No Time To Stamp?

ABC/123– Today’s challenge has to do with making letters or numbers a focal point of our project.  Steve and I are celebrating our 25th Anniversary this week, so visions of cards in a store display with 25 or 50 on them came to mind — LOL!!!  However, we have lots of options using numbers or letters as a focal point — my first thoughts go to birthday cards or monogrammed projects — the range is wide open — so have some fun getting elementary with your ABC’s and 123’s!!! 

Keyword ssnotime107 - 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.

Today begins a brand new month, so that means we have to sadly bid farewell to Charlene.  THANK YOU so much for having played with us this past month, Charlene — we loved  your work and fun spirit and hope you continue to play with us as time permits!!!  We’ll miss you!!!

And I’m thrilled to pieces to announce October’s New Guest Designer – a friend I met several years ago over at SCS, and from my neighboring State of Wisconsin — please welcome Amy Rohl, a/k/a rohla at SCS and by her Blog, Ink About Me.  I’ve always loved Amy’s clean designs and can’t WAIT to see what she does for us here.  Welcome, Amy!!!

Check out the great samples for the Stamp Simply Challenge today on the blogs of these fabulous designers:

• Amy, October Guest Designer (Amy’s upload will be early Friday morning)
• Janine 
• Jennifer 
• Julie 
• AJ
• Tammy 
• Deb
• Barbara
• Jenny

Please bear with us all as we each upload and link on Thursday night.  Everyone should be up and set by Friday morning.

You may see all SCS Gallery Submissions here.

And here’s what I created for today:

A simply stamped monogrammed wedding card.  Not a lot of explaining needed — Bella Bleu SU DP with Very Vanilla and Kraft cardstock,  Taupe 100% Silk Ribbon (shirred in the center under monogram just by tying tightly with a 1/4″ piece of like ribbon), Damask Monogram Kit used for monogram that I chose to cut into a rectangular shape today rather than the traditional circle (this particular border lends itself very well to a rectangular shape), accented with Pearls.

Can you see the subtle pearly shimmer on the embossed upper portion? That is quickly done using Perfect Pearls — run over embossed image with Perfect Medium, brush with Pearl colored Perfect Pearls, wipe off excess with Swiffer cloth (YES, what you use for dusting).  Done!  Gorgeous effect!

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The Stamp Simply Ribbon Store carries the following items used on this card:

Damask Monogram Kit by JustRite

100% Silk Ribbon by May Arts

Perfect Pearls by Ranger, Kaiser Pearls (not shown, but I have them), Versa Fine Vintage Sepia Ink, Scor-It

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As always, thank you SO much for stopping in — I truly do appreciate it.  Hope you are all off to a wonderful weekend ahead!!!  I’m going shopping, so that’s always fun!!!  See you soon!

I have a bridal shower to attend in about 2 weeks, but no stamps specific to a bridal shower.  Soooooo — I figured with all the cute new images out by JustRite Stampers and their variety of sentiments that I could figure something out — and I did!!!  Versatility, compatibility — aren’t those words we think of with the JustRite products?  Well, I used an interesting combo today to make my Bridal Shower card — take a look:

Are you putting the pieces together to see what I did?  Well, I’ll show you in a minute, but first let me just say I used the Textured Cardstock by SU (love it!) and my White 100% Silk Ribbon by May Arts, the bow being made on the Bow Easy.  See this post  for how I did the ribbon treatment.  And my corner rounder is by SU as well.

My Congratulations border is from Celebrations Demi Phrases, used on the 1 3/4 x  2 5/16″ Oval Stamper.  My cake is from Friendship Set, but that cake is a birthday cake with candles.  I just stamped the cake as is, colored with Copics, then cut it out, cutting off the candles and the cake stand.  I also used a Signo White Gel Pen and tiny Kaiser Pearls on my cake, and it is mounted on SU Dimensionals.  The oval dies are the CLASSIC Oval Nestabilities by Spellbinders.  There isn’t much to this card — just simple and pretty — and sometimes that’s enough!

Here’s a visual for you of  the Friendship Set. It is made to work with the 3 1/4″ Round Wood Stamper.  LOVE this set — it has SO many possibilities for year round fun!  And check the photo below for a closeup to see how I’ve cut out my cake image.

