No Time To Stamp?

Yes, that’s my Dare to Get Dirty 08 Challenge – to Stamp Simply — surprise, surprise!!!!  Hope some of you have been playing the Dare to Get Dirty Challenges at SCS.   If you are a Fan Club Member you are eligible to play and enter. And there’s even a chance at some fabulous prizes if you manage to play all the challenges, and combining challenges is A-OK.  If you’re not a Fan Club Member — well, no better time to join than now — you can read about it here.

In setting up my challenge, I told the players what it means to Stamp Simply.  Here’s what I told them:

Stamp Simply means, first and foremost, to keep the process simple, but at the same time, make it beautiful! And that perfectly sums up the way I like to stamp. I believe that if you use beautiful things, you don’t have to DO much. Beautiful cards are easily achieved with the use of gorgeous images and a few pretty embellishments. Really, that’s all it takes.  If you follow these few simple steps, you’ll have a gorgeous Stamp Simply creation:

• Start with a simple layout/design and a beautiful image
• Use some favorite paper (either DP or cardstock)
• Add your stamped image and a sentiment if you wish
• Finish it off with a beautiful ribbon or other embellishment
• Simple, beautiful, done!!!

Another way to explain the Stamp Simply style would be to liken it to Clean and Simple – I think most of you know what CAS (Clean and Simple) is. Stamp Simply would be somewhat Clean and Simple, but with a little extra *pretty* added in. Make sense?

Here’s the sample card I made using the Stamp Simply set,  Thank You,  by Flourishes.

This card measures 3 1/4″ x 6 1/2″ and fits SU’s small open end envelopes.  Love this size.  The small tulip is stamped in Palette Hybrid Charcoal, colored with Copics, cut and embossed with a Long Rectangle Nestability by Spellbinders, mounted on a scallop, and adhered to the card with foam mounting tape. There are holes punched to tie the bow around the tulip stem.  The sentiment is from the same set, punched, embossed and framed with the Petite Oval Nestabilities by Spellbinders, brads added, and mounted on foam mounting tape.

A simple card made with clean crisp colors, a simple layout, one beautiful image, one beautiful sentiment, pretty ribbon and a couple of brads.  Simple, beautiful, done!!!  And I will add, the embossing you get from using the Nestabilities really does add a lot, lending richness and elegance with such ease.

• Stamps:  Thank You by Flourishes

• Paper:  White, Pretty in Pink, Basic Gray

• Ink:  Palette Hybrid Charcoal, Copics for Coloring

• Accessories:  SU Gray Taffeta Ribbon, Long Rectangle Nestabilities, Petite Oval Nestabilities, SU Pink Brads, Foam Mounting Tape.

I’m so glad you stopped in to look — hope you can play the challenges over at SCS!!!

Remember, I have a live and active Blog Candy post.  Check it out.

Remember, too, the Non-Raffle for Midwest Flood Relief.  My post just below explains it all.

Keyword ssnotime44 - There is no time limit. You can play this challenge and upload your project at Splitcoast and/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.

The challenge this week is to make a card that has BOTH a flower and the color purple.  Now, just how easy is that!!!  The flower need not be purple, as long as there is purple used in the card — Flowers + Purple — that’s it!!!  I LOVE Almost Amethyst and haven’t used it in a bit, so just wanted to — no other reason!!!  Can’t wait to see what you do and, as always, try to keep it simple.   Most importantly — have fun!!!

Here are some samples (please be patient as we are uploading and linking tonight):

Check out Julie Koerber’s sample here . 

Check out Dee Jackson’s sample here.

Check out Tammy Hershberger’s sample here. 

Check out Jennifer Buck’s sample here.

Check out Janine Orchard’s sample here.

Check out Becky Oehlers’ sample here.

What a fabulous Stamp Simply Team!!!   Thank you girls!!!  Much appreciated!!!

And here’s my sample:

There is a bit more stamping on this card than on my normal cards for this challenge, but I just felt like it — and it is all simple stamping.   I used the latest Stamp Simply set called Thank You, and I used Palette Hybrid Charcoal ink (gray) to stamp my background script (included in the set) along the entire left edge of the card.  I then white embossed the parrot tulip from the set over the scripted background in a diagonal formation as shown in the photo.  Then I took my Craft White pad and DTP’d (direct to paper — take the ink pad in your hand and apply it directly to the paper from the pad) the edges of the card to soften it.  I do this often with snowy/winter cards, but I just thought today’s card called for it.  I love the way it softens the overall look. My main image tulip is colored with Copics, holes punched for the Lavender Sheer Ribbon to run through, sentiment stamped in the same Charcoal ink, and tiny Pearls added to the ticket punched corners.  A very soft and lovely card IRL, much softer than it comes across in the photo.  My photo skills still lack, no matter how hard I try — LOL!!!  I am so absolutley in love with this single stem tulip, I can not tell you.   I hope I don’t begin to bore you with it all!!! 

