GSDesigns

Wow - it's been a LONG time.

2009-02-12T15:28:00.002-05:00

Hello all -

It's been eons since I've been on here. My life has been turned upside down, flipped around, shook to death, and finally set back down. I lost my job after 10.5 years of service in June. That was a tough pill to swallow. That was right after having my gall bladder out and brand new nephews. Since then, I have uprooted my family and headed back "home" to Louisville, KY. My daughter and I came first in September when I found a wonderful job (that I LOVE). Her daycare ended up being a blessing as well. My husband just finished his transition up here this past weekend! So it's been a long time coming!!! We have settled into my father's house with his lovely wife and cats. It's crowded but we are thankful for the help while we look for a home that we can enjoy for a long time. Steve is still looking for a new job. He was laid off at the end of the year himself, so we have our faith in God that he will provide.

The good news is, I'm finally feeling the itch of creativity (it's been dormant for MANY months) and want to get back to enjoying my blog again.

I hope there are still some followers out there! I'll post some cards I worked on tomorrow.

Have a fabulous day!

Gretchen

Update

2008-07-22T11:17:00.003-04:00

Wow, it's been almost a month since I posted. Life has gotten a little crazy for me lately. I was laid off from my job of over 10 years, very frustrating and hurtful. So I've been getting my act together and looking for a job I will really enjoy.

I have done a little creating in the meantime, and it's been very helpful to have my friends around me in my sad time. I'll share those cards with you over the next few days.

I also wanted to mention that I met some lovely ladies over at http://www.chicaandjo.com/ who have featured me on their website! It's such an honor and I hope that the little endeaver is successful. Please go check it out. I even did a swing card with direction if you are interested. The direct link to my information is http://www.chicaandjo.com/2008/07/21/make-your-own-swinging-3-d-greeting-cards/. Very excited!

Hope everyone has been doing very well.

Have a fabulous day!

2008-06-25T15:38:00.002-04:00

Hello friends...it's been a strange couple of days. On Friday I was laid off from my job due to downsizing due to the economy. As soon as I found out that two certain people were in charge of these layoffs, I knew I would be one to go. They are both the kinds of people who go around preaching their christianity, but then don't live by what they preach. I actually had a dream on Monday night before I was let go that I was going to be let go, so when the time came, I really wasn't surprised.

The good news is, I had a GREAT stamping day on the Saturday following. I got together with some great girls (Hi Pat, Cathy, Candace, Sandy, and Karen!! (and Sara too)). We stamped anything we wanted and just chatted and ate and had some great fun.

I worked on a swap I've been doing and some sympathy cards. The swap is Bella based, but the sympathy cards are all SU. I reminded myself how much I love using the Build-A-Brads!

Enjoy and have a fabulous day!

Retired List

2008-06-16T09:36:00.002-04:00

Hope everyone had a good weekend. I didn't stamp a thing all weekend, but had a good time just the same! We went and saw Kung Fu Panda and enjoyed it. Luckily there were several young kids in the theatre because my child likes to comment during movies, and she wasn't the only one. LOL

The SU retiring list was posted yesterday. This list tells you which sets will not be available after August 10th. Make sure you look through the list in case there are any "must have's" out there. Anyone who spends $50.00 or more on retiring stamps sets, will get a free ink pad of their choice. Spend $100, get two, etc.
We also had the new dormant list posted. These stamps sets will not be featured in the new catalog, but will still be available for purchase.

Retired List <---click here

If you want a copy of the dormant list, please e-mail me at gretchen@sheridanzoo.com and I will get that to you.

Have a fabulous day.

Father's Day is upon us.

2008-06-13T12:22:00.004-04:00

This Father's Day is a special one, because my baby brother has just become a father for the first time. He had twin boys just a few short weeks ago. They are beautiful and growing and I just love holding them. This card came to me as soon as I saw the stamp set on Stamp Oasis called Little Cowboy (through Rubbernecker). I had the card layed out in my head before I ever got the stamp. Currently they dress one of the boys in green and the other in blue and their nursery is vintage cowboy! It's adorable by the way!

Stamp set: Little Cowboy by Stamp Oasis through Rubbernecker Stamp Co.
Paper: DCWV hearts and SU's Whisper White, SU Brocade Blue, Scraps of designer paper found on desktop.
Ink: SU Markers, including Real Red, Brocade Blue, All three browns
Embellies: Little stars from Making Memories

I hope he likes it, it's in the mail today!

