Greetings in Green and Cream

Hi, everyone.

Last Thursday, a cold kept me from our stamp club card kit meeting. Bernadette was kind enough to send home my kit with a friend. So, I took some time last night to put together the cards -- with one twist.

The cards were supposed to use our newly purchased monogram stamp. Now, I have some definite plans for my stamp -- "S" is a pretty common letter to use for cards. Hmmm... words that come to mind are sorry, spring, snow, and Santa... to name just a few. Using my monogram to make note cards featuring the letter "S" was not my original plan when I ordered the stamp.

So, I used the materials in the kit to make some "Hello" and "Hi" cards for Operation Write Home -- adding a few embellishments of my own. Two of the cards are green and cream, which is probably as close as I'm going to get to this week's Throwdown Challenge of a non-Christmas card that is red and white or green and white.

Stampin' Up papers; TPC Studio sentiment in Distress Ink walnut stain
Cuttlebug ef; stash ribbon from OWH; Tombow foam adhesive; Marvy circle punch

Parting Thoughts

Really looking forward to a new blog starting up on January 1. Be sure to stop back here for details. :)

Thanks for stopping and happy scrappin'!

Bee Mine

Hi, everyone.

For those of us who make cards for Operation Write Home, Veteran's Day is bittersweet. A heartfelt thanks to those who have served and sacrificed for our country.

This month's Our Daily Bread Design OWH challenge is to make a love card. Yes, while the rest of the world is thinking turkey and pumpkin pie, OWHers are thinking Valentine's Day cards for our troops.

Paper Smooches stamp set, heat embossed in Distress Inks
Distress Ink core paper, embossed with Sizzix folder

The card above was inspired by a technique learned in one of Bernadette's Stampin' Up! classes -- making a waterfall card. Honestly, my brain is too fried from today at work to even begin to try and explain the card. But, if you're interested in learning more about waterfall cards, a quick Google search will turn up some videos. :)

The images below show the panels that pulling on the tab will reveal.

Since this card is going to a troop to write home to a loved one, I wanted to include a little writing room. The image below shows the back of the card.

What's not to love about a card that combines Paper Smooches stamps, Distress Ink core paper, Distress Inks, and embossing?!

Think CAS-ual Fridays has an embossing challenge going on -- and Paper Smooches has a guest designer challenge. If so, this little card might just end up on both of those sites.

Parting Thoughts

So glad I was able to get a card made for the ODBD challenge. Would hate to miss that.

Thanks for stopping and happy scrappin'!

Holiday Wishes for Our Troops

Hi, everyone.

This week's OWH Midweek Throwdown is to make an Any Hero Christmas Card or two. And, last night was Bernadette's Christmas Card class. Perfect timing!

All Stampin' Up! products

In the class we made 15 cards, 3 each of 5 designs. A pennant card and the card shown above were my two favorites. Since the card above is the "sturdier" of the two, it will most likely be the safer bet to make it across the miles safe and sound. So, at least one of these -- and probably all three -- will become Any Hero cards. :)

I loved the message shown in the blog post. So, I think I will tweak it just a little to write inside this little card.

Parting Thoughts

Thanks again, Bernadette, for another fun evening.

The 90th birthday celebration for my father-in-law continues this afternoon with an open house being hosted by a neighbor.

Think that's it for now. Thanks for stopping and happy scrappin'!

it's all about the candy!

Hi, everyone.

Wednesday night was a blast!  Bernadette's Stampin' Up! Stamp Club met to make a waterfall card.  Thanks, Bernadette, for another fun class. :)

All materials used in the card above are from Stampin' Up!

The card is actually really easy to make, although I won't even try to explain the process. So, please click here to see a tutorial to make a waterfall card. But an OWH word of warning: the card in the video has glitter, a major OWH no-no.

And, thanks for stopping and happy scrappin'!

A Birthday Card Fit for a Princess

Hi, everyone.

Wednesday night, we had another fun Stampin' Up! class with Bernadette during which we made a really cool tri-fold card. So, I decided to try out the technique on a princess-themed birthday card.

