A Blog Award - and July

Deb (Itty Bitty Ink Spots) has graced me with another blog award - The "Kreativ Blogger" award. Thanks so much, Deb!

I think I’ll post one small part of a project I’m working on. Every year, I make calendars for a few friends and relatives. They are three and a half inches by five inches. So far, I have three months done – only nine more to go! Since I just finished up July today, I thought I’d share it with you.

Edited to add: Silly me! I didn't write anything about how I did this calendar page. Here is a little information: I used a Lasting Impressions brass stencil for all of the embossing. The hat is embossed and cut out of white and the stars and dots are colored with a marker and the edges are sponged with ink. The hat band is embossed and cut out of shimmery red and the stripes colored with a white gel pen. The hat is mounted on paper from a Summer Collection by Die Cuts With A View. The firecracker is embossed with the same stencil and sponged a bit with red ink. I hope that helps. The calendars are printed from a file that I did in an Excel spreadsheet.

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

Santa Christmas Card

Another quick Christmas card. I just HAD to do a little stamping tonight – time passes so quickly! We went out of town again this past weekend to visit with my husband’s mom and to celebrate her 91st birthday.

I stamped Santa on a shimmery white paper. I used Versafine Black Onyx with Papertrey Ink’s set “Believe.” I colored Santa’s hat and robe with a glue pen, then pressed red flocking on it. I used Liquid Applique on his beard and the “fluff” on his hat, sleeves and the bottom of his robe. I used Stampin’ Up! markers to color his face. The heart is popped up with a Pop Dot. I used a red gel pen for the hand-doodling around the edge. The background is embossed with a Fiskars Snowflakes texture plate. Both pieces are matted with SU!’s Real Red cardstock. The sentiment is also stamped with a stamp from PTI’s “Believe” set. I used an SU! punch to punch holes for the ribbon to go through. I also rubbed the ink pad on the edge of the sentiment to highlight it a little bit.

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

Two-Step Anniversary (Well, MORE than two steps!)

Tuesday allowed me a little stamping time, but I can’t post the cards I made to my blog yet, because the recipients of them read this. Today I got to make a card, too, and I’m going to take a chance and share it with you.

The card for today is actually stamped! I’ve been realizing that my cards don’t really have that much stamping anymore. And if today is any indication, I think I know why! This card took a LONG time. And I’m not sure I like it as well as the cards I’ve been making lately.

I started with Stampin’ Up!’s Very Vanilla for my card base. I used two Two-Step Stampin’ sets – Watercolor Garden II and Petal Prints. To stamp the leaf sprigs from Petal Prints, I used Kiwi Kiss and True Thyme. For the flowers from Watercolor Garden II, I used Pale Plum and Perfect Plum. I used my Stamp-a-Ma-Jig to line up my stamping the way I wanted it. Then I took a piece of vellum the same size as the card front. I scored a lattice of diagonal lines on the bottom with my Scor-Pal. I stamped the Happy Anniversary (from Inkadinkado’s Wedding/Marriage) with Versafine Black Onyx and embossed it with clear embossing powder. I used a double layer of ribbon – a sheer and a grosgrain. I used double-sided tape to adhere the vellum under the ribbon. Then I added a couple brads to attach the vellum in the upper corners.

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

Butterfly Birthday

My mother-in-law’s birthday is on Thursday, and as you can see by this card, she’ll be turning 91. She lives alone and is doing awesome!

I’ve had this “Garden Delight” set by Inkadinkado for quite a while and I finally used it. I stamped the butterfly on a variegated blue cardstock from Die Cuts With a View with Versafine Black Onyx ink, embossed it with clear embossing powder, and cut it out (without the antennae!) Then I cut a piece of white cardstock two and a half inches by three and a half inches. I stamped the butterfly partially in the corner. Then I stamped the tips of one of the flowery stamps several times in the opposite corner. After it was completely dry, I embossed it with a Diamonds in the Rough Cuttlebug folder. I mounted it on a piece of black, and then on a matching piece of the variegated blue. I folded the wings up a little bit, and used Pop Dots on the body to mount it. I added a thin strip of black about a third of the way from the bottom. The sentiment was printed on my computer.

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

"Scrappy" Christmas Card

Gosh, I know it hasn’t been that long, but it seems like forever since I got to do any stamping or post something to my blog. I guess we’ve been busy! We just celebrated our 34th wedding anniversary yesterday and went away overnight. That was wonderful. But, we’re back now.

