Thank You

Tonight's card is my attempt at a patriotic card in honor of Memorial Day. I don't have a lot of patriotic stamps, and in the back of my mind I remembered seeing something that I liked and as I looked around my usual haunts, of course it turned out to be another 'Zindorf.' So I copied again. This is a 'direct-to-paper' technique; my first time trying it. Super-easy!!!! It's not a polished look, but it's not meant to be.
The point of the post tonight is really not about the card. It is to say a heartfelt 'Thank you' to the men and women, past and present, who have decided to make it their job to protect Americans and anyone else that our government feels needs help. I imagine that most of what they do is not glamourous, can be very dangerous, and most days they do not get a lot of recognition for what they do (nor do most of them want that, from what I have seen). So although we should consciously thank them every day, please make sure that you take a moment and do so today.
This is a tough weekend for my family. We lost my poppop, who was also an army veteran, this weekend many years ago. So while I thank all veterans, I say a special 'Thank you' and a little prayer to my poppop who I think continues to protect me and my family as our guardian angel from above.

Card Supplies: (All supplies from Stampin' Up unless otherwise noted)
Stamps: Wanted, Itty Bitty Backgrounds
Cardstock: Whisper white, Night of Navy
Ink: Creamy caramel, Ruby red, Night of Navy, Basic Black, Versamark
Other Stuff: Clear embossing powder, sponge

Uh-oh.

No picture today :-( No cards will be made today or for the next few days, I'm thinking. Our upstairs AC unit is on the fritz. That's not good when it's 98 degrees outside during the day. Luckily our downstairs is holding steady at 74-75, but the upstairs is a balmy 87. My scrapbook room is upstairs so unless I lug a bunch of stuff downstairs (which may happen in a day or two), there will be no creativity going on here.
Our bedroom is downstairs (thank goodness), but kiddos usually sleep - you guessed it - upstairs. So I'm attempting to put them to bed in our room (pack-n-play is back up and one crib mattress is on the floor). Not going so well at the moment. Toddlers don't do well with change, even if it's just sleeping in a different room in the same house. On the bright side, it's good practice for vacation next month.
So I'll keep y'all updated, and try and find some stuff that I've made earlier to share with you, but for now I'm just going to try and keep my cool.

Card Supplies: (All supplies from Stampin' Up unless otherwise noted)Stamps:Cardstock:Ink:Other Stuff:

Something simple

Hi everyone! Sorry that there was no post last night - hubby and I actually went out without the kids last night and got home too late for me to post. Today has been a busy day of cleaning out my closet and trying to have some semblance of organization. I've got 5 bags of stuff to drop off at Goodwill before heading up to my mom's to swim this afternoon. I've, um, outgrown, a bunch of stuff and at this point if I could ever fit back into some of that stuff I'd rather just reward myself with new clothes, know what I mean?? So I thought I'd take a few minutes to post something for you today while the kiddos are down for a nap and hubby is busy watching the Colonial golf tournament on tv.
Today's card is another very simple card that, I think, nicely shows off what a little designer paper can do. I made this one for a dear woman who, with her husband, were like my surrogate family while I was in graduate school. We lost her husband this past year and I just wanted to send her a card to let her know that I'm thinking of her. I think that sometimes people get a lot of attention and TLC immediately after the death of a loved one and then people get busy and go on with their lives and forget how much of a change it is for the person (or people) down the road. So when I think about it, I try to send a little card with a note to people months down the road, just to let them know that I'm always thinking about them, even if I don't talk to them often. No matter how technologically advanced we become, I hope that nothing ever replaces a nice handwritten note that you get in the mail!
Happy Memorial Day weekend everyone!!!

Card Supplies: (All supplies from Stampin' Up unless otherwise noted)
Stamps: Vintage vogue
Cardstock: Sahara sand, Thoroughly modern DSP
Ink: Bermuda Bay
Other Stuff: Bermuda Bay ribbon, half pearls (Michaels)

More teacher cards

Today is the last day of 'school' at my daughter's preschool. After the Memorial Day holiday they switch to summer mode, which is much more fun for the kids. They have activities like bounce houses, a petting zoo, magicians, and splash days, to name a few. Can I sign up??? Today's project is for one of Katie's teachers whose last day is today. I think she was doing a school internship, and she was really very sweet and very nice to Katie and me. I made this little 'card purse' following a tutorial on Splitcoast and then put together 6 little notecards (2 each of the 3 designs in the picture). They went together soooo quickly because everything coordinated - LOVE THAT!!!! I've gotta tell you, I'm anxiously awaiting the new SU catalog (and the retiring stamp list) that the demos will be getting soon. I love hunting on different websites to see sneak peeks. As much as I'm sure I'll love the new stuff, there are some colors that I'm really going to miss - including Bermuda Bay, which I've been using a lot lately. Oh well. I'm sure the new colors will be wonderful too and my biggest wish is that they have more masculine stamps this year. How 'bout you????

