No Time To Stamp?

This is a short post about something new I got, and just wanted to share as you canget an unbelievable deal on this through Monday, Dec. 1. It’s a Glue Glider — a tape gun — here’s a pic:

I just got it a few days ago and have only used it on one card (my last for ssnotime63), but I love it so far!!! I opened the package and used it — NO learning curve — just press it to your paper, pull and a PERFECT row of tape. It is small, lightweight, easy to use, the refills snap in and out with no threading of tape — a little *dream machine*!!! I’m a happy camper.

I cannot, however, say I’ve used it forever as I just got it. But my friend, Jerri Kay, loves this little thing — and actually, Jerri was the impetus behind behind Joan carrying this product. Jerri’s used it for a while and talked about this great little glue gun. Then Joan started talking about this little glue gun she was so impressed with at CHA. Well, one conversation leads to another and wouldn’t you know it, they were talking about the SAME glue gun — so, of course, Joan HAD to order it, and now she is offering it to us!!!

You can read Jerri’s testimonial on the Glue Glider here, and you can read all the details about the 2 for 1 Sale that Joan has over at Joan’s Garden on this Glue Glider, right now!!! Check them both out. The sale is over Monday.

I also have some more stick pins from my friend Sabrina; however, I have encountered some technical difficulties - LOL — so I’ll get those up for you to see later today or maybe tomorrow — soon as I fix my problems!!! Thanks for checking in!!!

Finally, here’s the info I promised you on the gorgeous pins you all saw in my Bare Necessitiespost a few days back. Admittedly, I am not a very good shopper, but thank goodness some people out there are! Isn’t it just wonderful we can all help each other like this –stamping cyberspaceis just the GREATEST place to hang out — thank you ALL so much, just for EVERYTHING!!! But special thanks today go out to my friend Sabrina who I’ve known for quitea few years over at SCS. I’m sure many of you know her too — okimom2girlz. Sabrina was so sweet hearted that she went shopping for pins and pretties a week or two ago and bought enough to share with me — and let me tell you, I was over the top excited when I got all the little packages of pretties. I’ll show them to you in a minute, but first here’s the card that Sabrina made and sent to me, using some of her new finds.

What a beautiful card — THANK YOU SO MUCH, SABRINA!! And I’d like to show you a close up of another pretty pin that Sabrina put together with her new toys.

Isn’tthis onejust so delicate and pretty!!! I love it!!!! And the question is, WHERE did Sabrina find these beauties. Well, at JoAnn Fabric. They were all in the jewelry making section, each piece sold in separate bags of like product. She bought a ton of different little things and sent me a sampling of each. Here’s a repeat pic that I posted the other day, showing a pin I put together with Sabrina’s goodies.

Kind of hard to see the top, but at least you get the idea and can see the pretty butterfly on the bottom, and I LOVE those brownish beads!!! OK, now on to some pics of what Sabrina actually purchased on her quest for pins and pretties.

Oh, so fun!!! I can’t tell you how these please me. They did all come from JoAnn Fabric, but Sabrina thought Michaels has a lot of these as well. The more ornate silver and gold pins in the forefront are by Blue Moon. The really long ones, about 5″, are by Darice, as are the beads. Sabrina did cut one of the 5″ pins and said it cut very easily. I think it was about $2 for those 3 pins. However the Blue Moon pins are a real steal at about $1.99 for 10 — WOW! They are also available at JoAnn.com. Now I will tell you these Blue Moon pins do not havea sharp tip, it’s blunt, so you can’t poke it through your ribbon, but you can easily weave it between the knot. And check out all the other pretty charms and beads to coordinate!!!

And here’s a look at some more beads from JoAnn’s. I particularly love the brown shades mixed with the clear crystals.

And here’s where I thought Sabrina was so creative. See the ones right in front here? Know what they are? Earring backs — yes!!! Scroll up to the photo of Sabrina’s card. There she used an earring back she had at home before finding these silver ones at JoAnns. She has ordered them in bulk — 120 for $2.09 — oh my goodness!!! Now scroll up again and look at the 2nd photo — see the stopper — it is one of these odd shaped beads in the background. It does look so pretty and delicate when she has used it as a stopper. Not sure, but I’m assuming she had to stick a bit of a glue dot in there? Sabrina??? (Editing to add Sabrina’s answer: Yes, the bead in the second picture is held up by a small glue dot, and when you put it on top of the little opening of the bead the pin will push it in and you cant even tell its there.) And if you are wondering what I used on the pin in my card, the one with the butterfly charm — well, that’s a stopper from the SU Pretties Kit.

