Blog Award #3

Another award for my blog – how fun! Wanda (Starlight Stamper) honored me with this award on Thursday. Thank you so much, Wanda!!

Here are the rules: 1. Pick 5 of your favorite blogs.
2. Winners can put the logo on their blog.3. Link the person who gave the award to your blog.4. Name the 5 that you are giving the award to with their links.5. Leave a message on their blogs so that they know they've won!

So, here we go, five of the wonderful blogs that I visit every day – be sure to check them out!
Asela– Hop Art Studio
Beth – Never Too Old to Color
Cammie – My Blog by Cammie
Michele – Paper Cuts
Trudee – Follow Your Bliss …

All of these blogs are amazing, but so are all of the blogs I’ve listed on the left column of my blog – and the thousands more that are out there in “bloggy-land!”

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

Porcelain Flowers

Well, I surprised myself and found time to stamp already this weekend! I kind of thought I wouldn’t be adding a card for a few days, but here I am – so thanks for stopping by.
The unusual color combination is due to the flowers that I used. They were sent to me from Thailand. They came with wire posts which I broke off, and then filed the bottoms down flat. The flowers themselves are kind of porcelain, or something – I’m not sure what. But I thought they were very pretty and I’m happy that I finally used them!

The stems are stamped by inking just some of the stems and leaves from Close as a Memory with Mellow Moss on shimmery white paper. I cut and embossed the rectangle with a Rectangle Nestability. The matting is simply cut with my paper trimmer – Pacific Point and Lavender Lace. I embossed the bottom of the card with Dotted Swiss, added scored lines with my Scor-Pal, and added a strip of Pacific Point embossed with a Cuttlebug border folder. I thought I could make a card without Dotted Swiss, but I couldn’t! I had to use Dotted Swiss to coordinate with the dotted ribbon. The sentiment is from Sincere Salutations. The card base is Papertrey Ink Stampers Select White.

I have added a close-up of the flowers. Definitely not a “mailable” card – at least not without a padded envelope.

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

Sparkle, Sparkle Everywhere!

Sparkle, anyone? Today’s card definitely has plenty of sparkle!

I brayered the top of the Happy Birthday Cuttlebug folder, and embossed a piece of turquoise cardstock with it. Then I sprinkled it with Iridescent Sparkle embossing powder and heat embossed it. Such an easy and effective technique! The cupcake with candle is from Stampin’ Up!’s Birthday Best set. I stamped it on yellow, white and turquoise. I used a Versamarker and the sparkly embossing powder on the bottom of the cupcake and cut it out of turquoise. I used Star Dust Stickles on the frosting and cut it out of white. I put Star Dust Stickles and then Diamond Glaze on the candle flame. I cut the yellow piece with a rectangle Nestability and embossed it. It is mounted on a turquoise scalloped rectangle. I glued the bottom of the cupcake on, and used Pop Dots to mount the frosting. The entire rectangle “stack” is mounted on the card with Pop Dots.

It’s really hard to show the shimmer, so you’ll just have to take my word for it! Here is a close-up to give a little better idea. If you click on the image, you can see it pretty well.

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

Note of Thanks

Today’s card is a “case” of one I saw on Michele Boyer’s blog, Paper Cuts. Here is the card I’m talking about. I didn’t make mine complicated and beautiful like she did – I only used the basic layout! If anyone would like the measurements, just write me an email and I’ll be happy to measure the pieces and email you back. The patterned papers are from a Sizzix pad. The stamp is by Fiskars. The flowers were “treats!” The larger one came in the mail yesterday from Kim Hughes. Quite a while ago she had a post on her blog saying she had tons of flowers and if we would email her our address, she would surprise us some time with a few flowers. Of course I had forgotten about it, so it was a very pleasant surprise I got yesterday! The little ones are from Crop Stop. Haylie Jo always adds a little surprise to her orders, too. How fun! Thanks to both of you!!

