Apr
25
2008
OK…I know I say this almost every week, but doesn’t it feel like time is speeding up? I can’t believe another week has passed and it is time for the Blogger’s Challenge again!
This week’s challenge was to use the color combination of Brocade Blue, Certainly Celery, So Saffron and Chocolate Chip. I decided to do a variation of the Flap Fold card from June/July 2007 Technique Junkies online bonus newsletter. It is a fun card to make…I did our Christmas cards using this template last year.
My Bloomin’ Beautiful set was sitting out from last night, so I decided to use it…such a pretty set! I stamped the flower pot with Black Stazon and water colored it with my Watercolor Crayons. I did a little zig zag faux stitch along the side of the printed Certainly Celery paper. I also pierced around the scallops of the Scallop Circle punch. Inside, I stamped some dotted circles from the Seeing Spots set in So Saffron for a little added texture. This card will go to my Mother in Law for Mother’s Day! (Hope she isn’t peeking here!)
I’ll be gone for the next couple days…we are off to see our eldest son in Madison, WI. I’ll try to line up some timed posts before I go, but I have a lot of stamping projects with due dates, so we’ll see.
Had fun with my Stamper’s Club group last night! I know Cynthia in particular “enjoyed” the glitter card we did!
Have a great weekend.
Apr
25
2008
As soon as I saw this alphabet, Lovely Letters, in the new catalog, I knew it would be in my collection. So, even though I got it soon after Convention, this was the first time I’ve used it! I had something like this in mind when I got it, but just hadn’t had time to do anything.
So…I get a phone call this morning from my DH (I’ll let you choose the adjective!).
Him: “Hi honey, sweetie pie…what cha doing?”
Me: What do you need?
Him: Well, yesterday was Administrative Assistant Day and I didn’t know so I didn’t get anything for my Executive Assistant. Could you whip something up real quick for her? I need to take it into work with me tomorrow.
Me: You owe me BIG time
lol! Now…Stephanie is a sweetheart and she is SO good to my DH, so even though I have a TON of assignments needing done and I had a class tonight, I managed to put together this package of note cards for her.
Many thanks to Michelle Wooderson for the idea of the note cards. I love how they turned out AND they were so quick to put together. The words were printed off on my computer. I also lined the inside of the envelopes with the DSP. I made some envelope seals with her monogram and a little envelope from the DSP to hold the seals. A ribbon holds the mini envelope closed. The paper is Stampin’ Up!’s Fall Flowers and I particularly LOVE this flower pattern in that package. It took a little less than 2 full 12×12 sheets to do it all. I tucked the 8 cards, envelopes and seals into the card box. I think she’ll be pleased with her gift! Now I’m thinking I’ll make these for Mother’s Day and tuck a gift card inside, too!
Enjoy!
Apr
23
2008
Did you ever have a day go missing? I tell ya…yesterday went by in a blur and I really don’t know what I did! I wasn’t even that BUSY…just tinkering around doing things. I can’t believe I forgot to post! Oh well…
This is the card I made for my mom and dad’s anniversary. They celebrated 49 years last week. Congratulations! I love the saying from Full of Life in the Spring mini and I used markers to highlight different words. Perfect for my parents who have been together and in love for so long. I used Jen Del Muro’s sketch again…love it! The colors are Mellow Moss, Pale Plum and Very Vanilla. The Designer paper is from the retired Enchante package. The same designs can be found in the current catalog, with different colors, called Le Jardin. The ribbon is Very Vanilla Taffeta to give it an elegant touch and I used the trio of flowers from BoHo punch in all three colors with a silver brad in the center.
Enjoy!
Apr
21
2008
Sorry I stayed away all weekend! Saturday was busy with errands and Sunday…well, let me tell you what we did! We went to the Billy Joel Concert in town. Oh my! That man STILL has such a great voice! He played all his old (and my favorite!!) songs…finishing with Piano Man. His band was excellent…several saxes, two drummers, two electric guitar players. Billy Joel was in form…cracking jokes about how much older he was than the last time he was in Columbus, about his ex-wives and his loss/graying of hair. Because my husband’s bank helped sponsor the event, we had seats 5 rows from the floor and to the side…within “spittin” distance as my hubby would say. We really had a great time! We saw him in concert about 18 years ago when he was touring with Elton John. Now THAT was a concert, too!
