Thank You Card

I made a thank you card yesterday for my daughter's main coach, Mark. Mark is the coach who spends the most time with her. He gives her three lessons a week, plus works with her during regular practice hours. He is not only a great coach, but he has become a great friend as well. Mark was not able to go to the Maryland Meet, so this was the first Meet our daughter has ever had to compete in without him. She had two of her four coaches there, but Mark is the coach that she is closest to. It was pretty scary for her to go to a Meet without Mark! Mark gave her a great encouraging talk before we left, but he really went above and beyond the call of duty once we got to the Meet. He got up earlier than east coast time (we live in a different time zone) to call her on her cell phone at 5:30 a.m. ET to encourage her and give her some last minute coaching advice. They  talked for about ten minutes. Remember that she was really sick? She told Mark that she was feeling bad that first phone call. As mentioned in my post yesterday, she did her first event beautifully and won first place. She called Mark to let  him know that she got first and he said, "See, you did it"! I posted yesterday that she got sicker as the morning wore on and she had to scratch the rest of her events for this Meet. But Mark called us three times on Meet Day One to check on her to see how she was feeling. We didn't know how she would feel on Meet Day Two- if she would be able to compete or not. So Mark called again at 5:30 a.m. ET on Meet Day Two to check up on her and to encourage her if she was competing. He called to check on her again later that day because I told him she was too sick to compete still. It turns out, that several of our club's skaters had the same thing that our daughter came down with at the Meet while we were gone! We are going to pick up a gift card for Mark today as a little blessing for him because he really blessed us by going beyond normal coaching duties, but in the meantime, here's the card I made for him :)...

 

 I used some Delta Ceramcoat white paint to dobber the clouds onto Bashful Blue card stock. When the clouds were dry I added some Dazzling Details for a little bit of sparkle.

I made three faux brads for the card front in Daffodil Yellow. It's easy to make faux brads! Just punch out as many circles as you need with a 1/4" circle punch, place them on some thick fun foam, and with a soft circular motion, press the end of a stylus into the center and work your way out to the edges until your circle has a slight cup shape. Then add a glue dot to the center and place it where you need it.

I left the inside of the card blank so my daughter could write her own thank you note to Mark :). I stamped the clouds and added another kite to the lower right corner. I like to add a little something to the inside of my cards just to give them that little bit of extra punch. Have a GREAT day!

Blessings!

Barb

Supplies:

Stamps: Send Me Soaring, Silhouette Sentiments

Paper: Bashful Blue, Whisper White, Old Olive, Daffodil Delight, Pacific Point, retired DSP

Classic Stampin' Ink: Daffodil Delight, Soft Suede, Island Indigo, Bashful Blue, Lucky Limeade, Pumpkin Pie

Other: Delta Ceramcoat white paint, 1/4" circle punch, glue dots, Dazzling Details glitter glue, Lucky Limeade bakers twine, Snowburst embossing folder

Another Challenge Card

This one was for the challenge at Inkspirations Challenges. The colors for the challenge are Rich Razzleberry, Pretty in Pink, Chocolate Chip, and Whisper White. I haven't used my Four Frames stamp set yet, so this was a good opportunity to do so :). I also used the Lace Ribbon Border punch and the Sweet Buttons embosslit. The sentiment inside the Frame stamp is from the stamp set Best of Everything.

For the inside, I left it blank and just added a little button in the lower right corner. The corners were done with a retired Stampin' Up! punch, but I don't remember the name of the punch :(. Since I listed everything I used, I won't post a supplies list today :). Have a great day today!

Stampin' Celebration Challenge #47

I was invited to be a Party Guest Designer at Stampin' Celebration this week. The photo above is the inspiration photo for this week's challenge. I actually made two cards for the challenge this week, so I will post my second one tomorrow. I've really enjoyed participating in the Stampin' Celebration challenges. There are so many fun elements to choose from in the inspiration photos :-). If you haven't participated in the Stampin' Celebration challenges yet, you should pop on over there and get started :-D.

For my card, I loved all the yellows in the inspiration photo, so I chose yellow as my base color. I chose to use the blue and white wallpaper in the inspiration photo for my background. I cut strips of Marina Mist and adhered them to Very Vanilla. As you can see in my photo, I also embossed the background with the Square Lattice embossing folder. Since there a few circle shapes in the inspiration photo, I chose to use a circle as my focal point. I added leaves and purple flowers, which you'll see around the bottom of the cake in the inspiration photo.