Twokind readers, Laura M and Marilyn C, provided me with this link to Many Horses. This link takes you right to the Hat Pin page. They do have the earring back stoppers just like above, but I think I’m seeing something that sure look JUST like the SU stoppers as well!!! I am definitely going to have to check that out further!!! THANK YOU, LAURA and MARILYN!!!

I got an email from another reader, Dee Y, and she refers to a huge bead warehouse in Washington, and she provided this link to Shipwreck Beads, and, oh YES, there are those same stoppers (or so it appears) that SU sells. And I guess I’m learning through all this the proper name would be clutches??? THANK YOU SO MUCH, DEE!!!! I am most definitely doing some browsing to check these sites out more thoroughly — fun stuff!!!

And that wraps it up for tonight! Thank you to the above ladies for contributing so much!!! Greatly appreciated!!! So glad that YOU stopped in as well!!! Truly, I am getting back to simple and flat cards for the Holidays, but tomorrow our next Stamp Simply challenge is up, so hope to see you then!!! Thanks so much!!! Hope your week is going well!!!

Tonight I only have a helpful little tidbit to share — but it’s one FABULOUS tidbit!!! I discovered this a few nights ago on Ellen Hutson’s Blog in the Classroom section. She was showing a project on Brayer Resist, and my eyes were immediately drawn to her sponges in the photo — OH MY GOSH — the bells went off in my head — WHAT AN INCREDIBLY GENIUS IDEA!!! Well, when I read the text, I guess this is an old idea, but I’ve surely never seen it — so just thought maybe some of you may never have seen it either. I’ve been super busy today prepping for classes tomorrow, and I just made up my little handled sponges for the girls touse, so they’re still nice and clean, but I can’t WAIT to try them. No more dirty fingers from sponging!!! Here they are:

Now is that a cool idea, or what!!! It sure impressed me!!! Thank you, Ellen!!! Be sure to check out Ellen’s Brayer Resist tutorial – some of the most gorgeous leaves ever — such a perfect card for this time of year!!! I think I just might need to try this sometime in the next few days!!!

Thanks much for stopping in — hope you are all as excited about this little tidbit as I was — LOL!!! Have a great day!!!

I have no projectto show you today (shopped all day, and there’s nothing wrong with that!), but I do have something I’d like to show you — a new toy!!! Well, not really a toy, but more like a tool, a necessity — something I am JUST loving. You all are familiar with the Scor-Pal, a tool for scoring. Well, the folks at Scor-Pal have come up with just a phenomenal idea — the Scor-Mat — which is a gridded mat made to fit perfectlyinto the recessed areaof the Scor-Pal, instantly turning this scoring tool into a gridded work surface. Now how cool is that? Here’s a picture of it:

Can you see how it fits just perfectly into the Scor-Pal? Well, I must tell you, for me this gridded work surface is IDEAL!!! I am a measurer from way back — I measure EVERYTHING and ALWAYS work on a gridded surface, usually the top of my guillotine type paper cutter which only has 1/2″ markings on its surface. My new Scor-Mat is marked every 1/8 inch and I love those precise measurements. Also love the diagonal markings — so handy to have! The griddedside is a self-healing mat so you can use a craft knife or rotary cutter on it with no problems. Thereverse side is a smooth worksurface, allowing for easy removal of tape and quick clean-up.

I do most of my card assembly on a gridded surfaceat counter height. My new Scor-Mat now fits thisbill perfectly!!! I am a bit fussyabout things being straight and even — I’m not muchof an *eye-baller* — I like measuring and *knowing* it’s how I want it — LOL!!! And by working on a gridded surface, it just gives me that *sense* of straight, which I find helpful. And my new Scor-Mat now makes this a bit easier.

My Scor-Pal has a permanent place on my counter, and now my Scor-Mat has a home within my Scor-Pal, making me very, very happy!!!! Hats off to the folks at Scor-Pal for this fabulous new product!!! You can see it here on the Scor-Pal site. Just something I recently got, loved, and wanted to share with you — just makes my stamping day a bit more enjoyable!!!!

And if you check out Joan’s Every Monday Sale, you’ll see she has both Scor-Pals and Scor-Mats this week!!! You have to scroll down once you get there!

