Merry Christmas!

Merry Christmas, everyone!

I'm channeling my Dad today. He used to almost always end his phone conversations with "Peace!" - especially so this time of year - and every time I pick up this die it makes me think of him. Gone 10 years last month ... hard to believe but true! Love you, Dad!

I tend to make more cards than needed; then the last couple years even participated in a class where we made 4 cards of 4-5 designs! I don't send out all that many cards these days, so I've got a supply to last me ... but then, what holiday do you suppose I can't seem to stop myself from purchasing additional supplies for??! You guessed it! Christmas! I've got stamps and dies I haven't even used yet!

stamps: unsure of the inside sentiment's origin; ink: Ranger's black soot distress ink; paper: Bazzill Palo Verde and Neenah Solar White card stocks; accessories: white string; tools: Cuttlebug w PTI holiday word die, Sizzix Tim Holtz Festive Greenery die and Holly Swirls embossing folder, unknown crochet thread

Lucky me!

I'm one of the lucky recipients to have won a "seat" as a result of a comment I posted on a post on one of the class instructors - for me, it was from the lovely and talented Donna Mikasa of three umbrellas blog fame - to participate in the latest Online Card Class' installment, Stretch Your Stamps 2! Thanks, Donna!

I've used direct-to-stamp inking with distress stains on this image in the past, and like both results. Which technique do you prefer?

Here's my first card from Day One, working with background stamps. Following Shari's lead, I pulled out my craft sheet and blotted multiple distress inks on it, then misted them, and made two impressions. I put aside the first more vivid inked impression at a later date, and used the softer 2nd impression to cut into squares and pop up on today's card. The background stamp I used was a smaller one, measuring about 4-1/2" square, so I used a 1-1/8" square punch, distressed the edges of each square, and used a word die in two colors to create a shadow effect so that they would pop up from the card. I'm incredibly thankful today not only to have the opportunity to participate in class, but in celebrating that one of my stamping buddies pulled through a back surgery this week and is on the road to recovery, so this card is heading her way!

stamps: Hero Arts' Antique Brocade, PTI's Counting My Blessings ; paper: Canson's 90-lb watercolor, SU's Close to Cocoa; ink: Ranger's frayed burlap, peacock feathers, peeled paint, seedless preserves, spiced marmalade, and spun sugar distress inks; tools: Cuttlebug w PTI's Counting My Blessings word dies, and 1-1/8" square punch

Merry Christmas!

Merry Christmas! Here's wishing you and yours a merry Christmas and t'riffic New Year!

I made this card from a recycled store-bought one I'd received in years' past. I cut out the Santa from the card, then cut a couple of trees in similar shapes from some DP I had on hand, and just cut a couple of wavy snow mounds to layer the trees between and voilà! Easy peasy!

stamps: PTI's Signature Christmas; paper: Carta Bella's Christmas Day, and SU's Old Olive card stocks; ink: Ranger's black soot distress ink

the die-namic duo

my latest die purchase was the words collections from PTI - both last year's holiday stamp set, and this year's count my blessings set. as luck would have it, every time I logged in to the site to purchase the holiday set this year and last, they were sold out of either the stamp set or the dies of one or the other ... except for last week! let's have a shout out for perseverance! YAY!

today's duo CAS post is that of a positive/negative space one. I used the word piece popped out from the die for the first card, then used its negative space for the second one. voilà! easy peasy, and here's my first two cards of December!

stamps: PTI's Holiday Stamp Set; ink: SU's Not Quite Navy; paper: Neenah's Solar White, SU's Not Quite Navy card stocks; tools: Cuttlebug w PTI's Holiday Die Collection

just wanted to say hello ...

here's a quick card intended for my favorite aunt! I'd recently ordered some PTI mini stamp sets and corresponding dies from Melissa j designs - from the uber talented Melissa Bickford. so many stamp sets, so little time, y'know?! I ran the sentiments down a stripe of white card stock, leaving enough room to pop up the cute old-fashioned phone, popped up the phone, rotary dial, and handset. the inside sentiment reads, " just wanted to say hello" and the word "hello" is in the script used on the card's front. easy peasy, right?! I emptied out my heart punch for confetti to include inside the card. done!