I matted Very Vanilla on Marina Mist and continued with the flowers and the leaves on the inside of my card.

Thank you so much to the Design Team at Stampin' Celebration for inviting me to be a Party Guest Designer this week! It was so much fun!!!! 

Blessings!

Barb

Supplies:
Paper: Daffodil Delight-119683, Very Vanilla-101650, Marina Mist-119682, Pear Pizzazz-119795, Perfect Plum-101889

Stamps: Sense of Time-113804

Classic Stampin' Ink: Marina Mist-119668

Punches: Boho Blossoms-119858, 1/4" circle 

Dies: Little Leaves-114511

Textured Impressions Embossing Folder: Square Lattice-119976

Other: Fold-it- Bows Template (non-Stampin' Up!)

Stampin' Celebration Challenge #45

I decided to participate again, in this week's Stampin' Celebration Challenge :-). I rarely do black and white cards, actually, I rarely use black at all. I'm not really sure why I don't use black all that much because it really adds elegance to everything. From the challenge photo, I chose as my main focus, the cake with the black and white flowers and the black line around the cake. The flowers on the cake have black stamens and black centers. To give the illusion of the stamens, I stamped only the bottom part of medium flower petal in the Build a Blossom set. I punched out the petal shape with the corresponding Blossom Petals punch. Since the colors in the overall challenge photo uses neutral colors, I inked the edges of my flower petals with Crumb Cake. 

I used swirls behind my flower because there are swirls on the candy and on the tablecloth in the challenge photo. For the inside of the card, I stuck with the clean lines from the cake. I punched the corners and added a 1/4" strip of black. Later, I can add some elements to the left of the black line and add a sentiment or a hand written note to the right of the black line.

I'm glad that I participated in this challenge because it gave me a chance to use a color that I hardly ever use. Maybe I will start using black more often :-D. I hope everyone's week is off to a wonderful start and that the rest of your week is blessed! See you tomorrow!

Blessings!

Barb

Supplies:

Paper: Whisper White-100730, Basic Black-121045

Classic Stampin' Ink: Crumb Cake-121030

Stampin' Write Marker: Basic Black-100082

Stamps: Build a Blossom-121994, Teeny Tiny Wishes-115370

Punches: Blossom Petals-121808, 3/4" Circle-119873

Dies: Swirls Scribbles-113441

Textured Impressions Embossing Folder: Perfect Polka Dots-117335

Where is Spring?

We had snow again a few days ago- 3 inches! I'm so glad that it was gone in just a couple of days! I am more than ready for Spring to get here, although there are some tell tale signs appearing. The peonies are already sending up their shoots as well as the daffodils. Looking at a lot of white snow and brown grass made me really long for some Spring colors, as you will see in the next three posts :-) ....

I am not going to be chatty today :D. We made a trip to Chicago over the weekend because our daughter had a Meet and I got one entire hour of sleep the whole weekend. I learned that it isn't good to photograph Meets on one hour of sleep. I don't know how many good ones I got out of 1,434 photos, but I will be surprised if 200 of them are good ones :o(. After a brief look this morning I am really happy that I use a digital camera and not a film camera! Can you imagine the cost of losing that many photos after you took 1,434 of them? Anyway, I am absolutely exhausted! Hope you all have a GREAT day today! I may sleep part of it!

Blessings!

Barb

I will add the supplies tomorrow. I hope you don't mind :)

Supplies:

Paper: Pretty in Pink-100459, Whisper White-100730, Baja Breeze-111352, Marina Mist-119682, Old Olive-100702, So Saffron-105118, Designer Series Paper- 124156

Punches: Heart to Heart-119881

Dies: Daisies #2=114520, Beautiful Wings-118138, Sweet Buttons embosslit-121813

Textured Impressions Embossing Folder: Framed Tulips-121809

Tri-Shutter Card

This type of card is called a Tri-Shutter Card. Interesting name, huh? It's a pretty cool card since it stands up all by itself for display and is always a nice surprise for whoever gets one. It's not your everyday, ordinary type of card :-). For my card, I used Marina Mist, So Saffron, and Cherry Cobbler, with just a splash of Very Vanilla. This color combo really makes all three colors pop, so I was really happy with my color choices.