Card Supplies: (All supplies from Stampin' Up unless otherwise noted)
Stamps: Very Vintage (card purse), Lovely Letters Alphabet (cards)
Cardstock: Melon Mambo (purse), Melon mambo, Sahara Sand, Bermuda Bay, Whisper White, Thoroughly Modern DSP
Ink: Melon Mambo (purse - flowers), Bermuda Bay (cards)
Other Stuff: Melon mambo, Bermuda Bay, Soft Suede ribbon, 1 3/8" circle punch, scallop circle punch, crop-a-dile, dimensionals, scor-tape (for purse)

CASE of Zindorf

Today's card is totally and completely copied from Michelle Zindorf. Let me get that out there right now so no one mistakenly thinks that I came up with this beauty on my own. But really, it IS beautiful! To me, this is the most perfect anniversary card you could give (not that I send a lot of them, but I sure do like making this one). I'll tell you what though - this card is HARD to make. There are a lot of steps and it takes a long time (visit Michelle's blog to see what I mean - no need for me to re-hash it all here).
I used to think that all brayered cards take a long time, and that's really not the case. So don't let this card fool you and scare you away from brayering if you haven't tried it yet. It's really one of my most favorite things to do with cards now. It doesn't always work out the way I want it to, but when it does I'm usually pretty darn happy with the results, even if they're not quite a 'Zindorf.' TFL and I'll see you back here soon!


Card Supplies: (All supplies from Stampin' Up unless otherwise noted)
Stamps: Ocean commotion
Cardstock: Whisper white, Baja Breeze, Basic Black, Not Quite navy
Ink: Baja Breeze, Pacific Point, Not Quite navy
Other Stuff: Brayer, Versamark inkpad and marker, clear embossing powder, black marker, acetate for reverse image stamp, white gel pen

Something different

Tonight I went up to my scrapbook/stamp room with some ideas in my head, and the card I came downstairs with was NOTHING like I had imagined. I wanted to try to do 2 cards, a Black Magic card and a new color combo card using Bermuda Bay, Real Red, and Kraft. I ended up with 1 card that encompassed both of these things. Michelle Zindorf posted a gorgeous new card today that used the Asian Artistry stamp set, which I absolutely love, and I guess it stuck in my head. I went upstairs with the intent of using one of my beachy stamp sets and doing a beach scene with these colors, because they totally scream summer to me (although I don't think I would have put bermuda bay and red together myself - once I saw it I loved it though!). I played around and brayered some stuff and it just wasn't working for me. So I decided to channel my inner Zindorf and pull out Asian Artistry and see what I could make of it. The card today is what I did, and I gotta tell you, I LOVE IT. Maybe I shouldn't say that, but sometimes you go so far away from what you think you can do that you actually do better than you think you can do, and that is always a good thing. This is now going to be my even better and practically perfect in every way new graduation card for my old roomie Susanne, who graduated last week and I still haven't sent her card out. Now I'm glad I procrastinated because I think she'll like this one even better than the original traditional graduation card I made for her. I think she'll even love the blinged out dragonfly, which I'm still not sure if it's totally awesome or totally ridiculous. And the colors remind me of her too. Happy colors. Maybe not everyone's taste. Unexpected, but to me, totally awesome. Just like Susanne!

Card Supplies: (All supplies from Stampin' Up unless otherwise noted)
Stamps: Asian Artistry
Cardstock: Kraft, Real Red, Basic Black, Thoroughly Modern DSP
Ink: Colorbox White, Real Red
Other Stuff: Prismas (I matched them to SU colors as best I could), Sakura glitter pen (for dragonfly wings), tiny rhinestones, nesties

Welcome Baby

I've had this card laying around for about a month, just waiting for when I could send it out. That time has come. My high school friend delivered her baby girl last week. This card looks simple, and for the most part, it is simple. Except for that border. If you look closely, you'll see that it's not even close to perfect. I consider myself relatively handy and I don't normally have problems using my tools (and coming from my gene pool, that's saying something. My family is not so technically inclined) But that scalloped border punch has got my number. I think I punched that border 3 or 4 times before I got one that was good enough to give away. It's not something that I'd point out to the recipient, or even anyone who's not a crafter. But I figued I'd share my frustrations with you in case you've gone through the same thing. Misery loves company. Well, maybe it's not that dramatic. But still, it's annoying. That's my story and I'm sticking to it tonight.

This week's Try something new challenge is to do a Black Magic card. I haven't tried this technique yet, but I've thought about it before so I just might this week. Stay tuned!

Card Supplies: (All supplies from Stampin' Up unless otherwise noted)
Stamps: Animal stories, Short & Sweet
Cardstock: Whisper white, Pretty in Pink
Ink: Pretty in Pink
Other Stuff: Scalloped border punch, nestie, Swiss dots cuttlebug folder, Pretty in Pink ribbon

Scrapbook much?