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

SCS Combined Challenge Card

Today’s card is both for this week’s SCS Color Challenge (Rose Red, Basic Black and Kraft) and for the Sketch Challenge. Gee, another card that doesn’t require much explanation! The embossed couple are from a Cuttlebug set of small wedding folders. The “happy wedding day” stamp and the stamp on the Rose Red side are from an Inkadinkado wedding/anniversary set. I added a pearl on the Kraft paper on the tiny flower. The tiny flowers on the background have crystals. The black side has been embossed with the Cuttlebug Dotted Swiss folder. I also ran the thin strip of Rose Red through with the Dotted Swiss folder. I sponged Ruby Red on the edges of the Kraft section, and over the wedding couple, as well. Added the ribbon, and called it done!

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

Chalkboard Tree

This technique is not new, by any means, but it’s new to me! I heard about it here on Wanda’s blog. It’s a technique called “Chalkboard.” You stamp with white pigment ink on black, and then color with chalk over it. Pretty simple, and a neat effect. I used Stampin’ Up! chalks for this card. I cut and embossed the tree with a square Nestability. The green mat is cut with a paper trimmer. Then I used a larger square Nestability to emboss the front of the card as a frame for the image.

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

How's This for White!

Boy, did this card NOT turn out how I expected it! I actually started out this card with a small white rectangle mounted on a Garden Green scalloped rectangle. Do you see that anywhere? Nope!! It didn’t even make the card. (I did end up making a card with that part later. Maybe I’ll add it at the end of this post.)

It doesn’t get much more simple than this. It seems silly explaining how I made it, but I need something to fill up this space anyway. LOL! The bottom is embossed with a Cuttlebug Dotted Swiss folder. The lines are scored with a Scor-Pal – on both sides of the ribbon. The “Thinking of You” stamp is (again) from Stampin’ Up!’s All Year Cheer I – stamped with Lavender Lace. The butterfly is stamped on vellum, embossed with Ultra-fine White embossing powder and cut out. There are three little sparkly flowers for a little "bling." That’s it!

Oh, here is the card that ended up with the green scalloped rectangle.

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

Sort of a Repeat ...

Today's card is kind of a repeat of yesterday's - same image colored with the same markers, same color background, same sentiment set ... and yet it's quite different. At least I hope it's different enough! LOL!

The image is from Stampin' Up's Elegant Embroidery, colored with SU! markers and gone over the markers with a glaze pen. I sponged the edge with Certainly Celery, mounted on black shimmery paper, and then on a scalloped purple layer, also sponged with Certainly Celery. It's mounted on foam mounting squares. The sentiment (from SU!'s All-Year Cheer I) is stamped directly on the Bazzil paper. I doodled some "stitching" lines around the edge of the bottom and added black brads in the lower corners. The ribbon is from Michael's.

This card is for the mother of a good friend of mine. She will be having surgery (SOON, hopefully!) to remove her kidney due to kidney cancer. I wish her the best!!

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

(Just a note as I'm looking at my last two cards - they really ARE the same color! Funny what lighting will do to colors. Also, the ribbon and the scalloped purple layer are not exactly the same color, but they are a much better match In Real Life!)

Leaves, Flowers and Thanks!

Another card using Fiskars texture plates. They’re not quite as easy as Cuttlebug folders which are soooo simple, but I really like them and they are by no means difficult -just not quite as easy! This one is called “Leaves.” The green paper is from Bazzil. The main image is stamped with Versafine Black Onyx ink and embossed with clear embossing powder. I colored it with SU! markers. It is from the retired Stampin’ Up! set Elegant Embroidery. I used round Nestabilities for the plain and scalloped circles. The “many thanks” is from the retired Stampin’ Up! set All Year Cheer I. It is cut with Long Oval Nestabilities. Both layers of both images are sponged with Certainly Celery and popped up on Pop Dots. The ribbon is Certainly Celery grosgrain from Stampin’ Up! I also added brads.

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

More or Less?