Did you notice those cool little buttons in the centers of the flowers? I love them. They were made with the new Sweet Buttons embosslit in the Occasions Mini. A little bit of ink always adds more dimension to any die cut- especially die cuts that are embossed as they are cut. My buttons were done in So Saffron and Marina Mist, but only the So Saffron buttons were inked with More Mustard. Inking the Marina Mist buttons would have interrupted the flow of the card and would have left no place for the eye to rest. If you look closely though, the So Saffron flowers are inked a little around the edges with More Mustard, so it still draws the eye, but isn't busy.

Instead of using Designer Series Paper for my background, I chose to use texture for more interest. I chose the Square Lattice embossing folder. It reminds me of baskets and/or a woven background :-). Wishing you all a very happy day today! Thanks so much for visiting me!

Blessings!

Barb

Supplies:

Paper: So Saffron-105118, Marina Mist-119682, Cherry Cobbler-119685, Very Vanilla-101650, Old Olive-100702

Classic Stampin' Ink: More Mustard-103162, Cherry Cobbler-119669, So Saffron-105213, Marina Mist-119668

Stamps: Bliss-123217, Bold Blossom-122232

Punches: Butterfly-119848, 1.75" Scallop Circle-119854, Boho Blossoms-119858

Dies: Sweet Button-121813, Daisies #2-114520, Beautiful Wings-118138, Little Leaves-114511

Textured Impressions Embossing Folder: Square Lattice-119976

Build-a-Bear Workshop Thank You's

Have I ever mentioned that I love my Build-a-Bear dies? They are NOT just for kids :-) ! If you loved playing with paper dolls when you were little, you will love playing with the Build-a-Bear collection of dies, lol! The Build-a-Bear collection of dies are great for scrapping those photos from Build-a-Bear Workshop, but kids love cards made with them, and so do grown ups ;-). Not only are there dies in the collection, but stamps as well.

I made a set of thank you cards yesterday with my Build-a-Bear dies. This year's Idea Book & Catalog brings us some new clothes for our bears, 'Beary Dressy'. I just love this little outfit- too cute!! This dress reminds me of the little sun dresses my girls wore when they were little.

Sponging ink around your bear, the clothes, and adding a little bit of Stampin' Pastel to the cheeks give your little bears depth and character. You can also use some of your other dies with the bears, such as the small butterflies from the 'Beautiful Wings' embosslit. Perfectly sized for little bears :-).

I mentioned that Stampin' Up! also offers stamp sets in the Build-a-Bear Workshop collection. One of the sets is a collection of Beary cute little sentiments, lol!

If you layer a sheet of card stock and a sheet of Designer Series Paper on your die and roll them through at one time, you will be able to mix and match pieces to get different looks for your bear's attire. I didn't do it on these cards, but usually, I add 'Crystal Effects' to my die cut buttons to make them shiny. Bears and buttons just seem to go together, don't ya' think :-) ? Okay, that's my post for today. Have to start school with my daughter. Have a wonderful day today!!!

Blessings!

Barb

Supplies:

Stamps: Beary Nice Wishes-118050

Paper: Pretty in Pink-100459, Whisper White-100730, Certainly Celery-105125, Very Vanilla-101650, Basic Black-121045, Bashful Blue-105120, So Saffron-105118, Old Olive-100702, Pawsitively Prints I (retired- but there is a Pawsitively Prints II- 117396- in the new catalog- whoo hoo!)

Classic Stampin' Ink: Pink Pirouette-111838, Bashful Blue-105209, So Saffron-105213, Old Olive-102277

Dies: Bear-117977, Beary Dressy-119986, Beary Lovely-117987, Buttons #5-113440, Beautiful Wings embosslit-118138

Other: Square Lattice Textured Impressions embossing folder-119976

Fold Over Card

I got the inspiration for the folding of this card from a file folder project that I saw on Stamper's Connection for Stampin' Up! Demonstrators. When I saw her file folders, I instantly thought, "that would make a cool card"... here is the end result :-).

Not too much chat today because I am going into my stamping room and spending the entire day in there!!!! Whoo hoo!!!! It has been so long I hope I remember how to stamp, lol! I hope you are all having a wonderful Labor Day weekend!

Blessings!

