Something New

Hello friends.

Long time no blog. My apologies for my hiatus. The long and short of the story is my computer hard drive went kaput and didn't have a way to blog until I replaced it. There is only so much you are able to complete from mobile apps on your cellphone. I'm happy to announce that I now have a new computer and I'm back blogging but with a new website too!

Come check out the new site over at www.literallymyjoy.com. It's still a work in progress as I am learning a new platform but I cannot wait to share what I am working on.

 

Summer Fun

Welcome to the “Blogging Friends Blog Hop!”

Who are the “Blogging Friends”? We are a group of Stampin’ Up! demonstrators located all across the U.S. and Canada who had never met before. Well, actually, we still haven’t met yet (in person)... But, through our common bond of Stampin’ Up! and a shared love of paper crafting we have created a fun new blog hop. Please join us on the 1^st of every month to see what wonderful things we have created!

Each month we’ll have a different theme: this month it’s Sumer Fun

Welcome to July stampers! Let the summer begin! I was inspired by a few quotes I found on the world wide web. (who even says that anymore?) Really it’s called Pinterest. I have a slight crush this week on alphabet stamp sets and you will see what I mean. I'll be sure to add all the supplies and color combination information below. Are you ready to see the results? 

This first card is being called: Be a Pineapple
I really should have used the bigger pineapple stamp (it's now on my wish list) but I made do with what I had on hand. I slightly cased the catalog and made a few other changes (go check it out page 146). 

Here is the inside. 

This next card is called: Kite Flying

This next card is called: Stars

This last card is called: Beach

In case you’ve never ‘done’ a blog hop before, it’s really easy! At the bottom of this post, you’ll see another image similar to the one above, and when you click on it, you’ll be taken directly to the next blog in the hop. Keep clicking on that image at the bottom of each blog post, and you’ll hop through all of the participating blogs, back to where you started – and you’ll see all the amazing projects and maybe will inspire you too! If you’d prefer to hop about at your leisure, you can click on the individual links for each blog. Happy Hopping! We’d love if you would leave us some comments (aka – Blog Love) to let us know what you think. Thanks for stopping by today.

Blog Hop Participant List:

Crystal Komara

Anna Masciovechio

Libby Fens
Anne Power

Mary Blocher

Danica Ferrante

Deborah Smart
Jessica Mink

Leanne Johnson <------------- YOU ARE HERE

Michelle Clarke

Mary Anne Rossiter
Tammy Gill

Rick Adkins
Lisa Reber

Here are all the supplies for the Be a Pineapple card:

Crumb Cake

Delightful Dijon

Old Olive

Here are all the supplies for the Kite Flying card:

Calypso Coral

Crushed Curry

Island Indigo

Here are all the supplies for the Stars card:

Crumb Cake

Delightful Dijon

Island Indigo

Pool Party

So Saffron

Here are all the supplies for the Beach card:

Bermuda Bay

Pool Party

Whisper White

You're my Apple

Hello Friends! While flipping through the catalog the Swirly Bird stamp set just caught my eye. Well just one image. It was calling to be an apple. So I just went with it. Do you have someone to be your apple?

Chocolate Chip

Cucumber Crush

Real Red

Soft Sky

Hey There

Welcome back stampers. Do you ever find yourself short on time? Well I like to craft at least one project a day and some days have more hours to create than others. This card is perfect for those days that we just need a quick and easy card. 

Emerald Envy

Sweet Sugarplum

Whisper White

My Fire

Hello friends! Today's card is one that has been in process (more in my head) for a while but just needed to create it and put it together. The seaweed/coral or whatever you'd call the image was begging me to make it into a fire. Let me know what you think by commenting below. 

Chocolate Chip

Crumb Cake

Daffodil Delight

Pumpkin Pie

Real Red

Merry

Hi there stampers! We have 6 (six) months until we celebrate Christmas. Are you preparing your holiday cards like I am? How about counting down the weeks until we can see the 2016 Holiday Catalog? September 1, 2016 cannot come soon enough. Ok so onto my card for today.  

I made my own background on the Crumb Cake piece using the images from Peace this Christmas stamp set. Then I splattered using the Gold Wink of Stella® glitter brush. I used the cap to assist with "flicking" the brush to get the look and not to get my fingers too messy. I also used it on the center of my poinsettia.

It's hard to tell in the above photos but the Christmas banner is stamped with Garden Green ink and then heat embossed with Clear Stampin' powder. 

I played along with the sketch from Paper Craft Crew (#PCCCS200).

