Happy Friday!!  It’s another Flourishes Friday.  Yesterday I was working with the Color Challenge on Splitcoast which called for real red and it’s been laying on my desk ever since.  I decided to put it back in play with the card I was working on today and paired it up with my favorites cream and gold.  This card is made from the new Autumn Flourishes available through Flourishes.

My card base is Blonde Columns.  On top of the base is a layer of Classic Red that is backed by gold foil.  Then I added a decorative panel created using the Spellbinders Curved Rectangle Mega Nestabilities and layered with a Spellbinders Long Rectangle Large.  On my top panel I gold embossed the swirly leaves image twice and adorned with a single gold embossed acorn.  Red ribbon was threaded under the upper panel and polished off with a bow and gold half pearls.  Lastly, using the Be Grateful sentiment from the Autumn Flourishes set, I embossed with gold and cut it out to mount it on one tag out of the Spellbinders Tag Variety.

Recipe:
Stamps:  Flourishes - Autumn Flourish
Paper:  The Paper Company - Blonde Columns, Classic Red; gold foil
Ink:  Versamark with gold embossing powder
Accessories:  Red Satin Ribbon, Gold Half Pearls, Spellbinders Curved Rectangle Mega Nestabilities, Spellbinders Long Rectangle Large, Spellbinders Tag Variety

Thanks so much for each time you return to visit!!  Happy Friday!

 I have a quick post today that shows this lovely embossed Christmas Tree.  I’m playing along with SCS Color Challenge CC193 which calls for Black, Red and Kraft.  I love that color combo!!

There are so many fabulous challenges this week, I’ll be back with another one soon!

Recipe:

Stamps:  Flourishes - Holiday Greetings
Paper:  The Paper Company
Ink:  SU Close to Cocoa, Vintage Photo, Antique Linen
Accessories:  Spellbinders - Tags 5, Cuttlebug Lace Tree, Cuttlebug Vintage Die Cuts, Martha Stewart Gingerbread Border Punch, Red Crystals, Ribbon

The website is HERE.

The blog is HERE.

I’ll be back with a something soon!!

It’s as simple as making the Circle medallion!  My sentiment is large so the frame takes up the whole card, but you can make it as small as you like.  The sentiment I’m using here is one of the newly released stamps from Our Daily Breads Designs and the stamp is Psalm 23.  Because the verse has a strong bold font, it can be used in so many different situations and still seen clearly like my in sample above which is stamped onto design paper. 

Recipe:
Stamps:  Our Daily Bread Designs - Psalm 23
Paper:  Bazzill, K & Co
Ink:  Adirondack Pitch Black with clear embossing powder
Accessories:  Corner Rounder Punch, gold pearls, pin, beads, ribbon

Okay, on to the tutorial, here are the supplies you’ll need:

Step 1:  You’ll need a corner punch, a pencil, scissors, and two identically sized rectangular pieces of paper.

 Step 2:  Fold the paper into quarters.

Step 3:  Fold paper diagonally, both ways.  This will be your template for drawing lines.

Step 4: Lay your template down on the paper you will be using as a frame.  Using each crease as a guideline, take your pencil and mark each of the four lines onto the back of your frame.

This is what the back of your frame should look like after you’ve transferred the markings.

Step 5:  Punch the corners and the center region of each side symmetrically.  Please note that punches are sized differently and your rectangle will be a different size from my rectangle. 

You may have to play around with this to find the best way the punches will fit.  Finish off by punching out where you have remaining gaps.

It the center doesn’t fall out on it’s own, simply take the scissors and trim any connecting points.  The result will look like this:

Your frame is now ready for any embellishment you desire and can be added to your card!!

 I hope you enjoyed this new tutorial!  Get adventurous - try any rectangle or square you like!

I’ll try to be back with a post on Monday, I have a new technique to show and am just getting the photos done and hope to have a video to post also.  I hope everybody had a great weekend, it’s the start of a glorious new week!

Hey, also does anyone know if there is a sale going on on Just-Rite products anywhere?  My hubby is prompting me to hurry up and choose what I want for my birthday - back in October.   So if you know of any great deals going on, I would love a heads up through my contact page!!

A quick post today as I’m in create mode!!  I needed another sympathy card so I pulled together a card based on the new Sketch for You To Try which is hosted by Jen del Muro over at I{Heart}2Stamp.  Lucky me, I get to be Jen’s Guest Designer for November, so I’ve already done one card from this sketch which you can see on her site exclusively.  It’s definitely easier the second time around, you can check out my other card here.