Barb

Supplies:

Stamps: Sincere Salutations- 115068, God's Blessings- 114972, Vintage Vogue- 118598 clear mount/117690 wood mount, Snow Buddies (retired Level Two Hostess set from the 2009 Holiday Mini)

Paper: Pretty in Pink-100459, So Saffron-105118, Certainly Celery-105125, Old Olive-100702, Whisper White-100730

Classic Stampin' Ink: Pink Pirouette-118838, Old Olive-102277

Punches: Scallop Trim Border- 118402

Dies: Little Leaves-114511, Beautiful Wings embosslit-118138

Other: Square Lattice Textured Impressions embossing folder- 119976, yellow gems

Owl Punch/MDS

I didn't get a chance to get into my stamping room yesterday :-(, but I did make a card in My Digital Studio :-). I don't actually own the owl punch YET, but I totally plan to get him cause' he is sooooo stinkin' cute!!! I do, however, own the digital owl punch for My Digital Studio, so I still get to play with him- hoot hoot hooray!! And here he is...............

I am so going to make this card for real when I get this adorable owl punch! Just so ya' know, the left wing is not part of the owl punch, but is actually the wing from the Two Step Bird punch- here on this card as a digital punch, but I own the 'real' punch :-D. I LOVE My Digital Studio for designing cards and scrapbook pages before I ever cut into my paper. It's so easy to change out papers, embellishments, stamps, punches (all digital of course) until you like what you see. MDS will also give you the measurements, so you can go create the card exactly as you designed it in MDS. How cool is that?!!! I hope you all have a WONDERFUL weekend!!!!!

Blessings!

Barb

Supplies:
My Digital Studio

I've used up a good part of my stash over the summer, so have to build it back up :). I made this card yesterday for my daughter's friend who had a birthday this week. Uh huh, you guessed it, she LOVES pink! To that end, I paired Pretty in Pink with Certainly Celery, Pink Pirouette, and Very Vanilla.

I had some of these embossed card fronts left over from the note cards that I made On Tuesday and didn't photograph (rolls eyes :D ) and I didn't want them to go to waste. I stamped the three flowers, die cut three butterflies, and added pretty pink gems for just a touch of sparkle. Quick and easy card!

I hope everyone is staying nice and cool. We've been on heat advisory in our neck of the woods for about two weeks now. Summer will be coming to an end before too much longer :(. I can hardly believe how quickly the summer has been going by! I love summer, it's one of my favorite seasons, although each season has its own list of stuff that I love and look forward to. I am wanting to linger on summer colors, but my mind is already thinking ahead to the earthy colors of autumn, the crackling sound of leaves underfoot, the crispness of the air at night as the hot days of summer come to a close. Sigh.....

Blessings to you all today!!!

Barb

Supplies:

Stamps: Polka Dot Punches- retired SAB set, Punched Posies- 118535 (Level 1 Hostess Set in Summer Mini 2010

Paper: Pretty in Pink-100459, Certainly Celery-105125, Very Vanilla-101650

Classic Stampin' Ink: Pretty in Pink-101301, Certainly Celery-105217

Dies: Beautiful Wings embosslit-118138

Other: Square Lattice Textured Impressions embossing folder- 119976

Recyclin' !!!!

It may take me a little while to get up and going like I was before summer started, but... here is a little scrapbook I made a couple of weekends ago. My Stampin' Up! order arrived with my customers' orders a couple of days before and I had the box sitting on the floor in my stamping room. Every time I went in there the flaps really stood out to me, lol! So I cut them off and used my Curly Label die to create my book covers :D.

I peeled off some of the outer layers of the card board after die cutting the covers and then stamped them with the En Francais background stamp in Crumb Cake ink. I added a little bit of sponging with Old Olive and Crumb Cake inks. There are ten pages (Crumb Cake) all together in my book, but I'll just post a few of them so you can get the general idea of the layout I used inside the book :).

I stamped various sentiments from several different stamp sets throughout the pages of the book.

The back cover was done the same as the front cover and then I punched the holes in the book covers and pages with my Bind-it-all (LOVE that thing!!!) and bound it together.

So that was my weekend project a couple of weeks ago. I did a set of note cards for a gift on Tuesday, but do you think I remembered to take photos before I gave them away? Nope, sure didn't! That is what comes from waiting till the last minute to get a project done :D. I'm hoping to spend some time in my stamping room today (keep your fingers crossed for me ;-) ) since the only thing we have planned today is going to a birthday party for one of the coaches later on this evening. Hope you all have a wonderful day and thanks so much for stopping by and leaving comments even though I haven't been here most of the summer. Big hugs to you all!!!!

Blessings!

