Amazing Paper Grace

I was so touched by the kind comments received while I was recuperating, you all ROCK!!  I’m making my way back, and I even have a post today, but the going is slow.  Slowly but surely I will catch up on email - I try acknowledge comments, so expect to hear from me soon.  In the meantime, my niece had a baby boy and I’m assembling things to send to her when I spied this Box in a Bag.  The Bag is all over, but I tracked down a tutorial here.  Can you say perfect?  This cute little bag ends up being the perfect size for some socks I wanted to slip in the package for the baby.  Let’s face it, any other way, they would get lost. 

I dream of being able to use Heidi Grace paper and my wish came true.  The placements turned out perfect and I had a scrap left to use on the card.  The bag calls for only part of a 12×12 sheet, but I also cut my scallops, tabs and box bottom out the same piece.  Thrifty, ain’t I?  Actually this is one of those crazy dysfunctional justifications to go on the hunt for expensive Design Paper, where I’ll only buy one piece because "look what I can do with it, DH!!"  Since I’m trying to ease back into things, I’m sure you see at least one more of these cuties.

I’ll be back later  to add my supply list.  I’m taking a day trip with my daughter to take a friend to a distant airport.  I get to rest and ride….what could be better? 

I try to post as much as possible but I don’t always make it every day.  You may have noticed no posts!!!  Yes, I was missing,(sigh)  I had a brief stay in the hospital that was quite unexpected.  I got back home tonite, but was told I have about three days of bedrest and a big "no"  to sitting at the computer desk or the craft table.   Please be patient and I will be back to posting by the beginning of next week.  In the interim, I hope you won’t feel like to you must unsubscribe; I’ve so missed blogging!

I’m gonna be on the couch reading all the craft magazines that have been stacking up in the corner and picking up all the inspiration I can get! 

Some times simple things are the order of the day.  I wanted to make a simple card and I’m falling in love again with my neglected Cuttlebug backgrounds.   This card fit the bill for me…of all the cards I’ve made since I began blogging, this one was completed the quickest.    The flowers were colored with Tombow markers and took well to the watercolor paper after I made two spritzes of a fine mister.  The sentiment was stamped with a juicy black Versacolor pigment pad. Then the embossed background was offset with a red mat just to give a little bit of definition to the card.  I hope you like it.   

Supplies:
Stamps:  Little Yellow Bicycle Delightful Collection; Hero Arts - Sentiment
Paper:  Fabriano Acquerello watercolor paper, red Bazzill
Ink:  Versacolor Black, Tombow Markers
Accessories:  Ribbon, brads, leaf pin

Woohoo, I love challenges but have not been able to participate in many.  Today I was able to work on Mojo Monday #42 - the sketch is absolutely awesome and I did not want to miss it.  Mojo Monday is hosted at Poetic Artistry and you can see more details about this weekly sketch challenge HERE.

For my card I knew that I wanted to use new K & Co paper from their Blue Awning Collection that I purchased recently.  I also purchased some chipboard elements from the same collection.  After much trial and error I finally found the element I wanted and where I wanted to place it.  I started out with a blue base that I stippled with Brushed Corduroy Distress Ink.  I cut the pieces of Blue Awning paper and stippled with Brushed Corduroy Distress Ink then glued down on a layer of chocolate card stock and popped up on the blue base.  I then stippled my chipboard element with Brushed Corduroy, glued it to a square nestie which was stippled with Brushed Corduroy, added three brads, tied on chocolate ribbon, popped it up over the card base and added my butterfly with a glue dot.  I finished up with the sentiment inked with Versacolor Black pigment ink.  Since this was the very last step, it had to be done oh so carefully — ask me how I know that.  Well…because this card was made twice.  The first time I made it to the last step and blew it.  It was still fun the second time around tho’ :)

Supplies:
Stamps:  Impression Obsession
Paper: Bazzill; K & Co. Blue Awning Collection
Ink:  Versacolor Black
Accessories:  Nesties:  K & Co Chipboard; HL Ribbon; brads; Butterfly from Michaels

Thank you so much for the fantastic comments…they bring me back to stamp another day.  Have a blessed day!

All dressed up and nowhere to go!   That was me last night….I had a card ready, a card that I actually liked and no way to get it posted.  We had severe thunderstorms so my internet was out.  Not only that, my cable TV was out too.  So much for a back up plan, hunh!?!   If I can’t get on the internet, then that’s my invitation to stretch out on the sofa and catch up on all the shows I’ve Tivo’d.  Ruh roh, nothing to do…it was a quiet night at my house.

I have a card to share today featuring another of my favorite never used stamps by Wordsworth.  I so loved the design paper that I added some round cutouts on each corner where I placed my pearls - it lets just a little bit more of the design paper show through.  The dotted green ribbon echoes the pattern of the embossed swiss dots.   I have underused my cuttlebug and I love embossing so I was sure to include it in my card.  In fact, I’ve pre-embossed most of my backgrounds so that I have them handy this week whenever inspiration strikes so expect to see more cuttlebug backgrounds this week.  I have to get it out of my system, right?