I used to. In fact, that's how I got started in all this papercrafting madness. Long story short is that my (es)strange(d) aunt bought my sister a bunch of scrapbook stuff for Christmas around 1996 or 1997 (I got a Fiestaware pot that I still use - that was a good Christmas!) Sis wasn't real into the scrapbook stuff, but it sure hooked me in. I used to make my mom or grandmom drive me over an hour away to the lone AC Moore when I'd come home for break, just to get my 'fix.' I've probably done 10-12 complete albums and have several more 'in the works.' My problem with scrapbooking, as opposed to cardmaking, is there's TOO MUCH STUFF. Really. It just overwhelms me and paralyzes me. All the papers and stickers and embellishments and all that SPACE on a 12 x 12 layout, and of course I really only do double-page layouts so it's really like 2 square feet of space to fill up. It used to take me MONTHS to put together one album. I would work for an entire night on one layout. Once I had kids, scrapbooking went out the window. Who has that kind of time? My space has been cut in half (or more). It's too much effort, and now there's even MORE stuff and more access to that stuff thanks to the internet. And I found cardmaking to fill that creative void. But . . . it keeps calling me back. I've got kids - their lives should be documented. Those trips I used to take before I had kids - that should be documented so my kids see I had a life before they came around. So I still scrapbook. In spurts. And only the 'big stuff.' I'm not into scrapbooking every picture I ever took and documenting every cute thing my kids do. If I tried to do that, well, I'd just be setting myself up for failure. My kids are almost always cute and say cute stuff all the time. I just can't go there. So I've decided to stick to birthdays and vacations and that first year where they change so much and hopefully some sort of school album when they get to that. In honor of National Scrapbooking Month (this month!), I've decided to share two layouts of the most recent album I've been working on. It's my daughter's birthday album. I'm trying to just put the best pictures from each year in, although the first couple years of the first kid are kind of hard to pare down. But I've decided that's okay. Getting things down on paper and into an album that people can actually look at is the most important thing. Not whether the embellishment matches perfectly or the papers coordinate with the stickers that match the flower on my daughter's shirt. Or so I keep telling myself . . .

Top page is from daughter's 3rd birthday and bottom page is from her 1st birthday. Those are the only 2 years I've done so far (she's only 3 so I'm not too far behind yet!) Supplies are from all over. Paper is DCWV Blossoms & Butterflies. That's about as much as I can tell you. If you have a question about something specific, drop me a line and I'll try to figure it out for you.

Get Well Soon

Sometimes you just need to make a quick card, without a lot of fuss. This card was already sent out, to my aunt's mother, because she is in the hospital AGAIN :-( This poor woman has had 3 surgeries in less than a month, and just can't seem to get herself healthy. It has really taken a toll on my aunt, who seems to take the brunt of all this. This card was purposely made with bright and cheerful colors that will hopefully perk both of them up, even if it's just for a minute. I didn't even put a 'Get Well Soon' or any other greeting on the front of the card - for some reason it just didn't seem to fit anywhere.
I really really wanted the Kind & Caring Thoughts hostess set, yet it didn't get inked up for a long time once I finally got it. For whatever reason, it's not an easy stamp set for me to work with. I think I finally solved at least part of my problems with it by cropping the flower in so close and highlighting it with the scallop border frame medallion. These medallions are soo easy to make and can really add a 'pop' to a card that might be missing something. Thanks for looking and I'll be back soon!

Card Supplies: (All supplies from Stampin' Up unless otherwise noted)
Stamps:Kind & Caring Thoughts, So swirly
Cardstock: Sahara sand, Melon Mambo, Bermuda bay, Whisper white, Thoroughly modern DSP
Ink: Melon Mambo, Versamark
Other Stuff: circle punches, scallop border punch, rhinestones, sponge

Spotlight Graduate

Through the wonders of Facebook I'm finding out that I have a lot of random cousins who are graduating this spring. This is wonderful, because it means that I have a lot of smart cousins, and to celebrate this I get to use my new Go, Graduate stamp set!! I tried a new technique with this card - it's called 'Spotlighting.' Most of the time I don't really see the point, but I think in this case it actually does highlight a cute area of the stamp. I'm trying to match up the paper somewhat to the school where each person is graduating from, but I'm finding it not to be as easy as one would think. Oh well. If I can't exactly figure out their school colors, I'm just winging it and using up some of my Stampin Up colors that are going to retire so I can make room for the new stuff coming soon.
To do this spotlight, I stamped the image on whisper white, and then stamped it again on another piece of whisper white and punched out the part I wanted to spotlight. I colored the punched piece with OMS and my black prisma pencil for the graduation gown and used my SU markers for the legs and shoes. I matted that piece on a 1 3/8" circle punched out of black paper. I lined up the spotlight image on top of the uncolored image and glued it down. I used my ruler to draw guidelines to stamp the Congratulations, Graduate! stamp and then erased the pencil guidelines once the ink dried. The gray and floral papers are from a 6x6 BasicGrey paper pad, the name of which is escaping me now and I'm too lazy to go upstairs and look.
I think (hope!) in the next couple days I'm going to be able to show you a non-card project that I'm working on. I found a really cool technique that I'm playing with so check back soon for that!


