New Catalog and New Classes

Since I am finally able to see light at the end of the tunnel I am trying to plan some classes for the upcoming months!!!

In February I want to have a Sale A Bration event. Details to come.

In March I want to do something with new sets from the new catalog. Details to come.

I am also willing to start having in home workshops again. If you want to hold a party let me know and I will get you booked!!

Thanks for your support over the past couple of months.

My Other "Personal" Blog

Thanks for reminding me that I did not update my other blog address (you guys know who you are)....here it is.....

www.ashleyvaerst.blogspot.com

Read it at your own risk!!!

Sorry I Have Been Quiet

Sorry I have quiet the last couple of weeks. At first I became really busy with a school project on Climate Control (yuck). I really do not mind the subject it is the project that I did not like.

So I finished what I needed to for my project and thought I would spend last weekend playing since I had four days off. My plans were put to rest after a visit to my doctor. Last Friday I went in for my yearly physical and a "growth" was discovered "down there". My life was frozen last week. Since the appointment was on a Friday I knew I had to wait at least until Monday to hear anything.

It has been a week of an emotional roller coaster ride. I played almost every scenario in my head this week. Today I was back at the doctors. It is a growth that will need to be removed. I am waiting on the biopsy to come back to see if it is the big "C" word. My "new doctor" told me that she does not think it is, it does not look like what she has seen of cancer, but a biopsy was preformed just to be sure.

I am told that the growth is probably a fibroid tumor. Wednesday I will have an ultrasound to see how large my tumor is. Friday I go back to my "new doctor" to see what needs to be done. She has prepped me though for a hysterectomy. Yes, 33 and a hysterectomy.

Anyhow, I am sure I will be quiet in the coming weeks. Maybe new posts, but I am not sure if I will have many new cards to show off.

Dreaming of Friday

I know you are shocked, three days in a row! I will let you in on a little secret - I took a math test on Tuesday and I have not slept well since then. I am worried that I did not do well on it. I am NOT a math person.

Here is another card that I made with the Dream du Jour set. I like this set a lot. Maybe because I have been in the coloring mood this set has stayed on my table.

Of course I pulled out the Chocolate Chip Card Stock. I used Chocolate for the base. I topped this with Whisper White and then Bordering Blue. I pulled out the Designer Series Paper - for the pop of Saffron on the side there. I backed the Designer Series Paper with Chocolate Chip to make it pop.

I pulled out my Nestabilites again and used the long rectangle die for the frame of the words. Yes you are seeing it right the scalloped fame is in Chocolate Chip. The words are in Chocolate Chip on Whisper White.

The butterfly is stamped in Basic Brown and water colored in with my Aqua Painter (which there is a special on this month). I used So Saffron and Bordering Blue to color my butterfly. Not that you can see in the picture, but there is some glitter on the wings. The butterfly is cut out and glued on the corner of the word panel.

I also added three brads from the retired Hodgepodge Hardware set. Plus, there is some Chocolate Chip Grosgrain Ribbon and some Natural Hemp in there too.

Oh and in the bottom right corner of the Bordering Blue is a butterfly stamped in Bordering Blue, it is barely there, but adds a little something to the card.

I better get off the couch and see what is for breakfast for the kids today. Enjoy your Thursday everyone.

Happy Wednesday - Happy October

Not that I have much time to read lately, but I was in the mood to make a book mark with my long rectangle Nestabilities. I love to read so this will come in handy as soon as I have a break in my school work.


I of course pulled out my Chocolate Chip Ink and loaded up the flowers from Upsy Daisy. I stamped the daisies on Very Vanilla and set aside. I used the Nestabilite die with the Chocolate Chip Designer Series Paper.


I knew I wanted a second color included, it was just deciding which one. I love fall so I went for the Earth Elements. I decided on Pumpkin Pie since I have ribbon to match. I then trimmed the Daisy image down to size and backed it in Pumpkin Pie.


