Shana Gaff
(260)897-3911
stressfreestamping@gmail.com
Independent Stampin' Up! Demonstrator

Tuesday, July 29, 2014

Kind Koala

It's time for a new ANYTHING GOES challenge at Addicted to Stamps and More!  I know this should be easy because you can do anything, but that's why it is so challenging for me...I have to do whatever I want!  No rules or regulations...anything!  For that reason, I just HAD to find a challenge to help me out and I found a fun challenge at retro sketches that gave me a chance to use one of my fun new stamps that has been sitting uninked, Kind Koala. I also decided to use the rainbow challenge at CASology.
Those rays are so much fun but I really struggle at getting my paper cut just right, so I opted to use one of my favorite stamps instead for the rays, Work of Art.
Eeeek!  Isn't he so cute!  I was so happy to get my gray and pink Blendabilities so I could finally ink up this little fella!  I know, he doesn't have to be gray with pink in his ears, but that is how I first imagined him. lol   And don't those Work of Art stripes make for a quick and easy rainbow of color!  I just love the options that stamp set offers! 

Thanks for stopping by. Make sure to check out the rest of the ATSM design team's wonderful creations!  

Tuesday, July 22, 2014

Addicted to NEW STUFF! :)

It's time for a new challenge at ATSM and it's such a fun challenge that it's not even my design team week but I wanted to make a card for the challenge anyway!  It's a photo challenge and I just LOOOOVE it. :)
I just love the colors and the flowers on this picture. I have a lot of NEW goodies from the 2014-2015 Stampin' Up! catalog that I haven't even touched yet so I thought this would be a great time to play...I mean work. hahaha
I saw a pretty cool technique SOMEWHERE out there in blog land to do my background. I sponged Elegant Eggplant ink all over a piece of Whisper White cardstock. I then spritzed this gorgeous new embossing folder, Lovely Lace, with a bit of water, turned it upsidedown on my cardstock, and pressed it down so the ink would absorb the water. It turned out pretty good for my first try!

Thanks for stopping by! Make sure to drop by ATSM to see the rest of the team's lovely creations!

Sunday, July 20, 2014

The Stamp Review Crew: Lovely as a Tree Edition

This past week The Stamp Review Crew had the opportunity to create a display board for Convention.  We decided to choose one older stamp set and one new stamp. The new stamp set we chose is a classic, Lovely as a Tree.  I've seen so many cards made with this stamp set that it is actually hard to think of something new to do with it!  I decided to try a technique that I have not done before.
I started by stamping my trees in Early Espresso on a Whisper White piece of cardstock. Then I took a brand new pencil eraser and used it as my stamp to color in my sky. This was a really fun technique!  I used mostly 2014-2015 In Colors, along with some Wild Wasabi in the grass.  After I had my colors dotted on I went back with a sponge to fill in the white spaces on the cardstock.  I really like the finished look!  I will definitely be trying this one again!

Thanks for stopping by. Click on the links below to continue on through the hop to Yapha's amazing project or to go back if you missed seeing Deb's creative project!

Blog Roll:
  1. Mike Funke   http://stampin-style.typepad.com/stampin-style/2014/07/stamp-review-crew-lovely-as-a-tree.html
  2. Ann Schach  http://www.stampinchic.com/2014/07/the-stamp-review-crew-lovely-as-tree.html
  3. Holly Krautkremer  http://rubberredneck.typepad.com/rubber-redneck/2014/07/the-stamp-review-crew-lovely-as-a-tree.html
  4. Beth Beard
  5. Debra Burgin  http://heartfeltinkspiration.com/2014/07/20/stamp-review-crew-lovely-as-a-tree
  6. Deb Currier  http://artfeltimpressions.blogspot.com/2014/07/stamp-review-crew-blog-hop-lovely-as.html
  7. Shana Gaff   http://stressfreestamping.blogspot.com/2014/07/the-stamp-review-crew-lovely-as-tree.html
  8. Yapha Mason  http://yaphamason.com/blog/2014/07/20/stamp-review-crew-lovely-as-a-tree-edition/
  9. Nancy Smith   http://iguanastamp.wordpress.com/stamp-review-crew-lovely-as-a-tree
  10. Kerry Willard-Bray  http://www.peoniesandpaperchains.com/2014/07/stamp-review-crew-lovely-as-a-tree-edition.html
  11. Jill Coleman  http://www.jillstamps.com/2014/07/stamp-review-crew-lovely-as-a-tree.html
  12. Lisa Young  http://addinkandstamp.blogspot.com/2014/07/stamp-review-crew-lovely-as-tree-edition.html
  13. Cindy Beach
  14. Heidi Baks  http://runningwscissorsstamper.blogspot.com/2014/07/the-stamp-review-crew-lovely-as-tree.html
  15. Wendy Weixler
  16. Tanya Boser   http://tinkerin-in-ink.blogspot.com/2014/07/stamp-review-crew-lovely-as-tree-edition.html
  17. Paula Wright   http://paulastamps.blogspot.com/2014/07/the-stamp-crew-review-lovely-as-tree.html

