Monday, November 30, 2015

The Sea- Peace Be Still

Hello Sweet Friends!  Julie here to share another card for Sweet 'N Sassy Stamps Birthday Celebration with todays’ “throwback” featured stamp set, The Sea.

Before I share the card I created with this wonderful set, don’t forget that today os the last day to take advantage of the 
25% off ALL in stock stamp sets* AND Double Sweet ‘n Sassy Cash Rewards!  That means with a $50 purchase, you get $10 back instead of $5**!


*Be sure to enter the CODE: BDAYSTAMPS25 at checkout to receive 25% off your purchase.  **Double Cash Back can be redeemed on your $50 purchase throughout the month of December.  A special coupon code will be included with your order.

 Also, don't forget to check our posts on Instagram (@sweetnsassystamps) and Facebook for daily inspiration!

Now...onto today’s Throwback Feature :
The Sea is a wonderful stamp set with this gorgeous ocean scene and several verses and sentiments- perfect for masculine or feminine cards!


This card was fairly easy to create: Stamp the ocean scene using embossing ink, apply black embossing powder and heat set.  Create a mask with a circle punch and sponge various colors onto the sky and water (I used Pumpkin Pie, Melon Mambo and Rich Razzleberry).

Ink and stamp the verse from the stamp set using embossing ink, heat set with black embossing powder, trim and mount onto black cardstock, trim and mount onto the white card base to finish off the card.


In honor of Sweet 'N Sassy Stamps Birthday Celebration we are doing an “About Me” segment for each of the Design Team Members :

My husband and I live in Maryland and we are about to celebrate our 33rd Anniversary in January.  We do not have any children of our own, but love working with 3rd thru 6th grade kids in our church’s Awana program and have done so now for 18 years.  

We have always had “kitties” in the house and over the years have had two groups of three- four are in “Kitty Heaven” and we still have two that are with us ( our “girls” are almost 10 years old, Angel and Queenie).  They love to be with me in my stamping area and are faithful companions :-)

I have always been artistic and ever since I was a young girl had a pencil with paper in my hands either drawing or coloring!  I was introduced to stamping in 1999 and loved the idea of being able to show others how they could be artistic as well!  I have been blessed with a very supportive husband and am currently on several Design Teams.

How long have you been a fan of Sweet 'n Sassy Stamps?   
I believe I have been a fan since the beginning and a customer for at least five years or more!  I love all of the beautiful images, Christian sentiments and verses!  It has been a delight to get to know  Korin as well as the Design Divas on the team.

What do you enjoy outside of stamping? 
I enjoy spending time with my husband and we love to take day trips to the mountains and enjoy God’s beautiful creation!  I love doing all types of arts and crafts as well as sewing and, of course, enjoy reading and studying the Bible (have also starting to do some Bible Art Journaling).

What is your "day" job? 
I have recently “retired” after 40+ years working outside the home primarily in accounting.  Right now, my current “day” job is a stay at home wife that is able to stamp between chores (well, sometimes the house is cleaned- lol!)

Who inspires you? 
As the others have said, that is a hard question!  So much inspiration is all around us as well as online- I tend to draw inspiration from nature, viewing online galleries such as Splitcoaststampers and I especially love to participate in online challenges- sketches, color combinations, themes, etc.  I truly believe that the Lord has gifted us all in various ways and am so thankful that He has allowed me to share that gift of art with others. 

Share a fun or interesting fact about yourself that most people might not know...
 My husband and I met on a “blind date” and have been inseparable ever since!

What advice would you give to a new stamper?  
 Join stamping groups like Splitcoaststampers (which is free) and check out the galleries, try a few challenges and of course, check out the tutorials.  YouTube has so many videos and Pinterest is another source of inspiration for sure!!  Remember to have fun and do not compare yourself with others- it takes time to develop techniques and skills.  Invest in stamps that can be used for many different types of cards and coordinating inks with papers. 

What is your favorite SNSS set? 
Oh my, another difficult question!!  I love all of Sweet ‘n Sassys’ sets– the featured set today is one of my favorites and here is a card that I created using a Salted Background:




I also love Parisian Postcard and here is a simple collage card  using this set:




Well, I hope you have enjoyed our “Getting to Know You” segments- have a blessed week, sweet friends!

Sunday, November 29, 2015

Christmas Poinsettia

  My creation today is using the beautiful Poinsettia stamp set. After my bloom was colored I cut around the edges so that I could pop it on my stitched panel. If you don't like to cut around the delicate petals, you are in luck with the matching Poinsettia Die. The sentiment is stamped on vellum and a notched end added for fun. 




The main panel is layered over a snowflakes designer paper and adhered to the base. A few scattered pearls  around the card and center of the bloom with some sparkles added. Voila! Thanks for joining me and have a wonderful week! 

