A Very Pinterest Break

Hello Friends and Stampers,

Well here I am in my 8th class. So just four more to go before I can have my life back. Looks like mid Aprilish of next year. The thing about a year and a half of studying, is that it makes you appreciate the free time you do have.

Thank you my friends who check on me and inquire if I am okay. That means so much to me to know I have been missed.

So on my last break, I was challenged to make as many cards as I could in a week and a half! Wow. I was thinking I might break out ten if I was lucky, but I made 34 cards!!! Some were clean and simple and some more involved. None were my original idea, they were all seen on Pinterest or Facebook. lol.

So here is what I made mostly doubles and some triples of:

I made all of these from the MFT Zipper die. I loved the beachy striped one I saw and wanted to make something similar to it. 

I saw this SU set: Giggle Greetings used on Cre8tive Play and it inspired me to break mine out as well and play. 

I know I got at least one of these from CARDiology 's blog. I actually made that wood background from another S.U. wood background stamp. These were so fun to make. 

These are make it crafty digital images that I have had in my computer for a very long time. I saw Craftybit's remake of these images and had to print mine out and make some too.  The first one is very similar to her original because I love the hair she colored and the paper was perfect for her. 

Of course I had to break out some Lawn Fawn get well stamps, again, straight from Pinterest

These are some memory box dies I bought a little while back, I wanted to try out the fantasy film I purchased about two years ago and never used. Okay, in real life this stuff is amazing. I just cut loosely, crinkled it up and then glued it on and cut around the edges just a little bit. Oh I love the shimmer and shine this created. 

So that is what I did on my break and I had the best time making these. I also have a few Lawn Fawn color my world cards sitting on my desk, but I will share that on the next break. 

School is getting more difficult just to be able to concentrate on, but I am acing those classes, so I must keep up the intensity. They are five week, "all in" classes. With five chapters to read, more electronic reading, a paper to write, two small papers to write, and six comments.....per week. I am not a fast reader and I am a very thoughtful writer, so this is taking every bit of my time. By I wanted to climb on the blog and let you all know what I've been up to. 

I hope you are all doing well. 

Holly

My Fintastic Friends

Hi Stampers and Friends,

Last one today, maybe last one in a while....

Some Odd Girl - Under the Sea Mae

MFT - Wave Die

MFT - Blue Prints 16

Copic Markers

Memento Black

S.U. woodgrain background

White embossing powder

MFT Lush Lagoon ink

yellow brads from my stash

I just love this little Sea Horse! I have other Some Odd Girl stamps as well that are just waiting to get inky. I am not sure if I ever inked one of them up. So today I was rummaging through my stash and decided he would fit well on the left over circles I had from a previous card today. I also had a mishap sitting on my desk and decided to use it as the background. I inked whisper white craft ink on Kraft colored paper and it didn't work so well. So then I added white embossing powder and heat set it. Nope, not loving the result. So then I ran my Lush Lagoon over that and while it was not really suited for the project I had in mind, I decided to set it aside. Well, today I decided it would go well with the other colors and the little sea creature. And there you have it. 

Okay, time for me to clean up my mess and get ready for work tomorrow and School very soon. I had a wonderful day in my scrappy world. 

Thanks for stopping by and leaving me a kind comment. 

Holly

Splash!

Hi Friends and Stampers,

I saw a card last year and I was so excited about the image and the design, I had to make it myself. I had a few stamp sets from this company on my wish list. Then the unthinkable happened, The Alley Way Stamps announced they were going out of business and put all their stamps on sale. By the time I got there, these sets were sold out! ACK! I had the letter dies and the stencil by that point, but no stamps. Lucky for me, I was able to talk a fellow stamper out of hers, lol.  So today, I had a few things out and came across this stamp set and decided today was the day to ink it up.

 Here is the Original: 

Simonne 

And here is mine:

All Washed Up - TAWS

Something's Fishy - TAWS

Versafine Onyx Black

Mini Splat The crafters workshop

MFT Bright Lights Alphabet

MFT Blu Raspberry ink and paper

Stampoholic

So the rules of casing is that you must link to the original creator and you must change two things. I am not sure who came up with the rules but I've seen them in a dozen or so places, so I'll just go with that. I changed the ink color and used a background base layer. 

