Congrats

I've been having quite a bit of time in my stamping room lately, and I love it! I've been going through card parts, stickers, etc. and pulling things out to use soon. I have several of these wonderful frames by Rubbernecker stamped and ready to use. (Thanks, Vicki!) So, here is one done:)

The sentiment was previously done using a Darice die. I thought it looked nice with the stamped frame. Hmmm ... what else to put on it? Oh! I've got some Penny Black stickers that I bought last summer in Des Moines at our Group Gathering. I bet one of them would work nicely. I trimmed it down and matted it with black. The butterfly is from the same sticker set. 

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

hello

I had an ivory card base sitting on my table that I had dropped a stamp on (or somehow got smudges on it) so I wanted to completely cover it up. I thought a good way to do that would be to use some of my beautiful Gina K patterned paper. I chose two patterns and added a thin strip of plain cardstock in between. Searching through my dies, I came across this little-used one from Spellbinders. I cut a piece of ivory cardstock to fit on it. I used a stamp from Technique Tuesday to stamp the flower with a coordinating ink, and added the stamped flower center. I also sponged a bit of matching purple ink around the edges before I mounted the image panel on Pop Dots.

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

More Penny Black

I know that I said I wasn't going to share any more of these cards, but I guess I was wrong! :) I saw this technique on Darnell's blog, and loved it. So, I had to give it a try. I thought it would be a good way to use these last stampoffs. The flower stamps (I believe) are from Penny Black. I'm pretty sure they were inked with distress markers and spritzed with water before stamping. So, what I did was to cut out a rectangle with a Memory Box stitched rectangle die. I stamped the sentiment (from Papertrey Ink) on it, mounted on Pop Dots, and added it back in the opening. What a great idea! I've certainly seen die cuts placed back into the hole they came from, but not just simply rectangles (or other simple shapes.)

On this one, I sponged around the edges before mounting on Pop Dots and returning it to the image.

And this one is included just because it's the last of my Penny Black flower stampoffs from a couple years ago!

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

Simple Birthday

I was sorting through my 12 x 12 papers last week, and I came across this scrap of embossed paper. (I'm sure it wasn't originally 12 x 12, so I don't know why it was in there! :) ) At any rate, I took it out to be used soon. That "soon" was for this card.

I had already cut this card base and had it sitting on my table for a few weeks. The finished card is 4 x 7 - cut to fit an envelope I had. I cut the yellow to fit on the card front with a black mat. The sentiment was cut with a new-to-me die from Sizzix. Simple, but it will probably work well for a kid's birthday card.

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

Garden Whimsy #5

 I think this card turned out to be my favorite of the five cards I made with the Stampin' Up! set, "Garden Whimsy." The ladybug is the stamp from this set. I love the simplicity of it.

I stamped the ladybug with red on a tiny scrap and cut out the most solid part of it, trimming off the dashed lines around the edges. Then I stamped again with black on another scrap. I added the red cut-out part over the black, and then colored a few of the white dots with a black marker. I cut it out with a die from a Memory Box stitched rectangle set. The sentiment is from a Papertrey Ink set.

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

Garden Whimsy #4

One more card using stamps from the set "Garden Whimsy" from Stampin' Up! (Last one tomorrow!) For this card, I used the flower with stem, the sentiment, and the ladybugs in the background.

I randomly stamped the ladybugs in a lighter purple on a panel slightly smaller than the front of the card. I inked up the flower stamp with markers and stamped on a scrap. I stamped the sentiment in black over the flower. The little butterfly was punched with a Martha Stewart punch. I hand-drew the bottom of the body and antennae and added a black enamel dot for the body. I matted with cardstock to match the flower and butterfly, and mounted on Pop Dots. I intentionally stamped the sentiment over to the left, but it was kind of long to off-center it and it just looked like it was supposed to be in the middle, but was mis-stamped:) That's why I added the butterfly.

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

Garden Whimsy #3

Card number three using "Garden Whimsy" set by Stampin' Up!

I stamped the butterfly three times across a white panel, added the sentiment (from Stampabilities) in black, and adorned the antennae with black acrylic dots. Oh yeah - I also added a black acrylic dot for the dot on the i, and I mounted the entire panel on Pop Dots.

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

Garden Whimsy #2

Card number two using the Stampin' Up! set called "Garden Whimsy." The stamps I used for this card are the butterfly and the sentiment. I had the die-cut circle and scalloped circle, along with the red half circle, in the card parts that I took out last week. I went old-school and added the black dots on the scallops:) The image panel is mounted on Pop Dots.