Card Supplies: (All supplies from Stampin' Up unless otherwise noted)
Stamps: Go, Graduate
Cardstock: Whisper White, Lovely Lilac, BasicGrey
Ink: Stazon Black
Other Stuff: 1 1/4" and 1 3/8" circle punches, OMS, prisma pencil, SU markers

Hmmmm . . .

I'm really not so sure about this one. I put some stuff together and I'm just not feeling it, if you know what I mean. My challenge for today was to put three colors together that I would never ever put together if left to my own devices: Rich razzleberry, so saffron (so far, so good) and DUSTY DURANGO?!?!?!? Really?!?!? But I did it. There's not much razzleberry, but it's there so it counts. I had to use some browns to get it to work, but browns are a neutral so it's not cheating, right?? And I do like that I added some highlights to the plants with my white gel pen - I forget that a lot and then I see it somewhere else and wish I would have added it somewhere.
So there it is. A short and sweet post tonight since I've got to get up at the crack of dawn and get to work to get some eggs and make some babies!

Card Supplies: (All supplies from Stampin' Up unless otherwise noted)
Stamps:Pocket Silhouettes, Teeny Tiny Wishes
Cardstock: Rich Razzleberry, Soft Suede, So Saffron, Whisper White
Ink: Rich Razzleberry, Soft Suede, So Saffron, Chocolate Chip
Other Stuff: 1 1/4" circle punch, word window punch, brayer, sponges, white gel pen

Framed!

Sometimes I have a hard time using a stamp because I think it's too small to really use as a focal point on my card. Sometimes I do a big brayered scene and end up hating it because there are too many lines on it or I mess up an area and can only look at that area and not the rest of the card. Sometimes I'm just not feeling those creative juices and don't know how to finish something I've started. When these things happen, if I don't throw the image out (blasphemy!) I'll put it in a pile on my work table. And it doesn't seem like it takes long for that pile to get bigger and bigger. Well, as I was browsing through the splitcoast tutorials this weekend, I saw a tutorial for a 'folded frame card.' So I printed out the directions and decided to give it a whirl when I had a chance. I had an 'a-ha!' moment and decided to use them on all my misfit images! Wow!!! Now all those images are getting a second chance at life and living up to their card potential! It makes me so happy. The two cards today are some more 'manly' cards. I pulled out some DSP from the fall/winter SU Mini that I didn't use nearly enough in the fall/winter. Each card uses the same double-sided paper, just folded differently. LOVE that you get such different looks with the same sheet of paper - how cool is that??
Here are the details, pretty much similar for both cards: Both images were brayered and then stamped with Lovely as a Tree. Graduation card used Bashful blue for sky and old olive for grass. Tree stamped with chocolate chip & leaves painted on with aquapainter using more mustard, pumpkin pie and dusty durango (real rust would also look good). Father's day card sky was brayered with more mustard & dusty durango. Old olive for the greens (I used a post-it pad to help make the lines to distinguish between green & fairway - I think those are the right terms). Trees stamped with chocolate chip & then choc chip sponged over to soften the tree line. I hand-drew the flag. I also used dimensionals to hold down the folded-over frame to give it some extra, well, dimension. TFL and I'll be back with more soon!


Card Supplies: (All supplies from Stampin' Up unless otherwise noted)
Stamps:Lovely as a tree, Teeny tiny wishes, Linen background
Cardstock:Real rust, chocolate chip
Ink: See above
Other Stuff: Nesties, brads, Martha Stewart scor-board, Word window punch

Shabby chic - who me???

Today's Clean and Simple (CAS) challenge on splitcoast was to make a 'shabby chic' card. Now if you're like me, you probably know shabby chic if you see it, but you don't really think of it much past that. Well, I've got to tell you, I'm getting addicted to these challenges. I really like using things I already have in my stash in new ways that maybe I didn't think about before. So for this challenge I did what anyone would do in this day and age: I googled Shabby Chic to get a better handle on what it is and to get some inspiration. I came across a blog entry from 2008 that showed some vintage (ie really old, stained and kinda messed up) wallpaper samples and I totally got the feel of shabby chic. So today's card is my clean and simple take on that wallpaper. I pulled out stuff from my stash that I have no business having - all those 'old' buttons and the ribbon flower. That stuff is probably at least 12-14 years old so I'm saying that they really are vintage. Vintage Karla anyway. Before I knew what the heck I was doing and what my style really was (hint: it's not shabby chic!). Sometimes it's okay to be a pack rat, as long as when you finally find a use for something you don't hoard it for 'something better.'

