No Time To Stamp?

The Blog Candy I am offering today is a Stamp Simply set called Coffee with Friends.  It’s a very versatile set with a variety of mugs, the largest of which is a paper piecer’s dream!!!  Here it is:

And with the Thanksgiving and Christmas seasons approaching, I like to get a few things made ahead when time isn’t so rushed.  Today I decided to make a tag (I LOVE to make tags for gift baskets) for a coffee themed gift basket that could be given either at Thanksgiving or Christmas.  Here it is:

I colored the stack of cups with my Copics and just added a few fun things to my tag.  First of all, the background is stamped with one of the sentiment stamps in the set, and the little oval tag on top is a new die (new to me) I got from Spellbinders called Tag 5.  It is one plate with 5 tags in it, so you are cutting 5 at one time — kind of nice!!!  I have riveted 2 of them together, and they open so you can write your To and From on the inside white tag.  I also got some new acrylic pieces, and having never used them before I know I wasn’t overly creative here, but I had fun.  There’s just a clear button over the heart with a ribbon run through both the heart and clear button — it was fun!

• Stamps:  Stamp Simply Coffee with Friends by Flourishes
• Paper:  PTI White, SU Real Red and Chocolate Chip
• Ink:  Adirondack Espresso (heat set), and Copics R24, R27, R29, C1, 0
• Accessories:  Spellbinders Dies (Long Rectangle Nestability, Tag 5, Heart), Clear Acrylic by My Acrylic Album, SU Large Eyelet, Sponge, Cropadile, Wal-Mart Ribbon, Corner Rounder, Deco Corner Punch

To enter this drawing for the Stamp Simply Coffee with Friends set, merely leave a comment below.  A winner will be selected by a random number generator.  This post is open for comments until 6:00 p.m. EST on Friday, Sept. 12.  The winner will be announced on Saturday morning.  Only one entry per person please.  Good luck!!!

Thanks much for stopping in — I so truly appreciate!!!  Hope your week is off to a good start!!

The winner selected by Random.org was #259 who is Karen M.  CONGRATS! Karen!!! Here’s what she had to say:

1.   Karen mon 09 Sep 2008 at 12:37 am edit comment link comment

Gorgeous!!! love the tag. I have this stamp set on my wish list. Maybe my wish will come true and be the winner of this stamp set.

Random Integer Generator

Here are your random numbers:

259

Timestamp: 2008-09-12 22:22:22 UTC

Thanks so much for playing everyone!!!  Much appreciated!!!

This being my 1st year Blog Anniversary, I just wanted to take a minute here to say “THANK YOU” to each and every one of you.  Blogging is so much fun and I have so completely enjoyed it all.  However, the reason it’s fun is because of YOU, each and every one of you.  Knowing that someone will stop in to read, look or share makes it all so worth-while.  I love to play games and our Friday Stamp Simply Challenge only works because we have players each week — and now our *Celebration* — oh my, what a fun party bunch you all are — it makes me want to throw parties more often — LOL!!!  So, what it all boils down to, is that I’m able to get so much enjoyment out of this crazy venture called Blogging because of each and every one of YOU — and I just want to say “Thank You, Thank You, Thank You — EVER so much!!”  You all mean more to me than you can possibly imagine!!!

So as Blog Candy today, I am offering you a Stamp Simply Thank You set.  I LOVE these beautiful tulips and gorgeous caligraphy in the background stamp and sentiments. 

And here’s the card I did today using the smaller of the tulips.  As much as I love the sentiments in this set, I left my card with no sentiment.  I do like to keep cards on hand that I can grab for any purpose and then finish them off with a sentiment when needed.

• Stamps:  Stamp Simply Thank You by Flourishes
• Paper:  PTI White, SU Bashful Blue, Prism Majestic Purple Light, DP Heartwarming Vintage Collection Classic Pad by Crafty Secrets
• Ink:  Palette Charcoal.  Copics:  G40, G21, BG93, B21, BV02, C1, O.
• Accessories:  SU Taffeta Ribbon, Pearls by SU and Kaiser, Button, Thread, Primas, Cuttlebug and Corner Die, Petite Oval Nestabilities by Spellbinders, Martha Stewart Lace Punch, Cropadile, Zots.

