No Time To Stamp?

I’m two baby gifts behind. Today I made a gift card holder for a soon-to-be-born little girl — how exciting!!! This particular style of gift card holder is tried and true, a style I’ve done dozens of times, and I love it because it is so quick and simple and can then be decorated to suit any person or situation. All you have to do is remember to score at 2″ and 6″ — that’s it. Start with a 1/2 sheet of paper (8.5 x 5.5), and score at 2″ and 6″. I can not take credit for this template, but I sure have made a lot of good use ofit. I found it playing a challenge a couple years back at SCS. Here’s my Baby Girl Gift Card Holder:

All pink and lacy today. The papers are Eva by Basic Grey. And aren’t those just the most darling little shoes you have ever seen? I love them. They are from theJustRite Baby Stamp Ensemble and are Copic coloredand then cut, embossed and matted with my Petite Oval Nestabilities by Spellbinders. I pierced the scalloped layer. The border lace is punched with a Martha Stewart border punch.

Those tiny little buttons are from Wal-Mart and they are sewn on using embroidery floss. And I love using satin ribbon on baby cards — it always make me think of the binding on a baby blanket. And see the Welcome Baby in the upper corner? I did that with my JustRite Rectangle Stamper and Times New Roman Font, 25 pt., both Uppercase and Lowercase. It was JUST the perfect size for what I wanted! Take a look at the product I used today:

As I said above, those darling shoes came from the JustRite Baby Stamp Ensemble which is made to use with the Harmony Classic Oval Stamper II. And can you see how I’ve cut out my shoes? As I’ve said many times, I often like to use my JustRite centers in ways other than they were originally intended (omitting the border or punching into a different shape), and by cutting out my image and getting rid of the excess rubber, I’m able to get a cleaner image when stamping without the border. Don’t be afraid to cut away your excess rubber! My tiny sentiment was made using Times New Roman Uppercase Font for the capital letters and Times New Roman Lowercase Font for the remaining letters, both in 25 pt. A perfect size for what I needed here. I snapped my letters into the smaller of blocks in the Harmony RectangleStamper Set.The Lowercase Font is a new product and should be available real, real soon. You can preorder now! All else I used is currently available. And please remember, once you start purchasing and using the various JustRite products, they are made to be interchangeable and work with many other of the JustRite products as well. That’s fun and gives you a ton of options!!!

Here’s the inside of my gift card holder. You can see the pocket on the bottom to hold the gift card (secure the sides with sticky tape, I used my Glue Glider). You can see how my main image oval hangs beneath the top flap and how I’ve attached a Velcro sticky dot to hold the gift card holder closed. It works GREAT! I know there are little magnets available to do the same thing, I’ve just never had any to try.

If you’ve never tried one of these super simple gift card holders, I urge you to give one a try. Super quick, simple and FUN!!! And SO easy to personalize!!!

Stamps: All by JustRite: Baby Stamp Ensemble with the Harmony Classic Oval Stamper II, Times New Roman Font Uppercase, Times New Roman Font Lowercase, with the Harmony Rectangle Stamper.

Paper: PTI White, Eva by Basic Grey.

Ink: Versa Fine Onyx Black for sentiment. Memento Tuxedo Black for image. Copic RV11, C1, O for shoes.

Accessories: May Arts Ribbon, Petite Oval Nestabilities by Spellbinders, Martha Stewart Lace Border Punch, Wal-Mart Buttons and Velcro, Needle and Embroidery Floss, SU Piercer and Mat Pack, Glue Glider.

Thanks so much for stopping in here again today!!! I can not tell you often enough how much I do appreciate all your visits and comments!!! Hoping you are all having a wonderful weekend, and hope you are warmer than we are (-21 this morning, and that’s cold!)!!! I now have an altered project in mind for a baby boy, so that should be up real soon!!!

Keyword ssnotime76 -There is no time limit. You can play this challenge and upload yourproject at Splitcoastand/or your Blog, anytime at all! You (and that means anyone and everyone, blogger or not!)can play as many times as you like!!! The point is to keep it simple, quick and have fun!!! Please link back here.

