BUSY, BUSY, BUSY

I have been very busy today. Tonight and last night I have spent either looking for or painting our flag for my girls camp next week. I had anticipated getting a few cards made but it is 2 am and I have been painting most of the evening. Tomorrow night I hope to post a picture of the finished flag, a card and maybe the round journals finished. I have one last planning and play practice, meeting with my girls tomorrow evening,before we leave next Monday. Everything except the food should be done by tomorrow night, but everthing I planned to do this weekend, got postponed until late Tues. Night. I am spending way to much time getting ready. My husband told my friend today he couldnt wait for camp to be over so he could have his wife back. This weekend was nuts and so was today. I have girls coming tomorrow for props and I need to pack up the tents. I am hoping when I go to bed tomorrow night that Most of the Busy Work will be wrapped up. I might post a cardbefore 11am, if not it wont be until late, sorry. Thanks for checking my blog I appreciate it, and your comments.

Until later everyone... Happy Stamping!

One Last Snow in July

For the last three days I have been making cards for a Swap on SCS called Brand Spanking New.

This swap is about using new colors or stamps from the new SU Catalog. I haven't bought too much from the new catalog yet, and this being the third card I was struggling to come up with a card. I really wanted the card to be mono chromatic in greys and blacks. In my brainstorming I remembered that Snow flurries made it into the new catalog. I also had some of the new Basic Grey cardstock and ink pad. I have the going grey ink pad but let me just say I love this new color alot. It's a lot more rich and deep. I used Basic Grey, Basic Black and Pretty in Pink for this card. I also wanted to use this pink and black gingham ribbon, in fact I used it all up and I hope I can find more. The check is larger than some you can find and it has pink on the edge instead of black. It is much prettier than what I was able to find today.

I used Ultra Smooth Cardstock in white from SU, and Pretty in Pink and Basic Grey ink. I punched the snowflakes with a 3/4" punch after stamping them, and then some pink cardstock into a 1" circle for matting the grey snowflakes. I used light pink Mini brads from Queen & Co. I ran the pink, cardstock and snowflakes, through my Zyron X to add adhesive to the back and then punched the center of the grey ones, attached the brads, and then adhered them to the pink mat with small Zots glue dots.

After trimming the Basic Grey cardstock I ran it through the Cuttlebug with the D'vine swirl Embossing folder. After seeing this Card by Debbie Olsen a month ago, I thought I could trim the swirls close to look like wind. After trimming the swirls I tied the Ink and black ribbon to the grey swirl embossed cardstock. When I mounted it on a piece of Black cardstock I tore the paper close to the grey edge. I pierced the black following the curves in the grey free hand at about 1/8th inch apart. Lastly I mounted it on the Pretty In Pink making sure to leave room to stamp the "let it snow" sentiment from SU "Cold Play" with the Basic Grey Ink. I then placed the snow flakes on the card where I thought they worked the best.

Until Later... Happy Stamping!

4 A's Three for You

This is the second of three Swap cards I made for a Swap on SCS. Why 4 A's , the cardstock SU's Always Amethyst, and Apricot Appeal. I just couldn't get the purple color to look right in the picture of the card. I think the Kaliedescope irridesent Embossing powder was interferring, with the camera getting the color right. The irridesents show up nice in their varied colors. This card really is simple and turned out very cute. I used my large SU Circle punches to cut the circles out of Appricot Appeal 1-3/8" and Always Anethyst 1-1/4". The flower and center from Three For You Punch Box, were stamped on Whisper White cardstock and then punched with my 1" circle punch. I used the "Just For You" sentiment from the same set as well as the Wild Wasabi Stamping spot to put the sentiments on the white circles by the flowers. The circle pieces were then assembled. I used a white organza ribbon, and wished I had purchased some Apricot Appeal ribbon with my Su order. To add color I added a little green petit dot ribbon(Wal mart). I used my standard "little bits" wheel from stamping up to roll embossing glue onto the Always Amethyst paper and then sprinkled kalidescope embossing powder to add some sparkle. I thought of adding brads, and dimensionals under the circles, but decided it would take away from the sparkle. I hope you like my simple card.

Until Later... Happy Stamping!

Caramel & Teal Motifs

I purchased this striped ribbon several weeks ago at wal-mart. I've been wanting to use it, but never picked the right colors to use it. Tonight I was staring at paper trying to find inspiration for 3 swap cards I need to make and get in the mail soon. I finally looked at the ribbon and decided I am going to make a card so I can use it. I chose SU Whisper White, Creamy Caramel, Chocolate Chip for cardstock and inks and added Taken With Teal ink to bring in the blue.
My Demo Loaned me her SU Baroque Motifs Stamp set.
I think I need to get it, Their is so much I want to get.

I stamped off the teal ink once to lighten it to go with the ribbon more each time I used it, except when I stamped "Cherish". I felt the carmel cardstock need the ink darker. The large flower is stamped with Creamy Caramel and then sponged with Chocolate Chip, A teal brad from MM tropics was added to the center and the flower is mounted on dimensionals.

I stamped the square shaped stamp 3 times and then trimmed them into leaves for the large circle flower. The smaller flowers are stamped on Whisper white and then I colored the centers with a Chocolate Chip marker. Next I punched them out with my 1" circle punch, and then sponged them and the card base with Creamy Caramel. I trimmed 1/2" off the Creamy Caramel cardfront and then marked about 3/4" off center using a ruler and double slot punch. I then stamped the Brocade background with Chocolate Chip. I then stamped "Cherish", and threaded the ribbon. I did loop and cross the ribbon in the back to try to puff and bunch the ribbon better. It does look prettier in real life. I wished I had a little teal gemstone to stick on the dot of the "i". Should I add a clear one?

I made 6 of these tonight for the "Brand Spankin New" swap on SCS. I need to make 2 more sets because I signed up for three spots. I get the loveliest cards in this group.

Until Later... Happy Stamping!

Love Always Tent Card

The SC 134 challenge of a tent card got my mind racing. There are so many shapes and things you can use for tents. Last night when I made this card I went to bed with it looking like the blurry picture below.(I didn't know the picture was blurry until after I changed the card, Oops)

I wasn't happy with it but I need to get a lot of extra cards made for while I am at camp. I will be getting the cards made and the blog written so my DD#4 can post them for me. I thought it's acceptable, and I am tired and sore, so I went to bed. This morning I went in my craft room with new eyes and added the Tulips(SU Bothway Bloosoms) and the red for the heart on tag . What a difference a small touch makes.

Sometimes the little extra is too much and sometimes it is just right, I think that is what makes the paper crafts so challenging for us, and yes... so FUN.

When it's finished you just know.