Supplies:
Stamps: Wordsworth
Inks:  SU Always Artichoke
Paper:  Bazzill; Autumn Leaves - Shangri-la; SU River Rock
Accessories:  Martha Stewart Pearls; Cuttlebug Swiss Dots Embossing Folder; EK Success Punches, Michaels Ribbon
 

Be blessed!

I hope yours was a glorious day, mine certainly was.  It was just a day that everything clicked - I got so much done around the house.  Today I got around to pulling out a new stamp set that hasn’t laid around for years and years - so I’m assuming it’s pretty current.  The stamp set I chose was a Wordsworth acrylic set - and since I’m trying to change things up a bit and work outside of my comfort zone - I picked something that definitely was not my normal style.  There was a larger sentiment in the set that I was drawn to - but for this card, I pulled together other smaller stamps from the set. I love the flower in this set…it has the outline and the solid inner shape.  Even though I seasoned the stamp, I found it didn’t take the ink as well as I wanted, so through the miracle of acrylic I was able to line it up and add a second coat of ink.  

I had fits getting a true representation of the colors on the photo above, the bottom picture is a truer reflection of the colors - an apricot design paper accented by a moss or sage green. 

Supplies:
Stamps:  Wordsworth Stamps - Friends Collection
Inks:  SU Mellow Moss, SU Elegant Eggplant, SU Lavender Lace
Paper:  Bazzill; Marcella Kay - Bungalow
Accessories:  Nestibilities, Brads, ribbon, ornare template, Martha Stewart Scallop Border Punch

Thank you so much for stopping by!  I’m so tickled to get to know some of you through your comments. Have a blessed day!

Sorry to be so brief…I only had a short time to stamp, so I pulled this together quickly.  This card is 8½ x 4 and will fit into a business sized envelope.  The top of the card was rounded with the Curvy Cutter Circle Cutting tool and was colored with Copics.

Supplies:
Stamps:  Angel - Stamp City USA; Sentiment - My Sentiments Exactly
Ink:  Black Brilliance
Paper:  Paperspectives; Bazzill
Accessories: Nestibilities; Copics; PTI Ribbon

I’m hoping for a productive week and to you, happy stamping.

As many of you know, I have a few stamps…my motto is, you can never have enough.  I buy all kinds of stamps and am a regular with Stampin Up, Close to My Heart, Papertrey and a host of others.  Well, I belong to a hostess club for Close To My Heart and this month is my month to hostess!! 

One of my best friends, Nancy, is a Close To My Heart consultant.  She is an everyday commenter on my blog (yes, she even has something nice to say about my dud cards) and if I bought stamps from her every day, I could not repay her for sticking with me and keeping my spirits soaring.   Nancy, thank you for a wonderful 8 years as one of your Rubber Ladies.

For those of you who are not familiar with Close to my Heart, their ordering system will now allow you to participate in parties online.  You can see an online catalog that you can turn page by page just like the real one HERE.   If you would like to try the CTMH products and would like to participate in my party, please leave me a comment and I’ll shoot you an email invite.  The cool thing is, that with online orders, the order will ship directly to you!!  The best thing is, this month is Stampaganza - please see the website for deets, but basically you can by two acrylic stamp set and you’ll get the third of your choice free.  Please don’t feel obligated, but if you do, Nancy will appreciate the business and I would love the credit for my party. 

Okay, this enabling message is over!! 

I will be back with a card soon, after a little bit more of cleaning and organizing!! 

Well now that I have the majority of my die cuts catalogued and where I can get to them, I’ve promised myself that I’ll use them more.  This was a simple card and I pulled the Sizzix clock to use as the cut out background for the owl.  This is my first owl by the way!!!  I always marvel at what becomes popular and "who" would have ever thought that owls would be everywhere? 

I stamped the owl with Colorbox pigment inks and chalk inks using cat eye’s sized stamps so that I could pick and omit areas I wanted to color.   Once stamped, I cut out the owl  and a background scallop with my nesties and sponged the edges of the circle with SU Close to Cocoa and SU Chocolate Chip.  The final step was to cut out the four letters of the word hoot with my die cut machine.  After gluing down three letters, I hung the H with ribbon but tacked it down with a pop dot then added three dew drops.

Supplies:
Stamps:  Owl - Inkadinako; Sentiment - Anna Griffin
Inks:  SU Close to Cocoa, SU Chocolate Chip, Colorbox Brown, Black, Colorbox Chalk Dune
Paper:  Autumn Leaves - Careful Autumn; Cosmo Cricket - Love Notes, Bazzill
Accessories:  Sizzix Clock; Ellison Go Slim Alphabet; Ribbon, Nestibilities

Have a grand day! 

I wanted to share a couple of pictures with you so that you can see one of the tasks we finished during my mothers visit.  In fact, she did quite a bit of the work.  I have quite a few of the original sizzix die cuts - you know, the bulky ones - and because I had to search through each an every one to find what I wanted to use, I rarely ventured there.  

