Schoolhouse Birthday

We are celebrating my nephew's birthday on Sunday and I needed a card for him (because apparently none of the forty-some birthday cards I already have lying around will do...ha!). I have been in a slump with creating, so I took my little burst of motivation and ran with it.

One thing I am discovering as I continue to seek out what it means to "let go and hold on" (see Monday's post) is that sometimes the process of creating a card just takes me way too much time. I feel like I have to have every little piece in the perfect place and by the end of my creative session I am drained...and honestly, frustrated with the process. Being a perfectionist does have its disadvantages! Today I exercised my ability to just put something on paper and be happy with it without going through a rigorous process of deciding whether I like this or that. What a great feeling to get er done in a snap!  And it helps a ton that I like the final product! ;)

First I simply grabbed my favorite Designer Series Paper pack called Schoolhouse. Such fun prints!! Next I searched Pinterest really quick for a card sketch that would get me going in the right direction. Then I grabbed a stamp set I knew would be great for an 8 year old birthday boy and before I knew it...I was done! Quick, easy, painless...and fun!! 

Schoolhouse DSP (#138187) - $11.00

Stamp Sets	Celebrate Today
Ink	Tangerine Tango, Pacific Point, Black Archival Ink (NEW!!)
Paper	Whisper White, Pacific Point, Schoolhouse DSP
Accessories	SNAIL Adhesive, Stampin’ Dimensionals, Glue Dots, White Baker's Twine, Epoxy Stickers
Tools	Big Shot Die-Cutting Machine, Balloon Framelits, Paper Snips

 Be sure to head on over to SSINK for more Friday Favorites!

I hope you all have a wonderful weekend! Don't forget to come join my new Facebook group to keep up-to-date and interact with me about all things stamping! https://www.facebook.com/groups/stuckonstampin/

SSINK - Bohemian Birthday

We're sharing birthday cards today on the Stylin' Stampin' INKspiration blog! I have a fun one to show you that I created back in June for an "in-the-mail" swap I participated in when the new catalog came out. You'll recognize this "happy birthday" sentiment as I have shared it a time or two (or three) on the blog already. This is a new host set called Happy Birthday, Everyone. I just love it...can you tell?

I often will start a card for a swap and before I know it there seems to be a bazillion steps to it that I eventually have to repeat 20+ times! LOL! Can anyone relate? But in the end, I have to be happy with it ~ extra steps and all! I often don't have time to just sit down and knock it out all at once, so I end up taking it "on the go" and do a little mama multi-tasking. ;)

{Watching my little man play football and assembling swaps at the same time!}

This card highlights the new Bohemian Designer Series Paper. So many fun prints and I love the color combinations. I also added the background stamp from the set You've Got This. This stamp adds some visual to the background of the card instead of just leaving it plain. I added the new 1" Dotted Lace Trim in Delightful Dijon underneath the birthday sentiment. Probably the most difficult piece to this card was tying the Gold and Bermuda Bay Sequin trim together with a Linen Thread bow. Such itty bitty pieces for my hands!!

Stamp Sets	Happy Birthday, Everyone, You've Got This
Ink	Blackberry Bliss, Island Indigo
Paper	Very Vanilla, Blackberry Bliss, Island Indigo, Delightful Dijon, Bohemian DSP
Accessories	SNAIL Adhesive, Stampin’ Dimensionals, Glue Dots, 1" Delightful Dijon Dotted Lace Trim, Gold Sequin Trim, Bermuda Bay Sequin Trim, Linen Thread
Tools	N/A

Thanks for stopping by today! I am feeling good about having a few things to share on my blog this week. I know it's been awhile...I just hope to continue to have more things to share with you! If you would like to follow me on Facebook you can visit my page at https://www.facebook.com/stuckonstampin. I also have created a Stuck on Stampin' Facebook group page for anyone who would like to join. Visit https://www.facebook.com/groups/stuckonstampin/. This group will help keep you keep up-to-date on all the happenings with Stuck on Stampin' and I may be posting there a little more often than on the blog. Plus, I would love for it to be a great tool to be a little more interactive!

Come on back tomorrow to find out what my Friday Favorite is!!

Control Freaks Convention Swap Cards

While at Convention I participated in a card swap with the Control Freak Stampers. This group is full of talented paper artists and it's always so much fun to swap with them. It's even more of a treat when we get to see each other IN PERSON like some of us were able to do this past week. We each swapped two card fronts and so I came away with 28 samples to share at my upcoming events! We pushed back our tour date to the end of the month so that those of us who went to Convention could share their swaps...and for those Control Freaks who couldn't make it they get to share whatever they want today! If you have been following along already you should have come from Wendy's blog at Wickedly Wonderful Creations. If you are just joining us, get ready for some stamping inspiration!