The words were added as an after thought. I really needed something to cover up a smudge so I decided words were the way to go. "Life" is from the Upsy Daisy Set. I inked up the word with a craft spot in Pumpkin Pie. Then I clear embossed this. The words were not big enough to cover the smudge so I improvised from there. The brown circle is the 1/2 circle punch and the Pumpkin circle is actually from the Crop a Dile punch scrap from adding the Jumbo eyelet.


The bookmark came together quick and easy. For me the hardest part was not adding anything that was three dimensional on the part that would stick in the book. I am now ready to make a few more of these since I usually have more than one book going at a time.


Enjoy your day!

Some Tuesday Pun Fun

Ok so I am sorry that the picture is crooked. It looked MUCH better on my camera.

This set is made with the Pun Fun stamp set. I was in a streak where I seemed to be using more earthy colors with Chocolate Chip being a main color, well not this card. I drew my colors from the Designers Series Paper.

Here is the list of supplies for the card:

Stamp Set: Pun Fun

Ink: Basic Black, Apricot Appeal, Tempting Turquoise and Only Orange.

Paper: Apricot Appeal, Tempting Turquoise and Whisper White.

Accessories: Turquoise Grosgrain Ribbon, Three Flower Punch, Rhinestone Brad from the Pretties Kit and non SU! Nestabilities.

You've Got Mail

Good Monday Morning!

I planned on posting this past weekend, but I spent ALL day Saturday at Archiver's scrapbooking. I was very lucky to sit next to a wonderful lady who designs for Archiver's. Let me say WOW! I wanted to cover my work and hide in shame. I really wished I had my camera along to take pictures of her works of art. Maybe they will come out on display sometime soon for all of you to see too.

On to my project (that I liked when I made it). This is an older project from last May, but I still wanted to share it with you. This mailbox was made for Andrew's first grade teacher. She had a baby in May. We purchased a gender neutral outfit for the baby and I decided this would be a cute way to package the outfit (yes the outfit fit in the mailbox).

The mailbox was from the dollar spot at Target. I covered it with the Afternoon Tea Designer Series Paper (since retired). I pulled the colors from the baby outfit. I added some Chocolate Chip Grosgrain Ribbon (which was retired then, but is now back - yeah), and some Wild Wassabi Double Stiched Ribbon (now retired). To add the flower and the Silver Hodgepodge Hardware onto the mailbox I used the Crop-A-Dile. It punched right through the metal and the plastic like butter. I also used the flower punch to add something onto the flag.

I know many of the items used are now retired, but you can use the idea right?

See you back here tomorrow, because I have my posts all sorted out now.

Oops.....

Oops. Here I was doing so good. I had scheduled some posts to publish this week. This morning I came on here to see what the last card was that posted. I then realized that none of the cards I had scheduled to post actually posted. Here is why.....it is 2008, NOT 2009. Oh well. I tried.

Here is one of the cards I was planning on showing you. It is made with the set Pocket Silhouettes. I really like the clean lines of this set and the fact that it is a bold image (even though I love water coloring).

I will post more later. My sister is in surgery today and the phone is ringing I am hoping it is from my parents.

TGIF

I am so glad that today is Friday. We had a rough homework night last night with my oldest child (exciting was a hard spelling word and we all felt it by the end of the night). After the kids climbed into bed I had to study for a test today of my own, but I was too tired after trying to ger Andrew to spell exciting (Me: Andrew there is no "s" in exciting. Andrew: Yes there is (exsiting) because when you spell "sigh" it starts with a "s" and the word is ex-si(gh)-ting). I think a lot of this is just getting back into a routine with school. Plus, Andrew is like his Dad, more into math than words and reading. I will be overrun in this house if the "math" brains continue on in the form of our children.

We have a busy weekend. Swimming lessons, a family birthday party, Church and all the normal weekend activities of cleaning and grocery shopping. I have a test to take and a paper to write too, so if you do not hear from me check back on Monday.