I backed my K & Co. design paper with teal cardstock and sponged SU Close to Cocoa around the edges.  I cut one panel from Spellbinders S4-168 Large Labels and one panel from Spellbinders S4-143 Long Classic Scalloped Rectangles - Large and layered them both together.  I struggled for a round element to use on the sketch and went through all my flowers and buttons - none seemed to work so I pulled out my Spellbinders Doodle Parts S4-121.  Voila, one of the doodles is a curved round curlique and to me it fit just right!

I have to throw in a little disclaimer here - I do not know the origin of the stamp I used, I don’t know the company and I picked it up at a stamp convention so long ago, that I know it is surely retired.  I’m so sorry - but I knew that one day it would reflect what I wanted to say to the recipient, so I decided to use it.  If you like the sentiment, I hope you’ll copy it down, generate it on your computer with a fabulous font so that you are able to use this heartfelt saying as well.

ETA:  A big Hug and thanks to Robin Kirkpatrick who knew where my stamp came from!!!!!  Yeah, um back in those days, I bought things with wild abandon never thinking any one else would see them.  This is what Robin said: 

Becca, it’s a lovely card, as always. Very nice color scheme for a sympathy card. I have that same stamp and it’s my ‘go to’ stamp for sympathy cards. Such a wonderful sentiment - it makes me teary every time I read it. It’s from Stamp Camp - #SD021 Many Tears.

Recipe:
Stamps:  Sentiment (Retired) - Company Unknown
Paper:  The Paper Company - Blonde Columns, Coredinations - Teal, K & Co. - Ancestry
Ink:  SU Close to Cocoa, Adirondack - Pitch Black
Accessories:  Spellbinders S4-143 Long Classic Scalloped Rectangle Large, Spellbinders S4-121 Doodle Parts, Spellbinders S4-168 Large Labels, Ribbon, Crystals, Brads

Off to work on some more items.  Thanks so much for stopping by!

Todays simple card features a new set from Flourishes - Figs and Pomegranates.  It’s a sultry, sultry image and it colors up beautifully.  I so struggled with the pictures here as they don’t show the vibrant green of the watercolored background or the rich sparkle of the gold ribbon I wrapped around a paper frame.  I hope you’ll take my word for it.  :)  This is one of three new sets released this week with Flourishes,you can see  the others here.

The card was made by washing pesto reinker over watercolor  paper for the background.  I then cut a small frame and wrapped it with ribbon and mounted it to watercolored panel.  The pomegranate image was colored with Adirondack reinkers and mounted on top of a duplicate colored image.  The inside of the frame is cut with SpellbindersClassic Square Large.   I added the gold corners to spice things up a little bit then finished the panel by adding at tag from the Spellbinders Ribbon Tags Trio Set. Finally, the focal panel of the card is set on 140lb watercolor paper.

It’s an exciting Flourishes Friday with the entire Design Team and Friends of Flourishes showing samples of the new releases.  Hop around to see the stunning samples they have in store for you!!

Cindy Lawrence (offering blog candy you won’t want to miss!!)
Faith Hofrichter
Julie Koerber
Latisha Yoast
Laura Fredrickson
Linda Duke
Susan Roberts
Cindy Haffner

Supplies:
Stamps:  Flourishes - Figs and Pomegranates
Paper:  Swathmore 140lb Watercolor
Ink:  Black Stazon
Accessories:  Spellbinders Classic Square Large, Spellbinders Tag Trio Set, Adirondack Reinkers, gold pearls, gold corners, ribbon
 

I couldn’t resist casing a card from Wendy Weixler (Wendybell on Splitcoaststampers)  who is Featured Stamper 92 this week.  I set out to look through her gallery and my oh my, it was tough narrowing things down to one card to case.  This week I find myself in need of a sympathy card for a friend so I was looking for something very clean cut, not too flashy yet a little bit elegant.  The card of Wendy’s that I settled upon can be seen here. 

I stamped and watercolored my tulip images and cut each with the Spellbinders Mega Nestabilities Curved Rectangles, popping up the center images for some dimension.  For the hanging tag I used the Spellbinders Variety Tags  set and framed over the top with a circle cut with Spellbinders Standard Circles, Large. 

