No Time To Stamp?

Today I made a masculine sympathy card using silk ribbon and I think it works perfectly! I combined SU’s Kraft paper with retired Soft Sky and my Taupe Silk Ribbon by May Arts is a perfect compliment and, I think, very suitable for a sympathy card for a man. Here it is:

I used 2 Verve sets, Serenity and one of the Plain Jane sentiments, and I followed the sketch for the Sketch Challenge over at SCS today. Fun one as I always love panels placed askew! See my background stamping on the Kraft? It is done with a new ink pad called Castaway — sort of a bleached effect but done with this ink pad. After stampingyou iron it with your iron and the bleachy effect occurs — fun!!! This is my first use of this pad, but I think I’m going to like it! Using 3/8″ Gingham Ribbon I made a little hanger for my sentiment panel. The 1.5″ Silk Ribbon knots so easily and if you get your tails kind of *wrong* — LOL — you can easily manipulate them with this ultra fine Silk Ribbon. And that’s a good thing!

Stamps: Serenity and Plain Jane Matthew 11:28 by Verve; retired Warmest Regards by SU

Paper: SU Kraft, retired Soft Sky, Black, White

Ink: Versa Fine Onyx Black, Castaway by Jacquard, retired SU Soft Sky

Accessories: May Arts Ribbons from the Stamp Simply Ribbon Store, Brad, Spellbinders Rectangle Nestabilities, Glue Glider, Mounting Tape

Shopping:

The Stamp Simply Ribbon Store (above my blog header) has these, as well as other, May Arts Ribbons.

Joan’s Garden has products used by Spellbinders, Glue Glider and the mounting squares, as well as this Castaway ink pad.

Thanks much for stopping in again — truly appreciate your visits! We are still battling crummy, chilly weather — not much sign of spring — but it WILL come!!! Thursday evening I will be posting our Stamp Simply Challenge for this week, and to give you a hint, let’s just say it is *appropriate* for the season and something anyone can play (with just a bit of imagination!) Hope you come back to check it out! Thanks everyone and see you soon!

Sometimes there just are no words — but I’m Praying for You is always appropriate. I made a simple card today for such a situation. I used the colors from today’s color challenge at SCS — Kiwi Kiss, Chocolate Chip and Pink Passion. Here it is:

Not much explaining needed. That beautiful paper is Eva by Basic Grey and the Pink/Brown striped ribbon is by May Arts, available in my ribbon sale at the tab above my blog header. The sentiment is punched with SU’s Word Window Punch. A clean, simple and pretty card — I like it!

Stamps: Verve Visual - Serenity

Paper: PTI Vintage Cream, SU Kiwi Kiss, Basic Grey Eva DP

Ink: Versa Fine Vintage Sepia

Accessories: May Arts Striped Ribbon, SU HPH Aged Copper, Primas, SU Word Window Punch, Martha Stewart Scallop Border Punch, Glue Glider

Note: The Basic Grey DP and Glue Glider is from Joan’s Garden.

Thanks so much for stopping in today! Truly appreciate it!!! I’ll be back soon!!! Have a great day!!!

I’ll start with the Chit Chat tonight!!

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

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

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

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

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

Stamps: Verve Visual Plain Janes, Psalm 37:4

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

Ink: Versa Fine Onyx Black

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

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

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

HAPPY VALENTINE’S DAY, EVERYONE!!!

I made this card to offer some words of encouragement to a teenage girl going through a rough time. I included scripture on a removable bookmark that she can use. I don’t often make things for young girls, so it was fun to try to choose papers and colors that would be suitable. The paper I used came from a Crate Paper pack called Twirl. Here’s my card:

The bookmark was one of the punchouts included in the paper pack and I used one of my Plain Jane scripture verses by Verve Visual to stamp onto it. I sponged the edges,backed it with a yellow sheet from the pack, applied a Pewter Jumbo Brad and ran my ribbon through and tied it off. The bookmark is attached with some removable mounting tape. It really works great for projects such as this. It holds plenty tight to keep the bookmark where it belongs on the card, but yet pulls off ever so easily when you want to. My removeable mounting tape is by Duck and I got it in the hardware section of Wal-Mart, by the light bulbs (I think).

In making this card I also played the Featured Stamper Challenge at SCS. Today’s Featured Stamper is Vicky Gould — YAY, Vicky!!! She has a ton, and I mean a TON, of work in her gallery to choose from. This is the card I chose to case. You’ll seeI followed Vicky’s exact layout, but changed all else, and substitued my bookmark for her heart.

Be still and know that I am God. Psalm 46:10. I love to use these words when someone needs encouragement.They tell us to be still — to quiet our own thoughts and worries — and to KNOW that God is God — that He is there, that He knows, that He cares for us, that He watches over us — that no matter what we are going through, He is ever with us. And in that, I can find encouragement.

Stamps: Plain Janes by Verve Visual, Psalm 46:10

Paper: PTI White, Crate Paper Twirl Collection

Ink: Versa Fine Onyx Black, SU Barely Banana

Accessories: SU Grosgrain Ribbon, May Arts Checked Ribbon, SU Pewter Brad, Hemp, SU Corner Rounder, Sponge, Glue Glider, Cropadile.

Thanks so much for stopping in today. Hope you all had a great weekend and are ready for a productive week ahead!!! We had a rather stressful week last week, and I’m really ready to get back into a more normal routine this week!!! Hope to have daily uploads each day this week!!! Hope to see you soon!!!