I used whisper white card stock for the base, and a summery yellow and bright red cardstock I had laying around, for the rest. I had picked up this cute dotted red ribbon at(walmart) months ago and have been wanting to use it. I used my Cricut Doodlecharms cartridge to cut both hearts. I used versamark to stamp the print pattern from SU "looks like spring" and real red for the dotted over it. I punched the holes on the scallopped edge of the heart and colored with a pastle white gel pen to make faux rivets. I like this technique at times like this because this many rivets would be too much. I freehanded the faux stiching around the heart with Summer Sun marker about 1/16" in from th eedge. when testing it I decided the heart got to close to someof the faux rivet holes so I trimmed the inner heart down closer to the stitching. If I make this style again I would use the shadow feature to cut the scalloped heart so I wouldhave morespace towork with. The tag is punched with SU tag punches and mounted on dimesionals. The "always" sentiment came with the retired SU SAB 06 set"Too Terrific Tags". It is stamped with Summer Sun. I colored with a red watercolor pencil and then used a fine tip H2O painter. The "love" from wonderful words was stamped in Real Red, then masked. The Tulips were stamped in Basic Black and then when the mask was removed the ballance of the stems were added with a Basic Black Marker. After I colored the stems with a Mellow Moss marker. I then use my Red and Lemon Yellow water color pencils( Kimberly generals) to color the base and tips of the tulips. I used my H20 pen to paint the red down toward the yellow cleaned the tip and then lightly drew some yellow up making sure to leave some white paper showing. Normally I would reverse this, but I needed to get the red thinned and the space was limited. I hope you like my bright summery tent card. Until Later... Happy Stamping!

Three For You Punch Box Card

I had so much fun coming up with a tent card for the SC 134 challenge. I just got my new Punch box and I wanted to use it also. So I made this card. The cardstock base is Bashful Blue and is cut at 4.25x8.5 giving you a 4 1/4' sqaure card. the Tent Topper is measured fromt he base and makes the finished card 5-1/2"x 1-1/4" so it will fit in a A2 Envelope. I used Whisper White cardstock also. I cut two card bases fromthe Bashful Blue and the leftover blue strip at the end was used for the topper. I measured and marked a line on the blue about 3/4" up from the base in pencil on each side and used the marks to make sure the flowers were punched level using the marks on the side of the punch. I then cut a strip 1/4" wider and 1/4" narrower than the blue.





Then I inserted the blue paper strip into the back of my Giga Scallopped oval punch centering it between the scallops and the metal straight lines on the back. Then I punched the top. I then lined up the wider strip with the blue and punched the White strip as shown in the picture making sure the scallops lined up and the sides were positioned first. Sorry the flash whited out the blue strip a bit. On the wider one I marked the two top flower petals with pencil and then used my Stamp a Ma Jig to position the flower stamp on the white paper, with Pale Plum stamped off once. Then I punched the center dot of the flowers with my 1/16th circle punch and inserted three lime green colored mini brads from the Make Waves collection by Queen Co.! I love these tiny little mini brads. I wish they came in a light yellow for flower centers.





Some one asked how I used the foam handle to flatten the Rhinestone brads last week. The little ones needed some flattening so I took a picture. Not an easy task. my arms were crossed over each other and dodging the lamp to get his but here it is sorry its a little blurry.



Next I stamped the dotted stamp fromt he punch box set in Bashful Blue onthe Blue strip. I should have used my S-a-M-Jig for this too! Next I cut two pieces of White baby rick rack and mounted it using Zips glue strips. I mounted it on dimensionals (1/16" Target $, I used six) and later decided I should have added the lime green petit dot ribbon(wal-mart)now, but I added it when I finished the card because it needed something more. The next thing I did was the narrower strip of Whisper White cardstock. I used the larger flower in the set and stamped it in Bashful Blue stamped off once. I stamped the dot in Pale Plum stamped off once thought it needed to be darker so re stamped it with out stamping off, again no S-a-M-Jig,oops!. Last I stamped the "thinking of you" sentiment with the Wild Wasabi ink spot after stamping it off once. This little piece was mounted on dimensionals also. On the main base, I wanted dots, and I haven't ordered the new SU Polka dot Background YET, so I used my hot to dot wheel with White craft ink. I have done this a million times and embossed it with no problems, with words etc, but this time the embossing powder(ep) spread a little further then the stamped image. Leaving a little dark circle around the edge of the white, and lightened up the white dots. I used a different ep than usual, because I had this little stackable container of powders I need to use up. Note to self stick with the other clear ep powder(Utee). Lastly I stamped the large flower from SU Big Pieces in Pale Plum over the top only because I didnt like the look of the Embossed dots. That is how a card grows and changes, well at least this card.



Until Later... Happy Stamping!

Snow In July, two!

I had snowflakes on the brain after getting a quick glimpse at the winter mini catalog. I have a great SU demo, so If you don't have one look her up here. I think she can help you out. I love the huge snowflake in it, plus the 90+ degree and high humidity have me wishing for a little relief from the heat. Snow in July anyone!

I was going to do a Bashful Blue cardstock with craft white snow flakes, but decided to use Ballet Blue on Whisper White cardstock instead.
I used my SU Jumbo Snowflake wheel. I also used remnants from the Snow in July card the other day. I had this wide organza ribbon in red so I tied it around the card after rolling the inside and the outside with the wheel. I punched the snowflake from the center of the cuttlebugged snowflake circle with my EK 1" circle punch. I then punched a 1/16" circle in tiny circle end of the snow flake and threaded silver crochet thread(Wal-mart) through the hole and knotted it. I slipped it around the red bow,and then I slipped the larger donut shaped circle around the bow also. The small snowflake is mounted on a dimensional on the ribbon. Inside I matted Whisper White on Red cardstock for writting.

My DD#4 said this card isnt as nice as the other Christmas in July card. I don't know. She said well it's probably the Corbacain(sp?). I don't know. My finger is throbbing tonight. I guess the cortisone(sp?) and Corbacain, have worn off and aren't going to work. My finger is hurting, but I am trying to wait until after camp and my family Vacation to get it fixed. So today I decided I wanted to do a simple card and halfway through it started hurting. I will do my card earlier in the day tomorrow, before I aggravate it. I have a nebulism/nueroma(sp?) on the nerve. I have had it for years no big problems, but now when I am super busy it starts acting up! Isn't that how it always goes.

Until Later...Happy Stamping!

Card From a Friend

My friend gave me a very beautiful card for my anniversary, and since my finger has been in dispose for most of the day, I didn't work on any cards. I did celebrate DD#7 birthday, and so this is the only card I have to show tonight.

I think it is very elegant and could be used for a wedding also. I am not positive of the stamp used for the flowers in a vase, but I am sure she painted it with aqua painters and used glitter onthe roses. I am sure she used the Cuttlebug and the Textile Embossing folder. It gives such an elegant look. The oval was punched with a SU oval punch and stamped with Mr& Mrs from the tagger's dozen stamp set. and sponged with silver ink on the edges. The silver cording and white organza look wonderful withthis card. The pink brads look like regal rose and the cardstock looks like Whisper white, Going Grey and Basic Black. I love the way she shaded the vase and raised the panel on dimensionals. I think it's a beautiful card and I will be sure to case it in the future, because it is such a cute LO.

Hopefully tomorrow my finger will feel good enough to make cards and type!