Here is my card for today. I love this card. This card, like so many others, is not what I had in mind when I started out. I originally had a base of 4.25 x 5.5, but quickly changed that when I messed up on coloring the image. The image is from Fresh Cuts. I stamped it in Basic Brown so I could water color.

To color the image I used a very fine water color brush and used the new Kiwi Kiss, Tangerine Tango and Pacific Point Classic Ink Refills. Once done coloring I used a very wet, broad watercolor brush and inked it up with a So Saffron. I brushed this over the entire image to age it just a little.

Once the image was dry I inked the whole piece up with Versa Mark. I then used the clear embossing powder over the image and heat set.

I mounted the image on Kiwi Kiss and then onto Chocolate Chip (shocker I know). I cut the Chocolate Chip larger than I intented so I just pierced the edges.

The saying comes from the Fresh Cuts set also. I inked "for you" up with Basic Bown and stamped it on a scrap piece of Very Vanilla. I used the small oval punch to cut it out. To give a little something to the "for you" tag I used another image from the Fresh Cuts set, inked it up in Tangerine Tango, stamped it off onto scrap paper then stamped it onto the oval. I added the Chocolate Taffeta ribbon by first punching a hole on one side of the oval and tying it on.

Have a good weekend everyone!

Thursday Already

My week has been good so far. I have a couple quizzes under my belt, a few chapters have been read and I have even been able to post. The only thing that has not gone my way is a paper on the movie The Wit. It was a tough movie to watch and my paper is just as hard to write.

Anyway here is a card made with my FAVORITE set from the new catalog. I have a TON of samples to show you with this set (I hope you do not get bored with them).

This set is called Upsy Daisy. I love the bold image. This card is not how I intended it to turn out, but I love it. The base of the card is Sage Shadow. I then pulled my Chocolate Chip Designer Series Paper for some inspiration. I mounted the Designer Series Paper on Whisper White.

For the main image I stamped the image in Chocolate Chip Classic Ink on Whipser White (which after stamping I realized that I needed to reink up my pad). I had already inked up the Scalloped Chipboard Frame in Sage Shadow Craft Ink for a different card that did not turn out right so I decided to use it here. After attaching the frame I mounted this on a scrap piece of Chocolate Chip Card Stock. I used my Crafters Tool Kit to pierce the outer edge of of the Chocolate Scrap.

I used my new Chocolate Chip Double Stitched Grosgrain Ribbon. Then decided I needed some words. I stamped the phrase "thanks so much" from Pocket Silhoutes in Sage Shadow directly on my stamped image. I sat back and realized that the phrase was crooked. I then stamped it again on a scrap piece of Whisper White. I used the Word Window Piunch to cut out the phrase. I mounted this on top of my crooked words with Stampin' Dimensionals.

Done!!! Thanks for stopping back today and checking out what I have to offer.

A Mid Week Share

Wow, Wednesday! It has been a busy week so far. School is definitely in full swing.

This card was made with the Teacher's Pet set. I loved this elephant. My sister and I have a joke about elephants so I had to purchase this set.

I purchased the Nestabilities that everyone seems to love a few months ago. I was finally able to play with them a couple weeks ago. I love making 3x3 cards to hang on gift bags. The long scallop rectangle Nestabilities dies were perfect for a 3x3 card.

I punched the card out in one of the new In Colors, Pacific Point, with my Cuttlebug. I then used a scrap piece of Kiwi Kiss Card Stock and also cut punched it with the long rectangle Nestabilities.
I folded the Pacific Point Card Stock in half. Then stamped the Dotted Background Stamp on the Kiwi Kiss Card Stock in Kiwi Kiss.

I stamped the elephant from Teacher's Pet in Basic Gray. I then colored him in with my Going Gray Classic Ink and the Aqua Painter. Once all colored I mounted the stamped image onto a scrap of Tangerine Tango. This was then mounted onto my Pacific Point card with Stampin' Dimensionals. To add a little something to the card I used three Silver Brads.

No words were added so that I can do that to fit the occasion. I am not really sure how much stamping I will get done over the next couple of months so I am trying to do as many all occasions cards as possible.

