Thursday, November 30, 2006

Birthday Girl Tunnel Card



Well, I did it! I made a card without a torn edge!! :) LOL. This is the Technique Challenge for SplitCoast Stampers... It's called a tunnel card. The inside of the card pops out as it opens... hence the ribbon to keep it shut! :)

If you'd like to see the inside of the card click here. There's a great tutorial here as well!

It's my oldest daughter's 16th birthday today. This will be her birthday card. Hopefully, it will never be thrown away, since it took me 3 hours to make it!! :) (No, the card wasn't really that hard... I just couldn't think!)

Have a wonderful day!!

Tuesday, November 28, 2006

Fancy Flower



After making a number of cards for a friend tonight, I found this stamped background on an Artichoke card and attempted to finish it up. I'm not sure that I'm satisfied yet, but it will have to do for now! I used the flower from Watercolor Garden II, a greeting from last years Sell-A-Bration set, my trusty Linen stamp and the older Script background. The colors are Cranberry, Moss and Artichoke. I've just noticed that every card that I've made in the past month has had a torn edge. I might need to try some "clean lines" here soon! :)

Have a great day!

Monday, November 27, 2006

Something from the Archives


Did you have a good Thanksgiving? Ours was nice. Turkey and the fixings at home, then traveling to see family the next day. We got home late Sunday night and fell into the routine of school again this morning. Needless to say, I haven't done any stamping! :)
This card is from my archives. One I actually had to send to someone... but took a picture of first. The colors are Amethyst, Celery and Apricot, and it was one of my first attempts to sew on cardstock. It's such a cool look, but I hate getting out my machine!
For those of you who are my customers - just a reminder that the Holiday Mini Catalog is only good for a few more days. Be sure to let me know if you need anything!
Have a great day!

Thursday, November 23, 2006

Bear-y Thankful



Happy Thanksgiving!

Today's card got me up early. I had done a challenge on SCS yesterday using this layout, and my daughter had suggested that I do the same layout using this set. She was right!

The main center image is 2-3/4" x 1-1/2", the lighter blue rectangles are 2-3/4" x 1" and the NQ Navy Rectangles are 3-3/4" x 1". I used the faux suede technique for the bear. Before stamping, I ran the cardstock through my crimper a number of times - first one way, then turned sideways - until it was limp. Then I seperated the layers and stamped my bear on the suede-y surface. The cardstock is Bordering Blue and the Bear is stamped in NQ Navy. (I had trimmed the cardstock with my Creative Memories Antique scissors before I crimped it.) I embellished that with a little Linen Thread, and then mounted it on a piece of the In Color Buckaroo Blue. I used a sponge inked with brown to age it a little and set off the main image. It also seemed to help it blend a little better with the thread. The mountains are also stamped in NQ Navy on Buckaroo Blue. To get the mottled look I turned the stamp sideways after stamping my main image and "stamped off" across the cardstock. My NQ Navy rectangles are stamped in Paisley and Linen. I mounted all of my color blocks on black and attached it to my NQ Navy card. This is such a fun layout!! I loved working with it.

If you'd like to see my other card, click here.

I hope you have a great Thanksgiving!! :)

Tuesday, November 21, 2006

Silent Night

Tonight's card was for the SCS Color Challenge using Bashful Blue, Cranberry Crisp and Old Olive. I didn't have any Bashful Blue - so I used Bliss Blue instead. It was in my scrap drawer! :) My background layer is Paisley (of course! ) and my main image is from the retired set A Gift of Love. I used watercolor pencils & markers to color my image - added a few Dazzling Diamond stars to the sky and layered it on Cranberry & Olive, tearing the corner & added some blue brads to pull my Bliss Blue in again. The zigzag stitch is a Hero Arts stamp that I've had forever & keep forgetting to return to Debbie Olson.... (I promise I'll get it back to you, Debbie!!) and the card is topped off with a gold clip & some gold cord and cranberry ribbon.

I wouldn't have put these colors together without encouragement... although - come to think of it - these are the colors in the SU Holiday Designer paper... only available through the end of the month. Hmmm... I might have to place an order!!
I made a baby card tonight, too... but it seemed kind of plain to post. Maybe I'll do it later this week when I don't have any time to stamp.
Have a fabulous day!

Monday, November 20, 2006

Come to the Stable



Tonight's card uses a "faux wood" technique for the background. It is SO easy!!! :) Using my reinkers, I put 3 drops of Caramel, 1 drop of Cocoa and 1 drop of Chocolate Chip on the top of a plastic stamp storage box. I took an old $ store toothbrush and rubbed it in the reinkers and then started rubbing it across my page the way I wanted the "grain" of the wood to go. Dark spots are ok... they make it look more authentic. When I had my "wood" inked as I liked I used a ruler and drew lines for "boards" and squiggly lines and dots to look like jagged ends and nails.

For my main image I used an old SU set called Gift of Love inked with a Chocolate Chip marker and overlaid with Linen inked with caramel and sponged the edges with a brown sponge. I used Wire Works that I unearthed from the back of one of my drawers and the star brad is one that I picked up at JoAnns'. I couldn't decide if a saying would help or detract, so I just left it. I can always add one later!

