theStampingbug's Journey...

Sunday, February 15, 2015

President's Day Greetings...

Hello stamping friends and Happy President's day! I'm headed to George Washington's house at Mt. Vernon today to have a little chat with the Prez. Yep, for real! I read they are doing some fun laser archaeology to document every little piece of the house- trying to determine what exactly is ORIGINAL! It might be interesting seeing some folks crawling on hands and knees over there tomorrow...Looking for the proverbial needle in the haystack!

Anyway, while I'm over sipping tea and schmoozing with the President and Mrs. Martha, I'll leave you with another little treat. I'm hosting a few new challenges over at my JOURNEY CHALLENGE BLOG and thought I'd be the first to post a linkup...

Now, as you already know, My FSJ supplies are limited right now...I'll get more soon, but for now, I have to use what I have. Just squint really tightly and you'll see those stars are Richard Garay's Star diecuts (wink, wink).

I stamped the big stars on the Cranberry Bliss cardstock using Versamark ink. I used distress ink and FSJ Black Licorice ink on the white panel and added the stars from the January Kit Of The Month and the itsy bitsy star from the Banner Party set. The sentiment came from the Thank You ATS stamp set.

Here's a close-up of the distressing/aging I did to the American Sun image. I love that image and it's PERFECT for this special President's Day holiday.

The little flag on a stick was an after-thought. I thought the brightness of the flag offset the distressed colors in the card and helped create the collage effect I was going for. Adding the little beads to the Journey twine finished the embellishing off.

FSJ Shopping List:

SS-0009 Banner Party Set

AT-0121 American Sun

AT-0084 Thank You

IP-0041 Black Licorice Ink

CS-0090 Cranberry Bliss Cardstock

CS-0023 Oatmeal Cookie Cardstock

CS-0040 Whip Cream Cardstock

AC-0004 Black Journey Twine

AC-0085 Journey Foam Squares (Regular)

AC-0063 Details Pro Shears

I hope you enjoyed this card. Please join me (and other Journey Fans) in particpating in the Sketch challenge- It's fun, FREE and you just might win some FSJ goodies!!!

Check it out HERE

Sweet Treats...

Hello stamping friends! I spent my Valentine's Day bundled up inside as the wind was really whipping! I headed to my stamping room after making some yummy chocolate covered strawberries. They were yummy!

My goal today was to create a little treat box for Make-Live-Share. Not that I have any room in my townhouse to invite 15 people and Richard Garay over for some stampy fun, but I thought it would be fun to participate anyway.

Since I'm a new FSJ Coach, I don't have many personal FSJ supplies to create with YET but I used what I had, and I think my projects turned out well. I also had a little time left this evening to create a coordinating card that will accompany the cookie bag.

As many of you know, I LOVE sparkle, so being able to add Journey Sparkles to my projects is a DREAM!!!

And because I LOVE little doilies...I attached/offset a paper doily onto the base of the box so I could add a bloom with sparkles!

The card was created using the same theme and elements. I incorporated a bit more black on the card as I wanted to pull in some more oatmeal cardstock in the base. I love the combination of colors- and the black sets the front panel apart from the card base itself.

A really tight shot of the card shows more of the dreamy glittery effect of the sparkles- applied with Journey Glaze.

And the cutest little posies in Blue Lagoon just make the whole card pop!

Shopping List:

I used the following Fun Stampers Journey products for these projects:

Stamps:

AT-0081 Damask Print, AT-0107 Bezel Block

Cardstock:

CS-0023 Oatmeal Cookie, CS-0044 Black Licorice, CS-0004 Blue Lagoon

Ink:

IP-0014 Pineapple Smoothie, IP-0041 Black Licorice

Dies:

DI-0013 Flower Party, DI-0008 Spring Bloom Mini, DI-0004 Pennants

Embellishing:

AD-0002 Journey Glaze, AC-0004 Black Journey Twine, AC-0013 Journey Sparkle Dust

Tools:

JG-0001 Journey Grand Die cutting Machine, AC-0063 Details Pro Shears, AC-0040 Crease Tool

Friday, February 13, 2015

PANTONE Spring 2015 Color Trends...

Long weekend here and I've started my stamping adventure this evening! Started by checking out the Pantone Spring 2015 Color trends...I'm loving many of the colors and am looking forward to translating these colors into FSJ friendly crafty items!

This weekend I'll start researching and mixing and color matching...be on the lookout in the next week or so for some of my really scientific color study research posted RIGHT HERE!!!

Spring 2015 Trendy Colors:

PANTONE 14-4313 Aquamarine

PANTONE 16-4725 Scuba Blue

PANTONE 14-5714 Lucite Green

PANTONE 19-4052 Classic Blue

PANTONE 14-1213 Toasted Almond

PANTONE 15-1247 Tangerine

PANTONE 16-1720 Strawberry Ice

PANTONE 13-0720 Custard

PANTONE 18-1438 Marsala

PANTONE 14-4102 Glacier Gray

PANTONE 16-4120 Dusk Blue

PANTONE 18-0135 Treetop

PANTONE 18-0538 Woodbine

PANTONE 16-1328 Sandstone

PANTONE 17-4014 Titanium

PANTONE 16-3310 Lavender Herb

Pantone SPRING 2015 TRENDS

**Color swatches are from the PANTONE PAGE.

Wednesday, February 11, 2015

Gettin' Inky...

