Anne's Birthday Card

A birthday card for a friend – Anne.

The butterfly is from the dollar spot at JoAnn’s - by Inkadinkado. I stamped it with Versafine Onyx Black ink on Cameo Coral (or it might have been Papertrey Ink’s Berry Sorbet) and colored with markers, then cut it out and popped it up on Pop Dots. I colored the “trail” too, which was from another stamping of the same stamp on white cardstock. I matted it to match the butterfly, added black brads, and mounted it on black. The background paper is from Die Cuts With a View, and the sentiment is from Scrappy Cat.

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

Color Swap - Black and White

This card is for a color swap for my Yahoo! group. (Well, that's what it was made for, but then I didn't want to deal with extra packaging and a trip to the Post Office because of the brads, so I made another one - slightly different. I didn't use brads - instead I stamped flower centers on white with black, cut them out and adhered them.)

The flowers are cut with a Spellbinders Nestabilities die using paper from a Die Cuts With a View matstack. The ribbon and brads are from Michael's. I used a Sizzix embossing folder for the background, and also my Scor-Pal. The sentiment is from Inkadinkado.

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

SCS Sketch Challenge

I did this card for a sketch challenge (#234) on SplitCoastStampers.

(For simplicity and quickness, I am just going to copy my description from SCS.) The fairy stamp is from 2RedBananas - by Jami Bova and is called Flourish With Flowers. I stamped it with the Essential Glue Pad and used glitter. The green is not really as bright as it shows up as on the picture, but this was the best picture of the 'sparkle.' And purples are so hard to photograph, too. They really DO match! The sentiment is from Inkadinkado.

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

Our Group Gathering - June 7 - 9, 2009

I’m thinking I've promised a picture of the members of my Yahoo! group who met in Des Moines, Iowa a couple weeks ago, and I haven’t done that yet. So, here it is. Such a fun, talented, wonderful, caring group of ladies!!!

Here they are – front row – Terri, Harriet, Joyce, Kris, Joanne. Back row – Andrea, Lynette (me!) Dawn, Georgia, Sheri, Vicki and Jeanette. Boy, did we have a fun time! We’re already thinking about next year. We’re hoping even more can make it! (And thanks, Terri, for getting the shirts! They say "got stamps?")

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

CAS Challenge - Paper Piecing

This card is for Clean and Simple Challenge #20 - Paper Piecing. I really like paper piecing and I wish I would remember to do it more often!

My image stamp is by Rubber Stampede. My piecing papers are from My Mind's Eye. I did the coloring with markers. I got the punched flowers from a friend and added brads for the centers. The slider is done with a Spellbinders die and the sentiment is from the Stampin' Up! set All Occasions. That's about it! (Clean and Simple cards shouldn't require a lot of explanation, right? :) ) Sorry about the shadows on the card - it's hard to find sunshine when one has so many trees!

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

Sixtieth Anniversary Card

The card I’m sharing with you today is the one I made for my mom and dad for their 60th Wedding Anniversary. (Congratulations to them!)

It is a full sheet folded in half, so it measure 8.5 inches by 5.5 inches. I started with my JustRite Stamper. I stamped the words, then stamped the "60." Then I added the heart, which is from a Paper Inspirations set and is stamped with a Versamagic pad and embossed with Iridescent Sparkle embossing powder. I mounted it on a circle cut from Papertrey Ink's Sweet Blush, then on a scalloped circle cut from vellum. And it’s popped up with Pop Dots. The left panel is embossed with a Cuttlebug folder called D’vine Swirls. I brayered the folder with Versamark before embossing, then used Iridescent Sparkle embossing powder on it, too. It is also mounted on Sweet Blush, as is the bottom layer. The butterflies are punched from vellum with a Martha Stewart punch and are also popped up on Pop Dot pieces. I scored lines on both sides of the ribbon, which is from Papertrey Ink. I added pearls of different sizes to the butterflies, the lower-right corner and also on the sentiment circle. I had put asterisks on the sides of the sentiment, but I covered them with pearls to match the others.

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

SCS - Limited Supplies Challenge

This card is for SplitCoastStampers Limited Supplies Challenge #224 - to use blues, greens and grays, and piercing, brads and ribbons.

The main image is by Penny Black and is colored with watercolor pencils and an aqua pen. I added Stickles for the flower centers. I used a Nestability to cut and emboss it, and left it in place to color around the outside, leaving a frame. I matted it with Going Gray. The background is Night of Navy. I added ribbon, scored on both sides of it, and pierced around the top half of the card. The sentiment is embossed with white and the stamp is by Inkadinkado.

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

SCS Sketch Challenge

Whew! After working on the house (which is not done yet!), going out of town a couple times, having company and then more company, and the Anniversary Open House – I’m ready for a little “normalcy!” It was all FUN, but it’s always nice to be back to normal, too. I’m almost there.

