2011 February | designs by Sarah Martina

Waltzingmouse Release – Day 3

Posted by Sarah Martina on Feb 28, 2011 in Waltzingmouse, Waltzingmouse Release, Waltzingmouse Sketch | 22 comments

Hi friends!

Happy Monday to ya, and Happy 3rd & final preview day of the Waltzingmouse Stamps March Release!

I thank you all for such a warm reception to my attempt at scrapbooking!

It’s clearly not my forte, but it’s a creative muscle that I plan to exercise more and more this year.

I’ve committed to at minimum a page a month (I know, how sad is that?), which is a big step from where I was last year, lol!

Anyhow, back to today… I’ve got some super-duper-fun/must-have/you-don’t-wanna-leave-these-off-your-list stamps to preview for you!

Today, we’re showing you some peeks into Vintage Banners and Bitty Banners, and I’m THRILLED!

Claire’s designed some gorgeous banner stamps! And as if that’s not enough… she’s made them Spellbinders compatible! Yay!

This first project is a card that I made after being inspired by this week’s Waltzingmouse Sketch no. 36. I used Bitty Banners, and strung those cutesies right along my card.

Cute, no?

That pretty cotton twine is from miss Carly’s shop, and so are those mini-clothespins… so cute!

The patterned paper is more yumminess from Emma’s Shoppe. Love that line with all my heart!

Next up… I used Vintage Banners to make a fun decorative banner to hang in my craft room…

I have this big ol’ bulletin board (Thanks Denise!) that I use to hang deadlines, dt calendars, cards from friends, etc… But other than the pretty cards from my friends, the board was kinda boring, lol… So this banner is really something I’ve been needing…

(please excuse the terrible lighting!)

Can I just say… These stamps are awesome! Lol… the size alone make me gitty! And the designs are just one-of-a-kind.

Love ‘em.

I used some letter stickers to spell the word “Create”, but this stamp set also has some fun sentiments that coordinate just perfectly! You may see them on some of the other DT’ers blogs, but if not, you’ll have to wait for the full reveal tomorrow, lol.

One last tidbit I’ll add is how incredibly easy these banners are to make! Claire provides the most impeccable quality of stamps, and I had such a joy stamping with them for this release!

Well, that about does it for today! Vintage Banners and Bitty Banners are so much fun to play with, and they’re perfect to use for any occasion! I wouldn’t hesitate on scooping these up for your WM stash, if I were you.

Before I go…

I want to take a moment to say good-bye to a friend, miss Lisa, the sweetheart otherwise known as the DT coordinator for the WM sketch and stamp teams… She’s been nothing short of an angel with a heart the size of Texas to me, and to all of us. Lisa was always right where you needed her when you needed her, and was the best cheerleader ever! Lisa is just special.

So, it’s a bit sad that she’ll no longer be serving in that role with WM any longer. The good news is we don’t have to stay sad for long, because Lisa leaves us with a big ball of excitement in our stomachs over what she has in the works! She’s got something brewing that I know you all will be thrilled about, so stay tuned for it!

And since I failed to give due mention about this in my post two days ago, I wanted to share that just as Lisa’s time with the WM sketch team has come to a close, so has mine. As a member of the stamp team, I will absolutely continue to play along with the WM Sketches, just in a different capacity now.

So… now that I’ve finished my farewells, head on over to see what other gorgeous work is out there for you to gaze upon… lol!…

Claire (owner)

I’ll see y’all tomorrow for the big release!!! March 1st the 5 stamp sets will be hot & ready for ya in the WM shop! See y’all then!

Xoxo!

Waltzingmouse Release – Day 2

Posted by Sarah Martina on Feb 27, 2011 in Waltzingmouse, Waltzingmouse Release | 25 comments

Hey y’all! Happy Sunday to ya!

I’m back again, with a second day of showcasing the March Release at Waltzingmouse Stamps!

Yesterday’s post was so special, because of all of the sweet comments you all left for me.

THANK YOU… for all of your out-pouring of love & support!

