The True Soldier

Hi, everyone.

Hope you all had a lovely Thanksgiving celebration with family and loved ones.

Seems like forever since I've made a traditional Any Hero card. Missed quite a bit of October due to some traveling, and made Any Hero holiday cards in November.

The inspiration for today's card came from OWH Sketch #201 and Donna's wonderful sample card. Since this is an Any Hero card that doesn't require mailbox-to-mailbox delivery, I went with two thick ribbons and double thick foam adhesives.

Bo Bunny Anthem; Distress Ink core
sentiment (Stamper's Best??? Unity???), heat embossed in Distress Ink core
Paper Smooches ribbons; Paper Studio brads
Tombow adhesives

The only deviation from the sketch was the horizontal strip. Since I went with ribbon that was only 1.5 inches thick, I changed the layout slightly to accommodate the narrower ribbon.

I love the sentiment on the stamp, which I picked up during OWH's Birthday Bash month. But, for the life of me, I can't remember who made it.

Parting Thoughts

Hoping to get a start on some OWH Valentines.

Thanks for stopping and happy scrappin'! Enjoy the rest of your weekend.

Bee Mine -- Take 2

Hi, everyone.

This week's OWH Midweek Throwdown is to make a card using dry embossing. Just loved Carols' sample card.

As for my contribution... Sounded like another great opportunity to stamp some little bees.

Distress Ink core, embossed with Sizzix/SU embossing folder
Paper Smooches images stamped in Distress Ink

Inside of Card

waterfall card

These three panels on the front, and the inside sentiment, make up the four panels on this waterfall card from the other day.

And, I don't usually include onside sentiments for OWH cards. But, these little bees really needed a little extra pizzazz on the inside. :)

I'm really liking the concept of the card, but am not so happy with the dimensions of the panels on the front. Think I may give this another try using two circles and an oval...

Parting Thoughts

Another short and sweet post. Still trying to recover from last week's festivities. And, gotta make some card bases for next week's craft show and e-mail a friend about a possible December Girl Get-Together.

Thanks for stopping and happy scrappin'!

Fewer Layers, More Texture...

Hi, everyone.

When I was trying to think of a name for today's card, and a  title for today's post, a line from an old commercial came to mind. Please tell me I'm not the only one who remembers, "Less Filling, Tastes Great".

So, for today's Any Hero card, I tried to make up for a lack of layers by adding a bit more texture. As with most of my Any Hero cards, the card below was inspired by this week's OWH Sunday Sketch.

Bo Bunny Anthem, Recollections jute, Distress Ink core paper
sentiment heat embossed in Distress Ink walnut stain on watercolor paper

garage sale brads

I rotated the sketch to go with a horizontal sentiment. And, since I was going with fewer layers, I cut the backgound dp to maximize the paper embellishment on the right.  

Parting Thoughts 

Sorry I've been so sporadic with posts lately -- but it's been for lots of good reasons. The months of October and November have brought lots of fun family-related events/activities. Let's see there was a beach getaway followed by a family reunion. This week, there will be 3 separate events celebrating my father-in-law's 90th birthday. When you add these to making some cards for upcoming craft shows and our typical day-to-day activities. Well, let's just say we've been rather busy -- and quite merry.  :)

As always, thanks for stopping and happy scrappin'! And, have a great week!

An Old-Fashioned Christmas

Hi, everyone.

I was so excited when I saw this stamp and punch bundle in the Stampin' Up! catalog and am THRILLED with the way the card below turned out. Never mind that it only took four tries for me to achieve this look.

Previous attempts were too busy (patterns for top and bottom papers), too symmetrical of a layout, and too symmetrical of an arrangement of ornament and branches).  The second attempt was so bad I didn't even show it to hubby!  :)

dp: We R Memory Keepers Winter Frost; cardstock; Distress Ink core
Stampin' Up! ornament, heat embossed in Distress Ink, and punch
Martha Stewart branch punch; Cuttlebug embossing folder
Really Reasonable Ribbon lace; Queen & Co pearl
Creative Memories oval cutting system and pen

I really do LOVE this card. My only regret is that the scan doesn't begin to capture its beauty. And, I have no idea why the paper looks discolored around the ornament. It is a pretty white with soft, blue snowflakes.

