SCS Color Challenge Anniversary

This card is for SplitCoastStampers Color Challenge #238. The colors are Stampin' Up!'s Sage Shadow, Going Gray and Pretty in Pink. It's also another card using Natasha Trupp's Fall-To Layout #61.

I used a JustRite Stamper stamp from Damask Borders for the border and a Papertrey Ink stamp from Mixed Messages for the sentiment. I stamped the JustRite Stamper with Sage Shadow and stamped the sentiment with Going Gray. I cut and embossed it with a circle Nestability. The matting is cut with a scalloped circle Nestability from Going Gray cardstock. The border is embossed with a Swiss Dots Cuttlebug folder and matted with Sage Shadow. The butterflies are punched from Pretty in Pink with a Martha Stewart punch and then pearls added to their bodies. The circle and the butterflies are mounted on Pop Dots.

Today is the last day for you to take advantage of my Stampin' Up! demo discount. See Monday's post.

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

CAS Challenge - Blue, Pink and Green

I got a little chance to stamp yesterday - it was awesome! I made this card for the SplitCoastStampers Clean and Simple Challenge #34. The challenge was to use pink, blue and green. It's also for Natasha Trupp's Clean & Simple Stamping blog Fall-To Layout challenge which is a sketch and can be found here.

The image is a stamp from the dollar section at Michael's. I colored the leaves with a SU! Mellow Moss marker, placed a button for the flower center and paper-pieced the vase with SU! Bliss Blue cardstock. I cut and embossed it with a Petite Oval Nestability and matted it with a scalloped Petite Oval in Pretty In Pink cardstock. The border is embossed with a Cuttlebug border folder from the Ironworks set, scored with a Scor-Pal and matted on Mellow Moss cardstock. There is also scoring on both sides of the matting. The image is mounted on Pop Dots. The sentiment is stamped with Bliss Blue and mounted on Pop Dots, also. I had stamped a sentiment directly on the card front, but I didn't get a good stamping. That didn't make me happy, as the card was already finished. Oh well. I used a longer sentiment, stamped it on a scrap of white, cut it out and mounted it on the card. Not my first choice, but I think it looks fine.

Remember, you have only today and tomorrow to place your Stampin' Up! order from me at my cost. (See yesterday's post for more details.)

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

Stampin' Up! Special Offer

Just a quick post today with a special offer. I hope to get some stamping in today - that will be awesome!

I will only be a Stampin' Up! demo for three more days. So, I am making this offer to my blog readers. If you are interested in placing a Stampin' Up! order with me and receiving my demonstrator discount, please email me at LJNeus@hotmail.com. I would only accept orders from those who can pay me through PayPal with existing funds or checking accounts or who would be willing to pay the PayPal fee, or those who would be willing to give me their credit card number over the phone. (I would not even write the number down - I would just enter it in as I place the order.) Sorry, if I don't know you personally, I can not accept a personal check. Here is a link to the Stampin' Up! website with the page that has the catalogs.

Please email me as soon as possible if you are interested. Just an FYI - tax and shipping is on the original price. Shipping (directly from Stampin' Up! to you) is 10% of the merchandise total with a minimum of $6.95. Those are not my costs - they are from Stampin' Up! Your cost would be exactly what my cost would be - no more, no less.

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

Sympathy Rose

This card is for my sister-in-law and her family. Her mother passed away Sunday night due to cancer. She was such a special person. We saw her in June and she looked great. In August she found out she had stomach cancer and that it had spread throughout her body and there was nothing they could do for her. So sad.

I started with a card base (Papertrey Ink Stampers Select cardstock) on which I had stamped the sentiment, from Papertrey’s anniversary set. (When Harriet (allycatcards) was here in June, she brought her PTI anniversary set. I stamped a couple card bases using the sympathy stamp.) I used a rose stamp from an Inkadinkado set, bending the stem quite a bit and the rose just a little bit before I put it on the acrylic block. I stamped it directly on the card base, and also twice on another piece of white cardstock. I colored all three images using Stampin’ Up! Old Olive and Cameo Coral markers. I cut out the flower from both extra stampings, and also the leaves. I mounted the cut-out pieces on Pop Dots and layered them. The rose has two layers popped up and so does the largest leaf. The other leaves have just one popped up layer.

We will be heading out of town later this morning for the funeral and will spend a few days with family. That means that every weekend in September we were out of town! Makes it kind of hard to get much stamping done. (Or housework!) Hopefully soon I will be able to share cards here more often again.