Thanks for stopping by. See I have been able to post at least semi consistently this week. Hope your week is going as good as mine :)

Good Monday Morning

So I am back two days in a row. This is another card that I made with a set before the new catalog came out. The set is called Dreams du Jour. I love this set. I have actually made quite a few cards with this set.

This card is a little more simple than what I am used to, but I really like the way it turned out.

The card base is 4 1/4 by 4 1/4. I used the new scallop edge punch to add detail to the side of my Riding Hood Red card stock. Then I used my 1/16 hole punch in each scallop.

The butterfly is stamped in Basic Gray on Whisper White. I colored it in with Bashful Blue and Riding Hood Red Classic Ink. I did a light watercolor with the Aqua Painter and then went back over the whole image with a really wet brush to get a softer look. Once dry I added some two way glue and glitter (not that it really shows up).

I layered stamped image on top of Riding Hood Red Card Stock. I then layered this on top of a piece of Whisper White where I stamped my words in Riding Hood Red (the words are also from Dreams du Jour. This Whisper White Card Stock was layered on Bashful Blue Card Stock which was added onto my scalloped Riding Hood Red Card Stock.

When I was done with this I thought it needed something. I pulled out my new Designer Buttons (which I also love) to accessorize. To secure the button I sewed it on with Linen Thread.

Done! A simple card with the main focus being the butterfly.

I hope you all have a great week.

Sock Monkey

Well I took a break before my classes started for the semester. Then Andrew started back to school. We have been busy getting back onto a school routine, with reading and math facts nightly. Then this weekend we spent time at the cabin with family. The kids had a blast, but boy am I tired after a weekend of cleaning, fishing and just hanging out.

I have not had time to stamp in a week, but I do have over 20 samples to show you from the last couple of months. I am really hoping that I will be able to squeeze in enough time to post over the next couple of weeks. I always seem to think about posting when daycare is in session or while I am in bed trying to get my last hour of sleep.

Please check back and stay with me. My samples may not be consistant, but they will be updated periodically I promise.

Here is a card that was stamped over a month ago, but I have not shared it before so please enjoy. The card is made with the Sock Monkey Stamp set from the new catalog. I had a sock monkey that a neighbor made for me when I was younger. Here is the recepie for you.

Stamp Set: Sock Monkey
Card Stock: Close to Cocoa, Chocolate Chip and Very Vanilla.
Ink: Basic Brown
Accessories: Watercolor Wonder Crayons, Aqua Painter, Small Oval Punch, Bella Rose Designer Series Paper, Stampin' Dimensionals, Natural Hemp Twine, Crafters Tool Kit and non SU! liquid glue.

Thanks for stopping by. I hope to be back tomorrow time will tell. I have a test to take tomorrow for school (among other school work), a PTO meeting and of course daycare. I hope you all had a good weekend.

Dreams du Jour - Day 2

Two days in a row, I know what a shocker huh?

Here is another sample made with the Dreams du Jour set. I like this set and have a few more samples to show off with it. Tomorrow I will try and post a different set.

This is another square card with the base being 4.25 x 4.25 (folded). The base is my favorite Chocolate Chip. I layered the chocolate with Riding Hood Red followed by a piece of Bella Rose Designer Series Paper.

The image is stamped in Basic Brown and colored in with my handy dandy Aqua Painter. I used the Riding Hood Red, Kiwi Kiss and Bashful Blue Classic Stampin' Pads to achive my color.

I layered the Whisper White stamped image with Kiwi Kiss and then Chocolate Chip card stock. On the chocolate chip I used my crafter tools kit to pierce the card stock.

To finish the card off I used three Antique Brads.

Thanks for looking!

Dreams du Jour and a Personal Update

Ok so I am back after a looooooooooooong break. In May I graduated with my AA degree after many years. Then in June I started right in on classes that I need for my teaching degree. After a month of constant work and school I needed a month to myself. It really was not all that relaxing, Dave (my husband) ended up with some medical issues the begining of July. After an ER visit and quite a few doctors appointments we are headed in the right direction.