Until Later... Happy Stamping!

Snow In July

Everyone else has been posting Christmas Cards. I can't quite get myself to make a christmas card yet, but how about Snow in July. It is July so I used Red, White and Blue cardstock. I put the blue cardstock through my cuttlebug with my new Sledding Embossing folder. I couldn't wait to use it. It is so cute. I also used the winter embossing jelly's I got for my Cuttlebug to make the square snowman and round snowflake. The red and white paper was cut with my Cricut using my George Cartridge a 2" rounded square , and circle. I couldn't decide which I one I was going to use as a focal point so I cut both and also a shadow in red. I punched the center snowflake out with a 1" circle punch once I decided to use the snowman as the focal point.

I pierced the white with my paper piercer and then mounted the snowman on dimensionals.

I threaded the ribbon between the snowman and its matting. When I tied and trimmed it. I was careful to keep the red gingham on top of the 3/4" White Organza.

I stamped the "Let It Snow" sentiment from the SU Cold Play stamp set then trimmed it close, and matted it with red. These were trimmed by hand and then mounted on dimensionals also.

I am in hurry I need to leave for my anniversary trip, I may tweak this with pastels after I get back, I haven't decided yet, but I've had the weekend to think about it.

Until Later... Happy Stamping!

Brown Toned Taggers' Thankyou

Today I made a mono-chromatic card in browns. I've been wanting to do a few of these and I am sure I'll do a black and grey one when my new ink pad arrives.

I used the brown cardstock from my local scrapbook store(LSS), a Very Vanilla and a med light brown from a neutral package I got at Michaels. I put the vanilla through my cuttlebug with the Bloom Dots embossing folder. I love the dry embossing with the cuttle bug it is an easy way to add an elegant touch to a simple card.

I found these neat flower beads at Wal-mart. They come in a package of about 8 in assorted sizes. I thought would be excellent embellishments. To attach them to this card I used this stitched ribbon I found at Michaels it is a little wider than 1/8th inch. I trimmed at a very long angel to make the ribbon narrow and threaded it through the bead holes. I cut the ribbon longer than I needed so if it frayed I could trim it down. With a bit of tugging the ribbon and threading came through the hole. I knotted it with a piece of Tan and Brown gingham, knotting it in the center of the flower. I just think these shaped beads are a fun find. I cut the large scalloped flower from my cuttlebug die cut set, and then punched my SU 1-1/4 and 1-3/8 th circle punches in matching layers to the card matted base. I stamped the "thankyou" sentiment from SU "Taggers Dozen" in Chocolate Chip, and then colored the flower with Perfect Plum and Barely Banana markers, to add a little contrast.

I hope you enjoyed this simple card.

Until Later...Happy Stamping!

Black and Pink Fairytale

I have about 3 weddings in August. A few that I am missing because of family trips, and Camp. I decided I needed to get some of the cards made now because I will be so busy later. After playing with the Brown and pink the last few days I thought it might be fun to use Black and Pink on todays card. The sentiments and images are from the fairy tale wedding set that was just retired from SU. I've been wanting this set for the "diamond ring" image in it. I had to get it once I heard it was being retired. Now that I have about 4 weddings in the late summer and fall I am really glad to have it. I stamped off the Pretty In Pink flower images and then lightly stamped them on the white and then the sentiment in Black Stazon over the background. I then punched three evenly spaced double slit punches in the sides after matting it on Black and used Pink and Black grosgrain ribbon to tie three knots. I mounted this on dimensionals after rolling the whirly-twirly wheel(also retired) in black on the pink cardstock base. The cake image was stamped with Black Stazon on white cards stock and then colored with colored pencils and matted with Light pink Cardstock. I used creative Memories square punches for this. I then mounted this using the same dimensionals. I think it turned out well. This makes me a little sentimental since my 25th Wedding Anniversary is this weekend. Isn't my DD#4 an angel to post my blog postings for me.

Until Later ...Happy Stamping!

Adoreably Zoorific

Okay I am in a rut color wise but I was having so much fun with this cardstock yesterday. SO if you want to know color and maker check yesterdays post.





I used Pretty In Pink and rolled the white Cs with the Jumbo twirly stars a retired wheel I just bought. Folded the card base at 1 3/4" and 7 1/4" so that the small flap was on the top. the cards final dimensions are


4-1/4x5-1/2. I then trimmed the brown 1/4" samller and the pink 1/2" smaller. I embossed the pink with my Cuttlebug using the D'vine swirl folder. I used my ticket corner punch to trim the pink and then added small pink MM button brads in the corners. I then adhered it to the base. I then matted the zoorific zebra with pink, brown and white cardstock using the ticket corner punch then tied a bow around the pink and brown mat before attaching to the white stamped final mat. The ribbon was a brown wired ribbon with pink rubberized flowers and a small strip of Pink and white Gingham. I havea friend having a baby girl in August. The image piece was then adhered to the top flap using Small Zots Glue Dots. I colored the "Zebra" with colored pencils using a siena Prisma color and a Made in China Light pink and the Prisma Colorless blender after stamping it with Timber Brown Stazon. The sentiment uses a large pink MM Button Brad and the ticket corner punch and is trimmed about 1/16th in and the "adorable" from the warm words sentiment was stamped with Timber Brown Stazon.





Until Later ... Happy Stamping!

SC133, Be Happy Polka Dots & Petals

I love when the sketch challenge comes out on SCS every Wednesday. It gets my creative juices flowing. I made myself do one thing today and that was use this wired chocolate ribbon with pink rubberized flowers on it that I bought over a month ago, and use the Ka-Jinker Jems I picked up a week ago, to use with my On Board Paper Tagger.

The Brown Cardstock I picked up in the clearance section of my local scrapbooking store and I am uncertain of the maker or color. It is very similar to Chocolate Chip from SU, but slightly lighter. I matted with light Pink from the baby girl package of cardstock from Michaels. I also used scrap Photo Matte paper from a project I did for a friend who needed quick baby Shower invites that I did on my computer yesterday. I used the jumbo roller and my Pretty In Pink ink pad to roll the petals image on the white photo paper. I used the polka dots and petals stamp set and Chocolate chip and pretty in pink to stamp the images on white and used a 3/4 " square punch to cut the images out. I trimmed the strips off pink and Brown cardstock to 1" and then trimmed all three at the same time so the little sqaure was aone inch square and the other strip about 1-2/4 " long. I used a chocolate Chip marker to color the words and dots from the Be Happy Sentiment stamp and stamped each separately on White or Light pink cardstock. I then trimmed close to the image with scissors. Next I trimmed the wire from the brown ribbon. I tried punching the flowers out with my punch but it didnt work so I trimmed along the impression of the 1/2 " circle punch. And adhered it to the sentiment stips. I then tied the bow of 1/4" light pink organza around a longer strip of the brown flowered ribbon then crossed it back to make a "V" then pierced throught the Ka Jinker Jem "Flower" button and the ribbons with my Paper Tagger, I did this 2 times because I was trying to get an X shaped image on the front of the button, but when I adhered it to the card it rolled back parallel. I like these little Ka Jinker "Jems" they look like buttons but they only have one hole. I will look for more of them in the future. I think I got them at Michaels, or Archivers, I have been doing so much lately I cant remember. The Ka Jinker is a tool similar to the Paper Tagger(PT) by Around the Block. The PT cost less. I used the Dark brown Attachments to match the card stock. I need to remember to play with this more. Iused these same colors for tomorrows card. I just love the Dark Brown with lots of colors, It is very versatile.