About this time of year those of us in the northwoods get Cabin Fever — and we get it BAD!!! We want sunshine and warmer temps. We want to open the windows and let in the fresh air We want to see and smell the spring flowers and green grasses. We’re tired of being cooped up inside and we suffer from Cabin Fever. We need to get out, get refreshed and revitalized. But for us, spring is still a long way off, just a dream to look forward to. So today’s challenge is to make a card or project that will bring some signs of spring, new life, fresh air and warmer temps to those of us still cooped up inside. Let us know that spring IS coming — LOL!!! No other special requirements — JUST HAVE FUN!!!

Some great samples for the Stamp Simply Challenge today can be seen on the blogs of these designers:

1. Heather
2. Dee
3. Tammy
4. Janine
5. AJ
6. Jennifer
7. Julie
8. Becky- is taking the night off.

Please bear with us as we are all uploading and linking on Thursday night.

You can see all Gallery Submissions here.

What wonderful samples!!! Thank you girls!!! Much appreciated!!!

Heres my card for today, helping me to think spring:

Isn’t it fun!!! I bought these huge Primas just over 2 years ago from Jacksonbelle Embellishments. I have a few left in the box and it’s just what I was in the mood for today!!! There are 2 Primas stacked on this card. I adhered them to the card where I wanted them, then I just went to my paper cutter and cut off the edge so it was in allignment with the paper edge. I like the look!!! My card is 5.5″ square, and you can see that the largest of the flowers is 5.5″ as well. Had I not cut the flower, it would have taken up the entire card front, which is OK sometimes, but today I wanted room for my sentiment and punched bird.

The button was made merely by punchingcircles with my SU circle punches. I then punched 2 button holes in the center with my Cropadile, added the pearls and ran my ribbon through and tied on top. I love these beautiful, fluffy, large Primas!!!

Here’s my card inside. Simply done! I know it is very much the in thing now to decorate your card insides. Sometimes I do and sometimes I don’t. When I do decorate my insides it often is to serve a purpose. I LOVE the colors of Prism cardstock, LOVE them!!! Such great variety of shades. However, if truth be told, it’s a bit on the thinner side. As much as I would prefer it a bit heavier, it isn’t, so to make my card base stronger when using Prism cardstock, I do like to decorate the inside with additional layers of paper. It’s amazing what even a thin layer of DP will do to add strength to the card back. Here I’m also using a 1″ strip of black that is barely peeking through, but it adds a lot of support.

Stamps: Heart Song by Wordsworth Paper: Prism Razzleberry Light and Black. Basic Grey Eva DP Ink: VersaFine Onyx Black Accessories: Primas (Big Box Blooms, Petal Poetry 1), May Arts Ribbon, Martha Stewart Bird Punch, SU 1 , 1 3/8, and Corner Rounder Punches, Kaiser Pearls, Glue Glider, Cropadile.

SOURCE OF PURCHASE:

Primas are from Jacksonbelle Embellishments.

Heart Song (on a good sale now!) by Wordsworth, Prism Paper and Versa Fine Ink are from Stampers Dream.

Basic Grey Paper, Kaiser Pearls, Glue Glider are from Joans Garden.

Thanks much for stopping in again — I truly do appreciate all your visits and comments. Hope you can find some time to make up a spring-like card to cheer up those of us still living in the middle of winter — LOL!!! Have a great weekend, everyone!!!

I wanted to play again with SU’s Friends 24-7, so today Istill used a lot of pattern, but considerably more toned down patterns and colors than I used yesterday. I used SU’s Bella Birds DP in Bordering Blue, So Saffron and Chocolate Chip, quite mellow colors.

Here’s my card with this set from yesterday if you’d like to compare. Today’s card is one of those where you just spend more time shuffling DP’s around than actually stamping, and I do like doing that — I love playing with pretty papers!!! I got this fun sketch from Beate’s Sketch Challenge of Saturday. She always has great sketches and I’m going to try to start picking up sketches from challenges more often — it really makes the process go more quickly when you have a sketch to follow!!!

Stamps: Friends 24-7 and Friendly Words Wheel both by SU Paper: SU: Very Vanilla, So Saffron, Bordering Blue, Chocolate Chip, Bella Birds DP Ink: Versa Fine Vintage Sepia Accessories: SU: Chocolate Ribbon, Vintage Brads, Glue Dots. Vintage Buttons, Primas, Martha Stewart Border Punch, Cuttlebug Vine Border Die, Sewing Machine and Thread.

