Age Awareness

Hi there!  It's a gray and dreary day today making it a good day to stay inside and stamp!  Speaking of gray, I'm sharing one of the cards the Hostess Club members made at our meeting on Tuesday.  The Dotty Angles and Age Awareness sets by Stampin' Up! were used.  Heidi King's card seen here (scroll down to Aug 11) was my inspiration.  A few changes were made - like different colors and DSP, making it my own.  Thank you Heidi!
That's all for now.  Must finish up for our Card Buffet this coming Sunday.  Thank you so much for stopping in today!

All Stampin' Up! supplies used unless otherwise noted. 

Stamps: Age Awareness, Dotty Angles 

Paper: Coastal Cabana, Lost Lagoon, Moonlight DSP mini stack, Smoky Slate, White 

Ink: Coastal Cabana, Craft White, Lost Lagoon, Pool Party, Smoky Slate, markers to color candles - Hello Honey marker, Lost Lagoon marker 

Tools:  Banners Framelits, Scallop Circle punch, 1-3/8” Circle punch, 1-1/4” Circle punch 

Other:  Coastal Cabana Thick Bakers Twine, Dimensionals, clear blocks, foam mat

Bowl Me Over

Hi there!  It's another gray day around here.  Great time to stamp, huh?  So, how about a card?  Thought so!  Ha!  One evening while surfing the net, I came across Andi Potler's adorable bowling card in a box.  I was intrigued by her "bowling pins" and decided to make one.  You can find the instructions here.  Well, the process became addictive and I ended up making quite a few!  Fast forward to this week.  I needed a card for our youngest daughter's birthday.  She and her husband are on a bowling team.  The "bowling pins" were sitting on my desk, which triggered a creative thought process in designing a bowling card for her.  How appropriate - and fun!  The bowling ball was made in a different manner than Andi's.  I added the finger holes of the "bowling ball" by tapping the eraser end of a pencil onto a White Craft ink pad and stamped the black circle.  (Hint: a new eraser works best.)  The "alley" was made with the Hardwood background stamp.  A sentiment for the inside was generated on the computer (after Googling some clever puns).  I was pleased with the way the card turned out and think our baby girl will get a kick out of it, too. 

That's it for today.  Thank you for stopping in for a visit, where you're always welcome!

Oops!

Hi there!  I had a great day with my stamping peeps today and really great cards from the shoebox swap that we did!
It was brought to my attention by a kind reader (yay! a reader!) that I posted the same card twice this month.  Oops, sorry about that!  Guess I really liked that card.  lol  So here's a different card to make up for that little blunder. 

This is actually a 3x3 fridge magnet (or it could be a small notecard) showcasing a technique that Cheryl Renth demo'd at Pam D'Urso's stamping retreat last month. It's the white wash technique.  You may have seen it on other blogs.  Line art images work best for this technique.  Stamp your image with Versamark, sprinkle some white embossing powder onto piece, then heat set.  Let it cool for a minute.  Stampin' Up! White Craft Ink, which is a pigment ink, was applied sparingly with an aqua pen - as if white washing.  I prefer dipping my aqua pen into a small well of water, then picking up some White Craft Ink that has been pressed into the lid of the stamp pad.  The water thins the ink and helps to achieve that "white wash" look.  When that layer dries, a color (or colors) of your choice can be applied by using markers and a blending pen to color and shade your image.  In this sample I used the marker around the inside perimeter of each bloom, then  "pulled" the color towards the center of the bloom with the blender pen.  Make sure your project is completely dry before trying to glue it to anything. 

OK, need to get to bed.  Hope the rest of your weekend is awesome!  Thanks for stopping in!

                                                                                                                   

Snow Much Fun!

Hi there!  Are you ready for some turkey and dressing?  Thanksgiving is my favorite holiday!  We are going to my SIL's.  It's great not to have to do all the cleaning and cooking but sure do miss having the leftovers!  My contribution to the meal is Sweet Potato Casserole, which has become a tradition on that side of the family.  It is so yummy - and low cal.  Yeah, right!  lol
I have another Camp card to share with you.  It can be used for Christmas or as a Winter birthday card.  The Night of Navy background was achieved by using the Northern Flurry embossing folder, then swiping the White craft pad (direct to paper method) over the raised areas.  The snowman is colored with Stampin' Pastels. (I should use these more often!)

Stampin' Up! supplies used unless otherwise noted.

Stamps: Snow Much Fun

Paper: Night of Navy, Whisper White

Ink: Whisper White Craft, Night of Navy (inside), Versamark

Tools: Big Shot, Northern Flurry embossing folder, heat tool,

Other:  Black embossing powder, Embossing Buddy, Stampin’ Pastels,

Q-tips, Dimensionals

I'm stamping with the Wednesday girls!  Be safe in your travels this holiday.  Thank you for stopping by and have a blessed Thanksgiving!

PLAYING CATCH UP

Hi!  Today I've been doing laundry, chores around the house, and addressing birthday cards to send out - mostly belated.  Even concocted a dish for dinner with ingredients I had on hand (yellow squash, diced tomatoes, whole grain penne pasta, canned chicken, and a bit of oregano).  It turned out pretty tasty if I say so myself.  Yum :)

Yesterday's Pieces of Heart garage sale was a huge success despite the extreme heat!  There were eight Demos participating - Wow!  Jayne Singleton was a sweetheart to bring breakfast doughnuts and a cooler of bottled water to make sure we kept hydrated during the day.  Thanks Jayne!  A big thanks to Theresa Tesson for providing our brunch after the sale!  What a treat that was to have some nourishment for our bodies after packing up and putting away everything.  And of course a HUGE thanks to Pam D'Urso, our friend and up-line, for always going above and beyond the call of duty for us girls.  She not only provided the location for this event but made these darling garden stakes for each of us!  Aren't they awesome?

