I participated in a shoe box swap at the end of January (Yeah, I know, I'm REALLY late posting this but for some reason there seemed to be other cards that were more important to post) and my design was based on a gift bag featured in the Spring/Summer Stampin’ Up! catalog on page 149. I wanted to test out my design idea without actually having the stamp set yet. I was getting a pre order from the Occasions Mini but hadn’t received the set at the time I was preparing for the swap. I used the Baroque Motifs set instead to duplicate what I would eventually use. The colors aren’t exactly what I would normally use (this would have been a good color combination for a Splitcoaststamper color challenge) but I wanted to go outside of my comfort zone a little bit and I think it turned out pretty good. Got out of using a lot of the ribbon by "faking it" with a strip of card stock and then using the ribbon just for the bow. The next post will be the card that I actually had the girls make at the swap.

Recipe:
Stamp Set: Baroque Motifs, Sincere Salutations, clear stamp flourish
Paper: Kraft, Pumpkin Pie, Mellow Moss, Not Quite Navy card stock
Ink: Not Quite Navy, Mellow Moss, Pumpkin Pie
Accessories: Pumpkin Pie 1/4" grosgrain ribbon, Scalloped circle punch, ½" circle punch, rectangle hand held punch, 1/16th"hole punch, gold brad

Variation on the "Mailman" Card

I liked how the "mailman card" turned out so much, that I decided to make a feminine version of the same design. I was even MORE pleased with how THIS one turned out! Again, very simple. I posted this card on the Splitcoaststampers website. It doesn't show up very well in this picture (I have to get better with the lighting!) but I used clear glitter glue on some parts of the main element to add a touch of bling.

Recipe:
Stamp Set: Friendly Flowers from the Occasions mini
Paper: Soft Sky, Wild Wasabi card stock, Afternoon Tea DP from the Occasions mini
Accessories: Metal pinwheel and flower, metallic brad, Wild Wasabi double stitched ribbon, dimensionals, paper piercing tool, template and mat.

We're Back!

Hello all,

We're back from our Easter weekend away. While we were gone to Northern Wisconsin where you'd think all the snow would be, they had 14" of snow here in Milwaukee! I guess I picked the right weekend to be gone, huh? Happy Spring! RIGHT.

Anyway, I don't have time to post anything tonight but will try to do it tomorrow. I have a meeting tomorrow afternoon with the manager of the place where I've gotten a new part time job. Very part time. Technically I'm "retired" but I'm not old enough to get the "perks" of retirement, you know, Social Security, Medicare........although some days I feel MORE than old enough for that, but I felt the need to get out in the public again and so I'll be working about 10-15 hours a week. Just enough to keep me out of trouble.

I'm still planning to do stamping, in fact, I think I'm going to be able to sell some of my cards at this new place which is a copy and shipping store. Hey, how often have you been at the PO to mail a package and then remembered that you should have put a card in the box? At this place, you can buy a card when you bring your item in to be boxed up for shipment. Perfect setup I think.

Anyway, I've been working on some cards for that too, so plan to have some things to post soon. Stay tuned.

Kathy

Easter Chicks

I CASE’d this card from one I found on the Splitcoaststamper’s website. I’m afraid that I didn’t copy down the name of the poster but I thought the card was SO cute! I love the set "Best of Cluck" and never would have thought of using the little chicks for Easter eggs!!

Recipe:
Stamp set: Best of Cluck
Paper: Soft Sky, Pretty in Pink, Whisper White, Polka Dots and Petals DP.
Ink: Black StazOn
Accessories: Glitter Adhesive from the ART Institute, Sprinklers Glitter in clear, Pink Organdy ribbon from JoAnn Fabrics, Slit Punch for making scallops

Have a Happy Easter everyone! I'll be leaving town tomorrow for the weekend, spending it with my parents in Northern Wisconsin where they just got another 4" of snow Monday night. We're scheduled for more here in Milwaukee tomorrow. UGH. I'm ready for SPRING.

Friendly Flowers a la Guava

My mailman is a very special guy. Through rain or snow or sleet or dark of night he delivers the mail. I don’t know how he does it. I thought it might be inspiring to him to actually get a THANK YOU from me since I’m sure they always feel underappreciated. I saw this design on Splitcoaststampers by AprilDawn and decided to try to duplicate it. I got the paper piercing a bit off on the bottom, but I don’t think he’ll care.

Recipe:
Stamp Set: Friendly Flowers from the Occasions Mini
Paper: Groovy Guava, Chocolate Chip card stock, Afternoon Tea DP from the Occasions Mini
Ink: Chocolate Chip
Accessories: Metal pinwheel, brad, choc. chip grosgrain ribbon, dimensionals, paper piercing tool, template, and piercing mat

This card was very easy to make. The hardest thing was tying the ribbon!

Petal Birthday

TGIF! It's FRIDAY! I'll be getting together with my best friend to check out a new scrapbooking store in a neighboring town. Actually it isn't that new, SHE has been there before, but *I* haven't been there yet so it's NEW for ME.