Thanks again for stopping in!!! Tomorrow brings a fun Stamp Simply Challenge that will be super easy for everyone to play. Hope to see you then!

Today’s card follows Jen’s SFYTT of this week and today’s Color Challengeat SCS. As soon as I saw the colors I thought of Basic Grey’s Ambrosia pad — Summer Sun, Pumpkin Pie and Kiwi Kiss. So, I pulled it out along with SU’s Friends 24-7 which has been way too neglected considering how much I love it! Here’s the result:

In all honestly, these are NOT colors I ever would have dreamed of to use with this beautiful SU set, but I think it works! But I’d venture to guess that my next attempt with this set will be considerably more serene and a lot less *wild* — LOL!!! And oh, my goodness — I didn’t realize until I saw this picture on the monitor that I fogot to put a pearl in my bird’s eye — these birds just pop to life when you put a tiny little pearl in their eye. I will do it — just imagine it is there!!!

Jen’s Sketch For You To Try was a fun one that I’m glad I got in. Jen has some of the best sketches out there, and I just don’t get to them nearly often enough!

I inked my rubber with a combination of Color Box Chalk Inks and SU markers. The ribbon tails hold their shape with SU Mini Glue Dots. And I LOVE the Friendly Words wheel!!! Fun!!!

Stamps: Friends 24-7 and Friendly Words Wheel both by SU Paper: PTI Vintage Cream; SU Basic Gray, Summer Sun, Pumpkin Pie, Kiwi Kiss; Basic Grey Ambrosia DP Ink: Palette Charcoal; Color Box Bisque, Tangerine, Chestnut Roan; SU Markers in Old Olive and Ruby Red Accessories: SU Corner Rounder, Oval Nestabilites by Spellbinders, Primas, Kaiser Rhinestones, SU and May Arts Ribbon, SU Mini Glue Dots, Glue Glider, Foam Mounting Squares

Note: My Ambrosia DP, Kaiser Pearls, Foam Mounting Squares and Glue Glider are from Joans Garden.

Thanks so much for stopping in today! Hope your week is going well. We are having some pretty cold temps again!!! Oh well, spring is sure to come in another couple months — LOL!!!

Well, I said I wanted to do 3 cards in this green/black series, so here’s the 3rd. And I played the CAS challenge at SCS for this one, so clean and simple it is!!! This week’s CAS Challenge provided us a sketch to follow, and I flipped mine on its side. Here it is:

Simple and fun sketch! Not much explaining needed. Here’s the first card in the series, and here’s the second. All 3 cards in this series are 5.25″ x 7″. Now I’m done!

Stamps: Delicate Branches by Inkadinkado

Paper: White, Black, Sublime DP by Kaiser

Ink: Versa Fine Onyx Black

Accessories: Dotted Sheer Ribbon, Sublime Brads by Kaiser, Foam Mounting Squares, Glue Glider, Eyelet setter for holes.

Note: The INKA stamps, Kaiser Paper and Brads, my Foam Mounting Squares and Glue Glider all came from Joans Garden.

MY FAVORITE BLACK INK for getting a good solid image is Versa Fine Onyx Black. The ink is very black and the raised pad stays wet almost FOREVER. I LOVE this black ink for this type of stamping. It is available at Stampers Dream.

This was my 2nd upload today — most unusual!!! Hope to be back tomorrow!!! Thanks much for checking in!!

I wanted to play one of my favorite SCS challenges, the Featured Stamper Challenge, but time was limited — very limited! So what do I always so when time is short? I use the same supplies from my last card, that are still always on my work surface (picking up after myself is NOT my strong point — and sometimes that’s a good thing!). So this card uses the EXACT supplies as my last card, with the addition of SU’s Tag Corner Punch added. Here’s my card:

The card I cased from SgtStamper’s Gallery is here. As you can see, I used the basic layout, altering the position of the sentiment, and somewhat mimicking her ribbon placement. I changed all images, papers, colors and the size of the card. Hers appears to be square. Mine is 5.25 x 7″. I have a lot of envelopes to fit this size card and I’m really enjoying this size. It gives me room to use some of the large images I love! And now that I have 2 cards rather matchy-matchy, I just may have to make a third — there’s just something about 3’s!!! Here’s the first if you are interested.