To enter this drawing for the Stamp Simply Thank You set, merely leave a comment below.  A winner will be selected by a random number generator.  This post is open for comments until 6:00 p.m. EST on Wednesday, Sept. 10.  The winner will be announced on Thursday morning.  Only one entry per person please.  Good luck!!!

Blog Candy #3 has also been  posted  so either scroll up or click HOME.   Thanks!

The winner has been selected — it is#140  — Darlene L.  HUGE CONGRATS!!! Here’s what she had to say:

   Darlene Lon 06 Sep 2008 at 3:37 pm edit comment link comment

Your card is simply beautiful! I love anything floral so would love to win this set. Thanks for the opportunity and sharing your talents with all of us. darlene

 Random.org was used in the selection:

Random Integer Generator

Here are your random numbers:

140

Timestamp: 2008-09-10 22:27:31 UTC

Thank you so much everyone for playing!!! It was fun!!!

I made this card for Natasha’s Dare to Get Dirty 08 Sketch Challenge today over at SCS.  She came up with a great sketch and I thought the Stamp Simply Thank You set would work perfectly with it.  Here it is:

I followed Natasha’s sketch pretty much to a T, but due to the size of my main image I didn’t have room for my sentiment as suggested, so had to make some adaptations — where there’s a will, there’s a way — LOL!!!  My tulip was stamped first.  I then stamped it again on some Eclipse Masking Tape, cut it out for my mask (works great because it has a wonderful low tack adhesive to the entire mask), covered my tulip with the mask, then stamped the scripted background which is included in the same set, pulled up my mask, then colored my tulip with Copics.  I punched 2 holes in the main image panel, through which the ribbon was pulled up.

Card making is so easy when you follow a sketch — you only need to determine your images, colors, etc. — give this great sketch by Natasha a try!!!

• Stamps:  Stamp Simply Thank You by Flourishes
• Paper:  White, Basic Gray, Almost Amethyst, Euphoria DP by Basic Grey
• Ink:  Palette Hybrid Charcoal and Noir Black and Copics (BV000,V09, V15, V17, G40, YG03, YG95, C1, 0)
• Accessories:  Ribbon, Pearls, Eclipse Tape, Ticket Corner Punch, Piercer and Mat Pack, Mounting Tape.

And I still have a Blog Candy post which is live and active until 6:00 p.m. Eastern Time, tonight, Sunday 7/27.  Sign up if you haven’t already!

Thanks so much for looking!!!  Hope you all are having a great Sunday!!!

Keyword ssnotime45 - 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 get a head start on your Christmas cards.  Everyone has Christmas in July, so thought we would, too!!!  Make any type of Christmas card you like — that’s it.  It can be traditional or non-traditional.  Personally, my preference is always non-traditional.  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:

Here’s my non-traditional Christmas card, which also qualifies for Julie’s DTGD08 Challenge to Embrace White Space and my DTGD08 to Stamp Simply.  I love simple blue and white for Christmas — so fresh and pure — like the new-fallen snow we ususally have by then.

The flourished tree from Flourished Christmas is stamped on white, cut and embossed with the my Rectangle Nestabilities.  A single Pearl is added at the tree base.  It is mounted onto the plain white card with foam mounting squares.  The sentiment, cut and embossed with my Petitie Circle Nestabilities, is mounted with a dimensional.  Steele Blue Sheer Ribbon is tied on the bottom for the finish.  Quick, simple, white — and I love it!!!

• Stamps:  Flourished Christmas by Flourishes
• Paper:  White
• Ink:  Color Box Chalk in Azurite
• Accessories:  Steele Blue Sheer Ribbon, Pearl, Rectangle and Circle Nestabilities, Dimensional, Glue Dot.

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.

I have an active Blog Candy post — sign up if you haven’t yet!

Read about the Midwest Flood Relief non-raffle going on at SCS and find out how YOU can try to win one of 55 fabulous prizes made and/or donated by SCSer’s and supporting companies.

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!!!

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.