Check out the sale on the Poinsettia stamp set and matching die in the SNSS Store today. 

Saturday, November 28, 2015

I've Got Your Number

Hello friends!  Has everyone fully recovered from Thanksgiving?  Cathy here with another card for our Sweet 'n Sassy Stamps Birthday celebration.  I can't believe how quickly this month has passed us by!  We have just two more "Throwback Features" and one huge special to end our birthday festivities for this month. 

First…our last special of the month!
25% off ALL in stock stamp sets AND Double Sweet 'n Sassy Cash Rewards.  That means with a $50 purchase, you get $10 back instead of $5!  WOW!!

*Be sure to enter the CODE: BDAYSTAMPS25 at checkout to receive 25% off your purchase.  Double Cash Back can be redeemed on your $50 purchase throughout the month of December.  A special coupon code will be included with your order.

Now…onto today's Throwback Feature:

The fun set of numbers in the I've Got Your Number stamp set is perfect for creating cards and scrapbook pages for anything from birthdays to anniversaries and graduations and more.  The solid numbers can be used alone or to lay down a base color on which the fun patterned numbers can be stamped.  Bright colors and papers were used to make this birthday card for my grand niece who will be turning three…already?  All of the numbers except the three were stamped on the background and the three was popped up to wish Baylee a happy third birthday!  The Companion Words stamp set coordinates well with I've Got Your Number and was used to make the sentiment strip.


Be sure to check out our Facebook and Instagram pages for more fabulous ideas and samples using I've Got Your Number.

There's still time to join our Birthday Party Blog Hop!  Check out the details HERE for a chance to win this prize package:

Now begins the count down until Christmas!
Thanks so much for stopping by!

Hugs,
Cathy

Friday, November 27, 2015

Baby, It's Cold Outside.....

{jane bosi}  Brrrrrr.... Winter Winnie is feeling the cold days of winter starting to roll in!!  Happy Friday, Sweet Friends!

I wanted to create a snow globe shaker card and thought Winter With Winnie would be the perfect addition!  You can see the dimension of the card when it's open:
It's essentially a three panel card with two of the panels trimmed to fit my overall design.  The snow mounds were created using the Hillside Edges dies.  I imagine my world, here in Wisconsin, will be looking like this in no time!



In celebration of Sweet N Sassy's 8th birthday, we are doing a little "About Me" segments so here's a little bit about me!

My name is Jane Bosi and I am a child of the One True King, a wife, a mother, an advocate, a friend and a crafter.  I love to laugh, meet new people, sing, read and hang out with my kiddos.  My husband and I started dating our senior year of high school (many, many decades ago) and after two years, took a decade long break.  We were brought back together by design and will be celebrating 19 years of marriage this coming April.  We have five children: Ben, 17; Madeline, 15; Sophia, 11; Daniel, 8 ½ and Chloe, 7.  Parenting is the single most difficult job I can ever imagine, but also the most rewarding.  I worked at home from the time Ben was born until a few years ago when Chloe started 4K.  I would never trade those years for anything.  

People don’t often know that prior to becoming a mom, I earned my Master’s Degree in Guidance and Counseling and worked in an inpatient psychiatric hospital.  I am blessed to have been able to return to my field recently and now work in a day treatment program that provides mental health services to children k-12.  Other than being a parent, it is the best job I have ever had!!  I love going to work!

I’ve been a fan of Sweet ‘N Sassy Stamps for so long, I can’t remember when I wasn’t.  I joined the Design Team a year ago, but had been promoting SNSS in my art long before that as a vendor sponsor of Technique Junkies.  In addition to being a fan of SNSS images and dies, I’m a huge fan of the heart behind it all! 

I’m inspired by many things.  To be truthful, I don’t spend a lot of time blog hopping or looking at galleries, but I am a gigantic fan of pinterest!  I love color and shiny things, but not glitter!  Sequins are a godsend and distress inks are my favorite.

My best advice to any stamper, new or seasoned, would be to understand what product can do.  Don’t be afraid to experiment with that ink on that paper or wonder what would happen if you mix this with that.  Unleash that creativity.  Be awesome.

I’m fickle when it comes to my favorite because whatever I’ve chosen on any given day happens to be my favorite for that time.  Here are a few of my favorite SNSS creations:

 You'll find the tutorial to create this sweet candy pour box in this post.  It features stamps from Get Well Critters and So Sweet Cocoa.
This favorite I created in tribute to France following the Hebdo tragedy.  Sadly, it remains relevant.  It features Parisian Postcard.

 These samples are from another tutorial I posted and feature some of the beautiful butterfly sets, as well as Parisian Postcard.  You will find links to each stamp set used, in this post.

And, finally, if pressed for a favorite, I'd say the Winnie line.  I think she's a relateable character with spunk and personality that totally appeals to me!  This particular card features the Windy Winnie set with a verse from Be Encouraged.