Barb

Supplies:

Stamps: En Francais-109521, Fabulous Phrases-120501, Vintage Vogue- 118598, Flight of the Butterfly- 111564, Apple Blossoms- Hostess Level 2

Paper: Stampin' Up! Box, Crumb Cake card stock- 120953, Old Olive card stock- 100702

Classic Stampin' Ink: Crumb Cake- 121030, Old Olive- 102277, Perfect Plum- 101437, Early Espresso- 119670

Punches: Two Step Bird-117191

Other: gems, Bind-it-all machine

Thinking of You in Blue :-D

I made this card in My Digital Studio first :-). I love MDS for designing cards before I even touch my paper. I know ahead of time exactly how it will look. It also gives me the measurements I need as I design. Cool, huh? Designing in MDS also cuts down on paper mistakes so less waste :-). In MDS, what you see is what you get. The punches and the stamps are all sized in real life size so you know if your stamp or punch will fit your design area. You can also re-size them though, if you'd like an element bigger or smaller. In my MDS sketch, I used So Saffron textured card stock, but when I made my actual card, I chose to use the Square Lattice embossing folder instead.

I chose a Bashful Blue mat for the inside of my card so it would match the colors of my card front. I also inked the edges of my Whisper White card stock with So Saffron to bring the yellow into the inside as well. The cute little butterfly body stamp is from the Level Two hostess set in the Summer Mini- Punched Posies. I'm looking forward to playing with this set more- it's awesome! The butterfly wings are punched out with the Butterfly punch and then I used my Stamp-a-ma-jig (love that tool!!!!) to stamp the little body on top. Easy Peasy!

That's my card for today :-). I hope you have a wonderful day today! Check back on Sunday for the Sunday Sketch :-).

Blessings!
Barb

Supplies:
Stamps: Teeny Tiny Wishes- 115370
Paper: Bashful Blue- 105120, Whisper White- 100730, So Saffron- 105118, Old Olive- 100702, Bashful Blue Patterns Designer Series Paper- 112151
Classic Stampin' Ink: Bashful Blue- 105209, So Saffron- 105213, Pacific Point- returning on July 1, 2010
Punches: Butterfly- , 5 Petal Flower- , Extra Large Two Step Bird- ,Trio Flower-
Other: Square Lattice Textured Impressions embossing folder- 119976, blue rhinestone

Elements of Style Vintage

I'm not very happy with this card, so I will probably re-do it. I'm posting it though because there are elements of this card that I really like. I like the colors I used- Elegant Eggplant, Soft Suede, and Kraft. My images are stamped on Kraft with Soft Suede ink and then colored in with Watercolor Wonder Crayons and a blender pen. The edges are inked with Soft Suede and then run through the Big Shot with the Square Lattice embossing folder. I am pretty sure that the only thing I don't like about this card is the oval with the sentiment. I think I need to change that. It seems too bright for the rest of the card :-(.

I know I am late posting, but I am behind this week due to our trip over the weekend. I hope to get caught up sometime this week, but no guarantee that will happen. Hopefully, I will get caught up over the weekend if I don't get caught up this week. I'll see if I can fix this card later and post an updated version :-). Have a great day!

Blessings!
Barb

Supplies:
Stamps: Elements of Style-120045 (wood mount- 118611), Vintage Labels-119112 (SAB)
Paper: Elegant Eggplant-105126, Soft Suede-115318, Kraft-102125, Very Vanilla-101650
Classic Stampin' Ink: Soft Suede
Watercolor Wonder Crayons: Elegant Eggplant, Garden Green, Pumpkin Pie
Punches: Wide Oval-112082
Other: Square Lattice Textured Impressions embossing folder-119976, 1/4" Chocolate Chip grosgrain ribbon-111367, Stampin' Dimensionals-104430, white pearls

Masculine- God Bless You

I was into Soft Suede and Kraft card stock the day I made the thank you card for my fellow demo (see post below), so I made another card that was more on the masculine side. I never have masculine cards in my card stash, so I thought that maybe I should add some ;-).

I started with a piece of Very Vanilla card stock and stamped it first with the En Francais background stamp using Soft Suede ink. I stamped it off on a scrap sheet of paper first and then stamped it on my Very Vanilla. I really should have stamped it off one more time though before stamping on my Very Vanilla. I then stamped one of the images from Lovely As a Tree in Chocolate Chip. I used Stampin' Pastels to color in the image so it would be soft and transparent in color. I haven't added any sentiment to the inside yet, but will do that when I use the card and know what the occasion would be for, lol! Have a wonderful day everyone and thank you for visiting!!