Tips:  On the back of the card, I drew a vertical line down the center to help line up the oval template. Because of the size of the oval, I was able to trim a 6" by 6" paper to two pieces of 3" by 5.25" -- and get two cards from each of the patterned sheets.

Thanks for stopping and happy scrappin'!

On a Scale of 1 to 10

Hi, everyone!

Hope the first day of the work week went well. Boy, it was a good day to be inside here. We got over 2 inches of rain. Wow, is it wet!

Today's Card

The current CAS-ual Fridays challenge is to make a card involving at least one number. Should be a perfect challenge for a math educator... right? So, why did I struggle so much with this one?

hand-drawn table, sponged in Distress Inks using Stampin' Up! daubers
Distress Ink core paper
computer-created stars, adhered with Zots 3D glue dots
Paper Smooches stamped numbers
non-identified stash number stickers
INSIDE SENTIMENT: On a scale of 1 to 10, You're a 100!

I'm always hearing people say something like, "On a scale of 1 to 10, I'd give it [...] an 11!"  So, the math teacher in me decided to do a take on this... 

MATH ALERT WARNING: Math stuff ahead!!!!  Since 10 raised to the 0 power is one and 10 raised to the 1st power is 10 and 10 raised to the 2nd power is 100, I decided to go with the numbers 1, 10, and 100. I know, sometimes the math-i-ness just comes out in spite of myself. :)

I sponged the lower numbers in red, the middle numbers in yellow, and the upper numbers in green -- going for an ombre effect at each level. After that, the card took on a life of itself. The sponged ink had more of a primary feel/look than I had envisioned. So, I went full-speed ahead with the primary feel, going with primary-looking numbers and primary-like stars.

Most of my cards go to Operation Write Home. So, I'm thinking a little boy or girl might really like receiving an encouraging card from mommy or daddy as a new school year begins.

Parting Thoughts

Have a good rest of the week.

Thanks for visiting and happy scrappin'!

Snowflakes and Pearls

Hi, everyone.

A quick post for a CAS card inspired by this week's Christmas in July Midweek Throwdown. 

snowflakes stenciled in Distress Ink faded jeans on watercolor paper
sentiment heat embossed in Distress Ink black soot
cardstock: black Bazzill
snowflake punches: EK, Recollection; hole punch: EK
Queen and Co. and Mark Richards pearls

I punched snowflakes and a hole out of cardstock and used them as stencils, applying ink with Stampin' Up! sponge daubers. And, I went with a non-holiday sentiment for a longer shelf life. Finally, I kept Paula's three-color rule in mind -- although it might not be quite 60:30:10.

That's about it for this little card. Have a good rest of the week.

Thanks for stopping and happy scrappin'!

[Just Because] It's Design Bootcamp

Hi, everyone.

A couple of days ago, I posted version 1 of the card below. The revised card shown below was inspired by this month's OWH Design Bootcamp lesson on using three colors in a 60:30:10 ratio.

In the original version, I actually used 4 colors, instead of 3. Also, the 60:30 balance was probably closer to 50:40.

In the revised version, I stuck with just 3 colors. And, I tried to be truer to the percentages that Paula talked about in her lesson. For this card, I went with 60% white, 30% brown, and 10% green.

Stampin' Up! Off the Grid stamp, heat embossed in Distress Ink walnut stain
computer-generated sentiment in Franklin Gothic Book (40 red, 20 green 0 brown)
Hero Arts white paper: swiped with bundled sage using baby wipes
Distress Ink core paper: bundled sage; Paper Smooches twine, pressed in walnut stain

There is actually a tad more green than shows in the scanned image. I took a baby wipe and swiped small patches of bundled sage around the card. If you look closely at the scanned image, you can see teeny, tiny bits of green. These little swipes of green actually bring the percentage closer to 10%, rather than the lesser ratio that shows on the screen.

In addition to concentrating on the 60:30:10 color ratio, I tried to incorporate the rule of thirds. The sentiment and stamped image were placed in the top one-third and bottom two-thirds of the card, respectively.

Think I need to trim the twine just a tad. Then, this little card should be ready to go.

Parting Thoughts

Thanks, Paula, for another wonderful lesson.

Thanks for stopping and happy scrappin'!

[Just Because]

Hi, everyone.

Hope your weekend is off to good start.

