It's time to get some spring cleaning done...

Okay...have no fear...I'm not going to ask you to do windows...I'm going to tell you what I do to keep my stamping gear clean and ready to go.

First of all, if I pick up some new stamps and they are wood mounted...I always varnish the wood around the rubber image and along the sides...this allows me to easily clean off any ink that may get on the wood and my stamps look brand new; even after heavy use!

When I get a new image...I stamp it on white paper and put it in a binder that I have. This is my stamp inventory guide...very helpful when you are looking for a certain something to put on a card or layout; also helps to stop me from buying the same stamp more than once...(and yes, we've all done it)

To keep my acrylic blocks looking great and not covered in Stazon ink, I have found that alcohol ink blending solution is the best way to clean your blocks. It goes on easy and makes them sparkly like new.

If my acrylic stamps start to get a bit ugly...I will give them a little soak in a mild temperature bath that has just a tiny bit of dish soap in it...let them air dry and they are good as new...even renews the stickiness of them too.

I hope you don't mind this type of spring cleaning...and will share any tips you may have with our blog readers!!!

Happy crafting....Lynda

more Popscicle please :)

Sometimes all it takes is one product to get that scrappy-ball rolling (so to speak). This orange paper is the "B" side to one of the BoBunny "Popscicle" papers, and to be honest, not my favorite of the lot. At least, not until I received these super-cool chipboard circles! The circle-theme fell together very nicely after I paired the two products together, and even inspired me to really go outside my square-shaped photo box and trim my photos into something other than squares (something I almost never do!). I ended up loving the paper, and really liking the end-result of this fun layout. I just love these little coordinating flowers and buttons, don't you? Often it's the little details, such as tied buttons, or a little hand-stitching, or even a little accenting with glitter-glue, that can take your layout beyond the ordinary. With this layout, I've officially used up nearly every scrap of "Popscicle" I own! It's such a versatile and eye-catching line of products. You can find all these beautiful BoBunny products HERE. :)

You can also check out the June kit at KNK right HERE!! The colors in this kit are absolutely gorgeous, and I can't wait to share what I've been working on with it!!

Don't forget the dads out there...

My goodness...can you believe that Father's Day is just around the corner again? Time is just flying by so quickly! My boys simply adore Changito the Monkey and all the stamps Stampendous has devoted to him. Here is a card I made with Changito hanging out (lol)with one of his little ones.



I have heard from lots of people that are concerned about putting bling on masculine cards and layouts. These rhinestones are from Basic Grey and are perfectly masculine. Around my house, they are known as boy bling!
Don't let Father's Day sneak up on you~~get busy and make those special men in your life their cards before you forget!

How about a sketch

Happy Holiday weekend! Hopefully you are getting some much needed rest and relaxation. I also hope you are getting some much needed scrappy time! If you are here is a sketch for you to try! It allow lots of room for pictures as well as lots of journaling! Can't wait to see what you create.

Two of my favourite things!

I thought it would be nice to share a few of my favourite things with you guys this week. You have probably guessed by now that one of them is the range of Distress inks from Ranger. I LOVE them and if I could start my crafting life over ... well they would be the first pads I bought ...and trust me ... I bought plenty that I never use! Why are they my favourite??? Well you can create beautiful backgrounds with a few inks and some white card ... oh yeah and a fabulous stamp. To make the above background I coloured the white card with Fired Brick and Spiced Marmalade distress ink then I stamped over the top in Fired Brick with the Stampendous Agapanthus stamp.

My second favourite thing is Stampendous embossing powder ... especially the Gold Detail. If you grab some card and pat it with the Gold Acrylic Dabber and then shake Gold embossing powder over the top ... once heated you are left with a really lovely textured vintage look ... trust me! No one will believe it started life as a piece of white card.
So ... don't leave me in suspense ... What are your favourite things?

Cool weather and spring flowers

The weather has been very cool for Spring here in the Pacific Northwest, so I've been turning to these wonderful stamps from Stampendous for a touch of warmer spring-time fun. This Stampendous April Showers Flowers Perfectly Clear Stamp set can really get you ready for warmer Spring weather.

This card was based on the Stampendous sketch that was featured on their blog 5-21-10.

I hope your enjoying some warm spring weather where you are...if not, pull out some springtime stamps and create your own garden greeting!

Happy crafting.....Lynda

BoBunny Summer

BoBunny never fails to deliver amazing summer lines, and "Popscicle" is one of my all-time favorites!! The entire line can be found in KNK's June Add-on's..... at a discounted price, no less. It doesn't get any better than that! Here's a couple of fun summer layouts using "Popscicle"....

Thanks for stopping by!

Remember, we also have a May Scraplift Challenge in progress.... it's not too late to play along! Check out the details HERE!