Cutting the image to get rid of the excess rubber allows you to easily stamp the image alone without any unsightly ink marks from ink that has accidentally collected on the excess rubber.  It’s simple and only takes a minute — I do it all the time!  And see how the Congratulations from Celebrations Demi Phrases fits onto the 1 3/4 x 2 5/16″ Oval Stamper?  Sweet, isn’t it!  All the Demi Phrases can take on many sizes/shapes, making them valuable additions to your JustRite collection.

And here are all the Celebrations Demi Phrases, 15 in all .  The packaging says they are for the 2″ Round Stamper, and they are, BUT they also fit the 1 5/8″ Round, 2 3/8″ Round, and the 1 3/4″ x 2 5/16″ Oval.  Versatility PLUS!!!  You can also use your JustRite 15 pt font to complete the phrases on the lower 1/2 of the oval or circle, but today I needed the room for my cake, and Congratulations was appropriate in and of itself.

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Stamps:  Friendship Set, Celebrations Demi Phrases Set, used on the 3 1/4″ Round Wood Stamper and the 1 3/4 x 2 5/16″ Oval Wood Stamper, all by JustRite Stampers

Paper:  PTI White, SU Pretty in Pink Textured

Ink:   Memento Tuxedo Black for Image; VersaFine Onyx Black for Sentiment; Copics to color.

Accessories:  May Arts Silk Ribbon, Bow Easy, Spellbinders Classic Oval Nestabilities, Signo White Gel Pen, Kaiser Pearls, SU Dimensionals, SU Corner Rounder, Scor-It

Shopping:

JustRite Stampers for their entire line of JustRite products.  And visit the JustRite Blog for more inspiration.

Stamp Simply Ribbon Store carries the following products used on today’s project:

Friendship Set, 3 1/4″ Round Wood Stamper, Celebrations Demi Phrases, 1 3/4″ x 2 5/16″ Oval Wood Stamper, all by JustRite Stampers

1.25″ and 1/4″ 100% Silk Ribbon by May Arts along with the Bow Easy

VersaFine Onyx Black Ink

Classic Oval Nestabilities by Spellbinders

Scor-It Score Board

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Thank you so much for stopping in again today — I truly do appreciate your visits so very much!  Hope you had a wonderful weekend and that your week is off to a great start!  See you real soon!!!

We’ve received an unusual number of wedding invitations this summer, far more than normal.  But I guess it’s just the cycle.  25 years ago (in October) we got married, and though we were a bit older than most to be newly married, we shared those years of baby showers, birthing stories and years of birthday parties with all of our friends — gazillions of birthday parties.  They soon turned into graduation parties that seem to have lasted for years.  And now — weddings.  And though I am so happy for each and every couple we have, or will, celebrate with this summer, it saddens my heart and brings a tear to my eye.  Where HAVE those years gone?  We were once the brides and grooms, the young parents, the ones running PTA and bake sales and coaching Little League, encouraging our youngsters to read those 100 books for the year-end T-shirt, and on, and on, and on.  And now we’re going to weddings, to their weddings — our neighbor girl, our best friends sons, nieces and nephews.  The cycle has come full circle, and now we can sit back and watch it start all over again, praying to God that he’ll Bless this generation as much as he has ours.  And my tears turn to a smile — because that’s just the way it is –

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And now, with a dry eye, let’s take a look at the formal wedding card I made for this weekend’s wedding, along with a photo tutorial for my fun and flirty bow.  Here’s the card:

As expected, a simple card — black and white, Cuttlebug embossing, single initial monogram for the newlyweds and my fun and flirty black silk ribbon treatment.  I’ve received a lot of emails asking how I do this.  I have explained it previously, but never with photos, so this time I’ll try adding photos and see if that helps. It’s really so easy:

These are the pieces I start with:  a black top fold card, my white panel and my monogram.

Photo 1 - Using a good heavy double sided tape, adhere the ribbon on the card front so it will be UNDER the monogram.

Photo 2 - Run the ribbon up the card front and secure on card back with the same type of tape.