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

Garden Whimsy #1

My posts for the next several days will be using the Stampin' Up! set called "Garden Whimsy." It consists of eight stamps.

For this card, I used the snail. I almost skipped this stamp, but thought I could at least do this much with it:) I stamped the snail with SU!'s Buckaroo Blue ink and matted with matching cardstock. I mounted on Pop Dots. The sentiment was done with an Image Tree alphabet stamp. This would make a fine "hello, how are you doing" card, I think.

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

Blue Iris Thinking of You

I have several (I think four more) of this type of flower stamped and in my "card parts" box. I probably won't share all of them with you, as I'm not very creative with them. I'm sure I've already shared a few of them here:) At any rate, this was the second stamping. I had colored the stamp with distress markers and then spritzed with water. For this card, I trimmed off the right side, leaving part of the flower stem "out of the box." The sentiment is from Stampabilities and is mounted on Pop Dots.

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

Santa

In my "Card Parts" box was this small square of patterned paper. In small cursive letters are the words from "Twas the Night Before Christmas." I thought it might work nicely to stamp an image over it. So, I looked through my Christmas stamps and found this one from My Favorite Things. The sentiment is also from MFT. I stamped the image with distress ink and sponged ink along the edges, too. I matted with with a matching red cardstock and mounted on Pop Dots. The card base is kraft.

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

Happy (Belated) Anniversary, Lucy and David!

Oops - my friend Lucy's anniversary was last Saturday. I forgot to get her card made! It went out on Saturday, so it shouldn't be TOO late. I hope you had a great day, Lucy!

I used a technique I saw in a Gina K email. She called it "Emerging Corners." I never did end up watching the video, but it appeared to me that you take a large background stamp and just ink up a corner. So, I tried that on this card. I like the way it turned out, and I'll have to try to remember to try that again! I used a Stampin' Up! background stamp. I used distress ink. I matted with SU! Rich Razzleberry. (I'm sure just about everything SU! that I have is retired, except maybe some of my ink pads.) The sentiment is from Papertrey Ink. I matted it with a piece cut with a Spellbinders die. I had a couple thin pieces of Razzleberry left from trimming down the matting layer, so I added them under the sentiment. The sentiment panel is mounted on Pop Dots.

I had taken this SU! background stamp out, also, as a possibility for this technique. After I had made the first card, I decided to try this stamp and make another. I added a strip along the edge. The sentiment is from SU! too.

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

hello

Another card made with "card parts." This stamped and matted piece was one of those from my box that I took out to make into a card. The stamp is from Gina K. I colored it with markers before stamping. I added the enamel dots to the centers. I also added another layer of matting - adding the white. The background paper is from Recollections. I used the "hello" die to cut three layers, gluing them on top of each other for thickness. The die is by Darice.

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

On Your Special Day

I had more stamping time on Saturday - I love it! I went through my pretty small box of "card parts" and took out several pieces. I got four cards made with them, and another about half done. I'll be sharing those cards with you this week, starting with this one.

The "card part" for this card is the strip across the middle. It is an ivory piece matted with my favorite color brown cardstock - Soft Suede. I decided it was too plain, though, so I embossed it with a Cuttlebug border folder. The patterned paper is from Gina K. The sentiment is from Stampabilities. This card would make a nice anniversary card, I think.

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

Happy Easter!

Happy Easter to my blog readers who celebrate!

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

Fun Filled #1 - 4

Time for my next Stampin' Up! set. This one is called "Fun Filled." I am sharing all four cards in one post, since they are not very different. The set consists of one shadow stamp, one stamp to stamp over that, and then four different "toppings." Also, one stamp with swirls and another stamp to stamp under the swirls. For each card, I cut the images out with a Memory Box die.

For this first card,the shadow and swirly stamp are a gift, with the bow and sentiment on top. The background was embossed with a Darice folder.

For this card, the shadow and swirls stamp are a birthday cake, with the other stamp being the candle and sentiment. I added sparkle to the flame. The background was stamped with the other two stamps.

For this card, the shadow and swirls are a flower pot. I added tiny gems to the flower centers.

For this card, the shadow and swirls are a purse. I added two "nail heads" for the purse clasp.

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

Flower Filled #6 and #7

Card #6 using the Stampin' Up! set called "Flower Filled." The stamp from the set is the vine with leaves. The flowers are punched from patterned orange paper with a small flower punch. I added yellow pearls for the flower centers and matted with paper to match the flowers. I used my Scor-Pal to add the decorative lines. The embossed sentiment was done with a small Cuttlebug folder.