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

2RedBananas "Kit Card"

I'm having fun as a Guest Designer for 2RedBananas! This card was made with items from Jeanette - we were all given the same "pieces." Included were two different pieces of double-sided designer paper, the turquoise rick-rack, the pink velvety ribbon, the metallic dew drops, and two colors of glitter. This is what I came up with. Check out the 2RedBananas blog to see what the other "bananas" came up with! (The post isn't there yet, but it will be.)

The image is Birthday Penny from the September release. I stamped her with Versafine Vintage Sepia ink and colored her with Stampin' Up! markers, a Copic marker (her skin) and a paintbrush and SU! ink pad (her hat.) I paper-pieced the present and the bow, then added glitter to the ribbons in her hair and the bow on the package. (I know, it's very hard to see in the picture.) The sentiment is from a dollar set from Michael's. I sponged a little brown around the edges. The patterned layer is mounted on some brown cardstock, also.

Here are the specifics on the "ingredients:" Paper - October Afternoon Daydream Collection Patio Umbrella and Rain Boots. Glitter - Pink Paislee Pixie Stix Bubblegum and Green Apple. Dew Drops - Mardi Gras Metallics. Ribbons - May Arts.

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

2RedBananas Challenge - Easy as 1, 2, 3!

Today's card is for this week's 2RedBananas Challenge - Easy as 1, 2, 3! You are to use one ribbon, two stamps and three dew drops or gems. Very fun!

The main stamp I used is from the September release from 2RedBananas. (You can find a link to the store from the above link. :) ) I'm not at home and I can't remember right now where the Happy Fall stamp is from. I colored the image with Prismacolor Pencils and Gamsol. The "ribbon" is actually some linen-y thing I had in my scraps box. I mounted the image on dark brown cardstock and punched the bottom border with an EK Success punch. I cut and embossed the sentiment with a Long Rectangle Nestability and rubbed the edges on a brown ink pad. The card base is from Die Cuts With a View.

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

Birthday Card for Andrew

Here is the birthday card I made for our grandson. I can't believe he'll be a year old already in a couple weeks! We will celebrate his birthday when we go down for his baptism. We will celebrate his mom's birthday, too, which is on Friday.

I started by stamping the little robot three times on shimmery silver paper and once on white. I used Versafine Onyx Black and embossed with black embossing powder. For the first layer, I cut out the entire robot and put him flat on the white. The second layer is his head, including his ears. The third layer is just his head without the ears. Between the first and second layers and the second and third layers, I used Pop Dots. (You can see that close up in the small picture here.) I printed the sentiment on my computer and cut and embossed it with a Rectangle Nestability. I cut the red frame from Stampin' Up!'s Riding Hood Red cardstock. The solid black line is done with a black Sharpie, using another Rectangle Nestability to trace around. The sentiment has silver ink rubbed on the edges and is also mounted on Pop Dots.

We are looking forward to seeing Andrew again! We don't get to see him nearly often enough, but we'll do the best we can:)

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

Baptism for Andrew

This card is for our grandson's baptism, which will be on Sunday in Chicago. We'll be heading down there by Amtrak on Thursday. Tomorrow I'll try to post his birthday card. This is a very Clean and Simple card - mostly white. Perfect for a baptism, I think. It's a case of another of my cards, which I did for a Confirmation a while back.

I embossed the top of the card with a Sizzix embossing folder, then scored the double lines with my Scor-Pal right below the embossing. I left enough room for the ribbon and scored another set of double lines, then embossed the bottom with a Cuttlebug Diamond Plate folder. I printed the sentiment on my computer, cut it out and embossed it with a square Nestability, matted it with a scalloped square cut from Stampin' Up!'s Bashful Blue and mounted it on Pop Dots. I matted the whole panel on Bashful Blue, as well.

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

Happy Anniversary, Harriet and Bruce!

This is the card I made for a great friend and her husband for their anniversary. It's done using a stamp from the 2RedBananas Quotes III set - available starting today. Here is a link to the new releases.

I started by stamping the flourishes (from Paper Inspirations) in the corners with Rose Romance ink from Stampin' Up! on Going Gray cardstock. Then I stamped just the hearts twice on Rose Romance cardstock with white pigment ink, then embossed it with clear embossing powder. I cut out both hearts for one piece, and only the smaller heart for the second piece, then mounted each on Pop Dots. Using my Stamp-a-ma-jig, I stamped the sentiment (from Quotes III) between the flourishes with Versamark ink and embossed, again using clear embossing powder. The ribbon is from Basic Gray and I used my Scor-Pal to emboss double lines on both sides of the ribbon. The butterflies are punched from pearlescent vellum using a Martha Stewart punch. I added pearls to the butterflies and also to some of the swirls. The card base is Papertrey Ink Stampers Select white.