Supplies:
Stamps:  Tulip - PSX Retired, Sentiment - Wordsworth - Comfort Collection, Script - Stampers Anonymous
Paper:  140lb Watercolor, Bazzill, The Paper Company
Ink:  Adirondack - Pitch Black, Stazon - Olive Green, Stazon- Royal Purple
Accessories:  Spellbinders Curved Rectangle Mega-Nestabilities, Spellbinders Variety Tags, Tombow Markers, Brads, Ribbon

Thanks for stopping by!

I’m  sharing a Christmas card with you today.  I’m so loving this new Spellbinders Labels 2 Die that  I didn’t waste any time trying it out!   It lends itself very easily to framing an item.  I’m also trying out one of the new sentiments from one of the November released sets from Our Daily Bread Designs - Joy to the World.  This set comes with five sentiments and one image.  It proves to be very versatile because you can substitute any of the sentiments in the set with Christmas cards you are making this season!

This paper, is some that I passed up in Target several times, talking myself out of it because I have plenty of other.  After I couldn’t stand it, I went back to get it and yep, you guessed it, it was gone.  I tried two Targets for a couple of weeks and managed to get it.  It’s almost my favorite Christmas design paper this year.  It’s a light weight paper, but I backed it with 90lb watercolor to make it the same weight as cardstock.

To make the card, I constructed a background from two sheets of Design Paper, added the corner pieces with my Home Pro LR Corner Press and attached the panel to the base of my card with mounting tape.  Then I cut the Label 2 while at the same time cutting  the inside Spellbinders Classic Square, Large, then ran the pair back through to emboss them.  Everything was then sponged with Antique Linen Distress Ink.  I threaded the ribbon up and over the frame, under my bird and wreath then back up and over the frame and secured it with sticky dots.  The final touch was a Spellbinders Tag 5 with this beautifully, elegant calligraphy sentiment from Our Daily Bread Designs.

I usually stamp several of the images that I’m going to be working with on a card.  You know why!  You never know what will happen and lately I have been the poster child for Murphy’s Law.   Just last night I was working on an image that I spent oh, about and hour and a half between picking inks, trying embossing, stamping and then finally watercoloring the image.  It was beautiful but when I went to mask it and overstamp it with a script stamp, the ink I was using smeared when I rubbed my hand across the picture.  Arrggh!  Well, I was flying without a net as they say so the next time around, I stamped two.  Well that was a long way around to tell you that I learned (well really, relearned) my lesson and on this card I stamped two of the bird in the wreath images.  Since I had one left over, I though it would look perfectly sweet on the inside of the card.  I know, lots of people make this an art - - you know, putting things inside the card.  Well I’m flirting here and if I’m not careful, I’m liable to get hooked.  Here is the inside of the card:

Supplies:
Stamps:  Our Daily Bread Designs - Sentiment, Bird and Wreath - Basic Grey
Paper:  Fa La La - Making Memories, 140 lb Watercolor Swathmore
Ink:  SU Always Artichoke, Antique Linen Distress Ink
Accessories:  Spellbinders Labels 2 Die, Spellbinders Tags 5, Spellbinders Classic Square Large, Ribbon, Brads, Corners, Tombow Markers

Take care and I’ll see you tomorrow!!

I’m back to share one of the fabulous new sets from Our Daily Bread Designs - Psalm 23.   I selected the current Sketch Challenge 201 on SCS specifically because I thought this stamp would serve as a wonderful focal point.  The stamped image is framed with a hand embossed flourish and piercing following the pattern from an Ornare Template - these are also in stock at Our Daily Bread Designs. On the card I used two patterned design papers and one solid linen; these were all muted by smudging with SU Close to Cocoa ink and finished off by a ribbon and glue on brads.

C

Supplies:
Stamps:  Our Daily Bread Designs - Psalm 23
Paper:  140lb Watercolor, The Paper Company - Color Connect Stripe Ivory, Color Connect Elegant Leaf Ivory, Cream White, Bazzill Bling
Ink: Martha Stewart - Brown Stone, SU Close to Cocoa
Accessories:  Ornare Template, Ribobn, Flat Brads

The blog candy offered last week has been claimed!!  The winner has emailed me to claim her prize - Thanks so much for registering!!

Here’s a new winner for blog candy.  Buffie, Please send me an email with your snail mail address and these will go right out in the mail to you.   If no one comes forward to claim, I will draw again on Wednesday, November 12 at 9am EST. 

