WWYS #18: Be the Star

Hey Everybody! So glad we are all back here for another week of What Will You Stamp? This weeks' stamp set is Be the Star! This set is already terrific but put it together with the Star Framelits and we a have a situation... Seriously, amazing things can happen. Anyways, I made a "Hoo-Ray!" card that says "Congrats" on the inside.

I love these colors together because they are so striking (Bermuda Bay, Perfect Black and Gold Foil). I clear embossed some stars on the black background to give the card some shine and texture. Then I gold embossed my "Hoo-Ray" and a star on some bermuda bay (Note: I also embossed the gold foil with gold embossing powder just to add more detail) and used the star framelits to cut both of the stars out. I stripped some of my gold twine so I could have the strands of gold for behind the stars. Thank goodness I won't have to do this anymore now that Stampin' Up! has come out with both gold and silver thread (so exciting)!

I hope you like my card this week! Here's what the whole stamp set looks like.

If you have this stamp set we would love to have you join us this week. Link your creation up to our challenge blog over at WWYS because we can't wait to see What Will You Stamp? Did you know that every week we pick one winner to be invited as a guest designer on our blog? So fun! Even if you don't join us don't forget to head on over and check out what the rest of the design team has created!

Welp, that's all for this week. I'll be back next week for another WWYS challenge and I hope you will join us again!

-Maria

Butterfly Bits & #TGIFTD01

****UPDATE: I was selected as a finalist for the TGIF Throwdown! I'm very excited! Now the Winner will be chosen by public vote! 

Well let me tell you folks... This was FUN!! I know, you don't know what I am talking about... It's the new TGIF Throw Down Challenge and I just had a blast creating my first submission! This challenge is really different because you have a limited list of supplies that you are both required to use, and, allowed to use. First, I'll show you my card because I'm excited about it, then I'll tell you more about the challenge. Here's my "butterfly bits" card. I really wanted a black background but black paper isn't allowed in this challenge. Lucky for me white paper and black ink are both allowed so I used my black ink pad like a paint brush on to make some black paper for both the background and the "hello." I used the golden "butterfly bits" that were left over after using the butterfly thinlits on gold foil to make my background. I used the smallest butterfly thinlit on a doily and sponged it with Blackberry Ink. I like the way it came out with pretty details just on the tips of the wings. 

 And, a little close up to see the details...

Here are the items that this challenge requires you to use at least four of... I used Gold Foil, Hello You Thinlits, Butterfly Thinlits and Blackberry Ink.

And, here is your "pantry..." You may not use anything that is not on this list (besides adhesive). I used White Cardstock, Black Ink (lots of black ink), White Bakers Twine and a Doily. I also used scissors, my big shot, paper cutter, blocks and a sponge.

Click on this TGIF Challenge Throw Down Graphic to check out what others have made for this challenge.

I hope you like my card and this new challenge! See you all soon!

-Maria

WWYS #17: Summer Silhouettes

Well, holy cow. I have been so crazy busy and I just checked to see how long it has been since I've posted and it has been eleven days! That's way too long! I'm so happy to be back today with this week's challenge from What Will You Stamp? This week we are using a lovely set called Summer Silhouettes. Here's my card.

Here's what the whole Summer Silhouettes set looks like. It's full of whimsy and summer time wishes. 

Do you have this set? We would love to have you play along with us this week! If you don't have this set and want to see some great card ideas then please come check us out over at What Will You Stamp? I'm hoping to see some of your lovely creations soon!

Have an amazing week!
-Maria

Baby Tag, Triple Banner Punch & Cottage Greetings

Whoa...freak out!! The new Triple Banner Punch is AMAZING!! It punches out banners in three different sizes. All you have to do is cut a one, two, or, three inch strip of cardstock, stick the end in the punch and wha-la! A perfect banner every time!

I just made a gift box for my friend's baby shower this weekend and used the Triple Banner Punch to make the decorative tag. It seriously made my job easy!  Here's what I made. I can't wait to give it (and the hand-made gift inside) to my friend!

Have a great weekend!