If anyone is interested in the rain situation on our camping trip, here is the update. Like I said before, it ALWAYS rains and this year was no exception. However, this year it rained the first night, so we got it out of the way right away. :) Saturday and Sunday were beautiful. It was a great weekend - good friends and good weather. Perfect combination!

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

2RedBananas Sketch Challenge

Today's card is for this week's challenge on the 2RedBananas blog. The challenge for this week is a sketch and here is the link to the challenge.

I used another new set from 2RedBananas - to be released tomorrow! I colored the cute little fuzzy bear with Prismacolor pencils and Gamsol. I cut him out with a Circle Nestability and sponged brown ink around the edges. He is popped up on Pop Dots. The background is a stamp from the same set, and I stamped it on PaperTrey Ink Kraft cardstock. I sponged ink around the edges of those panels, too. I used my Scor-Pal to emboss lines on the dark brown layer, and then added ribbon. The card base is Very Vanilla by Stampin' Up!

Thanks so much for stopping by, and I hope you'll come back and visit again soon. When this posts, I'll be camping, and hopefully staying dry!

One More Sneak Peek

One more card for the September release from 2RedBananas. This one is called "Skater Jack."

I colored the image with Prismacolor pencils and Gamsol except for his skin - I used a Copic. The skateboard wheels are brads. The image and patterned paper (which is from a Die Cuts With a View Summer matstack) are mounted on Stampin' Up!'s Tangerine Tango. I embossed the background panel with a Diamond Plate Cuttlebug folder. I wasn't sure what sentiment to use, but I printed this one on the computer. I thought the font was appropriate - kind of looked like skateboard ramps:)

Thanks so much for stopping by, and I hope you'll come back and visit again soon! We're heading out for camping soon with our "camping buddies." We go every year, and every year it rains! Wish us better luck this year, although it's not looking very promising.

Birthday Penny - A Sneak Peek

Another "Sneak Peek" for the 2RedBananas September release. This one is called Birthday Penny.

I colored Penny with Stampin' Up! markers (except for her face - I used a Copic) and added Stickles to her party hat and the ribbon on the package. I added hand-doodling around the outside of the image panel and mounted it on Stampin' Up! Mauve Mist cardstock. The bottom layer is Certainly Celery and I embossed the border with a Cuttlebug folder from the Pop Culture set, and of course scored a couple scored lines with my Scor-Pal. I added a pearl to each diamond. The sentiment is from Stampendous. Penny (and other new stamps) will be available from the 2RedBananas store soon!

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

SCS Color Challenge and 2RedBananas Quotes

This card is for SplitCoastStampers Color Challenge #235 - Elegant Eggplant, Old Olive and Basic Black.

The great quote stamp is a "Sneak Peek" from a soon-to-be-released set from 2RedBananas. The flower is from another 2RedBananas set called "Party Bees." I stamped the flower on Stampin' Up!'s Elegant Eggplant cardstock and cut it out. I attached it with an olive brad. The leaves are punched out of SU!'s Old Olive with an EK Success punch. I cut the quote panel with a Labels One Nestability, mounted it on a square piece of shimmery black paper with the corners rounded, and then on to a layer of Elegant Eggplant, also cut with a Labels One Nestability. The main image panel is popped up on Pop Dots. The Old Olive strip across the middle is embossed with a Cuttlebug border folder from a new set called Pop Culture and scored with my Scor-Pal. The base of the card is Papertrey Ink's Stamper's Select White.

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

2RedBananas Sneak Peek

This card is for a couple challenges, and it's also a sneak peek of one of the new sets in the September release by 2RedBananas. It is for the SplitCoastStampers Clean and Simple challenge - to use Pop Dots, and also for Sharon Johnson's blog challenge - to stamp your sentiment over your image.

Both of the stamps I used are from 2RedBananas. The branch is from 'Wrapped in His Love' and the sentiment is from the soon-to-be-released set 'Quotes III.' I stamped the sentiment in Versamagic Onyx Black, then used my Stamp-a-ma-jig to stamp the branch over it. I inked up the stamp with Stampin' Up!'s Creamy Caramel and Certainly Celery markers and then colored the blossoms with Barely Banana. I cut it out with an oval Nestability and matted it with a scalloped oval cut with another Nestability out of SU! Barely Banana. The sentiment panel is popped up with Pop Dots. The Certainly Celery layer is embossed with a Cuttlebug Swiss Dots folder. The white layer is embossed with a new Victoria Cuttlebug embossing folder. The white embossed layer is matted with Certainly Celery.