So, here is my card for today. It’s pretty much a “scrap card.” We had some friends over Friday night (after the Lutefisk Dinner at our church. Yum, yum. NOT! I wouldn’t touch the stuff, but everyone else at least eats a little bit of it:) ) Anyway, some of our guests wanted to see my “stuff” so I demonstrated the Snowflake folder, the Dotted Swiss folder and some Circle Nestabilities. I had the pieces laying around and I realized they would make kind of a nice card! So, I put them together and this is what I came up with. I sponged around the edges with Garden Green and Real Red. The circle is embossed with the Argyle CB folder. The snowflake is punched with a Marvy Uchida punch.

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

"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!

SCS Color Challenge

Finally, another post! Life is kind of getting in the way of stamping – LOL! But the positive side of that is that we’ve been getting to visit with a lot of family, and our “new and greatly improved” computer/TV room is coming along VERY nicely. I’m so excited and can’t wait to move everything back in and organize it. Sure is nice to have the computer back, too.

I had a chance to make this card yesterday morning, but hadn’t gotten a chance to upload it til today. And I have to do it quickly, because I’m off again in an hour to visit my mom and dad for the day. The card is for this week’s Color Challenge on SplitCoastStampers. The challenge colors are Chocolate Chip, Really Rust and Baja Breeze. I started by taking a piece of scrap paper and tore an edge. I put this scrap on a piece of cardstock and brayered Chocolate Chip on the bottom, then brayered Really Rust up to the torn edge. Then I took the other edge of the torn piece, put it over what I had already brayered, and brayered Baja Breeze starting at the top and working my way down. I choose to make the bottom smoothly brayered, and the Baja Breeze more “streaky” since it was all one color. The flower silhouette stamp is from Rubbernecker – The Jeanne Streiff Collection - and is stamped in Chocolate Chip. The “Happy Anniversary” is also stamped in Chocolate Chip and is a Northwoods cube stamp. I sponged the edges with Chocolate Chip, and then mounted the image on Really Rust, Chocolate Chip and Baja Breeze. The right edge is stamped with a stamp from Stampin’ Up! Perfect Plaids, then scored on each side of the stripes. I punched a hole to thread the ribbon through, so there was more of it visible but didn’t cover up the image.

I hope to be doing a little more stamping soon, but organizing my new computer room has to come first. AND, we’ll be grandparents real soon, so there is a trip to Chicago in our not-too-distant future – how exciting!!! I do believe that will mean an extended stay for me, too.

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

Polar Bear SCS Challenge

My card for today is for the Limited Supplies Challenge #187on SplitCoastStampers. Today’s challenge is to make a Christmas card with a “critter” and no embellishments other than ribbon. Oops, maybe I wasn’t allowed to use glitter!

My main image is two polar bears from the retired Stampin’ Up! set Polar Bears. The sentiment is from the same set, stamped in Pacific Point. I used Versafine Black Onyx to stamp the image on Whisper White, and I also stamped it on Kiwi Kiss and Pacific Point. I embossed with detail black embossing powder. I cut out the scarves from the Kiwi Kiss and Pacific Point and glued them on the bears. The circle is cut and embossed with Nestabilities and the scalloped circle is also Nestabilities. The “snow” is from JoAnn’s, and it’s just called “glitter” and “Crystal. It’s quite coarse and not too sparkly, so I added a tiny sprinkle of silver glitter to it. I embossed the bottom of the card with a Cuttlebug Snowflake folder and scored a couple lines above it with my trusty Scor-Pal. The image panel is popped up on dimensional squares.

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

Thinking of You

Today’s card can’t get any simpler! Seems like I’m always running short on time.

The circles are embossed with small Cuttlebug folders. The scoring is done with my Scor-Pal. The flower stamps are from PaperTrey Ink Beautiful Blooms, and the sentiment is from Inkadinkado. I added a couple pearls from Target’s Dollar Spot.

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

For Cammie's Alzheimer's Challenge

Today’s card is the one that I made for Cammie’s Alzheimer’s blog candy. I will mail it to the home where her grandmother was living in Pennsylvania. It’s also for yesterday’s SplitCoastStampers (SCS) Color Challenge (using Very Vanilla, Kiwi Kiss and Baja Breeze) and today’s SCS Sketch Challenge.

The card base is Very Vanilla, as are all the textured pieces and the sentiment. I embossed the two bottom pieces with a Cuttlebug Argyle folder which I had brayered with color. The top layer I stamped with leaves from a Fiskars Thank You clear set, and then embossed it with a Dotted Swiss folder. The sentiment is also from the same Fiskars set. I sponged color on the edges of all of the pieces, as well as the sentiment and the edges of the card base. The sentiment is cut and embossed with a Long Oval Nestability and mounted on a scalloped piece cut with the Scalloped Long Oval Nestabilities set. A couple brads and some Pop Dots complete the card.