Our weather here is so gorgeous! It's hard to imagine that I stayed inside long enough to make a card. But, when you have a new stamp you just can't wait to use...  Well, you know what I mean. :)

Stampin' Up! Off the Grid stamp, heat embossed in Distress Ink black walnut
computer-generated sentiment in Franklin Gothic Book (40 red, 20 green 0 brown)
white paper: swiped with Distress Ink antique linen, faded jeans, and bundled sage
Distress Ink core paper: black walnut and bundled sage
Paper Smooches twine

Unfortunately the applied ink is too light to really show up on the screen. However, to lightly ink the background cardstock, I pressed "used" dryer sheets into the ink pads and swiped them across the paper.

I'm also pleased with the way the sentiment turned out. I went with brackets instead of curly braces -- and chose a more linear font -- to coordinate with the embossed grid. 

This was a mock-up for a possible craft fair card. Think I'm going to green light this and make a few more of these cards.

Parting Thoughts

Enjoy the rest of the weekend!

Thanks for stopping and happy scrappin'!

Falling Leaves

Hi, everyone.

Hope everybody is okay after this afternoon's storms.

The card below was made for today's Midweek Throwdown challenge to make a masculine-themed card.

Craft Smart stamp, heat embossed and sponged in Distress Ink
Distress Ink core paper; Sizzix embossing folder
Stampin' Up! brads; Zots 3D glue dots

I'm very excited about the technique used for the leaves. After heat embossing the image in Distress Ink walnut stain, I used cotton swabs to sponge on various Distress Inks (wild honey, scattered straw, fired brick, dusty concord).

I also like the sketch. It came from that fabulous Leisure Arts book. I tried to create a strong focal, use odd numbers of elements (5 strips of paper, 3 brads), and pay attention to the rule of thirds. It seems I can't help but channel Paula these days. :)

Not so sure this is masculine-themed enough. Hubby loves fall. So, I went with a neutral/male fall palette. Also, not so sure about the embossing folder. Wanted to add some texture, and this was the closest to nature folder that I had. Maybe I should've bought a wood grain folder after all.  :)

Parting Thoughts

Have a good rest of the week. Thanks for stoppin' and happy scrappin'!

Say It with Legos

Hi, everyone,

Okay, making a legos card was not on my day's crafting to-do list when the day began. But, when I saw Julie's stinkin' cute card idea at this week's Tuesday Tutorial, well I just had to join in the fun. Thanks, Nancy and Julie, for such a fun idea for a cute kiddie card!

Distress Ink core paper and ink (chipped sapphire, barn door red, scattered straw)
Stampin Up! sponge daubers; white gel pen; Marvy circle punch; Tombow dimensional adhesives

Julie suggested stamping a sentiment on a separate sheet of paper and adhering it to the card. I decided to make the sentiment out of the legos.

My only regret is that I didn't have an embossing folder to create the lego base. So, I went with a larger piece of white cardstock.

Parting Thoughts

Thanks again to the OWH blog team for a great idea! (BTW: The math teacher/editor in me LOVED the fractions -- even though I just eyeballed my circles and rectangles!)

Have a great week. Thanks for stopping and happy scrappin'!

A Patriotic Thanks

Hi, everyone.

A REALLY quick post for today's Any Hero card, inspired by Operation Write Home Sketch #180.

Bo Bunny Anthem, Distress Ink core
brand-spankin'-new Darice embossing folder
sentiment heat embossed in Distress Ink chipped sapphire
star punches: Fiskars, the Paper Studio

Enjoy the rest of your Sunday. Thanks for stopping and happy scrappin'!

An All-American Classic

Hi, everyone.

They say the third time's a charm. And, I'm hoping that's the case for the card that I made for this week's CAS-ual Friday challenge to make a project that uses fabric, canvas, etc. My first effort went in a totally different direction, trying to make a super hero card involving aluminum foil Then, the canvas idea came to me. But, the star stenciling did not go quite as I hoped the first time around. However, it led me to the card below.

Recollections natural canvas
Distress Ink core (chipped sapphire)
computer-generated negatives, sponged in Distress Ink (chipped sapphire, fired brick)
Stampin' Up! sponge daubers; garage sale brads

First, let me give credit where credit's due. Becca posted a similar design on Operation Write Home a few weeks ago. I loved her card -- and even remembering asking if I could CASE it. Thanks, Becca, for a wonderful idea.