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

2RedBananas Challenge - Stripes and Dots

This card is for this week's 2RedBananas challenge - to use stripes and dots. You can find the challenge here. Why don't you join us? :)

I colored the cute little House Mouse with Stampin' Up! ink pads and a wet paint brush. I cut the image in a rectangle, but left his tail sticking out a bit. The papers are from a Summer Matstack by Die Cuts With a View. The "photo corners" are punched with a punch by Stampin' Up! I matted everything with a textured red paper.

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

SCS Ways to Use It Challenge - Sanded

(fThis card is for SplitCoastStampers ""Ways To Use It Challenge" #234 - to use sand or to sand something.

I started with a piece of textured DCWV green cardstock. I embossed it with my new Victoria Cuttlebug folder. Then I sanded it with a Stampin' Up! sanding block. I thought it looked 'elegant' so I had to do the rest of the card elegant, too:) I stamped the sentiment (from Stampin' Up!'s Elegant Greetings) with Adirondack Bottle Green ink, then cut it out with a scalloped Petite Oval Nestability. I placed a plain Petite Oval Nestability over it and sponged on the inside of the oval, then sponged lightly around the edge of the scallops. The white border across the middle of the card is embossed with a border folder from Organic Flourish set, and I used my Scor-Pal to score double lines on each side of the embossed border. I brayered over the embossing with the same Bottle Green ink. I added eyelets to the scalloped sentiment (I was going to add ribbon, but it didn't work out.) and popped it up with Pop Dots.

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

SCS Sketch Challenge

Seems like I haven't had much time for stamping lately, but I took some time today to do yesterday's Sketch Challenge.

The stamps I used are from 2RedBananas set "Precious Bundles." I stamped the main image on white and also on the pink patterned paper. I cut out the blanket and hat from the patterned paper and adhered them to the image on white, which I had colored. I used a couple Copic makers (I only have three :) ) and the rest was done with Stampin' Up! markers. I sponged SU! Pretty in Pink ink around the edges and matted it with the same patterned paper. I had done a practice image, too, so I cut the bird out of that one and popped it up on Pop Dots. The background paper is from Die Cuts With a View - Nana's Nursery - Girl.

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

September Calendar Page - a Day Late!

Oops - I forgot to use my calendar page for my post yesterday. :) Thanks, Lucy, for the gentle reminder!

Since I made this page close to a year ago and my memory isn't all that great (and I'm being lazy right now!) I can't tell you for sure what materials I used. I'm pretty sure the main image is from my Costco Inkadinkado sets. I used a Spectrum pad to ink it up. The paper is also from Costco by My Mind's Eye. If anyone REALLY wants to know what I used, please just email me.

Just a little announcement, too. I will no longer be a Stampin' Up! demo after about the 15th of this month. If anyone would like to make a final order from me, please let me know. Thanks!

And thanks for stopping by. I hope you'll come back and visit again soon!

Another "Card Parts" Card

I was looking through my "card parts" again a few days ago and picked out a few things to use in the near future as I get a chance. This is a card I made using some parts.

The main image panel was stamped with two stamps from Stampin' Up!'s Sweet Dreams set. I trimmed it down on the bottom and sides, and used a Martha Stewart THANKS border punch for the top. I scored a couple lines towards the top with my Scor-Pal The background was something fun that I tried and then added to my "parts pile" a couple weeks ago. I took a piece of screen, adhered it to my cardstock with a repositionable tape, and rolled over it with a spongy roller and Sage Shadow ink. I thought it turned out kind of cool. The main image panel needed a little something more, so I added a very thin strip of the screen background between the scored lines. Both the image and the background are matted with Perfect Plum cardstock.

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

2RedBananas Challenge - Rub-ons

My first challenge as a Guest Designer for 2RedBananas. I made this card for this week's challenge, which is to use rub-ons. You can find the challenge here, on the 2RedBananas blog.

My rub-on is by American Traditional Company - the flowers in the center. (They really DO look nice in real life. The photo makes them look kind of worn or something. Sorry.) I matted the square with the rub-on on a scalloped square cut with a Nestability. I had some green rick-rack ribbon that matched, so I added that and scored lines on both sides of it. I also popped up the image squares with Pop Dots. The sentiment is from the 2RedBananas set "Wrapped In His Love." It is stamped and embossed.

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

A Blog Award - Thanks!

I have been nominated twice for the Kreativ Blogger award! Once by Harriet (allycat cards) and once by Mary (It’s All About the Journey.) Thank you BOTH so very much for the honor! They both have awesome blogs, so you just might want to check them out. :)

I am supposed to tell you seven things you might find interesting about me. So, in no particular order, here are seven things about boring me!