Until later...Happy Stamping!

Baroque Stylized Flower & Large Clips for Camp

Well I stayed up to make this card for you. I used my Stylized Flower Embossing folder on a very vanilla card stock. I rounded the top two corners to make it look more like a window. I rubbed them with a Platnium Ink pad lightly and then bash Ful Blue stamp spot to add some color. I stamped "Kind" and the small star flower from the baroque motifs stamp set in Bashful blue also. I then added blue rhinestones to the star flowers using my sakura glue pen. The star flowers on the sentiment were stamped with bashful blue also but were stamped off first. Kind was stamped and a rhinestone added to dot the "i". I matted both images with a light blue cardstock. The circles were cut with the SU 1-3/8 & 1-1/4 circle punches. The light blue grosgrain ribbon added the finishing touch. This is a simple quick card because I promised a card.

I made 32 of these jumbo clips today and I just about backed out of making a card. It took longer to cut the petals decorative paper and the cereal boxes into the "flowers" with my Cuttlebug than I had planned. After being cut the decorative apper was stuck to the cereal boxes with Modge Podge. I used dimensionals to mount the large flowers on either side of the clip and then tied the double sided ribbon to help keep the flowers at the top of the clip. the larger flowers were sponged with Brilliance Sterling Silver and the small ones with Regal Rose. After being mounted in the center of the large flowers, the buttons were also mounted with Zots. These clips are one of the things I needed to finish for camp.

Until Later ...Happy Stamping!

More Camp Creations

By Now you should know if you see lime green it can only mean one thing. Camp projects!

I am just about through, but it increasingly getting hard to find the time to make a card and keep up with my kids. The four youngest 15,12,8,4, were home today alone for most of the day, I told them to pick up the house when I was gone. Usually a meger job of that is done but today my kids really stepped up to the plate and my house was just spotless after being gone for 5 hrs! It was really a blessing, that I wasn't expecting. Not only was the house clean but they were all happy and had no squabbles or complaints. It was wonderful.

I just posted the picture because I wanted you to know I have been busy, just not making cards for you. I hope to get more done this week since I just about have my projects completed. I have four girls that are all 16 that helped me out today stamping and coloring, and they did a wonderful job getting these kits together. We made 16 kits. I used some stamps and colored pencils and punches and stuff but I am not going to get into that kind of detail. These are gifts for the girls to share with other campers.

We made a candy bar cover, and made nugget handouts. None of these are complete becuase the girls are finishing them at camp. I just didn't want to haul all my stuff up there, just some tape markers and scissors. and tags ready to attach and write notes on. I was so proud of my DD#4. A few days ago I handed her the plastic straws and told her I needed a tag to attach to it to go with the can of pop/soda. She came up with, " I hope this is the only thing that sucks in your day". I found the straws on clearance at Target and couldn't refuse the lime green spots. I think the girls will be very pleased. The one tag says "'Chews' the right" its being attached to some gum. he fortune cookies tag has a quote on it that says something about good fortune or bad fortune just making us better preparing us for eternal things, DD#6 found that quote and picture.

Oh well today, I am thankful I have such sweet kids and that the Lord has blessed me so much.

Tomorrow I will definately have a card to share. Until then...Happy Stamping!

Colored Pencil Observations

Well I can't find in the reading of my other post what I wanted you to know about colored pencils. I am not an expert on coloring, so no pictures from me. Just some observations I have made about colored pencils in general.

The Prisma Pencils are the best for getting nice results. In a comparison of all the colored pencils I own which are many. I have noticed a few things.

1. I think it is the amount of "wax" in the pencil that makes it work best, and blend best. The softer the pencil writes the better the blending that can take place.




2. Cornell-Loew(C-L) makes many multiple colors but their pencils have a very hard lead, and they do not work well with odorless mineral spirit blenders. They are perfect for adding a little contrast in fine cross hatch lines, but not for shading etc.




3. Crayola falls a little between C-L and Colorific not quite as hard as C-L, a great pencil for kids so the lead doesn't break alot, but it only blends slightly.




4. Colorific made by Sanford who makes Prismas blend well and are softer than Crayola and they blend nicely with the Colorless blending pencils by Prismacolor , and nicely with mineral spirit blenders but not as nice as Prisma's.




5. In my collecting I have these pencils just labeled "Made in China". Probably a Dollar store buy for my kids. They are softer than the Colorific and slightly harder than the prismas. They blend well with both the colorless blender pencils and the odorless mineral spirits.

For now I am using the random Prismas I have, about 8, The "Made in China" and the "Colorific" pencils, this gives me a set of about 50-70 colored pencils. I can color with these and they give me a nice assortment of colors until I buy a set of Prismas. My next big purchase will be a 72 set of Prismacolor Pencils. I am just patiently waiting for a nice Michael's or Joann's coupon to do it. KWIM.

I hope this information helps. I noticed the mineral spirit blender at All That Scraps is waitlisted. It is my experience with All That Scraps that if you email christine she will let you know when waitlisted product will be available and will create a way for you to do a preorder. She will ship it right away when it comes in.


Until Later... Happy Stamping!

My first Lockhart stamp, Festive Birthday Card

This is the quickcard I made today. I went to a new stamp store today thought I would save some shipping, since I was unable to get the discount on my attempted order through Ellen Houstons store on Friday. I am still hoping to hear from her.
I was disappointed in the sort of local store I went too. I felt the stamp was too expensive, and when I checked when I got home it was 1.20$ more than on line. I wanted the stamp, I had been wanting to go to this shop since early last week, but my friend couldnt go. I then was going to order it with the discount on Friday along with a preorder, but I had problems ordering. So I email Ellen. I paid the higher price at the store, but I will order Lockhart stamps from Ellens store from now on. Okay I aired my frustration. I'm over it!

I bought the large Cupcake stamp. I really wanted a cup cake and had seen this one used on several cards and wanted to try coloring it. I am still using my Colorific pencils made by the same company that makes Prismas,and some labeled made in China.

You can see an earlier post

about my colored pencil comparison

labeled colored pencils.

EDIT: This will be in tomorrows post!