Well…on to the purpose why you stopped by, right? Here is the card that I made for the Control Freaks swap…we were to use any new set in the last catalog…thank goodness it was a small swap (18) because cutting out all those candles! Oh my! Patty Bennett gave me the inspiration for the fold. The base of the card is made with Pumpkin Pie cut 4 x 12 and scored at 4 and 8, then the center panel is scored diagonally (top left to bottom right) making an inside pocket when collapsed that holds a gift card or money. I used the fabulous Jersey Shore DSP paper on the front and inside (note to self…order MORE!). I cut 3 candles (Brilliant Blue, Pumpkin Pie and Wild Wasabi) and 3 flames (Summer Sun) for each card. On the flames, I sponged some pumpkin pie ink in the centers, covered with Tombow Multipurpose glue and then Dazzling Diamonds glitter. They SPARKLE so pretty! I stamped Make a Wish from the Big Birthday Candle set and I used the Happy Everything set for the inside with Basic Gray ink. This is a fun set to stamp!
This week I need to prepare for a couple upcoming classes AND get my schedule of classes worked out for NEXT month! I’m behind doing that…the weather has been nice and I think I have a little Spring Fever! lol!
Enjoy!
Apr
18
2008
My thoughts for this challenge were to use up some of the scrap pieces of chipboard I have laying around. I used the large chipboard flowers that surround this center circle for my Tart & Tangy Camp, so I had a lot of these circles with the cut out flower shape left over. I really haven’t seen that many ideas out there using them (however, I haven’t really looked either!). But, this card idea sort of evolved as I went along.
So, here is my thinking process on making this card. I knew I wanted to use Ginger Blossoms paper (love the colors). So I started with the base of River Rock and played with the flower strip of DSP and the Ruby Red layer until I liked it. I love polka dots, so I originally cut 2″ polka dot DSP squares…well those were too big to go across the card (duh!), so I cut them down to 1 3/4″ squares. I originally had the Vanilla squares lined up evenly with the polka dot squares, but you couldn’t see much of the cool polka dot DSP. So, I ended up turning the Vanilla squares on the diamond (those were cut with the larger 1 3/8″ square punch). Finally, I stamped the flower from the Three for You Punch Box stamp set in the center using Cameo Coral ink and placed a Ruby Red mini brad. I colored my chipboard with Cameo Coral Craft Ink (yes…it came out dark!) and added Iridescent Ice EP and heat set! I love the sparkle that II EP adds. Last I added the Groovy Guava double-stitched ribbon across the flower DSP and used “Make a Wish” from the Big Birthday Candle set. I’m happy with how it turned out!
I can’t believe it is Friday already! Hope you have a wonderful weekend. Today is supposed to be GORGEOUS here…mid to high 70s and sunny. Perfect!
Apr
17
2008
Here is another sketch and color challenge that Mary, Lisa and I participated in last weekend! This card turned out to be one of my favorites! Lisa chose the colors from a pretty notecard she had received…Cameo Coral, Tempting Turquoise, Old Olive, Summer Sun and Chocolate Chip. The sketch was from Amy Rysavy’s site.
Spring Solitude is my favorite of the Hostess sets! I stamped the solid flower with White Craft ink on the tempting turquoise. I used markers for the bird and tree limb. I used the other stem on the Old Olive layer and rounded the corners. The Cameo Coral base card I used the Twill background stamp with Cameo Coral ink…I love the textured look with that stamp! Of course, I also used my 5 petal punch and the Bo Ho Blossoms punch. And, I love the narrow twill ribbon (comes in Chocolate Chip or Old Olive), it works great!