Photo 1 - Going back to the card front, adhere your monogram using SU Dimensionals

Photo 2 - Using a 1/4″ width of matching silk ribbon, run it UNDER the wide ribbon, as shown.

Photo 1 - It’s hard to see as the ribbon is so black, but I just drew the ribbon tails up and tied into a tight knot, then cutting my ends short and turning that ribbon so the tails end up UNDER the wide ribbon.  It helps to use tweezers to do this.

Photo 2 — Make a bow on the Bow Easy

Note:  If you are good at bow tying - you can skip the narrow ribbon and the Bow Easy — just run another length of wide silk under the wide silk strip attached to the card, draw up your tails and tie your bow.

And here’s another look at the final result.  My bow is glued on with Aleene’s Fast Grab Tacky Glue (very cheap/Wal-Mart). I added clear rhinestones to the Damask monogram image.   A quick and simple card with a bit of a formal look!

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The following items to make this card are available in the Stamp Simply Ribbon Store:

Damask Monogram Kit with Special Occasions Font from the Special Occasions Monogram Kit, OR Special Occasions Kit with the Damask 1-Letter Borders, all by JustRite

Black Silk Ribbon in 1.25″ and 1/4″ widths by May Arts with the Bow Easy

Versa Fine Onyx Black Ink

Petite Circle Nestabilities by Spellbinders

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Thanks much for checking in again today — I do so appreciate it!   Wishing you all a wonderful week — we certainly do have the feel of autumn in the air already — ready or not — it is ALMOST here!!!  See you soon!!!

Keyword ssnotime95 - 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.

Let the Sparks Fly!- I know the 4th is over, but fireworks are a big deal around here and the sparks are still flying!  So let’s make some sparks of our own today — or at least *sparkles* — today let us use glitter, generous amounts of glitter (if you like) so our creations sparkle away and catch the eye.  Let’s create our own fireworks here in blogland!  Have fun getting sparkly!!!  (If you are not a glitter user, then just make sure you add some sparkly feature to your project!)

Check out the great samples for the Stamp Simply Challenge today on the blogs of these designers:

• Rose Ann, July Guest Designer
• Janine
• Jennifer - is taking the night off!
• Julie - is taking the night off!
• AJ
• Tammy
• Deb
• Barbara
• Jenny

Please bear with us as we are all uploading and linking on Thursday night. Everyone should be uploaded by Friday morning.

You can see all Gallery Submissions here. Thanks, girls!

And here is my sparkly creation for this week (all product links will be at the very bottom of  this post):

For today’s challenge I kept it simple by using glittered paper, Blue Awning by K & Co,  glittered chipboard to match, and I *stamped simply* by creating a monogram.  This paper and chipboard are both highly sparkly IRL, but it is lost in the photo — so sorry!

This is a wedding card I’ll need for August with the monogram of the newly married couple.  When monogramming for a couple, the woman’s initial is first, or on the left (Anna), the man’s (Eric) initial is on the right, and their last name is large and in the center.  How FUN for a newly married couple to receive what might be their very FIRST monogram!  I also made an envelope to match, which is seen beneath the card, which I’ll show you how to do in a bit.

First I just want to take a minute to talk about JustRite product — monograms specifically.  I LOVE monograms.  Monograms are what first drew me to JustRite and as much new and fun product as JustRite has come out with of recent, the simple monograms still lay near and dear to my heart as being an all time favorite.  I made today’s monogram using the  Special Occasions Monogram Kit.  That kit contains the 1 5/8″ Wood Stamper, 3 borders, 3 centers, and 3 sets of Special Occaisons Font in 2 sizes.  However, what I really love about the JustRite product is that it is all so interchangeable.  Take a look at the closeup of my monogram:

Today I chose not to use the borders on my stamper as I wanted to use the chipboard border that coordinated with my paper.   So I very easily stamped out my initials and built my monogram layers with paper and chipboard.  As long as you have ANY Font Set by JustRite and a Wooden Stamper to snap the letters into, you could do the same thing.  I love the complete Monogram Kits in the boxes, an all-in-one-package, but just because you may not have a kit, don’t feel you can’t make pretty monograms!  Personally, my favorite font is the elegant and pretty Special Occasions, especially for monograms, but it’s so fun to have a variety and choice to allow us to do masculine monograms, mongrams for children, whimsical monograms, etc.  Just wanted to point out that with JustRite, once you starting collecting product, it is SO interchangeable that your options are limitless.