This card is a good representation of my vision for a Stamp Simply set.  Lots of different things and interest in this card, all done with the contents of one small set!!!  My kind of stamping!!!

• Stamps:  Thank You by Flourishes
• Paper:  White, Basic Gray, Almost Amethyst
• Ink:  Palette Hybrid Charcoal, Craft White, Copics for coloring — BV000, BV02, BV04, G40, G21, YG03, C1,0.
• Accessories:  Lavender Sheer Ribbon, Pearls, Ticket Corner Punch, White Embossing Powder, Hole Punch.

Remember when you upload to use the keyword above, followed by a comma.  Please come back here to post (as a comment) that you’ve played, and provide a link so we can check out your card right away. You can find all cards uploaded for this challenge by clicking Gallery Submissions Here.

Some wanting to play said they have never uploaded before.  If that’s you and you need help uploading,  just go to my Challenge No. 1 here.

Thank you all so much for stopping in.  I do so much appreciate it!!! Hope you all have a safe and wonderful  weekend!!!  And hope you find some time to stamp or do whatever it is that pleases you!!!

Not my day — I just wrote this entire post, only to have it disappear into cyberspace — so here goes again –

A nice and quick card today, using just one stamped image, one stamped sentiment and layers of paper with a bit of ribbon added in for good measure!  Here it is:

• Stamps:  Butterfly Moments by Flourishes
• Paper:  Very Vanilla and Scarlet’s Letter by Basic Grey
• Ink:  Palette Noir Black
• Accessories:  Black Sheer Ribbon, Pearls, Petite Circle Nestabilities, SU Brad, Mounting Tape

This card is 5.5″ high and 5.75″ wide and fits a 6″ square envelope, available at Action Envelopes.

A very abbreviated version of what I said and lost:

• Love my Nesties — so versatile and easy to use — you can’t appreciate them till you try them
• For a rich, lush card with little effort, use a rich, lush background paper.  If you’d like to see all the sheets in the Scarlet’s Letter pad, check out this older post.
• Check out this inteview in the FLLC Forum at SCS — tips from Leslie Miller on watercoloring.
• Vote for your favorite in the Paper Crafts Gallery Idol  Contest — our own Julie Koerber (outtoimpress) has a card in the running using our newest Stamp Simply set, Thank You (she used the little tulip) — just a gorgeous creation, Julie — thank you!  Good luck to Julie and all the other contestants!!!  You can vote here.

Thanks so much for stopping in - hope you are having a great week!!!

Keyword ssnotime43 - There is no time limit. You can play this challenge and upload your project at Splitcoast and/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.

The challenge this week is to make a thank you card.  I am always out of thank you cards and it’s just nice to have a few on hand.  No other rules — just a thank you card.  And if you make a really simple one, make 2 or 3 once you’re at it — you’ll thank yourself later when you need them!!  Can’t wait to see what you do and, as always, try to keep it simple.   Most importantly — have fun!!!

Here are some samples (please be patient as we are uploading and linking tonight):

Check out Julie Koerber’s sample here . 

Check out Dee Jackson’s sample here.

Check out Tammy Hershberger’s sample here. 

Check out Jennifer Buck’s sample here.

Check out Janine Orchard’s sample here.

Check out Becky Oehlers’ sample here.

What a fabulous Stamp Simply Team!!!   Thank you girls!!!  Much appreciated!!!

And here’s my sample:

This is one of the larger butterflies from Butterfly Moments, one of the new releases this week by Flourishes, and the gorgeous scripted sentiment is from another new release, Thank You.  I just love the gorgeous wings and shape of this beautiful butterfly.  I can see her being used over and over again!!!  I used the 2nd, and last, of my favorite sheets of paper from the Sultry pad by Basic Grey.   Doesn’t she look like a butterfly in a garden?  I thought so!!!  Here’s what I did to make this butterfly:

• Stamp butterfly onto white cardstock with Palette Noir Black ink
• Color in the white portions of her wings (I used Copics, but any way to color works)
• Cut and emboss image with Rectangle Nestabilities, frame with scalloped rectangle
• Use black self-adhesive Pearls on her head, antennea and for the dots on the wings.  I used various sized Pearls as the dots were of various sizes.
• Using a Quickie Glue Pen, and working in small sections at a time, color over the black portion and then sprinkle with Dazzling Diamonds or other fine glitter . Tap off excess.