Cherry Cobbler

Crumb Cake

Garden Green

Very Vanilla

Thoughtful

Hello friends! SSINK is sharing our Friday Favorites today. It's amazing that all the design team members didn't duplicate favorites. I chose the Floral Phrases bundle because one I haven't had a chance to play with it and two I needed to see how it cut. The thinlet may be something my baby sister will want on her wedding invitations. We shall see. 

This card was a bit time consuming because I chose to cut the Detailed Floral thinlet from three colors (Night of Navy, Mint Macaron and Pink Pirouette) and then like a puzzle put back only the negative pieces of the Mint Macaron and Pink Pirouette. Now you know I like puzzles but I figured this would make the flowers stand out from the Very Vanilla background. 

I used the color combination from Hand Stamped Sentiments (#HSS240).

Mint Macaron

Night of Navy

Pink Pirouette

Very Vanilla

Light Up

Welcome back stampers. What is your favorite pastime during the summer months from when you were younger? Did you try catching fireflies in a mason jar? Well I'm playing with the Jar of Love stamp set which is bundled with the Everyday Jar framelits. Can we say endless possibilities? Whoa so many ideas and so little time to show you. Those will have to wait for future posts, for now let's get to today's card.

I had heat embossed silver on Vellum to make the mason jar look like glass. and the fireflies are behind the Vellum jar to make them look like they are on the inside.

Daffodil Delight

Garden Green

Marina Mist

Soft Sky

Hello Copper

Welcome back friends! Have you seen that Stampin' Up! has come out with Copper supplies? Copper Metallic Thread and Copper Embossing powder just to name some that I used on this next card. It's going to work perfectly with all the color families. 

Crumb Cake

Emerald Envy

Whisper White

Happy Day

Welcome back stampers! You know what's exciting? Well for me anyway. When something goes the way you plan it,  am meaning this next card. I saw the colors for this week's challenge from Global Design Project and immediately had to sketch out what I was thinking of. Sometimes this process of designing a card can take some time. I'm really like how this turned out. Let me know your thoughts by commenting below.

I used the color combination from Global Design Project (#GDP041). 

Awesome

Happy Monday stampers. Hope that your weekend and Father's day (for all the men in your life) went perfectly! I was looking to focus on a stamp set or really stamp sets I haven't inked up yet. Marquee Messages and Basket for You (host) were what I picked to challenge myself. This card came together fairly quickly once I decided on a color combination. 

Basic Black

Calypso Coral

Pool Party

Tip Top Taupe

Miss You

Hi there friends. Happy Father's Day Phil, sure hope you are relaxing and doing what you want today! (Phil is my father-in-law) Please extend a Happy Father's Day to all the men in your life from me too! (Smile)

I apologize in advance for getting a bit too sappy but Father's Day is tough to get through personally. (tears are already flowing as I'm typing this post) This is the fourth Father's Day since my father passed away. I know people say it will get easier but on these specific holidays I get choked up. You may not see it on the outside but internally I'm throwing a tantrum and bawling just like a little kid who cannot get their way. Plain and simple, it sucks. To help me get through these tough times, I look back at photos, listen to music and craft. I know you think crafting? Really? That helps? Yes, it's my therapy and I can express my feelings. And that is what I did today. This is card may be more appropriate for someone living that you are missing but today I made it in honor of missing my father. He would laugh at the stupid pun I'm about to make. He left too soon. (smiling through the tears) Okay let's leaf you on a good note. (see what I did? Ha) Let's get to the card already. 

A single leaf stamped, colored (with the aqua painter) cut out, curled to add dimension and then a little bit of sparkle with the Clear Wink of Stella® (WOS). You'll notice that I used the WOS on various leaves on the Designer Series Paper (DSP). The sentiment was stamped in Old Olive ink on top of Vellum and then Clear embossing powder was added immediately. I didn't want to cover the pretty DSP. Oh you see that Vellum piece? I have a tip for you. I had cut a extra 1/2" length wise to allow a 1/4" on each side to "wrap" around the DSP piece. You'll get a better look in the next photo.

I used the layout from Freshly Made Sketches (#FMS241).

Old Olive

Whisper White

Swimmingly

Happy day to you friends! It’s a perfect day here in Connecticut to go swimming with the fishes.That's what I've used for my inspiration today, fishes. Ok and that I really want to go see Finding Dory. I mean come on they found Nemo. 

Here is a look inside the card. I almost like it as much as the front. Seems as I will need to make a few simple cards in my near future. 

I used the layout from Paper Craft Crew Card Sketch (#PCCCS199).

Basic Black

Calypso Coral

Dapper Denim

Mint Macaron

Soft Sky