No Time To Stamp?

Truly, I mean it!!!  Come and stamp with me at the Rubber Stampede — and if you are lucky enough to live in central/northern Wisconsin or Upper Michigan, you know exactly what I’m talking about.  It is THE stamping event of the year in this neck of the woods — LOL!!!  It always runs the first weekend in May and this year it’s on May 2, 3 and 4, and I’ll be there for all 3 days, with cards for you to make each day using the gorgeous clear stamps by Flourishes – how fun is that!!!!

The Rubber Stampede is located in the tiny little northwoods town of Sayner, which would be a *suburb* of the touristy town of Eagle River, Wisconsin - have you ever been there?  The Rubber Stampede starts with classes on Friday night, and something new this year is the Friday night Round Robin.  Everyone will make 6 cards in a 3 hour period. There will be 6 different instructors/projects, and participants will rotate from one table to the next, and when all is said and done they will each go home with 6 new and wonderful creations!!!  This is the card I’ll be having the participants make in the Friday night Round Robin:

This card uses some of my very favorite sets from Flourishes — the Lace Heart and the Damask Positive background stamp.  Isn’t it pretty?  It is accented with lush black velvet ribbon (I LOVE velvet ribbon), a punched tag, and a vintage looking pin with a bit of dotted sheer ribbon.  I love the vintage feel of the Lace Heart, Damask and pin, but I also love how the card in general has a classic, clean and modern feel to it — I LOVE what I like to call a Clean Vintage look!!!  Hope the class participants like it, too!!!  Oh, one other thing — since making this sample, I received the Scallop Heart Nestabilities by Spellbinders, so rather than being framed in plain back, we’ll have a scalloped black border around our heart — how fun!!!!

So, that takes care of Friday for me at the Rubber Stampede, but there’s a LOT more in store on Saturday and Sunday — but that’ll have to be another post, another day — so please stay tuned!!! And if you are in the vicinity, or care to make the trip, I would LOVE to meet any of my Blog readers, Blogging friends and SCS friends — it would be so much fun to meet you IRL!!!

Here’s the link to all the info on the Rubber Stampede.  There are a ton of pages you can click into to see all that is offered and there is a page for accomodations as well — I’ve already got my room booked!!!  Just click here to learn more about the RUBBER STAMPEDE.

• Stamps:  Lace Heart and Damask Positive by Flourishes
• Paper:  Pretty in Pink, Basic Black, White
• Ink:  Versa Fine Onyx Black, Pretty in Pink
• Accessories:  Velvet and Dotted Sheer Ribbons from Flourishes, Tag Punch, 1/4 Hole Punch, Corsage Pin and Bead, Pop Dots, Mounting Tape 

Thanks so much for stopping in — I truly appreciate it.

Remember, I still have an active post for some awesome blog candy sign-ups.  Click here to sign up if you haven’t yet — one post per person.  The drawing is Monday night, March 17 at midnight Eastern Time.  Thanks much!!!

Tomorrow afternoon the older Sunday School children (tweens and early teens) are gathering to decorate cookies and make Valentine cards to deliver to the elderly.  It was my job to come up with a card they could make.  Additionally, I’m not able to be there, so it had to be a card I could (in about 2 minutes) show and explain to a non-stamping Mom.  So, here it is:

I have everything pre-stamped and cut, so all they have to do is put them together, write their Bible verse/message on the inside and deliver them!  Many items I used on this project are retired items — what a great way to use them up!!!

I have the hearts stamped so they just need to cut them out, adhere to a pink piece and cut around it to border the heart in pink.  The 4 x 5 1/4 piece of DP is a fun sheet from the retired Petals and Paisley pack.  The sheets I used have a variety of prints on them, so it almost looks like we’ve used many papers and layered them, so that really worked out well for this super easy project.  The ribbon was wrapped around the DP panel before it was adhered to the card.  I also stamped the sentiment on the top.  Once this panel is adhered to the card, they’ll just need to attach the heart and add a little bit of the pink gingham ribbon and done!!!  I do think these will be rather cute for the children to make and deliver, especially considering how ultra easy they are!!!

The layout for this card was taken from Sarah Green’s card seen here.  Sarah is this week’s featured stamper, and oh my, what a gallery!!!  I absolutely love Sarah’s card, and my case in no way does justice to her original, but sometimes you just need to do certain things, and tonight I needed this children’s craft project, and Sarah’s wonderfully simple layout surely fit the bill!!!

