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'!

Always...

Hi, everyone.

Today's card was inspired by two challenge: to make a masculine card for this month's OWH Our Daily Bread Design challenge and to make a Valentine's Day or Love Card for OWH's Midweek Throwdown.

Authentique Pride; Distress Ink core (antique linen, fired brick); Bazzill (admiral)
original computer-generated sentiment in Mistral printed directly on core paper
hearts: hand cut from template, inked in Distress Ink fired brick with SU daubers
EK punch hearts on inside of  card
SU brads; Tombow foam adhesives for small heart

When making an Any Hero card on Sunday from this pad of Authentique paper, I was really drawn to this plaid. While I used other papers for Sunday's card, I kept this in mind for a masculine non-patriotic card. This plaid with its splashes of red seemed a good choice for a masculine Valentine's Day card. 

The red used for the hearts actually is much truer to the red in the plaid than the image shows. I initially inked the edges of the small heart so that it would stand out from the bigger heart. But, the fired brick ink on the fired brick paper had such a nice look, I decided to ink the edges of the bigger heart as well. However, I took care to leave some separation where the two hearts overlap.

A quick internet search for masculine Valentine's Day cards yielded a few possible designs. So, I tweaked one of the layouts for the card above. Although hubby did not give it an overwhelming endorsement, I'm pretty pleased with the way it turned out. (Maybe he was just card-weary by that point of the evening. At least that's the story I'm sticking with!) And, I think it makes for a nice OWH masculine Valentine's Day card that could also be used later in the year as a love/anniversary card.

Parting Thoughts

Finally making a dent in those challenges. Now I need to make some progress on Valentines for OWH.

As always, thanks for stopping and happy scrappin'! Have a nice week.

White on White on White on White

Hi, everyone.

Hope you all had a wonderful Thanksgiving celebration. Ours was very nice -- having our dads over for dinner and watching a little football. We had a quiet, peaceful, relaxing day.

Now for my card for this week's Midweek Throwdown color challenge -- a card I almost didn't make. The challenge is to make a white on white card. I was going to pass because I honestly didn't think I had a single sheet of nice white paper in my stash following the OWH and craft show Christmas card holiday rushes. But, as I was cleaning out the craft room -- which is a disaster because of those same holiday rushes, I came across some lovely Stampin' Up! paper that I purchased years ago at a garage sale. So, I used pieces of four sheets of lovely, textured paper for the card below.

Stampin' Up! paper; Martha Stewart punches
white tulle; Queen & Co pearls; white gel pen antennae

Thanks for stopping and happy scrappin'! Thanks, Allison, for a great challenge.

Hope everyone enjoys the rest of the holiday weekend.

8 Packages Tied Up in a Bow

Hi, everyone. Happy weekend!

The card below was inspired by this week's OWH Midweek Throwdown to make a masculine birthday card and CAS-ual Fridays' challenge to make a card featuring eight of something -- in this case, 8 birthday packages all tied up in a bow.

DCWV Natural matstack with foil
Paper Smooches twine
Paper Studio brads

Pretty pleased with the way this one turned out. Really love all the textures with the foil in the paper, the twine, and the brads. Hope it will brighten the day of one of a troop's loved one.

Parting Thoughts

Will try to make some time to write about this week's craft show. And, then there's a post-craft-show craft room that needs some cleaning up. :)

Thanks for stopping and happy scrappin'!

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'!

Love is in the Air

Hi, everyone.

I was so excited when Allison was announced as the new Midweek Throwdown Hostess. Unfortunately, I've not yet had a chance to make a card for her first couple of challenges. Finally, today, I was able to make a card for this week's pink and green color challenge. Pink and green... sounds like the perfect combo for a girlie, spring card. :)

Distress Ink core paper; Martha Stewart punches and gems
Cuttlebug and Sizzix embossing folders; Glossy Accents

I really like the glossy butterflies, and I'm okay with the design of the card. However, I'm still not sold on the gems -- especially seeing them on the screen. They look more purple and less pink here than they do on the card. But, I'm not even sure I like them as they appear on the card. Hmmm....

And, how I love my Staedtler bendable ruler. It was such a help in making the matching flight paths. :)

Parting Thoughts

Sorry for such a quick post. Maybe I'll be able to check back in the next day or two and share a card we made at Stamp Club last night.

Until then, thanks for stopping and happy scrappin'!

A Thank You Fit for a Man

Hi, everyone.

Today was Jan's last post as OWH's Midweek Throwdown Hostess. It's pretty appropriate that today's challenge is a thank you because that's what all of us want to say to Jan.

Since I missed out on the Facebook post about making a masculine friend card, I thought I'd make up for it making a masculine thank you card for today's challenge.

dp: Jillibean Fresh Vegetable Soup (mushroom)
cardstock: browns: AC and/or Bazzill; almond cream: Bazzill
sentiment heat embossed in Distress Ink walnut stain
recycled raffia from ??? that will pull right off

I'm working on an invitation to my father-in-law's 90th birthday party. (More on that in a future post!)  The materials for those invitations are still strewn all over our dining room table. So, I replicated the invitation fold (a 12" by 4.25" card that is scored and folded at 3.25" at either end), stamped the sentiment -- surprisingly getting a "good" stamped image on my first attempt, taped on the dp, and tied on a scrap ribbon. Voila! This had to be the quickest card I've made in a long time since all of the heavy lifting went into designing the party invitations.