Another “multiple card” day. I made one of these cards, and then made the other. They are VERY similar, but still different. How about a vote on which one you like better?

They are both scored at one inch from each edge, and then scored diagonally in the middle. One has additional scoring at a quarter inch in from each edge. The lines on both are sanded so the white paper core shows through. (The paper is from Lasting Impressions.)

The one with less scoring has hand-sewn French knots in the intersections of the diamonds. (I got this great idea here.) The other has frosted seed beads in the intersections. Both are stamped with the retired Stampin’ Up! set Elegant Embroidery. And both have “Happy Birthday” sentiments from dollar acrylic sets. I colored both with Stampin’ Up! markers.

So, what do you think? Is less “more” or is more “more?” (Even though they are BOTH pretty “less!”) You can click on each of them for a close look, if you'd like.

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

Snowflakes in August???

Today’s card just “happened” - I didn’t set out to make a winter card! I had the scored piece still on my table from my Scor-Pal experiments and wanted to use it. After looking and looking, I decided it needed something stamped in the centers of the squares – something tiny. The Studio G sets I had just gotten from Michael's were still on my table, too, so I looked them over and found this little snowflake – perfect! It’s hard to tell, but they are embossed with silver. I sponged some Night of Navy around the edges, and also across a lot of the white. I mounted it on a piece of “mirror” cardstock, and then on Night of Navy. It needed more, so I added shiny silver brads in the centers of the corners. I tried using my Stampin’ Up! slit punch to punch a place for the ribbon knot, but the paper layers were too thick, so I just traced through the slit punch and used a scissors to cut it out.

The background is embossed using a Fiskars texture plate and my BIGkick. I really do love the Fiskars texture plates. To get the nice deep impressions, I always mist my paper before embossing. I sponged a little Night of Navy on the edges of the background piece, too. Then I added the grosgrain ribbon. I haven’t put a sentiment on it yet, because I’m not sure if it will be a Christmas card, or a winter birthday card.

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

Simple Thanks

The card for today’s entry is another one made with some pieces that I had lying around on my table.

I was doing a little experimenting with my Scor-Pal yesterday, so one of my pieces was from that. I cut a square and scored it from corner to corner every half inch in both directions. Then I flipped the cardstock over and scored it half-way between the previous score lines. I think it turned out pretty cool! I wanted to mount it with a scalloped square, so I cut it down just a tad with a square Nestability and embossed the edge, then cut the scalloped mat out of pale yellow.

The butterfly is one I made quite a while ago and just came across the other day. (Actually, I had been looking for it earlier, but couldn’t find it. Then it just showed up!) I had stamped it with Versamark on Vellum, embossed it with a silver-sparkle white embossing powder, and carefully cut it out. I mounted it with a small piece of Pop Dot and bent the wings up a bit.

I added a ribbon, embossed the “MANY THANKS” with a small Cuttlebug embossing folder and sanded that down so the white core of the paper came through, and called it done!

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

Celebrate!!

The card I chose to upload today is a really quick one I made yesterday. My up-line (the woman I signed up with to become a Stampin’ Up! demonstrator) had her garage sale on Thursday and I had to go and pick up a few “new” things! I love playing around and experimenting with new stamps, and that’s how this card started.

Sorry, I don’t even know the name of this SU! set. (If anyone can tell me, that would be great. I’ll edit this post to include it. It’s four stamps – the flower, the stem and leaves, a heart and a leaf.) I stamped the flower with Versa Magic Chalk Ink - Pixie Dust, then wiped off the center of it and used a marker for the dark middle. The stem is stamped with Versa Magic Chalk Ink – Aloe Vera. After I stamped the flower and stem, I used the ink pad to add a little green on the bottom for grass, then I used chalks to add some color inside the flower and leaves, and also a very light blue around the outside of the flower and leaves. I mounted the image on Pink Pirouette (a new SU! color) and embossed the edges with a Cuttlebug border embossing folder from Just My Type. Then I mounted it on Purely Pomegranate. The ribbon is Purely Pomegranate, too. I scored lines on both sides of the ribbon with my Scor-Pal. The “CELEBRATE” sentiment is from a Studio G set that I just picked up at Michael’s.

