Fancy Fold Valentine

Hi there!  Hope you had a great weekend.  Mine sure went by fast and it was a busy one.  Many thanks to the wonderful ladies who attended our Card Buffet on Saturday!  What a fun time we had!
Yesterday the youngest daughter and I baked Christmas cookies all day.  We made approximately 58 dozen.  That's a whole lot of baking!  We both were beat by the time we finished but we enjoyed our time together. 

Valentines Day will be here before you know it.  Thus, my card choice for the Hostess Club members last month.  Cindy Williams' swap card was my inspiration, only hers was a Christmas card.  The Red Glimmer heart is on a strip of acetate that gives the illusion of a floating heart.  Small Red Glimmer hearts are repeated in the lower border strip.  A closure was made using an image from A Round Array and punching it out with circle punches.

Mary Taylor and I will be hosting a 2015 Calendar Class at DeLeo's in Florissant, MO on December 21 (for those who want to make last minute Christmas gifts or a gift for yourself).  A second class is planned for January 4, 2015.  If you would like to attend, please contact me.  (See side bar or header for contact info.)  RSVP's are required as class is limited to 20.

Must get going on my to-do list.  Thanks so much for popping in today!

Customer Thank You Notes

Hi there!  Forgot to post the little 3x3 thank you notes that I enclose in each customer's order bag.   May orders got the above card.  It was made with the new Stampin' Up! Wildflower Meadow stamp and coordinating embossing folder - plus the new In Color, Crisp Cantaloupe.  Love the new In Colors!

Below is the note card that was included in the June orders.  The watermelon symbolizes Summer to me, so that was my inspiration.  The retired Pretty in Pink polka dot DSP was punched out with a circle punch, then cut in half.  Same idea with the Garden Green "rind" except a scallop circle punch was used.  The "seeds" were made by pressing the brush end of a Stampin' Write marker horizontally onto the paper, then lifting up.  The Boho punch worked for a "sun" and the "thank u" sentiment is from the new A Round Array set.

Must run for now - busy working on projects for our Card Buffet next month.  Have a great day and thank you for stopping in today!

Serene Smile

Hi there and happy Friday!  Hope you had a great week.  Last night was our Card Buffet at Rizzo's in O'Fallon and we had a great turn out and a lot of fun!  Thanks ladies for making it a success!  Tomorrow we'll be at DeLeo's in Florissant.  More fun, fun, fun! 
OK, now for the details about today's card.  The flower image is from the Serene Silouettes set.  I must confess that this image hasn't been out of the case hardly at all.  It was probably feeling very neglected.  It's a wonderful image that I'll start using more often.  First though, a stencil was cut from an Apothecary Framelit and temporarily secured to the white panel.  Perfect Plum ink was sponged on - lightly.  The flower image was inked up with Raspberry Ripple and Old Olive markers.  Give your stamp a little huff to remoisten the ink, then stamp onto the center of the stenciled area.  The litte embellishment was made from the new A Round Array set and coordinating scallop circle punches.  Mat the white focal piece onto an Old Olive card base and you're done.  Easy peasy!  This was one of the cards showcased at Carla Spradling Card Buffet.  It was perfect for sending a note to a sweet friend - 'cause she does make me smile!

All Stampin' Up supplies were used.

That's it for now.  Have a great weekend and I'll be back Monday.  Thanks for stopping by today!

Cycle Celebration

Hi there and happy Monday!  Guess I can say that since I don't have to leave the house, huh?  lol  Hope your holiday weekend was all you expected it to be and then some!  This week is going to be pretty busy for me.  With that in mind, let's "talk" about the above card.  It is another experiment with the ink blowing technique using the vibrant colors of Pacific Point, Gumball Green, Daffodil Delight, and Rich Razzleberry for a bit of contrast.  When my background piece was completed, the dilemma was...what stamp set?  The piece has such a funky, young, artsy feel - so not my style.  I finally decided upon the Cycle Celebration set debuting in the 2013-14 Stampin' Up! catalog.  The bicycle image is matted on Pacific Point, then on White.  The Pacific Point mat just wasn't doing it for me - it was overwhelmed by the background design.  Back in my scrapbooking days YEARS ago, I learned the trick to mat photos on white to keep your photo from getting lost in the background.  The white mat was just enough separation from the busy design.  My next struggle was...what embellishment?  Using a little imagination (or a lot), I visualized the background piece as streamers blowing in the wind.  Hmmm, a Kansas song just popped into my head.  lol  OK, I'm back!  Pennants or flags seemed the logical choice.  Pennants and flags kind of remind me of the streamers we used to have on our bike handlebars "back in the day".   (A tip for making the flag ends is to snip up the center from the end about a quarter inch.  Then go in diagonally from the corner to the top of the center cut.  Do that on both sides of the center cut line.  You'll get your inverted V.)  The scallop circle keeps my "streamers" in place.  Oh, I added rhinestones to the center of the wheels after the photo was uploaded.  The bling was just the right finishing touch.  So, there you have it!  Please feel free to contact me, if you have any questions or comments.

That's it for today.  Hope you have a good one and thanks so much for coming by!

All Stampin' Up! supplies used unless otherwise noted

Stamps: Cycle Celebration, A Round Array
Paper: Daffodil Delight, Pacific Point, Rich Razzleberry, White
Ink: Daffodil Delight, Gumball Green, Pacific Point, Rich Razzleberry
Other:  drinking straw (obviously non-SU!), 5/8" circle punch, 1-1/4" scallop circle punch, Dimensionals, rhinestones, snips