-Maria

Baby Book Cover

I am so excited to be sharing this! I am in charge of a Blessing Way for one of my friends this weekend. What's a Blessing Way? I had no idea either until I was asked to help. It's a Navajo tradition of honoring the mother and baby and putting the focus on the mother (family) and her experience. At baby showers we can get so caught up in gifts and games and cupcakes that it can be easy to forget about what's really important. For this Blessing Way we are doing a gift of a bead and making a blessing book. It's going to be such a special day!

I just finished making the cover of the Blessing book and am excited to share it.  I hope my friend will love it as it will bind the blessings of her friends and family together. 

I hope I will be able to share some of the pages from this book with you all soon.

Have a great rest of the week!

-Maria

WWYS #15: B.Y.O.P.

Happy Monday!! It's week 15 of WWYS and I'm so glad you're here! This week's challenge is to use Stampin' Ups! B.Y.O.P. I love this set and recently used it for my son's 13th birthday. It was the perfect choice for him because he is just not that fancy (some people aren't, no big deal!)! I made him the green striped box with matching tag that you see in the background of these pics. It was pretty funny-the day I sat down to work on this project I was not feeling well. When I'm not feeling well I am not very creative. I wondered if my son still had his tag lying around somewhere and surprisingly he did. More surprisingly, he had carefully propped it up on his bookshelf where it was proudly displayed (oh yeah, he's my boy!). I asked to borrow it for my project and he handed it over but made it clear that I was to return it. Hahaha! So....altering it or embellishing it for my project was out! BUT! I thought it was important to show you that sometimes you just don't have to be that fancy for something to be done well. Know who you are making your project for and do something they will love. I'm so glad my son liked the simplicity of his box and tag-What a crack up!

Anyways, I thought I should probably do something a little bit more complicated for this post... So I made a super-mini, mini treatbag thinlit project. It's just the right size for giving someone a wad of cash or a gift card so that they can B.Y.O.P. (Buy Your Own Present). 

I saw the idea for this on one of Stampin' Ups! catalog launch videos. I just cut out two of the small pieces of the Mini Treat Bag Thinlit and pieced them together (with a little extra scoring and snipping). I used the Irresistably Yours DSP with the star pattern and used a sponge dauber to give it some color in Smoky Slate. I paired it with Pacific Point and Whisper White paper and ribbon and Wa-La! What a cute little gift package!

I hope you liked my project this week. It's a fun and different way to use the Mini Treatbag Thinlits. Don't forget to head over to What Will You Stamp? to check out what the rest of the design team made this week. It's always fun to look through their projects! Here's a gander at what the whole set looks like. There is a lot to choose from. I can't wait to get my hands on the one for "baby." 

Do you have this stamp set? If you do, we'd love to have you join us. Make a project using B.Y.O.P and share it with us over at the WWYS challenge blog. We can't wait to see What Will You Stamp?

Thanks for stopping by! See you next week for more WWYS!

-Maria

Built for Free Using: My Stampin Blog

Sprinkles of Life meets the Jaxsonville Starz Blog Hop

Hey Everybody! I've missed the last couple Jaxsonville Starz blog hops due to a wild and wooly schedule and I am so happy to be back this month!! You may be joining the hop now, or, you may have arrived here from Cari Verschueren's fabulous blog! Either way, welcome to it! This month is a sketch challenge and I had a lot of fun with it! I used my new Sprinkles of Life set and the Tree Builder Punch from the new catalog. I hope you like it!

I stamped the flowers from the Sprinkles of Life set in Smoky Slate on water color paper and then I used my aqua painter (and a whole lot of colors) to paint them in. I used my heat tool to speed up the drying process (really, who can sit and just watch the paint dry-not me!) and added a little Dazzling Diamonds to some of the flowers to give it a little sparkle. Here's a close-up of the flowers. Oh yeah! I used the cupcake bottom from the stamp set and the candle sticks to make a basket for the flowers! I like the way it came out. Another fun thing I used on this card is the new In Color Envelope Paper. I love this new paper! It's thinner than our regular cardstock and is perfect for making envelopes, liners, or, adding a pop of color to a card like I did here (Mint Macaron stripes).

Here's the sketch that my card was based on. 