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

Cammie and Alzheimer's

My post today is not my “normal” post. It’s about Cammie (Carolyn King) and what she has done and is doing. Here is a link to her blog: “My Blog” by Cammie. She is an artist and designs stamps for Gina K, and is a VERY talented cardmaker. (I love her style!) Her grandmother died of Alzheimer’s in June, and she has very generously donated ALL of her proceeds from her stamp set Whimsical Autumn to the Alzheimer’s Association. She has also received over $1000 in donations which will be awarded to ONE lucky person! Here is a link to the specific post. I hope you all take the time to make a card for an Alzheimer's patient's care giver. Good luck!

Sympathy on the Loss of a Dear Pet

Finally, another card! Man, stamping time has been hard to come by lately.

This card was made for a good friend who recently had to have her cat put to sleep due to cancer. Poor kitty, and poor Joanne.

I only had about ten minutes Friday morning before a doctor’s appointment, but I had pretty much “designed” this card in my head, so it went quickly. I used an Argyle embossing folder by Cuttlebug for the embossed background. Before I ran it through my BIGkick, I brayered Stampin’ Up!’s Going Gray on the folder. I dry embossed the cat and cut it out with Nestabilities – the matting, too, which is Going Gray. I stamped the sentiment and also cut it out with Nestabilities. The sentiment is from a clear set by Inkadinkado. It, and the argyle, are both mounted on Going Gray. I sponged the edges with Going Gray, also.

I think I’m done with work for the day, and it’s time to play. Yippee!! Thanks so much for looking, and I hope you’ll come back and visit again soon!

Camping in Late September

Hello, and thanks for stopping by! We decided to take advantage of the BEAUTIFUL weekend, and we're going camping. Spur-of-the-moment works for me! So, I'll be back in town on Sunday, but probably won't post til Monday. I hope you all have a wonderful weekend, too.

Come back and visit again soon!

Birthday Flowers

It’s nice to stamp again! I finally got a chance for the first time since Sunday. We’ve been kind of busy – buying and selling a car and working on re-doing our den. But the car situation is all done, and the den is moving along quite nicely.

The image on this card is a stamp by Rubber Stampede. I stamped it with Versafine Black Onyx ink and colored it with Stampin’ Up! markers – Soft Subtles. (Except for the gray shadow – it’s not SU! and I’m too lazy to go back downstairs and see who makes it!) I punched it out with a Marvy Uchida circle punch, and the scalloped circle – Mauve Mist – is also done with a Marvy punch. I printed out the “happy birthday” on the computer. (I did printed ten cards today the same way – four “happy birthday”, four “thank you” and two “happy anniversary.” They make such great simple cards.) I scored the lines with my Scor-Pal and added some Stampin’ Up! Old Olive grosgrain ribbon. I pierced the scallops, added some hand-doodling around the edge of the image circle, and popped the image layer up with dimensional squares.

I hope to stamp again soon, but I do really want to get our den done – pillows made, valance made, paint, etc. – so I’m not sure when I’ll post again.

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

Another Simple Birthday

The choice today was no card, or this card. I choose “this card.” It’s an extremely simple card, but I still like it.

The card base is Stampin’ Up! Very Vanilla. The matting is SU! Certainly Celery. For the image, I used a fairly thin textured paper that came with a “raggedy” edge. I stamped the flowers from SU!’s Best Blossoms with Tangerine Tango, then masked them and stamped the leaves over them with Certainly Celery. I used a Stamp-a-ma-jig to get the placement of the sentiment (by All-Night Media – can you tell it’s one of my favorite birthday sentiments?) where I wanted it. The thin green strip across the bottom is layered on top of the stamped piece. I scored a couple lines on the top of the image panel with my Scor-Pal. I also scored a line above and below the image, and two lines to the right of it.

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

Simple Christmas Cards

These cards were made for a friend who asked me if I would make her Christmas cards this year. I told her they had to be simple or they would be too expensive! So, these are the ones I came up with.

They are all pretty much self-explanatory. From left to right: The first one is done by cutting a piece of cardstock a sixteenth inch shorter than the card front on each side, then scoring it at 2 ¾ inch, then folding it. Keeping it folded, put it in a Cuttlebug Snowflake folder with the folded edge sticking out about a quarter inch. After it’s embossed, re-score the folded line and score at the edges of the embossing. I sponged the edges in Baroque Burgundy, stamped the sentiment, added some ribbon, put some Crystal Stickles on some of the snowflake centers, and adhered it to the card front.

