The newest little Martin - Gracie, a Toy Poodle!

This is Gracie, the latest addition to our family.

Gracie came to our family through the Central Coast Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (CCSPCA).  The President of the CCSPCA, Jeannine Wade,  nursed this little matted, malnourished toy poodle back to good health this winter.    In March we were able to adopt her.  Above is the after picture, you don't need to see the before, it is heart wrenching.

The CCSPCA is having a bake sale to raise awareness and support for the work they do.  Our family volunteered to make some cookies for the bake sale.  They would like them individually wrapped.  Now could I just wrap them in plastic? - NO!  I am putting them into our Food Safe Cellophane Bags as seen on page 176 of the Annual catalog.  Then I will tie them with our Baker's Twine and add the tags I made using our new Bella and Friends and Pretty Kitty stamp sets on page 101 of the catalog.  I stamped the back of each tag with one of the Bella and Friends stamp, "Thank you from the bottom of my heart".

I hope the CCSPCA will have a successful bake sale to help support all the rescues and care that they give the animals om the Central Coast of California. 

I know we certainly benefited from their fantastic work!  Gracie is a love.  If you are interested in learning more about the Central Coast SPCA, click  www.centralcoastspca.petfinder.com .

Messin' with water color paper again, 2016 - 2018 In-Colors

CAS - Clean and Simple  You could also say - "easy".

I wanted to just see how the new Stampin'Up! 2106 - 2018 In Colors looked on paper without creating an intricate design.  I cut a 3" x 4" piece of water color paper, wet it all over with my Aquapainter brush and began adding the inks: Dapper Denim, Peekaboo Peach, Flirty Flamingo and Sweet Sugarplum, in swirls, streaks and curly cues.  I weighted it down with an closed ink pad across each side at the edges to prevent warping.  After it dried, I stamped it with Dapper Denim  ink using one of the sayings from the new Layered Love set.  I adhered it with my Fast Fuse to a 3 1/4" x 4 1/4" piece of Dapper Denim card stock.   I like to use Fast Fuse with water color paper since it tends to warp when wet.  Then I adhered it to an A2 sized piece of Peekaboo Peach card stock with a regular snail.  For fun, I stamped the little heart from the Layered Love set with Dapper Denim ink onto the lower corner of the card.  You can purchase all the supplies for this card on June 1, 2016 at my on line store here.

Thank you for stopping by and shopping for your Stampin'Up! supplies with me.

A Sneak Peek of the Sitting Here Stampin'Up! Photopolymer Stamp Set

A sneak peek at the new "Sitting Here" photopolymer stamp set from Stampin'Up!'s 2016 - 2017 Annual Catalog.  Of course, my first card using the set had to have the DOG in it.  But, for a different look, there is also a cat, a great pot of planted flowers and more.  As a photopolymer stamp set, I was able to arc the saying to fit between the swing ropes.

The new 2016- 2018 In-Colors are featured on this card.  The dark blue is Dapper Denim, the pillows are Emerald Envy, Flirty Flamingo and Peekaboo Peach.  The fifth In-Color is a gorgeous lilac tone called Sweet Sugarplum.

The swing is stamped with Soft Suede ink onto Whisper White card stock, the dog outline is stamped using Stazon Timber Brown so that I could have water colored her.  However, I decided to color her with Daffodil Delight and highlight with Crushed Curry markers.  To make the swing look attached at the top, I used 3 lengths of Linen Thread as seen on page 159 of the 2015-2016 Annual Catalog.  The "grounding" aspect is stamped with Smoky Slate.  The background is sponged with Soft Sky and Smoky Slate.

Check back on June 1, 2016 and click on this link to my on-line store to get this fun stamp set and the new In-Colors.  Of course, if there are any other products you are interested in now or the future, I will appreciate your business at the link at any time!  Thanks for shopping with me.

Just messin' around with some ink and water color paper.....what do you think of the results?

Do you ever need a card right away and nothing in your stash seems quite right?  Well, that was where I was a couple of night ago. 

So, I pulled out all the retiring 2016 In-Color ink pads, card stock and washi tape, told them I would miss them, then went to work.

I chose Hello Honey, Tangelo Twist, Mossy Meadow and Lost Lagoon ink pads.  I squeezed the lids to transfer ink to the top to use as a palette.  I wet a piece of water color paper with my aqua painter brush and began streaking the colors across the paper.  Do you an aqua painter brush?  It is such a handy paint brush tool that hold water in the barrel.  If you need one, click here to see them.   They come 2 to a pack.