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I hope you are having a blessed weekend.  Rest and get ready for a brand new week!

Keep your fingers crossed!!

This is one of the simplest cards I done in a while, without the layers that are typical for me.  I was so taken with the Reindeer from the Flourishes Sleigh Ride set.  I envisioned them suited up and ready to go, bridle in and reins laced - that gave me the idea to tie a set of them together with the gold cording.  They’re all set to go. . . where’s Santa?

I started with a piece of 140lb watercolor paper and folded it in half to make the card side just shy of 6" tall and 9" wide.  Yes, it’s a big card but it will fit perfectly in a white catalog envelope.   I watercolored the reindeer and used my Spellbinders Rectangle Nestability to cut out each reindeer and backed the cut piece with a Spellbinders Scalloped Rectangle Nestability.  Next I punched the border along the bottom with a Martha Stewart Lattice Arch punch.  Setting the cording and brads in place before placing the scalloped backed reindeer made things a tad easier.  I finished by tying a bow and embellishing it with one of the Spellbinders Variety Tags layered with red paper and gold foil, stamped with the sentiment  "Merry and Bright" from the Flourishes Holiday Greetings set.  The final embellishment was three gold pearls and three red crystals for the reindeer noses!

Note:  Many of you have emailed me to ask where to purchase foil paper.  I’m pleased to tell you that you can order foil paper directly with Spellbinders.  Click HERE to see the product number and colors!!

Supplies:
Stamps:  Flourishes - Sleigh Ride, Flourishes - Holiday Greetings
Paper:  140lb Swathmore Watercolor, Red - The Paper Company, gold foil paper
Ink:  Colorbox Chalk Inks - Warm Red
Accessories:  Spellbinders Rectangle Nestability, Spellbinders Scalloped Rectangle Nestability, Spellbinders Variety Tags, gold cord, crystal brads, Ribbon, crystals, gold pearls, Martha Stewart Lattice Arch

We have bright new faces on the Friends of Flourishes Blog Team that  you really should stop by to see.  Betty Wright joins us from her blog, Stamping to the Wright, and Christine Okken joins us from her blog, Christine Creations.  Welcome Ladies!!!  You both make the most beautiful cards and I look forward to Flourishing Fridays with you!

Many of you remember that I removed all my ribbon off of spools and rolled it onto matboard bobbins so that I could decrease the huge storage space that rolls command.  (Check out this post to see what I mean. ) Well as I re-rolled the ribbon, I had many empty spools left over and the thought of throwing them away simply killed me.  For months they have perched in the corner of my craft room in a bag.  After thinking on what I could do with the leftover spools, I settled on this quick and easy idea.  With the help of some paper to cover and some transparency, I have and instant gift or goodie treatment.   I used one of the newly released sentiments from Our Daily Bread Designs - Joy to the World, along with one of the tags from the Spellbinders Tags 5 set to personalize the gift.   ETA:  On the blue gift holder I hung whimsical snowflakes using the Spellbinders Snowflake Wonder set, one of my seasonal favorites, you will see this one a lot.

Since the ends are round, your Circle and Scalloped Circle Spellbinder Nestabilities make the entire project quick and easy.  Here are the steps I took to make these cuties:

Assemble by adding top and adorning with ribbon.  On the red goodie holder I cut slits on the top and bottom and threaded ribbon through.  This will secure the top.  My slits went on the inside of the ring but they would work on the outside as well.  On the blue goodie holder I added glue dots to hold the top on.  Have fun with this!!

Supplies: 
Stamps:  Our Daily Bread Designs - Joy to the World
Paper:  Hobby Lobby Christmas Pack
Ink:  Colorbox Chalk - Warm Red
Accessories:  Spellbinders Nestability Scalloped Circles, Spellbinders Nestability Circles, Spellbinders Nestability Tags 5, Spellbinders Nestability Snowflake Wonder, Transparency, Ribbon, Silver Cord, Red Cord, Martha Stewart Border Punch - Zig Zag, Martha Stewart Border Punch - Doily Lace

As promised, today I picked a winner for the Blog Candy I described in this post.  Thank you so much for shouting out loud and clear which of the Spellbinders products you love.  It’s great that you love all the new dies and so many top the list of favorites.  As I mentioned the winner is going to be getting a set of the Nestability Stars.  Here is the number picked by Random.org:

Congratulations Joanie!!   You lucky lady - you win a set of Spellbinders Nestability Stars!!  To claim them all you need to do is contact me by email before Noon, EST on Friday, October 7, 2008.   After that date/time if there has been no contact, I’ll pick another name.  Thanks to all for the wonderful comments you left!!