Since I had my velvet out yesterday, I couldn’t bear to put it away without trying to emboss on it. I had done this years ago using a rubber stamp, but the heart image I wanted to try today was an acrylic stamp, and it worked wonderfully!!! I used the Lace Heart by Flourishes and embossed it on red dressmaker velvet. Here’s my card:

Before I go any further, I want to say that this is a birthday card for my good friend, Deb, over at Dream in Color. HAPPY BIRTHDAY, DEB!!! Hope you are having a good one!!!

This is a 5.5″ square card. The background is stamped using one of the Plain Jane Christian sentiments by Verve, “Delight yourself in the Lord, and He will give you the desires of your heart.” Psalm 37:4. The white and black panel are edged in gold.

Here are the steps to embossing on velvet. You’ll need an iron, and the fewer steam holes on the bottom the better, a spritzer bottle of water, a stamp with good line images and velvet fabric. My velvet is a leftover piece so I don’t know what type of velvet it is, but it worked great!!!

1. Lay your stamp right side up on ironing board.

2. Cover your stamp with the velvet, fuzzy side down.

3. Spritz the velvet with water over the area where the stamp is.

4. With a DRY iron set to Cotton/Wool, try to place it on the velvet over the stamp with NO or as few holes as possible on the velvet/stamp. Hold firmly in place for 10 - 20 seconds. I did 20 seconds. Check to see if the velvet is dry. If still damp, hold longer. Be very careful that the velvet does not move under your iron or your image will be messed up.

5. Carefully peel the velvet off the stamp and it should look GREAT!!!

I then placed my Heart Nestability over my embossed velvet heart, taped it into place so it would not shift, and ran it through the Cuttlebug. I ran it through twice to make sure it cut and it did. This time I only had 1 little string to snip with scissors. Just as I did yesterday, I turned my heart upside down and gave it a good spray with spray glue, especially around the edges in an effort to prevent the edges from fraying. I then adhered my embossed velvet heart to my larger heart cut from Black Mirricard from Marco’s Paper. It is highly reflective and looks great against the velvet heart. I added a stick pin and adhered to my card front. A fairly easy card again!!!

I made a card with a black velvet heart yesterday, using a slightly different method that you can read about here if you like. Having fun with velvet this week!!

Stamps: Plain Jane Sentiment by Verve Visual; Lace Heart by Flourishes

Paper: PTI White; SU Black

Ink: Versa Fine Onyx Black, Gold Calligraphy Pen by Marvy Uchida

Accessories: Classic Heart Nestabilities by Spellbinders; SU Pretties Kit; Black Sheer Ribbon; Glue Dots, Glue Glider, Dimensionals, Iron, Water Spritzer, Velvet Fabric, Spray Glue

Note: Joan’s Garden has the Heart Nestabilities and theGlue Glider.

Thanks much for stopping in again today!!! Tomorrow we have our usual Stamp Simply Challenge up and I’m excited about this one. It’s one I’m going to be especially excited to see all your creations from!!! Hope you’ll have time to check in!!! As always, wishing you all a wonderful week!!!

Keyword ssnotime69 -There is no time limit. You can play this challenge and upload yourproject at Splitcoastand/or your Blog, anytime at all! You (and that means anyone and everyone, blogger or not!)can play as many times as you like!!! The point is to keep it simple, quick and have fun!!! Please link back here.

IT’S STILL WINTER — Yes, it is still the heart of winter, so let’s pull out those snowflake and snowman stamps now that they’ve had a little rest since Christmas. Make any type of card that says WINTER — and if you can do that without using a snowman or snowflake, all the better!!! Anything WINTER is what we’re after!!! Can’t wait to see what you all do — again, keeping it simple, if possible!!! Have fun!!!

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

You can see all Gallery Submissions here.

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

Heres myproject for todays challenge:

This is a petite little card measuring 3.5 x 5.25″ that I’ll use as a winter thank you note. I used my Curved Rectangle Nestabilitiesto cut the card as well as all the layers. I stamped on a few snowflakes, glittered their centers, glittered a felt snowflake and used some taffeta ribbon. Quick, easy, wintery and I like it!!! And I do find this slightly smaller than normal size very appealing. The scripture I used is one of the Plain Jane stamps from Verve. I just got 9 of them and LOVE them!!! I think it is an absolutely fabulous idea to sell the verses individually. The price is right, the verses are beautiful and I really like all the font usedas well. I am a totally happy camper with my Plain Janes!!! Can’t wait to try out more of them!

Stamps: Plain Janes by Verve Visual, Snow Flurries by SU

Paper: PTI White, SU Bashful Blue

Ink: Versa Fine Onyx Black, SU Bashful Blue

Accessories: SU: Felt Snowflake, Taffeta Ribbon, Rhinestone, Glue Pen, Dazzling Diamonds. Curved Rectangle Nestabilities by Spellbinders, Glue Runner from Joan’s Garden.

This card is also for the Divine Design Bible Verse Challenge at SCS. They started anew for 2009, but I will continue to work on my index cards for my Scripture Box as well as an occasional card, such as this. I chose Psalm 46:10, “Be Still and Know that I am God.” I thought that verse was so very appropriate for a snowy, wintery card.

Thank you so much for stopping in today. Hope you get some time to play and that you have a pleasant weekend ahead!!! I hope to really dig into my stamp room cleaning project and then get going on some Valentine projects I have in mind. I’ll be doing a Valentine series of posts, beginning next week, so hope you can check back in!