As You See It Challenge #3

Whooo Hoo!  It's a new week & that means a brand new challenge from the 

As You See It Challenge Blog!  

When I saw this layout I fell in love with all the layers and texture.  

So without further adieu here is what I came up with.  

 The first shot is of course a close up of all the texture that I used in my card.  We have the houndstooth embossing folder, burlap ribbon from the Holiday Catalog, the Top Note Die for the Big Shot, then of course Gorgeous grunge & Fine Feather stamp sets.  These are two of my ALL time favorite stamp sets.  

Here is the end result.  I'm really pleased with how it turned out this week.  Hope you enjoyed it too.  

Thanks so much for checking it out & don't forget to play along with this weeks challenge.  

Link up your projects here (on the As You See It blog)

Lovin' the products & stamp sets that I used?  You can always order Stampin' Up! products 24/7 via my website (If you are in the US) at www.taraangus.stampinup.net

As You See It Challenge #2

Welcome back for the second challenge from the AYSI Challenge Blog.  This weeks sketch is killer & don't forget to link up your projects on the AYSI blog.  

Without further adieu, here is this weeks sketch.  

 I chose to use the Mixed Bunch stamp set for this great sketch.  Still fresh, but with a bit of fall in there.

  

Don't forget to link up this week on the As You See It Challenge Blog!  Can't wait to see what you create.  

As You See It Design Challenge #1

I'm so excited to be part of the Design Team for the all new As You See It Design Challenge Blog.  I'm designing with a bunch of great friends & Stampin' Up! Demonstrators from Canada and the U.S.  

Each week there will be a new card layout design that will be highlighted on the blog & also my cards for the week will be posted here.  Of course there will be a weekly card challenge on the design blog.

The first layout is a great one that I'm sure you'll LOVE.  Very hip and modern.

So without further adieu, here are my week one cards:  

I guess you could say this week I love pattern.  

The first card is a great birthday or even a girls night out party card.  I think the Happy Hour stamp set is super cute.  It has some great words along with all the drink glasses.  What I love most about this set is the pattern within the glasses.  

The colors that are used are Cherry Cobbler and Crumb Cake.  Did you notice my washi tape flags?  Yep, that's the new washi out of the holiday mini along with the great stripe designer series paper.  

Why Hello There!  

I flipped the layout just a tad this week to match the great designers series paper.  See those rings (almost like coffee rings) on the paper.  Yep, they came that way on one of the sheets Epic Day This & That paper.  On the left side I stamped with Gorgeous Grunge in Crumb Cake to give a bit more texture.  Then I stamped Oh, Hello in Espresso from the Oh, Hello stamp set.  

The flags are all from the Epic Day paper too.  Add a little Baker's Twine and a Naturals button and you are all set to go.  

Hope you enjoyed this week's challenge and make sure to visit As You See It Challenge Blog for great cards from the rest of the Design Team.  

*Don't forget to participate in the challenge too!  Link up your our creation on the AYSI blog. 

Enjoy & have a great weekend!  

Sale-A-Bration Blog Hop!

 Thank you so much for joining us on our very first Kaleidoscope Stampers Blog Hop!  We are very excited to share what we have been working on with you.

I am SO excited about the brand new Sale-A-Bration stamp set Feeling Sentimental.  It has me all sentimental about when I studied abroad in the UK during college.  Ah, good times.  Anyway here are just a couple of cards that I made with the set.  

 The first one I tried to grunge up the designer series paper by crumpling it, sponging it, and spritzing it.  I then stamped the phone booth over top in Saraha Sand ink and colored in the negative a Cherry Cobble Stampin' Write marker.

 Lastly, I added some of our great Natural 7/16 Trim Ribbon to set it off.  I love the burlap look right now so this ribbon is right up my alley.  I won't tell you how many rolls I've ordered already since the Spring Mini Catalog came out.

 The second card I made was a quick & easy one.  Using the Window Frames Framelits just made this card fit together like a glove.  I also used the designers series paper Parkers Patterns to give it a bit of flair wrapped in seam binding.

