Made in the USA

Do you believe in Photopolymer Stamps?

At first I didn't. But then Stampin' Up! released the Map it Out Photopolymer Stamp Set and I had to have it. I was sold by the United States stamp alone. So, I took the plunge and I bought the photopolymer stamp set.

Stamping and dealing with photopolymer is different. It's not bad, just different than rubber stamps. They stick very well to the clear blocks and are great for perfect alignment. However, I felt like I had to practice a bit when it came to inking and stamping with the stamp. For this card, I used Staz On black ink because it seemed like the regular Basic Black ink wasn't stamping dark enough with this particular stamp. My photopolymer experiences is limited, so I'm sure there are all sorts of techniques out there for stamping with photopolymer. I need to get used to it, because Photopolymer is here to stay and there's going to be some amazing photopolymer stamp sets in the near future.

Stampin' Tips:

• Color Scheme: Bermuda Bay, Strawberry Slush, Whisper White, Summer Starfruit
• Stamp Set: Map it Out Photopolymer Stamp Set, Express Yourself Hostess Set
• Accessories: In-Color DSP, Kaleidoscope DSP, SAB Summer Starfruit Baker's Twine, Angled Tag Topper Punch, 1" Circle Punch
• Use the Angled Tag Topper Punch to make a 2"x4" piece of Whisper White Cardstock into a tag. Stamp the United States image using Staz On ink onto the tag. Punch out a 1" circle and adhere over the hole of the tag topper and punch a hole through the circle to thread the baker's twine through. 
• Use the heart stamp to place a heart in whichever state your heart lies in. My heart belongs to New Mexico. 

What are your thoughts on Photopolymer stamps? I would love to hear your experience using these new stamps.

Happy Stampin'
~Cita

Anniversary Moon

When you get married, you get to go on a honeymoon. And lately, when people are expecting, they like to go on a baby moon, the last hoorah trip before baby comes and takes over their lives. Each year, around our anniversary, my husband and I go on a trip. This year I decided to call this trip our anniversary moon.

Each year, we tend to travel north - Taos, Trinidad, Abiquiu, Jemez Mountains - these are all past destinations for our anniversary moon. This year, we decided to go south to the stomping grounds of my youth, Ruidoso and the surrounding Sacramento Mountains. I grew up in this area and I'm appalled at all the amazing, beautiful things I missed while living there. The Sacramento Mountains are full of beautiful landscapes and hidden springs. I can say the same thing for Ruidoso, although I feel like I had a chance to experience Ruidoso a lot more than the very mountains in my backyard.

I wanted to share some of the highlights from our trip, which was full of adventure and relaxing. If you ever visit this part of New Mexico, I highly recommend visiting these places and experiencing their beauty and fun for yourself. And then, you can use My Digital Studio to document your experience as well. :-)

Bluff Springs
Bluff Springs is nestled deep in the Sacramento Mountains, but easily accessible. There's a stretch of a few miles where you have to drive on dirt road to get to this area, but it's a nice dirt road and won't hurt your car. The entire area is a recreation area and people like to go out there to camp. We like to go and visit the little spring and admire the accompanying waterfall.  This time, my husband was determined to collect water from the spring to drink later (after boiling it of course). I enjoy walking along the little stream that the spring creates and watching the little waterfall as the stream falls over the bluff. You can walk right up to the waterfall.

I love using pictures in a the background for my MDS projects. 

Bonito Trail No. 36
As a kid, my family made many trips to the Bonito Lake area, but I never hiked along any of the trails. As we passed by Bonito Lake, I was surprised to see it pretty much shut down to the public. I felt like you can look, but you couldn't touch in any way. Turns out that the Little Bear fire in 2012 contaiminated the lake and the City of Alamogordo has shut it down. The city can't even use it for drinking water as it has for many years because of all the silt and debris form the fire. Needless to say, the lake still looks beautiful, and despite the burn scars that plague this area, the area is still beautiful.

Bonito Lake. Look, but don't touch.

Bonito Lake wasn't our goal. Bonito Trail No. 36 was our goal. And we made it there and hiked it and loved it! Here's a few highlights.

This sign is very important. It shows that we were on the right trail. We have a habit of getting lost on hikes. 

We found a cave. Husband thinks it may have been a mine or claim at one point.

Water! This was the best part of the hike. 

This post is already longer than I thought. I'll stop here and share the rest of the Anniversary Moon highlights another time. I may get a chance to continue documenting our trip in My Digital Studio. 

~Cita 

Thanks in Pink and Black

One of my favorite things to do when making quick and simple cards is to use the Whisper White Notecards and Envelopes (131527, $5.95). This pack comes with 20 envelopes sized 5" x 3-1/2" already scored and ready to be designed. I don't know what it is, but I absolutely love this size of card. I make most of my simple cards using these cards, and I tend to love to use DSP as backgrounds instead of shying away from using so much as a background. It's weird. I tend to hoard DSP. Do you have this problem too?

Stampin' Tips: 

• Color Scheme: Basic Black, Whisper White, Strawberry Slush, and Coastal Cabana 
• Stamp Set: A Million and One
• Accessories: Modern Medley DSP, In Color Boutique Details 
• Don't be shy to use your DSP as background. One 12x12 sheet of DSP can go a long way with the notecards. 
• Use a glue dot to adhere the In Color Boutique Details embellishment.

Happy Stampin' 

~Cita 

A Colorful Happy (big) Day CASE

I've mentioned before how much I love to CASE other people's work. I rarely ever stick strictly to the original design, but it's a great jumping off point when my creativity is stuck somewhere, and lately I think allergies have been inhibiting the creative juices from flowing. Yay for "Spring" in New Mexico. 

While browsing on Pinterest, I found Carol Lovenstein's cute birthday card and because it used Candy Dots (I had almost a million to use), it caught my eye. And then when I started to make it, I realized this card is a great card to use scraps! After I finished making this card, I looked back and thought: wow, this is a fun card! 

I originally made the card in the landscape orientation, but tried it out in the portrait orientation and liked it so much better. There's all sorts of variations you can do. Go ahead. CASE it!

Stampin' Tips:

• Colors scheme: Island Indigo, Crushed Curry, Whisper White, Cherry Cobbler, Cajun Craze, Crushed Curry, Elegant Eggplant, Garden Green 
• Stamp Set: Chalk Talk
• Accessories: Chevron Embossing Folder, Petite Pennants Builder punch, Chalk Talk framelits, Regals Candy Dots 
• Frame your Whisper White cardstock by cutting the Crushed Curry cardstock 1/4" bigger than the Whisper White. 
• Use the non-scalloped pennant from the Petite Pennants Builder punch to cut out the triangles. Position the pennants on the card stock and arrange them to your liking before adhering. I started by positioning the middle pieces (Island Indigo and Cajun Craze) as a starting point. I then positioned the rest of the pennants around these. 
• Stick a coordinating Candy Dot on each pennant. 
• Stamp the "Happy Big Day" greeting in Island Indigo and use the coordinating framelit from the Chalk Talk set to cut it. Adhere over the pennants using a Dimensional. 

Another thing I love about this card is that it's a versatile card due to the "Happy Big Day" sentiment. I'm thinking it can be used for graduations, weddings, birthdays, retirements, etc. People have all sorts of big days and I hope they are all happy. 

Happy "Big Day" of Stampin', 

Cita