• Stamps:  Always, Warmest Regards - retired
• Paper:  SU Old Olive.  Office Max Pink.  PTI White.  Petals and Paisley DP by SU - retired.
• Ink:  Versa Fine Onxy Black. Rose Romance - SU retired.
• Accessories:  Ribbons

That’s it for this project.  My tomorrow’s upload will be something along the *pretty* lines, featuring a new release from Flourishes — you surely won’t want to miss it, especially if you like *pretty*.  Thanks much for stopping in!!! Truly appreciate it!!!

Here’s a card I did this morning for the Sketch Challenge at SCS - a really great and simple sketch — just my style — LOL!!!  In all honesty, I DO love this card, and it was SO INCREDIBLY SIMPLE to make.  I think this would make a gorgeous wedding card, done in either the bridal party colors or in all whites/ivory –oooohhh, I want to try!!!  Again, this card is a true testimony to what I always say - if you USE pretty things, you don’t have to DO much — so, so true!!!   Here it is:

OK, the white background panel is stamped repeatedly with one small stamp from Flourished Elements by Flourishes, then narrowly framed in black.  The heart is embossed in pink and cut out, then mounted on pink paper and then cut out again to frame the heart in pink.  That is my beloved Lace Heart by Flourishes.  I added the band across the front to comply with the sketch, wrapped it with black organdy, attached a flower from the Pretties Kit right to the heart with the clear rhinestone brad, stuck in my pin (these are all items from the Pretties Kit by SU), attached it all to the card with Pop Dots and I was done!!!  The middle layer of the flower is dyed (colored) with the pink marker — they color up so quickly and easily and are instantly dry (no wait time) – they just absorb the ink and instantly look great!!!  I do want to try this in shades of whites/ivorys for a wedding card - I think it would be awesome!!

• Stamps:  Lace Heart and Flourished Elements by Flourishes
• Paper:  Pretty in Pink, Black, White
• Ink:  Pretty in Pink, Versa Mark
• Accessories:  Black Organdy, Pretties Kit by SU, Pop Dots, Pink EP (retired SU), Sponge

Thanks for stopping in!!!  See you later!!! I still have lots to do this week!!!

When I think of a Valentine, I naturally think in the realm of something nostaligic, vintage, old and pretty.  Well, not today!  I needed a third quick and simple card for my Hostess Club tomorrow.  They loved the pocket hearts done last week for an SCS challenge, so I went with that idea, but *modernized* this pocket heart when compared to this one I did last week.  Here’s my modern version:

Simple and quick.  The card is white, stamped with the Tres Chic background stamp in black.  The heart template found here was traced onto red cardstock, cut out and scored where indicated to make the folds.  The cut out heart was stamped in red ink with the Sanded background stamp on both sides (necessary because the pocket that shows is the back side of the heart cutout).  Edges were sponged just to finish them off a bit and 2 black brads were inserted to keep the closure together.  Attaching the heart pocket to the card and adding the ribbon finishes it off!!!  For inserts for the pocket I just stamped the heart from Always two times and cut out.  They are loose in the pocket.  I’ll let each girl make as many hearts as she wants for the pocket.  Thought this would be a nice card for DH and/or Dad and everyone in the family could have their own heart in the pocket to sign and/or write a little mesage on.

That’s it for tonight!!!  Thanks so much for stopping in!!!  Have a great day!!!  Oh, and thank you all, too, for letting me know you are receiving the Feedblitz notifications.  I truly appreciate it!!!  Thanks much!!!

This card was made for Sunday’s Featured Stamper Challenge at SCS, Kathyc.  I’m a day late, but that’s OK.  I have always loved Kathy’s work — what a great featured stamper!!!  Here is her gallery.  And here is her card that I chose to case.  Here’s my card: Continue Reading »

Today’s Try a New Technique Challenge at SCS was to do a pocket heart — they provided a template and you can get it by clicking here.  The moment I saw that template, I just KNEW it would be the right size and shape to house my beloved Lace Heart by Flourishes.  And, YES, BINGO — A PERFECT FIT!!!  What are the chances!!!  And although I do not have the Heart Nestabilities by Spellbinders, I am told this heart is also a perfect fit there — how fun!!!  Here’s my pocket heart, so fun and easy to do:

The style of this card goes right back to the roots of why I wanted to stamp in the first place.  This is the style that first captured my heart.  I have learned to truly enjoy and love many, many styles over the years, but still, a card like this just speaks to my heart!