Might you all remember this card HERE?  It’s featured on the SCS Technique Challenge this week.  I hope you’ll try to make one this week.  It’s one of the easiest techniques I’ve shown.  I promise once I’ve cleared the election, I’ll be back to creating. 

Don’t forget about the Blog Candy that I’ll be pulling a winner for tomorrow morning, 11/5/08.  You can add your comments to THIS POST if you want to be eligible.

Thanks so much for stopping by and I hope you’ll continue to visit with me.

In the meantime, don’t forget to leave a comment on the post  HERE for the Spellbinders Blog Candy celebrating my new adventure on the Spellbinders Blogging Team along with another new addition Keri Lee Sereika.  Don’t forget to visit Keri and leave a post HERE for the Spellbinders Blog Candy she is offering too!!

You all have blessed me so and I’m grateful for all that pass through my blog!!  The stamping community is brimming full of caring, generous, kindhearted people, a community I’m so happy to be a part of.  I hope you all know that I am so very thankful!!

I’ve been invited to be on the Spellbinders Blog Team!!!  I am so honored!!!  If there’s one thing that people know about me, it’s that I love, love, love my Spellbinders stuff.  In fact, I feel like my nesties are an extension of my hands.  I dream of what I can do with them.  When I’m driving down the road, I shuffle through the sizes in my head. . . it’s really quite an obsession.  I’m so tickled and blessed that I’ll be able to share more creations with you.  The four stars that I’ll be joining makes this adventure even more unbelievable and these ladies are simply the sweetest ever!   The other Blog Team members are Debbie Olsen, Michelle Wooderson, Trudee Sauer and another new addition, Keri Lee Sereika.  So to celebrate the day, I’ll be sharing a Spellbinders project with you and Spellbinders Blog Candy.  Before I get there though, let me tell you that I have another over the top, still can’t believe it, pinching myself, is this a dream kind of thing to tell you! (Breathe)

Jen del Muro with I{Heart}2Stamp contacted me some time ago and asked if I would be her Guest Designer!  Well, yeah!!  It took me like five seconds to email her back and tell her that.  I could have done it quicker but I had to pick myself up off of the floor.   Woohoo!!!  I’m the Guest Designer for November!!  So mosey on over when you get a chance and check the new sketch she posted today.  I’ll have samples over there for the entire month and look forward to working with her super, super Design Team.

Today is the new release of three new sets for Our Daily Bread Designs - the new releases are Joy to the World, Lord is My Shepherd and Psalm 23.  My Spellbinders project uses the new Psalm 23 stamp to make a quick and easy Star Book.  Pictures and full tutorial are below - click on any of the pictures and maximize in your browser to see larger versions of  the pictures. 

Here is my supplies list with the tutorial following: 

Supplies:
Stamps:  Our Daily Bread Designs - Psalm 23, Cross of Christ
Paper:  Bazzill, Luxury DCWV, Wausau Paper Royal Metallics - Chalice Silver
Ink:  Stazon Black
Accessories:  Spellbinders Nestability Long Scalloped Rectangle Large, Spellbinders Nestability Classic Square Large, Ribbon, Red Sticky Tape
Size:  3" tall x 3" wide x ½" deep

Let’s make a Star Book!
Step 1:

Step 2

Step 3

Step 4

Step 5

Step 6

Step 7

In the coming days, look for a pocket or box that I’m going to create to hold my little book!

Now, back to that Blog Candy…courtesy of my friend Keri, I’ll be offering a set of Star Nestabilities.  To be eligible to  win the set, all you need to do is leave a comment here on my blog telling me which of the newly released  Spellbinders is your #1 favorite!!  One comment per person please.  I’ll pick a winner by random.org on Wednesday, November 5th some time in the morning.  Remember to come back to check and see if you’ve won.  If no response by Friday, November 7th at 9am - then I’ll pick again.  Now here is the cool thing.  Keri is offering two sets of nesties over on her blog, Pink Lemonade .  When you’re done here, head on over to tell her congratulations and to sign up for her blog candy too!!