OK, now on to how I made the envelope.  The front is shown above in the first photo.  And the back of the envie has a monogram to seal it closed — take a look:

Good gracious, but I’m having fun making these envelopes. Truly, they just take a minute or two, and I KNOW that is hard to believe, but it’s TRUE!  I’m using the Envelope-It template by Scor-It and all you need is a sheet of paper that is at least 9.25″ x 7.25″ and you can create an envie — how fun!  That’s smaller than a standard 8.5 x 11″ sheet of cardstock.  Here’s the template:

The template is made of aluminum, so it’s going to last!  The instructions are printed right on it, so they won’t get lost.  It even shows you were to put the glue — a foolproof template, for sure!  It has tiny legs you can adhere if you like, and I did.  I do like it raised up just a bit.  You can do this in either of two ways.  Working on a cutting mat, you could cut around the template with a hobby blade and be done!  I’m not real great with knives, so I prefer to trace around it with a pencil and then cut on my pencil line with scissors.  It just takes a minute.  The large hole in the center is a GREAT idea.  It is so you can SEE the design on your paper and you can place the template so that the design you want gets properly centered on the envelope front — BRILLIANT THINKING!!!

Photo 1:  Once your envelope is cut, lay it on your 12″ (full-sized) Scor-It board UPSIDE DOWN, and score all 4 lines from point to point, as shown on the template.  Very easy and quick.  It all lines up very quickly.

Photo 2:  Once scored I have turned my envelope to the right side for you to see.  You can see the pattern on the paper is nicely placed on the envelope front and the tabs and flaps are ready to be folded and glue applied.  VERY SIMPLE.

Once again, here’s the envelope back with the monogram used as a seal.  You will also note I DTP’d all the envie edges to give them a more finished look.

And again the completed project and the envelope front — you can see how I’ve used another piece of coordinating chipboard on the envie front. ALL super easy and quick to do — from monogram to envelope — but making a GREAT presentation!

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Stamps:  Special Occasions Monogram Kit by JustRite

Paper:  PTI Vintage Cream, Blue Awning by K & Co. (Michaels)

Ink:  ColorBox Chalk Inks in Creamy Brown and Blue Iris

Accessories:  1.25″ Silk Ribbon, K & Co. Adhesive Chipboard (Michaels), Petite Circle Nestabilities by Spellbinders, SU Corner Rounder and Dimensionals, Glue Glider, Scor-It 12″ Score Board, Envelope-It Template

Shopping:

JustRite Stampers for the Special Occasions Monogram Kit and other JustRite Font and Wood Stampers

Stamp Simply Ribbon Store for the May Arts Silk Ribbon, Envelope-It Template and Scor-It Score Boards.

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Check out these MASCULINE MONOGRAM projects uploaded tonight by Kellie — I think you’ll like them — and they surely show the versatility of the JustRite product!

So glad you stopped in again to see what we’re up to!  Please be sure to click all the DT links above to see their great takes on this fun challenge.  And hoping you can play with us this week if you’re inclined and able!!!  Wishing you all a wonderful, fun and safe summer weekend!!!  I’ll be back soon - thanks much for stopping!

I just received some gorgeous 100% Silk May Arts ribbon in 10 colors and 2 widths to add to My Ribbon Saleup above my blog banner — it’s soooo pretty!!! I also got 10 new colors of 1″ Sheer to sell by the roll. Check it out if you want to see some pretty ribbon!!!

Now on to my card. Today was a good mail day, if you know what I mean! I got many new things today and I played with severalon this simple wedding card. First of all, I HAD to try out my new Silk Ribbon, so I decided to make a wedding card and use black 1.5″ wide Silk — totally gorgeous stuff!!! Here’s my card:

I just got this beautiful wedding set by Inka, my swag on top is my new die cut by Spellbinders, and of course my black Silk Ribbonis new. That simple band of silk adds SUCH elegance to this card IRL — totally gorgeous!!! This was a quick and simple card, pretty muchCAS in my opinion. I love this bride/groom image. I apologize that the glue from my glue pen is showing through the Dazzling Diamonds in this photo. It does NOT show up one bit IRL — gosh, I wish I knew how to handle these situations with my camera — but I don’t, so we live with the blue - so sorry!!! It’s a lovely image that sparkles beautifully IRL!

