"Clean and Simple" Christmas

Today’s card is definitely a 'Clean and Simple' card.

I'm trying to use up some items that I've had for a while, hence the sticker on this card. I can't tell you who makes the beautiful gold sticker, or even where I got it, but I have a whole sheet of trees, snowflakes and a couple reindeer to use to adorn cards and tags. I used my trusty Cuttlebug Snowflake folder and my Scor-Pal. And I sponged a little Bordering Blue around the edges and also very lightly across the embossing. The “Merry Christmas” stamp is made by Rubber Stampede and is embossed with gold embossing powder.

Thanks so much for looking, and I hope you’ll come back and visit again soon!

Edited to add: Thanks for your comment, Vicki! I emboss one side of the cardstock, and then emboss the other. I know some people have gotten an extra folder and cut it in pieces, but I have not done that.

"T is for Thimble"

My card for today is one that I did for an alphabet swap I’m in with my Yahoo! group. We were on the Letter T. “T is for Thimble” (and Thread.)

I started by stamping the thimble (from the retired Stampin’ Up! set Antique Collectibles) on a silver “mirror” cardstock with Staz-On. I colored parts of it with a gold gel pen. Then I took an embossing stylus and pressed in to make the “dimples.” I cut out the thimble and mounted it on Pop Dots. I cut the squares that the thimble is mounted on and the long rectangle background with Nestabilities. The scalloped layers are a yellow-ish gold shimmery paper. I thought the Bubbles Cuttlebug folder kind of went with the dimples in the thimble. I added some ribbon, and some scoring with my Scor-Pal. Then I threaded a real needle with real thread and adhered them in place. That’s it!

Thanks so much for looking, and I hope you’ll come back and visit again soon!

SCS Sketch Challenge - Fluffles

Today’s card is made using SplitCoastStampers Sketch Challenge 201, found here.

The main image was a stampoff I got from my friend Harriet almost a year ago. (After I had all my cards done for last year.) I colored it last spring while we were on vacation. I added some sparkle to it today. I mounted it on red cardstock and added some ribbon. The second layer is embossed with a Cuttlebug Snowflake folder and mounted on Green Galore cardstock by Stampin’ Up! The bottom layer was from a Die Cuts With a View card that I cut down to the size I wanted.

Thanks so much for looking, and I hope you’ll come back and visit again soon!

Christmas Color Challenge

My card for today uses the Color Challenge on SplitCoastStampers. The colors are Riding Hood Red, Kiwi Kiss and Pretty in Pink.

The stamps are all from the Archiver’s Hot Spot – exclusively for them by Imaginisce. I stamped the poinsettia stamp with Riding Hood Red and Pretty in Pink on white, then used my Dotted Swiss Cuttlebug folder on it. Then I sponged Kiwi Kiss along the edges, and over the dots, very subtly. I stamped the “Merry Christmas” with Riding Hood Red and colored it with Pretty in Pink. I masked it, and then used the poinsettia stamp again, this time in Riding Hood Red and Kiwi Kiss. I went over the Pretty in Pink with a glitter pen. I punched it out with a Marvy Uchida punch, and also used a Marvy punch for the Riding Hood Red scalloped circle, which I added white dots to with a gel pen. The circles are mounted on Pop Dots. The ribbon is from Michael’s. The snowflakes are punched from Kiwi Kiss and have pearl centers.

Thanks so much for looking, and I hope you’ll come back and visit again soon!

Another Extremely Simple Card

This is a birthday card for my daughter-in-law. Her birthday is in December and she LOVES Christmas. I was using up these teapot stickers for Christmas cards, and I thought I better save one and use it for Brooke.

The stickers are from Michael’s and are by Mary Englebreit. (I got them last year.) They came dimensionalized and glittered. I stuck one on a circle punched with a plain circle Marvy punch. I mounted that on a scalloped circle punched out of red cardstock with a scalloped Marvy punch. I embossed a circle on the front of the card by using a plain circle Nestability. The “warm birthday wishes” was printed on my computer. I think she’ll really like it.