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

Daisy Edgeabilities Flap Card

I haven’t shown an Edgeabilities card on here for a while, so I think I’ll do that today. I haven’t done anything new since Tuesday, so I’m checking my “Archives!” LOL! Hopefully I can remember how I did this one.

This is a Flap-Fold card – the upper part opens up, and the lower part opens down. I used round magnets from Basic Grey to hold it shut. The magnet is between layers in both the top flap, and in the lower part of the card. Here is a link to a flap-fold card, but I just followed the general directions – my card is a different size.

I used Perfect Plum for the card base, and cut the edge of the flap with my Daisy Edgeabilities. I also cut the white piece using the Edgeabilities. I colored the daisies with Prismacolor Pencils and blended with Gamsol. I scored a couple lines with my Scor-Pal. I stamped the sentiment on white with Perfect Plum, cut it out with a Petite Oval Nestability and ran it and the Pale Plum through in a Dotted Swiss embossing folder. The sentiment is mounted on Perfect Plum cut with a scalloped Petite Oval Nestability.

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

A Birdhouse Thank You

Yesterday was a fun day for me – a friend came over and we visited, and she scrapbooked while I stamped – awesome! Here is the card I made while she was here.

The background grid is done with my Scor-Pal, scoring every quarter inch on each side in two directions. The bottom of the main panel is embossed with a Cuttlebug Bubbles folder. The circle is embossed with a small Cuttlebug folder. The line in between is done with a Scor-Pal. The birdhouse stamp and the thank you stamp are from a Studio G set. The left side of the thank you had a couple leaves, but I used a marker to ink up the stamp and omitted them, as they would have been stamped over the embossed circle. Instead, I drew a leaf after I stamped the rest of the sentiment. I colored the leaves and the image with SU! markers. I also used a So Saffron marker to highlight the embossed circle, the scored line, and some of the bubbles. The dashed-line is hand doodled around the top of the panel. The matting is So Saffron. I added a couple seed beads for the flower centers.

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

Clear Stamp Storage

Today’s post is something that really made me happy on Saturday morning when I figured it out. My clear stamp sets have just been stored in a drawer and it’s way too easy to forget about them. A couple weeks ago I just threw them into page protectors, knowing that was not a solution since they just slid around, and got on top of each other if there was more than one set in there, and fell out. Then early Saturday morning, I had the “eureka moment.” I tried it out, and I love it! I couldn’t wait to get home Sunday evening and get this project done!

Here is what I did. I knew I wanted to keep the packaging so that I could tell who made the stamps. So, the first thing I did was to unseal the flap of the package, take the stamps out of the package, and then seal the flap to the inside. Then I put the stamps back into the package so that the opening was at the top. I put double-sided tape on the back of the package, and secured it on to a piece of sturdy white cardstock so that the opening was at the top of the page. I then slipped the cardstock with the stamp set/(s) attached into a page protector, and put it in a three-ring binder. Some sets I could fit only one per page, and some sets I could fit two. I can just reach in and slide the stamps out – perfect!

Some of my sets are too big to fit side-by-side with the openings at the top, or small enough to fit more than two sets to a page. So, on those sets, I slit the side of the page protector and taped up the top. I adhered them to the cardstock so that the openings were on the side of the page.

I hope this is helpful to someone out there. I know I’m pretty excited about it. I have seen other suggestions, but they seemed like too much work to me! I’m kind of lazy/”efficient” when it comes to things like this – the simpler the better. I have pictures and a database of all of my Stampin’ Up! stamps, and now it will be much easier for me to catalog my clear stamps, too.

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

Rubbernecker Flowers

This was another card I made on Friday, so I thought I would pre-post for Saturday. Then I’m only skipping one day of blogging.