stamps: PTI's heart-to-heart #4; paper: Staples' white, SU's real red card stocks; ink: Ranger's black soot distress ink, SU's real red; tools: PTI's heart-to-heart #4 die and Cuttlebug

just a little JGNC14 Christmas note

I'm drawn to red & white Christmas cards, and this one uses mainly those colors within a 6x6" pad of DP I purchased recently, plus a cool coordinating Santa chipboard sticker. Red & white was a repeated theme in Jay Gee's Nook latest challenge post of a collection of related pictures, and one of the DPs reminded me of one of Angeline's cards that she used a couple of t'riffic Wplus9 Design Studio stamps on.

stamps: PTI's Signature Christmas; paper: Authentique's Wonder collection; ink: Ranger's black soot, pumice stone distress inks; tools: Paper Shapers' round tab punch; accessories: TPC Studio's Timeless Christmas chipboard stickers

how I spent my mini vac wk - pt 1

Hi folkes! I took a few days off work this week, thinking I'd watch the President's Cup w my sweetie, and as I'd been pretty much on the go this past weekend (... but that's another post). I'd not realized that it would be on TV here starting at 9 p.m. EST, LOL, as it's being played in Melbourne Australia! We'll end up watching Day 1 on Thursday (it's being repeated on the Golf Channel from 9a-1:30p), and Day 2 will be telecast a bit earlier, from 7:30p-2a on Thursday. So much for my planning ahead, eh?!

I picked up a few new dies from Impress Rubber Stamps recently. This is the first one used for a Christmas card tho' it would make a nice masculine card as well, as my stampin' buddy Pat pointed out. As I ended up not watching golf, we got together for a bit. After lunching w friends, while she was borrowing my Zutter I put this quick card together. It'd be great for mass-produced Christmas cards as it was relatively simple and quick to make, but I've never been one for mass production. I just make cards as I see fit, and try to fit them to the receiver. This one struck us as peaceful, hence the sentiment. I wish I could capture just how beautiful that dark blue card stock is; you've gotta see it IRL - it's much more subtle than glitter card stock and is IMHO simply gorgeous!

stamps: StampingFreak's peace, PTI's Signature Christmas (inside) sentiments; ink: CTMH's Outdoor Denim; paper: PTI's Night Sky Shimmer, Staples' white card stocks; tools: Memory Box's Deer Trio die

happy b'day Kim/updates

I made this card for my buddy Kim's birthday, and was pretty pleased to see how well the ribbon matched the card stock. Sometimes things just work out that way, eh?! My fav couple SU colors are Kiwi Kiss and Old Olive so I'm glad they didn't retire BOTH with the new catty. My card was inspired by this one posted recently on Kristina Werner's blog. Here's a strange coincidence: I like the postage stamp edge punch that Kristina used on her card, and Kim got me a couple postage stamp punches for either a birthday or Christmas present a year or so ago.

My DH and I golfed this afternoon on my work place league even though there are heat advisories posted until 6 a.m. tomorrow. I hydrated all day, and we stocked up on ice water, and took a towel that we'd soaked in cool water and stored in a cooler. Even with all our preparation, my stomach's upset right now and I'm attributing it to the heat. I don't do well in HOT weather but I DID golf okay (for me, that is!) and scored 5 strokes under my average.

stamps: PAPERTREYink's paper tray, SU's Heard from the Heart, and Pretty Petals BK, and studio g's series 46; paper: A1's Neenah Classic Natural White, Paper Reflections' black, and SU's Kiwi Kiss and Purely Pomegranate card stocks; ink: Ranger's black soot distress, SU's Kiwi Kiss and Purely Pomegranate; accessories: unknown dotted ribbon; tools: ek success' scallop diamond border punch

updates on my niece and her son, 7/6: What a difference in Nick from Saturday! He's now giggling, talking, enjoying DVDs, and started on solid foods! It was such a blessing to see him interacting with his Dad and G'pa Mike on our visit Tuesday afternoon! Nick's sutures had been removed and Jen's neck brace was removed - it's so nice to see improvements every visit! Kevin and grandparents met with hospital personnel to discuss the next steps in his treatment today. I shared with Jen about how geeked we were in seeing Nick's progress, before we headed for home. Can hardly wait to see Jen flash a smile again! Thanx again for your prayers.

3 cheers for chairs

Chairs seem to be all the rage lately, and, personally, I'm figuring it's all about this sofa and chairs stamp set; don't you agree?! I made this card last summer but squirrel'd it away 'til my DH's b'day almost two weeks ago. I'm LOVIN' that soft yellow DP, and Old Olive's my fav SU green. What do you think? Am I saying we've "settled" into a nice, comfortable relationship?! LOL!