Since my card base was black I had to do something to lighten up the inside. I used DP from SU and one of the sentiments from the same Inka wedding set. My new Arched Lattice Punch by Martha was new as of today, too! I love it and you’ll probably get tired of seeing me use itin a few days or weeks — LOL!!! I wrapped some 1/4″ Silk Ribbon around the bottom. I just wish you could see and touch these Silk Ribbons — they feel like nothing else, believe me! A true pleasure — and you can see all the colors at My Ribbon Sale.

Stamps: Wedding by Inkadinkado

Paper: White, Black, Pink Pirouette, Bella Birds DP by SU

Ink: Versa Fine Onyx Black

Accessories: 100% Silk Ribbon by May Arts, Flourish Accent Shapeabilities and Long Rectangle Nestabilities by Spellbinders, Arch Lattice Punch by Martha Stewart, Corner Rounder by SU, Kaiser Pearls, Quickie Glue Pen, SU Dazzling Diamonds, Glue Glider, Xyron X, SU Dimensionals.

Shopping:

Joan’s Garden carries the products used by Inkadinkado, Spellbinders, Kaiser, Martha Stewart, Versa Fine, Glue Glider.

My Ribbon Saleabove my blog header has the May Arts 100% Silk Ribbon, plus lots more.

I don’t post too often on a Friday night, so if you happen to stop in and see this — I thank you!!! Hope you have a wonderful weekend to look forward to!!! We have winter again, snow coming down — oh, how I wish for spring!!! LOL!!! It will come, in due time!!! Thanks much — see you soon!

Each month on the 20th the Dirty Girls issue a challenge amongst themselves. I LOVED the challenge this month, but I never got to play on time, so here’s my challenge card, 4 or 5 days late!!! Oh well, it was fun and I really wanted to do it!!! What we had to do was take one of the very first cards we ever uploaded to SCS and re-make it, showing both cards — HOW FUN!!! You can check out all the other challenge entries here. Please do, it is SO FUN to compare the cards!!!

I chose to case the VERY FIRST card I uploaded to SCS on April 20, 2006– here it is:

It’s a wedding card forournephew and his bride. It was a recycling project. I cut their names from their wedding invitation and I tore the shell motif from the invitation as well. And here’s my 2009 remake:

Somewhat different, but still a lot of similarities. I kept the neutral color scheme, the names across the bottom, one single image focal point. I changed my ribbon treatment a bit and added more embellishments — pearls, a stick pin and scallops. My original card was 5.5″ square and my new card is 5.25″ x 7.5″ I’ve really been enjoying this size of late — gives me plenty of room!

The image from Friends 24-7 is embossed with Vanilla Embossing Powder onto Kraft paper — and I am so loving my Kraft for elegant cards — LOL — surprises me as I always viewed Kraft as a country type paper!!! Used my favorite Bella Bleu DP again and I added a lot of pearls to the focal image, along with a stick pin through the bow for some wedding formality.

For this card I stamped my names using the JustRite Trompe Fonts in both Uppercase and Lowercase - 50 pt. The Lowercase Trompe Fontis just out and can bepre-ordered on the JustRite site or it can be found nowin the brick and mortar and online stores listed in this Blog post. The Trompe Font sets were used with my Harmony Rectangle Stamper — lines them up perfectly — every time!!! Personalization has NEVER been so easy!!!

Stamps: JustRite Trompe Script Uppercase Font, Trompe Script Lowercase Font, used on the Harmony Rectangle Stamper; SU Friends 24-7

Paper: SU Very Vanilla, Kraft, Bella Bleu DP

Ink: Versa Fine Vintage Sepia, Versa Mark

Accessories: By SU: Vanilla Embossing Powder, Pretties Kit, Chocolate Taffeta Ribbon. Sheer ribbon by May Arts, Martha Stewart Scallop Punch, Labels I Nestabilities by Spellbinders, Kaiser Pearls, Glue Glider, Mounting Squares.