That's the good news. The bad news is I remember Becca using a Cricut-like machine to create her card. So, to create my star and stripes, I created basic shapes in Word. Then, I cut out the shapes to make stencils and sponged using these negatives. I'm really pleased with the look of the sponging on the canvas!

To make sure the canvas stays in place for OWH, I used brads to secure the canvas to the cardstock.

 Parting Thoughts

Thanks CAS-ual Fridays, for really taking me out of my box this week!

Hope everyone is enjoying a wonderful holiday weekend.

Thanks for visiting and happy scrappin'!

Sweet Birthday Wishes

Hi, everyone.

Today's card is for a friend who lost her husband to cancer a couple of months ago. It's sure to be a tough day for her. So, I wanted to send her a card that wasn't overly celebratory, but... just something sweet to let her know she was being thought of on her special day. Hope this card will do that.

bubble wrap background, heat embossed with clear powder and inked with Distress Ink
Really Reasonable Ribbon ribbon-of-the-month ribbon
Inkadinkado sentiment, heat embossed in Distress Ink
Distress Ink core paper; Stampin Up! cupcake punch
Creative Memories corner rounder
Zots 3D glue dots, Glossy Accents

I'm kind of ambivalent about this little card. At times I really like it; at other times, well....

Please click here to see original post.

One thing I do love is the background. The polka dots were created using the same technique that was used on The Sky's the Limit card at the right. I then inked the background in Distress Ink tattered rose.

I also like the ribbon itself. I placed a narrow strip of tattered rose under the ribbon so that it coordinated with the background and the sentiment paper. As it turns out, this is one of the elements about which I am ambivalent. I like the effect of the ribbon and paper, but am wondering if I should have chosen a contrasting color of paper. But, then again, I was trying for sweet and not jubilant...

Speaking of the ribbon, it is from Really Reasonable Ribbon -- one of the ribbons in the June Ribbon of the Month pack. The ribbon on the card is so pretty -- and I so love this company!

Another element I went back and forth on was the color of paper to use for the icing. I wanted it to pop, but not pop too much. It actually blends in much better on the card itself than it appears to blend on the screen. I think the color is Distress Ink barn door.

Two other quick notes: I rounded alternating corners because of the arcs of the cupcake icing and the straight lines of the cupcake base. Lastly, the sentiment was from a birthday set of Inkadinkado stamps that was $2 at a garage sale. :)

Parting Thoughts

It's a really rainy day here. Sounds like a perfect day to go to an afternoon movie and make some cards in the evening. :)

Enjoy the rest of the holiday weekend.

As always, thanks for stopping and happy scrappin'!

Lady Liberty

Happy Birthday, America!

Sandy Allnock's card

The card below was inspired by today's Midweek Throwdown color challenge to make a card featuring red, blue, white, and kraft, and by the layout Sandy used for the card she posted yesterday. (Okay, so I'll never be able to color like Sandy -- not in a million years. But, CASE-ing one of her designs.... Now, that's something I can totally do. Thanks, Sandy, for some wonderful inspiration!)

Bo Bunny Anthem dp; Distress Ink core: vintage photo and chipped sapphire
Stamper's Best image, stamped on watercolor paper, heat embossed in Distress Ink vintage photo
garage sale brads

I believe the Lady Liberty stamp was included in an order awhile back from Stamper's Best -- a complimentary token of appreciation. She seems to really work well on this card.

I soooo love Bo Bunny paper. And, I didn't think I'd ever like a patriotic pad of paper as much as I liked Bo Bunny Liberty. But, this yummy Anthem pad (that just happened to make its way into my Archiver's basket last night) might just give Liberty a run for its money. :)

One of the things I most love about Bo Bunny papers is that the patterns are so easy to combine. For this card, I simply chose three of the papers that had vertical stripes -- small, medium, and wide (tone-on-tone), added some crimped paper, and used one of the bolder, more solid papers for the bottom layer and a few accents or two and.... VOILA!

I wanted to ink the edge of the banner, but never quite know how to handle the triangular cut-out portion. Today I realized that I could lightly brush an ink pen against those edges. Duh! Why hadn't I ever thought of that before?