Card Supplies: (All supplies from Stampin' Up unless otherwise noted)
Stamps: Friends 24-7, Sincere Salutations
Cardstock: Sage Shadow, Pretty in Pink, Very Vanilla
Ink:Sage Shadow, Pretty in Pink, Soft Suede
Other Stuff: Sponge dauber, Scor Tape, 'Vintage' buttons & pin, scallop oval punch, dimensionals, champagne mist glimmer mist

PS Stop back tomorrow for my post on framed cards!

Two in one day!

Okay, I am doing two posts tonight because I really wanted to get this card onto splitcoast since it was for a challenge but then I got excited about the graduation card, so I just decided what the heck and posted them both. But since I say to check out my blog for more details, I figured I'd better have the 'more details' on here or people might not like me very much!
So this card used the awesome new Gina K stamp set From the Sea. I see myself using this a lot in the future! This card will probably be for my hubby for our anniversary next month - nothing like being ahead of the game, right?? I brayered the bottom layer with tempting turquoise and sahara sand, and then sponged some taken with teal around the edges and in the top corner. The shells in the next layer were stamped on kraft (crumb cake?) with sahara sand and then I colored them a little bit with blush blossom and barely banana. I don't love the way they turned out but they'll do. The sentiment was stamped with tempting turquoise on sahara sand paper and I sponged some sahara sand around the edges. I stamped the big shell with creamy caramel and then colored it with markers: I think I used blush blossom, pretty in pink and a touch of regal rose. I cut it out and used dimensionals to pop it up on a blush blossom piece of cs. Then I decided it needed something else so I sprayed it with some of my homemade Champagne Mist shimmer spray.

Card Supplies: (All supplies from Stampin' Up unless otherwise noted)
Stamps:From the sea
Cardstock:Kraft, sahara sand, blush blossom, whisper white
Ink: tempting turquoise, taken with teal, sahara sand
Other Stuff:brayer, sponge, markers, glimmer mist

Go You!

Hi all! Happy Weekend! Just a quick update on my Katiekins . . . she's still running a fever that hasn't gotten under 100.2 but she's still eating and drinking and playing with her brother so I guess whatever it is just has to run its course. Hate it but I am just thankful that it doesn't seem to be any worse than it is.
On to my card today. It is the first of what will likely be several graduation cards that I make this year. I bought the Go, Graduate stamp set from the new SU summer mini and I am loving it! Today's card is for my most wonderful college roommate Susanne. She is graduating with her masters in counseling(?) this weekend. Sus is one of those people that you either love or can't stand. She definitely makes an impression on you when you meet her, for better or for worse. I, obviously, love her. She has no filter when she talks and tells you like she sees it, and that works for me. I'm so proud of her and I think she's going to love this card. I ESPECIALLY love the Silver Foil smooch spritz which makes it totally glamourous and sparkly. I had to resist the urge to use the 'Go get a job' saying in the stamp set but I'm sure I'll bust it out at some point for one of these cards! I colored the legs and shoes with my SU markers, but I decided that the black marker was too stark for the gowns so I did that part with my black prisma pencil and OMS. For the 'Go You' sentiment I actually got out my ruler and made pencil lines down the cardstock so the sentiments would be placed about the same distance apart. LOVE that this is a clear stamp set - didn't have to bust out the stamp-a-ma-jig.

Card Supplies: (All supplies from Stampin' Up unless otherwise noted)
Stamps:Go, Graduate
Cardstock: Black, Basic Gray, Going Gray, Riding Hood Red, Whisper White
Ink: Black stazon
Other Stuff: Markers, sponge, Prisma pencil, OMS, Silver foil smooch spritz, color catcher, tiny rhinestones

A late night

I am up LATE tonight! The good news is that I got my Stampin Up goodies in from Stamp Club and my sweet mamacita met me 2/3 of the way to give me my stuff tonight. I made the most wonderful graduation card using Smooch spray which I am now in love with, but I will devote a whole post to this in a day or so. The bad news is that when I got home from meeting my mom, I went to take my sweet little Katiekins upstairs to bed and she was burning up! She must have gotten what little brother had a few days ago . . . I should have known it was coming!!! So I gave her some motrin and have been monitoring her temperature for the past 90 minutes or so. When I first checked it was 101.4 and then a bit later it was up to 102.5 but I took a blanket off her and took off her new little slippers that she got tonight and insisted on wearing to bed and at last check she was back down to 101.1. So after I get done with this I'll check her again and hopefully get some sleep tonight. Oh, how I worry about those little munchkins!!!!
So on to today's card. This is one of those 'Clean and Simple' cards and I like the way it all came together. It is one of those rare cards that I was able to use stuff from a bunch of different manufacturers and yet it all looks like it goes together. That hardly ever happens and is one of the main reasons I love Stampin Up so much - everything is matchy-matchy without having to try so hard! But before I knew about Stampin Up (yes, those were the bad old days), I bought this really beautiful paper pack at an Archivers store when I was in Cleveland for a training course. It sat in the packaging for about 2 years because I didn't want to 'waste' it. But now that I have my new attitude about using what I've got and enjoying it, I decided to get it out and have some fun with it. I used some glittered paper to cut out the butterflies with the Sizzix Embosslit Beautiful wings, used 2 other papers for the striped background and the modern label punch, and then stuck it on some more of that Gable Green cardstock that's been sitting out on my desk. I added some doodles and butterfly antennae with my white gel pen, added some of my tiny rhinestones of unknown origin, and stuck on some ribbon from Michaels at the last minute to finish it off.