Thanks so much for looking, and I hope you’ll come back and visit again soon!

"Twin" Christmas Cards

After working for a few hours on a card for an alphabet swap, I have nothing to share with you! I did get it the T card done, though, and I’ll post it after Sheri receives it. So, I guess I’ll upload a couple cards I made a few days ago. They use the same stamp, the same stencil, and pretty much the same layout. The stencil is by Dreamweavers. (I purchased it from Vicki B. You can find her blog and a link to her store here.) The stamp is a dollar stamp from Michael’s.

For the white card, I used Papertrey Ink’s Stamper’s Select cardstock and embossed using the stencil and my BIGkick. I sponged Stampin’ Up!’s Mellow Moss around the edges, and used Mellow Moss to stamp the sentiment. For the second card, I used a thinner cardstock and misted it with water before I embossed it. I left it in the stencil until it dried to keep it from curling. While in the stencil, I sponged Versamark over the whole thing, removed the stencil, and heat embossed it with Star Dust embossing powder by Stampendous. I mounted it on a piece of red cardstock. The card base is by Lasting Impressions – also purchased from Vicki B. I stamped the sentiment with Versafine Black Onyx and embossed it with the Star Dust powder, also, for some extra sparkle. (I wasn't very successful in photograhing the sparkle, but you can see it better if you click on the picture.)

Thanks so much for looking, and I hope you’ll come back and visit again soon!

A Doubly Embossed Christmas Card

The card I’ve chosen for today is a simple Christmas card. I can tell you how I THINK I made it, because I did the main embossed part last year and found it in my “card parts” pile.

The image was embossed using a Lasting Impressions brass stencil. I’m pretty sure I must have left the stencil in place, and then covered the embossing with Versamark ink. I then used Stampendous Winter Wonderland embossing powder and heat embossed it. (I wish you could see the silver sparkle on it.) It’s cut out with a square scalloped Marvy punch, mounted on shimmery silver paper, and then onto red cardstock. I used the Scor-Pal on the red, also. The background is embossed with a Cuttlebug Snowflakes folder. The Merry Christmas is from the retired Stampin’ Up! set Greetings 4 You, and I used the Scor-Pal again on both sides of the greeting.

Thanks so much for looking, and I hope you’ll come back and visit again soon!

A "Spring-y" Card for Halloween!

I made a couple more cards yesterday, so I think I’ll post them to my blog, too – one today and one tomorrow. It will feel good to actually be ahead!

The card I’ve chosen for today was one I started for the Color Challenge this week on SCS – Tangerine Tango, Kiwi Kiss and Pixie Pink. I just couldn’t finish the card – I was not successful in the least with mixing the orange and the pink! This one just has the Pixie Pink and Kiwi Kiss. The flowers and stems are stamped with a retired Stampin’ Up! set called Spring Garden. The sentiment is from another retired SU! set called Greetings 4 You. I of course had to use my Dotted Swiss Cuttlebug folder and my Scor-Pal. The bottom edge of the Kiwi Kiss mat was done with a Fiskars rotary cutter, another tool that I really like and forget to use. A couple brads finish out the card.

Thanks so much for looking, and I hope you’ll come back and visit again soon!

Bright and Cheery Birthday

Today’s card just “happened.” That is how most of my cards come about. I start with something – a stamp, a piece of paper, a punched item – and build from there. (Yesterday’s card was the complete opposite – I “designed” that card in my head completely before doing any of it.) It's a bright and cheery card for a wonderfully bright and cheery day. It's 70 degrees in Minnesota at the end of October - what could be better!