I already had this post scheduled with just the first card, but then I spent time in my stamping room with a friend, and made this card with this strip that was sitting on my table. I thought I could just as well share it. I used the same stamp as the first card, but used distress ink. I used three orange flowers left-over from the first card, and added some blue flowers with darker blue pearl centers. I again used my Scor-Pal and matted. The sentiment is from Papertrey Ink.

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

Flower Filled #5

Card #6 using the Stampin' Up! set called "Flower Filled." The two stamps used for this card are the boots and the stems. I stamped the boots with a brown (Soft Suede) ink on patterned paper and cut them out. I stamped three stems with leaves coming out of the boots. I used a tiny flower punch for the flowers. I added round black stickers for the flower centers and a metallic-looking sticker on the boot. I matted with matching turquoise cardstock. The sentiment is again from Papertrey, is matted and mounted on Pop Dots. I used the same patterned paper for the background as I did for the boots.

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

Flower Filled #4

This is card #4 using the Stampin' Up! set called "Flower Filled."  Yesterday's lamp has become today's vase:) The other two stamps from the set that I have used for today's card are the stem and the flower. I added a "holographic" sticker dot for the flower center. I matted with matching purple (Rich Razzleberry). The sentiment is from Papertrey. I cut it with a Memory Box stitched rectangle die and matted with the same purple. The sentiment panel is mounted on Pop Dots.

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

Flower Filled #3

Card #3 using the Stampin' Up! set called "Flower Filled." I used one of the same stamps from yesterday's post. Yesterday it was a basket - today it's a lamp shade:) I stamped the lamp and shade and cut them out. I mounted the shade on Pop Dots. I matted with matching blue. The patterned paper came from a stack that I got at Archiver's a few years ago. I printed the sentiment on vellum on my printer and added it.

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

Flower Filled #2

This is Card #2 using the Flower Filled set from Stampin' Up! For this card, I used the basket stamp and the egg stamp. I stamped the basket with Soft Suede on kraft cardstock and cut it out. I stamped the eggs, masking as I went along. I added Wink of Stella to each egg. I put one Pop Dot in the center of the top of the basket, and then glued it down. The grass was done with a die several years ago when I was at my Group Gathering. The sentiment is from another SU! set. While I was looking for the grass die-cut, I came across this previously die-cut piece of yellow, which was EXACTLY the right size for my image panel. I mounted the entire panel on Pop Dots. I embossed a piece of white for the background using a Darice embossing folder.

Stay tuned for tomorrow's post which uses one of these stamps in a totally different way:)

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

Flower Filled #1

Today's card is the first (of several, I think) using the Stampin' Up! set called "Flower Filled." The set consists of nine stamps, and a couple of them will have multiple uses. This card uses three of the stamps - stems and the two different flowers.

I stamped the stems on a scrap of white that I had. Then I stamped the flowers using two colors of ink. I added red gems of different sizes for the flower centers. The sentiment is from Papertrey. I matted to match the yellow flowers and mounted on Pop Dots. I found a piece of patterned cardstock that matched the flowers very well. Then I also added a thin strip of the same yellow.

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

In Full Bloom #4

My last card using the Stampin' Up! set called "In Full Bloom." Moving on to another set now.

I came across a punched white circle sitting on my stamping table - not sure where it even came from. I had this last stamp to use, and the circle was the perfect size! I colored with Prismacolor pencils and Gamsol. I used a Spellbinders die to cut the scalloped circle to mat it with. When I was looking for the right color blue (Pacific Point, retired from SU!) I also found this pre-cut, tiny strip. I thought it would work perfectly. The sentiment is from Papertrey Ink.

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

Happy Birthday, Georgia! (In Full Bloom #3)

A card for my friend, Georgia - a member of our Yahoo! stamping group. Happy Birthday, my friend!

This card is #3 from the Stampin' Up! set called "In Full Bloom." The three stamps I used for this card are the flower, the stem and the border. I colored the images with Prismacolor pencils and Gamsol. I added Star Dust Stickles to the bee in the border. I matted each piece with green cardstock. The patterned paper is from a Recollections stack. The sentiment is from Papertrey Ink. It's hard to tell in the picture, but I also used my Scor-Pal to make a scored line on the top and bottom of the stamped strip.