Here’s a close-up view of the butterfly:

• Stamps:  Butterfly Moments and Thank You by Flourishes
• Paper:  White, Black, Sultry by Basic Grey
• Ink:  Palette Noir Black.  Copics to color in:  G40, G21, YG03, R20, RV11, RV34, Y000, Y21, Y15
• Accessories:  Black Sheer Ribbon, Black Pearls, Quickie Glue Pen, Dazzling Diamonds Glitter, Rectangle Nestabilities, Petite Oval Nestabilities, Mounting Tape.

And here’s a quick look at the full Butterfly Moments set so you can see all it contains.  It was designed so there are butterflies that can be used as stand alone images, as well as smaller butterflies for accents on any  of your creations.

And the scripted Thank You on today’s card came from the latest Stamp Simply release called Thank You.  Such a gorgeous and versatile set!

And please check out more samples made with our newest releases by the Flourishes Design Team:  Leslie Miller, Linda Duke, Faith Hofrichter, Susan Roberts, as well as Nancy Kirk.

Remember when you upload to use the keyword above, followed by a comma.  Please come back here to post (as a comment) that you’ve played, and provide a link so we can check out your card right away. You can find all cards uploaded for this challenge by clicking Gallery Submissions Here.

Some wanting to play said they have never uploaded before.  If that’s you and you need help uploading,  just go to my Challenge No. 1 here.

Thank you all so much for stopping in.  I do so much appreciate it!!! Hope you all have a safe and wonderul  weekend!!!  And hope you find some time to make a thank you card, or two!!! Have fun!!!

Today I have a card I made using the newly released Poppy Patch by Flourishes —  what a fun set!!!  All the various stems are separate so you can create your own cluster of Poppies, however you like!!!  Here’s the set:

And here’s the card I made — much brighter colors than my normal choices, but I just thought a Poppy card needed some bright colors.

To create my main image, I first stamped the large center poppy on a piece of white cardstock.  I then stamped the image again on my Eclipse Masking Tape and cut it out.  This Masking Tape is wonderful for those who like to mask.  The entire back has a low-tack adhesive so you can  press it on over your image and it stays tight, but then you can just pull it off when you’re done and save it for next time — really works great!!!  Anyway, once my mask was over my large center poppy, I then stamped on the remainer of the poppy stems, pulled off my mask and colored in my images using Copic markers and then stamped on my  SU Sanded background.  Then I cut and embossed the image using my Petite Oval Nestability Dies by Spellbinders, matted again in black and framed with the yellow scallops.   

For my background the lower green sheet is from the Scarlet’s Letter pad by Basic Grey and it is stamped with the background from the newly released Stamp Simply set called Thank You.  Love that little background stamp!!!  The upper half is run through the Cuttlebug with the Swiss Dots embossing folder.  I punched the corners and the butterflies, and after wrapping with the Black Sheer Ribbon and adhering it all together, I was done.  The oval is on with mounting tape to elevate it a bit and I used Zots to adhere the butterflies. 

• Stamps:  Poppy Patch and Thank You by Flourishes.  Sanded b/g by SU.
• Paper:  Black, White, YoYo Yellow, Scarlet’s Letter by Basic Grey.
• Ink:  Palette Charcoal and Noir Black.  Copic to colors:  Y-15, YR09, R14, R27, R29, YG03, YG63, G99, C-1, 0.
• Accessories:  Black Sheer Ribbon, Brad, Petite Oval Nestabilities, Photo Corner Punch by SU, Butterfly Punch by Martha Stewart, Mounting Tape, Zots.

And here are some reminders:

To see more samples using this weeks new releases by Flourishes, you can access the Flourishes Design Team Blogs here:  Leslie Miller, Linda Duke, Faith Hofrichter, Susan Roberts, Julie Koerber, as well as Sharon Doolittle, Nancy Kirk.

Voting is currently taking place for the Paper Crafts Gallery Idol contest, and Flourishes own Julie Koerber is in the running, being one of 20 finalists.  You can find the link and instructions on Julie’s Blog.  Please vote NOW as time is of the essence.

