I Love Autumn!

If I only had more storage! I am still working on organization, so my work is sporatic at best...hang in there with me. You guys know how we stampers need a place for EVERYTHING! Without that, I have PILES upon PILES...everything gets buried...

OK, enough excused...

This card is has a touch of Autumn, as I am experiencing Autumn without the colors I am used to up North. I usually go straight for the oranges, reds and umbers, but this year will be different...as I have a new venue.
I brayered the plum gingham, vintage CTMH B&T paper, with River Rock ink from SU!. The lace edge is from Crafty Secrets' Kitchen Classics. I stamped the cs with the flying crow from "Old Fashioned Hayride", one for the sets I illustrated for H&M Stamps...actually, the very FIRST set I ever designed.

I curved the font, to make it fit the oval, which I cut with Coluzzle. The little glass beads are from Walmart.

Gotta go...got some drawing to do.

~Bev

Finally...I am back, and armed with stamp sets!

Hey Everybody!



Big News! My very first original stamp sets are available online for purchase! There are five of them, and I am working on 10 more for release next year. Check them out! Right now you can get FREE SHIPPING! Go to: http://www.handmstamps.com/


As for my move to Florida, we're "in". George and I still have alot of loose ends to take care of, but we did manage to take a trip to IKEA to purchase tables for me to work at in my very own craft room. Storage pieces will have to wait, and I have to try a different connection for my computer (wireless doesn't work here), but other than that I am able to function enough to get back to blogging...



Here is a card made with my stamp set, "Old Fashioned Hayride". What fun!


My camera is charging, so as soon as I can, I will post more angles and close-ups of this card. Finally time to use the Fall stuff (although it's in the 90's here and doesn't feel at all like Fall!)


This card is for Heather Rolin's layout challenge, HMSC11. It's a loose translation. Rocking stamps is one of my favorite things to do. I used three colors: Old Olive, Summer Sun and Bravo Burgundy. I curved the cute sentiment and cut the three corn cobs out of glossy paper. I used a sponge here and there, and edgers to make the scallops. The image in the oval is chalked, and the sky was done with my good 'ol CTMH cloud stencil. The paper and cs are vintage CTMH.


With all the adorable cards I have seen on this blog, I have some catching up to do!


Have fun with your stamps,
~Bev

Happy Birthday to my George

George is my hero...this card is for him. We will be moving to Florida to retire, by the end of the summer. This is a BIG birthday!
I used Crafty Secrets Layout Challenge for this week: CSSC25. I finally got some new stamps sets! OH! This layout is also special because Darlene used it to make a card for the last challenge, and then Pammyjo used it to honor Darlene on her birthday which was also this week...Happy Birthday to you, Darlene!

One thing I seem to always do on chalked images when using vintage stamps...I erase some of the chalk to give the image a shadow.
I used two of my newly purchased CS sets: Hardware, and Card Sentiments. The paper is from Leisure Arts (Elements) and Karen Foster Designs (Old Script) The black cs is really cool...it's called Core'dinations. The core of every sheet of black cs is a color. This one is beige. I sanded it to bring out the core. Not all their cs is black, this series is called, Black Magic.

I discovered something cool when I sanded the edges of my focal point square...the inked edges sand away, leaving the edge looking torn and really vintage. I was so excited to see an inked edge to that...I have done it with white core cs before, but never this! I also sanded the brads and melted the ribbon.
The lock and key represent my heart, and that George holds the key...so romantic...

I love Crafty Secrets stamp images. I guess I really am a romantic at heart!

~Bev

H&M Stamps Release!

Congratulations, Heather! Two new stamp sets are released today, and this card is made with one of them. I love the little flip flops, and dressed them up with some beads I picked up in Walmart...in the bead section.
Shabby Chic, the sister style to Vintage, was my choice here. I used my empressor tool to make weather-worn wood (say that 3 times fast!) reminiscent of New England cottages at the beach in CT, where I spent some happy hours as a child. Ah, the memories...

So, check out Heather's newest stamps here:http://www.handmstamps.com/

~Bev

There's No Place Like Home...

This card is for the WT172 Challenge, "Ways to Use It", using scoring. I use the empressor stylus all the time...and I love it. Here, I made "wanescoting" and moulding, sanding the cs after scoring it. I used dp that looks like wallpaper, and so just had to get out my "Bird Notes" stamps from Crafty Secrets again. Chalked the image, erased some, and used the Kitchen Classics from Crafty Secrets to make the lace border. Pretty simple card, but naturally, it took me some time.