New Year, New Release from Impression Obsession!

Hello and Happy New Year!  

I am excited for a new year and excited to officially be a member of the Impression Obsession Stamps Design Team.  If you came from Laura Williams's blog, you are in the correct place.  If not, head over to the Impression Obsession Blog for the start of the hop.  

Each day ( Jan 1st and Jan 2nd), you will find a list of participants on the Impression Obsession Blog.  We will be giving away THREE Impression Obsession $25 gift certificates for the event- so, the more blogs you comment on during the release hop, the more chances you have to win!   You can comment until Jan 4th at 11:59pm, CT.  Winners will be announced Tuesday, Jan 5th on the Impression Obsession blog.  

Love is in the air with this release!  I fell in love with this gorgeous heart and floral~

The stamp, Floral Heart, H20902, was stamped with IO Black Ink onto Arches watercolor paper.  It was then painted with Ken Oliver Colorbursts.  I let the image dry well and then masked off the image and sponged white ink through a stencil on the watercolored background.  Once the ink was dry, I stamped the sentiment,  I Love You, C17308, in the IO Black Ink using my MISTI.  I am linking this card up to The Krafty Chicks Challenge, Anything Goes. as well as ModSquad Challenge Blog, Anything Goes.   

If you are looking for a great image for CAS design (and great for masculine Valentines cards), Triple Heart Love, G20903, is your perfect image.  

After stamping the image with IO Black Ink on kraft paper, I colored the hearts in with Prismacolor Pencils.  A few sequins later, and done! 

 PS-Prismacolors are at a great price right now- the 72 set is 63% off of list price! 

The new stamps are available NOW!  You can find them all HERE.  

Your next stop is Lynda Pleckan with some gorgeous inspiration for you!  

Thanks for stopping by!  Enjoy the hop! 

Lee Ann  

You Light Up My Life and a Give Away!

 Hello and Happy New Year Everyone!  

I suspect most of us will be ringing in the new year in our own homes this year.  That works for me as I will likely by crafting, lol!  

I just want to thank everyone for all of your visits to my blog and all of your sweet comments.  Your support means so much to me.  Blogs seem to be taking a back seat to other types of social media so if you are still in blogland, thank you! 

So yes, you all Light Up My Life!  If you all weren't here there would really be no point to blogging.  

I used the sweet little light bulb image from the My Punny Valentine from Sweet n Sassy Stamps.  I love a good punny card!  I had this wonderful yellow sunburst panel in my stash that I made quite some time ago and it was perfect for the light bulb.  I die cut out a circle from the panel using the Wacky Stitched Circle Dies from IO Stamps. 
For a little extra interest, I added a strip of red cs between the circle and the rest of the background panel and then popped the circle up on dimensional tape.  While you cannot see it in the picture, I covered the light bulb with Glossy Accents.  

Chance to win!
If you have gotten this far, I want to thank you by giving you a chance to win a gift from me.  I have stamping goodies that I have dupes of, have never used or just plain have to much of and I would like to share some with you!  Please follow my blog if you do not already for a chance to win; leave me a comment that you have started following me.   If you are already a follower leave me a comment that you are a follower.  

Thank you so much for stopping by; wishing you a joy filled, healthy new year! 

Lee Ann  

Other products~

Simon Says Stamp
 Neenah Solar White cs 
Memento Tuxedo Black Ink
Versafine Onyx Black Ink

So How do You Feel About 2020?

 Hello!  

Happy New Year's Eve Eve!  

I know this is how a lot of people feel about the year 2020.  I did not have some of the trials and tribulations as others had, so my 2020 experience was not quite so bad.  That said, yucky things always manage to find their ways into our lives.  I have worked on relying on God more this year, rather than freak out every time something did go wrong.  Although I did freak out when the tree guy fell out of my tree!  He survived by the way, and is doing fine after surgery to fix things up.  

Anywho, I am cautiously looking forward to 2021, not to necessarily leave 2020 but for that clean start that we get at the beginning of every new year.  I don't anticipate it to be smooth sailing, I actually think it may not be much better or better at all than 2020, but I do know that no matter what, God is always in control and I need to lean into Him.  

I had this idea pop into my head when I saw the Make a Wish Stamp Set from Sweet n Sassy Stamps.  