The part I started with today was the punched border. That was done with a Martha Stewart punch. I tried it, didn’t really like it, and exchanged it for another one today. I don’t really like my new one, either, so that one’s going back, too! Anyway, I added a scored line above the punching and mounted it on yellow so the flowers would have yellow centers. The large flower is punched with a Marvy Scalloped Circle punch. Take a scissors and snip between each scallop and you have a daisy! The flower center (which is stamped with a stamp from Papertrey Ink’s Borders and Corners – Circles) and the background paper are both from Michael’s from years ago. The “happy birthday” stamp is a dollar stamp from Michael’s. There was a present on the stamp to the left of the sentiment, but I didn’t want that stamped on the card so I masked it off. Probably not even a “blog-worthy” card, but it’s what I’ve got for you. LOL!

Thanks so much for looking, and I hope you’ll come back and visit again soon!

Sketch Challenge Snowflakes

This card is for SplitCoastStampers Sketch Challenge #200. What a great sketch!

This is a very Clean and Simple (CAS) card. The bottom section is embossed with a Cuttlebug Snowflakes folder. The top section is punched with a Martha Stewart Arch Lattice punch, and then embossed with a Cuttlebug Dotted Swiss folder. The squares are cut out with square plain and scalloped Nestabilities. The snowflakes are done with a punch. Everything is sponged around the edges with Stampin' Up!'s Baja Breeze ink. The snowflakes are mounted on Pop Dots and have pearls in the centers. That’s all there is to it!

Thanks so much for looking, and I hope you’ll come back and visit again soon!

A Napkin Plus Freezer Paper Equals a Card

This card is for Technique Lover's Challenge #192 on SplitCoastStampers. Here is a link to the tutorial and the challenge. What you do is take a decorative napkin, use just the printed layer, and iron it on to freezer paper. Be sure to follow the directions in the tutorial. My napkin has four panels, so I can make four cards from each one. I've had these napkins for YEARS, and it was nice to finally open them up! The card is approximately 4.5 inches square.I used Versamark on vellum with gold detail embossing powder to stamp the 'thanks' and sponged Versamark around the edge, again using the gold embossing powder.

Thanks so much for looking, and I hope you’ll come back and visit again soon!

Anniversary

Our son and daughter-in-law will be celebrating their second wedding anniversary on Tuesday, so I got to stamp again today. Lucky me!

I used my JustRite Stamper again. I stamped with Versamark on a burgundy cardstock and embossed with detail gold embossing powder. I cut it out with a Circle Nestability. I used the scalloped Circle Nestability on some shiny gold paper for the mat. I added some gold ribbon and embossed a double line on both sides of it with my ScorPal. I embossed a swirl (from a Heidi Grace set) on the bottom – again using detail gold embossing powder. The card base is a linen-y navy blue that I got from Archiver’s a while back.

Regarding my JustRite Stamper – I purchased it from Polka Dot Plaza. What I ordered was the Special Occasions set and the Small Letters set. They shipped very quickly, and I was very happy with my purchasing experience. (And thanks, Harriet, for doing the research!) If you would like to see pictures of any of the pieces, feel free to email me at LJNeus@hotmail.com. I have taken several pictures to share with a friend, and I would be happy to share them with you, too.

Thanks so much for looking, and I hope you’ll come back and visit again soon!

I'm Home - and I Stamped!

I stamped!!!

I got home from Chicago Wednesday night about 10:45. I was pretty tired after my train ride and being gone for close to two weeks. Yesterday I played a little catch up with laundry, mail and a little shopping. (Had to use that 50% off coupon from JoAnn’s! LOL!) Today I did a little more shopping (had two more 50% off coupons to use – got two new Martha Stewart border punches.) But this afternoon, I finally visited my stamping room.

The card I made is totally simple, but it sure felt good to create something again. The border along the bottom is made with one of my new punches – called “Arch Lattice.” I added a little bit of thin pink rick-rack to it that I found in my sewing supplies – and that now resides in my stamping area. I also used my new Stampin’ Up! set “Pocket Silhouettes.” I stamped the flowers with Pretty in Pink, then the “thanks so much” in Versafine Black Onyx. I sponged a little Pretty in Pink along the top and sides of the punched piece, and also the sides and top of the stamped piece. Then I put that all on a piece of pink cardstock embossed with the Dotted Swiss Cuttlebug folder. Voila!

