It's finally out - the new catalog for The Angel Company, and it's beautiful!

I love this catalog - the way it's laid out, the samples, the product, the stamps! And we now carry Ciao and Sketch Copics with matching cardstock - how cool is that?

TAC stamps are the most affordable and versatile rubber stamps available on the market today. And you can get a free hostess rewards set PLUS one 1/2-price item (anything in TAC's three catalogs - even the copic sets!) when you purchase $100 worth of product.

You can see all of the yummy stamps online at my Angel Company store. Want more info?

Contact me!

I enjoy creating texture on my projects. I run into problems with putting texture on cards, courtesy of the U.S. Postal Service. Unfortunately, they are making it more and more difficult to send handmade cards through the mail, due to all of their unfriendly rules. I'd bet they wouldn't be in the red financially if they'd make it easier to send mail. Ya think?

Anyway, I figure I'll hand deliver this card or include it in a bigger package at some point.

I used thin cardboard for the panel and the flourishes (Tim Holtz Alterations Elegant Flourishes), an old foam placemat for the flower (Alterations Tattered Florals) covered in acrylic paint, a wood charm and Fired Brick Distress Stickles. I used TAC's scarlet cardstock for the base, but the camera flash washed it out a little bit - it's actually a much deeper red.

* Images from The Angel Company

But some pretty paper on this card. I created this for the "Punch in the Hand" challenge over at our stamping event SummerHaven 2010 over at Stamphaven. Since I don't have a lot of shaped punches, I utilized my Nestabilities (Labels 3) as well.

It's the Fourth of July weekend here in the U.S. I hope everyone is having a safe and fun holiday!

I found an old plastic frame in one of my yard sale hunts and immediately saw the potential. Over the weekend I altered it with paper, ink and some grungeboard to create a pretty frame for a vintage photo. The cool thing about it is that it has a magnet on the back, so you can stick it on your refrigerator or file cabinet.

As you can see, I used Stickles - regular and distressed - quite freely on my grungeboard pieces! Thanks to Louise for the vintage photo - the colors are perfect. And see the little dragonfly? Another yard sale find that I've been saving for a while for just the right project.

I've placed this piece for sale in my Etsy shop. (The image is removable; it can be replaced with your own photo.)

* Patterned paper and images from The Angel Company

I seem to be on a roll, as I made another Christmas card.

With this one, I created my own embellishments. The "ribbon" is a strip of white cardstock that I stamped with a snowflake stamp in VersaMark. I heat embossed with clear embossing powder and then inked the cardstock with green ink and wiped the ink off the snowflakes. This technique - emboss resist - is easy and fun to do and makes the most interesting effects.

I also made the button out of chipboard and cardstock that I stamped on. Punched two holes in the center, put the ribbon through them and tied a bow.

* Images from The Angel Company