The new thing I did do recently was buy some Prisma colorless blender Pencils, they come two to a package. BOY do they work great! I have been wanting to use them and this stamp was the perfect opportunity. I think if you color with colored pencils any brand they are a must have. I felt they blended better than the odorless blender which is more expensive. The base of the card is Sage Shadow, because it matched some of the stripes in the Ki Memories striped paper. I used some Flower packaged papers I had for the yellow, pink and turqouise paper, I felt it looked very festive for this little birthday card.
I colored this card simply, the cup cake wrapper with a bright yellow and harvest yellow pencil alternating onthe strips of the packaging. I blended withthe colorless blender and then I shaded with some brownand used the blender again. I colored a light blue background and the frosting was pink and the cherry Red of course. I used 2 small and one large light green colored button Brads by making Memories that I picked up in an assorted color package at Target. I shadowed the ground slightly with the brown also. I am starting to enjoy coloring these stamped images. I was surprised how well I did with my first shot at this Lockhart cup cake. The tags are punched with the Su Tag punches except the yellow which was just hand trimmed to size. The background was embossed with my Bloom Dots EB folder in my Cuttlebug. I faux stiched with my white siglo gel pen from SU, and a ruler.

I hope you enjoy this card. Until Later...Happy Stamping!

Sage & Sky In the Spotlight

The last 15 minutes have been a lesson in patience!; between ink pads and my pictures being out of focus this post has been a bit of a task.

I made this card using a hostess set of my SU demo's. I dont have "In the Spotlight" here, just the images I stamped with her new SU In Colors. This information will prove important later. I love this set, I love everything circles and spots, and this set just fits my taste.

I hope when I have my workshop in the fall, I can earn it. I stamped the images in Soft Sky one of the new Su In Colors, on my GP White cardstock it looks kind of like Sage Shadow. I trimmed a smaller piece of Sage Shadow cardstock since I dont have any Soft Sky cs yet. I embossed it using the D'vine swirl embossing folder in my Cuttlebug. I tied Checked Black & White gingham ribbon around it and added a bit of baby rick rack in White when I finished securing the knot. On the Basic Black cardstock I marked the corners using the medium size holes on the paper piercing mat and then punched out the holes with the 1/8th inch circle punch and used a Creative Impressions pastel green rivets in the corners, Not an exact match but close enough. I am thinking of adding white stiching around the image, but I haven't decided yet if that is the look I really want or not. I matted the black wider because I was going too, but I was thinking of using the punch and reversing the triange points in the corners in the center of the long side of the black. Any opinions?(leave it or change it)

I punched the small image with a 3/4" EK circle punch and the large with 1-1/4" SU circle punches and matted with a Black Matting punched with a SU 1-3/8" circle punch. I added 3 3mm diamond Hero Arts gemstones to the center of the small images. Lastly I stamped "to you from me" using the SU Cute Converse set. When I opened my Versa magic Midnight black dewdrop I fumbled it and you will notice that it landed on my card and bounced off the lower left small circle. I would fix it for you, but its the middle of the night and would require a 40min round trip driving to go and stamp one. I think I'll wait to do that later if you dont mind. I need to go and palce my order for new things next week. I still can't decide what I want. I think I am buying a few wheels and some paper. Any hints of what you're getting out of the new SU catty?

Until Later ...Happy Stamping!

2 Rhinestone Brad Hints & Anniversary Baroque Card

Sorry this is a little late. I took my kids to the libray and it took longer than I had planned.

I need to explain the color choices for this card. This is for my DH next weekend, for our 25th wedding Anniversary. The Burgandy, Pink and Blue were the colors for our Wedding. With that said I'll explain the card.

I antiqued it by sponging both Timber Brown Stazon and Brilliance Starlite Silver. I used my SU paper piercer & mat pack to pierce the corners of the burgandy and then antique it, because after 25 years we are a bit aged. This Is me winking;) The light blue layer, I distressed the edges putting alot of the silver on the roughed paper edge and then sponging the Brown. I added 4 Silver Antique metal brads by Creative Impressions. I didn't have quite a light enough pink so I stamped the silver image on to vellum and then adhered it to my light pink using frosted squares for vellum from Creative Memories. After adhereing and trimming I sponged with Timber Brown. I did not sponge with silver on this layer. I trimmed the corners with my SU Ticket Corner punch. I stamped the small flowers with Bravo Burgandy and then adhered it to the blue background. I added 5 2mm diamond Hero Arts gemstones on this layer. Next I stamped off the large flower once after inking with bordering blue and then used the Rock N Roll technique to add my Brilliance Starlite Silver dewdrop ink on the edges. I stamped twice on Whisper White. I cut these out and then distressed the edges with Timber Brown. I picked the best looking one, and I punched a hole in the center with my 1/8th circle punch. I used a large pink Rhinestone brad in the center. This brad is either one from the Target dollar that I picked up a year ago or a MM one from the assorted pack. I then mounted the flower on a 1/8" dimensional. Lastly I used my Stardust clear pen to add the silver stiching around the perimeter of the card on the Chocolate Brown cardstock base. I haven't decided if I want to stamp "Cherish" on the card yet. I am not certain if it would take away from the masculine look.

Hint: Some friends of mine have been complaining that they can not get the rhinestone brads flat enough on their cards. I have used two methods that I think work well. Both are used in different situations depending on what you are mounting the stone on.

1. Bend the prongs tighter together with jewelry pliers under the stone, getting rid of the air gap and then mount.
2. My favorite way is to used the Rubber handle on the punches, I use the make the hole, to press down firmly after mounting the stone. The rubber handle protects the stone and it doesnt slip. (EDIT: I have the fiskars foam rubber handles.)

Until Later ...Happy Stamping!

Camp Keychains

I had started an Extra card yesterday thinking I would finish it today but I ended up working on camp things tonight. I finished 16 key chains, with 2 shrink art charms. Nothing fancy just a keepsake from camp. It has their name in camp colors, and a picture for our Justice & Mercy League theme, Plus each of the bead colors represent different meanings, ie Faith, Good Works, Knowledge, etc.... I hope you'll come and check later. I will make a card in the morning and post around noon. I just finished my camp project too late. Until later ...Happy Stamping!

Trees at Sunset

I made a simple card today I have been wanting to play with this inkadinkado stamp since I got it a few weeks ago at JoAnn's. I used a versa mark resist technique, except I used royal brights Matte photo paper. I probably should of used glossy white but I wanted to try the matte because I was using metallic inks.

I stamped the trees first on the white with Versamark. After it dried I brayered it with Apricot Appeal, This is where glossy might of saved some time and ink. I had to do several coats to get the color equaled out. You can barely see the whitish yellow shadowy trees in the background. Try enlarging the picture for a better view by clicking on it. I then stamped the trees again using my Brilliance Dewdrop Cosmic Copper, and I left it behind on my table all day disappointed with the results. Somedays are like that.

Tonight I came back and sponged Really Rust ink around the perimeter. I felt it really helped the image, and a card was born. I stamped the yellow cardstock base, from "Vintage Fashion Colors" from Michaels, with the swirl background from SU "Baroque Motifs" in Really Rust. I also sponged the edges with the same ink. I matted the trees with Basic Black cardstock and adhered the image with I think MM copper button rivets and adhesive. Finally, I tied a Black & White gingham and a Brown petit dot ribbon onto a flattened circle paper clip in copper. I bought the ribbon at Walmart and the paper clips in the office section at Target. I believe in the end this card turned out nice. Sometimes walking away for awhile is a good idea!

