A True[ly] Friend[ly] Set

Okay, I LOVE Stampin' Up!'s current holiday mini-catalog! My favorite set is True Friend. There are so many ways to use it.

Ever get tired of the standard 5 1/2 x 4 1/4 card size? Switch it up and go long ...



Supplies:
Stamps: True Friend, Linen, Three For You Punch Box (greeting)
Paper: River Rock Long Notes, So Saffron Designer Prints, So Saffron, Very Vanilla, Groovy Guava card stock
Inks: So Saffron, River Rock
Markers: Certainly Celery, Cameo Coral
Accessories: Paper piercer, slit punch, 1/16" punch

... or tall ...


Supplies:
Stamps: True Friend
Paper: Wild Wasabi Long Notes, Apple Cider Designer Paper, Very Vanilla and Close To Cocoa card stock
Inks: Wild Wasabi
Markers: Really Rust, Close to Cocoa
Accessories: Wild Wasabi Double-Stitched Ribbon



...or small!

Supplies:
Stamps: True Friend
Paper: Soft Sky Love Notes (3x3), Purely Pomegranate and Whisper White card stock
Ink: Purely Pomegranate
Accessories: Paper Piercer, 1 1/4" Circle Punch, 1 3/8" Circle Punch

And YES, Stampin' Up! has envelopes for these cards. If you get the pre-cut and scored long notes or love notes, you'll get the envelopes, too. If you make your own, use the Small Open-End Envelopes for the Long Notes and the Small Square Envelopes for the Love Notes.

Apparently, I'm Not the Only Adult Who ...

... actually LIKES candy corn! (Note: Has to be Brach's. Off-brands just don't cut it.) I hear there is a caramel candy corn now, too. I think I must find some!

Feels Like Fall To Me ...

The crisp air of Fall has finally made it to Virginia! My favorite time of year? It just might be.

I've been playing with some beautiful fall designer paper -- Stampin' Up's Apple Cider double-sided. For this card, I wanted to rough it up a bit, so I sanded the dp until some of the white core showed through. On the two striped squares, I added a very subtle swirl in Vanilla craft ink. It's hard to see, but the Really Rust base of the card is stamped with the Canvas background stamp using Really Rust ink. The card (4 3/4 x 4 3/4) is larger than the bg stamp, so I opted to stamp the background five or six times, each time at a different angle. I got full coverage and a lot of overlap. A lot of stamping for the, oh, 1 square inch of rust that actually shows, but I think it adds to the overall scuffed up look. I also sponged the edges with rust ink for more of the same look. I kept trying to add something else, ribbon, hardware, etc., but nothing really added anything. The only thing I might try would be to use the ticket punch on the four outside corners of the group of designer paper squares.

Supplies used:

Stamps: Baroque Motifs, Canvas background

Paper: Really Rust, Chocolate Chip, Very Vanilla card stock; Apple Cider designer paper

Inks: Really Rust, Chocolate Chip, Very Vanilla craft

Accessories: Vintage Brads, 1/16" Punch, Scallop Punch, Distressing Tool, Sponge Daubers

Another Halloween Card

Supplies Used:

Stamps: Trick or Treat (retired), All-Year Cheer I/II/III (retired)

Ink/Markers: Pumpkin Pie, Old Olive, Basic Black

Paper: Pumpkin Pie, Old Olive, Basic Black, Halloween Night designer paper (retired)

Punches: Word Window, 1/4" Circle, 1 3/8" Circle, Scallop, 1/16" Circle

Accessories: Silver Brads

Memory Verse Tag Book

I'm supposed to memorize ten Bible verses for my Bible Study this fall, one each week. The study workbook (it's Beth Moore's Breaking Free study) even has little perforated, business card-size tearouts for each verse, so we can carry the verses with us until they're memorized. The first thing I thought was how much easier they'd be to memorize if I just "prettied up" the little cards a bit. Isn't everything easier when it's prettied up? And of course I was memorizing *while* I crafted :)

I used Stampin' Up!'s Spring Showers 2-sided designer paper and images from the Looks Like Spring stamp set.

Some of the inside pages of the tag book:

Booglie Eyes Swap Card

I'm not usually one for the cutesy stamps, but something about Stampin' Up!'s Booglie Eyes set grabbed my attention right away and didn't let go. After a year of resisting, I finally caved. This card, for my upline's group meeting tonight, is the first card I've made with it. The spider and greeting are just two images from the set, which also includes a witch on a broomstick, a vampire, ghost, mummy, frankenstein and a bat. Can't wait to play with the other images some more. This layout is just a larger version of the little 3x3's from yesterday. Both were inspired by Beate's Weekend Sketch Challenge #22.

It IS cute!

There's a funny story behind this little project. I believe my upline got this stamp set, called You're Neat, at the Stampin' Up! convention this past summer. Now, to each her own, so no offense if this set tops your list of favorites, but Sue dislikes this set so much that she refused even to mount it! Personally, it tops my least-favorite list, too!

Toni, one of Sue's downline, suggested that we pass around the set and see if we can create something cute enough to change Sue's mind and make her like this set. I wish I had a picture of the adorable card Toni created last month. I volunteered to take the set next, and this is what I came up with. I have to say it's pretty stinkin' cute! Still, not enough to make me buy it, though. I'll take it to Sue's group meeting tomorrow night, so we'll see what she thinks.

The little cards are 3x3. I made a matching tote to go with it. It's hard to see in the picture, but I used a reverse mask to cover everything except the inside of the kite, which I then stamped with the Canvas background stamp. Just a little "extra." What do you think?