DCBD 125 Sketch Challenge

Good Heavens, what happened to this week?  Saturday was the shoebox I co-hosted, Sunday was preparing for and Monday was the Blog Hop, and suddenly, it is Wednesday--DCBD challenge!!  

I am trying to compile some graduation cards, since my youngest child is a senior in HS.  And some cards should be good for demonstrations, so this sketch sent me back to my roots, a 5-minute card that looks great!  And yes, blue and orange are school colors, so I'm working within those constraints.  The sentiment comes from the Great Grads stamp set and the vellum is from the fantastic Taste of Textiles collection. Of course, the BigShot was used to add the dots to the base card.  

I hope you'll join in the challenge today--visit all the DCBD blogs, then grab your supplies and make a card and post it to your blog or SplitCoast and link it to our home blog by clicking on the logo at right.

Have a great stamping day,

Dee Tollaksen

Blog Candy Winner

Julie A. is the winner of my Blog Tour Blog Candy!

Please contact me via comments or email to claim your prize!  If you believe you know Julie A. or how to contact Julie A., leave a comment or email!

Random.org picked your comment, but blogger doesn't have your email to share with me.

If we don't hear from Julie A. within a week, I will select an alternate.

Thank you all, so much, for visiting, taking the tour and especially to the 81 visitors who voted.  I am thrilled and flattered by all your compliments!

All the Best, 

Dee Tollaksen

Blog Tour, Stop #11

Welcome to "StampWithDee!"  If you are on the Blog Tour, this stamp set from the Mini Catalog is Just Beachy and it includes a variety of images that might be seen at the beach, so many that I haven't even used them all in these cards!  Enjoy, and then be sure to click the link at the end of this post. 

Leave a comment telling me which card is your favorite, and why, and one random comment will be chosen to receive a Ribbon Bundle and a 12" x  12"  pack of DSP from the Sell-a-Bration promotion. Good Luck!

This card was loads of fun to make. My daughter laughed and said, clearly she is in love, and he is. . . petrified! 

 There is a bit of engineering going on behind that fishbowl, allowing the word windows to be pulled out and pushed back; if you look closely, you may see that the little love-fish have 

been covered in Crystal Effects to make them nice and shiny; the hearts are a-glitter with Dazzling Diamonds.  I love a good silly card!

Somehow, the little piranha looks a bit shook up . . . I feel like he has "issues." Here, the simple sentiment "Friend" tells this story: every fish is headed in one direction, when this big fella decides to turn around, right in the path of our piranha pal, and offer friendship!  

I had a good time pulling out some really nice stamping supplies. The polka dots come from the awesome paper pack Taste of Textiles and is a vellum product; the sentiment comes from a Level 2 Hostess set called "A Little Somethin'"; the leaves are diecut on the BigShot and the strip of glitter was made using Sticky Strip.  And four different punches, ovals and circles as well as my Marvelous Markers for coloring the fish.  

Sometimes one card showcases tons of products! There is at least 4 kinds of adhesives too! Stampin dimensionals, sticky strip, SNAIL and a little Tombo multi adhesive to hold the glitter on the leaves.

I live in the Chicago suburbs, after a long dreary winter I am READY for some warm weather. This little vehicle makes me want to jump in and head for the beach. Not Lake Michigan! A real beach, on the Pacific Ocean. But that would be a considerable ride, especially with a surfboard overhead!  Nevertheless, the pretty color palette here makes me smile.  So for all of you looking for some summer sun and fun, this card is "Just for You!"

I The tour was only active Monday, April 27.

If you want to win my blog candy, remember to comment and pick your favorite card.

When you're done with the tour, feel free to place your order for stamps and accessories at my Stampin' Up! website or call me or email me your shopping list!

Come back often for more inspiration,

Dee Tollaksen

Shoebox Fun

What do you get when you invite 20 ladies to get together to stamp? Gorgeous, hand-stamped cards, and a giant pile-o-tools!

My friend Catherine and I held a shoebox swap today. If you have never participated in a shoebox, go find one and do it! Each stamper brings one card they have designed, and a shoebox with all the supplies to recreate the card, sufficient for all the other stampers. You set up a workstation with all the supplies and tools, then everyone moves from station to station creating cards.  So much fun.

The second photo is the entire group of us, after much stamping and lunching.  Some passerby lady offered to take this shot so I could be "in" the picture, how nice of her!  Look at all those happy faces!

Remember to stop by here on Monday for the blog hop! There's going to be Blog Candy!  I will have some great cards, blog candy, and a link for you to jump to Gina's blog. If you continue to link from blog to blog, you will see samples from every stamp set in the new mini-catalog! Certainly you'll want to order some of them and enjoy the "Get Connected" offer and receive a free stamp or stamp kit from pg 208 in the Idea Book & Catalog!

Next week I'll be featuring all the cards we made at the Shoebox Swap, so check in often!

Dee Tollaksen

DCBD color challenge

Welcome to the DCBD color challenge! This required a lot of "thinking outside the box" for me, as the inspiration piece is beautiful, but the combination is unusual. 