I’ll also add the last picture that I took of Andrew before I left Chicago. He changed so much while I was there. But then, I WAS there for over half of his life to that point. (He was one day shy of three weeks in this picture.)

Thanks so much for looking, and I hope you’ll come back and visit again soon!

From the Archives: "Pregnancy Congrats"

This is the card I made for our daughter and son-in-law when they informed us that they were expecting.

From the description in my SplitCoastStampers gallery: “The first thing I did on this card was to use the stencil edges to emboss the flat area for the “Congratulations” to fit into. Then I used my Dotted Swiss Cuttlebug folder to emboss the upper and lower parts.I used two different kinds of Dreamweavers embossing paste - "regular" and glossy white. The "Congratulations" is just the glossy white paste. For the rattle, I first stippled Stampin’ Up!’s Mint Melody and Barely Banana ink through the stencil, and then I applied the embossing paste. After I removed the stencil, I sprinkled the rattle with ultra-fine glitter. The rattle panel is raised on pop-dots.”

If you are interested in Dreamweavers stencils or embossing paste (or MANY other things!), I have a great “source.” I get my items from Heartwarmers from Vicki. She has a new blog with great cards, and there is a link to her store in the right-side column.

Thanks so much for looking, and I hope you’ll come back and visit again soon!

From the Archives: "Embossed Anniversary"

Another card from a while ago. (I’m choosing them from my SplitCoastStampers gallery, since I won’t be stamping again until the end of next week.)

The description from SCS: “This is a card I made for my nephew and his wife for their 6th wedding anniversary. I used an Anna Griffin brass stencil for the border, cutting out the middle of the embossed image. (I "cheated" and used my BIGkick to do the embossing. I don't know what I was thinking, buying a brass stencil with this much detail pre-Cuttlebug days!!) I used detail gold embossing powder on the sentiment, which was stamped with Versamark. The card base is black textured.The heart and the ribbon were given to me by friends - aren't friends wonderful??”

Thanks so much for looking, and I hope you’ll come back and visit again soon!

From the Archives: "E is for Elegance"

Well, I'd really like to be sharing cards with you, and since I'm not able to be stamping, I'll just have to go to my "Archives" and see what I can find.

This card is from over a year ago. I needed to make a card for an alphabet swap for the letter "E". After looking through all my stamps and even the dictionary for ideas and options and drawing a blank, I asked my husband and he said, "E is for elegant." I said, "Great idea!" So I made what I hoped was an elegant card.

The background is a shimmery gold paper. I used Stampin' Up!'s Heat and Stick Powder and black flocking with SU!'s Baroque Motif set. That panel is mounted on Basic Black cardstock. The medallion is stamped on a textured black paper and embossed with detail gold embossing powder. The center of the medallion is mounted on a thick dimensional and then I added a brad. The word "Elegance" is printed on vellum on my ink jet printer and then embossed with the same gold embossing powder. I thought the double layer of ribbon added a little more elegance.

(This description is pretty much copied from what I had written when I posted it to SplitCoastStampers.)

Thanks so much for looking, and I hope you'll come back and visit again soon!

My Reason for Not Stamping

This is the reason for my non-stamping and non-blogging. Good enough “excuse?”

We were supposed to take Amtrak down to Chicago on Saturday, but there was a freight train that had problems in a remote area of Montana and our train was on the wrong side of it! That delayed it three hours. So, what Amtrak did was to get a bus for those of us going to Chicago and beyond. Not exactly the experience we were looking forward to, but it got us to Chicago and our new grandson. I’ll be heading back next week, and I hope to get some stamping done. I was so prepared earlier for making Christmas cards and my annual calendars, but now I’m behind again, as usual.

This picture is of my husband and our new grandson, Andrew. Isn’t he just so sweet? He is such a good baby, too. I’m enjoying every minute I get to spend with him.