A closer view

These ladies are the BEST!  (Now would be a great time to become a Demo so you can have fun with us.  You can join for only $99!  This price is in effect until the end of the month.)  We had so much fun at the sale talking among ourselves and with the customers.  I know the heat kept some people from venturing out.  It was hot even with fans providing some air flow.  Sooo, we're tossing around the idea of having another sale in the fall.  Stay tuned! lol

Would you like to see a card or two instead of me blabbering?  Thought so!  Well here are a couple of the belated cards that will go in the mail tomorrow.

This is what is called a step card.  The focal image is from the Nature Walk set and colored with Old Olive, Daffodil Delight, and Cherry Cobbler markers.  The butterfly was stamped on the White panel in black ink and another stamped on scrap White, colored, then cut out and popped up on dimensionals over the plain one.  (That way you don't have to cut out the antennae.)  A piece of Cherry Cobbler seam binding was tied around the panel for a pop of color.  The black card stock panels are embossed with the Square Lattice embossing folder and adhered to a Daffodil Delight card base.

This card is made from the Vintage Vogue set in Cherry Cobbler and Soft Suede.  The White panel was only partially run through the Big Shot using the Perfect Polka Dot embossing folder. The large flower was stamped with White Craft ink then heat embossed using white embossing powder.  The small flower was stamped in Soft Suede and the vine is Cherry Cobbler.  Soft Suede ink was sponged on for some definition.  The sentiment is from the Just Believe set stamped in Soft Suede then punched out with the Decorative Label punch.  I then made a mat of 2 additional Decorative Labels punched out in Cherry Cobbler, which were cut and adhered to the White label to form a larger label. The focal piece is matted on Cherry Cobbler then to a Soft Suede card base.

That's all for today folks.  Thank you for stopping in and hope you come by again!

Vintage Vogue

Hi everyone!  It's Saturday and I'm back to post a birthday card for one of our niece's upcoming birthday.  We have a number of family members and friends celebrating birthdays or other occasions this month.  It seems that even though I make cards, I don't have the "right" one for the recipient.  Decided it was time for a "just do it!" attitude - pick an appropriate card and get it in the mail.  Soooo, I have been pulling out cards from my stash.  Do you find yourself missing a birthday or other occasion even though you hand make cards?  Crazy, huh?  Guess it's like the Cobbler's children have no shoes type story.  lol
Here's one from my card stash using the "Vintage Vogue" stamp set, which made it to the new catalog.  Yes!  (This is such a pretty set - need to drag it out again to show it a little love.)  Anyway, I inked up the flower swirl image using White craft ink and stamped in a random pattern on the Crumb Cake card base and focal piece.  I then used Soft Suede ink to stamp a few times over the stamped White images on the focal piece.  Mat focal piece to Soft Suede card stock and tie a Very Vanilla ribbon around it before securing to the card base.  The outside sentiment is from  "Just Believe".   Inside I used a sentiment from "On Your Birthday".

Inspired by Lisa Maco

Here are the measurements:
Crumb Cake cardbase = 5-1/2" x 8-1/2", scored at 4-1/4 and folded in half
    focal piece = 2-1/4" x 3-1/4"
Soft Suede mat = 2-1/2" x 3-1/2"


Stampin' Up! supplies used unless otherwise noted.
Stamps - Vintage Vogue, Just Believe, On Your Birthday
Paper - Crumb Cake, Soft Suede
Ink - Soft Suede, Craft White
Tools - Oval punches
Other - Very Vanilla 3/8" taffeta ribbon (retired)

Off to excavate my archeological site - digging from the card stash!  Thanks for checking in today and hope this inspires you to mail out your cards!

Binder Clip Picture Frame and a Graduation Card

Hi there - Happy Hump Day!  Hope everyone is having a good week.  We had a great time at Patty's last night.  The smoothies didn't disappoint - so yummy!  Thanks Don!!!
I've been so behind showing you the great projects we've been making at our Demo Stamp Camps.  Last month Mary Ellen Cope hosted (and her husband made some yummy sloppy joes for us!).  Here is one of the projects we made. 

Isn't this pretty?  It can be used as a picture frame or a 6x6 scrapbook page.  The DSP is Love Letter, which coordinates with Riding Hood Red card stock. The embellishments around the frame were made by using Artistic Etchings stamps with Very Vanilla Craft ink and embossing powder.  Cut them out and pop them up with dimensionals.  A strip of DSP was wrapped around the binder clip (sold at office supply stores) and glued in place.  I used a black marker to ink up only the "happiness" portion of the sentiment from one of the Heard from the Heart stamps.  That was punched out with the Modern Label punch.  A second label in Riding Hood Red was punched out, cut in half, and adhered to the ends of the Very Vanilla label.  The frame was made by gutting out middle portion of a 4-1/4" x 5-1/2" piece of black card stock, then embossed using the Vintage Wallpaper embossing folder.  Adhere to the DSP - leave top open for your photo! 

Mary Ellen also had a graduation card for us to make.  I didn't have anyone graduating so I gave the card to a friend who needed one.  The diploma was made by rolling up a Modern Label punched piece.  Wasn't she the clever one!   It's easier to roll up if you break down the fibers first.  This can be achieved by pulling it across the edge of your desk or table.  The tassel was made with embroidery floss and secured in the "mortar board" with a brad. 

Recipe
Stamps: Teeny Tiny Wishes
Paper: Real Red, More Mustard, Whisper White, Black
Ink: Real Red
Other: Framed Tulips embossing folder, Photo Corner punch, gold embroidery floss, Modern Label punch, black brad, mat pack