Stamps: Delicate Branches (image) and Southern Belle (sentiment) both by Inkadinkado

Paper: White, Black, Sublime DP by Kaiser

Ink: Versa Fine Onyx Black

Accessories: Dotted Sheer Ribbon, Sublime Brads by Kaiser, Foam Mounting Squares, Pop up Glue Dots by SU, Glue Glider, Eyelet setter for holes, SU Tag Corner Punch.

Note: The INKA stamps, Kaiser Paper and Brads, my Foam Mounting Squares and Glue Glider all came from Joans Garden.

MY FAVORITE BLACK INK for getting a good solid image is Versa Fine Onyx Black. The ink is very black and the raised pad stays wet almost FOREVER. I LOVE this black ink for this type of stamping. It is available at Stampers Dream.

Thank you so much for stopping in. I’ve been absent for a few days as I’ve been shopping and helping DS#2 decorate a living room — fun stuff!!! Hope you all had a great weekend and are ready for the week ahead!!! I hope to get daily uploads done this week — always the best of intentions!!! Thanks much — see you soon!!!

Keyword ssnotime75 -There is no time limit. You can play this challenge and upload yourproject at Splitcoastand/or your Blog, anytime at all! You (and that means anyone and everyone, blogger or not!)can play as many times as you like!!! The point is to keep it simple, quick and have fun!!! Please link back here.

Today’s Challenge is to use Black Ink Only — I often make cards using BLACK INK ONLY, and I can in all honesty say it is one of my VERY FAVORITE ways to create a quick card. I hope you enjoy it, too!!! And today this means NO COLORING of any sort - no markers, no pencils, no chalks, no inks — just black ink only. Now, if you can color with black ink only, that’s A-OK!!! LOL!!! No other restrictions, anything else goes!!! Have fun with it!!!

Some great samples for the Stamp Simply Challenge today can be seen on the blogs of these designers:Heather, Dee, Tammy, Janine, AJ, Jennifer, Becky, and Julie. Please bear with us as we are all uploading and linking on Thursday night.

You can see all Gallery Submissions here.

What wonderful samples!!! Thank you girls!!! Much appreciated!!!

Heres my card for today, using Black Ink Only:

I find stamping with Black Ink Only to be fun, quick and easy and it most often yields a crisp and sharp, striking result, which is what I am often after. I really like how this card turned out. I used many new things I just picked up from Joan’s Garden, and as you can see, this is a very easy card to make. The image was one bundle of branches that I stamped 3 times, then tied a ribbonaround each bundle. It is simply matted on black and mounted onto a card base with some DP. My large brad coordinates with the paper pack. These brads have the large prongs on them - I think you all know what I mean. And on this card I had no layers to hide my prongs between, and I didn’t want them showing on the inside of the card, so I just cut the prongs off close to the base with a little wire cutter. Two quick snips and they were off. I had to use 3 of the big, fat SU Pop Up Glue Dots behind my brad to elevate it enough to get it above the panel, but it looks good and I got rid of the fat prong issue!! This card is 5 1/4 x 7 inches.

Stamps: Delicate Branches (image) and Southern Belle (sentiment) both by Inkadinkado

Paper: White, Black, Sublime DP by Kaiser

Ink: Versa Fine Onyx Black

Accessories: Dotted Sheer Ribbon, Sublime Brads by Kaiser, Foam Mounting Squares, Pop up Glue Dots by SU, Glue Glider, Eyelet setter for holes.

Note: The INKA stamps, Kaiser Paper and Brads, my Foam Mounting Squares and Glue Glider all came from Joans Garden.

MY FAVORITE BLACK INK for getting a good solid image is Versa Fine Onyx Black. The ink is very black and the raised pad stays wet almost FOREVER. I LOVE this black ink for this type of stamping. It is available at Stampers Dream.