Tomorrow, Friday, you can expect a fun and really easy Stamp Simply Challenge here.

And you have until 6:00 p.m. EST today,  Thursday, 7/10, to enter a card or project using Coffee with Friends in our Coffee Time Challenge.  You can’t hope to win unless you enter — check out the link for the challenge rules and a photo of the prize.

And I think that wraps it up for today.  Thanks so much for stopping in and I hope you all are having a wonderful week!!!!

GOD BLESS AMERICA!!!! 

 And all who so unselfishly serve to protect our freedoms — THANK YOU!!!

HAPPY 4TH OF JULY!!!

I made this card a year ago and it was included in the Fan Club Gallery at SCS.  Here’s the link for more details, which you’ll only be able to access if you are a Fan Club Member.  It’s something you may want to consider — click here for details.  

Now, back to the business at hand:

Keyword ssnotime42 - There is no time limit. You can play this challenge and upload your project at Splitcoast and/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.

The challenge this week is to make a card this is most definitely soft and girly — whatever that means to you!!!  No other rules, simple challenge.  Can’t wait to see what you do and, as always, try to keep it simple.   Most importantly — have fun!!!

Here are some samples:

Check out Julie Koerber’s sample here . 

Check out Dee Jackson’s sample here.

Check out Tammy Hershberger’s sample here. 

Check out Jennifer Buck’s sample here.

Check out Janine Orchard’s sample here.

Check out Becky Oehlers’ sample here.

What a fabulous Stamp Simply Team!!!   Thank you girls!!!  Much appreciated!!!

And here’s my sample:

When I first got my pad of Sultry by Basic Grey, I was just taken aback by this sheet of paper.  I’ve been saving it because I knew I wanted to use it as an entire sheet and that I wanted to create an image that would blend right in with the design of the paper, and this is what I came up with.  And I chose to use this sheet today because to me these colors are just really girly, and pretty!!!  The card is 5.5″ square and the DP covers the entire card front.

My main image is the bleeding heart from Spring  Ephemerals, which is a solid image set. I LOVE the versatility of these solid image stamps.  They can be used to create stunning silhouettes or, as I did here, they can take on all the color you wish.  I inked my stamp with my Color Box Chalk Cat’s Eye pads.  These little pads work great for inking these stamps, and I truly find it relaxing to ink these stamps in this way.  Sorry, but I can’t provide the exact colors for you.  I stamped this image a month or so ago and never wrote down my colors.  After stamping my image, it was cut and embossed with the Classic Rectangle Nestability by Spellbinders, then framed with the Scalloped Rectangle.  My Sheer Apple Green Ribbon is doubled up to give it a bit more color, the brad is from the Sultry Brad pack by Basic Grey (it coordinates perfectly with the paper), and my butterflies are punched with a Martha Stewart punch. They are two layers — cardstock on the bottom and DP on the top.  Love the feminine look of this relatively simple card - -hope you do too!!! 

• Stamps:  Spring Ephemerals by Flourishes
• Paper: White, Pink Passion, Sultry Designer Paper by Basic Grey
• Ink:  ColorBox Chalk Inks (Cats’ Eyes)
• Accessories:  Apple Green Sheer Ribbon, Sultry Glazed Brad, Rectangle Nestabilities, Martha Stewart Butterfly Punch, Mounting Tape

Remember when you upload to use the keyword above, followed by a comma.  Please come back here to post (as a comment) that you’ve played, and provide a link so we can check out your card right away. You can find all cards uploaded for this challenge by clicking Gallery Submissions Here.

Some wanting to play said they have never uploaded before.  If that’s you and you need help uploading,  just go to my Challenge No. 1 here.

Thank you all so much for stopping in.  I do so much appreciate it!!! Hope you all have a safe and wonderul holiday weekend!!!  And hope you find some time to make a girly card, too!!!  Have fun!!!

… euphoria.  An utter and complete state of euphoria!!!  For your cards, that is!!!  I am just in love the the new Euphoria pad by Basic Grey and all the goodies that Flourishes has to go with them!!! I have SO MUCH to show you today, so let’s just get started.