Still LOVIN the Feeling Sentimental stamp set?  If you are in the US please contact me so you to can earn it for FREE!

Hop on over to the next blog by the following the next link:

Desirée Spenst  at  www.kelowna.stampinup.net/blog

Make sure to check out the rest of the blogs in the hop too! 

Danielle Calder www.stampenvy.ca

Heather Cooper www.playingwithpapercrafting.com

Amanda Turner www.gotstamped.weebly.com

Tamara Casorso www.sweetstampinspot.blogspot.com

 Kristin Noble www.okanagan.stampinup.net/blog

Card Keeper: Sale- A- Bration Style

Way back in December I made one of my downline this great box for her to keep her cards in. At the time the box was in the Holiday Mini Catalog, but I did use the great designer paper from the Sale-A-Bration catalog!

Using the Big Shot I cut out the flowers on the top of the box plus added some ribbon to make it fancy. I also stamped on some of the cardstock flowers using the Sale-A-Bration Fresh Vintage stamp set.

I also covered some of the dividers with the DSP to spice up the inside.

The Sale-A-Bration products are still around till March 31st and the best part is they are free! For every $50 in product that you order you may pick out one of the items out of the Sale-A-Bration catalog for free.

If you are interested in ordering or seeing any of our catalogs please visit www.taraangus.stampinup.net

I Hike. Maybe? Yes, for sure I will!

Let's just say this story starts with my sister. She posted on her Facebook that she was going to hike 30 miles. Not in a month, not in a week, in ONE DAY! So like every sane person should I decided that I will do the same. No, I do not have a fever. I have not lost my mind.

Some of you that have been following my blog, or lack there of, know that my niece Lola was diagnosed with Leukemia on Valentine's day. I would love to say that it has been a great experience, with lots of warm fuzzes, but then you would know I've lost my mind.

To be honest it has been hard, really hard. My heart aches for my sister (my one and only) and her family. They have an amazing story (click here to see). There were days when Lola was first diagnosed that I wasn't sure what to do or to think. That is hard for me to admit as a "professional counselor" at my day job. One day in particular I went to work, it was the day she was diagnosed, it was all I could do to hide in my office & cry. I'm sure my students thought I was crazy. I know my intern for sure thought I was that day. I did tell her. How else could I explain the blood shot eyes from crying.

Ok, enough of that; Fast forward.

I am hiking for Lola. She will be our inspiration. If she can go through hundreds, maybe thousands of pokes, chemotherapy, physical therapy, losing her hair, etc, I CAN and WILL hike.

However I really need your support.

The Ultimate Hike is a fundraiser for Cure Search (great people that will find a cure for childhood cancers). This is where you come in. If you would please click on this link ( this is the general link since my page link wasn't working, search for Grand Rapids, MI hike & you will find me then) and make a small donation in honor of Lola that would be wonderful. I have a goal of raising $2,500 and a team goal of raising $10,000. So let's get the ball rolling!

Used Stamp Sale: TODAY 4-6pm & FRIDAY 9am-5pm?

So here are some details of the Annual Used Stamp Sale:

Sneak Peek for my customers, FB friends, & Blog Followers today (Thursday) from 4pm-6pm, no pre sales because I won't be ready :)

I am still working on pulling out retired stamp sets from my shelves!

1514 Erin St Jenison MI 49428

Prices will be as follows:

Clear/Cling Mounted Sets: $7 or Less

Clear/Cling New Sets: $10

Wood Mounted Mounted sets: $5, $10, $15 depends on condition, size of set, age, etc.

Wood Unmounted Sets: $10 or $15, maybe less depending on size of set.

12x12 paper: $.25 a sheet, most are double sided, 10 sheets for $2.00

8 1/2 x11 paper: $.10 a sheet

Ribbon priced at $3.00 a roll or less, depending on amount on roll.

Other accessories priced low.

Card Samples $.25 a card

3-D Samples some $.50 a sample, some priced higher.

CD Scrapbook Kits: $10 each

Plus More!!!