First Holy Communion

Here I was last night cruising right along on today's post for Lori Craig's Divine Design Challenge. I had everything ready to go except the picture of the card (I usually take those in the morning so I can get good natural light). Then today as I was photographing the card, it finally dawned on me that this does NOT qualify for her challenge because it doesn't have Scripture on it. Doh! (Click the link to read about the challenge -- it's a great idea, and open to anyone!)

I had originally intended to use an absolutely lovely corresponding stamp of Matthew 26: 26,27 from First Holy Communion by Our Daily Bread Designs, but in all the arranging and rearranging of the design process, for space reasons, I switched from the Scripture stamp to this "God Bless You ... " sentiment. But I really do want to participate in the challenge again this month, so you might see me crank out another one of these today if I have time!

In the meantime, isn't this image a beauty?! Kelley at Our Daily Bread Designs has done it again. WOW! I stamped in Onyx Black Versafine on watercolor paper and colored with reinkers and an aqua painter. The two ovals that make the frame are cut with classic oval nestabilities. I nested the two dies on the Cuttlebug plate first, then cut the frame out in one pass. After that I ran the frame back through the Cuttlebug with the Textile embossing folder. I trimmed around the stamped image, so that parts of it would overhang the frame.

For the sentiment, I stamped in Basic Black classic ink on vellum (the pigment inks *never* dry on the vellum - ask me how I know, lol!), then attached it to a slightly bigger piece of Elegant Eggplant with Artichoke brads to make it a little more sturdy. Then all of that is attached to the dry embossed Elegant Eggplant background using dimensionals. The dry embossing on the Elegant Eggplant bg is done with the Swiss Dots Cuttlebug folder, and the Always Artichoke bg is done with Textile.

Any questions about anything else -- just ask!

And speaking of questions ... I've had a couple of requests for secrets to tying a knot in ribbon. I've seen a handful of video tutorials out there, but I have a twist to my knot-tying that may be helpful. I'm hoping to put together a quick video, since that seems so much easier than trying to explain the steps with just words. I have no idea what I'm doing as far as making a video, but I do have a digital video camcorder and my sister has a Mac, so I think I'll just put that whole Mac "plug 'n play" claim to the test :) (I'm moderately afraid I'll end up wanting one.) For now, I just wanted you to know I'm knot ignoring those questions. Yes I did that on purpose ;)

Have a blessed day!



Stamps: First Holy Communion (Our Daily Bread Designs)
Paper: So Saffron, Very Vanilla, Elegant Eggplant, Always Artichoke
Ink: Onyx Black Versafine (Tsukineko); So Saffron, More Mustard, Always Artichoke, Old Olive, Baroque Burgundy, Elegant Eggplant, Creamy Caramel, Sahara Sand, Basic Grey reinkers
Accessories: Textile and Swiss Dots Cuttlebug folders; Apricot grosgrain ribbon, Rich Regals brads, corner rounder, vellum card stock

Heartfeltgreetings Sketch

Okay, if you've been with me on this blog any amount of time, you've either heard me say, or you've noticed yourself, I am not big into patterned paper. For me, it's a scary thing! When I see someone who can work magic with patterns, I pay attention, hoping to learn a thing or two. And Amy Westerman is one of those magicians. She's got it goin' on! So when she recently brought back her Super Sketch Sunday feature, which is a sketch challenge with patterned paper requirements, it looked like just the thing for me. She gives a sketch and shows exactly where each pattern goes. I can do that, right?

This, my first attempt, is made from this past Sunday's sketch, which calls for FOUR different papers. I'm calling this my "crawl before you walk" card. I didn't take the #1 easy route, which would have been to pull out a pack of one of Stampin' Up's designer paper series and its coordinating set. But I took the #2 easy route, which was to pull from another manufacturer's kit. These papers all come from SEI's Dill Blossom pack, so naturally they already coordinate. Where I often stumble when using patterned papers is picking out a stamp that will coordinate, but I think I did okay here :)

A couple of notes on the card: The flowers and stems are colored over with a clear Spica. It makes for a very subtle sparkle in real life, but it's a bit too subtle for this amateur photographer to pick up with the camera. I very lightly sponged all of my edges with Close to Cocoa using a sponge dauber. The sentiment (by Verve Visual) is stamped in Old Olive on a piece of Really Rust and punched out with Stampin' Up's Key Tag punch. It's hard to see in the photo, but it says, "You inspire Me." [Tip: The stamped image panel is raised up on foam tape. For larger pieces, I like to use tape more than SU dimensionals because it has much less "give." Sometimes with the dimensionals, unless you put them really close, the larger panels start to bend and sink in places.]