And what did I get while shopping today — well, I had 1.5 hours in Michaels — not really long enough, but I did pick up some packs of K & Co. paper and chipboard, some other Halloween and Fall paper packs, a couple of books, some cute little card sets and a Journal from the $ Bin that will be such a quick and easy project with a monogram added, some new ink pads — Versa Fine, Brilliance and Tim Holtz Distress — and a few other odds and ends. All in all not so much, but fun stuff I am looking foward to playing with!!!

Try this for fun — a friend of mine, Cindy Motherway, a/k/a/ Mothermark at SCS, has a wonderfully fun inspiration challenge she posts on her Blogeach Tuesday — called Teapot Tuesday. It appears to be in week #8 already, though I recently found out about it. Cindy collects teapots and each week shows us all one to use as an inspiration piece — how fun. Check it out here - Teapot Tuesday.

Thank you for popping in!!! Always glad to have you!!! Tomorrow I’ll be here with our usual Friday Stamp Simply Challenge, so hope you can check back in then!!! As always, it’ll be easy and fun!!!

One of the most often asked questions I get is, “How do you mail that?” The card I posted yesterday prompted many more similar emails, so I thought I’d show you all how I handle mailing bulkier cards. I love to make cards with dimension and I never hesitate to do so based on the issue of mailing, I just bite the bullet and pay the extra postage. If that goes against your grain, then you can save those bulkier cards for occasions where you will be present to deliver the card, such as a wedding or party you may be attending.

Here is a close-up view of yesterday’s card so you can see the type of bulk I am referring to; however, many of you, and I on occasion, make cards much bulkier than this:

Merely putting this in an envelope and mailing would probably mean that it gets to the recipient in a somewhat damaged state, due to the lumps and bumps in the envelope. To avoid those lumps and bumps, a trick I learned from Linda Bullard quite a while back, was to crimp a 1/4 sheet of cardstock and place it in front of the card in the envelope to act as a corrugated cushion, and it works amazingly well. This is very suitable on cards with a low to average amount of dimension added.

The cost to mail the above card in this fashion would be $0.59. I use my 2 small kitchen scales to weigh my envelopes and small packages. The small scale goes up to 1 pound and the larger scale goes up to about 7 pounds, and they ARE amazingly accurate when compared to the scales at the Post Office, so I’m sticking with them — no high tech digital postal scales for me — LOL!!!

Another option if your card is a bit too bulky for the above crimped cushioning, is to go to a purchased bubble wrap envelope as shown below.

When inserting a card in this type of envelope, I like to wrap it in tissue for an extra layer ofprotection and also so that when the recipientpulls it out, it’sjust a bit nicer to have tounwrap the tissue thanto pull a card out of this unattractive envelope. We put so much time and effort into our cards, let’s try to present them in an attractive fashion, even though that can be difficult when dealing with postal issues. The cost to mail the above card in this bubble wrap envelope would be $0.59, plus the cost of the envelope. I get my bubble wrap envelopes from Wal-Mart and this size runs about 45 cents. (Editing to add: Please read the 6th comment down by Karen Witter for a source for white padded envelopes which would be more attractive than the one shown, and at a decent price — Thanks Karen!)

Another option which does a great job of protecting the card and which I really prefer to the above bubble wrap envelope, is to put the card into a clear box, and then wrap the clear box in brown postal wrap.

I love these clear boxes and I was turned on to them a year or so ago by Val Stangle. They come in a variety of sizes and are great for enclosing gift sets or, as here, for protection while mailing. Even though the outer wrapper is standard brown wrap, oh, what a pretty box/sight when the brown wrap is removed!!!! These boxes make a lovely presentation. I get these boxes from clearbags.com and I keep a good supply on hand in a variety of sizes. This is the smallest size I purchase and it is 1/2″ thick, item FB6, at a cost of $0.32 per box before shipping, handling, etc. This box will hold several cards, depending on how bulky they are. The cost to mail the above card in this fashion is $1.34.

And last, but not least, is the most expensive option, which is reserved for extremely bulky cards, but I have been known to use this option — a USPS Priority Box, called a video mailer.

Now, of course, the card shown above would not require this type of mailing, but I have both sent and received some cards that do. When using this type of box, again, I wrap my card in tissue paper, place it in the box and nicely fill all empty space in the box with gently crumpled tissue paper, again, making sure that this highly unattractive box at least has a pleasantly presented surprise inside!!! As long as this box weighs less than 1 pound, the cost is$4.80.

So, that’s it — that’s how I mail my cards!!! Hope this was helpful to someone!!!!