Keep an eye out for more blog candy here also in the not too distant future . . . my hit counter has been working overtime and is up over 500,000 page hits.  I can hardly believe it!!  I’ll hunt down some fabulous goodies to give, so check back with me.

Last, but certainly not least, there’s a lots going on over at Flourishes.  There are new faces on the Design Team and new faces added to the Friends of Flourishes as well as a new Guest Designer!!  I know!!  Today could not be busier if it tried, but it’s all good!!  Head on over to to Flourishes to check out the scoop!!

Don’t forget to stop by Our Daily Bread Designs and have a gander at those new sets!!

I told you this would be long!!  What a way to start the day!  I’m off to a stamp club meeting this morning, but don’t worry… if there’s anything else that’s an over the top, still can’t believe it, pinching myself, is this a dream kind of thing . . . I’ll rush right home to tell you!

This card again shows the circular embossing technique using a  Cuttlebug folder . . . look familiar?  This was actually the first circle I cut, but since the pattern was a little more subtle in the foil, I set the sample aside and made another earlier week.  Coming back around to this beautiful foil, I thought it would look marvelous with my favorite set - Poinsettia and Boxwood, which is one of the newly released sets from Flourishes for October.  I selected the larger of two wreaths in the set and chose to stack the wreaths.  It adds a splash of white in the center of the card and balances things out a bit.  For the sentiment I went back to the Holiday Greetings set from Flourishes.

Supplies:
Stamps:  Flourishes - Poinsettia and Boxwood, Holiday Greetings
Paper:  Green Foil, Gold Foil, 140lb Watercolor,
Ink:  Versamark, Adirondack Pesto
Accessories:  Red Crystals, Brads, Sizzlit Architectural Accents, Ribbon, Brads, Gold Embossing Powder.

Thanks so much for stopping by!  I’ve enjoyed your company!!

Thank you for all the kind comments this week!   I’m very blessed to have such a wonderful group to check in with me when they can.

I just love this sketch.  It’s this weeks Sketch For You To Try from Jen del Muro over at I{Heart}2Stamp.  This poor card languished on my desk needing something more, alas I rescued it from a  possible trip to the trash can and was able to rework so things so that I could post it.  When you look at the recipe you will notice that more was more in this case.  I guess I was afraid that I might leave some company out on this one he…he.. 

Supplies:
Stamps:  Inkadinkado, Wordsworth, Impression Obsession, Hero Arts
Paper:  Basic Grey - Urban Couture, 95lb Watercolor
Ink:  Colorbox Orchid Pastel, Colorbox Blue Lagoon
Accessories:  Nestability Circles, Cuttlebug Swiss Dot Embossing Folder, Satin Ribbon, Velvet Ribbon, K&Co Button, Michaels Bridal Flowers, Paper Clip, Sizzlit Tag, Brads, clear embossing powder, Tombow Marker
 
Don’t forget that on November 1st there is a new release for Our Daily Bread Designs, I hope you will stop by. 

Here is a closer look . . .

In a nutshell what I did was figure out how to do circular embossing.  By placing a hole in the center of the paper and inserting my template into the hole, I was able to pivot around the circle from the inside and emboss in enough locations to fill in my circle and make a complete background.  Once finished, I was able to camoflage the opening with my stamped sentiment.  I played around with varying the number of embossed images on each circle and found you can do as few as four and as many as eight.

For this card, after I finished the embossing I colored the image with chalks and embellished with pearls.  I cut a scalloped border and chopped up the border in order to fit it around the circle.  I cut a Nestability scalloped square and a Nestability square with my sentiment to cover the hole used for embossing.  The cute little feature of the three pearls sitting on the ribbon is a great idea I snagged from my friend Janine of 2BKrafty - you can see the card she made here where she floored me with that idea.  Here is a diagram showing how  I tackled this card.

Step 1

Cut a large circle about 5½" in diameter.  I used my EK Success Circle Cutter, but you could easily cut one by hand using a plate as a template.  Using the second smallest circle from the Nestabilities Petite Scallop Circle Large Set, cut a circle in the center of your paper.

 Step 2

Note the eight locations with arrows.  I embossed at each of these locations with one of the Fancy Corners Small Embossing Folders.  The joint of the folder is placed on the inside of the circle and then the folder is pivoted through to embossing at each of the noted arrows.  On this particular folder there was some overlap so as I embossed, my current embossing smashed part of what I had already embossed.   I didn’t really worry about it.   This will vary depending on which template you use - some will look good overlapped and others will not.