Have a fabulous day!
Gretchen

Weekend..part 6

2008-06-13T12:03:00.010-04:00

These great items were done by my wonderful upline, Sharon Dungan. She handed out directions at the show that I'll see about downloading for you all to have. I'll look into that tonight.

She also made this cute little chipboard frame.

Hope you enjoyed all these weekend posts. Back to our regularly scheduled program now!

Have a fabulous day!

Gretchen

Weekend scrapbook pages...part 5

2008-06-12T15:27:00.044-04:00

I never heard who left this great album of scrap pages there, but if anyone knows, please let me know so I can give proper credit!!!

Weekend samples... Part 3

2008-06-11T16:36:00.061-04:00

Here are a few more cards... I have one more set of cards, then some scrapbook pages and Misc things. WOW, what a day!

Weekend samples... Part 2

2008-06-11T16:12:00.041-04:00

Just click on an image to see a larger image that you can download for yourself.
Enjoy!

Weekend cards...part 4

2008-06-10T14:32:00.049-04:00

Next scrapbook pages......

Weekend of lovely card art....part 1

2008-06-10T13:40:00.045-04:00

As I said in a previous post, I spent last weekend with some fabulous SU demo's in Cincy, OH. Sharon Duvelius was our hostess with the mostess and I do believe fun was had by all!

I volunteered to take pictures of all the samples there for a few ladies who had forgotten their cameras. So while some of the pictures aren't superb, here they are....

If anyone knows the artist of anything above, I'd be happy to add that in if you'll let me know.

Have a fabulous day!

Gretchen

Whoo Who!

2008-06-10T10:49:00.006-04:00

I won something on A-MUSE-A-PALOOZA!! I'm very excited. All I had to do was fill out a survey and won. There are many exciting things going on over there right now, you should definitely check it out. I won a cute little bee set, I can't wait to get it and start creating. I rarely win anything, so I'm super excited. *giggle*

Last night I finished up on some cards I had promised my friends at Chica and Jo. They are couple of cool chicks that I had the pleasure of meeting not too long ago that were interested in some of my cards to feature on their website. It was slow going, but I finally got them done and will turn them over to them in the morning. YAY

Here's a simple little card I made for a friend who just had a baby boy. Simple and cute at the same time.

My daughter has been catching cicada's in her little bug trap that someone here at work gave her. She likes to make them "sing" and is just delighted to hold them and listen to them. She definitely did not get this trait from me!!! The only bugs I ever played with were "rolly polly" bugs, you know the ones you touch and they roll into a ball? I did catch lightning bugs, but I did not hold them to play with! Yuck! Her father has been enjoying this phase in her life for sure!

Here's a picture of one of her captives.

Have a fabulous day!
Gretchen

Are you hot?

2008-06-09T09:34:00.004-04:00

How about a nice glass of fresh squeezed lemonade? Yum! I made the ATC first, that's the smaller card in the middle. The stamp set is called Simply Summer.
I then colored the image with SU markers. I mixed some plain dazzling diamonds with some yellow re-inker to create a little deminsion in the pitcher. I used some DCWV cardstock that I had and wal-lah!

Hope you are all staying nice and cool!

Stamps: Simply Summer
Cardstock: SU's Green Galore and Whisper White, DSWV
Ink: Basic Black, Summer Sun, Cameo Coral, Brilliant Blue, and Green Galore
Other: Dazzling Diamonds

I had the great opportunity to go to an upline meeting this past weekend in Cincy. Sharon Duvales who is a couple levels up from me hosted a day where around 50 people showed up. We had projects to work on and beautiful friendships to be made. I had a great time taking pictures of all the examples, winning a door prize, and meeting fabulous people. Fun!

I also want to tell you what my daughter said this morning. She's 4 in case anyone doesn't know that already. We are driving to work, and "Life is a Highway" comes on by Rascal Flatts. She loves this song because of the movie, "Cars". SO she's singing along to every single word which floored my husband. (I had heard do this before) Then "Raspberry Beret" came on by Prince. When it gets done, she says, "Oh, I love that song, it's about raspberries, and I love raspberries!" She's such a cook!

Have a fabulous day, Gretchen

Baby Cards

2008-06-05T21:34:00.003-04:00

I'm in a baby kind of mood still, so I whipped up three different versions of the same baby card. I made the boy blue first, then thought I should have a girl version and came up with the pink/orange, then I thought I should have a neutral, which began the purple, though I think it's a little girlie. =)

Stamps: SU's I'm Here and Curvy Verses

Paper: SU's Whisper White and Making Memories

Ink: Basic Black, Pretty In Pink, Lovely Lilac, and Bashful Blue

Ribbon: Blue is by Offray, and the white is from the $1 spot at Michael's.