Thanks for stopping by!

Saturday, November 18, 2006

Snowman Love


Today's post was my SCS challenge for yesterday. We were supposed to use stamps from different sets to create a humorous winter scene. I'm not sure that mine is very humorous... but it's sweet! :)
I started by inking the animals from Christmas Gift Tags with an Olive marker and stamping them on a corner of moss cardstock. Then I masked the animals and stamped the tree from an older demo-only set called Santa and Friends . My main image is the snowman stamp from the same set, colored with watercolor pencils and markers. I mounted this on bordering blue and then mounted it on torn, confetti-white cardstock that I had dry embossed with snowflakes.
I think when I get this posted I'm going to go back and add some Dazzling Diamond Snow, just for fun. There is very little embellishment. Just a brad from the Vintage Brad Collection. I tried using some silver cord... but it was just too much for my personality. :)
Now - if anyone actually reads this blog! - if you haven't already done so, you need to visit my downline's blog. Why am I saying this! Once you've seen hers, you'll never come back here!! Her work is absolutely incredible and professional. Besides which, it makes you want to buy everything in the catalog! :) LOL Tell her I sent you! She's been blogging for three months and has had 100,000 views. Can you imagine?? Here's the link...
Enjoy!! Maybe I'll have to have a drawing soon too... Just to see if anyone is out there! Have a good weekend! See you on Monday!

Thursday, November 16, 2006

Thyme Tree


Hi everyone! My card tonight started out as a Split Coast Stamper challenge... in copper. I embossed my Deer, mounted it... used copper cording, posted it at SCS... and then decided that I didn't really like it very much. So I changed it to a tree card. It doesn't even have any words on it! I guess that makes it "All-Occasion". :) I still couldn't get the ribbon color to behave on the scanner. It really isn't quite so dark in real life.
If you haven't ever checked out Split Coast Stampers, you really should. I put it off until this week, but finally decided to be sociable. And I kept hearing about these color challenges. You are given certain colors which you have to use to make a card. It is SO good for me. It gives me a "box" in which to be creative. I have a hard time with too many choices! LOL
I've got to finish cleaning my stamping room now. It's a disaster!!!!!! Plus, my husband said he was going to take me out tonight. Awwwwwwwwww ! :) See you tomorrow! Bye!

Wednesday, November 15, 2006

Color Challenge

I decided to do the color challenge from SplitCoast Stampers today... Bordering Blue, Celery & Eggplant. (Thank you, Angie, for helping me to figure out my scanner a little better! :)

So... this card uses the Polar Bear set, as well as the wish stamp from last year's hostess set, Small Script. I stamped the Polar Bear on Vanilla cardstock and watercolored a little Bordering Blue to help him stand out. The bears are sitting on a Bordering Blue snow pile... although here it looks more like they are floating on a iceberg in the middle of the ocean! :) The little snowflakes are cut out and mounted to the card with glue dots. The greeting is stamped with the VersaMark pad and embossed in White.

What a fun challenge. I need to figure out how to post this in the gallery! :)

Bye for today!

Tuesday, November 14, 2006

Night Before Christmas


Twas the Night Before Christmas... I told you this set would come out sooner or later! :) Isn't he just adorable?? I used 2 sets, plus a wheel and a background stamp on this one, and still used pieces from my scrap box, although I did pull a piece of Vanilla for my card itself. The ribbon is from Michaels and it blends a little better in person. In case you can't tell - the colors are Rose Red and Olive. The saying is stamped in Burgundy.
Here's my trick for the day for those of us that don't have the ticket punch. Pull out your 1/4" hole punch and use that to punch the corners for the brads. They may not be perfectly centered, but they'll be close! :) Ahh, necessity - the mother of invention! :)
Can anyone help me? Is there any kind of less expensive digital camera that would make these cards come out in the correct colors??? Uggh! Does anyone have any suggestions? I know that I'm scanner-stupid, so maybe that's my problem, but I'm so frustrated when pretty cards come out looking like I have NO sense of color coordination! I'd have to ask for the camera for Christmas, so it can't be exorbitant. I don't usually get expensive presents... but even if I could save up for it!!
Thanks for reading!

Monday, November 13, 2006

Happy Hot Cocoa!


OK, so I didn't quite make it to Christmas! :) At least I'm at the hot chocolate stage, especially since we had about 5 inches of snow the other day. Most of it is gone now. How sad! This cup and saying are from Winter Wilma, back in 1999. I think that qualifies as ancient in the stamping world! I found a perfect piece of vellum - precut and everything - and stamped it with the marshmallows, but when I put it on the Brocade background it got lost, so I layered a strip of Lavendar (also precut... Yippee for scrap pieces!) underneath. It's a fun card with soft winter-y colors.
Thanks for reading!