I have had a few sets from the new catalog now for a few months, but just had time to really play with them this week. Let me start off with I love the new colors. I was not sure I was going to like them, but they are all that I have really pulled from in my last 15 cards. Yes you read that right I have 15 samples ready to share that are all from new sets in the new catalog. AND tomorrow I get more new things so I will have more ready to share.

Today I have one card to show you using the new colors Kiwi Kiss and Tangerine Tango. I was not too keen on the Tangerine color at first, but I love it now. The new set is called Dreams du Jour. I also used the new Designer Series Paper Bella Rose, the new Scallop Edge Punch (love it) and the returning Chocolate Chip Narrow Grosgrain Ribbon. To color the image I used my Aqua Painter with So Saffron, Tangerine Tango and Kiwi Kiss Classic Ink.

The card base is 4.25 x 4.25.

Thanks for stopping by and looking. I will have another card to share tomorrow.

Used Stamp Sets for Sale

I have a TON of used things for Sale. I am posting them here first BEFORE I post them on Craigslist and E-bay (on Friday). Prices are as listed, which are close to 50% off retial. If you want any of them please e-mail me. The sets are sold on a first come basis.

Stamp Sets
Ahoy, Matey -$12.00 - taken
All About U - $14.00
All in a Row - $10.00
Around and About - $5.00 - taken
Artfully Asian - $12.00
Autumn Fest - $12.00
Basic Backgrounds - $6.00
Be Happy - $10.00
Big Pieces - $15.00
Birthday Whimsy - $5.00
Bodacious Bouquet - $14.00 - taken
Booglie Eyes - $10.00 - taken
Bud Basics - $9.00
Carved and Candlelit - $8.00 - taken
Causes for Celebration - $10.00
Circle of Friendship - $9.00
Double Line Doodles - $13.00
Eat Cake - $13.00
Figures of Speech - $11.00 - taken
Flannel Plaid - $9.00 - taken
Flower Filled - $12.00
For a Friend - $5.00
Fresh Flowers - $5.00 - taken
Friendship Blooms - $5.00
Frosty - $9.00 - taken
Greetings Galore - $15.00 - taken
Holiday Woodcuts - $5.00 - taken
Hung Up on the Holidays - $8.00
I'm Here - $13.00
In the Spotlight - $10.00
Itty Bitty Borders - $5.00
Label Classics - $10.00
Little Pieces - $9.00
Looks Like Spring - $15.00
Lots of Thoughts - $5.00 - taken
Natures Secret - $5.00 - taken
Office Accountrement - $16.00
Oh So Lovely - $7.00
Peaceful Wishes - $12.00 - taken
Polka Dots & Paisley - $9.00
Print Pattern - $9.00
Sassy Stems - $9.00
Sidekick Sayings - $7.00
Silly Sealife - $10.00 - taken
Snow Flurries - $5.00 - taken
Spring Solitude w/ Solitude Wheel - $10.00 - taken
Sweet Shapes - $13.00
Time Well Spent - $15.00
Vases in Vogue - $15.00
Warm Words - $10.00 - taken
Watercolor Minis - $5.00
Weathered - $9.00 - taken
Wildlife Reserve - $16.00 - taken
Original Cricut Machine with two cartridges (Stamped and Mini Monograms, extra blades and a cutting mat) - $125.00
Monogram Uppercase Stamps all 26 (only four have been mounted and used) - $100.00

Accessories
All the Trimmings Simply Scrappin' Kit - $5.00
Friends and Flowers Simply Scrappin' Kits (3) - $5.00 each
Halloween Night Designer Series Paper (2)$5.00 each
Holiday Tyme Designer Series Paper - $5.00
Island Blossoms Simply Scrappin' Kit - $5.00
Just Delightful Simply Scrappin' Kit - $5.00
Petals and Paisleys Designer Series Paper -$5.00
Spring Showers Designer Series Paper - $5.00
Toy Box Simply Scrappin' Kit - $5.00
Over 1000 Assorted SU! Eyelets w/ case - $8.00 - taken

Hello.....