Here’s my newest favorite pad by Basic  Grey.  It’s called Euphoria and these are 6 of the 18 designs in the pad.  There are 2 of each design for a total of 36 sheets per pad.  Aren’t those prints and colors just scrumptious!!!  I’ve paired them up with some of our fun and pretty May Arts ribbons.  Starting at the left we have Dotted Sheer Apple Green, 1″ Sheers in Apple Green and Pink, Dotted Lavender, 1″ Lavender Sheer, 3/8″ Lavender, Lavender/Purple Reversible Satin, Green Edged Purple, 3/8″ Bright Pink Satin, and 1″ Sheers in Steel Blue, Seafoam, and Dark Red.

Here we have 6 more of the prints in the Euphoria pad along with some more of our May Arts Ribbons.  And I’d like you all to see the pretty buttons and brads we have in stock, made by Basic Grey to coordinate perfectly with their paper.  It just doesn’t get any easier!  From the left our ribbons are Dark Red 1″ Sheer, 3/8″ Bright Pink Satin, 1″ Blue Satin, Blue Dotted Sheer, 1″ Apple Green Satin, 1″ Pink Sheer, Dotted Apple Green Sheer, 1″ Apple Green Sheer, and lastly a double sided Pink/Blue Satin.

And here we have the last 6 sheets in the Euphoria pad — love these rich reds!!!  And did you notice all the Glazed Brads in the back — so fun!!!  They coordinate with the Basic Grey papers, and we have brads to match Two Scoops, Sugared, Euphoria, Sultry and Boxer.  From left the ribbons are 1″ Sheers in Pink and Apple Green, Dotted Apple Green Sheer, 1″ Dark Red Sheer,  3/8″ Bright Pink Satin, Blue Dotted Sheer, 1″ Sheer in Steel Blue  and 1″ Satins in Blue, Apple Green and Burgundy.

And I also wanted to show you all these pretty new sticky back Pearls we have in the store — oh my — aren’t they lovely in all these colors!!!  OH, how these will dress up our cards!!!

And I wanted to also mention our H20’s by LuminArte.  They are amazing little pots of watercolors with lots of sparkle built right in.  Leslie Miller did a totally awesome tutorial earlier this week on watercoloring with these H20’s.  She makes it look SO easy and her results are totally spectacular!!! Check it out here, you won’t be sorry!!!

And for my project today, I’m going to show you what I call a *Cheater Box* — LOL!!! I love to make gift sets and boxes to present them in, but you know, we don’t always have time to make a box, as much as we might like to, so here’s a really quick idea for a gift box for cards.

OK, on the back right — I have my set of 3 cards and envelopes in a purchased plastic box — gotta love these.  I get mine from ClearBags.  Their site is not very user friendly, so I’ll tell you this box is item no. FB 17 and it is sized for A-2 cards and envelopes.  My cards usually have some thickness to them and I don’t like to squeeze them too tight, so I have 3 cards and envelopes in here, but it’ll hold quite a bit more if they are flatter cards.

OK, then I have a sheet of Textured Soft Sky (same as my cards are made of) cut to fit perfectly inside the box.  When my cards and envelopes are in my box, then I slip this cardstock sheet in front of them.  Then comes the fun part — I make a band to slip around the box, and once on, with the cardstock sheet inside the box - it actually looks like a box I made — thus, my *Cheater Box* - LOL!!!  Here’ a picture of it all put together.

How’s that for a quickie box?  I made the band pretty much the same as the card described in this post (using the sewing machine) or also in this post (using tape),  if you’d like more detailed instructions.  The only difference here is that  I added the *Friend* tag and button. The tiny button is from the Basic Grey button box shown above, and the Friend sentiment is from Flourished Words — a great sentiment set of 27 gorgeous, scripted words you can combine to form your own phrases.  It was cut and embossed with the Tag Trios by Spellbinders.  Just love these for making quick little tags to hang on a card — fun!!!

Here’s a side view of the box and a close up of the detail work.  Again, you can refer here for more instructions.  To make the band, cut a piece of paper 12 x 2.5 (or however wide you want it, and score it at 2.5, 3.5, 8 and 9.  It’ll then fold to fit this box perfectly with about an inch in the back for overlap where you can adhere it together.

And I think that about wraps it up for tonight — but to recap — what DID I suggest:

• Euphoria Designer Paper by Basic Grey
• Basic Grey Buttons,  Brads and fancy Glazed Brads
• Sticky back Pearls
• Luscious May Arts Ribbons
• Watercoloring with H20’s (see Leslie’s tutorial linked here)
• Making *Cheater Boxes* as above described
• Flourished Words for beautifully scripted small Sentiments
• Tag Trios for creating the perfect little hang tags for your cards
• And, of course, the JustRite Monogram Stampers to create these gorgeous Monograms

But before you leave, I’d like to recommend stopping in at these fun Blogs to see more creations using the fun products I’ve suggested for you today:

Julie Koerber - check out this absolutely darling little bird card — too cute for words!!!

