On Valentine's Day, the Stampendous Bling Challenge

It’s Saturday which means another chance to play along with the Stampendous Challenge. This month’s challenge is all about bling. It doesn’t matter whether you use glitter, rhinestones or sparkly stickers, just bling up a card and submit it over at the Stampendous blog. Please add the direct link for your card to the linky tool on the Stampendous blog no later than February 2, 2012 at 11:00 PM EST. You don't have to use Stampendous products to play along, but we sure love it when you do! And as an extra incentive for playing, one lucky person (drawn at random from all the entries) will receive this gorgeous Cherub Wishes Perfectly Clear Stamp Set. Due to shipping restrictions, the winner must have a US address.

For my card I inked the Stampendous Heart Stack N228 image with VersaMark Watermark Ink and then embossed it with my favorite black Stampendous embossing powder. I also stamped and embossed a sentiment from the Stampendous Iguana Love set SSC1084 the same way. I dry embossed a frame around the panel, matted it and then added foam adhesive before adhering it to the card base. For bling, I colored one of the hearts with a mixture of Festive Berries Distress ink and Perfect Pearls Mist. I also added a few Stampendous Class a’ Peel Dot Sparklers in red AC672HSR. If you want to add bling fast and inexpensively use Class a’Peel stickers. They come in a huge variety of styles and colors and because you always get a lot of them in one package, this product is perfect for mass producing cards.

Before you run off to create your blinged-out card, please check out the stunning inspiration created by these Design Team Members.

Stampendous Impressions Blog
Cyndi Bundy
Wendy Price
Wendy Jordan
Jennie Lin Black
Taylor Usry
Krissy Fossmeyer
Suzanne Czosek
Kristine Reynolds
Pam Hornschu
Melinda Gleissner (that's me)
Jennifer Ingle

Thanks for visiting!

Resolutions Can Be Challenging So Add Some Bling

We all know how challenging New Year's Resolutions can be. I've broken almost all of my 2012 resolutions, like giving up sugar and pop, exercising everyday and being more frugal...and it's only the first Saturday of the year.

That's why I am so excited that it's also the first Saturday of the month because that means a new Stampendous monthly challenge and this month's challenge is going to help me keep my last remaining unbroken resolution...to fran'tage more often.

You may be asking yourself, What is Fran'tage? It's collaging goodness at it's best and is the brainchild of Fran Seiford, founder of Stampendous. It's a mix of all things Stampendous: stamps, embossing powders, glitters and mica fragments. This month's challenge is all about BLING! Glitter, rhinestones, sparkly stickers...you name it. Just make it shiny and get it on your project! So I pulled out two of my favorite products, Stampendous Kaleidoscope Embossing Powder and Aged Gold Embossing Enamel. I also used some Stampendous Pearlized Mica Fragments. All of these I added over the very pretty Cling Bird Frame image which I stamped on hand-painted tissue paper. To finish the card I added three Copic-colored pearls as eggs in the nest. Voila, glittery, shiny goodness.

Please play along with us! Just add the direct link to your card (make sure you've loaded it up with tons of BLING) to the linky tool on the Stampendous blog no later than February 2, 2012 at 11:00 PM EST. You don't have to use Stampendous products to play along, but we sure love it when you do! And as an extra incentive for playing, one lucky person (drawn at random from all the entries) will receive this gorgeous Cherub Wishes Perfectly Clear Stamp Set (Due to shipping restrictions, the winner must have a US address):

Please take a moment and take a look at what these wonderful Design Team members have created:

Stampendous Impressions Blog

Cyndi Bundy

Wendy Price

Janelle Stollfus

Wendy Jordan

Jennie Lin Black

Taylor Usry

Krissy Fossmeyer

Suzanne Czosek

Kristine Reynolds

Steph Lee

Lynn Mercurio

Pam Hornschu


We hope you get a chance to play along with us. May all of your stamping this month be filled with glittery, shiny goodness!

Lawn Fawn CHA Winter 2012 Challenge *

Lawn Fawn has a really exciting challenge going on right now.

Winners will have their cards showcased in the next Lawn Fawn catalog and as well as at their booth at CHA. 3 lucky winners will also receive a $75 gift certificate to the Lawn Fawn store.

In the post, Kelly Marie Alvarez who owns Lawn Fawn says, "We seriously love you guys." Seriously, I don't know of anyone who doesn't love Lawn Fawn! I know LF stamps have been some of my most favorite since their start. Yes, the stamps are super cute and of excellent quality, but it's the company as a whole that makes us fall in love with Lawn Fawn. I always look forward to Kelly's posts, they make me smile. The challenges are creative and loads of fun and Kelly's Design Team is packed with amazing artists. The reason I think I love Lawn Fawn stamps so much is the company's attitude towards it's customers. It's Kelly's sincere gratitude and grace that she shows her customers, from the little special thank you stamps enclosed in an order to her response to each and every comment or upload that you make. She and her team (including Laurel and the Lawnscaping Girls) are always nudging and encouraging us with their kind words. We all have secret dreams of having our cards noticed and loved. Kelly's Lawn Fawn makes us feel like our every creation is noteworthy.

So Kelly, thank you for the opportunity to have our cards posted and for possible prizes to win but from all of us, may I say thank you for Lawn Fawn. Seriously, we love you guys!

*On that note, may I say this was not a ploy to try to be selected. Have you seen the submitted cards? They are truly fabulous. I have my favorites and also know the only chance I have of being selected is if Kelly decides to take them all to CHA. I just wanted to say thanks for the joy she has given me.



Thanks for visiting and allowing me to rant.