Card Supplies: (All supplies from Stampin' Up unless otherwise noted)
Stamps: Teeny Tiny Wishes
Cardstock: Gable Green, patterned paper from Doodlebug Designs
Ink: Gable Green
Other Stuff: Glue dots, Modern label and Word Window punches, white gel pen, Scalloped edge punch, tiny rhinestones, ribbon

Melon rose

Melon mambo is one of those colors that I really like but never use. I don't know why. Maybe because I don't really think it's melon colored, and that throws me off. Maybe. Regardless, the color challenge this week was to use melon mambo and soft suede. I have to say, what I came up with is kind of a case of myself. I LOVE the 5th avenue floral rose and use it whenever I can. Since I never use melon mambo, I never made a melon mambo rose, until now. I think I really like it.
The card details are some of the same old, same old for me. Embossed the rose, used aqua painter to paint in the "melon" color, spritzed some white glimmer mist on there for a bit of shimmer, cut it out and popped it up with dimensionals. I had to add some bling with tiny rhinestones from my wheel of unknown origin. Ran the soft suede through the Big Shot with a texture plate and sponged some soft suede ink on top to bring out that texture. My bow tying skills are not that great, so I used the Bow Easy to help me make this one.

Card Supplies: (All supplies from Stampin' Up unless otherwise noted)
Stamps:5th Avenue floral
Cardstock: Whisper White, Melon Mambo, Soft Suede
Ink: Melon Mambo, Soft Suede
Other Stuff: Sizzix texture plate, Bow Easy, Rhinestones, Glimmer mist

Busy day

Today I actually got to play in my stamp room during the day!!! My poor little guy got sent home from preschool yesterday with a fever, so even though he was just about fever free by dinnertime last night, no preschool for him today. My mom was able to watch him in the morning for us, but she had to take my mommom to the hair salon this afternoon so I had to come home early from work and watch the little guy. It just so happened that his naptime coincided with when I picked him up. I had 2 1/2 hours to play in the middle of the day - bonus!!!! (Just in case anyone from work reads this blog - don't worry - I'll use sick time!)
So anyway, I got to make cards for THREE different splitcoast challenges this week. The one I'm sharing today is 'Try a new technique' or something to that effect. The challenge was to make a 'flip-flop' card, which I have to say, is pretty challenging. I had this Gable green laying around from last week, and since this card is kind of fun, I thought that a little girl would love something like this. So that was my inspiration when I designed it. It's got bright, fun colors, a cute butterfly stamp, and the 'flip-flop' part is just clever. Whoever came up with that design is pretty ingenious. I'll definately be making more of these in the future!
Just as a quick reference, the first picture is how the card looks 'closed' although with the way it's made it doesn't really ever sit completely closed except I guess when it comes out of the envelope. The other two pics show both sides of the card. The large butterflies are two-step stamped and I stamped off once before doing the 'background' layer.



Card Supplies: (All supplies from Stampin' Up unless otherwise noted)
Stamps: Flight of the Butterfly, So Swirly jumbo wheel
Cardstock: Gable Green, Whisper White, Tempting Turquoise
Ink: Gable Green, Tempting Turquoise, Pink Passion, Versamark
Other Stuff: Stamp-a-ma-jig, glitter pen, markers, Flip-flop card directions (couldn't have made this card without directions!)

As promised . . .

Here's the card I made for my mom for Mother's Day after she sneakily found the other card I made for her on splitcoast! I used the 5th avenue floral rose, which when you cut it out can really make any card pop. The background is the most versatile stamp set I think I own, Baroque Motifs. To fancy it up I used some gold American Crafts paper and punched out some photo corners. Then I just added some bling, because what card is complete without it??????
Not much else to tell tonight - the wind is howling and I'm a little preoccupied because there were some tornadoes up in Oklahoma, which is a little too close for comfort for me. Hope you all have a great evening and are snuggled up inside!

Card Supplies: (All supplies from Stampin' Up unless otherwise noted)
Stamps: 5th Avenue Floral, Baroque Motifs
Cardstock: Chocolate chip, whisper white, gold (AC), DSP, Pretty in Pink
Ink: ????
Other Stuff: bling, Sizzix texture plate

Happy Mother's Day!