I guess since I posted three pictures last time I figured I could go a few days without posting another one. Just as well, because I've been busy with church stuff, condo association stuff, working up some Easter goodies for friends and family using stamps of course (if I can get some decent pics of the goodies, I'll post those too).

Anyway, here's a birthday card that I made a while back for a friend from church. I have the Spiral Punch which I had never used. This card was part of a One Sheet Wonder grouping that I found online somewhere and I did it the way I suppose you should by making my own hand printed paper. It’s easier to use the Designer Series Paper if you’re doing a whole set of cards but because I was only making a couple, I decided to try my hand at stamping. It’s not as easy at it looks. When you’re done, you need to have enough color in the pieces that you’re using to make it the focal point of the card. I’m glad I had extra squares! I REALLY like the effect that the Spiral Punch gives the card. I’m going to have to work that into more of my designs.

Recipe:
Stamp sets: Polka Dots and Petals, Sincere Salutations
Paper: Pretty in Pink, Bashful Blue, Chocolate Chip, Whisper White cardstock Ink: Chocolate Chip, So Saffron, Pixie Pink, Bashful Blue, Certainly Celery
Accessories: Spiral and Tab punch, Gold brad, Polka Dots and Petals jumbo wheel

Whoo Hoo! Let's Celebrate!

I made this card at a shoebox swap a couple of weeks ago. I just LOVE this little owl! My friend Kate designed this card. She’s a Stampin’ UP! demonstrator and my inspiration. On her sample she’d used the Word Window punch to punch out the space in the lower right card front and then put the word underneath it. Silly me didn’t notice that neat little detail and just put my word on top of the card. I really liked her way better!

Recipe:
Stamps Set: Just Celebrate
Paper: Chocolate Chip, More Mustard, Really Rust, Very Vanilla Card Stock
Ink: Chocolate Chip and Versamark ink pads, Really Rust, More Mustard, Chocolate Chip markers
Accessories: Double Rectangle Punch, Word Window Punch, Ticket Corner Punch, 1/4" Chocolate Chip Poly Twill Ribbon

Blue and Pink Wedding

I made this BEAUTIFUL card at a shoebox swap a couple of weeks ago. Now I just have to find someone who I know who’s getting married although I’m not sure that I want to give this card away. I LOVE it!

Recipe:
Stamp Set: She’s all That
Paper: Bashful Blue, Chocolate Chip, Pretty in Pink, Whisper White
Ink: Chocolate Chip
Accessories: Three For You Flower Punch, half back pearls from the SU! Pretties kit, Slot Punch, Organdy Ribbon, Photo Corner Punch

Strawberry Thanks

This was a card that I made at a shoebox swap a couple of weeks ago. I've ordered the set for myself but this gave me a good idea of how neat the set really is! There’s a lot of detail here but it wasn’t hard to make and it looks really cute I think. The Always Artichoke and Certainly Celery scalloped circles were adhered to each other "off center" so that the Always Artichoke looks like a larger sized circle. The Slit Punch was used to make the scalloped edge on the Real Red cardstock. The Crop-A-Dile was used to make the raised detail on the scalloped red piece. Beate had a tutorial on her website some time back on how to do this without punching a hole through the paper. You can find the directions at http://beate.blogs.splitcoaststampers.com/2007/08/31/crop-a-dile-easy-as-1-2-3/

Recipe:
Stamp Sets: Tart and Tangy, Full of Life
Paper: Summer Picnic DP, Real Red, Always Artichoke, Certainly Celery, Whisper White , Bashful Blue
Ink: Black, Real Red and Certainly Celery Markers
Accessories: Red Gingham Check Ribbon, Crop-A-Dile, Scalloped Punch, 1 1/4 and 1 3/8" Circle Punch, Slit Punch

Happy As A Clam

My sister and her husband were supposed to be in Honduras right now on a vacation, but had to cancel because of bad weather and losing their connecting flight out of Atlanta. I guess there's only one flight that goes out on Saturday to their final destination so if they couldn't get to Atlanta on Saturday, they'd have to wait another week. Since that wasn't going to work, they're stuck at home in upstate New York. I'm posting this card before I send it to her as a "thinking of you" offering. I know they were disappointed but because of back surgery she wasn't going to be able to get into the water anyway, so this is probably for the best.

This card was really cute! First, the clams were stamped on Glossy cardstock, colored in with markers and then punched out and matted on black cardstock. The Sandy Shells wheel was used to make the background design. 2-way glue was used on some of the sand areas along with Dazzling Diamonds glitter, for that "fun in the sun" look.