Parting Thoughts

Have a fun, festive, and safe celebration!

Thanks for stopping and happy scrappin'!

Recipe for a Happy Birthday

Hi, everyone.

Maybe it's because hubby and I both have July birthdays... But, for some reason, I've been motivated to make some birthday cards. Hubby would actually like me to try a couple of craft shows this year. So, I'm trying to get a little jump on craft-show cardmaking. :)

ODBD background stamp; Distress Ink core papers and ink
Stampin' Up! cupcake punch; Fiskars border punch
original sentiment, computer-generated as a table in Word (Lucida Handwriting)

I'm actually making an assortment of these in various color combinations -- mainly as a matter of necessity based on the current availability of Distress Ink papers and coordinating inks in the menopause room.

The background for the card above is from Our Daily Bread Design, a wonderful supporter of OWH. This stamp was part of a blog candy prize. The minute I saw it on the ODBD Web site, I knew I wanted to use it as the background for some recipe cards.

Please click here to read original post.

But, that meant coming up with the recipe itself. So, I went online and checked out some recipe card sentiments. Next, I did some
word smithing of my own and came up with the recipe shown -- with special inspiration from similar verses at Zazzle.com from Scribble Kitty. I used a table in a Word doc, with some cute bullets, to help with formatting, alignment, and so on.

My first attempt included some lace. (Interestingly enough, hubby didn't care much for the lace.) There are also some glue dots in the original -- and a hand-written, less sophisticated recipe. I decided to change things up a little to make cards that were a little more craft show friendly -- cards that a craft show customer could drop in regular mail without worrying about bumps and or thickness.

Parting Thoughts

Hoping to knock out a few more of these birthday cards. All is cut out -- but there is still some assembly required.

Thanks for stopping and a happy scrappin'!

America: my home sweet home

Hi, everyone.

It's been an interesting OWH week. The Midweek Challenge was to create a CAS card. Music to my ears! (The first time I came across the CAS-ual Fridays blog, well I felt like Steve Martin's character in The Jerk hearing his kind of music for the first time.)

Then came today's multi-layered sketch. There are times when I really struggle with multiple layers. Don't get me wrong, it is a great sketch -- and Kathryn's sample card is fabulous. But, it just isn't my kind of sketch. So, please accept my apologies in advance for taking quite a few liberties with this one.

So, let's say that today's Any Hero Card had its beginnings in OWH Sketch #179.

dp: My Mind's Eye 29th Street Market
sentiment: Stamper's Best,  heat embossed in Distress Ink black walnut
inking in Distress Ink black walnut; garage sale brads

I've had this paper for a while, but hadn't used it. My thinking was that the softer colors might make it easier to work with the multiple layers. Unfortunately, I still had issues with the four-layer layout.

I made a couple of other changes to the sketch. The second change was scoring the right hand side of the sentiment strip, and then sponging this smaller section with black walnut using Stampin' Up! daubers. I chose to do this instead of adding another element/paper. (Just can't get that CAS out of my system no matter how hard I try!) The third change was the placement of the three small circles in the upper left corner of the sketch. I chose to place them under the sentiment strip to bring more attention to the sentiment.

To better pop elements, I inked edges in black walnut. And, I double matted the star paper on 2 layers of the same color paper.

Oh, one more thing, the brad in the top left corner was placed to cover a stamping smudge -- which led to the bottom right brad -- which led to the three smaller brads. Guess we've all been there, done that. :)

Parting Thoughts

We're getting some much needed rain. Not good for the pool, but good for the grass and flowers. (Hubby just called it a million dollar rain! He's a very happy camper right now.)

Have a great week! Thanks for stopping and happy scrappin'!

Got Sunscreen? -- Take Two

Hi, everyone!

Let me start by thanking everyone for the comments you've left the last couple of weeks -- and apologize for not reciprocating with comments of my own. All of your comments have been so kind and very appreciated.

One of my New Year's Resolutions has been to leave comments. And, I've done a better job of that this past year -- culminating in the OWH Memorial Day Blog Hop, where I left tons and tons of comments. Then life got in the way just a little, and I dedicated the time I had to make and post cards. So, please accept my apologies for neglecting the blogs of my cardmaking friends.

Got Sunscreen?

For card details, click here.