Have you visited Cath Edvalson's current Three Cheers for Chairs challenge yet? There's some knock-your-socks-off cards there, so if you don't already follow her blog, check it out!

stamps: PTI's On The Couch; paper: SU's Old Olive, Very Vanilla card stock, unknown Prism yellow card stock and unknown SU retired DP (picked up from a paper share); ink: SU's So Saffron, Color Box's Creamy Brown; tools: ek success' scallop diamond and Franklin Covey multi-hole punch (in place of using brads)

happy b'day Kathleen!

It's my buddy Kathleen's birthday and I "chair-ish" her friendship so made her this card based on the CPS127 and ssnotime99 sketch challenges. We've a small group that lunches together more often than not, and it'll be her pick of restaurants today - our treat, 'natch! One of my fav color combos is green and purple - this one's kiwi kiss and elegant eggplant and I paper pieced the chairs to add a "pop" factor.


stamps: PTI's on my couch, paper tray (inside sentiment); paper: SU's Kiwi Kiss Patterns Designer Series DP, Elegant Eggplant and Kraft card stocks; ink: Ranger's antique linen distress ink, SU's Kiwi Kiss and Elegant Eggplant; tools: SU's slit punch

thanx for always being on my side

I love PTI's On My Couch set from their latest release and had been putting off ordering some night sky shimmer card stock, so this was the necessary impetus to doing that ... and then I only had to order $6 more in goods to get free shipping ... so YOU'd have ordered more card stock and ribbon, RIGHT?!

I didn't use a Christmas stamp so this card isn't officially a candidate for the Sweet Stop Sketches' SSS13 Sketch with a Spin. I've been meaning to make some Christmas cards for July - a stampin' buddy of mine has actually FINISHED her cards already (sheesh!) - but that'll have to be later ...

stamps: PTI's On The Couch; paper: SU's Old Olive, Very Vanilla card stock, unknown Prism yellow card stock and unknown SU retired DP; ink: SU's So Saffron, Color Box's Creamy Brown; tools: ek success' scallop diamond and Franklin Covey multi-hole punch

happy 4th, folkes!

I've been making a few Independence Day cards and this one's based on the CPS121 sketch challenge, below. I think I'll break down and either purchase the Nestabilities' stars next - this card could use a larger one but this size star was all I had on hand. I knew I had this red and cream striped paper on hand, but I didn't have any DP of a dark blue background with white stars, so I made this. I couldn't locate any plain stars so it's using the star flower center from my very first PAPERTREYink stamp set. This is a taller card - it fits into a business size #10 (US) envelope.

Hmmnn ... it's late and I'm tired or else I'd pull out my Silhouette and make some star punches. I'll update the picture after I've updated the star. What d'ya think? I'm leaning toward maybe a vellum star so we can see the kids on parade thru it!



stamps: Flourishes' Patriotism on Parade, PAPERTREYink's paper tray; paper: Rusty Pickle Molly Striped Pajamas DP, A1 Natural White, CTMH Outdoor Denim and The Paper Co Kraft cardstocks; ink: CTMH's Outdoor Denim

don't quote me, but ...

Don't quote me, but ... if friends were flowers, I'd pick Pat! A two-fer card based on Card Patterns' CP13 sketch and Caardvarks' "don't quote me" challenges, it's heading to my good buddy Pat who's my partner in crime in all things stamping-related! On Thursday morning she's picking up Kim (my other scrappin' bud) and me, and we're all heading to Novi to take in the Great Lakes Scrapbooking Mega Meet. Tonight she's taking delivery of our recent Stampin' Up! orders (and just MAYBE our latest Close To My Heart orders as well) so we'll have the necessary show-'n-tell before we start work tomorrow. I thought it'd be nice to let her know she's much appreciated by making her a card ... 'cuz, if friends were flowers, I'd pick her! I used the thumping technique to get the blotchy mixed color flower effect - IRL it really matches the shabby pinks in the card well if I do say so myself! (woot! woot! my first "me likey" from Allison, who I'm a gushing fan of ...)