Faith Hofrichter - check out her use of Pearls and her tutorial on how to change the color of your DP - yes, she did!!!!  Amazing!!!

Leslie Miller  - watercoloring with H20’s tutorial - she makes it so easy!!! A MUST READ!!!

Susan Roberts - check out this AMAZING 4th of July card made with Euphoria paper!!!!

Thanks so much for stopping in - I truly do appreciate it!!!  Hope you are all having a wonderful week!!!

Double vision? Deja vu?  Perhaps!  10 Minute Tuesday is taking a little turn today, just because I thought it would be fun!  If you read my Blog post yesterday then, YES, you certainly did see the card on the left.  It was a card I did for Sunday’s Featured Stamper Challenge at SCS, and you may see the entire post here.  I really liked that card — the colors, the paper, the look, the vintage feel, so I decided to make a few more and turn them into a little gift set.  Well, I only got one done today, but the rest will come.  And can you see what I’ve done?  I’ve taken the original card and pared it down to make it into a really quick and simple little card to reproduce, but I still think it has some of the elements I love from the first card and bears a bit of vintage appeal!

Think it has the same feel as the original card?  I think so.  I used the same Euphoria pad by Basic Grey, the same lace, ribbon and monogram.  I just left off all the other embellishments to save time, giving it a bit of a cleaner look.  On yesterday’s post I showed you how I sewed on the lace.  Well, for today’s card, to save time, I glued on the lace.  Take a look:

My Rose Red cardstock is cut 2″ wide.  The piece of DP from the Euhporia pad is cut 1.5″ wide.  I adhered the designer paper, leaving about 1/8″ of the Rose Red exposed on top.  Then I ran a line of the 1/8″ Scor-Tape (sold by Scor-Pal) across the bottom of the designer paper.  I could then just lay my piece of lace on top of it, and again, just like yesterday, I wrapped the lace around the back, but this time we don’t have any thread tails to deal with!  Just tape the lace on the back.  Done!!!

My monogram is made exactly the same as yesterday.  Using the JustRite DIY Monogram Stamper with Damask Borders I inked the rubber with the Rose Red and Going Gray SU markers, stamped onto white cardstock, and cut and embossed with my Petite Circle Nestabilites.  I then cut and embossed a Basic Gray mat and a Rose Red scalloped frame.  Quick and fun!!!

With all my pieces made, I adhered the designer paper panel to the card, wrapped with Pink Sheer Ribbon, tied a pretty bow and mounted my monogram on with mounting tape.  Done!!!  Ooops, almost forgot — I added these pretty Pearls to the monogram — just gives it such a nice pretty and feminine look!!!

• Stamps:  JustRite DIY Monogram Stamper with Damask Borders
• Paper:  SU Textured Soft Sky, Rose Red, Basic Gray.  White.  Euphoria DP by Basic Grey.
• Ink:  SU markers in Rose Red and Going Gray.
• Accessories:  Pink Sheer Ribbon, Pearls, Lace, Petite Circle Nestabilities, Mounting Tape.

Thanks so much for stopping in!  Hope you enjoyed today’s version of a quick remake of a card that has a bit more detail work.  I think it works!!!  Tomorrow is my regular Wednesday May I Suggest…and I’ve got so many pretty new things to show you — I can’t wait!!! Have a wonderful week ahead!!!

I don’t often stamp on Sundays as there usually just isn’t time, but this evening I made some time.  And the fun thing about stamping on Sundays is the Featured Stamper Challenge at SCS.  Going through someone’s gallery to choose a card to CASE is like being a kid in a candy store — especially when the gallery is as beautiful as Chelemom’s.  I saw this lovely vintage card of Michele’s and knew instantly that was MY card for tonight!!!  I followed it pretty closely as you can see, but I did change the colors and some of the embellishments, plus I added machine stitching and a monogram instead of a heart.  Here it is:

Since I don’t even own Kraft cardstock (but I did put it on my list — LOL!), I decided to go with some pretty pastels for this card.  I chose the new Euphoria pad by Basic Grey for my designer paper and SU Soft Sky Textured for my card base.  The accent colors are SU Rose Red and SU Basic Gray.  I really like this color combo! I also really like this layout because all of the interest is concentrated in one area.  To me that makes it easier – a smaller area on which to focus and work — a small little collage — very workable!!! 