~ I have always lived in MN, moving from Fergus Falls to Austin to Plymouth.
~ I have hiked to the bottom of the Grand Canyon and back.
~ I like crafts and have done many different ones including hardanger, tatting, cross-stitching and crochet
~ I enjoy camping, hiking and nature – my favorite vacations are to parks and scenic areas.
~ My favorite TV shows are Lost, Survivor and The Office.
~ I like bowling (we only sub now) and have bowled a 723 series.
~ I walk 30 – 60 minutes six days a week.

Well there you go – some things you may not have known about me!

I’ll be back with a card tomorrow – for the 2RedBananas challenge. Thanks so much for looking, and I hope you’ll come back and visit again soon!

Pink Impressabilities Birthday

I broke down and bought an 'Impressability' by Spellbinders. This is the Butterflies one. The end result is much like a Cuttlebug folder, but they are a thin metal, so they require the rubber mat.

I embossed it with my BIGkick, then brayered it with Stampin' Up!s Pretty in Pink ink. I added some pink ribbon and stamped the sentiment (which is by Stampendous) with SU! Rose Romance ink. I punched the butterflies with Martha Stewart butterfly punches and added pearls to the bodies and also on both sides of the sentiment. The butterflies are mounted on Pop Dot pieces. Purely Clean and Simple! :)

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

An Announcement!

Notice the little blinky thing to the left? Isn’t it cool?

Jeanette of 2RedBananas asked me to be a guest designer for her! I had to think about it … for about two seconds! … before I said, “YES!” I will be Guest Designer for the months of September and October and I’m so excited! I feel so honored. (You can visit the 2RedBananas blog here.)

I met Jeanette at Archiver’s in Des Moines last summer (2008) when our Yahoo! group met there for the first time. She saw us having so much fun and promptly joined our group – lucky her AND lucky us! She was able to spend some time with us again this year. (Have I ever told you what a wonderful group we have? I think I may have. LOL!!)

Anyway, expect to be seeing a lot of 2RedBananas stamps on my blog for a while. :-)

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

Another CAS Design Team Challenge Card

This card is for the sketch challenge portion of the SplitCoastStampers Clean and Simple Design Team challenges.

I was having a hard time coming up with a card for this sketch, but then I realized the new Cuttlebug folder I just got on Friday would be great for it. A VERY CAS card! I embossed the owl, added googlie eyes, added ribbon and scored on both sides of it, and matted it on brown cardstock. The sentiment is from Stampendous and is stamped with Chocolate Chip.

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

Red Christmas

Today's card is another card I made for the Clean and Simple Design Team challenge - the holiday theme one.

I started by punching the bottom with a Martha Stewart Snowflake border punch, then I scored the lines with my Scor-Pal. The ribbon is by Martha Stewart, also. I got it last year after Christmas - luckily I just came across it yesterday. I stamped the top portion with a stamp from Stampin' Up!'s Snow Swirled set. I realized the sentiment wouldn't show up very well over the red stamping, so I added a piece of pearlescent vellum over the snowflakes and stamped the sentiment (also from Snow Swirled) on the vellum. The base of the card is Real Red.

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

SCS Clean and Simple Design Team Challenge

Another card for SplitCoastStampers Clean and Simple Design Team challenge. This card is for the "holiday card" challenge.

The inked squares are done with Papertrey Ink's ink cubes in New Leaf and Berry Sorbet - direct to paper. The snowflakes are stamped in PTI Fresh Snow with a stamp from Stampin' Up!'s set Snow Swirled. I rubbed the Berry Sorbet cube along the edges of the cardstock and mounted it on Pop Dots. The sentiment is from a Studio G set, stamped in New Leaf. That's it!

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

CAS Challenge - Monochromatic with a "Splash" of Red

This card is for the fall SplitCoastStampers Clean and Simple Design Team challenge. (Wish me luck!!) There are three challenges, actually, and this challenge was to make a monochromatic card using shades of brown, and to add a "splash of red." I'm hoping my "splash" isn't too much of a "tidal wave!" I thought about making most of the apples rotten and brown, but decided I'd rather stick with more red:)

The stamp is from Gina K. I used water color pencils and a paint brush to color it. Then I added a little more red with a paint brush and Real Red ink. I did so want to add some white highlights with a gel pen, but I was too afraid I would ruin what I already had done and was pleased with, so I chickened out! I used a black glaze pen on the rivets on the basket. The card base is PaperTrey Ink Kraft and the other browns are scraps I had. The sentiment is from Stampin' Up!'s Sincere Salutations and is stamped with Versafine Vintage Sepia. The image was cut with a Labels One Nestability and is mounted on the bottom-most layer with Pop Dots.

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

CAS Challenge - Masculine Card

A quick post for today - I have some errands to run.