Outside of Card
computer-generated sentiment
Stampendous vintage crown stamp, scanned and resized
Distress Ink core, Bazzill white; stash gems
Martha Stewart butterfly punches, sponged with Distress Ink
Cuttlebug embossing folder
Creative Memories cutting system

Inside of Card

The card base is 5.25" by 12" with scores at 2", 4", 8", and 10". Pretty easy card. Thanks, Bernadette!

Parting Thoughts

Have a great weekend!

Thanks for stopping and happy scrappin'!

Ooh La La!

Hi, everyone.

Not only is Thursday great because it's one more day until the weekend, but it's extra great when it's the night of a Stampin' Up! technique class. The cards below were designed by our wonderful demonstrator Bernadette Kirk.

Ooh La La #1

Someone in our group said the card below was just a tad French-maid-like. We decided that an Ooh La La Valentine's Day sentiment would be great for this image. (Hence, the name of tonight's post!)

SU paper, sentiment, ink, punches, and pearls

What I loved about this card is that the little black top was made entirely by using circle punches. So clever... and so cute! (Couldn't this technique make an adorable baby bib?!)

Ooh La La #2

SU paper, sentiment, image, ink, punches, and ribbon

This card's Ooh La La factor came by adhering heavy weight aluminum foil to a piece of cardstock and then running the two through an embosser. I'm thinking shiny and Christmas... 

Parting Thoughts 

Thanks, Bernadette, for a fun class -- and a couple of great techniques!

Thanks for stopping and happy scrappin'!

A ROARing Good Day!

Hi, everyone.

Isn't any day that includes a Stampin' Up! technique class a ROARing good day?

The card below was started in class and finished at home.

lion and cardbase: Stampin' Up! paper, punches, ink, scoring tool
computer-generated sentiment
baker's twine from the Twinery

Parting Thoughts

Thanks, Bernadette, for another fun class!

Thanks for stopping and happy scrappin'!

Happy Dirtday!

Hi, everyone!

Today's Midweek Throwdown challenge is to make Cards 4 Kids. Sounded like a perfect opportunity to ink up my new Stanpin' Up! I Dig You stamp set. So, between a morning walk with hubby, a trip to the neighborhood pool with nephews, and a dinner of steaks on the grill, I'm making and posting the card below. (Aren't vacation days the best?!)

truck and sentiment: Stampin' Up! I Dig You stamp set
clouds: Stampin' Up! cupcake punch; Distress Ink core paper
truck and clouds: heat embossed with embossing ink and clear powder
sentiment embossed in Distress Ink black soot
garage sale brads

A few Tricks of the Trade:

• I used a bendable ruler to create the shape of the dirt hill before tearing the core paper.
• Clouds were created by pressing a section of white cardstock into an embossing pad and heat embossing with clear powder before punching out the top of a cupcake.  [Thanks to Stampin' Up! demonstrator Bernadette for the suggestion to use the punch to make clouds. :) ]

Having major second thoughts about the brads -- going to replace them with hole-punch-size circles, embellished with Glossy Accents. I almost never use any gems or brads on kid cards. While I like the look of the brads, my concern is that the card might get in the hands of an itty, bitty kiddie. So, I'm going to err on the side of safety here -- not even sure what I was thinking in the first place.

Parting Thoughts

Brads or no brads, I'm REALLY loving the way this little card turned out -- liking the bright colors and the design itself. Hoping one of our hero's little one will love it as well. :)

Hubby's getting ready to fire up the grill. So, looks like it's time to sign off.

Thanks for visiting and happy scrappin'!

Three Cheers for Stampin' Up!

Hi, everyone.

Our local Stampin' Up! demonstrator, Bernadette Kirk, had a Customer Appreciation Event last night. Of course, we were all soooo excited to get the new catalog in our hands.

We used some of the new products to make a card, a scrapbook page, and a birthday gift. Since I really don't do much scrapbooking anymore, I chose to make a second card. Both of my cards are shown below.

All tools and materials are Stampin' Up!

Bernadette's design, embellished with brads
stamp and embossing folder
brown sugar ink and paper
ribbon, (retired) neutral brads

scrapbook page turned into a card
embossing folder, die, punches
new cardstock and ink, ribbon, adhesive gems

Now the tough part -- what to order? So many choices and such limited funds. :)

Parting Thoughts

Have a nice weekend! Don't know about you, but I'm really looking forward to 4:00 on Friday.  :)

Thanks for visiting and happy scrapping!