Saturday, July 19, 2014

Blue Ribbon

Wow, it's been a long time since I've used the Blue Ribbon stamp set!  I thought it would work great for new challenge we have going on now at Addicted to CAS:
What better way for a child to celebrate than with a blue ribbon?  I made this with my 8-year-old son, Talan, in mind. It's a little late, but his team won the season and the tournament in lob ball for the second year in a row. I am SOOO proud of him. He doesn't have the natural baseball talent that his daddy does, but he loves to have fun playing and he has improved so much in two years. Even though lob ball is over for the season, I want him to know how much we loved watching him play!  I used the sketch from Freshly Made Sketches for my card.
I wanted to use primary colors on my card to give it an elementary feel. I know it won't be long before Talan is out of elementary school, then middle school, then...yikes!  Let's not get carried away here or the tears are going to start flowing! lol
I just LOVE the new large polka dot embossing folder, and I punched out some circles to add some color to a few of the dots.  I stamped the two banners and then fussy cut my Pacific Point ribbon to go over the top. The "#1" was stamped in Daffodil Delight with "The Winner" stamped over the top of it in Real Red. I then punched it out with a circle punch and popped it up on Dimensionals. 

Thanks for stopping by!  Make sure to check out the creations from the rest of the ATCAS design team. Also pay a visit to Cathy, our Guest Designer.  She has a beautiful card to share with you, and it reminds me of a few acts I have seen on America's Got Talent. If you have seen the show, you will probably know what I am talking about!  Happy Stamping! 

Tuesday, July 15, 2014

Peace, Love and Cupcakes!

It's time for a CAS challenge at Addicted to Stamps and More! I received a bunch of brand new goodies just in time to make a card for this challenge. :)


Peace, Love and Cupcakes was on my list as soon as I saw the new catalog. I just love that big cupcake! And aren't those dots from dotty angles so much fun!  I got my color combination from the Color Coach. Which reminds me...I still need to order the cards for the new In Colors!  I have an order going in tomorrow for some freebies I earned (last day to get them...way to wait til the last minute, Shana!) but knowing me I will probably forget to throw them on there. lol  Thanks for stopping by. Make sure you drop by and pay a visit to the rest of our fabulous design team!

Stamp Sets: Peace Love and Cupcakes, Dotty Angles
Cardstock: Coastal Cabana, Smoky Slate, Whisper White
Ink: Coastal Cabana, Calypso Coral, Smoky Slate
Tools: Circle and Starburst Framelits
Accessories: Dimensionals

Saturday, July 5, 2014

Bravo! Bravo! Bravo!

Happy 4th of July weekend!  I know it's a day after, but I think a lot of people are celebrating the entire weekend so I still consider today as part of the holiday. :) This is why I chose this particular code word for our new challenge at Addicted to CAS, where I am the hostess this week:
All I can think of right now is fireworks, and I knew exactly what I wanted to do!  Never mind the fact that I woke up at 7:00 yesterday morning and realized I only had about an hour of time to make my card AND blog it before we got busy for the rest of the weekend!  YIKES!  This is why I love CAS challenges. lol
I used The Friday Mashup challenge to do a waterwash CAS card and the colors from colourQ on my card.

Exactly what I was looking for for my card!  I love it when things come together just as you had envisioned. :) 
I just love the new Flower Patch stamp set. It's photopolymer so you can see exactly where you are stamping and it has a coordinating framelit set. If you stamp the images on a piercing mat the images turn out perfect every time! I thought this particular flower could double as fireworks and they turned out pretty good! I added a bit of silver Dazzling Details and some rhinestones to add to the firework effect.

Thanks for stopping by. Make sure to stop by the rest of the design team, as well as our guest designer, Cathy. She has a beautiful card to share with us this week!

Tuesday, July 1, 2014

Nuts About You

It's time for a Make Your Mark challenge at Addicted to Stamps and More! I originally made this card for last week's Anything Goes challenge, but the internet at our hotel we stayed at on vacation was nearly non-existent, so that didn't happen!  Luckily I had the card though, because I haven't had time since we returned to do ANY cardmaking. Hopefully tomorrow!

I used one of our brand new hostess sets for this challenge, Nuts About You.  It's the perfect set for a marker challenge because there are lots of little images to color!
Aren't those images so stinkin' cute?!  I just love that little tree too. So whimsical and fun!

Thanks for stopping by. Make sure you stop by and check out the rest of the design team's wonderful creations!