Let’s start with the base layer of designer paper.  Since I was going to use real lace, I decided to sew it on with my machine.  I use my standard sewing machine, but I’m so happy to see so many of you getting the small machines and delving into sewing on your cards — especially those of you who have never sewn before — fun!!!    I’ll show you how I sewed this lace and DP onto the Rose Red base:

I first put a bit of tape on the back of my DP to hold it in place on the panel.  I then wrapped my lace piece around the back on both sides (I’m real finicky about NOT cutting the edges of ribbon or lace — I never want frayed edges poppoing out — so I always wrap around to the back, or totally around the card, depending on my layering).  I just really like the finished look that ribbon or lace wrapped around gives you, as opposed to cut.  I then sewed the lace on over the DP with a simple straight stitch.  And, as you can see, I then used a cross stitch for a decorative accent on top.  I also used a straight stitch around the perimeter of my pink square panel.

These are the backs of the same pieces.  I am also very finicky about NOT wanting stray threads hanging out. I use my little stitch ripper tool and pull all the threads to the back side and then I tack them down with tape.  Now when I go to permanently adhere these panels to my card, I don’t have to worry about any strings or loose ends as everything is pulled to the back and tucked neatly inside.

And here’s a close up of all the detail on this card.  After adhering the sewn panel to the card front it is then time to start having fun!!!  The first thing I did is wrapped my Pink Sheer Ribbon around the card front and tied it on the side.  Next I adhered my pink stitched square panel.  On top of that I adhered my monogram on mounting tape, and we’ll get to the monogram in just a bit.  The star was just a piece of white cardstock stamped with the retired SU French Script, punched with the large SU star punch, with the edges sponged and a Euphoria Basic Grey Brad attached in the center.  I then punched a small Rose Red heart with my Heart Nestabilities, pierced a hole in it to run the Silver Stretch Cording from SU and tied it onto the center knot of the  Pink Sheer bow.  I put a little Dimensional under the heart to keep it in place.  I then used a pin with beads from SU’s Pretties Kit — love those pins!!!  And that pretty well finished it off!!!  But I’d like to tell you more about how I created the monogram.

I used the small wooden stamper, called the Classic Stamper, made by JustRite.  I often use their larger C-45, but today I was just doing this one card, so the small wooden stamper fit the bill just perfectly.  This JustRite DIY Monogram Stamper Kit has the Damask Borders and Times New Roman font.  I LOVE this one!!! And with any of these JustRite Kits — all the rings and letters fit the C-45 — love how all the accessories are totally interchangeable between the Wooden Classic Stampers and the larger C-45.  I like to use the C-45 if I am producing multiples, and these wooden kits when I’m just doing one or two monograms.   

Anyway, as you can see from the photo, I used my SU markers to color the rubber — Rose Red for the initial and Going Gray for the decorative border.  I love doing these in 2 colors — I think it adds a lot!!! And it’s so easy to do!!!  Once stamped, I cut and embossed the edges of the monogram with my Petite Circle Nestabilities by Spellbinders.  I cut and embossed a mat in Basic Gray and then a scalloped edge in Rose Red.  Love all the options using the Nestabilities gives you — and they work so perfectly with these monograms!!!  I added some sticky back Pearls where appropriate on my Damask border and adhered the monogram to the card front with mounting tape — and DONE!!!  Vintage, personalized, and pretty!!!  I love it!!!  Hope you do to!!!

• Stamps:  JustRite DIY Monogram Stamper Kit with Damask Borders, retired French Script by SU
• Paper:  SU:  Textured Soft Sky, Rose Red, Basic Gray. White.  Euphoria DP by Basic Grey.
• Ink:  Palette Hybrid Charcoal.  SU Markers in Rose Red and Going Gray.
• Accessories:  Pink Sheer Ribbon, Petite Circle Nestabilities, Classic Heart Nestabilities, SU Large Star Punch, SU Pretties Kit, SU Silver Stretch Cording, Pearls, Basic Grey Euphoria Brads, Mounting Tape, Dimensionals, Sponge, Sewing Machine, Thread.

Thanks so much for stopping in again!  I truly do appreciate all your visits and comments.  If you find these more detailed instructions helpful, please let me know.  I aim to please!  Hope your week is off to a great start!!!  Tomorrow brings my regular 10 Minute Tuesday project!!!  So if that interests you, see you then!!!