Thank you so much for taking the time to look, and I hope you are having a wonderful, summer week. I have taken some much needed time off this week and have been enjoying the pleasant temps and warm breezes on my front porch with visitors!!! Hope to visit with YOU again soon!!!

Oh, before I go — check this out!!! My friend, Julie Koerber, is in theTop 10 in the Paper Crafts Gallery Idol contest. She created a gorgeous card using a vintage Santa image. Take a look, and if you like it, take a moment to cast a vote for Julie. Instructions are posted along with her card here. Voting runs until noon MST on Thursday, July 31. Julie’s work is FABULOUS all the time and she is certainly a winner in my book!!! Thanks!!!

…some simple and effective storage solutions. We all know the problems that are inherent with this hobby — so much *stuff* — such a big *mess* — well, that’s how itis for me, anyway! And I am making headway in my never-ending quest for organization, one baby step at a time. I’ll share just a bit here today, and I’ll start with stamp storage.

When clear stamps are purchased, they typically come on acetate type sheets in a plastic sleeve. We really do need a better way to store them on a permanent basis. The buyers at Flourishes have found a wonderful solution — Clear Boxes that easily housetwo small (4 x 6) sets, or one large (8 x 6) set. The boxes measure 4 x 6 and are a full 1/2″ thick. The hinge opens in the middle, theylay flat when opened, giving you two sides for storage. Here’s what they look like:

As you can see, the two standing have stamp sets in them. You do have to trim the acetate that the stamp sets come on just a bit to fit in the box, but not much and that just takes a minute. I like to just lay my acetate sheet with stamps on it in the box, the acetate (pictured) side out (stamps facing in), so I can easily see on the outside all that is contained in the set. I cut a sheet of white cardstock to 4 x 6 and keep it between the sets so when the box is closed, I have a white background and can easily see each set, rather than seeing through one set to the other. Makes for a cleaner display of my sets. Here’s a pic of the box opened, with two sets in it:

This makes it very easy to take off the stamp you want and return it when you are finished. I have found I spend a LOT less time *looking* for those tiny clear stamps since I have put all my stamps into these clear boxes. Since there is a place to put them, I do put them back, rather than setting them on the table, loosing them, and then spending precious time frantically looking for them (have you been there? — LOL!!!). These boxes come in sets of 6 (enough for 12 small sets or 6 large sets) and are very reasonably priced. They can be seen here.

Also, I did some shopping and just got some new Spellbinder dies in the mail today, so thought I’d show them to you. These are the Tag Trios on the left and the Double Ended Tags on the right:

I love adding tags to cards — a great way to get a sentiment on your project while adding interest and fun — and I love dangling tags from a string — the Tag Trios on the left are PERFECT for that!!! Can’t wait to use them. And the Double Ended Tags on the right will look great attached with brads for a more permanent look and feel!!!

And I’ll be pefectly honest with you — I was planning to have a card or two here today to show you using these fun tags, but life just did not cooperate with me — I’m sure you know what I mean — interruptions galore coupled with a busy schedule just didn’t allow me to get cards made last night — and once I could see the writing on the wall, I figured that rather than fight to do a card, I would just settle for something less, something do-able under the circumstances. So what I did is make up a few of the tags, ready to go for the next time I can sit and make some cards. Having a few things pre-made and ready to go helps out a lot if you need to make a card quickly. I often make things ahead and I’m always so glad to just be able to grab them when needed. Here’s a few tags in the works:

See my roll of Scotch Removable Tape? That has a permanent place right next to my Cuttlebug. I use a ton of this tape. I use it to tape my Spellbinder dies onto my paper, as shown above. If you’ve used these before, you know how they would move around if not taped. One little piece of removable tape does the trick. I also use the Scotch Removable Tape to temporarily hold my card pieces together as I am planning layouts. When I make my cards, I figure things out asI go. I may think a certain color matting will work, but in the end use another color. I have learned to NEVER permanently adhere anything together until I have the entire card made up, laid out in front of me, and I’m happy with it. And I use the Scotch Removable Tape a lot as I play around with my pieces, matting, framing, layouts, etc. And you can use one piece of tape over and over again.

Anyway, back to my tags. Here they are all run through the Cuttlebug, cut and ready to be embossed:

It is a bit of a time saver when you make multiple tags rather than just one. As you can see, I can now run these all through my Cuttlebug at one time to emboss them, rather than individually. Anything to save time!!! And here they are, done:

Sorry for all the flecks of dirt on this photo — I didn’t even see that IRL!!! Oh well — Also, the embossing isn’t showing up the best either, but it is there, and it is the embossing on these tags that sets them apart from tags punched with a regular punch. The embossing adds so much richness, I think! The Coffee sentiments are from Coffee with Friends, Just Because is from Siberian Iris, Peony is from Peony, Happy Birthday is from Many Sentiments.