Blessings!
Barb

Supplies:
Stamps: Lovely As a Tree- 115026, Special Blessings- 113411, En Francais- 109521
Paper: Soft Suede- 115318, Kraft- 102125, Very Vanilla- 101650
Classic Stampin' Ink: Soft Suede- 115657, Chocolate Chip- 100908
Stampin' Pastels: 105542- Night of Navy, Bashful Blue, Old Olive
Punches: Modern Label- 116630, Word Window- 105090
Other: Soft Suede Polka Dot Grosgrain ribbon- 115612

Elements of Style

This is the last of my stamped vellum paper :-D, so I used it on one more card. The stamped vellum is adhered on top of Rose Red Designer Series Paper. You can still see the design on the paper, but it has a softer look color wise.

I used some Summer Mini items on my card. The Summer Mini goes live tomorrow- whoo hoo!! I used the sentiment from Elements of Style- an awesome stamp set, and the Square Lattice Textured Impressions embossing folder on my butterfly.

The button was created with Baja Breeze card stock (returning in July) and the 1" Circle punch. I punched out three circles, adhered the layers together, inked the edges with Baja Breeze ink, and punched the button holes with my Crop-a-dile. If you make your own buttons with circle punches, you can have a button in any color or Designer Series Paper to match your projects. They don't take long to make at all and they are super easy!

May is National Scrapbooking Month, so I'll have some scrappy projects to share during the month in honor of the celebration :-). Hmmm, I may even have a little give away during the month too ;-). Just a reminder... today is the LAST day for the Occasions Mini, so if there is anything you still want from that mini- please head to my online Stampin' Up! store and get it while you can :-). All righty- everyone have a wonderful weekend!!!! Thanks for visiting!

Blessings!
Barb

Supplies:
Stamps: Flower Fancy- 111578, Elements of Style- 120045 (wood mount- 118611)
Paper: Rose Red- 102544, So Saffron- 105118, Baja Breeze (coming in July 2010), Rose Red Designer Series Paper- 112162, vellum- 101839
Classic Stampin' Ink: Regal Rose- 105211, Old Olive- 102277, Baja Breeze
Other: 1" Circle punch- 109046, Beautiful Butterflies die- 114507, Square Lattice embossing folder- 119976, Stampin' Dimensionals- 104430, DMC embroidery floss #471, yellow gems, Crop-a-dile- 108362

Square Lattice Folder

Gosh, I really like the Square Lattice embossing folder coming out in the Summer 2010 mini on May 1st (just a few more days :-D ). For my card today, I used a scrap of the vellum that I stamped and used on yesterday's card, and picked up a hodgepodge of elements from my counter top in my crafting room to use as well. Might as well make good use of those bits and pieces laying around ;-).

The vellum is backed with Pink Pirouette card stock, which is making a return as a core color in the new 2010/2011 Idea Book and Catalog. Whoo hoo! I loooooove Pink Pirouette! Lots of texture going on in this card- die cut/embossed butterflies, embossed card base, and the vellum was embossed too, just for good measure ;-). It's a beautiful sunny day here finally!! We've had lots of rain! I am going to enjoy this sunny day while I can because we have four more days of rain headed our way- boo hoo hoo!!!! Have a great day and thanks for stopping by!

Blessings!
Barb

Supplies:
Stamps: Flower Fancy- 111578
Paper: Whisper White- 100730, Rich Razzleberry- 115316, Melon Mambo- 115320, Pink Pirouette (coming in July), vellum
Classic Stampin' Ink: Regal Rose- 105211, Old Olive- 102277, Baja Breeze- coming in the 2010/2011 Idea Book and Catalog on July 1st
Other: Square Lattice Textured Impressions embossing folder- 119976 (Summer Mini 2010), Perfect Polka Dots Textured Impressions embossing folder- 117335, Scallop Trim border punch, Beautiful Wings embosslit- 118138

Life Moments

I stamped an 8.5 x 11 sheet of vellum a couple of weeks ago with the Flower Fancy two step stamp set. You have to let the vellum dry after stamping it. I found it best to let it dry overnight because vellum takes a long time to dry! I knew that I wanted to use that stamped vellum for a background of some sort, but when I pulled it out this morning, I didn't like any paper that I placed behind it, soooo, I embossed Whisper White with the new Square Lattice embossing folder and sponged over it with So Saffron ink. I thought the embossed background worked out much better :-).