Well!  That is it for me today!  Speaking of TODAY---you start earning DOUBLE Sweet and Sassy CASH rewards now through Monday.  And, all SNSS digital product are 50% OFF!!  It IS Black Friday....you can shop in comfort, right now :)

Be Awesome!  TTFN, Jane
















Thursday, November 26, 2015

Beautiful Mess

Have any of you heard of MOPs?  It stands for Mothers of Preschoolers and is a great program for young moms in the midst of craziness.  It was great to get together with other moms who understood how amazing it was that they could make it to the meetings with little ones in tow.  One of the themes for one year was "Beautiful Mess."  Our lives may seem messy and out of control but God has a plan and He can make our messes beautiful.  I thought the stamp sets The Future and Grunge Elements 2 work perfectly together in light of this theme.

Diana Nguyen, Sweet 'n Sassy Stamps, Grunge elements, Future

In celebration of Sweet N Sassy's 8th birthday, we are doing a little "About Me" segment so here's a little bit about me!

I live in Virginia and am the lone female in a household of males.  There's my husband, my 4 boys, and 2 dogs.  Life is crazy and busy and fun - and when I need a bit of peace and quiet, I go to my craft place. Now that all the kids have started school, my day job as a stay at home mom got just a bit easier.. still surprisingly busy though.  

I started stamping in 2011 - it was a natural move from scrapbooking to stamping.  But alas, I may never catch up with my scrapbooks again.  But I love the smaller projects that cards are.  

How long have you been a fan of Sweet 'n Sassy Stamps? 
I first became a fan of Sweet 'n Sassy Stamps after seeing some wonderfully uplifting cards in the Splitcoaststampers gallery shortly after I started stamping.  Then I got my first stamp set - Nature Silhouettes and I was hooked! I love that Sweet 'n Sassy Stamps' goal is to share the love of Christ through papercrafting - it was the reason I moved to making note cards.  I love receiving mail - especially in this digital age.  I'm thrilled that I have been able to be a guest designer for this wonderful company for the past 3 months - thank you, Korin, for having me!  It means so much to me!

Who inspires you?  
What advice would you give to a new stamper?
I have learned so much from perusing Splitcoaststampers.com and also from Jennifer McGuire, Kristina Werner, Ardyth, Nichol Magouirk and a host of other people.  I love the CAS look but layering is so gorgeous too!  So if you're a new stamper, just try everything!  Dabble in CAS, die-cuts, glitter, watercolors, shabby chic, distressed - there is no one way to enjoy this.  YouTube is a great way to see how to play with different mediums.

Diana Nguyen, Sweet 'n Sassy Stamps, Grunge elements, Future


What do you enjoy outside of stamping?
When I'm not stamping, I am training our new 2 month old puppy, doing Bible Study Fellowship, volunteering, and calligraphy.  

What is your favorite SNSS set?

Oh, this is a hard one!  I love the ones I used today - anything that contains Scripture or something uplifting.  But if I had to pick, it would probably be The Sea.  Though stamping is my outlet for girly things, I love the sets that are easily used for masculine cards.  

Diana Nguyen, Sweet 'n Sassy Stamps, The sea, monochromatic, card

I hope you are encouraged and take these quotes to heart - especially if your life is a bit messy right now.

Don't forget today is the last day for the following special:
 25% off all dies! 
Please use the following code:
BDAYDIES25

Wednesday, November 25, 2015

A Little Autumn Yet in November

Hello SNSS friends! In case you've missed it, Sweet ‘n Sassy Stamps is celebrating their 8th birthday all month long!  Be sure to keep checking Facebook and the blog for samples, give-aways, and promotions! You can also follow us on Instagram: @sweetnsassystamps
Currently SNSS is offering 25% off all dies with the code BDAYDIES25! 

Today we are taking a look at the beautiful Autumn Mum Greetings Stamp Set. I think mums are like a breath of fresh autumn air, for after all of the summer flowers are winding down, up come the mums in a beautiful array of colors. I happen to have purple mums in my yard, so I chose to color mine that way for today's card:
This set has a gorgeous font, with some beautiful sentiments included. I stamped both the flower and sentiment in Archival Black ink, and then used my Koi paints to color the flower.

I love this Stanley Horowitz quote, and thought some designer paper with script would match the idea of someone saying such beautiful words.

There are matching dies, as well, so it makes cutting a breeze. You can find those HERE. I also made a quick watercolor bookmark with this set. I stamped the smaller mum with distress inks, then sprayed the paper and let the colors run. 