Parting Thoughts

Looking forward to this weekend's VCMP.

One last shout out to Jan. Thanks, Jan! All the best in your new ventures.

Hey L'il Monster

Hey, everyone.

For today's OWH Midweek Throwdown challenge to make cards 4 kids, I went bright, bold, and busy -- inside and out. Hope some little guy or gal will smile when they get this one.  :)

BTW  The tiny orange circles in the corners were inspired by a torn edge. The trimmer took a little bite out of the top right corner. So, I added a few circles to cover it up.

dp: Recollections Monsters; Creative Memories
cardstock: green and orange: AC; purple: Distress Ink core
Stampin' Up! Make a Monster image, heat embossed in Distress Ink black soot
conputer-generated sentiment
Creative Memories cutting system; Marvy, Paper Shaper and EK punches
Really Reasonable Ribbon ribbon-a-month club ribbon; Tombow foam adhesives
Dixie's awesome ribbon-tying technique

Thanks for stopping and happy scrappin'!

friend 2 friend

Hi, everyone.

This week's OWH Midweek Throwdown challenge is to make a friend-themed card. I decided to go all girlie, girlie for this one!  :)

Stampin' Up! garage-sale-find dp; AC cardstock
Paper Smooches stamps: Teen Scene and Alphadot, in Staz On jet black
Glossy Accents; Fiskars border punch; Marvy circle punch

I'm thrilled with the way this turned out...but it sure was a long and winding road. And, the arduous journey really surprised me because I knew early on that I wanted to use some fun Stampin' Up! paper and these adorable Paper Smooches Teen Scene stamps. But, choosing the right cardstock to complement the paper, the exact combination of stamps, and getting the stamping to look halfway decent... Well, all of that took quite a while.  : )

Tip for the Day: I taped along the edges of the screens and envelope before applying Glossy Accents.

Moments of Inspiration: Inspiration hit when I realized I should use a first generation/second generation/third generation stamping technique on the arrows. Inspiration hit again when I decided to make the middle arrow 2-ply thick, and the right arrow 3-ply thick.

Think I'll post this at Paper Smooches.

Parting Thoughts

UPDATE: Just learned there was a Facebook part of the challenge to make a masculine card. Since hubby and I are probably the only people on the planet that doesn't do FB, I messed up that part of the challenge. Sorry about that!

Not much else to say. Pretty tired after a taxing day at work.

Thanks for stopping and happy scrappin'!

Autumn Foliage

Hi, everyone!

Seems like it's been feast or famine for me when it comes to cardmaking lately. This past week was a drought, but today's turning out to be pretty productive. The card below is for this week's OWH Midweek Throwdown challenge to make fall-themed cards.

Distress Ink core and Bazzill cardstock; stash dp
dp: distressed and inked in Distress Ink black walnut
OWH fundraiser ribbon; Stampin' Up! brads

I'm so loving this OWH fundraising ribbon. My challenge is to find more creative ways to use it!

The designer paper may be Creative Memories. Not sure about that since I bought it a garage sale -- a nice pack of 8" by 8" autumn papers for $3!

So that the dp would really pop, I went with monochromatic ribbon and brads, keeping the layout really simple -- but remembering the Design Bootcamp Rule of Thirds lesson. 

I only wish the scanned dp didn't look so yellow. It's actually more of a cream or ecru -- much prettier than it looks on my monitor.

Parting Thoughts 

Two posts for two OWH challenges -- and it's only 3:30! Better yet, I still have a little time to work on some Christmas cards.

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

Season's Greetings... a few months early

Hi, everyone.

Today's card is for this week's OWH Midweek Throwdown challenge to use die(s) and/or punch(es) in a card for our troops. Perfect timing since I've been chomping at the bit to try out a new Stampin' Up! punch. :)

Doodlebug north pole; black cardstock
??? sentiment -- from the $ bin???, heat embossed in Distress Ink black soot
Stampin' Up! hexagon punch; Mark Richards rhinestones
OWH fundraiser ribbon; Zots 3D glue dots

Picked up a couple of packs of this paper last year and really, really like it. And, when my OWH ribbon package came this week, I never dreamed I would use this gray ribbon on a holiday card. But, it's such a perfect fit for this paper. Thanks, OWH!

Parting Thoughts

Have a great rest of the week! Thanks for visiting and happy scrappin'!

Fun Ribbon for an Any Hero Card

Hi, everyone.

I've had the ribbon on the card below for about a year.

Couldn't resist it when I found it at a flea market when shopping with a friend. But, since the colors just didn't quite go with any of my patriotic paper, I hadn't used it until now.