Hello stamping friends!

Tonight I found a little time to head into my stamping room to do some product testing. Yep! The BIG BROWN TRUCK delivered my Coach kit and my personal order and WOWEE...So much to play with! I spent all of Monday evening drooling over the catalog and preparing my newest wish list. Oh my! This is going to be FUN!

The first thing I did tonight was go through the ATS stamps I ordered- Which ones would speak to me tonight? Well, it was the beautiful SPRING DAYS vase and I inked it right up using my BLACK LICORICE ink onto the WHIP CREAM cardstock and started coloring with my Copics. After coloring, I picked through the cardstock assortment to decide on the color scheme- I REALLY, REALLY love the BLUE LAGOON color and it matched the coloring on the vase so well!

Since I'm a newbie to FSJ, I don't have a lot of ink and supply stock so I have to use what I have for now. I added a little age to the white cardstock using some VersaMagic Wheat ink. I mounted that onto the BLUE LAGOON cardstock, then used my sewing maching to add a lovely border. I mounted this panel onto some watercolor paper. Adding the coordinating ribbon and NATURAL JOURNEY TWINE was next. When The ribbon was added, I was able to adhere my sentiment (from the BEZEL BLOCK)onto the card with some JOURNEY GLAZE. When the stamped panel was finished, I adhered it to the OATMEAL COOKIE cardstock card base that I cut to size 5 1/2 x 5 1/2.

I didn't forget the inside! After stamping the flower pot with the wheat ink, I mounted the panel onto the teal cardstock and stitched again. Adding the ribbon and mounting to the watercolor paper were the final touch.

So now that you've seen all the close-ups, here is the FULL card:

I hope you enjoyed my FIRST FSJ card...Many, many more to come!!!

Monday, February 2, 2015

They SHIPPED, They SHIPPED!

Yay! Email arrived this afternoon that my packages are ON THEIR WAY!!! Woo Hoo!!! I can't wait to break open those boxes and start this exciting journey! I will be posting a "What's inside the box" video right here as soon as it arrives...

But in the interim, I thought I would share with you one thing that I'm really looking forward to playing with.

TWINKLE TOES! This is the fabulous Kit of the Month for February. Don't you just LOVE the adorable little ballerina? Her tutu is so stinkin cute too! Here's everything you need to know about getting your hands on this kit:

"Join the Kit of the Month Club! Members receive enough materials to complete four pre-designed cards, including paper, embellishments and an exclusive stamp set. All materials are pre-cut and include complete instructions, ready for you to assemble and enjoy! In purchasing the Kit of the Month, you are agreeing to a six month subscription service whereby you will receive the initial kit at the time of purchase, and then one kit each month for the next five months. Ongoing kits will be mailed and charged on or around the 5th day of each month. Each kit costs $24.95 plus tax and shipping. Please note, cancelling early will result in a cancellation fee equivalent to one month's kit cost ($24.95). You must email journeycrew@journeyblooms.com to cancel. We are currently shipping the February kit "Twinkle Toes," pictured above."

...and...If you would like to join me as I work through my KOTM, I have blocked off one Saturday each month to do just that! This month, I'm inviting my stamping KOTM friends over for a "play date". This month, it'll be February 21 from 2-4 PM. Let me know if you would like me to save you a space at the worktable!

Here are a few ADORABLE photos of cards created from this kit:

Soooo are you dying of cuteness overload yet??? Well, if so, head over to my shop and order this kit!!! You WON'T be sorry!!!

Saturday, January 31, 2015

a new journey...

Hello there stamping friends!

Today was the big day... I got a phone call from Arizona letting me know I needed to HURRY UP and SIGN UP and PRAY that #400 was still available. So I hurried and got to the website and signed up. I've been waiting WEEKS for the number to get close to #400, yet somehow I knew it was a longshot to be able to get that special number. I won't go into details, but the #400 is quite special...REALLY special...

I finally took the plunge and signed up... I was hoping for Coach #400 but I missed the mark by one. I guess it wasn't meant to be. I hope #400 takes good care of that number because it's very special to me and I look forward to the day we can meet...

Sooo...I guess you can say I'm 400+1. That sounds ok, right? Kind-of teacher language, I guess. Anyway, I'm excited to join the journey and I hope you come along for the ride! If you know me well, you know that I'll take many detours, get distracted by new and cool gadgets, stop to wander the aisles and sing loud and strong...It'll be a fun ride! I have NO IDEA where my journey will end, but I know for sure, I'll enjoy the ride!

For now, I'll patiently await my kit goodies and keep your eyes peeled here, my Facebook page, at Splitcoast, on Instagram, Twitter and wherever else this journey takes me. :)

Hugs to my new upline Christine Pennington and all my fellow Pen Pals...I can't wait to get reacquainted!