So… the stamps of this release will be available, Tuesday, March 1st, in the Waltzingmouse store.

And today, we’re sharing some sneaks of the Vintage Labels No. 18 (which coordinates with Spellbinders Labels No. 18).

Well, you all know how much I love all things fancy & frilly….

So when I saw these stamps I squealed with delight!

Claire has such a great way of squeezing in the perfect little additions to the labels sets, and this is no exception!

Here (below) you can see how I stitched onto the page, and used both the labels & accents to frame my photos of the kidlets…

I have a million ideas floating around in my head for this set, and I can’t wait to share them all with you!

This time, instead of sticking to my “fancy & frilly”, I thought I’d show how these stamps can be fun & playful also.

I used some photos I snapped of the kids with my phone one day, and framed them with the beautiful frames from this set (Vintage Labels no. 18).

I used one of the smaller frames to house one of the sentiments on this page (which is from Teeny Trees).

I popped up some of the framed images to give some added dimension to the layout…

I love dimension, in case you hadn’t noticed, lol…

I made some paper flowers, and then added some trim, border stickers, and stitching to finish it all off!

Fun times were definitely had when creating this page!

And this gorgeous stamp is what I used to note the date… Love it so, so much.

That note card behind the image is from Crate Paper’s Emma’s Shoppe line, as are the base of my page and the border stickers.

Well, I hope you’ve enjoyed this second day of peeks!

Are these stamps drool-worthy, or what?!

Be sure to check out how the rest of the fab Design Team used this same set… here are the links:

Claire (owner)

I’ll be back tomorrow with some sets that will *surely* be flying off of the shelves come March 1st. *wink!*

‘Til tomorrow….

Waltzingmouse Release – Day 1

Posted by Sarah Martina on Feb 26, 2011 in Exciting News!, Waltzingmouse, Waltzingmouse Release | 34 comments

Hey y’all!

I’m so, so excited to be sharing the news with you all today…

Ms. Claire, owner of one of my most favorite stamp companies ever, Waltzingmouse Stamps, has invited me to be a part of her uber talented Design Team!

Claire’s designs are one of a kind, and I just love the flair that they add to my projects…

And this month is of *no* exception! I’m ga-ga for the stamps in this release, and I’m sure you will be, too!

There are *5 new sets* being released… and they will all be hot & ready for your sweet hands on March 1st…

Hopefully you can “hold yer horses” ’til then… lol! (I know… cheesey.)

So, without too much more rambling, let’s get to the sneaky-peek! *wink!*

The sets that we are showcasing today are called, Way Out West and Back in the Saddle.

I have to admit that when I first saw these western-themed stamps, I was stumped!

They’re *so* much fun to look at… they bring me back to when I would stay up all night with my cousins in Germany watching old Westerns (apparently they thought all Americans loved Westerns, lol!)

Lots of nostalgia in this set, but how could I translate it to paper & ink?…

After lots of staring…. I finally just pulled out my ink and card stock and began stamping….

I stamped without any clear vision as to what my final product would look like.

Just let the stamps do the talking… and boy did they holler!

I just love how all of the fun sentiments in this set came together.

And once I was finished with the card, I whipped out this cute (and free!) template for the Octagon Basket.

I focused on stamped the pretty borders in Way Out West for this part of the project…

How fun is that?!

I have to say, without sounding too stalker-ish, that this set totally reminds me of The Pioneer Woman… lol!

Is it just me???

I love “watching” Ree cook, and drooling over her gorgeous photography contests… but more than anything I love to just read what she has to share about her “ranch life.”

And this stamp (above) in particular is definitely a shout-out to Ree’s hubby (a tried and true cowboy, lol!).

Love those rustic stars… Love ‘em to pieces.

And how scrumptious are those goodies in my octagon basket? I got those from my dear friend, Carly’s shop. I’ll be featuring some of her product next week, so keep your eyes peeled!

Well, I’m done talking your head off (for now)…

So… You really, really wanna go check out what the rest of the design team has done with these stamps…

Really.