Recipe:
Stamp sets: Crab & Co., Sandy Shells Wheel, Many Happy Returns
Card stock: Glossy White, Sahara Sand, Basic Black
Ink: Basic Black
Markers: Creamy Caramel, Sahara Sand
Accessories: Word Window and 1 1/4" and 1 3/8" circle punches, 2-way glue pen and Dazzling Diamonds Glitter

A Beautiful Thing

TGIF!! It's FRIDAY! Why am I so excited that it's Friday since I'm retired and don't have to work? I guess because I'm happy for everyone ELSE because it's Friday and the weekend is coming up and THEY won't have to work.

Here is another card from the stamping event that I participated in the end of January. I know, I know, I'm way behind with this set, but there were some other cards that came along and made their way onto this blog first.

The flowers were stamped first with Apricot Appeal, then with Pumpkin Pie. The square punch was flipped over and the design centered, then punched. Matted on Pumpkin Pie card stock. The card base was folded in half with the fold at the top, and then 1" was cut off the bottom. A strip of Tempting Turquoise Designer Paper was attached to the exposed bottom.

Recipe:
Stamp Set: A Beautiful Thing, God’s Blessings (inside sentiment)
Card stock: Apricot Appeal, Tempting Turquoise, Pumpkin Pie and Whisper White; Tempting Turquoise Designer Paper
Ink: Apricot Appeal, Pumpkin Pie
Accessories: 1 1/4" and 1 3/8" square punches, Double Rectangle punch, 1/4" Tempting Turquoise Grosgrain Ribbon

Always On My Mind

The two tone technique for the bird on this card was one I hadn’t done before. First the stamp was inked with the Sage Shadow ink pad and then the Handsome Hunter was applied with a marker and then softened using a stipple brush, then stamped on to the white card stock. This was matted to a Hunter Green torn panel. The stipple brush was also used to apply ink to the berry image on the left side of the card to add texture.

Recipe:
Stamp Set: Always
Cardstock: Whisper White, Sage Shadow, Handsome Hunter
Ink: Sage Shadow, Handsome Hunter
Marker: Handsome Hunter
Accessories: rectangle hand held punch, Sage Shadow Grosgrain Ribbon from "District" Collection, stipple brush

Unforgettable Friend

Another card from Lisa's stamping event. This turned out to be a really cute card! First the elephant/flower image was stamped onto Whisper White card stock. The patterned elephant was made by stamping the elephant image again on So Saffron Designer Series paper, cut out, and affixed to the stamped elephant image. It’s hard to see here, but the toe nails were colored in with a white gel pen. The other parts of the design were then colored in and the image was matted on to Real Red card stock.

The "short cut" card was made by folding the So Saffron card stock in half and then trimming 1 ½ " off the side edge. The heart/flower image on the upper part of the So Saffron card was then stamped and colored. This was then matted to a quarter sheet of Real Red card stock. The elephant image was attached to the top front so that it hung over the edge. The ribbon was attached by using the 1/16" punch to make a hole in the ribbon before attaching it to the card with a brad.

Recipe:
Stamp Set: Happy Heart Day
Cardstock: Whisper White, Real Red, So Saffron, So Saffron Designer Series Paper
Ink: Real Red, Basic Black
Markers: Gable Green, Real Red,
Accessories: 1/16" handheld punch, Real Red Striped Grosgrain Ribbon, White Gel Pen, Black Brad

Breaking Away From Regularly Scheduled Programming

I know I'm posting pictures from a card event that I attended recently, but I had to break in with a card that I know just about anyone can emphathize with. You know how you always hear "It looks better in person than it does in the picture?" Well, that wasn’t the case with me and this card. In the picture that I found online, it looked like a fun birthday card that would be pretty easy to make. It uses the "Friendly Flowers" set that just came out in the Occasions mini catty. The main medallion image was embossed with Tempting Turquoise craft ink and looked very shiny in the picture. Anyhow, I started out having one HECK of a time trying to stamp and emboss the medallion. I didn’t have the Tempting Turquoise craft ink pad so used a ColorBox chalk pad instead. I could NOT get the medallion to stamp so that the ink was even and the embossing powder would process properly. Some areas had shine and others didn’t. I think I had to stamp 5 times before I got one that worked and you can't even see the shine in this picture! Too bad I wasn’t trying to just do a regular medallion without the heat embossing. Guess maybe I should dig the "rejects" out of the trash. Might be able to use them somewhere else. (Just got back from checking them out. They’re too uneven to work. Oh well, at least now I know what I have to do. Not use that particular stamp again for embossing or else not that particular kind of ink.)

I probably won’t make this particular card again or if I do, I’ll use different colors. This isn’t quite my style in color combinations, but I’m sure someone will enjoy getting it on their birthday.

Recipe:
Stamp set: Friendly Flowers, Sincere Salutations, Small Script
Paper: Real Red, Certainly Celery, Tempting Turquoise, Whisper White
Ink: Real Red, Certainly Celery, Blue Lagoon from ColorBox Petal Point Chalk Option Pad
Accessories: Word Window Punch, Rinestone Brad, Fiskars Shape Cutter Circle Template and cutter

We now resume our regularly scheduled programming.