The second one is run through twice using a Cuttlebug Dotted Swiss folder – once on each side. Then I used a small circle Cuttlebug folder in the middle. After embossing the circle, I used an embossing stylus to push the dots out that got crushed with the small folder. Using a Stamp-a-ma-jig, I stamped the sentiment and the tree. I used my Scor-Pal to score lines beside the Dotted Swiss, but you really can't see that in the picture. I sponged the edges and adhered it to the card front.

The embossing on the third card is done right on the card front. I punched the plain circle and the scalloped circle (Bordering Blue) with Marvy Uchida punches. I used a white gel pen for the dots on the scallops. I used the Stamp-a-ma-jig to stamp the house – from Stampin’ Up’s Winter Wonderland retired set, and added eyelets. The sentiment is stamped with Versafine Black Onyx ink and has sponged edges. The circle and sentiment are both popped up with dimensional squares.

Whew! Takes longer to write about them than to make them! LOL!

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

Birthday Butterflies

This card is for my next-door neighbor, who is also a great friend – and she loves purple.

I had out some Almost Amethyst cardstock and this stamp, and they went together just fine! The stamp is by Good Impressions. I stamped it with Versafine Black Onyx. It’s colored with Stampin’ Up! markers in Almost Amethyst and Certainly Celery. I also used a white gel pen near the leaves and on the butterflies. Surprise – the background is embossed with a Dotted Swiss Cuttlebug folder. LOL! The sentiment is by All-Night Media, stamped with Almost Amethyst ink. It was cut out with oval Nestabilities and embellished with black brads and black dots on the scallops with a gel pen. I sponged the edges of the CB’ed panel and the sentiment with AA ink, also. When everything was all put together – with the sentiment panel up on Pop Dots – I used Crystal Stickles on the butterflies for a little “glitz.”

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

Tangerine Birthday

I’m just going to take a second to thank everyone for visiting my blog – it’s great to have you here! I hope you come back again soon!

Today’s card is a pretty simple one. I’d say “for a change” but they are all simple! LOL! The card base is from Lasting Impressions. The white border is punched with a Martha Stewart punch, as is the bottom of the card. The white border is also scored with my Scor-Pal. The ribbon is from Amuse. I stamped the sentiment, which is from Papertrey Ink’s Paper Tray, with Tangerine Tango – a new “In Color” from Stampin’ Up! The flowers are Primas (I believe) that I got from Kim Hughes. The center of the flower is a sparkly brad – you just can’t see the glitz in the photo. I also sponged some Tangerine Tango around the sides and top of the white panel.

That’s it! Thanks again for stopping by.

Happy Anniversary, Harriet!

There wasn’t going to be a post today, but since my friend, Harriet, and her husband received their anniversary card in the mail today, I can post this one!

The entire card front is covered with vellum. I inked up the birds and the leaves (from Inkadinkado’s Birds Galore) with Versamagic Chalk Inks in Plumeria and Spanish Olive and stamped them on the vellum. Then I very patiently waited for them to dry. When they were totally dry, I flipped the vellum over and repeated the process on the other side. Even “in real life” it’s kind of hard to tell that they are stamped on the front and the back. (At least I think so!) I used a Cuttlebug border to emboss the green (Old Olive) strip, and then colored it with SU! markers in Baroque Burgundy and Old Olive and a white gel pen. I used my Scor-Pal and scored lines on each side of the Old Olive and adhered the strip to the card front, under the vellum. I used Duck Tape double-sided tape (available at JoAnn’s, among other places, I assume) to adhere the vellum to the card front and to the Old Olive. I also adhered the vellum to the upper corners, and then added the pearls. The sentiment is from a clear Fiskars wedding/anniversary set, and it’s stamped with Versafine Black Onyx and embossed with clear embossing powder. The card base is Papertrey Stamper’s Select White.

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

Baby Cards

Last week, a friend asked me if I would make her a couple baby cards – how fun! These are the cards I came up with. I’ll show them both, even though they are really the same card.
The paper for both is from Die Cuts With a View – Nana’s Nursery. The boy card uses paper from the boy stack, and the girl one is from the girl stack. I used my Dotted Swiss Cuttlebug folder for the bottom panel, and then sanded it down a little bit. I used Nestabilities for them both – plain and scalloped. The ribbon on the girl’s is from PaperTrey. They both have brads for a little extra detail. The stamps are from Studio G. How’s that for short and sweet?