The card I’m sharing today was done for the SplitCoastStampers Sketch Challenge #232 (from the week before last.) The main stamp is from Gina K’s “Flowers for Daisy” by Asela Hopkins. I stamped it on shimmery white with Versafine Onyx Black, embossed with clear embossing powder, and colored with Stampin’ Up! markers. The white strip across the middle is cut and embossed with a Piercerability (by Spellbinders.) The stamp and the Piercerability are both courtesy of Harriet. ( I can’t believe it was only a week and a half ago that you were here!) The card base was embossed with a Sizzix embossing folder.

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

Three Cards - One Main Image

Tomorrow is my Mom and Dad’s 60th Anniversary Open House and our daughter, son-in-law and grandson will be flying in tonight. So, I don’t think I’ll be posting for a while. I will share three cards today, each using the same main image.

The branch image is from 2RedBanana’s set “Wrapped in His Love” – the same as my card from a couple days ago. Since I had it out and inked up, I wanted to use it a few times. I won’t go into detail – please email me if you have questions. (LJNeus@hotmail.com)

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

2RedBananas Sketch Challenge

Today’s card is for a Sketch Challenge from the 2RedBananas blog. You can find it here. I think it’s a really great sketch – you should give it a try! The prize is awesome, too. It’s your choice of one of their new June releases, which were just announced. You can enter the same card in the Card Positioning System's Challenge for a chance to win a prize, there, too!

The patterned papers on my card are both from Die Cuts With a View “Fun in the Sun” Summer Matstack. The green is from a scrap pack and the ivory is a shimmery paper. The sentiment is from a set by Scrappy Cat called “Birthday Wishes.” The flowers are by Kaiser and the button is from Papertrey Ink. I stamped the sentiment with Versamagic Aloe Vera ink and embossed with Iridescent Sparkle embossing powder.

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

SCS CAS Color Challenge

This card is for Clean and Simple challenge #18 - to use pinks/corals, kraft and one other color.

I used Papertrey Ink kraft, and Stampin’ Up!’s Cameo Coral and Old Olive. The flower and leaves are embossed with a Sizzix embossing folder and cut out. I used Crystal Stickles on the flower center and mounted the completed flower on Pop Dots. The white is embossed with Swiss Dots and mounted on Cameo Coral. The sentiment is from Critter Party by Penny Black and is stamped with Old Olive. So many times I experiment with putting images at an angle, and I usually end up just putting them straight. This time I actually did it! :) (Thanks for the encouragement, Harriet!)

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

SCS Clean and Simple Sketch Challenge

Today’s card is another SplitCoastStampers challenge card – this time for this week’s Clean and Simple challenge. You can find the challenge here. It’s a sketch challenge based on this card by Natasha Trupp.

The stamps I used for the card are from 2RedBananas. They were a gift! from Jeanette when we were down in Des Moines. So awesome!!! Thanks again, Jeanette! They are from a set called “Wrapped in His Love.” Here is a link to the 2RedBananas store. I used Stampin’ Up! markers (Close to Cocoa and Old Olive) to color the stamp and then colored the flowers directly on the paper with Cameo Coral. The image panel is mounted on Papertrey Ink’s Berry Sorbet cardstock. The butterfly is punched with a Martha Stewart punch and has a couple pearls for its body. The card base is 4.75 inches square.

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

Flowers for Daisy Card

Well, it’s about time I did a post here again. Seems like forever ago! I had such a wonderful time with my Yahoo! group in Des Moines. We spent a day and a half at the Archiver’s there – they even closed off the work rooms for a “Special Event” and that Special Event was US! And Harriet was here for another two and a half days and we did a lot of stamping. I got to use some of her things – very cool. But, it had to end and Harriet flew home Friday morning. We left town again Saturday morning and came back today. So, I’m finally catching up on blog-reading and posting. Whew!

My card for today’s uses some Gina K stamps by Asela Hopkins – a set called “Flowers for Daisy.” I stamped the main image on white shimmery paper and again on patterned blue. I cut the cloth out of the blue and glued it to the main panel. I colored the image with Stampin’ Up! markers and mounted it on yellow. The yellow strip across the middle is done with a Piercerability die from Spellbinders. I colored the daisies on it with a white gel pen and a yellow marker. The sentiment is also from the same set.

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

SCS Color Challenge - White!

This card is for SplitCoastStampers' Color Challenge #222 - White! Added challenge - one layer.