And now it’s time to put our tag dies away — here’s a GREAT solution. My idea — NOT!!! Wish it was — LOL!!! I’ve seen this on many Blogs, the first being on Debbie Olson’s Blog, and I sure was quick to make use of this great idea!!! All of my Nestabilities are stored in CD cases, and here’s the case for my tag dies:

You can purchase these sticky back magnet strips in the children’s craft section of Wal-Mart — they are so easy to use. I just cut them to fit the CD case. They are cut a bit differently for these tags than for the larger Nestabilities, but all the same idea. There are four sets of tag dies in this one CD case — now how convenient is that!!! The 2 sets I showed you today are on the left, and the Ribbon Slides and Label Trios are on the right. But I would like to add, all of my Nesties would also work in the Clear Boxes shown above. I just didn’t have my Clear Boxes when I started my storage for my Nesties. Using the Clear Boxes would actually avoid the issue of the hump in the middle of the CD case!

(Editing: OK, I’ve learned from several readers that you can pull that plastic center from the CD case — DUH!!!! Thank you so much — LOL!!! Glad I learned that — LOL!!!)

(Editing again: Oh gosh, you people are so waaaayyyy ahead of me — LOL!!! I ‘m getting so many emails — you are all using these Clear Boxes for your Nesties and telling me how much better they work than the CD cases — you are all shaming me into changing them all over to Clear Boxes — LOL!!! — THANK YOU ALL SO MUCH!!!)

And once you’re here to look, just wanted to share about this Stamp Cleaner specially formulated for clear stamps:

It does a wonderful job cleaning your clear stamps, makes them feel silky smooth, which is so nice, but this cleaner’s claim to fame in my book is its smell — it has the MOST declicious scent of citrus!!! It makes me WANT to clean my stamps!!!! Gotta love it!!! The pad and cleaner can be seen here.

Thanks so much for stopping in today. My next post will contain a card, I promise!!! Hope you are all having a wonderful week!!! OH, and if you like simple, you will LOVE this week’s Stamp Simply Challenge on Friday — be sure to come back and check it out — whether you plan to play or just check out everyone’s entries!!!

Gosh, it’s Tuesday again — where does the time go!!! Good thing Tuesday’s call for only a 10 minute card!!! Before I get into any details, I’d like to itemize all the things about this card that contribute to it being just a 10 minute card:

1. No stamping
2. Use of tools (Heart shaped Nestabilities)
3. Use of a scrap (that happened to be pre-stamped)
4. Use of ribbon for a scalloped edge (no need to make scallops)
5. Use of designer paper (rather than stamping a background)
6. A CASED design (YES, it is OK to CASE!!! LOL!!!)

This 4.25″ square card is a design CASED from Tracy Durcan. You can see her darling card here. As you can see, I only changed the focal image from her sentiment scallop to my heart. Though the colors and patterns are different, the basic design is the same. Taking someone else’s design and making it your own, is a sure-fired time saver.And those of us who take the time to upload and share our work, generally don’t mind being CASED. After all, isn’t imitation the highest form of flattery? We just must always be careful not to submit the workof another for contest or publication, and if we upload workCASED from another, we must remember to credit the original designer. Very simple rules. And most Blogs do have their own statement in the sidebar as to their feelings on being CASED, so it’s always a good idea to check there. Gee, I didn’t mean to get side tracked — back to the card –

The designer paper I used is from the Sugared 6 x 6 pad by Basic Grey. Love the colors and fun prints in this pad!!! I took my Classic Heart Nestabilities and first cut and embossed the smaller heart, then found the scrap of So Saffron with the retired SU French Script already stamped on it — how handy — so I thought I’d use it for the larger heart. I often use corsage or stick pins in my work, but I always insert them at an angle — don’t know why — it’s just what I do — LOL!!! I recently saw this card by Velta where she inserted the pin straight up and down into the heart and I loved it — so, another CASE!!! Mycorsage pins are from Michaels and the tiny pearl beads are from Wal-mart. I then tied on a little piece of the Pink Velvet Ribbon by May Arts. Love the richness just this little bit of velvet adds!