And now, for the really cool part: the SEI paper came in my box o' goodies that Northridge Media sent me after they published two of my cards in the May issue of Cards magazine. Submit your work, girls (and guys) - if I can do it, so can you!!

Last, Amy, if you see this - thanks for the inspiration. I'm so happy with my card!



Stamps: Live Your Dream (SU!); Thoughtful Florals (Verve Visual)
Paper: Very Vanilla, Close to Cocoa, SEI Dill Blossom
Ink: Old Olive, Really Rust, Summer Sun
Accessories: antique brass jumbo eyelets, sponge daubers, wide olive grosgrain, key tag punch, clear Spica glitter pen, foam tape

Apricot Appeal

It's been several months now, but I can remember blurfing one day and coming across a post where the writer mentioned her strong dislike of Apricot Appeal. I was so surprised, because I love this color! When it first came out, I even bought paint to match, thinking I'd paint my craft room. (My craft room is open to the rest of my basement, so to paint it, you almost have to paint the whole basement. Not so appealing on that scale ;) What do you think of Apricot Appeal??

This first card is a makeover of a card I CASED several years ago (I forgot to take the "before" picture), and only took 10-15 minutes to make. (That's lightning fast for me!) You don't see the torn edges much anymore, but I still like the look. I tried to update it by adding the scallop border, but honestly I'm not sure I like the scallops and tearing together. They just kinda don't go together. I stamped Stitched in white for the background, then stamped the flower from Baroque Motifs in Apricot Appeal. The apricot flowers on the sentiment panel are dotted with Stardust Stickles. Everything else is pretty straightforward.

While I had these colors out, I went ahead and made a card for this week's Featured Stamper challenge. I had printed out three of nutsymuhl's cards for a possible CASE, and ended up choosing this one to modify. And this is what I came up with:



If you haven't played along yet, be sure and take a look at Kim's fabulous gallery. She's got some fun stuff in there and lots of eye candy!

The flower on this one is from Doodle Flowers by Inkadinkado. I stamped in Onyx Black Versafine on watercolor paper, then colored with reinkers and an aqua painter. I went back over and added some white dots with a white gel pen. The black center is a 1/2" circle of Basic Black dotted with a white pigment pen. All the black pieces are cuttlebugged with Swiss Dots, and the white scalloped square is done with nestabilities. Lotsa dimensionals to add some depth.

Thanks for visiting today!



Mother's Day Card:
Stamps: All Holidays, Baroque Motifs, Stitched
Paper: Apricot Appeal, Basic Black, Whisper White
Ink: Basic Black, Whisper White craft, Apricot Appeal
Accessories: corner rounder, black gingham ribbon, paper piercer, Stardust Stickles
All supplies by Stampin' Up except the Stickles.

Doodle Flower Card:
Stamps: Doodle Flower (Inkadinkado); Stitched (SU!)
Paper: Papertrey White (for card base, it's sturdier than most whites); Basic Black, Apricot Appeal, Whisper White
Ink: Onyx Black Versafine (Tsukineko), Whisper White craft and Apricot Appeal (SU)
Accessories: aqua painter, white pigment pen, 1/2" circle punch, Swiss Dots cuttlebug folder, classic and scalloped square nestabilities, black gingham ribbon, dimensionals, photo corner punch, Apricot Appeal brads

Teacher Appreciation Week

The Appreciation Committee at my son's school chose a sports theme for Appreciation Week (which starts today). The staff found these in their mailboxes this morning. The little matchbook holds two tickets - one for a concession stand-style event on Wednesday and the other for a tailgate-style event on Friday. They also arrived at school today to find the hallways decorated with pennants the children had written comments on and "baseball cards" showcasing some trivia about each staff member. Tuesday they'll get a popcorn box filled with goodies, and Thursday they'll get a "TEAM [school name]" t-shirt. My good friend Jenn is the creative genius behind the overall theme and all the different events. I just help out with the crafty parts.



For this little matchbook, I cut the long side of an 8 1/2 x 11 piece of paper into fourths (so I cut at 2 3/4", 5 1/2", and 8 1/4" which gave me four pieces, each measuring 2 3/4" x 8 1/2"), then scored each of those at 3/4" and 5." The inside tickets are printed on the computer and trimmed down a bit smaller. The tickets are stapled into the matchbook. The baseball (which is clip-art [gasp!]) serves two functions: it covers up the staple, and it helps give the big flap something to tuck into. Everything is computer-generated, except the trio of red stars, which I stamped with one of the images from Verve Visual's Starlight Starbright (I had to sneak some stamping in SOMEwhere, lol!). Be sure to check out the numbers running up the right side of the ticket ... they're the dates for each event: Wednesday 05072008 and Friday 05092008. Wonder if anyone will notice that little detail?