So, I decided to pair it with some neutral core paper and brads for this week's Midweek Throwdown challenge to make an Any Hero card. Even so, I'm still a little ambivalent about the paper being too formal for this more whimsical ribbon.Hmmm... 

sentiment from Stamper's Best, heat embossed in Distress Ink vintage photo
flea market ribbon by ???
Core'dinations paper  -- a great garage sale find  :)
Stampin' Up! brads
Creative Memories circle cutting system

Parting Thoughts

Had a fun time at a Stampin' Up! one-sheet wonder class last night. Still have a few cards to finish!

Looking forward to hubby getting home tonight!!! He and our little doggie have been gone for almost 2 weeks.

Enjoy the weekend!  As always, 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'!

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'!

Zing, Zing, Zing

Hi, everyone.

The card below was inspired by two challenges: this week's OWH Midweek Throwdown challenge to make a CAS card and this week's CAS-ual Fridays challenge to make a card featuring an arrow.

Distress Ink core paper, Bazzill black
computer-created arrow, computer-generated font (Harlow)
large heart: hand-cut with template, small heart: EK triple heart punch
Stampin' Up! brads; Sizzix embossing folder; Zot 3D glue dots

Since this was going to OWH, I embossed the background cardstock to give the card a little more texture. I initially tried embossing the larger circle using a different folder. But, the pattern didn't feel right with the arrow. So, I went with two plain hearts.

Parting Thoughts

Hoping to visit some blogs and leave some comments this weekend. Also hoping to find some time to make a few more cards.

Have a great weekend!  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'!

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'!

Enjoy the Ride

Hi, everyone.

Didn't get around to making a card for this week's Midweek Throwdown transportation challenge until last night. Oh well, better late than never. :)

Jillibean Soup Blossom Soup and Journaling Sprout embellished with Glossy Accents
Distress Ink core, AC white cardstock
computer-generated sentiment (Lucida)
Spellbinders Nestabilities scallop die; Marvy flower punch
Marvy and EK circle punches; Martha Stewart gem stickers
Creative Memories cutting system

This is only one my second attempt using Glossy Accent -- shocking, I know! I followed the directions, but still have a few air bubbles. Any advice?

One other note about the card: There a red scallop behind the bicycle, both on the inside of the card. I always admire cards by fellow OWHers who add a little extra something to the inside of their cards. Glad I was able to do that on this one.


                                       Parting Thoughts

My sincerest thanks to those passing along best wishes to hubby on his retirement from teaching. Hubby and I were actually a high school romance -- a few years removed. My first 10 years of teaching was at the same school as hubby was teaching. Needless to say, that school holds a very special place in both of our hearts.

Looks like this month's ODBD challenge is posted -- a card that has something to do with water. Beach, anyone? Maybe I'll have a chance to work on that tomorrow. Let's see, my weekend card to-do list is an Any Hero card, an ODBD card, and a Father's Day card. Wish me luck. :)

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

Make a Wish Come True

Hi, everyone.

First of all, our thoughts and prayers to everyone affected by that horrible tornado and all the recent storms. Here's hoping our OWH family and their loved ones are safe and sound.

Today's Card

Today's Midweek Throwdown challenge is to make a card featuring three of something. And, the card we made in last night's Stampin' Up! technique class is perfect for this challenge. How fortuitous!

Stampin' Up!: cardstock, stamps, ink, ribbon, embossing folder, die
Mark Richards and Queen & Co: pearls

The technique we used was called Rock and Roll. We stamped a flower in one ink, and rolled the edges of the stamp in another ink. The process was repeated for three flowers. Then we cut out each flower using a coordinating die.

Pretty cool technique.

Parting Thoughts

Looking forward to a little laughter tonight watching a few favorite Wednesday night comedies. 

Also looking forward to the upcoming OWH Memorial Day BlogHop.

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

A Patriotic Thanks

Hi, everyone.

First, a heartfelt thanks to everyone who responded to hubby's question. Your comments were often funny, at times wistful -- and all so very honest.

A few words about hubby. This August, we will have been married for 30  years. (It's actually amazing to see that in print!) And, he is so supportive and kind -- in spite of that stoic persona of his.

Just  a small snippet of his kindness: He was running errands earlier today -- close to our neighborhood Michael's, which is one of those places that he avoids like the plague. However, I had mentioned about wanting to pick up ATG refills. So, he raided the menopause room trashcan to find an empty pack to know what type of tape I get. Yea, he talks a good game, but he's a real sweetheart.  :)

A Patriotic Thanks

The card below was inspired by two OWH posts: today's Midweek Throwdown challenge to make a thank you card and  yesterday's Tuesday Tutorial about making a card using scraps.

Bo Bunny Liberty; tan: Distress Ink core, blue: Bazzill admiral, red: Bazzill watermelon
sentiment heat embossed in Distress Ink vintage photo; garage sale brad; 3D glue dots

Parting Thoughts

Thanks again to all for sharing your hubbies' reactions to card-sharing.

Have a good rest of the week. Happy scrappin'!