I traced and cut my heart template on a piece of Prismatics Suede Brown Medium by Prism Paper  (just love the texture to that paper!).  I then scored on the lines marked as such.   I used SU’s retired French Script with ColorBox Fluid Chalk Ink in Dark Brown to stamp the overall script on the exposed portions of the heart pocket.  I edged the heart DTP (direct to paper) with another ColorBox Fluid Chalk Ink in Peach Pastel.  I then edged again, just the very edges, with the Dark Brown.  My Lace Heart by Flourishes was stamped with the above Dark Brown ink onto SU’s Blush Blossom cardstock and cut out. It is mounted onto the brown pocket heart with Dimensionals.  A Vanilla Taffeta bow was adhered with a Mini Glue Dot, as were the half pearls from the Pretties Kit.  The pin, also from the Pretties Kit, worked it’s way between the two hearts.  The highly embossed DP is called English Floral Embossed by K and Co. from Michaels (just love it!!!).  The pink organdy is Offray and the Taffeta is Vanilla by SU.

• Stamps:  Lace Heart by Flourishes; retired French Script by SU
• Paper:  SU:  Blush Blossom; Prism Papers:  Prismatics Suede Dark Brown.  DP:  English Floral Embossed by K and Co.
• Ink:  ColorBox Fluid Chalk Ink in Dark Brown and Peach Pastel.
• Accessories:  Heart Template, Ribbons, Pretties Kit, Dimensionals, Mini Glue Dots.

That’s it for right now!!!  Fun, fun project — try this pocket heart –you’ll love it, too!!!  As always, I appreciate you stopping in!!!  Have a great day!!!

This is a card I did with one of my most very favorite stamps — Lace Heart by Flourishes. I just can’t get enough of this heart.  I know I’ll be using this heart over and over again for years to come, especially on wedding cards.  I love having a go-to stamp that I KNOW will always work for me when I need something specific. 

This was really a rather quick and simple card to make.  The black card base is 5.5″ square, my favorite size.  I use 6″ envelopes that I get from Action Envelopes.  My heart is stamped with Versa Mark onto black cardstock and embossed in white, then cut out.  The Love is black embossed.  The white heart panel (5 1/4 x 4) is run through the Cuttlebug with the hearts embossing folder.  The border of white flowers are rubbed on with SU’s new Eastern Elegance rub-ons.  Love them!!! They are so crisp in black and white!!!  Black organdy ribbon is wrapped around the entire card front and both images are up on mounting tape.

• Stamps:  Lace Heart by Flourishes
• Paper:  Basic Black, Whisper White
• Ink:  Versa Mark
• Accessories:  Black and White Embossing Powder, Eastern Elegance Rub-ons by SU, Black Organdy Ribbon, Cuttlebug and Hearts Embossing Folder, Ticket Corner Punch

Things I never tell you:  Not intentionally, I just never think of it!

1. I get a lot of questions about not only tying ribbon, but also how I wrap the ribbon around the card.  Well, there is often confusion about this simple issue because 99% of all cards I make are top fold, and people often assume they are side fold.  Sometimes the angle of my photo will clearly show it is a top  fold, but sometimes not, and I have been negligent in not pointing that out in each upload.  Sorry about that.  Just keep in mind most of my cards are top fold, and that should clear up most questions on ribbon wrapping.
2. I use the Scor-Pal on EVERY SINGLE card I make, but I never remember to mention it — kind of like a paper cutter — we don’t mention paper cutters, but we all use them on everything!  Even if my card or project has no obvious scoring on it, I score the fold on every card with it — can’t imagine being without it once having it!!!
3. On the issue of unanswered questions.  I am sorry.  I get a lot of email questions every day on my Blogs posts.  I honestly do try to answer them all, but in reality, it is just about impossible to keep up.  I am WAY behind right now.  I do value your questions, because when I see the same one coming in repeatedly, then I know I have failed in writing an adquate and complete post on my project.  I then go back and edit my post so future readers might *get it* with the added information.  Thank you for alerting me to those situations.  And often times, a thorough reading of the original post may answer your question.  Like I said, I am way behind right now, so if you’ve had a question I haven’t responded to and if it’s important that you receive an answer, please email me again and I’ll try to do better about keeping up, but I need a fresh starting point — sorry, but I just wanted to explain and not have so many of you think I’m just ignoring your letters.  I truly appreciate you all!!!