Have a fabulous day, it's almost Friday! YAY

Shy Girl Lizzie... smirk

2008-06-04T13:39:00.005-04:00

My card today is from last week's treasure hunt on Rubbernecker.com called Shy Girl. It's by Stamp Oasis and adorable,yes? She reminds me of my daughter when she gets a bit coy sometimes. We all know she doesn't have a shy bone in her body! LOL Her hair is getting long and shaggy and we even put her hair up like this a lot these days. So I'll call this stamp Shy Girl Lizzie!

Recipe:
Stamps: Shy Girl from Stamp Oasis on Rubbernecker
Paper: SU's whisper white, perfect plum; DCWV's Nana's Kids
Ink: SU's Summer Sun, Lovely Lilac, Pixie Pink, Regal Rose, Apricot Appeal, Gable Green, Pale Plum, and Basic black
Ribbon: DGI (Target $1 spot)
Embellishment: Making Memories bubble sticker (I'm sure that's not what it's really called!)

Hope you all are having a fabulous day!

Gretchen

All about baby...

2008-06-02T14:37:00.004-04:00

I'm all about the babies still, I've had so much fun visiting with them and snuggling. Oh my!
I got my very first GinaK sets this past week and couldn't wait to get them out and put together. One of her designers, Melanie Muenchinger created a set called Hip-Hop Accessories with the above giraffe babies in it. I also got those adorable brads on GinaK's website located here. The paper was done with my Cuttlebug. I loved how it turned out and couldn't wait to share it!
Stamps: Giraffe and grass from Hip-Hop Accessories, by Melanie Muenchinger , words from SU's By Ones and Twos.
Paper: SU More Mustard, Choc Chip, and Whisper White
Ink: SU Basic Black, More Mustard, Real Rust, Glorious Green
Extras: Cuttlebug, Brads from GinaK's store

I got to spend all day Saturday with the twins, they are doing great and are just the sweetiest little guys around! I can't wait to spend years spoiling them to death!

Gretchen

I'm an Aunt!

2008-05-27T12:06:00.005-04:00

Welcome to the world little Denver and Mason!
I can't even describe how excited I am to be an aunt to my baby brother's boys.
They were born this morning by c-section and they are doing GREAT!
Denver Matthew was 6 pounds, 11 ounces and 18 inches long.
Mason David was 6 pounds, 10 ounces and 18.5 inches long.

I'll update the post as soon as I get pictures from my mom!

Gretchen *jumping around for joy*

p.s. I'll post a card as soon as I get my scanner back from my friend who borrowed it this past weekend!

Just Chickin In

2008-05-23T11:31:00.004-04:00

I love this stamp set. I haven't used it in awhile though. I made the background using one of my favorite techniques. I believe it's called polished stone, here is how you do it.
Supplies: Glossy card stock, cotton balls, rubbing alcohol, different color re-inkers
Put a little rubbing alcohol on a cotton ball, then dab a drop of a couple of re-inker colors you like. I usually put them in a row, so I can get the line effect above. Turn the ball over and start streaking the paper. You can also dab the paper and get little dots all over as well. I usually cut the paper into squares when I'm done, but you could cut the paper ahead of time as well. It's really easy to do and you can get some fun colored backgrounds this way.

For this card I used Real Red and Yo Yo Yellow for the re-inkers. The orange was made from the overlapping of lines. It made me think of chickens for some reason, so I pulled out my Just Chickin Stamp set and made the card. I used some of my scrap ribbon for a little dimension and texture as well as some Dazzling Diamonds on the egg for a little shine.

Hope you all have a wonderful weekend!

RAK from Pat!

2008-05-22T18:22:00.003-04:00

I so love getting RAK's! What a pretty card I got in the mail yesterday. It was a thank you card from my sweet friend Pat. She's a fairly new stamper and I love watching her grow in her stamping! Great job of layering and using embellishments! I'm so proud to get this card. Thanks so much Pat!

I also want to mention that there is a blog giving away some awesome candy for their 5000 visitor. If you want a chance to win, visit http://donkeysmiles.blogspot.com/2008/05/5000-mark-blog-candy.html and get signed up! It's always fun to win a little something.