Maybe I'll decide what I want to do for a sentiment by tomorrow and I'll have to update this post. I was thinking of using a "thinking of you" sentiment.

Anybody have any ideas?

Until Later..... Happy Stamping!

SC 132 Making me Smile

Tonight when Roxi posted the SC 132 challenge
an idea jumped into my head immediately.
I just love when that happens, especially when it turns out nicely.

Be sure to check out the Updated Version Below!

I used Basic Black, Whisper White and a Light Pink Card stock. I cut the circle and the shadow for it on my Cricut using my George cartridge set at 3-1/2". I cut the hinge window and shadow with Fabulous Finds at 3-1/2" also. The small pink circles were punched with EK 1/2" circle punch. The "Small Sayings" sentiment stamped in Versamagic Midnight Black, and the small butterfly in Pretty In Pink. The small butterfly reminded me of the butterfly in Shapes and Shadows, so I stamped the larger butterflies on the Whisoer White and then embossed it with my Cuttlebug D'vine Swirl A2 Embossong folder. I was thinking the D'vine Swirl could be the motion of the butterflies.
I embossed the pink circle with the Stylized Flower A2 Embossing folder, then dragged my Brilliance Moonlight white Dewdrop ink pad over the top lightly. I did goof up withthis when I placed the card I failed to notice I had the folder upside down. The flower ended up on the wrong side of the paper. I turned the circle until I felt it matched up with the hinge placement. I think it works.

I used my SU Ticket Corner punch to punch the corners of the white and black base pieces.
I assembled the card on a Whisper White cardstock base. I always use Zots glue dots to adhere Cuttlebug embossed pieces to something. They hold well and the bumps interfer with other adhesives holding well. The hinge was trimmed after being adhered to the card. I punched through the layers and used MM large Black Button Brads to hold it in place. I think it turned out beautifully.

EDITTED: (done)I am going to add one large butterfly to the upper left corner because I don't think they show up well enough. I will post a picture of that when I finish. I just want to get a post done tonight. I stamped the large butterfly in Pretty in Pink, colored the body in with my Pretty in Pink marker and added one 2mm Hero Arts gemstone in pink for the head. I trimmed close to the image and cut one 1/16th quarter inch dimesional in half and mounted the butterfly over the top of one on the background. I bent up the wings to add to the effect of the dimmensional. I think this added just a little umpf, and dont forget bling!

Until Later... Happy Stamping!

Chocolate Zoofari

I was playing around tonight. I wanted to make something fun after making 16 boxes today in my free time;)me winking! I decided to use my Zoofari stampset and my Chocolate paper that I haven't had a chance to play with yet!

I used my SU Soft Subtle markers in Mellow Moss, Apricot Appeal, Pretty In Pink, and Bashful Blue to color in the dots on the paper, alternately on the diagonal. Then I punched SU Apricot Appeal and Chocolate Chip cardstock, with the large and small tag punches. I cut Apricot Appeal and an Off White(similar to Very Vanilla) with my Mini Monograms cartridge to get the circle center and scalloped edge on my Cricut. I stamped the "tiger" from Zoofari and the "wild about you" from my Wild About You stamp sets in Timber Brown Stazon. I used water color pencils and my aqua painter to paint the image. Certainly Celery was used for wild about you and then trimmed tight and separated and mounted on 1/16th dimensionals. The tag and Scalloped Circle were distressed with Chocolate Chip ink, and punched with a 1/8th circle punch. I notched the edges of the card with my 1/4" circle punch, to keep the Satin Brown and Off White ribbon in place on the front of the card. They were threaded through holes that had been punched and riveted with 3 golden brown rivets. The images and tag were all mounted on 1/8th inch dimesionals, and a gold HeroArts gemstone 2mm size was used to add bling to the sentiment. I love these little gemstones I just bought another package of 3mm size. I like that they come in a 4 assorted color package. Well That is my simple card for today. I think it's turned out well. You might want to click on it to see the details better. Wish I had better colored pencils, I think I could have colored it better.

Until Later ...Happy Stamping!

Boxes and Necklaces for Camp

I have been very busy the last week, working on crafty things for the girls camp I am in charge of in a few short weeks. I am trying to get all the handouts and gift type things done by the 16th. Because then I need to focus on Camping Supplies and Food.

Today I am finishing up 16 boxes I am making for the necklaces I finished up last week. I thought I would share the necklaces with you now that I have the paper stamped for the boxes and one of them made.

The hardest part for doing these boxes was finding bright or Lime Green cardstock that was affordable and individually packaged.I was only finding assortments and didnt want to buy 4 assortment packs just to get the green paper out. I love when things work out like that. This morning I was inspired to go to my local print shop. The place I get my vellum. They had This lovely green. Yeah! I made the bottom out of the green cardstock I was able to pick up at .10$ a sheet. I bought all 31 pieces he had on stock, for making tags and other stuff.

On white card stock I stamped using my Versa Color Lime spot, and my Versa magic Midnight Black dewdrop. I used the new SU Baroque Motif my demo loaned me. I am pretty sure I am ordering this set. I love it. I showed the paper before I folded it under the necklaces so you can see what it looks like when I stamped it. I have some nice lime ribbon and some Black & white Gingham i am using onthese boxes also.

This picture shows the lid and the inside of the box. These boxes are nice and sturdy because the paper is doubled up. I really like them. I got the directions for this box from Nicole's Blog, almost 2 months ago. She has a great tutorial there with pictures. Here's a link to the directions {capture the moment}.

Well I have a few more boxes to fold and fiddle with, and some stuff I need to get ready for tomorrow nights camp prep meeting with the girls. Until Later...Happy Stamping!

Psst... The aboundance of Lime Green Coloring is because the girls chose it for our group last march. You don't know how happy I have been to find all the lime green products in the stores. I think we will have the best decorated camp site in the area.

Update to my Craft room & A So-So card

Since I painted my craft room in Early April I have been trying to find an inexpensive way to organize my ribbon. This is what I finally did.

I used two Scroll Plant hangers I bought at Menards (a lumber store) for about $2.96 each and a few dowels. Because of the scroll I was able to hang two rows of ribbon. I am pleased with how they turned out other than the erasers I used to finish the ends of the dowels. They're just temporary. My DD#4 organized them in colors and styles of ribbon for me. This is what I do when I can't find my creativity. I am in a slump the last few days, and I fear my card shows it that is why I am calling it my So-So card.

I used the White flowers I bought and I can tell it is going to take a bit to get used to how to color them. The dye will wash right out of them. and it was hard to get them to set the way I wanted. It will take a bit of fiddling around with. One time I actually used my paisley background to stamp the flower , and it looked great but it kept running until the effect was gone. I found the metalic inks set well. and didnt bleed away. Water will wash the dye ink right out and you have a white flower again. I havent tried pastels yet, but I can tell it will take me time to figure out the best way to color these flowers.

