hello baby

I know, I know.  Why am I showing you a baby themed tag when its Christmas time?

Its just that I'm cleaning several piles off my desk in preparation for my Dec. Daily and it was sitting here. 

And babies are born at Christmas time too. 

Storybook Friends and Teeny Tiny Wishes sets.  Confetti white, marina mist and whisper white cardstock.  Pear pizzazz, marina mist, smoky slate, sahara sand, whisper white and black Stazon inks.  Deco label framelits, big shot, polka dot embossing folder, aquapainter, very vintage designer buttons and linen thread. 


We had a dual baby shower at work last week.  One boy and one girl.  Envision the girl tag with a melon mambo (because that is the only pink cardstock I have) tag.  There is actually a whisper white tag behind the marina mist one so I could write on it.  I used this in lieu of a card.

 

I just love the Storybook Friends stamp set.  For this, I inked up just the little lamby and left off the words.

You can hardly tell but I slid the whisper white ink pad across the raised polka dots.  

The Hubs thought the words, "hello baby" sounded like a pick up line.  Well, hello baby..................

Geez.

Alrighty then.  I do have lots of holiday type cards to show you but I really need to get my Dec. Daily up to date too.  I've got to get my rear in gear. 

Thanks so much for stopping by.

Blessings, b.

November?

How did November go so fast?  I can't believe today is the last day. 

Tomorrow I'll be starting my December Daily.  Yes, I love Ali Edwards.  Here are my past Dec. Dailies, 2009, 2010, 2011, 2012 to inspire you.  I'm not at all ready for it this year.  I have been so preoccupied lately that I have nothing together or planned for it.  I'll worry about that tomorrow and show you what I get together. 

Did you have a nice Thanksgiving?  19 came home on Wednesday morning and went home tonight :(
 I cooked up a storm on Wed. and Thur. and brought it all to my in-laws house.   We even did a little shopping on Thanksgiving. 

Yesterday 19 took me to see Catching Fire.  AWESOME MOVIE!!  I just got done rereading the book and a lot of the lines in the movie were straight from the book.  Really good.  But I saw that they are dividing up the last book into 2 movies.  That seems to be the thing to do lately. 

Alrighty then I wanted to show you a card I made a few months ago for 19. 

No Stamps!  Crumb cake, choc. chip and very vanilla cardstock.  Crushed curry ink.  Big shot, square lattice embossing folder, finishing touches edgelits, sweater weather DSP, gingham wheel, scallop circle punch. 


Now those of you that are One Direction savvy, know this phrase.  19 loves 1D.  

The sunburst is really easy to do.  I'm trying to remember but I think I cut the DSP into 1.5" x 2.5" rectangles and then cut them on the diagonal. 

Okie dokie that is all for tonight.  Thanks so much for stopping by and getting cozy.

Blessings, b.

I used the current leaf die this time!

Hey everyone!  I'm just hanging out tonight waiting for 19 to get on the train.  I can't wait to hug and kiss on her tomorrow. 

So I thought I'd show you a card I made with the Autumn Accents die.  Just in time for Thanksgiving.

Woodgrain background, Blooming with Kindness and Banner Greetings sets.  Very vanilla, choc chip cardstock.  Crushed curry, marina mist and crumb cake inks.  Big shot, chalk talk framelits, autumn accents die, naturals designer button, linen thread and sweater weather DSP. 

I have a pic of a Mini Muslin bag with these leaves on it.  There is no watermark on it so I have no idea of where I got the pic from, but that is where the inspiration for this card came from. 

After I got the tag part made I had to adjust the size of the card.  I ended up with a 3.5" x 5".

I don't have any Crushed Curry cardstock so I used my brayer and some very vanilla cardstock and made my own.  I then inked up the flower in Blooming with Kindness in Crushed Curry and stamped it. 

I also don't have Soft Sky ink which is what is in the Sweater Weather DSP.  So I took my Marina Mist pad and stamped off once and then stamped the tag.  It doesn't match perfectly but pretty good.  By the way, Soft Sky ink is on sale this week ;)  Apparently I need to place an order.

Alrighty then, she just got on the train.  Only 33 min. late.  I'm going to bed so I can get up really early to go get her. 

Thanks so much for stopping by and have a wonderful Thanksgiving. 

Blessings, b.

chalky seasons greetings

So today we are doing a 2 fer Tuesday! 

First up is a card we did at one of my Holiday Card Classes.

Greetings of the Season.  Old olive and basic black cardstock.  White craft ink.  White embossing powder, linen thread and Season of Style DSP, big shot, and deco labels framelits.


Super easy card to make.  I wanted so badly to put a button on the linen thread but I didn't have enough for everyone.  I think a little red button would just finish this card off nicely. 

At the same time I was designing this card I needed a thank you card.  So I just used the same design.

Another Thank You photopolymer set.  Crumb cake and basic black cardstock.  Whisper white craft ink. Designer naturals button, linen thread, sweater weather DSP. 


One of the ladies at the card class put the banners a little wonky and I liked it better so I did that on this card.  That is one of the things I love about stamping with people.  They take your idea and make it better. 


Alrighty then, thats it for tonight.  I just finished rereading The Hunger Games and now I want to watch the movie before I reread Catching Fire.  Yep, I'm gearing up to go see it next week.  I'm going to wait for 19 to get home for Thanksgiving so she can go with me.  Gotta love Peeta! 

Thanks for stopping by.

Blessings, b.

snowflake wreath

Happy Veteran's Day!  Let me just say thank you to all the people who put their lives on the line every day to defend our country.  Thank you to their families too.  Its very humbling to really look at all the freedoms we enjoy every day.  Big cyber hugs to all of you!