An artist, a hottie, and a peony – what could they possibly have in common?  Well, far more than meets the eye!!!

You’ve heard all of us at Flourishes mention Marcella Hawley from time to time.  I’d like to introduce you to her today.  Marcy is the artistic talent behind so many of the beautiful images in Flourishes stamp line, the latest being our series of beautiful botanical images.  Marcella Hawley was founding art director of Mary Engelbreit’s Home Companion, a pioneering art-centered decorating magazine. Previously, as assistant to the art director at Martha Stewart Living, she was part of the creative team that launched Martha Stewart’s premiere television show and Weddings magazine. Now home in St. Louis, Missouri, Marcella is a devoted gardener, illustrator, decorator, and maker of things. Husband Patrick Hawley is her partner in life and business, as web developer and IT maestro for MHCreative. They have two children, Tallulah and Finn.   For more information on her work, please visit www.marcellahawley.com.

OK, so that’s who Marcy is on a professional level.  Some pretty impressive names listed on her resume, but on a personal level, she’s just like the rest of us – a devoted wife and mother who loves her husband and her children – and she’s also someone who likes to have a little fun!  And in that vein she nominated her husband, unbeknownst to him, as the Hottest Husband of 2008 through Redbook Magazine.  And Patrick OBVIOUSLY is hot, as he was one of the finalists in the contest!!!!  Huge Congrats!!! to both Patrick and Marcy!!! How fun!!!  You can see the Redbook article along with an adorable photo of Patrick and their children by clicking here.

We at Flourishes are so honored and privileged to be able to work with both Marcy and Patrick.  Patrick was instrumental in helping Flourishes get their original site up and running and he still lends a technical hand from time to time!!!  Not only is this couple hot, hot, hot!!! in many respects, but they are a part of what makes Flourishes what it is today, and we’re so pleased to share this fun news with you!!!  Thank you, Marcy and Patrick, for your part in Flourishes success!!!!

OK, so we’ve covered the artist (Marcy), the hottie (Patrick), now what about the peony?  Well, that would be our Peony stamp set, drawn by Marcy, of course!!!  I just wanted to share a card with you today and I thought this newly released Peony would be just perfect for the occasion!!!

The card base is 5.5” square.  The main image panel is 5 3/8 x 4 1/8 and is set askew on the card intentionally – just for fun!!!    I use 6″ square envelopes so it still fits in the envelope just fine.  The pink strip is Cuttlebug embossed, the Peony sentiment is run through the Cuttlebug with the Tags Trio dies by Spellbinders, and the bee, also from the Peony set, is cut with a Petite Circle Nestability die and then matted with a punched 1 ¼” circle using a SU punch.  The main image panel with the Peony was created in the following steps:

• Ink peony stamp, direct to stamp, using ColorBox Chalk Inks, and stamp onto white cardstock.
• Using SU markers I filled in areas on the leaves and stem.
• Using the Inkksentials Opaque White Pen, I colored in all white areas on the peony and accented the leaves a bit.
• Using a C1 Cool Gray Copic marker I outlined the entire image.
• I made a mask of the peony using Eclipse Masking Tape, adhered it over the peony and then stamped my scripted background in Palette Hybrid Charcoal.
• I then heavily sponged the edges of the panel with the Charcoal ink.
• I then matted the panel in gray and then pink before adhering to the card.
• I then attached my Peony tag and bee with dimensional products.

Here’s my supply list:

• Stamps:  Peony by Flourishes and retired SU Script
• Paper:  Black, White, SU Pixie Pink, SU Basic Gray Textured
• Ink:  Palette Hybrid Charcoal and Noir Black, ColorBox Chalk Inks in Orchid Pastel, Dark Brown, Olive Pastel, SU markers in greens, browns and yellow, C1 Cool Gray Copic marker, Inkksentials Opaque White Pen, Stardust Clear Glitter Pen (on wings).
• Accessories:  Black Sheer Ribbon, Black Dotted Sheer Ribbon, Tags Trio and Circle Nestabilities by Spellbinders, SU 1 ¼” punch, Cuttlebug, Textile Embossing Folder, Mounting  Tape, Dimensionals, Zots, Glue Dots, Sponge.

Thanks so much for stopping in today.  Hope you enjoyed this fun story about Marcy and her Hottie!!!  Have a wonderful weekend, everyone!!!