Hope you can find some time to play with Black Ink Only this weekend!!! It’s something I truly enjoy doing!!! As always, I so appreciate your visits — thank you so much!!! Wishing you all a wonderful weekend ahead!!!

Today I’ve done 3 cards in different styles, but all using just small tidbits of ribbon to make ribbon tabs! You all know how I love wide ribbon and I usually use it quite generously on my projects. Well today, I’m only using about 2-3″ per card, and I LOVE that extra little bit of pizazz that this wide ribbon lends.

And before I show you my cards, I just want to let you know that I do have this May Arts ribbon for sale in an Introductory Sampler, giving you 1 yard each of 8 different ribbons. You can check it all out on the RIBBON FOR SALEtab at the top of this page, ABOVE MY BLOG HEADER, or click here. OK, now on to my cards:

This card is fresh and crisp with a simply colored image. What a fun accent the checked ribbon tabmakes!!! Image is Mixed Bouquet (it’s on sale today!)by Memory Box from Stampers Dream. Sentiment is retired SU Small Sayings. DP is Urban Prairie by Basic Grey from Joan’s Garden. Tag is cut and embossed with a Spellbinders Double Ended Tags die.

This card has a definite vintage feel, and the fun little striped tab works itself into this style equally as well!!! The image is from the Nostalgia set by Inkadinkado and the DP is Basic Grey’s Ambrosia, both from Joan’s Garden. The buttons are from Wal-Mart and the focal image is cut and embossed on my Oval Nestabilities by Spellbinders, edged with a gold Sharpie pen. Ink used on the image is SU Pumpkin Pie and Riding Hood Red.

And lastly I have a really quick CAS card (Clean and Simple), requiring minimal work! But how fun! The interest comes from my ribbon tab and the fun button!!! The Birthday Blessings is by Rubber Soul from Stampers Dream. Stampers Dreamalso has the Frosted Cobalt Prism cardstock as well as the Versa Fine and Memento inks I’ve used on all these projects today. The button is a large vintage coat button with a hemp bow.

Hope you enjoy these cards — they were fun to make this morning!!! If you’d like to try the May Arts ribbons, check them out here. Thanks so much for stopping in again! I love when you do!!! I hope to have another project for tomorrow!! Have a great day everyone!!!

Yup! That’s exactly what I did today — I had coffee with a Dirty Girl!!! Talk about a thrill!!! I can tell you from experience there is just NO greater thrill than when you receive an invitation to become one of the Dirty Girls at SCS — NO greater thrill!!! But hitting a REALLY close 2nd, is when you open up the Fan Club Galleryon the 15th and see your very BEST friend IRL staring at you — oh my GOSH — I about jumped out of my chair this morning and went through the ceiling!!!! I could NOT contain myself!!! Well, many of you who frequent the Fan Club already know who I’m talking about — none other than my friendDeb — Deb Saaranen — Dream in Color — DeborahLynneS. YAY, DEB!!!! I am so proud of you!!!! Such a well deserved honor!!!! And who is joining Debthis month as the other new Dirty Girl? Well, none other than a very good online friend who many of you know and love both for her artistic ability as well asher ability to captivate us all with a good story — LOL!!!– Cindy — Cindy Motherway — This is My Story — Mothermark. HUGE CONGRATS! to both Cindy and Deb — what a duo you two will make!!! My best wishes to you both — I know you’ll both have the time of your lives!!!

OK, now on to my card — to commemorate today’s afternoon coffee with Deb, I thought I needed to make another coffee card, which was perfect as I have so many coffee images colored up from a week or so ago. This is just a fun and simple card, a one-stamper for the Post Office!!!

It’s so simple, not much explaining is needed!!! I’ll just leave you with my supply list so you have time to hop on over to SCS and check out the latest Fan Club Gallery. You will NOT be disappointed!!! And if you can’t get in, you can read all about it here.

Stamps: Smell the Coffee by Impression Obsession

Paper: White, Black, Basic Grey Urban Prairie

Ink: Versa Fine Onyx Black (sentiment), Memento Tuxedo Black (image), Copics to color

Accessories: SU Ribbon, Kaiser Pearl, SU 1 1/4 and 1 3/8″ punches, Martha Stewart Border Punch, Glue Glider.