The Splitcoast Non-Raffle for Midwest Flood Relief is now live and active.  You can click the link above to read all about it.  Bascially a lot of people put together gorgeous offerings which can all be seen in the non-raffle prize gallery.  Donations are being accepted on behalf of the Red Cross, and those donating will be eligible to win any of these prizes.  There are 55 in all.   This was my offering to the cause:

This prize consists of one Stamp Simply set, the first, called Coffee with Friends, by Flourishes, along with a variety of 5 different cards made using Coffee with Friends.  These cards have all been posted here before, so I won’t go into any details.  And Coffee with Friends, much to my dismay, has been sold out for quite some time now, so here’s your chance to win it!!!  I will let you all know when Coffee with Friends is back in stock.

Please check out all of the beautiful creations in the Non-Raffle Prize Gallery, leave some comments for those who took so much of their time to put these packages together, and then go on over to Splitcoast to read all the details and make your donation.

Thanks much for your support of this cause.

My Dare to Get Dirty 08 Challenge will be posted at noonish today (Eastern Time), 7/24.  Hope you can come back to check it out!!!

I also have a live and active Blog Candy post — scroll down two posts to sign up!

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!!!

Here’s a real quick and simple card for today — and I used Coffee with Friends for a reason — read through to the bottom and check for links — Blog Candy, prizes — does that sound good?

c

I relied on two different sheets from my  Euphoria pad to add interest to this simple little card.  My paper pieced mug was a reject from another time, that luckily I had saved.  The colors didn’t work on the other project, but they work fine here today!!!  The mug was actually stamped with gray ink onto Very Vanilla paper, colored with Copics (colors unknown) and then cut out.  It was then stamped with one of the flourish/steam stamps, then gone over with the Inkksentials Opaque White Pen.  The handle is trimmed up with brads and ribbon by SU.

• Stamps:  Coffee with Friends by Flourishes
• Paper:  White, Very Vanilla, Euphoria Designer Paper by Basic Grey
• Ink:  Palette Hybrid Charcoal, Copics to Color, Inkksentials Opaque White Pen
• Accessories:  Pewter Hodgepodge Hardware Brad and Basic Gray Taffeta Ribbon by SU.  Piercing tool and mat pack.

(Editing to add a Sneak Peek of another set to be released tomorrow):

OK, now for some fun links:

• Blog Candy (Coffee with Friends) still open and receiving at Rainy Day Creations.
• A coffee themed prize offered for the Coffee Time Challenge, running through 7/10.
• Motivate Me Mondays with Julie Koerber — play when you can during the week.
• Chat and play with Faith Hofrichter Live in the Forums Tuesdays from 7 - 9 p.m . EST.
• Paper Crafts Idol Contest has experienced some technical difficultes. Voting begins on Tuesday.  Our own Julie Koerber is in the finals — YAY for Julie!!!  Check it out here.

Think there might be any new release sneak peeks today?  Well, I’m not sure — in the morning I’ll check it out and link up whatever I find!!!  Here’s two:  Susan Roberts and Sharon Doolittle.

Tomorrow, Wednesday, is Flourishes release of 3 new sets — can’t wait to finally be able to show you!!!  Hope you can come back on Wednesday for the new releases and May I Suggest…

 Thanks so much for stopping in — have a great day everyone!!!

Keyword ssnotime41 - 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 10 Minute Tuesday card.  For those who may not know what 10 Minute Tuesday is, each Tuesday I do a Blog post showcasing a card that can be reproduced in about 10 minutes.  I realize the designing and making of most cards does take more than 10 minutes, but try to come up with something, that if you were going to reproduce it, you could do so in about 10 minutes — OK?  So, in other words, keep it really 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 .

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

And here’s my sample:

This time I made my Coffee, from Coffee with Friends, of the iced variety!!! A great summer drink!!!  My cup was paper pieced, my straw was just cut by hand, and my foam or whipped cream is Liquid Applique by Marvy.  All the pink and patterned paper is from the Sultry pad, while my brown matting is from Sugared.  My Basic Grey pads are pretty well used up and I’ve been combining a lot of the pads to get the colors I need, and it works!!!  I LOVE the combination of these 2 prints from the Sultry pad!!!  The bottom pink is stamped with one of the steam stamps from Coffee with Friends and it makes a quick and fun background.  And here’s a closeup of the tag detailing:

The tag is die cut on my Cuttlebug using the Tag Trio by Spellbinders.  I just ran a length of the sheer dotted ribbon through the hole and then inserted my pink brad.  The tag is mounted on dimenstional tape and the little dotted tails are neatly held in place with a Zot. 