I kept things CAS and simply stenciled a background for my emoji.  Mr. Emoji is colored with Copics (facial features added by me), fussy cut out and popped up on dimensional tape.  That fab sarcastic sentiment is from the A Little Snarky Stamp Set.  

Here is the stamp set with image that I created the emoji from~

So what do you think?  Thumbs up or too much gross boy humor?  

Thanks for stopping by and have a blessed week and a Happy New Year!

Lee Ann 

Jolly Ol' Snowman

 Hello. Hello!  

Less than two weeks til Christmas, All!!!  Hard to believe, no?!!  

Today's card is for Impression Obsession's Old is New day.  

I just love this adorable Jolly Snowman looking up to the sky.  I paired him with a bunch of dies to create my winter white scene.  I used the Evergreen dies, Birch Tree Die, Hill Landscape Layer Dies and the Small Snowflake Die Set.  The background was embossed with an old embossing folder of falling snow.  I added the Joy to the World Sentiment which seemed perfect for this jolly guy; it was stamped with the IO Black Ink.  

I am linking him up to Christmas Card Throwdown~

And Simon Says Stamp Monday Challenge, Ice Cold.  

And lastly, In(k)spire Me Challenge- stars or snowflakes  

Thanks for stopping by!

Lee Ann  

December Blog Hop with Sweet n Sassy Stamps!

 Hello All!  

Welcome to the Sweet n Sassy Stamps December Blog Hop.  Hop along with us as we share inspiration using the December release.  Leave comments along the way on the designers' blogs for your chance to be entered into our giveaway drawing for a $25 gift voucher to the Sweet n Sassy Stamps shop.  Winner will be announced on the SNSS blog Wednesday, December 23rd.  

Punny Valentines!  What's not to love about punny Valentines!  And what's not to love about the new My Punny Valentine Stamp Set.  

This grater is ca-ute!  The images were stamped with Memento Tuxedo Black Ink. colored with Copics and fussy cut out.  I used the same layout and colors on both cards- the card size is 4.25 x 3.75 inches.  I stamped a background on the card on the right using Versamark ink, though it is hard to see it in this photo.  The card on the left has a stenciled background.  I just love how these turned out!  

The Vintage Romance Stamp Set is another winner illustrated by Jenn Nilsson.  I just adore the unique locket image.  I have never seen this image as a stamp before, have you?  

It seems I always need more masculine valentine cards as I work in a school and the teachers like to get cards for their hubbys.  So, I got out an embossing folder and some Neenah Desert Storm cs for my background panel and after coloring the heart and key images with Copics and fussy cutting them out, popped them up on dimensional tape.  The sentiment was stamped with Versafine Onyx Black Ink.  A sprinkling of black sequins finish the card.  I am linking this card up to a new to me challenge, Let's Squash It!  

Check out the rest of the team's inspiration and don't forget to leave some love along the way for a chance to win a gift voucher to the snss store!  

Sweet n Sassy Blog
Julee Tilman
Ceal Pritchett
Diane Zechman
Esther Asbury
Jane Bosi
Karen Decknick
Lee Ann Barrett-that's me!

Lyn Tomlin
Michelle Hale
Sheri Gilson
Korin Sutherland

Vintage Romance

 Hello Everyone!  

While I am still making Christmas cards, I am sneaking in a general card made with the new Sweet n Sassy Stamps set, Vintage Romance.  While it is great for Valentines Day or Anniversaries, I found the perfume bottles to be quite versatile.  I made this card for my mom.  

I challenged myself to use pastel colors- I am really not good at keeping things light and, well, pastel.  The images were stamped in Memento Tuxedo Black ink using my MISTI,  colored with Copics and fussy cut out; yes, even  around the flower petals, lol.  I count on my Cutter Bee scissors to get into the tiny areas; they are the only detail scissors I have ever used.   Figuring out the background was the tough part.  I ended up with a light aqua cs and debossed it with the Altenew Dotted Swirls Cover Die.  For a little added interest, I added a strip along the bottom that I found in my stash; it was used to pick up left over distress ink on my craft mat that had been used for the smooshing technique.  Sometimes the 'junk' is the prettiest stuff!  The card was finished off with my all time favorite sequins, Simon Says Stamp Moonshine Sequins.  