I am a lucky lady. I'm sharing some pics of the beautiful flowers I got for Mother's day from my wonderful family who treats me so well. Being a mom is a really really hard job but worth all the worry and sleepless nights and potty breaks just as soon as you sit down for a hot meal. Today I got to go out to lunch with 4 generations of fabulous women: my mommom, my mom, my sister (and her boyfriend), and my little girl (Hubby and son stayed home because at 19 months, it is just too much to ask for son to behave for longer than, oh, 3 minutes). It was such a nice lunch and I was SO PROUD of my daughter. She's 3 and lunch took a looooong time and she did great. No meltdowns, only 2 potty breaks which were both legit, and enough sweetness and love to fill us all up.
I couldn't let the day go without at least one card. I originally made this for my mom and posted it on splitcoast, thinking that she wouldn't find it on there, but I would be wrong. So I had to make another card for her, which I'll post later this week. I'll have to save this card for next year. It's so pretty (IMO) that maybe I'll change the colors a bit and make it into a birthday card. Gotta go stick that in my idea book. Hope all you mothers had a wonderful day!

Card Supplies: (All supplies from Stampin' Up unless otherwise noted)
Stamps: Vintage Vogue, Teeny Tiny Wishes
Cardstock: Pretty in Pink, DSP
Ink: Old Olive
Other Stuff: Beautiful wings embosslit, Word window and Modern label punches, Rhinestones

Almost summertime . . .

Today just felt like summertime. We are celebrating my stepdaughter's 16th birthday this weekend (it was a few weeks ago, but being a teenager, we are just seeing her now). Her favorite food is clams, so we steamed up about 7 pounds of littlenecks and ate them with butter and garlic bread. Well, actually, hubby and I probably got about a pound between the two of us and Mandi got the other 6 pounds! So hubby and I were still a bit hungry so we piled everyone in the car and went to the Dairy Queen. Nothing says summer more than littlenecks followed by an ice cream chaser!!! I don't even feel too guilty since I ended up walking around the DQ patio the whole time holding my very unruly and very loud toddler son. I think I got a few bites of my cone!!
And so now on to my card for today. It has nothing to do with summertime, unfortunately. It's another one using the SU hostess set Asian Artistry. I used the same layout sketch that I used yesterday (it works really well when you have a small focal image). I stamped it with Basic Black, and colored the bird with my Cameo Coral marker. Then I brayered Cameo coral from the top and bottom, leaving it pretty light in the middle. Then I sponged Ruby Red around the edges and corners. I sponged some Close to cocoa around the edges and corners too, not quite covering the ruby red. I stamped the flower image on my close to cocoa background card with the same color ink. I pulled out a DCWV paper pack called Far East for my background papers. I sponged the edges with some close to cocoa and added some bronze pearls. Hope you like it!

Card Supplies: (All supplies from Stampin' Up unless otherwise noted)
Stamps: Asian Artistry
Cardstock:Close to cocoa, Whisper White, Far East (DCWV)
Ink: Close to cocoa, ruby red, cameo coral, basic black
Other Stuff: Bronze pearls

Another masculine birthday

So next week is my cousin Paulie's birthday. OMG by my calculations I think he might be turning 29?!?!?! Is that possible? I guess it is . . . wow. I think that my family is the only holdouts who still call him Paulie but the cool part is he doesn't try to change us. He's a big tall guy with some kind of scary tattoos but inside he's just a big sweetheart. It's hard to make cards for guys, especially young-ish guys like Paulie. So the card I posted today is my take at a 'cool, masculine card for a cool, masculine guy.' If you're following closely, you might notice that I used the same paper combination that I used a few days ago for the birthday card I made for Uncle Paul, who happens to be Paulie's dad. Hopefully they won't notice! But I say that when you have a good thing, stick with it.
Here are some card details, in case you're interested . . . I kinda sorta copied a Zindorf tutorial but I changed almost all the card details except the stamp. I stamped the guitar, colored it in with markers, and then colored over top of it with my versamark marker. I embossed the colored-over image with ultrafine clear embossing powder. Then I brayered Bashful blue over the whole card, letting it stay pretty light in the middle. Then I sponged some Not Quite Navy in the corners and around the edges. Next I sponged some Always Artichoke, not quite covering the Not Quite Navy. The background stamp on my card base is Canvas Background, stamped with Always Artichoke. The card layout is from a Splitcoast Challenge, SC279, which is a layout, or sketch, challenge. The patterned paper is from the BasicGrey Granola pack. I sponged some black ink around the edges of the patterned paper to give it a little more depth.