Shopping:

Joan’s Gardencarries Nestabilities by Spellbinders, Martha Stewart Punches, Kaiser Pearls, Glue Glider and mounting squares.

My Ribbon Salehas May Arts ribbons (located in the tab above my Blog header).

Thanks much for checking in again today — truly appreciate it!!! The week is going by so quickly again — hope you are having a good one!!!

Before we start, I don’t know if anyone’s noticed my absence this week (after promising you daily uploads — so sorry!), but our household was struck with a nasty stomach flu bug. Everyone else got over itin a day or so, but I’m on day 4 and still not quite up to par. This is my first post in as many days, but I do hope to get back to normal soon!!!

Keyword ssnotime72 -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.

This weeks challenge is to create a card witha focus on LOVE. With Valentine’s Day fast approaching, I thought today our cards could focus on LOVE. Make any love themed card you’d like — it could be for Valentine’s Day or for a wedding or anniversary, or even a LOVING birthday or thinking of you card — just incorporate LOVE into your project somehow!!! No other rules, but do try to keep it simple!!! Can’t wait to see what you all do — and the most important thing is to have fun!!!

Some great samples for the Stamp Simply Challenge today can be seen on the blogs of these designers:Deb, Becky, Dee, Tammy, Janine, AJ,Julie and Jennifer. 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!!!

Since I haven’t felt up to stamping in many days, I cruised the archives of my SCS gallery to find a LOVE themed project to share with you here today. I chose this little ATC that I made in February 2007, 2 years ago (gee, where does the time go!). It was a project for my first Dirty Dozen Gallery which opened on March 15, 2007. Here it is:

As you can see, very little stamping, just the tiny little *love* from SU’s long retired Noteworthy. Otherwise, just playing with pretty things! This ATC is the traditional size, 2 x 3 . The white layer is Shimmer White. Oh, I forgot, it is stamped in Craft Very Vanilla with Stipple Rose, then clear embossed, but that isnt showing at all oh well, I know its there! That little piece of sheet music was truly a scrap of real vintage sheet music that I photocopied and then distressed. All pieces are DTPd with Creamy Caramel. SU Mini Glue Dots do an excellent job of holding the shape to the organdy ribbon.

So glad you stopped in today. Hope you can play with us and make a card with a LOVE theme!!! Hoping you all stay healthy and can avoid the bugs floating around this time of year!!! Hope to see you all real soon!

This evening I made a card for our niece’s wedding which will be next Saturday. An October wedding. Her dress is white and her bridesmaids will be wearing brown. The flowers will be in fall colors with leafy accents about, so that’s what I tried to capture. Quite honestly, these colors just were not doing it for me in terms of a wedding card,but afterI decided to add lots of glitz and sparkle, then it seemed to work, and I really do like the end result!!! Here it is:

I’ll take this layer by layer — the bottom layer is stamped with Versa Mark inSU’s background called Print Pattern, embossed with Iridescent Ice. The solidoval is my favorite piece and you can hardly see it under the flowers. It is stamped in Versa Mark and embossed with Iridescent Ice as well, using Baroque Motifs (those gorgeous swirls)! It is framed in a scalloped oval (all done with the Nestabilities). I pierced each scallop, then I kind of rolled the edges over my Versa Mark pad and embossed them with the Iridescent Ice as well. The flowers are Daisy Doodle Primas and the leaf is in a bag from Michaels. Here’s a close-up so you can see all the detail a bit better:

The new couple’s monogram was done with the Special Occasion Monogram Stamper Kit by JustRite. Monogram etiquette dictates that when you monogram the initials of a married couple, the woman’s initial is on the left, the last name is in the center, and the man’s initial is on the right. This is for Maria and Andrew W. The monogram was cut with the Nestabilites again and it is narrowly bordered with a scallop, which was also embossed as above.