Almost forgot the sentiment.  It is from the Time Well Spent Stamp Set.  

Thanks so much for stopping by!  

Lee Ann  

Nativity

 Hello!  

It's the weekend, and boy is it needed.  I am still working on Christmas cards, though I do need to start getting some in the mail if they are going to get to their destination before Christmas!  Anyone else still working on Christmas cards?  

When it comes to Christmas, the most iconic image is the Nativity.  This precious stamp, Born This Day, from Sweet n Sassy Stamps takes the number one spot for my Christmas stamp sets.  

Sweet, simple and powerful.  This card got a watercolored sky- I used my Ken Oliver Color Burst Powders and followed along with what I learned from an artist I follow on IG, ArtbyPanza.  Watching her create her night skies mesmerizes me.  I tried it on a smaller scale for this card and I am pretty happy with it.  The stars are done with watered down white acrylic paint as well as a white Uni-Ball Signo Gel Pen.  The Christmas star is heat embossed with Gina K Fine Detail Gold ep and the image is colored with Copics.  The die is an old PTI die and I think it is retired.  There is a similar one here.  

The There's a Stamp for That Challenge Group challenge this week is either snowman OR CAS.  As I am in need of Christmas cards, I chose CAS.  We hope you will join us!

  
I am linking up to Krafty Chicks Challenge for their Christmas challenge.

  
Inkspire Me Challenge is all about stars this week- I have a lot of them!

  
Christmas Card Throwdown, you can pick any challenge from the past year.  I chose 'Window', challenge from March.  
Lastly, at the ABC Christmas Challenge, this week it is Y or Z.  Y is for 'Your Favorite Things'.  This is my favorite Christmas stamp set.  

Thanks for stopping by! 

Lee Ann  

Other Links

Simon Says Stamp

Gina K Uniball Signo White Gel Pen 

Neenah Desert Storm Cardstock 

CAS Christmas

 Hello All!  

Seems we are barreling towards Christmas with no breaks in sight!  Wow, I anticipated this month flying but not quite this fast!  I am so glad I started decorating before Thanksgiving; I think I need to make that a yearly thing.  I certainly have been able to enjoy the decor more this year and feel less stressed.  

I haven't sent a single card out yet- yikes!  I don't even know if I have enough to send out, so I whipped up a quick CAS card using the sketch from CASE This Sketch.  

Here is the sketch~

I did some scoring for the solid lines on the background panel.  I used a tried and true Sweet n Sassy Stamp Set, Christmas Silhouettes.  If you need fast and easy, this is it!  The sentiment is from the Holiday Greetings Stamp set; this set has a great assortment of Christmas sentiments in different fonts. 

A few Simon Says Stamp Moonshine sequins add a bit of sparkle.  

The colors  are from the Sunday Stamps Challenge~

And, as this is a super easy and quick Christmas card, I am linking up to AAA Challenge~

Thanks for stopping by! 

Lee Ann  

A Bit of Romance

 Hello Everyone!  

To say I am excited that it is December 1st would be an understatement!  I love Christmas time and we are in full Christmas mode.  In addition to that, December brings a fantastic new release from Sweet n Sassy Stamps.  Goodness, I love this set!  Perfect for Valentine's Day but great for birthdays, Anniversaries, Mother's Day... In other words, versatile! 

Vintage Romance- perfect name for this gorgeous set.  Have I said I love the images in this set?!  Isn't this gorgeous?!  The stamp has a key hole in it, but for this card, I masked it off.  But it is perfect for the "key to my heart' sentiment.  

The image was stamped with Memento Tuxedo Black Ink an colored with Copics, then fussy cut out.  I used an old piece of paper in my stash that was actually stamped with bubble wrap!  Yep, great stamp to keep in your stash!  That was backed with a strip of red patterned paper and then matted on an embossed piece of kraft paper.  The sentiment strip is popped up on dimensional tape.  

I used the sketch from Case This Sketch for my card.  

I am also linking up to The Paper Players for their Tic Tac Toe challenge.  I used patterned paper, red, and coloring tool.  

That's it for me!  Check below for the December stamp release and the specials below! 

Lee Ann  

Stamp of the Month, FREE with a $75 purchase~