I weighted down the edges of the paper with some clear blocks and let the ink dry before stamping "thank you" with the retiring single stamp, 135377, Watercolor Thank You.  You can order the stamp here.  After I mounted the stamped water color paper onto a piece of Tangelo Twist card stock I decided it needed something.  I tore a strip of Hello Honey and Mossy Meadow washi tape to add at the bottom, The washi tape is 50% off - that is just $4.00 and available here.

All items used for this card are on the retiring list except for the Aqua Painters.  If you are interested in purchasing any of them while they are still available, click here.

I hope you try this easy card.  Leave me a comment with the colors you chose.  

Thanks for stopping by today.

2016 - 2017 Stampin' Up! Annual Catalog Coming June 1, 2016!!

Oh my gosh, you are going to just swoon when you see the new 2016 - 2017 Annual Catalog.  Stampin'Up has outdone itself with this one.  I can't wait to share it with you.  Check back in June when I am able to post a link to the new catalog in my sidebar.  In the meantime, contact me for a hard copy. 

Lil' Lamb - here for Easter - here for many occasions!

The Stampin'Up! Easter Lamb stamp is one wood mounted stamp on page 24 of the 2016 Occasions catalog.  As you can see, the lamb has many more applications.  You can wipe any ink you get onto the "Happy Easter" sentiment and stamp the lamb alone.

The cardstocks I used for both cards are Perfect Plum and Smokey Slate.  Other card stocks used are:  Wild Wasabi and and Pink Pirouette on the top Easter card and Old Olive and Crushed Curry on the bottom Oh, Hello card.

Both lambs are embossed with White Embossing Powder.  Embossing folders are Happy Heart and a polka dot folder form my stash.  However, Decorative Dots on page 174 of the Annual Catalog is a great substitute for the polka dots.  The lamb is highlighted with the clear Wink of Stella pen.  Love the subtle glitter of the Wink of Stella.

The "OH, HELLO" sentiment is part of the FREE Sale-A-Bration set Honeycomb Happiness seen on page 15.  With every $50 of merchandise you purchase by March 31, 2016, you may choose an item from the Sale-A-Bration  catalog.  The cute chickie is part of this set, too.  To see my card using the chickie:

Do you want a balloon? They are FREE.

To purchase any of the products used on these cards, click here.

Thank you for stopping by.

Do you want a balloon? They are FREE.....well, they were during 2016 Sale-A-Bration. I just might have an extra one to share, contact me.

I love rubber stamps!  I love baby animals!  I love FREE things!  So, just look at what happens when I have all three things together!  This cutie and his balloons are part of one of the Stampin'Up! FREE Sale-A-Brations (SAB) stamp sets.  See all of the set on page 15 of the SAB catalog.

Onto water color paper, I stamped this cutie and his balloons with the Black Archival Stampin' Pad (page 28, Occasions catalog) because it is a permanent ink and perfect for water coloring.  TIP:  Make a mask for the bird before adding the balloons with strings.

With my Aqua Painter I painted the chickie using Hello Honey Classic Stampin' Pad; the balloons with Tempting Turquoise and Tangerine Tango; the ribbons are Blackberry Bliss and Garden Green respectively.  I painted his beak and feet with Crumb Cake.  When the feet were dry, I added a swipe of the Tangerine Tango.

The balloons are decorated with the small flower and leaf stamps from the Blissful Bouquet Paper Pumpkin kit with corresponding ink.


Additional supplies used with this card:
8 1/2" x 5 1/2" Hello Honey card stock (CS), scored at 4 1/4"
4" x 5 1/4" Blackberry Bliss CS
3 3/4" x 5" water color paper
1" x 3" Painted Blooms Designer Series Paper (DSP)
Banner Triple Punch
Word Window Punch
scrap of Whisper White CS
Hello Life Stamp Set
Wink of Stella

TIP: I cut a mask to go around the outside of the balloons before I added the designs to that I could stamp part of the flower and/or leaf to appear as if it continues around the sides and back of the balloon.

I had so much fun with this chickie that I made another one with the colors from the SAB Wildflower Fields DSP to use it as the banner at the bottom of the card.  Because, as you know, I love that word FREE, so I have the DSP!!!  You can have some too, just click on the items below to order.  For every $50 of merchandise that you order between now and March 31, 2015 you can choose a SAB item for FREE!!!  If you want to choose the DSP, the number is 141022.  The Honeycomb Happiness stamp set is 141288 in wood and 141291 in clear. 

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