First up is a Christmas card I created using the Santa's Gifts stamp set from the 2015-2016 Annual Catalog. It's never too early to get a jump on making Christmas cards, right? Some special touches I added to the card include the stars (included in the stamp set) in the top right corner which I stamped using the Versamark ink pad. I also used my Blender Pens and Real Red ink & Basic Gray ink to color in Santa's suit. I added Dazzling Diamonds Glitter with a 2-Way Glue Pen to the white parts of his suit (too bad you can't see this card in person...it really does sparkle!) Of course I felt like the card needed an itty bitty heart to go with the sentiment, so I punched one out using the Two-Step Owl Punch. The present is actually a separate stamp (included in the stamp set), so I stamped it on a piece of scrap paper, colored it with Mossy Meadow ink and a Blender Pen and then used my Paper Snips to cut out the intricate pieces. I then popped it up with some Dimensionals and placed it in Santa's hands. The striped paper is from the Christmas Designer Series Paper Pack called Merry Moments. I am SO HAPPY they are including Christmas items in the Annual Catalog again! The cardstock colors I used are Real Red, Smoky Slate, Mossy Meadow, & Whisper White.

My next card I created uses another new stamp set from the Annual Catalog...actually a couple of new sets! The background is created using a new background stamp called Watercolor Wash. This stamp makes a beautiful background like it was painted with a brush. I stamped the background using Soft Sky ink to create an ocean look. The other new stamp set is called From Land to Sea. It has some beautiful images perfect for coloring. I couldn't resist using the turtle image for this card. I stamped the turtle in Black Stazon ink and then used my Blender Pens to color him with Sahara Sand and Old Olive. I also colored in the spots of the turtle with Soft Suede. I REALLY wish you could see the card in person because I added Crystal Effects to the turtle's shell. My kids loved that technique! It just gives it a fun, glossy look. After I let it dry (for a long time!), I cut out the turtle using my Paper Snips and then popped him up on Dimensionals. I stamped a quick "thank you greeting" (using another new set!) and added some Pearl Accents for the bubbles of the turtle breathing under water. Although this card is simple in design, there were many steps to pull it all together. Although I love how it turned out, if I were to do it any differently, I would probably use a "happy birthday" greeting instead. The cardstock colors I used are Sahara Sand, Night of Navy and Whisper White.

I am so happy you came by today! I hope you will continue on the tour to see what other inspiring cards were created. The next stop is Mindy Backes at Bada-Bing Paper-Crafting.

Letting Go & Holding On

Hi Friends & Stampers!

Well...it's been exactly 53 days since I have last posted on my blog.

School let out, summer began, and my priorities shifted to being more present with my family. So many of you can relate to this thing called FINDING BALANCE. I am openly honest about the fact that I am not good at it. Like...really. Not. Good. So, instead of learning how to find the right balance, I just ignored the bits and pieces of my life that were becoming a little too much. And, unfortunately stamping and blogging got the short end of the stick.

Fast forward a bit to last Wednesday where I flew into Salt Lake City, Utah to attend Stampin' Up!'s Annual Convention. I was banking on those four days to be filled with motivation, inspiration, and just enough umph to get me back into the creative mojo that I had been missing!

Was I inspired? Yes! Was I motivated? Yes! Did I come away confused as where I wanted to take my role as a creative soul? Yes!

I don't have the answers today {darn it!} and I know I won't have the answers tomorrow, either. But...I do know that life is about living it and not regretting it. So, in the meantime as I dig deep to figure out what's right for me at this season in my life I will continue to take value in knowing that I was born for the will to inspire and create. Which path this knowledge will take me on? I have yet to discover, but I do know I am ready to find out!

On my last day at Convention during a Leadership training we listened to a dynamic key note speaker. Her name was Jenna Glover and she spoke on the subject of "Living an Energy Efficient Life". Man, did this bring up all sorts of emotions, thoughts...and tears. As she wrapped up her inspiring message, she ended up with sharing this quote:

What do I have in my life that I am holding onto that it might be time to let go so that I can live life without running on empty? This will be the soul-searching question I am hoping to find the answer to sooner than later. Because I am ready for something to change.

Thank you for taking the time to care. For waiting patiently for me to come back and share with you again. For checking in on me (thanks Tricia!) to see if all is well because you have missed my posts. It's because of people like you who read my blog (even though I may not know it) and truly miss seeing the things I share. This is what makes me hold onto this little piece of my life. Simply put. Thank you.

I do have so many fun things to share with you about Convention! And as I gather together my "bazillion" pictures...I will sprinkle you with a little bit of inspiration here and there. In the meantime, if you are good with Facebook, you can find me there and like my business page to keep up-to-date! I am hoping to start a group soon which will be a little more personal and interactive. Is that something you would enjoy? Feel free to leave me a comment to let me know, if so!

Blessings for you all in this coming week!

{My friend Terri & I enjoying a photo op at Convention!}