Thanks for stopping by! (If you want more specifics on any of this, just shoot me an email. I'm happy to share.)



P.S. what do I file this under? It's not exactly a card, it's not exactly 3D, it's not a treat or box ... hmmm....

You Inspire Me

Okay, here's a little SFYTT somethin' ... pretty basic, but I hope you'll enjoy!



Stamps: Live Your Dream (SU!); Thoughtful Florals (Verve Visual)
Paper: Very Vanilla, Brocade Blue, So Saffron prints, Always Artichoke prints
Ink: Brocade Blue, So Saffron, Always Artichoke
Accessories: Apricot Appeal grosgrain, french blue grosgrain (?), dimensionals, Rich Regals brads, word window punch

SFYTT Delay

Well, here I'm supposed to be holding down the fort while ALL the other SFYTT gals are stamping at the Arlington shoebox swap (I missed that memo, sniff, sniff), but I've got nothing for you - I'm sorry!! I'd like to blame it on my flaky, on-again/off-again internet, but the truth is I don't have a card made yet anyway. I'm actually feeling a little under the weather, and have been trying to get some extra rest. I'll get something made and posted a little later today - thanks for your patience!!

In the meantime, Jen has the sketch posted at i{heart}2stamp, along with an introduction to the newest fab guest designer, Toni Whitnell, and both of their amazing samples. Carole, Shannan, and Susan will all have samples too -- if not immediately, then soon!

Great Expectations

If you've seen Verve Visual's inventory of sentiment sets before, you don't need me to tell you that Julee (designer extraordinaire and Verve owner) does sentiments like no one else! And she's done it again with Great Expectations, a set full of unique messages of congratulations, support, and encouragement. (Where else you can find a "Big Bucks, No Whammies" stamp, I wanna know?! LOL!)

For this first card, I created my own colorful background paper using stamps from the Fancy Florals Remixed set. The large pink flowers are stamped in Regal Rose craft ink, then heat embossed with Iridescent Ice embossing powder. I filled in with the other colors and images with craft ink, too. With the clear stamps in particular, I'm finding that the craft inks give me better coverage and a much nicer stamped image. I use the ink spots, the perfect size for most of my images.

This second card is an offspring of my budding love affair with kraft cardstock. The three multicolored strips behind the layered star give some added interest to an otherwise very basic layout. Although the colors are more masculine, I think the swiss dots embossing and the scallops give it a more feminine feel. If I were to change it to a guy card, I'd probably try textured celery card stock and a pinked top edge.



Last, I created a kind of light-hearted graduation card by pairing two of the sentiments. The "don't forget me when you're rich and famous" line makes me laugh every time I see it! What a unique vote of confidence for a new graduate ... it's when you're rich and famous, no ifs about it. I love that!



Quick note on the stars: I hand-trimmed each star for today's cards because I specifically wanted that white hairline border around each one. (And yes, I used those fancy schmancy new reading glasses to see what I was doing!) However, both the large and small Stampin' Up star punches will work with these sets. The large punch will leave approximately a 1/8" border, and the small punch will trim off some of the stamped image, leaving no border.

Don't forget about Verve's Star-Studded Sale, going on now through May 15, where you can save 15% on all star themed sets (plus a few other little goodies).

I'll wrap up today with a BIG congratulations to Cyndi Bundy, who won the Verve sketch contest and gets to be guest designer for June!



Wildest Expectations:
Stamps: Fancy Florals Remixed, Great Expectations (Verve Visual)
Paper: Apricot Appeal, Whisper White, Always Artichoke, Regal Rose, Creamy Caramel
Ink: Always Artichoke, Apricot Appeal, Creamy Caramel, Regal Rose craft inks
Accessories: paper piercer, classic and scalloped oval nestabilities, dimensionals, iridescent ice embossing powder, sponge daubers, corner rounder, Spring Moss grosgrain ribbon

Congrats:
Stamps: Swirly Stars, Great Expectations (Verve Visual)
Paper: Kraft, Whisper White, Certainly Celery, Blue Bayou, Soft Sky, Old Olive
Ink: Blue Bayou
Accessories: corner rounder, Blue Bayou double-stitched ribbon, large star punch, Swiss Dots cuttlebug folder, dimensionals

Graduate:
Stamps: Swirly Stars, Great Expectations (Verve Visual)
Paper: So Saffron, So Saffron prints, Night of Navy, Whisper White, Notations dp, Real Red
Ink: Night of Navy, Real Red, So Saffron
Accessories: paper piercer, key tag punch, dimensionals, classic and scalloped square nestabilities

Supplies by Stampin' Up unless otherwise noted.