at the end of each post.

We are in the midst of the dog days of Summer here in Texas (think triple digits). I have all of these new toys from the upcoming Holiday catalog, and it’s so hard to find the motivation to make Fall and Christmas themed projects when it is so hot. However, we got a little rain yesterday afternoon, and it cooled the temperatures down into the 70s, so I was able to pull out some Fall-themed supplies.

I’ve used some of the new Fall dsp called Color Me Autumn. I do love these colors. Fall is my favorite season of the year. I love the excitement of back to school, college football season, being able to comfortably exercise outdoors again, and getting to wear sweaters. And of course, I love cooler temperatures after the 100 degrees days of August.

The stamp set I used is called For All Things. I also used some of the new gold buttons and the Kraft card stock, which is really terrific stuff.

You’re ready to hop on over to Breelin Renwick’s blog now. She is such a talented and fabulous stamper — you’ll love her creations. If you prefer to work your way backwards, you can hop on over to the sweet and amazing Wendy Weixler’s blog. Either way, jut make sure you work your way through all of the other nine blogs.

Enjoy you Monday! Thanks for stopping by!

An Eclectic Mix with Gesso

Posted on August 16, 2014 by amyoneillblog

I really love the look of the Typeset dsp painted with a layer of gesso. Gesso can be found in the art supply section of your craft store. Now I’m no expert on this, but I think it’s kinda like a primer for artists’ paintings. It adds a little texture, and I love how it just mutes the paper when you lightly apply it.

It does take a little while to dry, and then you’ll also need to allow some time for any images you stamp on it to dry as well.

I know I’ve used this stamp set so much, but I still love it, and I hope you do too.

Enjoy your Saturday! Thanks for stopping by!

A Just for Fun Card

Posted on August 15, 2014 by amyoneillblog

I decided to sit down and make a card just for fun yesterday — no recipient nor design team obligation in mind. But then I didn’t know where to start. I have a box full of fun Fall and Christmas themed goodies from the Holiday catalog that I’ve barely looked at yet, but I just can’t get in the mood to use them when we’re in the dog days of Summer here (97 degrees outside).

So I went over to a favorite challenge site, The Paper Players, and was inspired by Nance’s fabulous color challenge. Color challenges often scare me, but I love the colors in this one.

I wanted to play with the Decorative Masks again, so I chose the polka dot one and washi-taped it on the card base. I then took my Versamark pad and rubbed it on the mask and then applied clear embossing powder. I love the tone-on-tone look of clear embossing.

The stamp set I used is #Hello, which is such a fun set. And I LOVE this color combination!

I added minimal embellishments as I want to actually mail this one.

Enjoy your Friday! Thanks for stopping by!

Hip Hip Hooray for the Confetti Stars Punch — FMS149

Posted on August 13, 2014 by amyoneillblog

It’s Wednesday, which means it’s time for a new challenge at the Freshly Made Sketches site. And this week, the fabulous Rita Wright is our hostess, and she has a superb sketch for us.

I recently got a box of new goodies from the upcoming Holiday Catalog, and one of the items I was so excited to get is a new border punch called Confetti Stars. I just love stars as I think they are so versatile — they can be used for many occasions and they can be used for guys or girls.

I pulled out my Hip Hip Hooray Card Kit and used one of the stamps, the banner stickers and the card base.

The new punch was used along the bottom of the white panel. It is so fun! And I love the little stars confetti which is left behind after you use the punch.

We always enjoy looking through the gallery and seeing how you interpret the sketch, so we hope you’ll play along with us this week. Meanwhile, you can check out what the rest of the design team made at the Freshly Made Sketches site for some inspiration.

Enjoy your Wednesday! Thanks for stopping by!

Two in a Row!

Posted on August 12, 2014 by amyoneillblog

I believe this may be a record, but I have used purple two days in a row. On today’s card I used Rich Razzleberry, which is my favorite purple. I like how it looks good with so many different colors.

I went a little crazy with a circle theme — Large Polka Dot embossing folder, Flowerpot dsp, Regals Designer Button, and the stamped image from #Hello. I just got this stamp set and I think this it is so fun.

This was a super simple card to make and came together very quickly.

Well, don’t expect another purple card tomorrow. I haven’t made my card for tomorrow’s Freshly Made Sketch yet, but three days in a row of purple for me would be quite incredible.

Enjoy your Tuesday! Thanks for stopping by!

Choose Blackberry Bliss

Posted on August 11, 2014 by amyoneillblog

You may or may not know that while I love the color purple, I have an aversion to stamping with it. I don’t know why. Sometimes things like this just aren’t logical and can’t really be explained. So while I know many of you fell totally in love with the new color Blackberry Bliss when the new In-Colors were revealed a couple of months ago, I secretly thought, “Uh-oh. Another purple.”

But I’m trying to overcome my purple phobia. I think Blackberry Bliss is a gorgeous color, and I am determined to use it. Don’t you have a color that strikes fear in your heart when you see it in a color challenge or need to use it for a certain project? Surely I’m not the only one.

I recently got the new set, Choose Happiness, and wanted to ink it up. I started with some of the Typeset dsp, which I painted with a layer of gesso, and then spritzed with some Blackberry Bliss ink. The dsp is from the Park Lane dsp pack.

I think this stamp set has such pretty images. I chose some and created a bit of a collage with the stamps and embellishments. I think this will be a fun set with which to play around.

Enjoy your Monday. Thanks for stopping by!

A Fully Loaded Amazing Birthday

Posted on August 10, 2014 by amyoneillblog

Sometimes, it’s hard to stop piling on embellishments and layers when making a card. Stampin’ Up! sells so many amazing products that all coordinate, and sometimes I just want to use them all…at once. Now that I look back at this card, I think I must have felt that way when making this one.

This card is fully loaded. It has sequins, buttons, candy dots, punches, ribbon, baker’s twine, clothespins, die cuts, sewing, and dsp. And it was fun to make!