*wink*

Not kidding… prepare yourselves. lol….

Claire (owner)

See y’all tomorrow with another peek! Ooooh I’m beyond words excited about tomorrow’s set!!!…

Xoxo,

Catching up… Part 2 of 2

Posted by Sarah Martina on Feb 22, 2011 in Blog Hop, Waltzingmouse, Waltzingmouse Sketch | 8 comments

Okie doke, folks,
I’m back with my third and final post for today…

This first card is one of my favorites that I’ve made recently.
I actually made this for the February Waltzingmouse Blog Waltz (*blushing*)…

I know… I’m waayyy late with sharing this. I just plum forgot to post it on waltz day,
and after that I just didn’t have the time.
But it’s here now! Lol…

The theme this month was buttons.
So, I dug deep into my stash of vintage buttons,
and drizzled them throughout my design wherever I saw fit.
Ok, those big blue and red buttons aren’t vintage, but the others are, lol.

I just love the background that I created with Rescue Remedies.
I know I’ll be using it again soon…
I also used Vintage Labels No. 10 and Rescue Remedies Additions on my card.

The ribbon is from miss Marilyn, and the patterned paper is Basic Grey’s Curio.

And the last project for today…

This little project is for this week’s Waltzingmouse Sketch Challenge No. 35.

I have to give homage to dear Melissa who totally inspired me to make this sweet, little pin cushion.
That lady inspires me in so many ways… the magic that flows from her little fingers always leaves me just speechless…

And so, here’s a close-up on my pin cushion:

I used some fabric that I’ve had for years now, from an old Scarlet Lime kit, lol.
The stamping was fun to do on the raw, muslin fabric…
I used Very Vintage Labels No. 4, and the sentiment, star and flower images are from Seasons of Love – Tags.

More ribbon from Marilyn, some Webster’s trim, a Prima flower and an American Craft brad.

And I was feeling crafty, so I made a card to go with the pin cushion…

Some vintage buttons and glitter to finish the card off, and we’re done!

Phewwww!…

I’m pooped, y’all…

I sure hope you’ve enjoyed the last 3 posts… (Check out Post #1 and Post #2 for the day)
Hopefully this won’t have to happen again, because I hate getting off of my posting schedule.

Anyhow… I’ll see you again soon… This week I have some super exciting news to share with ya! *wink*

‘Til then…

Catching up… Part 1 of 2

Posted by Sarah Martina on Feb 22, 2011 in Embellish Magazine, Tiffany Doodles, Totally Hues, W + 9 | 4 comments

Hey y’all!
Well, as promised, I’m here to share some projects that I’ve created recently…

First up is this card for the current Embellish Color Trends Challenge featuring “birds.”

Our sponsor is Tiffany Doodles again,
and she provided the cute tag and bird images that I used on my card.

The burlap is from Canvas Corp., the papers are from Cosmo Cricket & Webster’s Pages,
and the “Hello” sentiment is from WM’s Fancy Phrases.

Aren’t those colors just as soothing as can be?
I can definitely see myself using them in the future, especially for my masculine cards.

Next up is a card for the current All Eyes On… challenge with W+9 Stamps.

This is my last project as a Guest Designer with W+9, and I’ve been having a blast!
The theme for this month’s challenge?… All Eyes On… YOU!

The design team CASED cards from the W+9 Flickr Gallery, and I chose miss Heather‘s fun card:

Isn’t that such a versatile layout? Heather is a master at color combos, also,
so I thought I’d use her current Totally Hues challenge for my card also:

I made my own little pearl embellishment by arranging some pearls onto a piece of acetate,
then trimming it down to size, and adhering it to my twine bow.
Easy, peasy!

I used Flora & Fauna I and Spring Post on my card.
The patterned paper is from Pink Paislee’s Butterfly Garden.
I added some coarse glitter to the borders of my card for a bit more interest.

Well, that’s all for now… one more post today, so don’t forget to check it out!
(I know…that’s 3 in 1 day… what am I thinking? Lol!)

See y’all later!