I made this card for SplitCoastStampers Clean and Simple Challenge - to make a masculine card. They are really hard for me, especially since about 90% of my stamps are flowers! (Well, maybe not quite 90%, but a LOT!) I stamped the owl (from Inkadinkado) onto white cardstock with Versafine Vintage Sepia ink, then embossed it with clear embossing powder. I brayered over the whole thing - very randomly - with Stampin' Up!'s Creamy Caramel ink. Then I masked off the owl and brayered Old Olive towards the bottom and Bliss Blue towards the top. (The "rugged" look is intentional.) I mounted it on Old Olive cardstock. Wasn't sure what to do about the owl just floating in the middle of the page, so I added a strip of Chocolate Chip which I embossed with a Cuttlebug Distressed Stripes folder. It almost looks like a tree for the branch to be growing out of, but that wasn't my thought when I did it! The sentiment is from Stampin' Up!'s Sincere Salutations set. The base of the card is PaperTrey Ink's Kraft.

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

Sympathy Rose

I was in need of a sympathy card yesterday, so this is what I made.

The rose is a stampoff from when Harriet was here in June - from Gina K called Year of Flowers. I had already colored it a couple weeks ago and I believe I used Blush Blossom and Pretty in Pink Stampin' Up! markers. The leaves are from the same set and I colored them with Certainly Celery and Sage Shadow. I carefully cut them out and mounted them on Pop Dots. The sentiment is also from Harriet - from Papertrey Ink's Anniversary set. The strip in the middle is embossed with a Sizzix embossing folder and mounted on a strip of green. I scored on both sides of it with my Scor-Pal.

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

WT231 - hello

This card is for SplitCoastStampers Ways to Use It Challenge #231 - to use variegated color. I chose to use my variegated thread again:-) I started this on Thursday morning, but just finished it up Friday night. (My sister was moving to Atlanta, and I was busy with her, helping her and having her stay at my house, then taking her to the airport at 3:30 a.m. this morning! I'm going to miss her:( )

The stamp is a stampoff from last year in Des Moines. I know it's from Stampin' Up! - a hostess set, I believe. I colored the flowers with Stampin' Up! markers, and watercolored the background with Barely Banana and a paintbrush. The background papers are from DCWV and the matting is Brilliant Blue. I'm still working on the challenge to use patterned paper!

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

SCS Sketch Challenge - and a Personal Challenge

This card is for SplitCoastStampers Sketch Challenge #241. It’s also a personal challenge between Michele Boyer and me. Her comment on my “non-challenge” 2RedBananas card from a couple days ago was “I should challenge you to USE patterned paper and you should challenge me NOT to!” So I did. :) I promise to make another one, too, Michele, with more overlapping of patterned paper.

I chose my paper (from Die Cuts With a View Summer Matstack) first and cut them per the sketch, then matted them on Stampin’ Up!’s Bliss Blue. Then I had to find an image the right size and shape. The image is by Penny Black. I stamped it when I was in Des Moines in June. I used many (nine) Stampin’ Up! ink pads to color the image. I rubbed the ink pads on a piece of acrylic that I have, then used a wet paintbrush to pick up the color. I tried matching the colors to the papers. I even blended three colors for the pot – More Mustard, Pumpkin Pie and Creamy Caramel. I stitched around the edges of the panel. If it wouldn’t have been so late (I couldn’t sleep – it was after midnight) I would have stitched around each piece of patterned paper.) The butterfly is punched from the same paper with a Martha Stewart punch. I added the antennae with a black gel pen and colored the body of the butterfly with a black glaze pen. The card base is SU!’s Riding Hood Red.

As I was looking at the card, it really bothered me that it looked “unfinished” between the patterned papers, so I added a thin strip of Riding Hood Red between them. I like it much better! I put the picture of the “finished” card first, but left the picture of it before I added the strip of red. Don’t you think that little strip worked wonders?

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

Two Simple Birthday Cards

I needed a birthday card for our niece's husband, so no flowers. That makes it really tough for me! I remembered I had this stamp by Art Impressions that would work nicely.

I stamped it three times on three different patterns of paper with similar colors and cut out the nine packages. Then I stamped it on three card fronts. I adhered one of each pattern on to the stamped image on the card front. The sentiment on this first one is from Studio G. I got out a Long Oval Nestability and traced around the inside with a black glaze pen, moving the Nestability to make it the size I wanted to frame the image and sentiment. The sentiment for this second card is from Scrappy Cat. I used a Rectangle Nestability and a black gel pen for this frame and traced the outside. I knew I had seen Natasha Trupp do this for a Fall-To Layout in early June, but I didn't realize just how much I followed her sketch without having seen it for almost two months! You can find her layout here. (The third card, not pictured, is the one that went to Jason.)