I stamped one butterfly die cut with the En Francais background stamp and sponged the edges with Regal Rose ink. I distressed the edges of the smaller butterfly die cut, sponged the edges with Regal Rose, crunched it up, inked over the wrinkles with Regal Rose and Baja Breeze inks. My sentiment and the small background flowers are stamped with Baja Breeze- a returning In Color that will become a core color in the new color palette coming in July. I gotta run- have a great day!!

Blessings!
Barb

Supplies:
Stamps: Flower Fancy- 111578, En Francais- 109521, Elements of Style- 120045 (wood mount- 118611)- Elements of Style coming in the Summer Mini 2010 on May 1st
Paper: Rose Red- 102544, Whisper White- 100730, So Saffron- 105118, vellum
Classic Stampin' Ink: Regal Rose- 105211, Old Olive- 102277, So Saffron- 105213, Baja Breeze- coming in the 2010/2011 Idea Book and Catalog on July 1st
Other: Square Lattice Textured Impressions embossing folder- 119976 (Summer Mini 2010), Beautiful Butterflies Bigz die- 114507, Brads- 109109, Stampin' Dimensionals- 104430

Post Cards

Sorry for being so late in posting today. It appears that my mojo has gone on vacation :-(. I did have on my to-do list, some post cards to make. Post cards are great for quick messages and are cheaper to mail than cards :-). You can use any sentiment from birthday to Christmas greetings. The only requirement for post cards are size and they need to be flat, since they don't use an envelope... although you could mail them in an envelope if you wanted, but you would pay regular postage. From one sheet of 8.5" x 11" card stock, you can make four post cards and they would be within the size limit for post card stamps. You would just cut your card stock in half lengthwise and then again crosswise. Easy peasy :-D. Here is the post card that I made today....

I thought I would use some colors from the upcoming color renovation. I used Pacific Point for the post card base. You can see the rest of the colors I used in the Supplies list below. I added some Iridescent Ice embossing powder on the Regal Rose flower and on each of the butterflies. Iridescent Ice embossing powder is perfect for adding sparkle to parts of your post card for mailing because it won't rub off. I tried to get a photo below so you can see at least see a little bit of the Iridescent Ice E.P.

I used a stamp from Winter Post for the back of my post card. You can leave it as is with the stamped image at the top of your post card or you can draw a line down the middle with a matching marker. The right side is for the address and the left side to add a short note if you'd like.

You can make post cards in any color, for any occasion, and use any stamps that you have to create the front of your post card. They are especially nice for 'Thinking of You' cards, just to let someone know they're in your thoughts. I hope you'll take some time to add some post cards to your card stash :-). Wishing you all a great day! Hopefully, my mojo will come back from vacation soon....

Blessings!
Barb

Supplies:
Stamps: Flower Fancy- 111578, Flight of the Butterfly-111564, Sincere Salutations- 115068, Winter Post- 111780
Paper: Pacific Point- returning in the 2010/2011 Idea Book and Catalog, Whisper White- 100730
Classic Stampin' Ink: Pacific Point- returning in the 2010/2011 Idea Book and Catalog, Baja Breeze- returning in the 2010/2011 Idea Book and Catalog, Regal Rose-105211, Rose Red-101778, Pink Pirouette- returning in the 2010/2011 Idea Book and Catalog, Pretty in Pink- 101301, Bashful Blue- 105209, Old Olive- 102277, VersaMark- 102283
Other: Iridescent Ice embossing powder- 101930, Heat Tool-100005 , Stamp-a-ma-jig- 101049

The Card Book :-)

I was thinking that it was time to pull out my Curly Label Movers and Shapers die and make a card with it. With this die, you can die cut a perfectly cut card, with score lines, and a window die cut wherever you want one. It is way cool- it really is ;-). And it's been a while since I've used it! On the way to my scrap room, I had an idea that worked out perfectly :-). I made a Card and a scrapbook all in one! With just 'one' sheet of 8.5" x 11" card stock. I cut my one sheet of card stock in half on the length of the card stock so that I had two pieces measuring 4.25" x 11". Lining up one of those pieces in the Movers and Shapers die, I die cut the card with the Curly Label window die and cut it in half on the score line where you would normally fold the card. I took the other 4.25" x 11" piece of card stock and cut it in half so that I had two pieces measuring 4.25" x 5.5". Did you notice that that is the size of a standard A2 size card :-D ? You can totally mail this baby in a regular card envelope! I scored 1/2" on the short left side of each piece of 4.25" x 5.5" card stock, stacked them, added the front part of the binding, and punched three holes for eyelets. The binding is adhered to the front, holes punched for the eyelets, but the back is not punched so that the back covers up the ugly backside of the eyelets. The ribbon is threaded through the eyelets before the back of the binding is adhered, so the ribbon can only be seen on the front. Cool, huh :-D ?!