Mom  ran each of them through  my Cuttlebug to get a sample and glued them down to paper, numbered them and filed in sheet protectors in a notebook. 

We put the corresponding number on the spine of the die so that it can be located easily.  The reference book is kept at my desk and when I need to find a particular die now, I can get to it in seconds instead of the hunting for considerably longer .

 I know this seems so simple, but I could never find the time to do it.  It was a great investment and I have many similar projects like this to tackle.  One by one,….  Part of the triumph of finishing, is getting to share.

Thanks for stopping by. 

I have wanted to use this stamp for some time, but didn’t want it to be too plain by just stamping in black.  I was pleased with the effect of the white embossing powder and it really popped after sponging on SU Close to Cocoa and Chocolate Chip.  Did you notice no DP and no Nesties on this card?  I used a script stamp for the background and added a little bit of sponging for depth and kept all the panels rectangular.  I almost decided no ribbon but at the last minute I gave in to that ribbon weakness.

Nothing complicated here, I tried to keep the layers and lines very simple.  The last embellishment (I had to think on this a little bit) was a large Prima secured with a large filigree brad with a white pearl (I colored the pearl with Copic E33). 

Supplies:
Stamps:  Script - Stampers Anonymous, Flowers - Stampington Elegant Stems, Sentiment - PSX
Paper:  Bazzill
Ink:  Sepia; SU Close to Cocoa, SU Chocolate Chip
Accessories:  White Embossing Powder, Prima Flower, Spare Parts Bradls, Spare Parts Filigree Brad, Hobby Lobby Satin Ribbon

Just as the sentiment says, I hope that wherever you find your life right now, that indeed, you know happiness.

In March, I decided to participate in the Divine Design Challenge which you can search for on Splitcoaststampers under keyword BVC08.  It is a Bible Verse Challenge where many stampers have made a commitment to offer a card on the 8th of each month that includes scripture that has special meaning to them.  You can read more about the challenge on Lori Craig’s blog  here.

Another quick and simple card…really the design paper did all the work and conveniently left enough space for me to pop up a sentiment.    Have a beautiful week!

Supplies:
Stamps:  Stampabilities
Ink:  Black Brilliance
Paper:  Bazzill; Sassafrass Lass
Accessories:  Brads, Ribbon, Michaels Flowers

I needed to pull together a small card to swap with someone at our Stamp Club Meeting tomorrow morning.  I just received my long rectangle Nesties so I thought I would put them to use.  This was simple and quick so my post is very brief. 

Supplies:
Stamps:  Stampendous
Inks:  Black Brilliance
Paper:  Bazzill
Accessories:  Copics; Ribbon

Have a wonderful weekend and be sure to stamp something for yourself!!

I love all colors but there are several I always come home to - you have no doubt taken note of the ones you see again and again.  Although I’m a true pink connaisseur, the brutal truth is that I love blue and green; I unconsciously pick them when I’m doing a card.  In fact, is there anything that can’t be paired with green?  For this card, I colored the tree and miraculously the paper selection was made in less than 1 minute - I’m writing that in my diary because it would be a first and I won’t hold my breath that it will ever happen again.  The tree stamp is by Rubbermoon and is one of my favorites.  I have used it before, but this is the first time trying it out with Copics.  Between the excellent Copic tutorials on Debbie Olsen’s Blog and the new blog started by Marianne Walker with Copic - I like Markers, I know I’ll find myself turning to these amazing tools more often. 

The card is pretty straight forward, using the normal cast of characters.  I used the largest classic rectangle nestability for the scallops behind the tree image and for the second tier of scallops, I used the same nestie, but cut it in fourths so that I could spread it and make it appear larger.  The sentiment hang tag was made using the SU Scallop Punch which I hollowed out with a 1½" circle punch.  I made rim for the tag by cutting a circle with the 1¼" punch which was then cut out using a 1½" punch.  Then I used the SU Tag punch to cut out my sentiment and then glued it behind the hollowed, rimmed scallop.  I could have kept going with brads and stuff, but I wanted to keep it simple.

Supplies:
Stamps:  Rubber Moon; Sentiment - Endless Creations
Ink:  Black Brilliance; Versamark
Paper:  Bazzill; K&Co.
Accessories:  Brads; Ribbon; Black Embossing Powder; SU Scallop Punch; SU Tag Punch; 1¼" Circle Punch, 1½" Circle Punch

For those who stop by daily, todays card says it all - You Inspire Me!  Have an amazing day.

How wonderful is it to go away from a week to come back and find a sweet, sweet blogger has given me an award!  Oh yeah, that’s so cool in my book.  

Charlene at Willow and Paisley was so very kind.  So often she leaves me the coolest comments that make me smile.  Lo and behold, she tagged me for a "You Rock My Socks Award!   Well Charlene, you rock!!! 

Charlene runs a wonderful blog and has an impeccable way with Papertrey Ink Stamps.  Pop over and see her work and be sure to leave her a kind comment. :)