I'm also linking my card up to the TGIF challenge blog for the week. This week is a water color challenge and I'm excited to be able to play along at #TGIFC06.

I can't wait to see what the rest of the Jaxsonville Starz did with this sketch challenge! To keep 

hopping along with us head on over to Rose Ann Marr's blog!

In case you'd like to jump around in our blog here's a list of participants:

Amanda Sevall

Beka Laing

Cari Verschueren

Maria Willis: You Are Here

Rose Ann Marr

Thanks for joining us and we'll see you next month for another hop!

Have a great weekend!

-Maria

Built for Free Using: My Stampin Blog

You Little Furball and CYCI#72

UPDATE: I'm excited to say that I was picked as a winner for this challenge! Yeay! Thanks CYCI!

Today I had a little time to play around with some new things I just got from Stampin' Up! I made a couple of different projects and absolutely fell in love with the new Sprinkles of Life stamp set and coordinating Tree Builder Punch. I had been a little on the fence about it but once I got my hands on it I instantly became a believer! That set is so versatile it's crazy! It can be used on its own in a variety of ways, or, incorporated into other card designs like I did for the card I'm sharing with you now.

Even though I often think about it, I very rarely get the chance (time, etc...) to play along with challenge blogs aside from What Will You Stamp, where I'm lucky enough to be on the design team. Today is a different story though! I have been eyeing the Can You Case It Challenge Blog and have really been wanting to play along. Today I had the chance to join their sketch challenge. Here's the card I will be submitting.

And here's the awesome CanYouCaseIt sketch that I was inspired by.

I used You Little Furball, Sprinkles of Life and the Tree Builder Punch to make this card. I love the way Basic Gray, Smoky Slate and Pool Party go together. I topped it off with a little heat embossing in Pewter, and, Wa-La! My card was done. I hope you like it. I sure had fun making it and I'm excited to finally be joining CYCI#72.

See you all soon! Don't forget to check back in on Saturday for another Jaxsonville Starz blog hop. I'll have another fun Sprinkles of Life card for you to check out!

Happy Sunday everybody!

-Maria

WWYS #13: Your Perfect Day

Hello everybody! I'm glad to have you back for another week of What Will You Stamp? This week we are working with Your Perfect Day from Stampin' Up! This is a great set and I am thrilled to use it this week as we have some friends getting married and I've been wanting to sit down and make them a card. Their colors are taupe, blush and white... I used Smoky Slate, Basic Gray, Pink Pirouette, Blushing Bride, and some of that awesome designer vellum from SAB. So... I didn't really stick to their colors but that's ok! Here's my card...

Here's what the whole stamp set looks like. There are so many choices with this set that I really had to hold myself back. I wanted my card to be simple, elegant and fun (gosh, I hope it is) and wanted to make sure I didn't clutter it up by using too many images. Luckily my niece will getting be hitched soon too so I get to make another wedding card and maybe I'll have to bust out that lovely circlular vine! It's so pretty!

That's all for today everybody! I hope you liked my card and I can't wait to see what you will stamp this week over at WWYS! Don't forget to check out the rest of the design team's amazing work and submit your own challenge cards for a chance to be our guest designer! 

-Maria

WWYS #12: Guy Greetings

Good Morning  everybody and welcome back to another week of What Will You Stamp? This week's challenge is to use the Guy Greetings stamp set from Stampin' Up!

Here's my card:

When you pull the ribbon on the left the muscle man slides to the left and you get to see him wearing each of the different hats. I kept thinking I'd like to have it to say, "To a Man Who Wears Many Hats." Maybe I'll make another one and create a custom sentiment with my rotary alphabet stamper.  

Anywho, here's a little video (my first so be nice please) so you can see what it looks like in motion.

Here's the whole stamp set. It offers so many "guy" options and is really a good one to have at your fingertips especially with Father's Day right around the corner. 

Check out the great cards made by the rest of the design team over at WWYS! Don't forget-we love to see your ideas too! If you have a great idea for using this card we'd love to have you submit it. You might even earn a chance to be our guest designer! Looking forward to seeing What Will You Stamp!

-Maria