Whirlpool of Imagination

More Simple Poinsettias

I told you this was the week of poinsettia's. I have to say that I am not usually so productive with just one stamp set but I'm thinking I got my money's worth from this one from Papertrey.

The layout is from the Clean and Simple blog. I saw it and just had to make something right away.

It's pretty self explanatory so besides the fact that I used cherry ink and Papertrey stamps, you can figure out the rest!

Puppy update - up again last night but not so many accidents in the house today so I consider that a victory. Of course I'm dragging the dog out ALL the time, he's probably just going so he can go back inside the house!

Red and Gold Poinsettia

Ready for some more poinsettia's? Today I went with what would be considered for me extra embellished. Not so for others but you know I'm usually super simple.

This card started with the embossed background layer. I love that embossing folder from Stampin' Up and was determined to use it finally. I embossed it with the red card stock but it really looked like it needed more. So I brooke out my metallic gold acrylic paint and dry brushed the embossed layer.

Then I wasn't sure what color direction I wanted to go. I lived dangerously and paired the red and brown with daffodil yellow. After liking that combo, the rest fell together. The image and sentiment are both from Papertrey Ink. The poinsettia is stamped with cherry ink and the sentiment in some shade of brown...I only have like 6 shades of brown to choose from! Again I went with the crystal center just to finish it off.

Thanks for all the doggie advice. Shamrock had a rough night last night so I'm dragging here. We didn't cave in so I'm hoping for a better night tonight. Hope you have a great one too!

Let's Talk Poinsettia's

Christmas is a mere two months away and this week I am embracing the poinsettia. The majority of images come from just one set, Peaceful Poinsettia from Papertrey Ink. Today I'm starting off with a clean and simple one.

Sorry about the brightness there. I just realized I am have overcompensated just a tad when fixing the original photo.

The color combo white and red is one of my favorites. I just adore how clean and put together that combo looks. The poinsettia is stamped with cherry ink (Stampin Up) and the sentiment in black. I added a rhinestone crystal to the center because it just needed that little extra something.

Dog Update: Shamrock did really well on his first night with us. Just a teensy bit of whimpering but he settled down quickly. But if anyone can help me with this house training bit.......

A Break in Our Regularly Scheduled Posts

I'm taking a quick break today to show off the newest member of our family. Meet Shamrock, the most adorable Havanese puppy.

I did get him a little bed in my studio so I'm hoping he'll hang out with me when I'm stamping.

Have a great night!

Thanksgiving Blessings

I'm having a hard time letting go of Halloween. There is so much to do for the kids for Halloween that I sometimes forget that as a card designer, I need to be working several holidays ahead! So today I'm at least heading towards November and Thanksgiving.

It's a simple card using all Papertrey Ink stamps but I like the simplicity. And really, any time I use mustard ink and cardstock, I consider it a victory! That stuff will stay in my stash for YEARS at the rate I use it.

Are you ready for Halloween yet? My kids have their costumes but I don'thave the candy yet so I'm getting there. I guess I need to stop focusing ahead of myself so I can finish the current holiday!

 

Twins!

At the risk of Siobhan and Julie jumping to more conclusions, the newest addition soon coming to our family has FOUR legs, not two. (although given the title, that may not be enough to squash their thoughts so keep reading you two).

A good friend of mine recently had twins, a beautiful baby boy and girl and I wanted to create a newly designed card for her.

This onesie stamp from Papertrey is one of my favorites to use for baby cards. And it's so easy to paper piece that I pull it out all that more often.

As you can see, I went with the polka dot theme, all the papers coming from Bobunny. The sentiment is from Papertrey.

I'm back with a Thanksgiving card next week - have a great day!

Baby Thank You

I'm battling a bit of a headache so today's post will be short and sweet. I was moved to work on a complete CAS design, even more minimal than I usually do.

Since I had just recently completed an order for baby shower invites, I had babies on the brain.

Super simple but made me smile when completed. All stamps are from Papertrey.

I've been in a bit of stamping rut this week so haven't got much to show for myself. I have high hopes for the last part of the week.

Have a great night!

 

Ghostly Goodies

Alright, I'm putting Christmas on hold (for just a short time) and getting back to Halloween. I'm in the process of trying to figure out what treats to send in with the kids for school. I had the pretzel bags and grabbed some Peeps and thought I'd see what would happen when the two met.

Here is my ghost treat topper. The stamp is from Papertrey Ink. What I like about these is I can use one, two or three of the ghosts and just cut the bag down to the size I want.I'm thinking if I make these to send in to school, I might just cut it down to one ghost.

Here's close up.

And here's a bunch that I'm uploading to the store tomorrow.

Did you have a crafty Sunday. Me? Not so much but there's always tomorrow. Have a great night!

With A Little Help From the Paper

When it comes to patterned paper, I'm weak. Very, very weak. I was at the store recently and they had the paper packs on sale. Well, when a girl loves Halloween and patterned paper, what is she to do but buy the pack of Halloween papers?

I took one of the papers and used it for my main image rather than stamping. Made for a fun change of pace.

I decided to use this stamp from Papertrey Ink as kind of a "moon" shining over the haunted house for a little bit of a sentiment.

It has recently come to my attention that it is only 77 days until Christmas. What??!! I am not through with Halloween. How in the world can it be time for Christmas already? Are you ready for the recent holidays? I need to always jump ahead because I need to keep my store stocked with items months ahead of the holiday. I guess I'll be putting two hats on now and split my time between the holidays. And please don't tell me you are one of those super organized people that have already moved onto Christmas and even have your shopping already done. I so want to be one of those people!!

Spooky Ian

Halloween is one of my favorite holiday's. There are so many opportunities for crafty fun that I can't get enough of it! As soon as this little digi stamp came out from The Greeting Farm, I knew I had to have him. Ian is one of my favorite stampy guys to create with.

Ian was printed off and colored with copic and prismacolor markers. The spiderweb was dry brushed with metallic silver paint, making it seem so much more alive. The sentiment is a regular rubber stamp also from The Greeting Farm.

A version of these with a slight change went out for Conor's Halloween invitations. Yes, each kids is getting a [small] Halloween party. I was really strict on numbers though. If I have to do two of these in a two week period, I am keeping the numbers small!

After the parties, I'll post pictures and details on the lollipop blog if you have any interest. I'll keep you posted on that.

I am in the midst of a special order so this week I'm catching you up on my Halloween creations - see you tomorrow with more ghosts and goblins!