I'm back!!! Wow TWO whole months (and a few days) since I have posted to my blog. School was hectic the last couple of months. I finally secured my AA in mid May and then the next week started summer courses. I am in two classes at the moment, but seem to be keeping up. I have not done much stamping in the last couple of months, but I have made some teachers gifts that I can show off.

Next weekend I have club so I will be stamping in the next week or so. Come July I am planning on spending at least an hour a night in my stamp room playing catch up with creativity.

Please hang on, my creativity will come back.

In Colors for 2008-2009 Catalogs!!!

There is no card post today, instead I thought I would share the new In Colors that will be available in the next catalog. I know that the next catalog does not come out until August, but I was excited to see these and knew I needed to pass them along to you.

I really like the Pink and the Baja Breeze, but the rest I will have to see up close and personal before I pass judgement.

Some Flowers for your Saturday

On this past Sunday I posted about a friend who has cancer, this card was made with her in mind. She is always bright and cheery. Just thinking about her brings a smile to my face. This card I feel is bright and cheery to me (minus the black).

I started the card with Soft Sky and then actually cut an orange piece for this card, but did not like the orange so I used that on my cat card below. I then pulled out the Olive stripes from Summer Picnic Designer Series Paper. This did not look good right on the Soft Sky base so I added a mat of Basic Black between the Soft Sky and Olive. Since I added the Basic Black mat to the Olive I decided I needed to add one to the Soft Sky also.

Not much stamping took place on this card. I used the Holidays and Wishes stamp set for the words (which were stamped in Basic Black Craft and embossed with clear embossing powder) and the Dotted Background stamp for the Pumpkin Pie Die Cut Flower and the Soft Sky Background.

I knew I wanted to use the Die Cuts from the Occasions Mini Catalog so I pulled those out. I added a flower slide from the hodgepodge hardware kit and a clear Rhinestone Brad in the center of the flower slide - those were both placed in the center of the flower.

To finish the card off I used my Crafters Tool Kit and paper pierced on the Olive piece of Designer Series Paper.

Thanks for Looking

Free Wheeling Promotion- Wonderful You

I figured I would post this card after a gorgeous day here in Minnesota. We reached the 60's today. What a way to end a week after starting it with seven inches of snow.

This card was created last weekend with the Free Wheeling Promotion set Wonderful You and Stems and Silhouettes Jumbo Wheel.

I knew I wanted a spring feel to the card so I grabbed So Saffron for the base. I then stamped the image from Wonderful You in Basic Brown on Very Vanilla. I colored the image with my Watercolor Crayons and the Aqua Painter. I then stamped the flower again on a scrap of vanilla cutting out just the flower head. I popped the flower head off of the other flower (will post a picture of that later) to give some dimension. I thought it needed a little more so I stamped the leaf image from the set on a scrap of Very Vanilla and cut out two of the leaves. I popped those off the image also. To finish the flower off I added a little sparkle in the middle with my two way glue pen and dazzling diamonds glitter.

I already planned on using the green scrap from Afternoon Tea for the card, but I then decided to pull the wheel into the card also. I used my Garden Green Classic Pad and rolled this wheel across it, then rolled it on my green piece of designer series paper. I think it shows the wheel just enough, but does not over power it.

I backed both the designer series paper and the stamped image in Close to Cocoa (gasp......no it is not Chocolate Chip). To finish the card off I used my Vanilla Wide Grosgrain Ribbon just tied in a knot. I then stamped the words "with all my heart" that comes with the set in Basic Brown. I thought that the words were sort of floating so I added three paper piercings.

Did you know this month if you purchase a set that is part of the Free Wheeling Promotion you get the matching wheel for FREE? I had two of the sets on my wish list so this was the perfect time for me to take the plunge and purchase.