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.

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.

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.  

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

Christmas Joy

Today I am showcasing a card from the Christmas Joy stamp Set.  Cardinals are just perfect for Christmas, aren't they?  Such a beautiful red against green pine trees or white sparkling snow.  

To make this card, I first stamped in Antique Linen distress inks and then colored in with watercolor brush pens.  I then went back and stamped several times to get the clearer outline in different colors.  I used a die-cut to cut it out and sponged the edges.  I added a banner and bow against some Christmas paper I found in my stash.

And remember, today is the last day for Free Shipping with your $30 order.  Please use the code BDAYFREESHIP.

For the Birds

Hello!  Diana here sharing a card I made with this month's For the Birds set.  I based my color off this wintry designer paper.  After stamping with Memento black ink, I used my Copics to color this adorable bird sitting on a snowy branch.  After die-cutting it out, I kept it in the die to sponge the edges for a hint of blue sky.  Hope you like it and thank you so much for looking!

For the Birds

I hope you have a great week!

Monochromatic Sea

Hello!  Diana here to share with you a monochromatic card I made with the stamp set The Sea.  To make it a bit more dramatic, I made an alteration of the telescoping technique.  After sponging the sea and sky and stamping the image, I die cut three concentric circles with the smallest centering on the boat.  

 I then popped up the outermost ring with one layer of foam tape, kept the middle ring flat, and then popped up the center with two layers of foam tape.  I liked how you still get a dramatic effect yet the card is not too thick.  I then added the banner with the Scripture from Mark and touches of white with a gel pen.  

 I just love this set!  So great for masculine cards!

The Sea

CAS We Three Kings

Hello, Diana here to share with a very CAS card using this month's We Three Kings.  I just love CAS cards and this silhouette image makes it so easy and elegant.  I used clear embossing on white card stock and then sponged Distress Inks Salty Ocean from the bottom to the top.  I then trimmed it down and then matted it on white. I normally like to mat in different colors but I like all the white on this card.  I then very carefully stamped the lyrics on the top.  

I hope you like it and thank you for looking!

Inky Joy to the World

Hello!  Diana here with my first post for Sweet 'n Sassy Stamps! Thank you so much to Korin and the rest of the DT for having me as a guest for the next two months.  I've been a fan of this sweet company so I'm thrilled to play along... especially with this sweet Joy to the World
stamp set. 

I got out my Distress Inks and got masking and inky!  I sponged a generous amount of Salty Ocean, Seedless Preserves, and Chipped Sapphire to get my nighttime sky.  Then I splattered some Perfect pearls for the stars.  The images were colored with watercolor brushes and the starts with a silver and gold gel pen.

The second one I made into a shaker card by cutting out the JOY and popping them up on top of my shaker frame.  I just love the manger scene - and these images bring to mind the first Christmas song I learned - Away in a Manger.  (I know - you'd think We Wish You a Merry Christmas would be the first!)

Joy to the World

Thanks so much for looking and have a great day!  

-Diana Nguyen