There is something I want to explain to you about doing this monogram. I’ve done a lot of monograms with the JustRite products, and I’ve never encountered this before, but I’m sure it is likely to happen again, just depending on the combination of initials used. When I just put my MWA onto the stamper and stamped, it was really off balance. Check these photos to see what I mean:

See the first photo. Letters are on the stamper as usual, and look how it stamps — really off balance. I could not move the M any closer, so I tried to move the A further away, and that kind of worked in this situation as I was NOT using a ring border. If I were going to use a ring border, then it would have been off balance within the border. And if you look closely at the W, you can see the problem. It is kind of off to one side on the rubber because of the huge swirly on its upper tail (real official terms here — LOL!). Anyway, to fix the problem permanently, I just cut away the rubber on the W under that swirly, allowing me to push my M closer in to balance it all out properly.Refer tophoto 2. See hownicely itnow stamped? Easily done, problem solved. And the moral of this story is — IT IS OK TO CUT YOUR RUBBER!!!

• Stamps: Baroque Motifs and Print Pattern by SU. Special Occasions Monogram Stamper Kit by JustRite.

• Paper: PTI White, SU Chocolate Chip.

• Ink: Versa Mark, SU Chocolate Chip.

• Accessories: Petite Oval and Petite Circle Nestabilities by Spellbinders, SU Corner Rounder, Iridescent Ice Embossing Powder, Chocolate Sheer Ribbon, Daisy Doodle Primas, Leaf from Michaels, Piercer and Mat Pack, Zots, Pop Dots, Mounting Tape

And that’s it for tonight’s project!!! Nice to have my wedding card done almost a week in advance — for me, that’s REAL GOOD!!! LOL!!! Hope you are all off to a good week!!! As always, thank you so much for stopping in!!!

Oops, almost forgot — it is Monday, and that means a sale over at Joan’s Garden — she has lots of fun things, including the Monogram Kit I used today. She also has a blending tool that I’ve never seen before and it sure has peaked my interest — hhhmmm!!!

Keyword ssnotime48 -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.

We all have favorites in our OWNgalleries, right? Today we are going to go through our OWN galleries, find a card that is an absolute FAVORITE we’ve made, and re-make it. In other words, we’re going toCASE ourselves! On your re-make you can do it as close to the original as you like, or you can change it as much as you like — just be inspired by YOUR FAVORITE card!! And remember, LINK your original card so we can all see it — Fun!!! Cant wait to see what you doand, as always, try to keep it simple.Most importantly have fun!!!

Check out Julie Koerberssample here.

Check out Dee Jacksons samplehere.

Check out Jennifer Bucks sample here.

Check out Janine Orchards sample here.

Check out Tammy Hershbergers card here.

Our Stamp Simply Team is smaller today, what with vacations andallthat summer entails!!! But arent they FABULOUS!!! Thank you girls!!! Much appreciated!!!

Here’s my original card that I’m going to remake:

I made this card in April, 2007 when my Cuttlebug was still a new thing! This was my favorite embossing folder, and it still might be! It was also before I had any of the nice stick pins in the SU Pretties Kit. I used a corsage pin and flowers from Michaels. To get the sheen on the embossing I swiped it with Versa Mark and then applied Pearl Ex. A simple card, but I have always loved it. I’ve taught this card many times and made it many times for weddings. And here’s my today’s remake:

Same basic idea, just a little different. Today I used 2 different embossing folders plus I also scored in between the embossed areas, using my Mini Scor-It. The scoring is hidden under the ribbon, but it really does add a nice touch IRL. I used Martha Stewart Lace and Bird punches. The bird is covered in Dazzling Diamonds, and it does match the card IRL!!! Here’s a step-by-step on how to emboss this sheet:

1. Insert sheet intoSwiss Dots folderso only 1″ of sheet will get embossed when you run it through.Run it through and emboss.
2. Insert opposite end of same sheet into the Birds and Vine folder so that there is a 1″ blank space left between the two different types of embossing. Run it through and emboss. You should have a 1″ space that is empty/blank.
3. To score, I used the Scor-It Mini. Measuring on the ruler, score right in the center of the 1″ space. Then move out 1/4″ at a time and continue scoring until the space is filled up. You will have 5 score lines as shown.
4. Using the Martha Stewart Lace Punch, punch the bottom edge.
5. Cut a piece of colored cardstock for your mat about 1/8″wider and about 1″ longerthan the embossed sheet was before you punched the lace,then punch the lace bottom as above, then mat the embossed sheet onto this colored sheet, trimming the top so it is equally matted.
6. Adhere to card, wrap with ribbon and attach sentiment and bird.