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

In Full Bloom #2

Card #2 using the Stampin' Up! set called "In Full Bloom." For this card I used two stamps - the flower and the leaves. I "messy" colored them with Copics. I embossed the bottom part of the panel with a Darice folder. (I think a different one would have worked better. Oh, well!) I scored a couple lines between the stamping and the embossing. I die-cut the sentiment, and matted the panel with black.

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

In Full Bloom #1

This is card #1 using the Stampin' Up! set called "In Full Bloom." It consists of nine stamps. Over the next few days, I will share four cards using all of the stamps except a bee/fly. I just really didn't want to use that one:)

For this card, I used the flower stamp and the leaf stamp. I stamped a flower, masked it off, stamped another, masked that one off and did one more. I added the leaf stamp two times. I colored with Copic markers and added Wink of Stella to the flowers. I matted that panel with black. The sentiment is from Papertrey Ink. I had the Spellbinder die-cut pieces sitting on my table. I had cut them as potential pieces to add to the photo board for my mother-in-law's funeral, but they went unused for that. They worked nicely for this card, though:)

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

Flowers & Friends - Three Cards

 Wow, I'm finally continuing on a challenge I set for myself almost three years ago. I set as my "mission" the task of using ALL of my Stampin' Up! sets, and I have a LOT of sets. (Nearly 200.) I was pretty faithful in working on them for quite a while, but then life got in the way, and I also kind of lost interest. But, a few days ago I got out another stack of stamps and got to work on them.

The set that I used for today's cards is called "Flowers & Friends." It consists of nine stamps. I have used them all on these cards. For this first card, I used the flower pot stamp, the tulip stamp and the other flower stamp. I cut out the flowers and the top part of the pot and mounted them on Pop Dots. I hand-drew the stems. I matted with purple. After adding the cut-out pieces, I thought it looked kind of plain, so I added the speckles with an old SU! set called Itty Bitty Backgrounds. I think I added too many speckles and couldn't reach the middle, but I still think it looks better than it did without them:) I added patterned paper to the entire card front. The sentiment is from The Paper Studio set. I also added gem stones to the flower centers.

 For this second card, I used five more stamps - the stem, the leaves, the flower, the butterfly, and the bee. I stamped the stem in green, the butterfly and the bee in black, and then embossed that piece with a Cuttlebug folder. I also stamped the butterfly, the flower, the leaves and the bee on white scraps with colored inks and cut them out. I glued the butterfly and bee on, and added Pop Dots under the parts of the wings that extend beyond the edge. I also used Pop Dots under the leaves and the flower. An enamel dot adorns the flower center. I added Star Dust Stickles to the bee's wings. The sentiment is from the same Paper Studio set. I cut it out with a Memory Box die and mounted it on Pop Dots.

This card uses the last stamp of the set. I inked the entire stamp with the lighter blue ink, then colored the beak and legs with markers. I stamped the bird again on a scrap with a darker blue, cut it out, and mounted it on Pop Dots and added it to the already-stamped image. I cut out that panel with a Memory Box die and added the sentiment - from the same set as above. I cut out a piece of patterned paper with another die and added the pieces to the card base. Then I added a tiny black gem for the eye.

Wish me luck as I continue with this project. I think I'm only about half done with my sets, and the sets are getting bigger so I haven't even used half of the stamps yet!

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

Happy (Golfing) Retirement!

A good friend has just retired. (His last day was last Friday.) This is the card I made for him, with input from my husband.

I used a Lasting Impressions brass stencil for this. First I embossed the entire thing on off-white cardstock. Then I did parts of it on different cardstocks and paper. After embossing, I cut the pieces out and glued them on the main image. You can't tell very well in the picture, but the clubs are cut from "mirror" cardstock.

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

Thanks, Annie!

A stamping friend from Canada in our stamping group sent us some stamp-offs. Thanks, Annie! I made these two cards with them. The birdhouses on both are popped up on Pop Dots. The images were embossed with glittery gold embossing powder. I believe Annie said the image was from Great Impressions. I colored them with Copics. I matted each of them with shimmery gold paper. For this first card, I mounted the entire image panel with Pop Dots, also. The sentiment is from Stampabilities.

The sentiment on this one is from Papertrey Ink. I embossed it with gold embossing powder. The patterned paper is ancient and is from Stampin' Up!

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

April Calendar Page

Another month has rolled around, oh so quickly! Time for another calendar page.

For this month's page, I used a digital image. It's on the Cuddly Buddly site and you can find it here. I've had it for quite a while. I colored with Copics. The sentiment is from Inkadinkado.

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