The cover

A peek of the book from the top. There are five pages all together.

Page one

Pages two and three

Pages four and five

This would really be a great little card/book to write encouraging words to someone or to add some uplifting scriptures to. You could put in some photos too :-). With five pages, you could even write a letter if you wanted to, lol! I hope you like my little card book/scrapbook and that you will try your own. It was a lot of fun making this and I have no doubt there are more in my future ;-). Have a great day!!! See ya' tomorrow!

Blessings!
Barb

Supplies:
Stamps: Vintage Vogue- 118598 (wood mount- 117690) Whimsical Words- 119119 (wood mount- 118386)
Paper: Regal Rose- 105130, Rose Red- 102544, Old Olive- 100702, So Saffron- 105118, Whisper White- 100730, So Saffron Designer Series Paper- 112152
Classic Stampin' Ink: Regal Rose- 105211, Old Olive- 102277
Punches: Two Step Bird- 117191, Trio Flower- 109183, 1/2" Circle- 104390, Scallop Trim Border- 118402, 5 Petal Flower- 109041
Dies: Beautiful Wings embosslit- 118138, Daisies #2- 114520, Curly Label Movers and Shapers XL Bigz- 114506
Other: Perfect Polka Dots Textured Impressions embossing folder- 117335, white eyelets, 1/8" white grosgrain ribbon, pink gems

Fancy Flower Punch

Good Morning! I hope you all had a wonderful weekend! Today, my cards use the Extra Large Fancy Flower punch. To give you an idea of the size of this flower, my cards are A2 size (4.25" x 5.5"). For the first card, I borrowed my good friend Donna's Pinking Hearts Corner punch :-). Thanks so much Donna!!! I also used the Scallop Trim Border punch on both of these cards.

I did just the corners of my cards as I kind of like that look :-), but you can use the matching border punches and punch the design all the way around. As you can see in my photos, I layered the Fancy Flower, by first stamping the flower image from With All My Heart in YoYo Yellow, sponging around the edges of the punch out in Apricot Appeal, and then punching out another flower from Apricot Appeal card stock. I also sponged the edges of the solid card stock flowers. I finished off the flower centers with a Trio Flower punch flower and also inked the edges. I did two cards, pretty much the same, but changed out the corner punches and the colors that I used. The card above is on the bold side and the card below is much softer due to the use of pastel colors.

For the tags on my flowers, I stamped one of the sentiments from Teeny Tiny Wishes, punched it out near one side of the sentiment instead of centering, then simply trimmed off the end and poked a hole with my piercing tool for the crochet thread. So there ya' have it! One basic layout, but two slightly different looks by using different color combos and different corner punches :-). I have to pick up one of my daughters and take her to work this morning so I have to run. I hope you all have the best day! Thanks for visiting my blog today- I appreciate that you take the time to do so.

Blessings!
Barb

Supplies:
Stamps: Teeny Tiny Wishes- 115370, Sweetheart- 120780, With All My Heart- 118623 (wood mount- 118134)
Paper: Apricot Appeal- 05124, Pumpkin Pie- 105117, Whisper White- 100730, Old Olive- 100702, Pretty in Pink- 100459, Bashful Blue- 105120
Classic Stampin' Ink: YoYo Yellow- 102717, Pretty in Pink- 101301, Apricot Appeal- 105218, Old Olive- 102277
Punches: X Lrg Fancy Flower- 118073, Word Window- 105090, Scallop Trim Corner- 118870, Scallop Trim Border- 118402, Pinking Heart Corner- 118072, Trio Flower- 109183
Other: Perfect Polka Dots embossing folder- 117335, Pumpkin Pie 1/4" grosgrain ribbon- 109030, Pretty in Pink 1/4" grosgrain ribbon- 109032, pearl gems