Once dry, I added the mum and sentiment again in a dark brown and tied on some fun fibers.
A little about me:
Although we are originally from Arizona, my husband and I currently live in Central Nebraska with our water turtle (we have had him for twenty years!) and our sweet Lab/Jack Russell mix, Fiona (not named after Shrek, but because she is white and Fiona is Gaelic for "white" or "fair".). We have two children, who live way too far away from us - one 750 miles west, and the other 1350 miles east. Sad! We are the proud grandparents of a two-month old granddaughter, and are so thankful for Face Time! 

1. How long have you been a fan of Sweet 'n Sassy Stamps? I honestly don't remember when I became a customer, but it was in Korin's first year of business! I have been a member of her Design Team since January of this year.


2. What do you enjoy outside of stamping? 

I love going on junk jaunts, finding interesting things to photograph, and I love traveling. I also spend quite a bit of time at the theatre, either as an actress or director. Currently I am playing the Ghost of Christmas Past in A Christmas Carol, which opens in a week, and will be directing To Kill A Mockingbird in the Spring. My kids, even grown, are my number one priority.

3. What is your "day" job? 

My husband is a Professor of Philosophy at the university here, and I work part-time in our community theatre Box Office.

4. Who inspires you?  

I find inspiration through nature and color, mostly. I have several stamping friends that inspire me, and I would be amiss if I didn't throw Pinterest in there. However, it is the artwork of the particular stamp sets that really inspire me to create.


5. Share a fun or interesting fact about yourself that most people might not know.  
I sang for the Pope at the Vatican when I was 15 years old. And I don't know how to swim!
 

6. What advice would you give to a new stamper? 
Find what you love, and stick with it. Make things that make you happy, and do more of that. And don't compare your creations to other stampers'. Just love what you do.
 

7. What is your favorite SNSS set?
I love the Puppy Love and Kitty Love stamp sets. Animals are a huge part of my family's lives, and I am a big animal advocate. Here are a few elegant and cute cards made with those two sets: 





Happy Thanksgiving to all of my U.S. friends!

Tuesday, November 24, 2015

Season Of Love

Hello Sweet 'n Sassy friends!
It's Ceal here to share with you

In case you've missed it, Sweet ‘n Sassy Stamps is celebrating their 8th birthday all month long!  Be sure to keep checking Facebook and the blog for samples, give-aways, and promotions!  Currently SNSS is offering 25% off all dies with the code BDAYDIES25!

Today I am showcasing the set Season of Love. 
Here are a couple of samples I made with it


For my first sample I stamped the silhouette image with Memento Tuxedo Black ink and used some Squeezed Lemonade and Mermaid Lagoon distress inks to sponge around the image. The greeting is from one of our Bible journaling sets, Name Above All Names


My Second sample is a watercolored version, I stamped the image this time in Versafine Black Onyx ink and used some Brusho powdered watercolors for both backgrounds. Again the greeting is from the Name Above All Names set.



Here are the sets I used 


A Little About Me:
My husband and I  are empty nesters except for Willis our spoiled Shih Tzu. and we are in the middle of a huge transfer move from Denver, Colorado to Maggie Valley, North Carolina, so from the Rockies to the Smokies. We both are originally from the east coast so it's closer to family.
I have been crafting in some for or fashion since I was a little girl. I have always loved to color, still do and Art class was my fave. I have been a stamper about 15 years and have been blessed to be on several design teams and have a very supportive husband.


How long have you been a fan of Sweet 'n Sassy Stamps? 
I have been a Sweet 'n Sassy  fan since the beginning and have been involved in some capacity almost from the beginning as well. 

What do you enjoy outside of stamping? 
I enjoy being outdoors, hiking or just admiring God's beauty especially in the fall. I also enjoy reading and of course spending time with my family.

What is your "day" job? 
At the present time my "day" job is unpacking the 500 plus boxes the movers dropped off last wednesday. I don't know where all this stuff came from, haha. I am fortunate enough to be a stay at home wife where my "day" job is crafting mostly.

Who inspires you? 
That is a hard question, I have so many crafters that inspire me and don't want to leave anyone out so, I am going to say what inspires me and that would be Pinterest, there is so much inspiration there, I usually spend hours looking around.

Share a fun or interesting fact about yourself that most people might not know. I don't do coffee or milk or orange juice in the morning, give me a glass of sweet tea and I am happy.


What advice would you give to a new stamper? Join stamping groups like Splitcoaststampers or Stamp Nation. Check out pinterest for inspiration and watch plenty of You Tube videos, but most of all have fun and never under estimate yourself.

What is your favorite SNSS set? And then maybe share a sample or two using it.
Favorite set? what about favorite sets! I have many that are my go to sets for different seasons. I looked back on my blog and Parisian Postcard is one I have used quite a bit, here are some samples I pulled from my blog.


Here's one with favorite winter stamp, Welcome Jesus 
and my favorite summer set, Ocean Paradise

I hope you have enjoyed getting to know me a little better and don't forget about our die sale!