That’s it for now.  I’ll be posting my Friday Stamp Simply Challenge in the morning, so hope some of you can play again.  Last week’s Long and Low Challenge had the most participants EVER — thank you all so much — and if you haven’t checked out the entries, click here – these cards are SO FABULOUS, and I LOVE the long and low orientation.  THANK YOU ALL for giving me so many more and good ideas!!!  See you later!!!

Well, I’m all set for my 1st workshop for 2008 so I thought I’d show you what I have planned.  The 3 cards above, made with the Cuttlebug and Scor-Pal, will be part of the Hostess Gift for my hostess.  Now, I can just see some of you SU demos shaking your heads, wondering why I am featuring something with the Cuttlebug and Scor-Pal.  Well, let me explain.  I always try to personalize my Hostess Gifts, making something for the hostess that I know (hope, anyway) that she will enjoy.  This hostess has a Cuttlebug, which she rarely uses — as is the case with many of my other customers who will be attending.  I want them to use and enjoy the fun things that they have.  By showing them these quick and simple cards, I’m hoping they will feel inspired to create themselves and use their tools and other supplies.  And I know this hostess appreciates receiving ready made cards, so I hope she likes these!!!

Again, these are what I’m calling my Cuttle-Pal cards — SO quick and easy. For this set I used the full size hearts folder.  I inserted only 2″ of the paper into the folder and ran it though the Cuttlebug like that.  Then flip it over, wrong side up, lay it on your Scor-Pal with the embossed edge on the 2″ mark, and score at 4 1/4 and 4 1/2.  When you flip it over it should look like the cards above.  So quick and easy!!!  The oval tags are just adhered with Dimensionals.  Words are from Warm Words.  Paper and ribbon is Regal Rose. (I’ve edited this post to add a photo on how to put the paper in the Cuttlebug — see end of post)

This is a little candy treat bag I also made for my hostess, filled with Valentine M & M’s.  Again, I used the Cuttlebug to create the embossed hearts so it would coordinate with the set of cards.  To create the topper I first stapled the Regal Rose piece to the bag to keep everything together.  My white piece, which is folded on top, is the same on the back as on the front.  I kept it folded before inserting it into the embossing folder, so it embossed both the back and front at the same time. Now normally when you do this, the front is EMbossed and the back is DEbossed.  However, with THIS folder, both sides came the same.  When you study the design, you will see that the alternating hearts are embossed and debossed (one raised up, one sunk in), so the back side is never *wrong*, so to speak — I don’t know if I’m explaining this right — hope you get what I mean!  The *thanks* is from Much Appreciated. Again, Regal Rose ribbon.

These are the 2 cards we’ll be doing at the workshop, and I’m not going into great detail on either as they are very similar to other recent uploads I have done here.   The elephant card (Happy Heart Day) is pretty much the same as a recent upload, I just cut a few corners to make it easier for a workshop.  There is no scallop border on the green strip, the background covers most of the card, allowing me to wrap my ribbon behind this panel, rather than wrap it around the entire card as on the previous upload seen here.  And this card has a Celery base, which I like better than the previous card.

The baby boy card (Nursery Necessities) is kind of a masculine remake of this card previously done in pinks, but incorporating aspects of this card and this card.

(I’m editing this post to include the above photo as it was apparently unclear what I meant when I said to insert only 2″ of paper into the folder — can you see now?  2″ on the right side of your paper is inserted into the folder, and run through the Cuttlebug like this.  Hope this clears it up!)

Well, I guess that’s it!!  I’m looking forward to my first workshop with the new catalog!!!  Hope everyone enjoys it!!!  And THANK YOU so much for stopping in here — I truly do apprecite it!!! Thanks everyone!!!

Challenge #16 - Keyword ssnotime16 - There is no time limit. You can play this challenge and upload your project at Splitcoast and/or your Blog, anytime at all!  You can play as many times as you like!!!  The point is to keep it simple, quick and have fun!!!  Please link back here.

Today’s challenge is to make a card that is *long and low* — and by that I mean a card such as one to fit a standard business sized envelope, SU’s open end envelopes, or anything along those lines.  DO NOT orient the card vertically — I DO NOT want a tall and skinny card, I want a *long and low* card — OK?  I love the long and lean shape of this type card, and I especially love them done *long and low*, so thought you might like to try one just for fun!!!  That’s it,  no other rules or regulations — just have fun!!!  But remember, the theme of my challenges in general is to *stamp simply*, so let’s just keep that in mind!