Saturday, November 11, 2006

Another Wagon Journey

Ok - every other blog I checked today had a Christmas card posted. Maybe my next set to use will have to be Joy, but I couldn't resist sharing this wagon of love before I move on to more season-appropriate cards. :) The colors are Marigold and Real Red, with the wagon stamped in Cocoa on Cocoa cardstock. It was a LOT of cutting and very putzy, but I got to use my Paisley stamp again, and I was pleased at how it turned out. It's so bright and cheery! :)

Off to travel for the weekend now - see you on Monday!

Thursday, November 09, 2006

Wagon Journey

Here's card #1!! :) I think this is the first SU set I ever ordered, and I haven't ever been able to let it go to a new home, but I haven't used it in a "coon's age" (whatever that's supposed to mean!) I stamped the Moss cardstock with the presents and then used Debbie Olson's trick of stamping over it with the linen stamp to "age it". The bear is watercolored on Naturals Ivory Cardstock, mounted on Chocolate Chip and tied with a piece of ribbon that was in my scrap box. The friend stamp is from last year's Sell-A-Bration set Noteworthy.

Yippee! I feel like I accomplished something! :) Hmmm... what's next???

Wednesday, November 08, 2006

Pumpkin Patch

Well, my hopes of placing an order anytime soon flew away in the form of a refrigerator repair estimated at $200+... So, I've given myself a two-part challenge. Over the next few weeks... or months, if it takes that long... I am challenging myself to make at least one card from every set that I own... including TAC sets & SU wheels. I have a little three drawer storage unit under my desk that holds different size scraps of cardstock and it's overflowing, so the second part of my challenge to myself is that I have to use as many scrap pieces as possible - so no cutting into new cardstock if I can help it. I'm so glad that I got those new background stamps before the refrig went out!! :) Yippee!!

So, how about you?? Do you have some older sets that you haven't used for awhile? Do you have lots of scraps?? Let's see what we can accomplish while stamping "under budget". :)

Today's card uses the poppin' pastels technique. I stamped the pumpkins in versamark ink and colored them with pastels. Three of the pumpkins are on the paper and three are colored and cut out. I didn't use dimensionals to mount them because they seemed to jump too far off the page. I used the Houndstooth BG stamp on the Caramel CS and the grateful stamp to soften the main image - along with a liberal dose of sponging in Rust and Chocolate inks. The brads are from the Vintage Brad collection, which I've really enjoyed.

Thanks for reading! Let's stamp!!

Tuesday, November 07, 2006

Comfort & Joy

I was all set to make a snowflake card tonight, so I stamped my Eggplant Paisley Background and took out my White cardstock... and realized that I lent my snowflake set to a friend! :) Oh well! I decided to play with a little snowman stamp from TAC instead. I colored the snowman with markers and mounted it on my background and then onto Mauve cardstock (Who knew I'd ever need that again!) After stamping my greeting, I really was happy with the card... but it looked a little plain. (Maybe I should've left it that way!) So... I tore a corner and added the snowflake and wrapped it with a little gold cord for good measure. The Rose Red around the outside is just the color I layed it on to scan it. When I scanned it on white the colors all changed. It really is adorable in real life! :)

Thanks for reading... At least I think someone's reading! I get a few comments here and there that make me believe I'm not just talking to myself! :)

Bye!

Monday, November 06, 2006

New Colors

I was asked to make a gift certificate for a party that I'm attending tonight - so I pulled out my new colors - marigold and cranberry crisp - and an old set - Pansy - to make a quick cover. This is a 4 1/4" x 4 1/4" card - I think that I'm stuck on square cards right now. I used my new Paisley BG stamp - which I'm going to LOVE - and my new Linen BG stamp - which I'm also going to LOVE and pulled out a piece of hardware that I picked up at JoAnn fabrics. The leaves are stamped on Artichoke cardstock. The Marigold looks a little green in my photo, but it isn't. It's warm and fallish. I knew I had to try this color combo when I saw Deb Olson's card here... http://debbiedesigns.typepad.com/muse_and_amuse/2006/09/a_bodacious_cel.html#comments

I printed the gift certificate on a piece of light yellow background paper and trimmed it to fit inside the card. I hope the winner will enjoy it!

Have a wonderful day!

Thursday, November 02, 2006

A New Old Set

I was so excited to get this set in the mail today. I have been "wishing for" the Wishing Well set for a few years now, but hadn't found one that I could afford. It's so my style. Tonight's card isn't fancy... but it did use up a few of the scraps in my scrap box! :) And the hardware always adds a little, too. I'm so unhappy with the colors as they show up online... but the idea is there. You'll just have to trust me that it's prettier in person!

So - pull out your scrap box, a ribbon or two, and your box of hardware and create something! You'll have such a sense of accomplishment - I promise!

Wednesday, November 01, 2006

At A Snail's Pace


OK, here's my little girl card for tonight! The snail is from a TAC set that I have, and the Greeting is from Friend to Friend. I love that handwriting!! :) Turquoise and Green Galore are such happy colors, don't you think? And I think the 3 x 3 card size is perfect. I think I'm going to add some glitter to the snail's shell just for fun. This is for a little girl in my 5th grade class. I hope she likes it!
Happy Stamping!