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

2RedBananas Challenge - Cardstock Only

I made this card for the 2RedBananas challenge. The “challenge” is to use only cardstock - no patterned paper - and only one embellishment. You can find the challenge here. Not too much of a challenge for me, though, as I rarely use patterned paper! I love patterned paper, love to see other people use it, and have LOTS of it. I just wish I knew how to use it!

I used Anna Griffin ink cubes for the colored squares – just “smooshed” them on the paper. The stamp is by Inkadinkado and I stamped it with Versafine Vintage Sepia. I added a little color to the flowers and leaf with the ink cubes, also, by just rubbing it carefully on the stamped image. It wasn’t meant to be perfect! :-) I mounted the image panel on Stampin’ Up!’s Rose Romance cardstock. The sentiment is from 2RedBananas and is also stamped in Vintage Sepia.

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

SCS CAS: Ways to Use It

This week's SplitCoastStampers Clean and Simple (CAS) challenge is to use bling. I knew what stamp I had to use! I’ve had it for several years, but have never used it.

The stamp is by Global Solutions. I stamped it with Versafine Onyx Black and watercolored the critters with Stampin’ Up! ink pads and a wet paint brush - to keep them subtle and focus on the bling. The crown and the hearts are Stickles in gold and red. The crown also has pearls. The kitty's necklace is made of rhinestones, and the wolf's (is that a wolf? I sure can’t tell!) earring has a small pink rhinestone. The panel is mounted on sparkly silver paper and then on black.

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

Two "Same-Stamp" Cards

I’m sharing two cards today with you, using the same main stamp on both cards. The flower and the leaves are from Gina K’s Year of Flowers, and I stamped them when my friend was here in June.

For this first one, I made it a sunflower. Not sure it can be, but what the heck! I colored the flower and the leaves with Stampin’ Up! markers and cut them out. For the flower I used Barely Banana and So Saffron, and for the leaves I used Mellow Moss and Sage Shadow. The center of the flower is Flower Soft. I drew the stem with a black Sharpie, then went over it with the Mellow Moss and Sage Shadow markers. I popped the flower and leaves up on Pop Dots. The sentiment is from Scrappy Cat and the card base is PaperTrey Ink’s kraft.
For the second one, I did no coloring on the flower – just used Flower Soft in the center. I used the same color markers for these leaves as the first one – Mellow Moss and Sage Shadow and drew the stem. The sentiment is again from Scrappy Cat. I embossed the background with my Cuttlebug Swiss Dots folder, mounted the whole thing on black, used my Stampin’ Up! punch for the photo corners and mounted the flower, leaves and sentiment on Pop Dots.

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

Anniversary Roses

When my friend Harriet was here in June she brought a few stamps with her, so I stamped some images to have for later. This card uses some of them. (Thanks, Harriet!)

The stamps are from Gina K's Year of Flowers. I colored the roses and leaves with Stampin' Up! markers and carefully cut them out. I colored the roses a couple times each with Mauve Mist and Pale Plum. I tried doing a little shading, but I'm not sure you can see that in the picture. I colored the leaves with Sage Shadow and Mellow Moss. I mounted them on an ivory oval which was cut and embossed with an Oval Nestability. They are all adhered directly to the oval except for the bottom-most rose, which I mounted on Pop Dots. I matted the oval with a small rectangle of Pale Plum cardstock. The whole image panel is mounted on Pop Dots, also. The sentiment is from Stampendous, and the card base is Stampin' Up!'s Very Vanilla.

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

My New Stamp!

I was so excited to get my new personalized stamp, I had to share:)

A friend from my Yahoo! group ordered some personalized stamps from Chris in Malaysia through eBay and was very pleased, so I checked them out, too, and ordered one for myself. There are MANY options. I love flowers, so of course, that's what mine had to have. I wanted my stamping email address on it, too, and that was done at no extra charge. Talk about reasonable prices - it was only $7.50 including shipping. And now I see the stamps are 10% off. The stamps are clear unmounted, but are available with foam and adhesive backing at no extra charge. I ordered mine with the foam and adhesive backing, and then mounted it on a Stampin' Up! block that I had. (It was a defective block that I had had replaced, but kept it in case I ever wanted to use it.)

If you are interested in getting something for yourself, you can find Chris' eBay auctions here and the eBay store here. Shipping is VERY reasonable and there is no charge for additional items.

Thanks so much for stopping by, and I hope you'll come back and visit again soon. I'll have a card to share with you tomorrow.

Just a Note ...

Just a Clean and Simple card to try and cheer up a friend.