Today’s card isjust a bit more of a modern take on the original which had a bit of a vintage feel to it. I like them both!!!

• Stamps: Many Sentiments by Flourishes
• Paper: PTI White, SU Almost Amethyst
• Ink: Lovely Lilac by SU
• Accessories: May Arts Ribbon, Cuttlebug and Embossing Folders, Scor-It Mini, Martha Stewart Lace Punch and Bird Punch, SU Large Oval Punch, Dimensionals

You can see all Gallery Submissions Here.

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

Once again, thank you so much for stopping in!!! Hope you can find time one of these days to remake one of YOUR favorites for us all to see!!! Wishing you all a wonderful weekend ahead!!!

Have any of you been playing the Dare to Get Dirty Challenges over at SCS? Well, this is my first one — Jenn Balcer’s inspiration challenge — what a gorgeous, flourished cake she chose for the inspiration piece!!! I honestly think she MUST have had Flourishes images in mind when she chose that cake — LOL!!! You can see it here.

Ok, now this is one of those cards that I really fought to get an accurate picture and just could not.The color is a bright limegreen, not this yellowish-green we are seeing, and I’m sorry but I just could not get it corrected. Also the glitter is so pretty IRL, and is coming off this awful blue here — I almost didn’t upload this, but once I made it, I am, just hanging my head in shame over this photo. It is really quite pretty, IRL — please take my word — LOL!!!

Here’s the Cake Recipe:

• Stamp 1/4 sheet of white cardstock withPalette Noir Blackink using Damask
• Cut stamped piece into 3 strips each 1.5″ high
• Cut the strips to length as follows: 3.5″, 2.5″, 1.5″
• Round top corners of strips with corner rounder
• Sponge all edges of above strips
• Adhere to base layer as shown
• Add Pearls between layers
• Trace with Quickie Glue Pen and add glitter
• Clean off Pearls with a Swiffer cloth as all the glitter will stick to them

That was easy! The cake layer was matted onto a black layer punched with a Wrought Iron Punch. And can you see the sentiment — To a Special Couple — this is a little sneak peek at one of the new centers coming out by JustRite for the Monogram Stampers you all have — it’ll fit what you have known as the C-45 and the small wooden stampers as well. The new stampers coming out have new names, but don’t let it confuse you — when I actually have them and can take pictures to show you — I’ll explain it all — but anyway, this center is one of many to come out, covering all sorts of occasions and events.

What I wanted to show you was the multi-use of these stamps. Even though this is a center made for the Monogram Stamper, which you typically see stamped with a ring around it, today I used it alone — no ring around it. I put only the center onto my wooden stamper and stamped on white cardstock. I then punched it out with my SU Designer Label Punch — talk about a perfect fit!!! It is backed in black punched with SU’s 1 3/8″ punch that so many of us have. We know all the JustRite Products work well with the Nestability Circles, but I just wanted to give you some other options, using things many of you already have at home, and oh, what a perfect fit!!! And don’t you just love the font on this — I do!!! Anyway, when I get some final product to show you, I surely will, but this worked so perfectly here today I just had to use it.

• Stamps: Damask by Flourishes, Sentiment is soon to be available by JustRite
• Paper: Black, White, Green is by Prism (my chart is missing, I think it’s in the Kiwi family)
• Ink: Palette Noir Black
• Accessories: Quickie Glue Pen, Dazzling Diamonds, Pearls, Black Sheer Ribbon, Hole Punch, Sponge, Mounting Squares, and punches by SU: Corner Rounder, Designer Label, Wrought Iron, 1 3/8″ Circle

I am hosting one of the Dare to Get Dirty Challenges today (Thursday), so be sure to check it out and play along. I think they pop up at 9:00 a.m. Pacific Time, which I think is 12:00 noon Eastern Time. It’s a fun one and, you guessed it — simple — LOL!!! Hope to see you later, playing along!!!