I made a very important discovery while I was stamping up this image. First it is a negative image and it's very tricky to get it all inked up at once with a solid stamp, which is why I didn't attempt it without using my Stampoholic, because it did require two inkings. Second, I used a Colorbox black from MFT's and noticed it was not as vibrant as Simonne's. So I read her card list and saw she used Versafine, which I have had forever and maybe used it twice. So I thought what the heck, and I restamped it twice in Versafine ink and OMGosh what a difference! I even had to take a picture of this one. 

You can tell the difference, the bottom one is the Versafine. Wow, huh? Well, it excited me, lol. I have to share all my discoveries that I come across. I am sure someone somewhere else has already discovered this but you know, it's always good to share info. 

About the time I saw this killer whale image, I had already watched the Blackfish video that is circulating on line and on Facebook. I do not disagree with their findings and after some time, Sea World has recently announced they no longer plan to breed Killer Whales in captivity and will no longer catch young killer whales in the wild. This means no more Shamu shows when Shamu is gone. It is great for these poor animals, but not so great for those of us who were, are, and continue to be captivated by their presence and seeing them up close. It's almost a spiritual connection to be there and see them live and in person. I hope to get to see them again before they go. But like I said, after seeing and hearing all the evidence, it is the right thing to do on Sea Worlds part. Maybe some day, someone can build an infrastructure that would facilitate them swimming by to visit the crowds. I'm not really sure. I'm planning on using this image to scrapbook the pictures I have at Sea World with the kids. 

Why am I so wordy today? lol.  Thanks for stopping by and leaving me a kind comment. 

Holly

Sunny Wishes

Hi Friends and Stampers,

Well, I did not mean to spend the whole day stamping, lol, but I did. Last day of Stay-Cation and I made the most of it. I didn't even make what I originally intended, but you know, I go with the flow and before I know it, I  have three cards.

Kraftin Kimmie Stamps - Oceans of Love!

MFT Die-Namics Blueprints 16

MFT - Lush Lagoon Ink

Memento Tuxedo Black; Tangelo; Cantaloupe

Copic Markers N-1 through N-6

Gelly Roll White

Mini Splats Stencil by The Crafters Workshop

When I saw these Oceans of Love stamps, I was head over heels in love with the images. Apparently I was not the only one, they sold out quickly!  But I was able to get them on the second go-around. I'm really glad I did. Am I the only one still using brads? Since the enamel dots came out and sequins became all the rage, I have hardly seen brads being used. Well, I used some of mine anyway, they just went perfect for the port hole. This little guy makes me miss the beach even more.

I hope you are all having a fabulous Monday!

Thanks for checking in and leaving me a comment.

Holly

Best of Luck

Hi Friends and Stampers,

Well, here it is, late at night and I am trying to get all my things done and get organized for class next week. I kept wanting to take a pic of this card during the day, but alas, it is so hard to find time, lol.

BB - Adventure is Calling

Krazy Kreations Stacked Bags outline stickers

Silk Microfine Glitter Paper

Carta Bella Old World Travel 6X6

Copic Markers

Stampoholic

I actually made this on the tail end of my last break, but have not had a moment to grab a picture and get it blogged until now. I love this adorable image. The suit cases were a lot of fun to color up as well. I love these cut outline stickers and the making things with them. They shine and shimmer up really nice in real life. I know Krazy Kreations has a few kits as well, which is always fun to make because the kits have it all and you can just be mindless and have fun.

I have another week off of school but I have to go back to work next week. I hope to get inky every night between now and then. I tried to make a card and it bombed, so I will try again. A different design. Maybe someone else's, lol.

I have gone through over 5,000 emails. I'm down to just over 15,000 lol, but that is so me. And when I say I've gone through them, I truly have. No finger on the delete button pushing it over and over again. I have to look at and inspect each one. I do not want to miss a thing. I have discovered things I missed! Not just fabulous creations of other stampers and card makers, but dies and stamps, and papers oh my! lol.  I seriously missed seeing a few products that I am going to have to have, lol. I will have to add them to the wishlist. Which is growing longer and longer while I am busy doing school work. I do have a few pile ups here, things that couldn't wait, lol.