For this one, I started by scoring the diagonal lattice grid on the white card stock. Then I used the Dotted Swiss Cuttlebug folder on it. It’s not real easy to see, but I do like how it turned out.

The flower stamp is from Rubbernecker – the Jeanne Streiff collection. I used SU! markers – Certainly Celery, Ruby Red and Pretty In Pink. I cut and embossed it with a Long Rectangle Nestability and mounted it on Pink Pirouette. The sentiment is from a Dimensions stamp set I got at JoAnn's, and I cut and embossed it with a Long Rectangle Nestability, too. The main image and the sentiment are raised on Pop Dots. The card base is a textured card from Die Cuts With a View. The ribbon is from PaperTrey, and the flower slider is from Stampin’ Up! Oh yeah, there is a little bit of “bling” in the flower center, too! :)

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

Another Anniversary

Today’s card turned out to be a case of one of my own cards! It’s quite similar to the wedding card I made in June. It’s much simpler, less elegant and smaller, but still kind of like it – if that makes sense!

I used Mellow Moss for the card itself, something I rarely do. I almost always use white cardstock. I stamped the leaves from a Scrappy Cat set called Botanical Flourishes that I got at Michael’s the other day. (After using a 40% off coupon, it was only $2.99!) I used Memories black ink for them, and colored them with a Stampin’ Up! Mellow Moss marker. Then I added a few highlights/shading (whatever!) with a Sage Shadow marker. I used the Dotted Swiss Cuttlebug folder on each side. That has to be my ALL TIME favorite folder. It works for just about anything! I used my Scor-Pal to score the lines beside the dots. The Happy Anniversary is from a foam set that I got at JoAnn’s once upon a time. I have since taken all of the stamps off the foam and trimmed them carefully and now use them on acrylic blocks. They work great! I punched holes for the ribbon with a Stampin’ Up! Double Circle punch. After I took the picture, I noticed the bow is not centered, but oh well … it’s a handmade card – it doesn’t have to be perfect!

That’s it for today – another Clean and Simple card. We’re off to visit family and go to the Mower County Fair in southern Minnesota for the weekend. I’ll be back with another card soon!

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

Silver Best Wishes

There were three cards I made today, so I had to figure out which one I was going to upload. I went with the silver one! It could be a wedding card, an anniversary card, a birthday card, a good luck card … take your pick!

I started with some wrapping paper – nice, thick, textured, shiny gift wrap. (Others in my family spend more on gift wrap than I do! LOL!) I cut it to the size of the card front, and then scored each side at a half-inch and three-fourths inch from the edge. I stamped “Best Wishes” from Stampin' Up!'s Sincere Salutations with Versamark on vellum and embossed it with detail silver embossing powder. I cut a piece of white cardstock smaller than the vellum, and added silver brads to each corner to hold it together. I popped it up with Pop Dots. That’s it! What could be more simple?

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

Flap-Fold Challenge Card

Today’s card is for a “Mingle Swap” for my Scor-Pal group. We have been challenged to make a Flap-Fold card. Here is a site with instructions, but I didn’t follow them exactly. I started with a piece of Tangerine Tango cardstock that was four and a quarter inches by 11 inches. I used a Scalloped Petite Oval Nestability to cut the scalloped edge on the flap. I scored my card at four inches and eight and three-fourth inches – from the bottom. My background paper is from the Die Cuts With a View Summer Matstack. I cut it so that there is a border of an eighth inch on the sides, but so that it goes to the top and the bottom of the card. I used a plain Petite Oval Nestability to cut the top piece. My magnets are between the Tangerine Tango cardstock and the DCWV paper.

I used Marvy punches for the circles – plain and scalloped. I put the dots on the scallops with an SU! Mellow Moss marker. The dashed lines on the circle (which is punched from Blush Blossom) are stamped with PaperTrey Ink’s Borders and Corners – Circle. The owl and the “Thinking of You” sentiment are from a Studio G set. I colored the owl with SU! markers, and cut out a flower from the background paper. I also used a white gel pen for the eyes. I used an Aqua Painter and my Tangerine Tango ink pad to color the flower in the sentiment. The ribbon is Mellow Moss grosgrain from Stampin’ Up! I think that’s about it!