I’ve had a sinus migraine all day. Luckily it wasn’t too bad…just more annoying than anything!
Apr
17
2008
I love the simplicity of this set, Essence of Love. It looks equally wonderful stamped in black on a colorful background…or using Versamark and pastels…or individually coloring the flowers with markers. Truly a very versatile set! This card was another one done during the sketch challenges with Mary and Lisa last weekend. (I’m sorry! I’ve forgotten where we found the sketch!)
I did the background by placing Summer Sun and Ballet Blue ink pads next to each other on the table…and using my brayer to ink both colors simultaneously. You need to make sure you are getting the center of the brayer inked well, too. Then I ran the brayer over glossy paper. I love the effect…a faux Spectrum pad! I stamped the flower image with Basic Black over the colored background. The Summer Sun layer has the background Posy stamped with Summer Sun! I love the look that background stamp gives, too!
American Idol results show tonight…it is certainly getting harder and harder to determine who leaves each week! They are all such awesome performers! Who is YOUR favorite?
Apr
15
2008
Again another challenge card Lisa, Mary and I worked on over the past weekend. This challenge used Jen Del Muro’s blog sketch with our requirement to use Designer Paper. I decided that I hadn’t used Western Sky in a long time and I think it goes perfect with this stamp set. I pulled out some scraps (this sketch is PERFECT to use up scraps!) and matted them using Ruby Red. I stamped the Genuine stamp with Basic Black on Blue Bayou and colored in parts of the image with my Versamarker. Using the Versmarker this way is great for getting just a little darker shade of the background cardstock! Then I used my White Craft pad to sponge around the edges of the stamped image layer for a little added interest. I added some punched stars and pewter brads. Done! I’m very happy with the way this turned out!
This morning we had a little frost on the ground…I hope it doesn’t hurt the beautiful spring flowers and buds that are just coming out! Spring is my most favorite time…seeing the bright green shoots coming out on the trees…the flowering crabs, rhododendrens, yellow forsythia and sunny daffodils! Beautiful time of year!
Apr
14
2008
I spent some time on Friday and Saturday doing challenges with my friends, Mary and Lisa. Some challenges were sketches…some were sketches and color combos. This was one of the sketch and color combinations. We picked the colors from Kristina Werner’s blog this week and the sketch from Mercy’s blog. Taken with Teal, Tempting Turquoise, Old Olive, Chocolate Chip and Very Vanilla were the colors. I had already started on this card, when I realized I wouldn’t be able to use yellow for the flame! So…I compromised by using Tombow Multipurpose glue and dazzling diamonds. In real life, it does sparkle and look like fire!
This was a cute sketch…I like the way it turned out. Big Birthday Candle if fun to use with designer papers…you can cut out so many fun designs for the base of the candles. The greeting is from It’s Your Birthday, and I made it into a tag using the tag corner punch. A little added 5/8″ chocolate chip ribbon adds a nice touch…along with the silver brads in the corners and on the top of the layer.
Tonight is TV night. I’ve been enjoying The Big Give and a new Desperate Housewives. My other favorite show, Grey’s Anatomy, will be new next week! Can’t wait!
Hope you have a great week!
Apr
11
2008
This week’s challenge was to create a triangle box. There are several different variations we saw when we started looking for patterns. Mine is a simple 4 x 8 square, scored in half and scored from the center of each short side to the side of the center crease…making a diamond. When you fold up the scores, the flaps are tucked over each other. I punched two holes in the top flaps and the ribbon keeps it closed.
I chose the Embrace Life stamp set and Ginger Blossoms DSP and Groovy Guava…I hadn’t used either of them in a while. I stamped the long stem image randomly on my box with Groovy Guava. Then I adhere the triangle piece of DSP to the front. Stamped the large flower in black and used my sponge dauber to ink the center. I added a coordinating stripe of reverse red stripe DSP by the flower and a Rhinestone brad.
This is a fun little treat box! I’m glad we had this challenge so I pulled out my notes on how to make them!
Enjoy your Friday! Weekend here we come!