Card Supplies: (All supplies from Stampin' Up unless otherwise noted)
Stamps:Inkadinkado, Canvas Background
Cardstock: Whisper White, Always Artichoke, BasicGrey Granola
Ink: Stazon Black, Always Artichoke, Not Quite Navy, Bashful Blue, Basic Black
Other Stuff: Markers, Versamarker, Embossing powder, Brayer, Sponges, Silver dots (source unknown)

If you can't take the heat . . .

then you should get out of the bowling alley! Tonight was bowling (date) night and boy oh boy was it hot in there. It hit 90 today in Texas and it felt it inside. It must have worked for our team because we won all three games (woo hoo!).
Since I came home hot and somewhat sweaty, it made me think of this card that I made this week for a lady at work who is retiring. This card is kind of abstract, but I think you can get the feel of the beach and the ocean with it. The lady that is retiring is an avid boogie-boarder (I am not making this up). She goes to a wave pool somewhere and enters contests and apparently does very well and takes it all very seriously. She has a large carrying case for her boogie board and everything (she brought it to work one time and I had to ask). So of course she had to get a card with the beach, if not waves, on it. Come to think of it, I should try a card with waves sometime. I'll have to add that to my idea book. Stay cool my friends.


Card Supplies: (All supplies from Stampin' Up unless otherwise noted)
Stamps: Gina K
Cardstock: Creamy Caramel, Tempting Turquoise, Pacific Point
Ink: Creamy Caramel, Tempting Turquoise, Pacific Point
Other Stuff: Markers, Brayer, White gel pen, Blue Rhinestones, Mat Pack

Upsy Daisy

Tonight I went up to my stamp/scrap room with an idea in my head. The color challenge on splitcoast today was to use Lovely Lilac, Cameo Coral, and Gable Green. I knew I had the purple and coral, so I wasn't too worried about the green - I'd make my 'vision' work. I wanted to use Upsy Daisy and make a gorgeous Clemson sunset. I went to Clemson for grad school, and their colors are Purple and Orange. That color combination sounds (and can look) totally obnoxious if you don't know the story. The school chose those colors because they are the color of the sunset - really. It is truly stunning and makes the hideous uniforms Clemson football sometimes wears bearable (although it doesn't help stomach the inevitable collapse they have every year). So I went up and brayered and had my sunset - except for this challenge I needed to add Gable Green, which is really light. And didn't go with my sunset. Hmmm . . . guess I'd better do a re-do. Guess what? I think I like it better. I love when that happens. If you haven't tried one of these challenges, you should try it sometime. It's amazing what you can come up with - you just might surprise yourself.

Card Supplies: (All supplies from Stampin' Up unless otherwise noted)
Stamps: Upsy Daisy, Itty Bitty Backgrounds
Cardstock: Whisper White, Gable Green, Lovely Lilac
Ink: Lovely Lilac, Gable Green, Cameo Coral
Other Stuff: Markers, sponges, nesties, Frost white shimmer spritz, Ribbon (Michaels?)

Stamp Club Smile

Tonight was stamp club night - one of my most anticipated nights of the month. It came a day earlier than normal because of a scheduling conflict, which is fine by me. When I come home after club, my husband always looks at my projects and says that I come in the door with 'Stamp Club Smile.' I guess I really do. Just a fun bunch of ladies doing some of the things I like best - making new projects and using new products. What's better than that?
Today's project is something I whipped up last night after I posted here. My uncle turned 'double nickels' (55) today and I made him a birthday card that's going to be a little belated. I bought this stamp set with him specifically in mind. The saying is just something that I could hear coming out of his mouth with no hint of sarcasm. Sometimes cards just come together quickly and this was one of them. I busted open a pack of paper that I bought a long time ago that is totally masculine, which just makes everything come together so well. I wish there were more masculine products out there - half the cards I make are for men and most of the time I struggle with them. But luckily, not last night :-)

Card Supplies: (All supplies from Stampin' Up unless otherwise noted)
Stamps: Inkadinkado
Cardstock: Always Artichoke, Whisper white, BasicGrey Granola
Ink: Stazon Black, Chocolate chip
Other Stuff: Prismacolor pencils and OMS, Nesties, sponge dauber, eyelets (source unknown), Crop-a-dile, Mat pack

Sunday Sunset (2)

Writers block tonight, folks. I've stopped and started this post about a half dozen times already. Guess my mind is elsewhere tonight, although I'm not quite sure where. The Phillies are playing the Mets tonight on ESPN, hubby's asleep (and snoring!) on the couch, and the kiddos are tucked in bed. This is my prime time!! Guess I'll have to sneak upstairs for a few minutes and see what else I can put together. Today's card is one of several I have rolling around in my head with this awesome stamp set called 'Wanted.' When I took my brayering class with Michelle Zindorf, she suggested going to Google Images and looking up sunsets for inspiration. I think I'm addicted now. It's one of my favorite things to do, but I have to say that I have an internal temper tantrum when they don't come out on paper the way I want them to. But I put them aside and sometimes I come back to them later and, with fresh eyes, think that they don't look too bad. Moral of this story: don't throw away your 'ruined' creations until you can look at them again with a new perspective.


Card Supplies: (All supplies from Stampin' Up unless otherwise noted)
Stamps: Wanted
Cardstock: Dusty Durango, Whisper white, DSP
Ink: Crushed Curry, Dusty Durango, Chocolate Chip
Other Stuff: Brad, dimensionals, Hemp twine (source unknown), Post-it notes for masking, sponges, brayer