I am half way done through my BSN program!!! Six down and six to go!!! I almost gave it up with this class. After statistics, I was just burnt out and felt like I needed a longer break, but my counselor steered me in the right direction and I finished the class. I was also able to take a week off of work just after class and this has done me a world of good. The family packed up and went to see Grampa and Cyndy in Paso Robles, we headed to the beach for an afternoon, and we have gotten back to the gym. All things I wanted to do.

I hope to be able to do more blog hopping and see what everyone's been up to. I have made it to a few but not everyone yet.

Thank you for stopping in and checking on me,

Holly

Thank you Gina K

Hi Friends and Stampers,

Do you ever save something for a rainy day? Like gift cards? I won a Gina K gift card from a previous Coffee Lover's Blog Hop and I put it away for a rainy day. Life happened and then all of the sudden I remembered. Actually, I saw these really fabulous new Coffee Sets by Gina K While I was blog hopping and I was like, "Oh yeah, I have a gift card!!!" Well I went to use the gift card and it wouldn't go through, it had been in the rainy day file for a while. So I decided to message their customer services and do you know by the next day, they had fixed the gift card code for me? Excellent customer service and I am so excited with these fabulous stamp sets!!!

Coffee Clear

We go together Clear

Love You Mini

OMGosh I am so excited, I have so many wonderful new Coffee stamps sets to use on my next break!!! 

Holly

Thank you Unity and Amy

Hi Friends and Stampers,

I recently participating the Summer Coffee Lovers Blog Hop, and I did not even see that I had won a fabulous prize from Unity!!! Here is what I got.

Seven really fun stamp sets!!! I have a lot of fun waiting for me on my next break and just in time for the Fall Coffee Lover's Blog hop. Thank you Unity for the fabulous prize. I love your stamps!!!

Thank you Amy for bringing it to my attention that I actually won, lol.  And for orchestrating this fabulous Coffee Lovers hop.

Holly

Thank You Amy and the Ton

Hi Friends and Stampers,

I just wanted to do a few quick posts thanking companies for prizes. I know you saw my Coffee Lovers cards and part of the blog hop is uploading cards and going from blog to blog checking out other creations that were also uploaded. There were over 800!!! When you blog hop, google does this thing that you have to prove you are not a robot. This year thankfully, there were not weird scrambled numbers and letters that used to be really hard to figure out...like I needed a robot to help me, lol.  This year were miniature pictures of various items. Then you had to click the pic's that matched. Sometimes these were in other languages, so I had to figure out by the pic's what they wanted, or click all the street signs but sometimes they wanted the poles and sometimes not. They even got tricky with once you clicked on a picture, another one would replace it and you also must click on those too. Only twice were cups of coffee an option, mostly store fronts in areas I don't think I would be frequenting, lol.  But it was all worth it, just to see the fabulous creations and be able to tell the creator how much I loved what they made, and pin a few to pinterest too. Anyhoo, when the competition is over, you add your name to the super commenter's list. And I won a gift card to The Ton!!! So I picked out these:

Bokeh Burst Heart 

Bokeh Burst Round

Thank you so much to Amy and the Ton, it was hard to choose but I just love these! 

Holly

Winner of the Coffee Lover Blog Hop

Hi All,

I sure did have fun participating in the Summer Coffee Lovers Blog Hop. Both by making cards and by blog hopping myself. I cannot tell you how great it was to see everyone's fabulous creations and feel like a part of things again. I did lose a few hours of sleep but it was so worth it, lol.

Google Blogspot was interesting this year, it seemed like I could reply to blogs a few times with out the verification that I was not a robot. Then trying to pick out what was river in the little inchy photo's, lol. The worst was the store fronts because it was hard to tell which ones were store fronts and which ones were just really bad neighborhoods, or the recurring numbers, after you selected on, another one would pop up, lol.  But the one that I found most user friendly was picking out cups of coffee, I got this one twice. I wished we could have replaced that with the store fronts, lol.

Okay, but today is the day I find out who won my blog candy. And here we go. I took all the numbers from the comments made on my blog for the week (290) and placed it in Random.ORG. Here is what the random Integer came up with:

Random Integer Generator

Here are your random numbers:

45

Timestamp: 2016-06-27 01:46:54 UTC

I went to my first blog post of the week and counted down from the a.m. to the p.m.'s in order. The winner is: 

 Sierra Winters said...