Lawn Fawn Supplies used:
Critters in the Burbs; Critters in the Forest; Quinn's ABCs;Smitty's ABCs; Plus One

Many Thanks

Oh, it feels so good to sit and write a post. I don't know about you but I'm really glad to be getting back into a routine. The mad push from Thanksgiving through New Year's Day is just that, maddening. I know...bah humbug.

Here are a few thank you cards I made this week using Lawn Fawn stamps. I just realized they look very Christmassy. Maybe, subconsciously, I am not ready to let go of the holidays...bah humbug.

For these cards I used the following Lawn Fawn stamps: Petite Florals, Blissful Botanicals, Judy's Blooms (the single bloom on my first card is the cut-out center of the largest flower), Quinn's ABCs (don't you just love this alphabet), Many Thanks, Bannerific and Schoolhouse Backdrops (I used the notebook paper stamp to create the horizontal lines on the first card).

Oh my goodness, I just realized I created a poinsettia, a wreath and an amaryllis. What's wrong with me?

Eek, I just felt the urge to watch "It's a Wonderful Life." OK, forget the post. I'm running down stairs to tear down the Christmas tree. Maybe tomorrow.

I colored the images with...red and green Copic markers.

The poinsettia thank you: YR04/R24/R39/G12/G14/G17
The wreath thank you:
R02/R05/R08/R30/R32/R35/R37/R81/R83/R85/G20/G21/G24/G28
The amaryllis thank you: R12/R14/R17/R39/YG11/YG13/YG17/G0000/C00/C0/C1.



For some non-Christmassy Lawn Fawn inspiration you can always head on over to the Lawn Fawn blog or the Lawnscaping Challenge blog. Seriously, both blogs are packed with nothing but fabulous art from amazing artists. Please check them out.

Thank you all so much for your kindness and for your comments. It means the world to me. Happy New Year to you all. May 2012 bring you health, happiness and crafty goodness.

Jolly Old St. Nick

The Saturday Color Challenge is still going on over at the Stampendous Impressions Blog. The challenge is to make a card/project using brown, gold, cream and pink (you can use three of the colors if not all four).

My card uses another amazing stamp, St. Nick R128 by Stampendous. I colored the image using distress inks and an aquaflow brush and then decided to be adventuresome. Have you seen the great You Tube videos Fran Seiford has created about Fran’taging? I love how she adds a bit of this embossing powder and a bit of that mica fragments and comes up with something glorious. You know how much I love the Stampendous line of embossing powder so it was time to give fran’taging a try.

Guess what, fran’taging is easy! I swiped some VersaMark ink directly onto the edges of my card and then sprinkled different parts with either the Aged Gold Embossing Enamel or the Shabby Pink Embossing Enamel and then melted it with my heat tool. I was having so much fun playing with this technique I decided to take it a step further. When the Age Gold Embossing Enamel is melted it is a luscious, shiny gold but to give it texture I inked an embossing folder with VersaMark, reheated a gold area and then pressed it onto the folder. Pretty Cool, huh?

If you haven’t seen Fran’s videos, you can check them out here, and of course you can buy everything you need to fran’tage here at the Stampendous online store.

Please check out all of the inspiration at the following design team member’s blogs (a few have blog candy to give away today).

Taylor Usry
Pam Hornschu
Suzanne Czosek
Kristine Reynolds
Janelle Stollfus
Jennifer Ingle
Wendy Price

Thanks for visiting!

A Very Happy Birthday

Happy Birthday Laura!

Our Stampendous Graphic Manager and Design Team Coordinator is celebrating a special birthday today! Always supportive and patient, Laura Weed is truly the best.

Please join me by hopping along with fellow Stampendous Design Team members in wishing Laura a fantastic birthday. While you're hopping, please stop by the Stampendous facebook page and send Laura your personal wishes.

Birthday Wishes from:
Wendy Price
Janelle
Taylor
Trudee
Jennie
Pam
Lynn
Krissy
Stephanie
Kristine
Wendy J
Jingle
Jennifer Dove
Rachel
Cyndi


My card uses the following Stampendous products: Birthday Assortment SSC1115 (sentiment); Birch Buddies SSC1055 (image); Cling Full Fluffles CRV079 (balloon)

Thanks for visiting! Have a super day!

Stampendous Saturday Color Challenge

Have you had a chance to play along yet with the monthly Stampendous Saturday Challenge? A new theme is posted on the first Saturday and you have all month to play along and enter as many projects as you like. This month’s theme is a color challenge and runs through Thursday, January 5th @ 11:59 PM EST. Make a card or project with at least three of these four colors: pink, cream, gold and/or brown. This month’s prize is the Stampendous Amore Frame Perfectly Clear set.


For all of the challenge rules, please visit the Stampendous Impressions blog.
Please visit the following Design Team member blogs for more inspiration:

Taylor Usry
Pam Hornschu
WendyJordan
Jennifer Dove
Suzanne Czosek
Cyndi Bundy
Kristine Reynolds
Janelle Stollfus
Jennifer Ingle
Jennie Black
Wendy Price

For my card, I used both the Stampendous Pine Candle stamp (V212) and the flourish from the Stampendous Cling Jumbo Rose Set (CRS5006). After stamping and coloring the pine candle image, I distressed the edges of the image then covered the whole image with VersaMark watermark ink and Stampendous Kaleidoscope embossing powder (EP030). I absolutely love this sparkly, translucent embossing powder. It’s so perfect for holiday cards. I stamped the flourish on a cream background panel using VersaMark ink and again the Kaleidoscope embossing powder. Don't you just love how it picks up the colors of the card?

Thanks for visiting! I hope to see your Stampendous Color Challenge projects soon.