First I dyed the flowers. The large one I wetted with water and then dipped the ends in SU Purely Pomegranate reinker using a paint brush to dab around the ends. then I put So Safron reinker in the center of the flower. It all bled together and I sprayed some hair spray with irridecents on it because I wasn't liking the look.

It was a real faded pink and yellow. I dipped a tip of a Q-tip in some Metallic Silver reinker and dabbed it around. It pretty much stayed where I put it. I thin rinsed it in a glass of water and dabbed lightly. I liked this look much better, but I thought the background was too light around the metallic dots. I took my Pixie Pink marker and lightly colored a circle around the dots. I finally liked that well enough, but wished I had gold reinker for the dots. Since I didnt have gold I tried to find ways to make the flower look okay with the silver I had these MM pewter flower brads So I punched a 3/4 " circle of So Saffron and then put the brad in, and secured it throught the hole in the flower. The second flower was just dipped in reinkers so saffron in the center and then some Pixie Pink along the creases in the center. It ran together fast so I dabbed it with Kleanex to remove the excess ink. I punched a 1/2"of So Saffron cardstock and inserted the brad.

I cut 2 strips of the green with My SU word window punch and then cut 1/3rd off of one and punched each piece with my 1/16th " punch and inserted a pink brad form the MM Tropical colors. Two strips about a 1/4 " wide were cut from the same green to make the stems. I used Wild Wasabi ink and the "In the Spotlight" an new hostess set for the leaves. I really like this set. I also punched A SU 1-3/8" circle from the green for the tag. The green is an olive color from the Botanicals package from Michaels.

The base of the card is Chocolate Chip. I stamped the base with my cross hatch background by inking just parts of one corner with my Brilliance Dewdrop Platnium ink. To help work in the dots on the flower again. when the word strip pieces were mounted the third one was trimmed to size on the left side of the card. Using white Cardstock I punched a 1 1/4" circle of white and adhered it to the green circle. Then I punched a 1/8th in hole for the ribbon to be attached. I used a hot pink gingham and a sheer dotted brown. after this was tied and trimmed.

I stamped using my sweet spot set. I stamped the dotted flower in So Saffron and sweet in Pixie Pink. I used a Mellow Moss marker to make the dotted stems and leaves to make the tag blend in with the flowers. My daughters think its cute I think its So-So and a bit rushed looking where it was actually pain stakingly bad.

Well Until later.. Happy Stamping!

Celebrating Mini Brads & Spangles

Last night I wanted to try something new that just came in the mail some Queen Co Sprinkle Mini Brads.

I used the Miss Priss ones as centers to the Funky Flower Power Sequine Mix I picked up at Wal mart. They are metalic purple pink and Irridescent, they caught some gleam from the flash. They turned out really cute and are much better IRL. I used the Botanicals paper pkg for the green and Pinks, and SU Barely Banana for the yellows. The reason It took so long to get this card done is I got stumped on the image to be mounted on the square. I am not convinced I am totally happy with the cupcake, but for now it will do. Lets just say I found where my stamp sets were really lacking.

My SU Demo brought her new stampsets and Ink colors for me to play with. We also worked with the white flowers a bit. I will be using some of them in the future. She also brought me this cupcake from an old hostess set to use on my card. I wanted its colors to be a little muted to the Pixie Pink and Old Olive so I chose mellow Moss, Pretty in Pink and Barely Banana markers to color the image. Then I highlighted some shine on the frosting and the flame with my stardust gel pen. The squares and cupcakes are also mounted on Dimensionals.

I used the Bloom Dots Embossing folder in my cuttlebug to Emboss the background, and the brushed Brillance moonlight white dew drop over the whole surface. I thought the flowers matched the sequins well. I add some snipets of ribbon in an Olive and Bright Pink gingham. The edges of the yellow were dragged on a Pixie Pink Stamping pad after trimming the edges with Scalloped scissors. I stamped parts of a swirl from my Autumn leaves set on the Barely banana base. I hope you enjoy the card, I know its not my best work, but it does look much better in real life. Now I need to go play with the images I stamped and the stamp set I convinced my demo to loan me...until I order it.

Until Later ....Happy Stamping!

Psst...I included the links to ALLTHAT SCRAPS, because 1. I love that she has free shipping for US orders of 10$ or more, and 2. It is the only place I have found these mini sprinkle brads. they are 1/8" diameter.

Grateful Polka dots and Paisley's & We Have a Winner.

I had such a crazy busy day. I am waiting for my DD's to come home from fireworks to draw the winners name but that will be in a few hours.

I thought I 'ld get this post ready first. In the 2 hour break I had between Breakfast and lunch I went in my scraproom and made this little thank you card.

I used SU "Polka Dots and Paisleys" & SU Pretty in Pink, Tempting Turquoise and Mellow Moss markers and inkpads, to stamp the masked flowers on SU shimmery white paper. I used the "Cute Converse" set and Timber Brown Stazon and SU Chocolate Chip ink pads to stamp the sentiment and distress the scalloped squares. The decorative paper is "Petals" from SU and I used 3 pink Hero Arts Gemstones to enhance and add bling. I used 2 blue rhinestones and glued them to the flowers using the Sakura glue pen. The scallopped square and the rounded squares were cut with my Cricut using the Mini Monograms cartridge cut at 2-1/2". I embossed the blue cardstock, spraying with my perfect pearls hairspray mix and then embossing with the "Paisley" texture plate from the Big Impression Starter kit in my Cuttlebug. I added glitter to the grooves in the embossing using the Sakura Stardust clear gel pen. The ribbon is a brown with larger dots in turquoise that I picked up at Wal-mart. I've been waiting to use it for weeks . Before I mounted the square image on dimensionals over the ribbon after I tied it, I punched the holes in the blue scalloped using my 1/16th hole punch.

The only other thing I did that was different on this card was punch the large holes in the two right side corners using my 1/8th hole punch. I was thinking it would be fun to try punching a larger hole in the corner than a paper piercer could produce. I think they blend into the paper too much in this picture, so maybe I should have punched them into the turquoise paper. I used my paper piercing tool to mark the medium sized holes in the corners with pencil. Then I lined up the punch and punched them out. then erased any trace pencil marks left behind. I think it looks cute! I will try this again on some different cards. If you have any specific questions just ask. I am posting this late and I am yawning so I know it is not going to be that clear.

Drumroll please...

Melissa Roth is the winner of the blog candy she said,

" Wishing you and your family a very fun 4th of July. July 4, 2007 2:16 PM ".

Thanks for posting , If you email me your address I will mail you, your "Blog Candy", I added a little something extra, see the comment below.

I appreciate everyone coming to my blog and posting comments. Especially Ikkinlala who made it in the last few minutes, and you can see my DD#5 almost drew your number, but she picked number 48. I'll be posting more Blog Candy in the future, I hope you will return and check for it often. Thank You again everyone!