Note: The Smell the Coffee stamp set, Versa Fine Ink and Memento Ink are from Stampers Dream.

The Basic Grey Urban Prarie, Kaiser Pearls and Glue Glider are from Joan’s Garden.

Thank you somuch for stopping in today. Hope you are all set for a good week ahead! I’ll be back soon!!!

I’ll start with the Chit Chat tonight!!

The Ultimate Valentine Challenge: Do you remember a month or more ago I posted about Pat Adam (The Rubber Maid)needing to come up with 1,000 Valentines for Children’s Hospital in Detroit? The Ultimate Valentine Challenge was issued in the hopes of helping Pat achieve what seemed to be an almost impossible goal. Well, well, well - I could NOT believe when I read on Pat’s blog earlier that she not only met, but FAR exceeded that goal! I was totally blown away to read that she recieved a total of 5,682 Valentines!!! And you know where they all came from - FROM YOU — those of you who read blogs and were willing to pitch in and help — oh my goodness!!! It just brings me almost to tears to think of what can be done when everyone pitches in — this is just so, so amazing!!! Why don’t you pop on over to Pat’s Blog to check out the pictures she’s posted of the hospital and while you’rethere, thank her for coordinating this monumentous effort!!! GREAT JOB, PAT!!! What you have taken on and accomplished just warms my heart, inside and out!!!

6 x 6 Pad Storage: And next, just a few days ago I posed a question on my post, asking you all how you store your 6 x 6 Basic Grey pads, especially once they get torn apart with a lot of loose and small papers. Well, my friend, Michelle Woerner, Stop and Stamp the Roses, just did a post yesterday on her system for 6 x 6 paper storage. She has some nice little cubes and what she is doing looks much more functional than what I’ve been doing with my ziplock bag system. The next time I go shopping I’m going to look for some of these cubes and give it a try. You can check out Michelle’s post here. Thank you, Michelle, for sharing the info — MUCH appreciated!!! Oh, and check out her beautiful Mother’s Day cards once you’re there!!! Sooooo pretty!!

My card for today: After getting home very late from a basketball game tonight, I still needed to come up with a Valentine card for our Youth Group teens to make tomorrow morning, for delivery in the afternoon (nothing like doing these ahead of time!). I decided to check out theInspiration Challenge at SCS for inspiration and HOW FUN!!! The inspiration pieces are all heavily decorated bras (YES — to benefit Breast Cancer Awareness). You MUST pop over there to check them out — so fun!!! The bra I chose for my inspiration is on page 2, called Still in Bloom. It is mostly pink and white with texture, as is my card, butthe bra hassome green and purple added, which you will see popping up in my 2nd photo below!!! Anyway, here’s my Valentine that the Youth Group teens will make tomorrow — there’s only a few of the teens and they will make about 12 cards:

Simple for them to make, and I hope they like them! It won’t take long as I’ll have everything precut, embossed and stamped, so all they really need to do is adhere them together and add the heart/button/ribbon focal image. I hope they have fun putting them together!

Here are some of the other colors/patterns they will use. Personally, I think the purple heart/buttons with the Eva paper is going to be my favorite!!! All of my buttons are from Wal-Mart. They come in little bags on the spinny rack in the sewing section. They are SO cheap and I have had really great luck matching them to my SU and Prism cardstocks! I’ve been totally pleased with them!!!

Stamps: Verve Visual Plain Janes, Psalm 37:4

Paper: PTI White, SU Pretty in Pink, Pink Pirouette, Eggplant Envy, Prints DP; Basic Grey Euphoria and Eva

Ink: Versa Fine Onyx Black

Accessories: Heart Nestabilities, Martha Stewart Lace Punch, Cuttlebug and Swiss Dots Folder, Wal-Mart Buttons, Variety of Ribbons, Glue Glider, Mounting Squares.

Note: The Heart Nesties, Basic Grey Paper, Glue Glider and Mounting Squares are available at Joan’s Garden.

Thanks so much for stopping in this weekend! Remember, my Stamp Simply Challenge from yesterday is still there, waiting for you to play with a monogram!!! I so appreciate you taking the time to check in — thank you so much!!!

HAPPY VALENTINE’S DAY, EVERYONE!!!