Hello, Holly!
Your art is lovely! I hope you're enjoying the Coffee Loving Cardmakers' Summer Blog Hop as much as I am. Happy crafting!
Sierra
www.sierrasgift.blogspot.com

June 20, 2016 at 12:36 PM

I am emailing you now Sierra for your snail mail address. 

Thank you everyone who commented on my blog, I loved every single one of them and hope you will come see me again when I can get some crafty time in. 

Holly

The Boss

Hi Friends,Stampers, and Fellow Coffee Lovers,

If I have done my math correctly, tomorrow is the last day of the Summer Coffee Lovers Blog Hop, also the last day to get your comments in on my giveaway this week. I have had a great time making cards, posting them, and blog hopping along. I miss this so much. This is my last card for the blog hop, but I will be hopping along with you all.

For today, I have a shaker card I made.

The sweet stamp shop - The boss

This is one of my favorite stamps, I love the little face that comes with it as well. I also liked that I was able to repeat the stamping on the sentiment with my stampoholic tool. And the sentiment is straight!!! I know, it's the little things in life that will make my day, lol. The sequins are from Pretty Pink Posh, I loved their selection of colors: Metallic Gold, Sand, Espresso, and Metallic Bronze. I'm also keeping my yellow = summer theme going, lol.  

I have a giveaway that I will draw a winner for in the next few days. I will be adding all the comments from the Coffee Lovers Summer Blog posts I have had this week and I will be drawing one winner for this set. 

Thank you for checking in and leaving me comments. I really appreciate them. 

Holly

Latte & Donut Friends

Hello Friends, Stampers, and fellow Coffee Lovers,

I have a giveaway, details later in this post.

I hope everyone is having a great time on the coffee lovers blog hop this summer and finding all kinds of great ideas and new "have to have" stamps.

For today, I am posting this card:

Darcies heart and home stamps - Milk and Cookies

This set of stamps is so adorable! I just love the happy faces and the fact that they can hold hands. I know I have said it before and I will say it again, I love the stampoholic tool I bought. It made stamping these images onto the card so much easier and the best part is getting the sentiment straight! I'm not missing the "guess work" of stamping the sentiments on the card anymore. 

I don't know why I think yellow represents summer, but I think I've added it to every single card I have made this week for this blog hop, lol.  It's not necessarily my go to color but I have really enjoyed using the different papers and ways to incorporate the yellow. 

I'm playing hookie from studying to post this and I really should be reading and writing for my class assignment, lol.  I have missed blogging and sharing and reading others blogs, I am nearly half way there and then I can get back to my hobby full time again. Well, full time after work and family, lol.

 

As promised, I have a giveaway. One commenter from my blog from the whole week will win this set:

Pretty cute stamps will not be making photopolymer stamps anymore, so when this set is gone, it is gone. I wanted to be sure I had one, so now I have two, one for me and one for a lucky winner this week. 

Thanks for checking in and leaving comments, 

Holly

A Little Coffee Makes Everything Better

Hi Friends and Stampers,

I have a giveaway, details listed at the bottom of this post.

We are well in on our Summer Coffee Lover's Blog Hop and today I have a philosophical card to show you.

Hero Arts - A Little

Sugar Pea - Coffee Set

Art Impressions - Coffee Set

I first saw this stamp label on one of the Coffee Lover Blog Hops a while back and it spoke to me. That is my philosophy, "A little COFFEE makes everything BETTER", lol. So much of the time, this is absolutely the truth. While I was not totally thrilled with the way this card came out, I thought I would share it anyway. I think I want to take this label and make smaller gift card versions for Starbucks Coffee cards. 

Well school is well under way and I'm in the middle of this Nursing Research class and I have to say, I will be glad when this one is over. Not that I am not learning and it is interesting, but it is labor intensive and just coming from the Statistics class, I am feel the wear down. It is good to take these courses back to back because they are related and the information from statistics is fresh, but they are very involved and I am definitely looking forward to the two week break after this. The great news is that after this nursing research class, I will be half way done with my BSN program!!! Yeah!!! A lot of coffee went into this half of the program, trust me, lol. 