I embossed the background with a Sizzix texture plate when I was down in Des Moines in June. The 'tag' is a Sizzix die cut that I cut out of Mauve Mist cardstock by Stampin’ Up! The sentiment is from a Studio G dollar set and I inked it with Perfect Plum. The main image panel is done with a retired Stampin’ Up! set called Sweet Dreams. I colored the flowers and stems with SU! markers in Perfect Plum and Mellow Moss. The background is done with Pale Plum. The butterfly is a Martha Stewart punch. I added white dots with a gel pen to the butterfly and also to the flower centers, and pearls to the sentiment panel and the butterfly body. I matted everything with Pale Plum

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

CAS Challenge - Stitching

Two cards again today – both for the Clean and Simple Challenge for this week. The challenge was to use stitching – either real or faux. I chose to use real. I bought this variegated thread a couple years ago to use for sewing on some cards, but I think I had only used it once.

The flowers on this first card are from Stampin’ Up!’s Sweet Dreams and the sentiment is also Stampin’ Up! from Lots of Thoughts. I inked both up with Stampin’ Up! markers from the Bold Brights family – Brilliant Blue, Real Red, Yo-Yo Yellow and Glorious Green. The image is matted on Real Red and mounted on Pop Dots. I added tiny pearls to the flower centers. The card base is Papertrey Ink’s Stamper's Select white.
For this second card, I used the same variegated thread and alternated between straight and zig-zag stitching. The stamps are from Studio G clear dollar sets, and the ink is Versamagic – Spanish Moss, Red Brick and Night Sky. I wanted the flower center to be a bright yellow, but I had no bright yellow buttons. So, I found one the right size and dipped it in Colorbox Canary yellow pigment ink. Then I added Iridescent Sparkle embossing powder and heated it. I tied it on with navy DMC floss. The image panel is matted on Night of Navy cardstock and mounted on Pop Dots.

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

Tri-Shutter in White

Today’s card is another Tri-Shutter card. I really wanted to make one that was predominantly white. And with the stamps I wanted to use, it worked better to change the orientation. You can find the tutorial here.

The only stamping was done with two stamps from the Stampin’ Up! set called Elegant Greetings. I thought they fit with the elegance of white. All the white that I used is textured. I embossed some sections with a Cuttlebug Swiss Dots folder and some with a D'vine Swirl folder. I left the areas unembossed that had stamping. I used Oval Nestabilities – plain and scalloped - for the front sentiment panel and sponged the edges with Baja Breeze. All the matting is done with Stampin’ Up!’s Baja Breeze cardstock. I punched the butterflies with a Martha Stewart punch. I added white dots with a gel pen, and then pearls for the bodies.

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

Simple Thanks

My husband needed a quick thank you note, and he was kind enough to let me make it! He did not want anything fancy, and I was happy to do that for him. I made him two, and let him choose.

The image for both cards is stamped on Papertrey Stamper’s Select white cardstock and colored with Stampin’ Up! markers. I cut it out and sponged the edges, then mounted it directly on the card for the first card, and on a small piece of matting for the second card. The sentiment on the first card is computer-generated, and on the second card it's from a Stampin’ Up! set called “Much Appreciated” and is stamped with Old Olive ink.

By the way, he chose the second card:)

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

SCS Technique Lovers Challenge - Quilling

These cards are for a Technique Lover’s Challenge on SplitCoastStampers – to use quilling. I also combined a Clean and Simple Challenge for the second one – a sketch challenge.

On the first card, I simply used a sticker I’ve had for a while with quilled flowers on it. I loved it when I bought it, and I still do. I cut the white mat and the Mauve Mist mat using Oval Nestabilities. The sentiment is from a Studio G set and the background is embossed with a Sizzix folder. The quilled panel is mounted on Pop Dots, mostly because I thought that's the way it would stick the best. For this second card, I did do the quilling. I guess it's a hyacinth- that's what the directions call it:) (I got a calendar a few years ago with a different quilling pattern and paper for each day. Very fun, but I still have a lot of them left!) Not much explanation necessary. I used a color I almost NEVER use – Stampin’ Up!’s Glorious Green - for the matting. It matched the quilling paper. I had to hand-emboss the dots, because I forgot to emboss it before I added the quilling. Oops - didn't want to run it through my BIGkick with the quilling on! The sentiment is from a Studio G set and is stamped with Stampin’ Up! Elegant Eggplant.

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

August Calendar Page

Here is my calendar page for August.

Not much to it. The stamps are all from a dollar set from JoAnn’s except for the border around the scalloped circle which is from Papertrey Ink’s circle borders set, and the grass, which is from a retired Stampin’ Up! set called “Pasture Birthday.” I did the coloring with Stampin’ Up! markers. The circles are punched with Marvy Uchida punches. I sponged around the edge of the inner circle. I really should start thinking about starting my calendars for next year.

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