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

Birds Galore Birthday Wishes

Today’s card is another one using Inkadinkado’s Birds Galore and Stampin’ Up!’s Sincere Salutations.

The bird image is inked with Versamagic Chalk Inks in Plumeria and Spanish Olive. I stamped it on scratch paper, and then on the card front. The rectangles are all cut with Rectangle Nestabilities – two scallops and one plain. The bottom layer is embossed with a Cuttlebug Dotted Swiss folder and sponged VERY lightly with Plumeria. The second layer is sponged with Spanish Olive. The top layer is embossed with a Cuttlebug Textile folder and sponged with Plumeria, and has a sheer ribbon tied around it. “Birthday Wishes” is stamped with Plumeria and embossed with Clear Embossing Powder.

Camping update: It rained. No surprise! We had a wonderful time anyway – getting together with friends is always nice, no matter what the weather.

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

Birthday Wishes

Pre-posting is really nice! When this gets posted, I’ll be camping with a group of friends – and freezing! Oh well, it will be a lot of fun, and I’ll survive the cold. We always camp this weekend with this group of friends and the weather is totally unpredictable, ranging from really hot to really cold. One thing that is a constant, though, is that it always does some raining on us – LOL!

Anyway, today’s card is a birthday card. I started with the rose. I made it to use as the “R” in my Yahoo group’s Alphabet Swap, but changed my mind, so it was just laying on my table waiting to be used. I inked up a clear stamp by Penny Black using Versa Magic chalk inks – two shades of green, a pink and a burgundy. Then I carefully cut it out. It’s mounted on Pop Dots. “Birthday wishes” is from Stampin’ Up!’s Sincere Salutations, stamped in Eggplant Envy. It’s cut and embossed with a square Nestability, as is the Certainly Celery it’s matted on. The frame around it is also embossed with a square Nestability. The scoring is all done with my Scor-Pal. The cardstock is Stamper’s Select White from PaperTrey Ink.

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

Special Day Anniversary

This card could be used for many occasions, but I think it will probably be for my brother and sister-in-law’s anniversary. Kind of masculine, but still feminine enough. Don’t you think?

The image is from Birds Galore by Inkadinkado. I used Versamagic pads to color it. I misted the stamp after I used the ink on it, and then stamped it on watercolor paper. The green border is Certainly Celery and I cut it by using square Nestabilities. It is mounted on top of the watercolor paper, then it’s all mounted on black. The sentiment stamp is a clear one I’ve had for a couple years, but I can’t tell you who makes it – sorry!

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

Pink Anniversary

This is a card I made last month, but couldn’t post it because it went to someone who reads my blog. So, today is as good day as any to add it.

The flowers and swirls are from a clear set by Heidi Grace, stamped with Versafine Black Onyx ink. I colored the flowers and added pearls for the centers. The lacy bottom is punched with a Martha Stewart punch. The matting is Pink Pirouette – one of the new “In Colors” from Stampin’ Up! for this year. The HAPPY ANNIVERSARY stamp is by Hero Arts. Oh, and I added a little bit of hand-doodling, and some scoring with my Scor-Pal.

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

Birthday Birdie

Here is a card for today. I really want to try to add something every day, but believe it or not, it’s not my top priority. :)

I used papers from Die Cuts With a View – Nana’s Nursery for Girls. They’re matted with Certainly Celery. “Birthday Wishes” is from Sincere Salutations by Stampin’ Up! and is stamped with Certainly Celery on shimmery white paper and embossed with clear embossing powder. The bird is from Birds Galore by Inkadinkado. I stamped it with Positively Pink, then cut it out. I brayered it with Versamark and embossed it with Iridescent Sparkle embossing powder. Then I brayered it again with Versamark and embossed it with Deep Impressions Clear embossing powder for a nice thick clear coat. It’s mounted on Pop Dots. Three brads complete the card.

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

Ladybug Birthday

What a simple card this is - it would make a great addition to a set of cards to give as a gift.

I embossed the circles with a small Cuttlebug folder, then trimmed that piece and mounted it on shimmery black. The ladybug stickers were clearanced at Michael's a couple weeks ago. They are by Sandylion Essentials. The embossed dotted lines are done with a border Cuttlebug folder. I printed out the sentiment on my computer.

Thank you, Deb, for the JAVABLU award!! See the details on Deb's blog, Itty Bitty Inkspots.

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