Once again, I have used the Scalloped Edge Satin Ribbonby May Artsto create a scallop along the border of my designer paper. Now, had I been thinking, I could have cut this ribbon down the center and done this with only a bit over 4″ of ribbon; however, I wasn’t thinking, and I put a full strip of ribbon on both top and bottom — oh well, next time!!! Also, I ALWAYS wrap my ribbon, either behind a panel or around the card front. Well, this is one of the few times that I actually cut my ribbon and it doesn’t wrap around anything, but with it being tucked under the paper, we are not seeing any ragged or frayed edges, so I’m OK with that in this situation.

• Stamps: None (SU retired French Script on So Saffron scrap found)
• Paper: Pretty in Pink, So Saffron, Sugared by Basic Grey
• Ink: None (More Mustard was used on the French Script scrap)
• Accessores: Scalloped Edge Satin Ribbon, Velvet Ribbon, Corsage Pin, Pearl Beads, Dimensionals, Classic Heart Nestabilities by Spellbinders

And I guess that pretty well sums it up — gee, took me tons longer to write this post than it took to make the card — LOL!!! I encourage you all to try a 10 minute card, employing some of the hints I’ve listed above. If you do, let me know how it turns out! If you care to link back here, I’ll take a peek!!!

Once again, thanks so much for stopping in!!! Tomorrow (Wednesday) is Flourishes release of 2 new stamp sets, so hope you check back in. And I’ll give you a little hint — there are some other fun activities planned in the Flourishes forum at SCS for tomorrow, so stop in over there, too!!! Hope youall have a great day!!!

Editing to Add: I was reminded by a comment that not eveyone knows what Nestabilities are. Nestabilities are thin metaldies, made to run through a die cutting system. I use mine in my Cuttlebug. They not only cut out your shape, but they can also emboss the edge for you — a very cool feature. My photography skills are not the best,but here’s a card that shows the embossed edges on the hearts. And below is a photo of a complete set of Nestability Circles that I just got in the mail and haven’t openend yet:

The shapes come with a standard straight edge and also with a scalloped edge. See how there are two pacakages of each? There is a large and small of each. They come in graduated sizes which nest together, which is great for layering and matting. If you only have one size of a shape, it will mat to about 1/4″, but if you have both sizes of the shape, the matted layers will be about 1/8″. Here’s a card with the narrower matting, using dies from both the sets.

And here’s a link to a videotutorial by Nancy Kirk from Flourishes showing you how to use the Nestabilities in your Cuttlebug. A very helpful tutorial if you’ve never seen this done before! I have purchased all of my Nestabilities from Flourishes.

If you’ve got an inkling to take the plunge and try them out, I GUARANTEE you will love them — no doubt about it!!! And we didn’t even touch on the discussion of storing these as opposed to storing large punches, or the tremendous cost savings when comparing a similiar number of punches to Nestability dies. This conversation could go on forever, but I think you get the idea — I LOVE my Nestabilities!!!

Hope this helps those of you who may be unaware — again, thanks for stopping in!

The graduation announcements are starting to flow in, so I thought I’d better get busy!!! I thought this would be the perfect opportunity to try out the numbers and small letters that can be purchased to go with the DIY Monogram Stampers by JustRite — which, as you may know, is my latest obsession!!! I have always loved monograms, but rarely did them, having to fuss with perfect alignment of letters within frames, etc. But, now — well, it couldn’t be easier and I’m having so much fun!!!

I wanted to personalize this graduation card with the recipients name, and the small letters are perfect for that. They are small, and I mean VERY small!!! They come with a set of tweezers to pluck them out of their tray and pop them into the groove in the stamper. Once in the groove, you can just use the tweezers to scoot them over to get them spaced properly. To be perfectly honest, I was a bit apprehensive about using these tiny letters — my eyes are every bit of their 54 years, properly clad in bifocals, and somehow over the years my fingers have become clumsy, and are no longer nimble. But, where there’s a will, there’s a way — so I picked up the tweezers and away I went — and, much to my surprise, it was truly no problem at all!!! It was quite easy to get the little letters into thegroove on the stamper, and then very easy to move them about once in the groove. It was certainly not the challenge I feared it might be!!! And that’s a good thing!!! But after I show you the finished card, I will give you some little hints. Here’s the card:

I personalized the monogram with Congrats Tyler around the outer perimeter in the Small Letters. The center 2008 was done with the medium numbers from the Large and Medium Numbers package. These were stamped using the DIY Monogram Stamper C-45. However, this also could have been stamped with any of the smaller Kits.