I guess I really don’t have much more to say. I hope you’ll continue to check my blog when I start stamping again!

Roses and a Card

Here’s a card for today. Not a terribly unique card, but it does have a unique element, I believe.

I started with a pink card base. I added a strip of PaperTrey Ink’s Berry Sorbet ribbon about a fourth of the way up from the bottom. The next layer is some fairly thin acetate with flowers and swirls printed on it in white. And where did this layer come from? It was the packaging on some roses I got last week from my husband! (The roses are beautiful, and I may as well add a picture of them, too.) I used the Happy Birthday stamp from Stampin’ Up!’s Favorite Greetings and stamped it with Positively Pink, cut it out with a Marvy Uchida scalloped square punch, sponged the edges, added a couple self-sticking pearls and mounted it with Pop Dots.

That’s it. Not much to it, but it was nice to spend a little time in my stamping area. I hope to get a little more stamping in tomorrow, because Saturday I’m leaving for Chicago for an extended visit with our new grandson, daughter and son-in-law and I’m not bringing any of my stamping stuff with me. I AM bringing my laptop, however, and if I get bored (fat chance!) I might update my blog with some cards that are in my Slide Show but haven’t been “featured” on my blog.

Thanks so much for looking, and I hope you’ll come back and visit again soon!

Baby Card for my Grandson

Today’s card is for my daughter, son-in-law and new grandson.

I received my JustRite Stamper on Monday – woo-hoo! I kept trying to talk myself out of it, but I lost. Or, did I win? LOL!! Anyway, this is the first thing I stamped with it. (In “real life” it has his last name on it, but I took it off for the picture.) I stamped it with Baja Breeze on an off-white cardstock and cut it with a Marvy circle punch. I cut the scalloped circle with another Marvy punch. I stamped the dots on the scalloped circle with PaperTrey Ink’s Borders and Corners Circles, and I sponged both the edge of the plain and the scalloped circle with Baja Breeze. All of the background papers are from Die Cuts With a View Nana’s Nursery – Baby Boy. The vertical-striped piece is CB’d with a Dotted Swiss folder. The horizontal-striped piece is sponged with Baja Breeze and mounted on Baja Breeze cardstock. The top section is also mounted on Baja Breeze, and I added a thin strip of the stripes between the bottom and top sections. The rhino, hippo and giraffe are cut from the cardstock and mounted on various heights of dimensional squares and dots. The circles are on Pop Dots, also. The card is 4 3/4 inches square.

I wish it was a little more special for him, but it felt good to be card-making today. Maybe I’ll head back down to my stamping area and make something else while I’m at it!

Thanks so much for looking, and I hope you’ll come back and visit again soon!

Fall Card - and some big news

Boy, did it feel good to do a little stamping tonight! What a whirlwind the last seven days have been. (More about that later.)

How about a fall card? We have a freeze warning tonight, so I guess fall is really here. The weather sure has been beautiful, though.

The stamp is a retired Stampin’ Up! stamp (from Great Groupings), stamped in brown Versafine ink, embossed with clear embossing powder and colored with markers. I punched the corners with a Marvy punch and wrapped the image with coppery cord, then I mounted it on Really Rust and Old Olive. I added a little bit of brown ribbon and a Prima flower with a copper-colored brad. The “Happy Fall” is from a clear Stampendous set. I added some scored lines with my Scor-Pal. That’s about it.

What’s been going on, you may ask. Family visits, an out-of-town trip, emptying a room, painting it and putting it back in order with new furniture and totally re-organizing it, and oh yeah – becoming a grandma for the first time! Our daughter and son-in-law had their baby boy on Thursday – on my mom’s birthday. How special! And his name is Andrew James – named after his great-grandpa (my father-in-law) and his grandpa (my husband.) With my daughter’s permission, I will share a picture soon. However, we’re headed out of town again tomorrow for the weekend.

Thanks so much for looking, and I hope you’ll come back and visit again soon!