The 

camera

has its way with color, but the large circle is very vanilla and the ink is white. Fabulous Friend has been embossed, to make it pop on the black oval. I love my new circle scissor, the circle is absolutely perfect! And the scallop was cut on the BigShot. Can't make a card without the BigShot!

Now it is your turn! Make a card with this color challenge, post it on your blog or on a forum like SplitCoast and link it to our home blog (link to DCBD blog is at right) You'll get lots of visits and comments from all the design team members!

Dee Tollaksen

Remember to visit on Monday Apr 27 for the big Blog Hop!

Craft Show part 3

This is the final gift item I showed at the Vendor Fair on Friday.  I love these post-it note holders for your desk. It is made from a small acrylic frame which has been repurposed. The little bit of artwork is under the frame so it stays nice and clean and the post-it notes are just stuck to the outside so it is pretty with a purpose.  And if the recipient isn't a post-it user, she can certainly put a photo of a loved one in the frame and toss the notes. 

This makes a great hostess gift as well, and I have often given one like this to thank a hostess for hosting a Stampin' Up! demonstration.

Have a great week, and be sure to stop by next Monday, again. . . for the great Blog Hop!

Monday, April 27, one day only!! Start here and visit 20 blogs, see 2 or 3 samples from every stamp set and product featured in the new Stampin' Up! mini catalog. My blog will link you to Gina's blog where she will feature Lazy Days set and she will link you to Tammy with the matchbox die projects, etc etc. The links will only work for one day, so mark your calendar and book a bit of time to visit everyone!

Dee Tollaksen

Craft show, part two

Trying to provide timely items, I made a few candy bar wrappers for graduation.  These are super simple, with a teeny bit of engineering, the ribbon pulls the chocolate bar out of the cardstock "wrapper."

This is just a simple way to "present" a gift card or check when congratulating a graduate.

Dee Tollaksen

Craft Show

When is the last time you went to a craft fair? And what did you buy? I mean, really?  I am so guilty of going to a fair and studying all the great products, then copying them back in my own craft lounge.

So my stomach is in butterflies as I prep for a craft fair today.  It is actually a vendor fair in an office, with  a bunch of other vendors in completely different businesses--cosmetics, kitchen ware, food, etc.  So I'm hoping to have "buying" customers!  I am really hoping, since I have 6 boxes of cards and stamped gift items!  

This little darling is showcasing the Blooming With Love stamp set. I have taken a notepad and trimmed it down to this "list" size, covered it with cardstock and DSP (designer series paper), tied it with a bit of grosgrain ribbon.  This is great for those ladies that like to keep a to-do list or a grocery list handy, but pretty.

There will be more crafty items to share soon. Stamp something pretty then get out in the sunshine and enjoy the spring!

Dee Tollaksen

  

Live Large with a passionate Bear!

DCBD challenge + with children in my stamp room = a big bear bursting out of a card!

Easter saw my neice and nephews visiting, and they have learned that I have this awesome collection of art supplies, so we take some time together in the stamping room any time they visit. Since we had fun with the Under the Stars stamp set, I kept it out and created my challenge inspiration card.

Some watercoloring, some punched stars, a bit of cord and a sentiment from Inspired by Nature, and we're all set!  I stamped and embossed the

 sentiment on vellum paper to go over the garden green CS, this lets me use the nice rich color of the green, but still be able to see the words.

Grab your supplies, and maybe some kids to help you, and join in the Diva challenge. But first, visit all the other stampers blogs to see how they interpreted this challenge.

Tax Day special. . . 4/15 is the date and the sale: purchase any 4 items from the SU catalog today (email or phone orders only) and I will take 15% off the highest priced of the 4 items!

Get Stamping!!

Dee Tollaksen

25 years

Today is my wedding anniversary. My sweet husband brought me roses yesterday, so that I would have a lovely bouquet to wake up to.  25 years is a good long time to enjoy one another's company. I'm looking forward to many more!  

Anyone ordering from me today (email, phone, in person or by website) with $50 or more will receive a gift in honor of my anniversary: 25 pretty buttons! 

Come back tomorrow for a tax day special!

Mary your calendar for May 27. . . Blog Tour!

Dee Tollaksen

Flower Pot

If you are a blog surfer, I'm sure you've seen cards similar to this. But I just had to make it and share it with all of you who might not have spied it yet.  This is just a simple pocket of cardstock, a little ribbon wrapped around it and the scallop edge punch prettied up the edge.   Look at picture two to see that the flowers are actually on the card that pulls out of the pot.  The card could even be used as a bookmark!  These flowers and leaves are diecut on the BigShot machine, just love love love my BigShot!

Mark your calendar for April 27, fabulous blog tour coming your way. . . one day only. We will be offering blog candy and making the tour worth your while with really great samples.

Dee Tollaksen

Jackpot

Mark your calendar now, April 27 will be a fun Blog Tour and I will be right in the middle of it.  I'll get you more details soon, but a bunch of us are working on creating a fabulous card, each using a different new set from the mini catalog. You can start here or on any of the other ladies blogs, then I will have a link for you to click to go to the next blog, and so on and so on until you end up back where you started! Prizes will be awarded -- more details soon!

