I often times hit a creative block and will need a little inspiration.  Does that happen to you?  To mitigate that, some times I'll search Pinterest for ideas or I'll visit a Facebook Group called Stampin' Gals Gone Wild! where weekly the administrator  +Connie Stewart   will post a sketch/layout for the members to interpret and post their cards based on the sketch. I've decided to share my cards based on these and other sketches found across Pinterest.  I'll post a new sketch weekly on a Monday as well as my interpretation of the design.  If you'd like to join me, you can...here's how: 1. I'll create an Facebook event and a photo album in my Facebook Group page and you can join the event and share your photo uploads. 2. You can comment here and include a photo. There are always rules...but these are pretty simple All entries must have at least one (1) Stampin' Up product (after all, I am a Stampin' Up! demonstrator) Post must fo...

I love my Friday's off (although I went in to work for 1/2 day).  It's when I get to get together with my Stampin' friends and get creative and we share lots of tips, tricks and techniques with each other. Yesterday's tip and trick came courtesy of  +Sharon Coleman  (relatively new to our Friday crop circle).  For my project yesterday, I was "struggling" with trying to make my bow without contorting my body in all sorts of uncomfortable positions.   +Sharon Coleman  watched this struggle for a few minutes then said, "Do you need my finger?"  This led to can I show you something that works for me?  Enter in today's tip, trick and technique. This tip involves a plastic bottle cap (really you can use whatever you'd like, but most inevitably you can find one of these lying around the home) and a toothpick...huh?  How's that gonna help me tie a bow? LOL...that's what I thought to myself too...so here's the tip...to add bows to ...

There are soooooo many different "tools" in our arsenal as greeting card makers...and you all know, I love a good tool...(yes I said tool)...that I decided to get familiar with them...at least the ones I already own (hint, hint...no purchasing of new tools just to blog about them...exactly who am I kidding).  Stampin' Up! Item# 141714    Much better 2nd result...needs just a lighter touch This blog is going to focus on the brayer .  Ok, let's get the "formal stuff" out of the way... Wikipedia says, a brayer is a hand-tool used historically in printing and printmaking to break up and "rub out" (spread) ink before it was "beaten" using inking balls or composition rollers . The word is derived from the verb to "bray", meaning "to break, pound, or grind small, as in a mortar". [1] A brayer consists of a short wooden cylinder with a handle fitted to one end; the other, flat end is used to r...