Step 3

Complete the embossing then leave plain for texture or color as you will!

Optional:

You don’t have to start out with  circle, it can be a square as with my card from yesterday.

Here’s how I did circular embossing on the Cuttlebug to make the background for this card:

Using the same Nestability circle, I cut out the center of my paper which measures 5½".x5½"  On this particular card I embossed four positions to start out with - North, South, East and West with the joined edge of the template on the inside.  Then I embossed on each corner with the joined edge of the template on the outside with the arrow showing where the join should be positioned. 

I hope this gives you many ideas on how to stretch your templates!  If you share this idea, I would appreciate a link to this post so that folks can see exactly how to work through the embossing step.

Thanks so much for stopping by!!

This is a sneak peak of the one of the images from the Joy to the World set that will be released on November 1st for Our Daily Bread Designs.  Be sure to check out the other Design Team Sneak Peeks this week.

Supplies:
Stamps:  Our Daily Bread Designs - Joy to the World
Paper:  The Paper Company, Burgundy, Kraft, Mauve, Gold Linen Weave
Ink:  Versamark, Colorbox Brown
Accessories:  Ribbon, Filigree, Brads, Corner Punch, Aquapainter and Reinkers, Cuttlebug Embossing Folder

I hope you had a fabulous weekend.  Thanks as always for your tremendous support!

This totally slipped past me but I did not get an email from the first persons name that was pulled, so I’ve pulled another name for the Blog Candy being offered by Our Daily Bread Designs.

And, the winner is . . .

Donna, please email me with your snail mail address and note which set you would like to have sent out to you.  If there is no response from the winner, I’ll pick again on Tuesday, October 28th at 9:00am EST using Random.org.

On another note. . .did you know that a new release from Our Daily Bread Designs will be breaking on November 1st?  Yep, we’ll be sporting three new sets and if you check among the Design Team for ODBD, this week you’ll be seeing some pretty nifty sneak peeks! 

ETA:  Donna, thanks for getting your information to me so quickly.  Your new set from Our Daily Bread Designs will be coming your way soon!!

Last week when I was making the Poinsettia card, I was toying with some votive candle holders on my desk and thought how wonderful it would be to make a set of paperweights.  The small poinsettia in the Flourishes Poinsettia and Boxwood set was perfect for my plan.  I thought it would be nice to have a set of blank notecards to go along with the paperweights. . . indeed this ensemble worked up very easily.

I made four notecards and pulled together four envelopes and a clear box to put them in. The votive candles came in a clear box, so I would be able to reuse that for a gift presentation.  Below is a closeup picture of the paperweights where you can see the bottom and top.

 The votive candle holders were purchased at Michaels out of the $1 bin.   What a quick gift!!!  I was able to complete the paperweights in about 15 minutes. 

To make the paperweights I used one set of votives.   I punched out a colored poinsettia with a 1 7/16ths’ round punch and punched a circle with my 1 1/2 punch, layering the two circles together.  I cut a strip of gold paper 1/2" x 6"and wrapped it around the votive, securing the paper with red sticky tape.  I removed the candle and placed it back in the aluminum cup upside down.  I did this because the top of the candle was rounded and I did not want the rounded shape on the bottom side of the paperweight.  I then taped the layered circles on the bottom of the aluminum cup and placed the cup into the votive so that the poinsettias would show on the top when turned over.  On the bottom opening I spread a stream of glue around the opening and covered with a circle cut from felt. Easy, easy, easy!!!  I’m going to make a couple more sets!
Supplies:
Stamps:  Flourishes - Poinsettia and Boxwood
Paper:  The Paper Company and Hobby Lobby Christmas Set
Ink:  Adirondack Pitch Black
Accessories:  Nestabilities, Ribbon, Copic Markers, Votive Candles, clear box
 

Have a blessed weekend and come again soon!!

I have a card to share with you today that is one of the older Our Daily Bread Designs sets; this particular set is the Cross of Christ set.  I love this set and because of the variety of stamps and verses, it’s easily become one of my go to sets when I need a card.