This cool card was posted on the Stampin' Up! demonstrator website, created by Lisa Somerville, originally. This is my verrsion, just a few color changes.  It features the Game NIght stamp set and matching DSP (designer series paper).  Loved making it!

Dee Tollaksen

One more time

Here is the same gatefold card, same stamp set (Trendy Trees) and the same DSP (Parisian Breeze). But I have used a different tree top and a different pattern from the paper pack. But the big diff here is that I used my new Circle Scissor to cut the circles for the card's focal image.

So much fun!  The circle scissor is so great--works like a charm!

Hope your plans for this Easter weekend include lots of family time!

Dee Tollaksen

Parisian Breeze, again

If there was a prize for most popular DSP, designer series paper, this one would surely win! The Parisian Breeze DSP is just such pleasing colors, a heavy weight, but not too heavy, and beautiful designs.  I just LOVE it!! And of course, you know how I feel about Trendy Trees!  

This is a gatefold card, so it opens in the middle, with lots of room for you to write your greeting, and it fits in a standard envelope.

Have a wonderful day, enjoy the sunshine!

Dee Tollaksen

BTW, this is certainly a CASEd card, I believe from Corinne Somerville.  Thanks Corinne!

Basla Wood and the BigShot and DCBD 122

Welcome to DCBD122. Trendy Trees stamp set is just so darn cute, every card made with it is a happy card! This is a simple base of Very Vanilla CS, a bit of Old Olive CS and then a nice piece of balsa wood!  Yes, I just ran the balsa wood through my BigShot using the Top Note die. It did require careful handling because the wood is very pliable or fragile and it wants to splinter and fall apart, so try it, but be careful! Then I decorated away, with Trendy Trees, brads, free ribbon from SU sell-a-bration and a bit of Bashful Blue CS that I scalloped using the punch.  Really simple, we did this card in a stamp camp last week. 

Totally inspired by a card done by Dawn McVey and seen in the May Paper Crafts magazine (p65). Dawn has a great blog (dawnmcvey.typepad.com)  and she warns that the balsa wood is a little tricky.

Anyone can be an artist, using rubber stamps and relying on existing work for inspiration.  My background in journalism and computers offers me no training in arts & crafts, but I love making things and they might as well be beautiful! So I enjoy the work of true artists and use the tools at hand to re-create or re-work the inspiration project. That's why I am so flattered to be on the design team here -- after all these years of copying, I am actually creating my own things and publishing them on-line to inspire others!  

Join us today with a card or project made using a BigShot and post it on your blog or SplitCoast, then link it to the Diva Coffee Break Designs blog, the link is at the right in my sidebar. Have a great day, and be sure to visit all the Diva's and then break out your stamping supplies and join in!

Dee Tollaksen

Manhattan Flower

If you have been on any Stampin' Up! blogs lately, you have certainly seen this, the Manhattan Flower impression folder. It is stunning, in it's beauty and it's ease of use.  Just place your paper or vellum in the folder and run the combination through the BigShot. I had another task to create multiple cards for party invites, and this made the job so simple! I hope my guests love this card as much as I do!

Dee Tollaksen

Hippity, Hoppity

If you spot me at the grocery store or in church, ask me for a mint! I will be carrying these darling bunnies for the next week, trying to rustle up some business. They are a snap to make out of a Whisper White scallop circle, scraps of basic black paper, and the ears are stamped on some scrap DSP using the Pick a Petal stamp set. Each mint is adhered to my business card, so the recipient will remember who gave them this cute bunny!

Dee Tollaksen

Glittery Trees

Could you squint your eyes and imagine that this was a good photo? Cause I think it is a good card! This was the bonus card from my Trendy Trees stamp camp. The spiral dots are one of the tree tops from the stamp set.  Of course there is DSP from Urban Garden, not quite navy card stock and a bit of On Board chipboard: we covered the frame with versamark, then Heat n stick powder, which we then heated with the heat gun, then drenched the frame in blue glitter. Tie on some beautiful ribbon, some flowers from the Pretties kit and a brad--beauty!

Everyone left the stamp camp with the stamp set, 5 cards & envelopes and sparkling from glitter all over their clothes and hands!

TGIF,

Dee Tollaksen

DCBD 121

Hello DCBD visitors! So glad to have a busy day on my blog! Come see me all week long, there is lots of inspiration to be had, here in my blog world!

This is DCBD challenge 121, a sketch challenge.  The tall rectangle cried out for a flower on a stem, I'll bet we see a bunch of flowers on stems today!  This one goes back to my starter kit as a Stampin' Up! demonstrator! Heartfelt Thanks stamp set got lots of ink the first year I did demonstrations, what great memories!

Colors today are Kraft, pink pirouette and kiwi kiss, with a bit of rose red for highlight. Some Bella Rose DSP, sell-a-bration ribbon and for a punch of color: gorgeous matching buttons from the Designer Buttons collection.

Hope you're inspired to join us, or at least check out everyone's contribution for this sketch. Go on over to the DCBD blog, the link is at right on my main page. From there you can link to everyone's blogs. Leave me a comment before you go, and then let everyone else know what you think as well!

Have a great day!   

Dee Tollaksen