Psst....... One last thing before I go. I love a bargain, and I found the cutest thing at my Wal-mart and I wanted to share. The Pretties Box in the SU Catty is very tempting to me. I think those flowers would be so beautiful to experiment with. I would love to try using pastels, Dyes, and different techniques, but I can't afford to buy everything. Especially to experiment with them. I found this little package of white daisies they come with 12 flowers, 4 of each size, the medium flower looks identical to SU large white flower they measure about 1-1/2". It also has 12 yellow brads and 12 little yellow buttons, for the low price of 2.99!

I think that's a great deal. I can experiment and try working with them first. I will let you know how they work, but I wanted to share what I found here. I posted a picture so you would know what to look for.

I decided I am going to add the above card and 1 of each flower size and 4 brads and 4 buttons in with this "Blog Candy as well" I figured since I am sharing the Souffle pen I can share the flowers also. Until later...Happy Stamping!

If you are interested in the BLOG CANDY please visit this post to comment:

I have a very busy day,

My children have a fund raising breakfast

for a trip next summer that starts early

so they have to be there at 6 am.

In the afternoon we have a

Bar-B-QUE with the family at Noon.

Doesn't that sound like too much food already.

I hope you all have a great day also and take time

to reflect on the bounteous blessings we have

as citizens of such a wonderful nation.

Happy Birthday America!

Until later... Happy Stamping!

P.S. I will post the winner of blog candy after midnight.

Very Punny "Hoppy for You" Giftcard, Sakura Pen Comparison

The 4th of July Blog Candy Is still available at this POST Until Mid-night July 4th.

Today I finished the other card I had started last Friday, and I have a comparison of the Sakura Glue pens. For the card I used The Lighter green from the familiar Botanicals Pack I picked up at Michaels, SU Whisper White and Chocolate Chip. I rolled the card base with the Spot On Jumbo wheel using Chocolate Chip. I embossed a strip of White using my Cuttlebug and the "Spots & Dots" Embossing folder. I cut a 1" strip and I punched a 1-3/8" circle of Chocolate Chip cardstock. I punched a 1 1/4" circle of the green.

Then I stamped in Chocolate Chip just "the frog" from the Very Punny stamp set, on white and the "Hoppy for you" on the folded card Base. I'll talk about the frog in a momnet. On the inside

I marked and punched the tabs like I did for the gift card in this post. The only thing I changed was I used Karen Foster Loopy brads to tie a ribbon in front of the gift card. Using a Chocolate swiss dot ribbon I picked up at Wal-mart.

For the frog image I colored using a light green water color pencil, just the perimeter of the image. After I used an aqua painter fine tip to blend the color towards the center of the image. For the eyes and spots I used the Sakura "Souffle" pen. It is very similar to the glaze pen except it's finish is opaque and matte. It only provides a slight puffiness to the image, it is definately thicker than the glaze pen. I had hoped it would be more like liquid applique except with a finer line, but it is not a comparable puff. The matte finish is nice, because I was able to

re-dot the eye over the dried surface, and it didn't wipe off.

Because I have been talking so much about the Sakura Pens. I made this small image to show a comparison both on dark cardstock and white cardstock and the different finishes of each and liquid applique.

1. Sakura Souffle white-opaque pen 2. Sakura Glaze pen 3. Marvy Liquid Applique 4. Sakura Stardust clear

I tried to load these images so they could be enlarged so you can see the differences. I hope they help. I did use my heat gun to dry the sample sheets and I found the heat gun made the matte pen spread out and flatten more on the colored cardstock.

Until Later... Happy Stamping!

Bud Basics Sympathy Wallet

Hello, Dont forget the 4th of July Blog Candy Please comment HERE!

I have an online friend whose father died yesterday. Last night I worked until late on this sympathy wallet card, which I finished up this morning.

This is quite detailed, I hope you'll take the time to read it, but if not there is another picture for the inside later in the Post!

I was happy to see Bud Basics and the Basic Outline wheel make it into the new SU catalog. I dont understand though why the Buds wheel didnt. For this card I used SU Barely Banana, & Off White, and Olive green from the Botanicals pkg. from Michaels. I used SU Brocade Blue, So Saffron, Always Artichoke, and Stazon Timber Brown ink pads,plus a Brilliance Dewdrop in Galaxy Gold. I cut an 8.5x11 sheet of Barely Banana cardstock, at 5.5" length wise. Then I scored it at, 3-5/16, 6-11/16 and, 10-1/8". I then cut a 5 1/2 " strip from the remaining Barely Banana, and cut 1" from the long edge, and I used a corner rounder to round 2 of the corners. From the green paper I trimmed 1 1/2"x * 1/2" strip. plus a 1"x 5-1/2" strip that I tore in half length wise. To begin the stamping I used my "Buds" Wheel and So Safron Ink at an angle and dragged it over the scored piece of Barely Banana. I used the wheel again and using an embossing ink pad I dragged the long Green strip with the "Watercolor Vine" wheel, and the heat embossed it with clear powder. I brushed the rounded edges of the Barely Banana Piece with Stazon ink and then overlapped it, brushing galaxy gold over the edges lightly, I also lightly brushed the dewdrop inkpad along the tore edge of the green strip. I tore about 1/4 " from the card base edge and then adhered these pieces together to make the cardbase. I stamped "Heartfelt" in timber brown, and I wrote the Sympathy with a Brocade Blue Marker and then re wrote the word with Clear "Stardust" Sakura gel pen. (love these, very fine and delicate line!) Next I folded the embossed strip around the folded card to measure , and secured it with a glue dot and then trimmed the ends. Some of my embossing came un attached so I just reheated it. On the Off White I stamped three lrg flowers in Brocade Blue, and the leaves in Always Aritchoke. These were trimmed and then rolled on a pencil to curl the leaves up and then I punched a hole in the center and used MM rhinestone brads in yellow for the centers. I used Zots Medium glue dots to attach the flowers and dimensionals to attach the leaves. Lastly I used the "Brocade Blue" marker and "Stardust" pen to enhance the larg eflowers.

For the inside of the card I sealed 2 invitation sized envelopes and then cut them in half. I marked the center on the open edge and then punched it with my SU 1-1/4 circle punch, on three of the halves. then I stamped the flowers and leaves on randomly. The cardstock with sentiments I printed on my computer and the trimmed to fit the envelopes,again I marked the center. Then I stamped them using a piece of scrap to mask the sentiments with the outline stamps. I used my Cricut "Fabulous Finds" cartirdge, and cut out three 1-1/4" #4 Hinges in Shift. I folded and secured these hinges to the printed and stamped cardstock(with the sentiments) using one light yellow flower Doodlebug I-let(in the center and 2 off white MM eyelets. The envelope halves are centered and adhered in the spaces on the inside of the card. for a final touch I added the yellow ribbon trim around the band that holds the card shut, and three yellow Hero Arts gemstones 3mm size to a center of a blue flower on each of the inside envelope pockets.

I hope you enjoy this card if you, want a copy of the word document with the quotes I will be glad to send them to you if you send me an email.

Until later... Happy Stamping!