And you know what made this a 10 minute card? 

• Remember when we talked about making up card bases ahead of time?  Click here.
• Remember when we talked about making up tags ahead of time?  Click here.
• Remember how quick and easy it is to paper piece this large mug?  Click here.

So, with a few things done ahead of time — this card truly did come together in short order!!!

• Stamps:  Coffee with Friends, Siberian Iris (sentiment), both by Flourishes
• Paper:  White, Sultry and Sugared Designer Pads by Basic Grey
• Ink:  Palette Noir Black, SU Pretty in Pink
• Accessories:  1″ Chocolate Satin Ribbon, Chocolate Dotted Sheer Ribbon, Tag Trio dies by Spellbinders, SU Brad, Liquid Applique by Marvy, Mounting Tape, Zots

Editing to add another card — did this for the LSC at SCS today — the challenge was to limit your embellishments to brads ONLY, and they had to be a part of your main image, not just tacked in a corner.  I thought this LSC would go perfetly with this 10 Minute Tuesday type of challenge here today,  so I did another this morning:

Clean, sleek, modern, simplistic!  Love it!!  This is 9.25″ x 4 1/8″ and fits a business sized envelope.  Fits the LSC to use brads as your only embellishment, and it was a 10 minute card for me because this main image panel with 3 paper peiced mugs was in my rejecto pile from another project gone awry!!!  But it works here!!!  And that’s a good thing!!!!

• Stamps: Coffee with Friends by Flourishes
• Paper:  Black, White, Two Scoops by Basic Grey
• Ink:  Palette Noir Black
• Accessories:  Black Brads by SU and 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.

Thanks so much for stopping in everyone — I truly appreciate it!!  Hope you can find some time to play!!!  Thanks much!!!

And I have a fun human interest story to post on the weekend.  I’ll try to get it up on Friday night, so please check back!!!!  It’ll make you smile!

This is my favorite post to write each week — I LOVE quick cards and this is a real quick one today.  Since my post is about  8 hours behind my normal posting time today, I was able to catch the colors for the  Color Challenge over at SCS, so I thought I’d try them out — White, Taken with Teal and Wild Wasabi.  Not what I probably would have chosen to use on my own, but it works!!!  Here it is:

This card is 3 3/8″ x 6 1/2″ and is made to fit the small open end envelopes by SU.  I really enjoy this size from time to time!  It’s small and easy to work up quickly, but yet with it’s height it allows you more room than a small square does.  I like it!

Anyway, this card is simply done by paper piecing the large mug from Coffee with Friends.  And on the photo below, can you see how I used the print in the Two Scoops pad by Basic Grey to work to my advantage?  I wanted that row of dots on my saucer, and using clear stamps it is so easy to stamp  the saucer over the dots, exactly as I had in mind.

I just wanted to show you, too, that I use my little Xyron X to adhere all my mugs in Coffee with Friends.  They all fit nicely in this small Xyron sticker maker — takes all the fuss out of adhering them — quick and easy.  These can be purchased at just about any store that sells craft items — Wal-Mart, Michaels, etc. — they are very inexpensive and work wonderfully for adhering small pieces.  The feed opening  is 1.5″ wide, so anything under that works great!

To do the ribbon on this card - I merely ran 2 lengths of SU gingham along the side of my card and then took a length of Black Sheer Ribbon, ran it under the gingham and tied my fluffy little bow.  I just adore these fluffy bows the Sheer Ribbon allows you to make.  To get this puffy, fluffy look — just tie your bow tightly, make it rather small, and cut your tail ends rather short, no longer than the bow is big.  Fun little bow!!!

• Stamps:  Coffee with Friends by Flourishes
• Paper:  White, Taken with Teal, Two Scoops by Basic Grey (my sheet of DP has a bit of Wasabi in it)
• Ink:  Palette Noir Black and Charcoal
• Accessories:  Black Sheer Ribbon, SU Gingham Ribbon and SU Brads, Xyron X

Thanks so much for coming to look — I truly do appreciate it, as I always appreciate all your comments and feedback as well!! Thank you so much!!! Wishing you all a wonderful week!!!  See you tomorrow for my Wednesday feature — May I Suggest …