stamps: Unity's Feel the Joy, PAPERTREYink's green thumb; paper: My Mind's Eye's Laundry Line DP, SU's Ruby Red and unknown white cardstocks; ink: StazOn's Jet Black, SU's Ruby Red and Cameo Coral, Tri-C watercolor marker; accessories: My Mind's Eye's chipboard borders, crocheted flower, and BasicGrey button

happy b'day Mike

One of my lunch buddies is celebrating a birthday today so I made this simple masculine card for him - it's got the kewlest designer cardstock paisley pattern on the front, and the inside is stamped
"HAPPY birthday
wish big
(mini cupcake pic)" - easy peasy! Trip down memory lane ... this was the first PAPERTREYink stamp set I'd ever purchased!

stamps: PAPERTREYink's paper tray, SU's short and sweet; paper: SU's To the Nines Specialty, Whisper White cardstock; ink: ColorBox Antique Pewter; accessories: unknown lt blue ribbon

I can't help myself ...

I've a stampin' buddy whose daughter has collected frogs for quite some time. Altho' she's probably just about frog'd out, I can't seem to help myself ... any time I see what I consider a cute frog I have to either pick it up or forward links to my bud Pat. Well, who doesn't love Debbie Mumm, eh?! This one's for Lindsey, based on papertrey ink's dot-to-dot sketch challenge. I used complementary DP from the Debbie Mumm collection and cut and popped up the main image's rectangle background, the l'il froggie, and the heart punches.

stamps: PAPERTREYink's Green Thumb, studio g's series 26 (inside sentiment); paper: Creative Imaginations' Debbie Mumm DP, Colormates' Dark Autumn Red, Deep Outdoorsy Olive cardstocks; ink: StazOn's Jet Black; tools: heart handheld punch, dimensionals

happy b'day Kathleen!

My buddy Kathleen's celebrating a birthday on Monday, and I'm dropping this card off to her at work tomorrow. Yeah, I know, I'm totally hooked on this DP! LOL! She's NOT into checking blogs, so methinks my secret's safe by posting it today!

stamps: PAPERTREYink's Green Thumb, SU's Heartfelt Thanks; paper: Bo-Bunny Press' Summer Cottage Buds DP, SU's Real Red and So Saffron cardstocks; ink: SU's Old Olive, Real Red and So Saffron; accessories: SU's Real Red grosgrain ribbon

happy b'day, sue!

This card's for a buddy of mine who's got a December birthday. A few friends and I are getting together to celebrate it tomorrow early with dinner and a movie. I just got these stamps this past week and was itching to use 'em! The card's based on a sketch from Rae's site.

stamps: The Cat's Pajamas' Polar Holiday, PAPERTREYink's Green Thumb; paper: Creative Memories' baby blue, SU's Almost Amethyst, Memory Box's d/cardstocks; inks: Brilliance Graphite Black, asst'd watercolor markers; accessories: May Arts ribbon share from TexasJodyLynn; tools: Cuttlebug w Happy Birthday embossing folder

Angelosity's Sketch 31

Just making this post under the wire ... with 15 more minutes to post during this day ... here's my post for Angelosity's daily challenge. I WAS just checking blogs before hitting the sack and then the circles down the center of today's sketch spoke to me. You see, I'd just picked up this ribbon from Michael's this past weekend!

Short on details 'cuz I just tossed everything back into it's storage ... stamps: Stampendous' Santa Trio, PAPERTREYink's Green Thumb; paper: red and white card stock from stash on hand; ink: Brilliance's black, waterbased markers on hand; accessories: Artic Antics ribbon

I LOVE this stuff!

I dunno whether it's due to my childhood memory or what, but I love herringbone plaid! I recall that my Mom knit my Dad a couple vests with a herringbone stripe across them and socks to match. She also used to knit my Barbie doll dresses, God love her! I've been SO BLESSED with t'riffic parents, so I made this one for my Mom ... just because!

The sentiment is from PAPERTREYink's Paper Tray stamp set, the paper and cardstock was from stash on hand, and I used herringbone stamps from Technique Tuesday's Olde World Squares stamp set and stamped a herringbone border on the bottom of the inside using CTMH's Outdoor denim and SU's certainly celery inks to coordinate with the paper used on the card front.

a b'day card 4 Donna J

This card doesn't use any of my toys, but a couple of my passions, of the ribbon and flower variety. I 'm posting the outside, and the inside contained a few more flower pics with the saying, "If friends were flowers, I'd pick you." Isn't that a great quote?! Who said that?

The grey striped paper's matted on black (another obsession) and below the flower pic I added a couple of metal word embellishments - can't think of from what company at the moment ... of all the things I've lost, I miss my mind the most, y'know?!