This card actually came together rather quickly, which is not always the case with me.  I was working on my post for tomorrow and decided to take a break - several of the papers were at the top of my pile and just clicked.  Wow, I wish that would happen more often!!   I really think a long time about the elements I’m going to use on a card and sometimes the paper choice or ribbon choice can take me longer that I care to admit.  Anyway, working with a sketch always makes things easier and this particular card is the Mojo Monday Sketch for Week #57.  It’s such an elegant sketch - Julee sure picked a winner.

I chose watercolor paper as the base for the card and layered it with a Gold Linen Weave paper by The Paper Company.  Picking up the burgundy element from the Creative Imaginations Design Paper, I added a burgundy border to both of my stamped panels.  Underneath both panels is a border that runs across the card - it’s one of my new Martha Stewart border punches, barely visible, but there.

Supplies:
Stamps:  Our Daily Bread Designs - Cross of Christ
Paper:  90 lb Watercolor, Creative Imaginations DP, Gold Linen Weave - The Paper Company, Bazzill
Inks:  Versamark
Accessories:  Gold Embossing Powder, Gold Ribbon, Gold Brads, MS Lattice Arch Border Punch

Thanks so much for the time you spend reading and commenting here.  It sure makes my day!! 

I was able to play another Sketch Challenge.  This one is SCS Sketch Challenge 199 and it fit nicely for this larger image.  The set I used for the challenge is We Three Kings, one of the newly released sets from Our Daily Bread Designs   Now that I’ve made a couple of cards with the set, I’m here to tell you that this one colors up very easily.

I followed the sketch pretty closely.  Once I had all my layers in place I wrapped cording around cardstock, added the black background and tied a sheer ribbon over the treatment.  The cording is held in place by notches created with my SU mini word punch.  Lastly, I watercolored my image with Adirondack Reinkers and Tombow marker, backed with a black background then popped it up slightly over the ribbon.

Supplies:
Stamps:  Our Daily Bread Design - We Three Kings
Paper:  NRN, Flair Designs
Ink:  Versamark
Accessories:  Ribbon, cording, Spellbinders corner

 Have a fabulous day and thankss for stopping by.

I love Jen del Muro’s Sketch For You To Try and this week I got to play, yay!!  The image that I used is a new one from Our Daily Bread Designs - Flourished Christian Symbols.  Its from one of the five newly released sets put out by Our Daily Bread Designs and this particular set was designed by Dina Koval.  I kept things exactly like the sketch and the card has several layers.  I had to remeasure this one a couple of times and wish I had left more of a margin between blocks but it turned out okay.  All in all it ’s a simple card.

Supplies:
Stamps:  Our Daily Bread Designs - Flourished Christian Symbols
Paper:  Marcella Kay, The Paper Company
Ink:  Versamark
Accessories:  Gold Embossing Powder, Pearls, Ribbon
Card Size:  6" x6"
Thank you so much for stopping by!

I reinstated as many as I could - it seems that they have to be done one by one, aaarrrgghh!!  I will also be checking Feedblitz on a daily basis, I’ve never had a problem before, but want to make sure everything returns to normal.  I would ask you to please check your subscriptions.  If was your desire to have AmazingPaperGrace included in your daily Feedblitz, please sign up again if the subscription no longer appears on your list.  Email me from my contact page if you are having any problems.  I can also check any name that is sent to me to make sure it still is active or not.

If you have a blog and had the same experience as me, I’d love to know and hope you’ll leave a comment so that if we have the same subscribers they’ll know to check your subscription too!  I sent nice but pretty lengthy note to Support at Feedblitz, and would encourage any other blogger that had the same experience to send an email as well; feel free to note my loss as well if it helps.    If there are similar experiences out there that are reported to Feedblitz, I’m sure it will help them identify the source of the problem and rule out individual blogs.

Please note the problem referred to was with Feedblitz (which are email subscriptions).  There is currently no problem with Feedburner (subscriptions through your reader).

ETA:  Giving credit where credit is due!!  I received a prompt email from Feedblitz explaining that a server was having issues and that all should be restored now.    Thank you Feedblitz for your speedy assistance.

Thanks to all who left comments for the Our Daily Bread Designs Blog candy.  I was away from home all day, but I’m back now and as promised I went to random.org to generate a number for the winner!!

And The Winner is. . .

Glenda J, please email me with your mailing information along with the name of the set you choose.  I’ll in turn email the info to Kelley at Our Daily Bread Designs so that she can send it out.  If not claimed before Tuesday, October 21st at 9:00 CST, we’ll pick another number through Random.org.