Okay, about that giveaway. I am going to take all the comments left on my blog this week and draw a name to win: 

I hope you are having a great time blog hopping and picking up some great ideas and finding new "have to have" stamps, I know I am. 

Thanks for checking in and leaving comments. 

Holly

Wake Up and Smell the Coffee

Hi Friends and Stampers,

I have a giveaway, details at the end of this post.

It's the Summer Coffee Lover's Blog Hop week and today I have a cute little Latte from The Greetings Farm set called Perk Up.

Again, I using Heather Hoffman's card design with a strip of paper way too cute to waste. The paper is from American Crafts and is called True Story. Again, I pulled out my Copic Markers and am having fun, even if I'm rusty. 

I hope you have been able to blog hop around to see everyone's fabulous creations. As I have mentioned on previous entree's, I have a one giveaway for this blog hop, I am going to take all the comments left this week on my blog and draw one name to win this set. 

I just love those faces!

Thank you for checking in on me,

Holly

Coffee is Always a Good idea

Hi Friends and Stampers,

I have a giveaway, details at the end of this post.

It's the third day of the Summer Coffee Lovers Blog Hop! Whoo Hoo. Today I am using the coffee set from SugarPea stamps.

This card design is from Heather Hoffman's blog, a house built of cards.  She made several sets of cards using this design and it's a great way to use up that strip of paper you used for one card. I love it so much, I may just do this with all my strips of paper now, lol.  The paper is from American Crafts - True Stories. I colored up the cup and saucer with my Copics. I am so rusty at coloring but it is a lot of fun to be able to use my toys again. Oh speaking of toys, if you read my post from last month, you know I have a new-to-me Stampoholic and I have to tell you, every time I need to stamp a sentiment of words, I will never worry about it again. This is the best tool I have purchased in a long while. It's just fun to use and know I can keep restamping until I have the image I want. I love it. 

I hope you are having fun blog hopping around checking out all the fabulous coffee images, I know I am. 

I am going to take all the comments left this week from the Summer Loving Coffee Blog Hop and draw one winner to win this set:

Thank you for checking in on me, 

Holly

Kuerig Love

Hello Friends and Stampers,

I have a giveaway, details at the end of this post.

It's another Coffee Loving Blog hop Day and I have to say, I dearly love these Taylored Expression Koffee time dies and stamps. I do love my Keurig coffee maker and being able to put one on a card is REALLY fun and exciting.

This is not my card design though, I saw it on Julee Tilman's blog 

Here is her card:

When I saw her card, I was IN LOVE and I knew I had these card panels sitting on my desk just begging to be used, so I used her card design for my coffee theme and changed it up a little. Nothing says summer more than than this yellow paper, which is from Reverse Confetti. 

After this weeks Summer Loving Coffee Blog Hop is over, I am going to take all the comments left this week on my entree's, and draw one name for this set. 

so be sure to come back again tomorrow. 

Thank you for checking in on me and I hope you have fun hopping around. 

Holly

Fill 'er Up!

Hi Friends and Stampers,

I have a giveaway, details at the end of this post.

Yeah, it's time for the Summer Coffee Lovers Blog hop!!!  Whoo Hoo! I have so many coffee stamps, I don't know what to do, lol.  That does not slow me down in the least though from grabbing more. I was just on a two week break not that long ago and had a great time using my coffee stamps and paper. For the first day, this is what I made.

Art Impression - Hot Java MaMa

Paper: American Crafts - True Stories

I just love this image, had to make two of them! These papers were calling my name. Can you just hear her "glug, glug, glug"? I can so relate, this does represent how I feel each morning when I have to get up early for work, lol.  Thankfully there is coffee to kick start my day. One cup to wake up and one cup to go. 

I hope you enjoy hopping around to the various blogs and leaving comments. I have so missed being able to play along and I hope to get around to everyone's blogs this time. 

I have more than one entry this week, so I am going to take all the comments from all my Coffee-Loving posts this week and draw a name for a winner. The prize to be drawn shortly after the blog hop is a "Coffee Faces" by Pretty Cute Stamps who is no longer making stamps but rather digi's, I was concerned and bought this set....again...because I wasn't sure that I had one. I know I am not alone in this habit, lol. 

Thanks for checking in, 

Holly