I stamped the flower with Versamagic inks in Spring Pansy, Aloe Vera, Perfect Plumeria and Spanish Olive, and embossed with clear embossing powder. Then I masked off the top, bottom and left side and sponged with Soft Sky, fading out towards the right. The sympathy sentiment is stamped with Soft Sky, also. I added a pearl to the flower center. It needed more, so I used my Scor-Pal to score lines around the sponging on the left side - full pressure on the left side and then with lessening pressure toward the right side to coordinate with the fading-out sponging.

I’m back from my stamping outing and had a super wonderful time! I will share more about that later – I still have company.

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

"A is for Animals"

This card is for an alphabet swap I’m in. We’ve been through the alphabet once, and are now back on A. My card is “A is for Animals.”

The critters are all from the Stampin’ Up! set called Forest Friends. I stamped the owl in Close to Cocoa, the deer in Creamy Caramel and the bunny in Mellow Moss. (I know, funny color for a rabbit, but I had other plans which didn’t work out!) I matted each of them with the coordinating color cardstock. All images and mats were cut using Nestabilities. The sentiment is from a set by The Paper Company, and is stamped in Creamy Caramel. The dots on the top and bottom are embossed with a Cuttlebug border folder, and the lines were scored with my trusty Scor-Pal. I added a strip of vellum over the center, and then a couple pearls.

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

Sea Shells Birthday

This card is for my brother. Probably not really a “guy” card, with the glitter. But I don’t have a lot of options – most of my stamps are flowers!

I taped a brass stencil to some textured ivory cardstock, then stippled the shells with Stampin’ Up! inks in Sahara Sand, Creamy Caramel and Really Rust. Then I used embossing paste over them and sprinkled them with Art Institute Ultrafine Crystal glitter. I mounted it on Creamy Caramel and added some “faux brads” to the corners. The sentiment is from Stampin’ Up!’s Sincere Salutations stamped in Creamy Caramel, and I added a couple scored lines, done with my Scor-Pal.

A couple personal things – Sunday is my one-year blog anniversary. My how time flies!! Thanks to ALL of you for continuing to visit. I really appreciate it!

And Sunday my friend, Harriet (hskelly on SCS – new celebrity as a member of the Clean and Simple Challenge team!!!) flies in from California and we head down to Des Moines to meet up with other members of our Yahoo! group for our third annual “Group Gathering.” We are all sooooooo excited for this! We look forward to it all year! We’ll spend all day Monday and half of Tuesday at the Archiver’s in Des Moines (stop in and visit if you’re in the area) and then Harriet will stay at my house until Friday morning. I still need to get ready!

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

Fairy Best Wishes

I’ve been making cards all morning – I have four done. Two are graduation cards which are very similar to ones I’ve already posted. One is for an Alphabet Swap and I’ll post it Monday after it has been received. The one I will share today is made with a new stamp that I WON from 2RedBananas!! Thanks so much, Jeanette! You can find the blog here, and here is a direct link to the newest challenge – to use ribbon. Oh, and here is a link to the 2RedBananas store!

Briefly, here are the items I used for the card. The image is stamped with Versafine Onyx Black. I colored it with Prismacolor pencils and Gamsol. I added LOTS of glitz with a glitter pen (not sure that’s what it’s called, but that’s what I’ll call it! :) ) I used FlowerSoft for her bouquet. I sponged the edges with Orchid Opulence ink by Stampin’ Up! and matted it. I used a Cuttlebug border embossing folder on white strips for behind the image and for the sentiment panel and also sponged those edges. I used the glitter pen on them, too. The background paper is by Die Cuts With a View Pocket Full O’ Posies matstack, and I added a sheer purple ribbon with white dots. (I guess this qualifies for this week’s challenge!) I wish I could show you the sparkle, but at least you can get a little idea of it by the small picture.

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

Christmas??? Now???

Christmas cards are NOT what I should be making right now! This one just "happened." :) I got a new little Stampin' Up! set last week, and this is one of the images.

The set is called A Flower For All Seasons. I stamped it on Very Vanilla with Versafine Onyx Black ink, and colored it with Stampin' Up! markers. I mounted it on Riding Hood Red and green. I embossed the card front with a square Nestability. I added one yellow seed bead to the center of each flower, and outlined the petals with a Sakura glitter pen. The sentiment is by Rubber Stampede.

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

June Calendar Page

Hey, I remembered to do my calendar page on the first - how about that!

The stamps are all from a My Favorite Things set called "Hit the Beach." I used a scalloped Long Rectangle Nestability to cut out the image and colored it with Stampin' Up! markers. Looks like I rubbed the edge in a green ink pad, too. It's mounted on paper from Die Cuts With a View - Summer matstack. That's it! (As I'm looking at it now, I see I could have spent a little more time on the coloring! I guess I was getting tired of making calendar pages when I did this one. :) And, not like it makes much difference really, but I believe the blue was colored with my one Copic marker.)

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