I've got so many different activities coming up with stamping opportunites I can hardly wait! Anyone got any great big stmaping plans for the weekend? I'd love to actually clean my stamp room out and get some things going. I'm really behind on some great potentials, but this weather is so nice!!!! How's the weather where you are? Sunny, I hope! Have a great Memorial Day weekend!

Gretchen

Anyone know what this set is?

2008-05-19T16:44:00.004-04:00

I bought this at a yard sale and don't know where it came from or who originally made it. I fell in love with the card and would like to recreate it. Anyone know what Stampin Up! set it came from? I really want to make some for myself, just love it!

Credit Cards

2008-04-23T12:38:00.004-04:00

Stampin' Up! is now accepting credit cards! I can keep your credit card securely on file (encrypted) if you chose, so you can order whenever you want, and I can have it shipped DIRECTLY TO YOU!!

This includes credit cards and debit cards! Fantastic!

Below is a cute baby card I made. (I've been making a lot of them lately inspired by my brother and his adorable wife getting ready to have TWIN boys! I envy them, really I do! I'm so excited about their upcoming arrival.

Stamps: I used Itty Bitty Backgrounds for the background. Big on Spring is the main stamp.
Card Stock: Bashful Blue & Brocade Blue, Watercolor paper, Whisper White
Ink: Black, Bashful Blue, and Certainly Celery

Polished Stone ATC

2008-04-09T21:59:00.003-04:00

Here's the last of the ATC swaps I created. The purpose of this swap was to do a technique. I chose polished stone, which you can find directions for here.

I used all Stampin Up! supplies.

Recipe:

Cardstock - Glossy, Pixie Pink

Reinkers - Lovely Lilac, Pink Passion, YoYo Yellow, Certainly Celery

Markers - Lovely Lilac, Pink Passion, YoYo Yellow, Green Galore, Tempting Turquoise, Pixie Pink, Pretty in Pink

Other - Green Galore brad, alcohol

Stamps - Time Well Spent

I also used a Gelly roll pen called Clear Star on the flowers.

Enjoy!

Shout out to SheetLoad!

2008-04-08T16:29:00.002-04:00

I found this great little site today from someone else's post shouting out. The site has a PDF for their April publication that you can download or preview here. April Issue, and their blog link is: http://sheetload.blogspot.com/.
They have great examples of cards, guest designers, and a fun atmosphere. Check it out!

Fun with ATC's

2008-04-08T11:00:00.005-04:00

I've joined a couple more ATC swaps. What is an ATC, you ask? It's a 3.5 by 2.5 inch work of art. I call it a "statement of art". You can then use the ATC's on cards, scrapbook pages, whatever afterwards. You could even put your business card info on the back and have a fancy business card showcasing the cool you!

I've included two of the three (the 3rd one is still drying) of the swap I've entered. One group was called Fairies and the other group was purple. Enjoy!

Recipe for Fairie ATC:
Cardstock - SU Regal Rose, Brocade Blue, Cream
Ink - Basic Black, SU Markers (Regal Rose, Brocade Blue, Yoyo Yellow, Glorious Green
Ribbon - SU White Organdy
Other - Aluminum Foil, Stickles

Recipe for Purple ATC:
Cardstock - SU Elegant Eggplant, Lovely Lilac
Ink - Basic Black, Whisper White Craft
Stamps - SU Baroque Motifs, Studio G's wedding
Other Music Vellum (unknown), Lilac colored flower brads (unknown)

Blog Candy for a cause..

2008-03-31T11:09:00.001-04:00

Courtney is having her blog candy for a cause on her blog.
http://createdbycourtney.blogspot.com/2008/03/blog-candy-cards-for-our-troops.html
Make some cards, send them to her, and possibly get some free stuff! YAY!

GSDesigns

Wow - it's been a LONG time.

Update

Retired List

Father's Day is upon us.

Weekend..part 6

Weekend scrapbook pages...part 5

Weekend samples... Part 3

Weekend samples... Part 2

Weekend cards...part 4

Weekend of lovely card art....part 1

Whoo Who!

Are you hot?

Baby Cards

Shy Girl Lizzie... *smirk*

All about baby...

I'm an Aunt!

Just Chickin In

RAK from Pat!

Anyone know what this set is?

Credit Cards

Polished Stone ATC

Shout out to SheetLoad!

Fun with ATC's

Blog Candy for a cause..

Shy Girl Lizzie... smirk