Today's card has two inspirations. The first inspiration is this week's Tuesday Tutorial about making window cards. The second is taking another stab at a card I made for last week's CAS-ual Fridays challenge to make a theme-inspired card. The card at the right was made for the CAS-ual Fridays challenge.

While I liked the idea for the card at the right, it felt like it could be better. Then, I saw the Tutorial challenge. The window idea rolled around in my brain a couple of days. The light bulb didn't come right away, but when I made the connection between the challenge and the sunscreen card... Well, the card really came together quickly. And, I have to say that I am really pleased with the results.

tree: negative of image cut out from DCWV travel stack
tree: sponged in Distress Ink black walnut
sentiment: computer-generated (Lucida Handwriting)
Distress Ink core paper; blue paper sponged in Distress Ink milled lavender
gems, including Hero Arts Hues; Tombow 3D foam tabs
Stampin' Up! trimmer and sponge daubers
Creative Memories corner rounders

This card would never have been possible without my Stampin' Up! trimmer. I LOVE, LOVE, LOVE this trimmer! If you're in the market for a new trimmer, this one is definitely worth checking out.

The only thing I would change on the card is replacing the larger gems with a few smaller ones. But, this was the best I could do with my available stash. DONE!  Added a few Hero Arts Hues after a trip to JoAnn's. :)

That said, one of the added bonuses of a window card is being able to use larger gems without adding extra bulk -- which is always a nice thing. :)

Parting Thoughts

My brother's in town one last day. Waiting for a call to meet them for breakfast. :)

Enjoy your weekend. Thanks for visiting 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'!

Got Sunscreen?

Hi, everyone.

This week's CAS-ual Fridays challenge is to create a travel-related card. Memories of trips to the beach inspired the card below.

Negative of Tree (cut from DCWV Travel Stack)  in Distress Ink black walnut and Zig chocolate marker
Distress Ink core, lightly sanded and sponged in various Distress Inks
computer-generated sentiment (Lucida Handwriting); Hero Arts gems
Creative Memories corner rounder

The idea for this card was stuck in my brain -- along with the original sentiment "Got Lotion?" The card itself is not quite what I envisioned, but it's close.

One of the execution challenges was evening out the color of the tree since I was inking on top of two different papers. My solution was to color with a Zig chocolate marker. There's still a little variation, but it's not nearly as pronounced. 

Another change I would make is in the break down of tan vs. blue. Think the card would be just a touch better with a little less tan and a little more blue. 

Thinking of trying this again with some watered down acrylic -- going for more of an ombre effect.

Parting Thoughts

Wasn't sure I'd get to the CAS-ual Friday challenge this week since my brother's family is visiting. As it turns out, I'm so excited about the visit that I can't sleep. So, what's a girl to do? And, what better theme for the week than a travel theme?

As always, thanks for stopping by and happy scrappin'!

Hello, Honey!

Hi, everyone.

Update on 7/8/2013: Just came across a guest designer challenge on the Paper Smooches site. Think I'm going to go out on a limb and post this little honey of a card. 

Well, brother and family got a late start and their arrival is later than originally planned. So, what's a gal to do with a couple of bonus hours? Make a card!

This bonus card is made from another one of those fabulous Paper Smooches blog candy stamp sets. The set I used for this card is Bee Mine, paired with a great Stampin' Up! embossing folder.

Paper Smooches Bee Mine stamps and ribbons
Stampin' Up embossing folder and neutral brads
Distress Ink core paper (scattered straw and fired brick)
Distress Ink, heat embossed with clear powder and sponged
Zots 3D glue dots, Elmer Craft Fabric Glue

The inside of the folder was inked up with Distress Ink vintage photo. After running Distress Ink scattered straw through the embosser, the paper was heat embossed with clear powder. Then, I sponged on wild honey and antique linen with SU sponge daubers. The heat-embossed bee, heart, and sentiment were
stamped in vintage photo and/or fired brick.

Since this is a thing with wings, I'm going to try posting this card to OWH's Midweek Throwdown. Not sure if it will work since I've already posted the card at the right. Crossing my fingers.  :) 

Parting Thoughts

Still looking forward to seeing my brother and his family. Thinking they should be getting in to Dad's right about now.

Have a wonderful Father's Day with family and loved ones.

Thanks for stopping and happy scrappin'!