Question: Now let me address another question I’ve been getting all day long — people are wondering how these circle images work with the SU 1 1/4″ and 1 3/8″ punches. Well — they don’t. These images done on the C-45 and thewooden stamper (the Classic Stamper) with the wording on the ring around the border are too large for the 1 1/4 and 1 3/8″ SU punches. They work perfectly with the Circle Nestabilites by Spellbinders. I still don’t have my Circle Nestabilities, so again, I had to make due without, which isn’t always a bad thing — it stretches the imagination!!! I’ve been doing these in squares, but really wanted a rounded image for this card, so I punched my monogram with a 2″ Marvy Punch. I then used my Oval Nestabilitiesto make a matted oval on which I mounted my circle punched monogram — then I just added the gold brads to finish off the look!!! I was very pleased with the end result of my monogrammed piece!!!

Now, to make the rest of the card, I used the Harlequin set by Flourishes, stamped in Elegant Eggplant and the diamond centers are embossed in gold. The far left Elegant Eggplant strip is stamped with Damask in Versa Mark for a subtle flourishy look. I used a strip of Gold Metallic Paper as piping between my Harlequin and Damask, and also as the card front. The tassel is a bookmark type of tassell I got at Wal-Mart. Such fun personalizing these cards!!!

• Stamps: Harlequin, Damask, DIY Monogram Stamper, Numbers and Small Letters, all available at Flourishes
• Paper: Black, White, Elegant Eggplant, Gold Metallic from Flourishes
• Ink: Black, Elegant Eggplant, Versa Mark
• Accessories: Gold Embossing Powder, Tassel, Gold Brads, Petite Oval Nestabilities, 2″ Marvy Punch, Pop Dots, Mini Glue Dots

Hint: Now, if you think you’d like to get the set of small alphas, here’s a little tip. Before you ever take even one out of the tray, justink the entire set as one unit and stamp it on a piece of paper for future reference. Once taking out many small stamps, having the stamped reference sheet proves to be invaluable when looking at the small letters and not being able to tell a comma from an apostrophe, etc.It’s a simple thing to do and will be helpful intheend!!!

Links: I’ve seen several personalizedcards of recent done with these small alphabets that I’d like to link for you to see, in case you’ve missed them.Here they are:

Jerri Kay — A Gift Set of Cards with Box — this is the group photo, there are individual photos as well (not the small alphabets, but worthy of a look)!!!

Kellie Fortin – Boy’s Birthday Project

Kellie Fortin — Altered Band Aid Box done by 10-year old Jack — very cool!!!

Susan Roberts – Boy’s Birthday Card (plus a gorgeous WeddingCard)

Debbie Olson — Anniversary Card

Aren’t they fun!!! Thanks so much for stopping in again!!! We have a really simple Stamp SimplyChallenge linedup for Friday, so please check back for that!!! Hope you are having a great week!!!

Hi everyone! This is the first time I’ve stamped anything in what seems like ages, but I guess it really only is about a week. But it’s 10 Minute Tuesday, and what a great way to break me back in!!! I actually have two 10 minute cards to show you and although they are very different, they do bear some similarities. Here’s the first:

This card truly is fast to make, and for a number of reasons. First of all , the main image, which is a monogram, is done quickly and easily with the JustRite DIY Monogram Stamper Kit, and secondly, I merely covered the entire face of the card with designer paper.The kit used to make this card has a small wooden stamper in it, and that is what I used. Just like the larger C-45, you can change the borders and the initial in the center. The kit I used (pictured below) is theJustRiteDIY Monogram Stamper Kit with Damask Borders. There are 3 borders included, and I love them all! They are just my style and go so well with the flourishy style I am so drawn to. The one I did for this card was colored, direct to rubber, withmy SU markers in Pink Passion and Chocolate Chip. I have also easily inked the monograms and borders in the past with the small cat’s eye chalk ink pads and my SU ink pads as well. After stamping my monogram (how pretty!!!), I ticket corner punched the corners, matted it on a sheet of the designer paper, adhered my self-adhesive pearls and mounted onto the card with mounting tape. And I’d like to add, that though I did this monogram with the small wooden stamper, it could also have been done with the C-45 asthe borders and alphas are interchangeable.