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

Birthday Wishes

Today’s card uses a couple more of Stampin’ Up!’s new In Colors – Baja Breeze and Tangerine Tango. The Tangerine Tango base is simply a rectangle that is standard card size, one layer. I rounded the two right corners. The next layer up is from My Mind’s Eye and is a quarter-inch narrower than the Tangerine Tango on three sides, and also has the right corners rounded. I sponged Tangerine Tango on the edges. The Baja Breeze layer is the part of the card that actually opens. I cut it using my long rectangle Nestabilities. I folded the Baja Breeze and left the folded edge uncut, and sponged Pacific Point on the edges. I cut the white layer and stamped Birthday wishes on it using Tangerine Tango and the Hostess Set “For a Friend.” I stamped it again on a scrap of Baja Breeze and cut out the candle and mounted it using a slice of Pop Dots for dimension. Before I mounted it, though, I embossed it with a Cuttlebug Dotted Swiss folder and sponged the edges with Baja Breeze. The thin trim strips are cut from the same paper as the second-to-the-bottom layer.

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

Mojo Monday Sketch - on Saturday!

Well, I got a little chance to play with my new Stampin’ Up! cardstock and inks. I had printed out Julee Tilman’s Mojo Monday Sketch earlier in the week, so that’s what I choose to use today.

The patterned paper is from a Die Cuts With a View Summer Matstack. The rest of the cardstock (except the textured paper that the sentiment is stamped on) is Stampin’ Up!’s In Colors for this next year. I used Kiwi Kiss, Riding Hood Red and Pacific Point. Pretty colors! And they matched my paper from DCWV perfectly.

I used a Cuttlebug folder to emboss the Pacific Point and Kiwi Kiss layers. I use three Marvy punches for the sentiment layers. Nestabilities are so awesome, but I still use my punches when I can – they are quicker! The dots on the Kiwi Kiss layer are from PaperTrey Ink’s set Borders and Corners – Circles and are stamped with Pacific Point. I used Pacific Point to sponge the edges of the Kiwi Kiss circle, and also the Riding Hood Red scalloped circle layer. The Happy Birthday sentiment is stamped with Riding Hood Red and I also sponged some around the edge.

I didn’t have ribbon to match, so I sponged white satin ribbon with Pacific Point. I’m hoping it dries! LOL! I think it will – I’m just kind of impatient sometimes.

There you have it! Thanks for looking, and I hope you’ll come back and visit again soon!

Three for the Price of One!

Well, I haven’t uploaded a card for a few days, so I guess I’ll just go with what I’ve got! Last night I was going to stamp all evening, but it took me over two hours to clean up my stamping area so that I had room to create! Plus, I got distracted with other things.

At any rate, I have three cards to share with you today, but I’m not terribly impressed with any of them. I was making use of some of my “card parts.” Does anyone else have them – pieces laying around that you were “testing,” or making extras, or scraps? I have so many of them!

The birthday card was made with the following “pieces:” the sentiment was already embossed with Versamark and sponged with Almost Amethyst, the diagonal piece was a scrap, and the flowers were punched and had pearls on. I just rounded the corners on the pieces, matted the sentiment, stamped the background, and put it all together.

The fish card: the background was already scored, the scalloped oval piece was already cut, and the quilling pieces were left over from my other fish card. I just stamped the sentiment, cut it out, and put it all together.

The anniversary card: the daisies were already embossed on the white and the copper, and the copper was already mounted on the black. I matted them, stamped and embossed the sentiment, and stamped and embossed the scrolly design on the top. There - emphasis on quantity today! LOL!

I got my new In Colors from Stampin’ Up! yesterday and I’m hoping to maybe get something stamped with them tonight.

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