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 I 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.

Here is my sample, done with Happy Heart Day, a new set by SU.  This is made to fit the small open end envelopes that SU sells.  The card is 3 1/4 x 6 1/2, so just start with a piece of paper 6 1/2″ square and score it in  half, at 3 1/4″, and it’s the perfect size for this envelope.  The paper and ribbon I used is Pretty in Pink, and I’m a bit disappointed with the photo as the pinks are looking too bright but they truly are Pretty in Pink.

My main image panel is merely stamped with the butterfly stamp repeatedly and then colored in with pad ink and a blender pen.  The little body is done with the fine tip of the black marker.  The panel is narrowly matted in black.  The butterflies are highlighted with Dazzling Diamonds, as are the hearts on the tag.  The large heart popped up on the tag is merely 1/2 of the butterfly — see how the butterfly is nothing more than 2 hearts?  Just stamp it on a small piece of white, color and cut out — quick!  I did my favorite little tag treatment — using both of the tag punches, punching a slot with the horizontal slot punch and then running a word window tab through the the slot.  There is a silver brad through the tab, but I don’t think it is showing.  The tag is up on a dimensional.

I love the striking color combo of Pretty in Pink and Black, and it does look very lovely and soft IRL, which is lost in the photo with that bright pink — sorry.

Can you keep a secret?  I used all SU product on here as it is being used for a class sample, but I have ribbon that would have gone SO WELL with this delicate pink butterfly print — and I’m sure a ton of you have the same ribbon at home — the sheer black organdy with white dots — you know what I mean!  It looks FABULOUS up against this print — the sheer ribbon is light and flightly, like a butterfly — try it!!!!  You’ll like it!!!

• Stamps:  Happy Heart Day
• Paper:  Basic Black, Pretty in Pink, Whisper White
• Ink:  Black Stazon, Pretty in Pink, Black marker.
• Accessories:  Pink Taffeta Ribbon, Blender Pen, Glue Stick, Dazzling Diamonds, Silver Brad, Dimensionals, Punches:  Small and Large Tag, Word Window, Horizontal Slot.

Thanks so much for looking — hope you can play along if you are so inclined!  Have a wonderful weekend!!! And my next project will still be using Happy Heart Day – I have a couple little things I want to do yet — maybe later today!!!

Oh, thanks to all who have purchased my used stamps.  I still have some left, so feel free to click on the For Sale tab up on top of the page — thanks!

I made this card for the Sketch Challenge at SCS today.  It uses both Happy Heart Day and the Regal Rose Ribbon included in SU’s Bundle Special.  Although this is thought of as a Valentine Set, I intentionally did NOT make this card a Valentine — it is a thank you note.  I think it is important to point out that this set has a greater longevity than February 14.  Only 2 of the stamps in the set refer to Valentine’s Day.  I see this set as very usable for children’s cards and thank you cards throughout the year!

My elephant is paper pieced with Rose Red Prints DP — fun!!!  And can you see her toenails and fingernails are painted with a White Gel Pen?   The other images are colored with a Blender Pen and pad ink.  The heart on top of the trunk has Dazzling Diamonds.  The green *grass* is Certainly Celery Prints DP with a scallop top I made using the Corner Rounder with the guard removed.  The background dotted DP is a sheet from the new Bali Breeze DP pack.  The scallop is mounted on a dimensional.  The *thank you* was stamped in 2 steps using the Stamp-a-ma-jig.  Fun, fun set to play with!!!

• Stamps:  Happy Heart Day
• Paper:  Rose Red, Certainly Celery, Basic Black, Whisper White, Rose Red and Certainly Celery Prints DP, Bali Breeze DP
• Ink:  Black Stazon, Certainly Celery, Pretty in Pink.  Signo White Gel Pen.
• Accessories:  Blender Pen, Ribbon, Glue Pen, Dazzling Diamonds, SAMJ, Crafter’s Tool Kit, Dimensional.  Punches:  1 1/4, 1 3/8, Scallop, Corner Rounder.

Thanks much for looking!!!  I’ll still be making more samples with this set over the next couple days.  I’d like to do a treat bag and some different sized cards as well.  My post previous to this was a Boy Valentine with this set.

STAMPS FOR SALE:  Please note I have some used stamps for sale — click on my For Sale tab at the top of the page!!!