As far as the DP goes, this is from the new fun Sultry pad by Basic Grey. I LOVE that chocolate and paisley sheet!!!I merely cut a strip of paper to sandwich between the upper and lower papers togive the illusion of piping between the two pieces of fabric– and can you believe — NO ribbon — which is another reason it is fast — noknots or bow to fuss with!!! Here’s my next card:

This card bears a much more masculine flavor anduses the Harlequinbackground in the set by the same name by Flourishes. It is stamped in black and the diamonds are added in red as a second step — a very cool type of background stamp with many different accent stamps to suit any occasion! Now, on this cardI used the JustRite Monogram Stamper C-45. It is super quick to use!!! You can get uninked pads that are two-toned — an outer rim for one color and the center inside for another. You can ink them in your own colors — for this card I used SU ink refills in Basic Black and Real Red — love the look!!! I only stamped 1 monogram for this card today, but using the C-45 you can stamp these attractive monograms so quickly it’ll make your head spin — truly it will!!! What a wonderful way to make up a quick box of cards to give as a gift, which I certainly plan to do in the very near future!!! I used a set of borders that include From the Desk of — From the Library of — and From the Kitchen of — HOW FUN!!!

I also want to add that these monograms are sized to perfectly fit with the Circle Nestabilities by Spellbinders, so they can be matted, scalloped, embossed, etc. They look just GREAT when used with the Nestabilies. Sadly to say, my Nestabilities are on order and I still haven’t received them — and as anxious as I am for them to arrive, I am still so enjoying my DIY stampers when done up in squares!!! Many options — lots of fun!!! Here’s a picture of the stampers I’m referring to:

The black stamper on the left is the C-45. The ink pad is inside and when you push on the stamper, it inks the rubber and gives you a perfectly stamped image each time. This stamper is super fast anda real necessityfor large projects. The box shown on the right houses one of the many small wooden stamper sets, the Classic Stamper. It uses all the same borders and alphas/numbers as the C-45. I love that they are all interchangeable. This set that I used came with the Damask Borders. Fun, fun stuff!!! You can view the Flourishes Newsletter for somegood close-upphotos of the wooden stamper itself. And I think the small boxed set with the Classic Wooden Stamper would make just the most fun gift to give to a stamping friend — it is attractively presented and has all you need to get going with some monograms!!!

The Harlequin stamp set, both DIY Monogram Stampers by JustRite, the Sulty 6 x 6 pad by Basic Grey, and the Circle Nestabilities by Spellbinders that I referred to above are all available at Flourishes.

Thanks so much for stopping in!!! Hope you are all off to a great week ahead!!!

Editing to answer a question: A reader asked how I center the monogram on the square when using the C-45. She was having trouble doing so. I found it to be quite simple when I use a 2″ square to stamp on. Using a 2″ square it is very easy to center the stamper on the paper — don’t try to center to stamp itself — just center the black plastic stamper, on the 2″ square. When you try this, you will see that the stamper base is just about 2″ itself, making it very easy to center it both horizontally and vertically on the paper — you can peek in the stamper opening and just see all edges of your 2″ square barely touchingthe stamper edges. Perfectly centered each time!!!

Using the small round wooden Classic stamper — it is just easy to see that you are centering it on the paper as it is so small and open.

Of course, if you plan to cut the monogram with the Round Nestabilites after the image is stamped, then you don’t have to worry about centering at all!!!

Hope this helps and hope you all have fun playing with your new toys!!!

Editing again to answer another question: Another question has popped up in comments, so I’ll include the answer here in case others have the same question — Julie said she has problems getting her C-45 to stamp the image evenly. I know exactly what she means. When Ifirst usedmine — same thing. First of all, make sure your ring/alpha is snapped in properly, but assuming it is — here’s what I discovered after about 10 minutes of experimentation — I think when I stamped I was applying uneven pressure with my hands to the top of the stamper as I pressed. To solve that problem, I use the C-45 while standing — I think it gives a more even pressure as I can get above the stamper and press straight down. I put the palm of my right hand on top of the stamper, then I take my left hand and apply pressure on top of my right hand when I push down. Doing it this way it evenly distributes the pressure andI get a perfect image each time. I am sure if you do it this way (stand and use 2 hands), you’ll get a perfect image each time as well.

Just a quick note as I know many of you have been waiting for the Petite Oval Nestabilities by Spellbinders — well, they are now back in stock at Flourishes, so that is good news. They differ from the standard Ovals in that they are somewhat more elongated. I used them on this card, if you’d like to takea peek.

Just letting you know, as I know some have been waiting!!! And the full set ships for FREE!!!

Thanks much — hope you are having a great day!!!

Oh, if you are just checking in, please note there is a Blog Candy post just below!!!