So, I had my last class of the year on Friday.  We had a great time, but I'm sure the ladies are still cussing my name. I'm kidding.  I'm sure they never cuss ;)

Each card by itself wasn't too hard, but put them all in one class and they really got to feel like they got their monies worth. 

I loved each card we did this time.  Usually I will have a favorite.  But I like them all.  Here is the one we started with. 

Endless Wishes photopolymer and Greetings of the Season sets.  Crumb cake, real red, whisper white and old olive cardstock.  Basic grey, old olive and white craft inks.  Cherry cobbler seam binding, big shot, square lattice embossing folder, bird punch, pearls.


Now I purposely started out with this one because I thought it was the hardest.  Okay, not hardest but most involved.  Putting those berries on was going to take patience.  Grace and I punched them all out ahead of time otherwise my ladies would really be cussing my name.


We used a roll of masking tape to trace a circle on the base.  I LOVE the photopolymer stamps because you can see right through them.  Makes it really easy to stamp along the pencil line. 

We took the medium snowflake from the Endless Wishes set and stamped around the circle.  We then used the small snowflake to stamp around again in the whisper white craft ink. 

You can see the white here.  It just gave it a little more depth. 

We ended up using Early Espresso ink for the words because I thought it looked better than the Basic Grey.  We just attached the bow with a glue dot. 

I colored the pearls with a Sharpie.


See, not very hard just a little involved. 

Alrighty then, I'm on my way to Costco.  Blech!  Thanks so much for stopping by and getting comfy. 

Blessings, b.

"those" people

Let me just warn you that you may need a snack to get through this post.  It came out long.  

Apparently I've become one of "those" people. 

You know, the people who buy things and then forget they bought them? 

aaarrrggggg.......

I'm really very stingy with my money and think pretty hard about my purchases before I make them.  My problem here is that I just haven't been a very ambitious stamper this year. 

Here is the beginning of my story:

I needed a thank you card.  I wanted it to have a fall theme since...... it is fall.

Here is what I ended up with;

 Another Thank You photopolymer set, dictionary background and gorgeous grunge sets.  Crumb cake, cajun craze, old olive and very vanilla cardstock.  Early espresso and old olive inks.  Big shot, delicate doilies die, designer naturals buttons, leaves #2 die (retired), sweater weather DSP,  paper tea doilies, modern medley DSP, linen thread.  

I really like how it turned out even though its really not my usual style.  I love love love this particular pattern in the Sweater Weather DSP.  I love plaid.  And I love yellow......and orange.....and brown.

I also love love love the photopolymer sets.  They are awesome!

Don't look too closely (well, I know you're going to now) but can you tell that the dictionary stamp is upside down?  No?  Then forget I said anything.  Not like you can read it anyway.

On the cajun craze leaf I wrinkled the cardstock so much that it started to separate and so I split it in half.  It feels nice and soft like suede now.  If that doesn't make sense to you just give me a holler and I'll explain it better.

Okay so here is the rest of the story.

Today, after I've mailed off my card.  I happen to open an email and this person was submitting a card for a color challenge.  The very same colors I just used!  So I thought I would submit my card also.

Fab Friday Challenge Blog






I happen to admire all the people on their design team.  So I'm looking at their samples and see that the leaf die cuts on Amy O'Neill's card are different than mine.  Hmmmmmm........

So I look in the catalog and see that indeed.........I have the old Leaves #2 die that I think retired last year.  Oh well, it will be fine.  My friend can substitute the leaves if she would like to recreate it.  The Autumn Accents leaf die is current (and happens to be on sale this week).  Which I happen to like better than the Leaves #2 die........ but whatever.

Later I'm trying to design cards for my card class this Friday (because I procrastinate) and I go to get my Fun Flowers die and guess what I pull out instead?

The Autumn Accents die.  Seriously?  For real?

Well the card is gone and there's not a darn thing I can do about it.  So Charmaine, if you're reading this, those leaves are now considered vintage.

Moral of the story?  If you want to make sure you use current things.......put the retired ones elsewhere.  Or put a sticky on them.  Or better yet sell them.  Anybody want to buy a Leaves #2 die?

Alrighty then, thanks for listening to what a dork I am.  You guys rock!

Thanks for stopping by.

Blessings, b.

birthday hairballs

So today I'm supposed to be designing cards for my last card class of the year happening this Friday.  What am I doing instead? 

Watching Christmas movies on the Hallmark channel.  

I am stamping during the commercials.  But instead of Christmas cards, I stamped a thank you card that I needed 2 weeks ago.  Can you say procrastination?

Yes, it did take me all day.  I'm a slow stamper anyway but show a movie I haven't seen before and I'm a whole lot slower.

So you might think that I'd show you the card I just made......... but no.   I want her to see it before I put it up here.  Not that she reads my blog but you never know. 

So I'm going to show you a birthday card I made a few weeks ago. 

Giggle Greetings and Dictionary background.  Crumb cake, pool party, pear pizzazz, whisper white and watercolor paper.  Soft suede, black Stazon, crumb cake and crisp cantaloupe inks.  Big shot, argyle embossing folder, chalk talk dies, aquapainter. 

See the groovy frame around this cute little kitty?  I was on Wendy Weixler's blog and she had done this.  I thought it was so neat!  Just lay both your framelit dies on the cardstock and run it through the Big Shot one time. 

It did leave a line from the inner framelit but I just turned it over and ran my bone folder over the line and it disappeared.  Magic!

My friend has cats which is why I choose this stamp.  I tried to color the kitty similar to hers but I had a heck of a time.  He is still kinda cute. 

I inked up just the image first with the Stazon.  Then cleaned the stamp and inked up just the words for the banner. 

Then cleaned the stamp and inked up the other words. 

Okay, one more thing before I go.

Grace laid out and separated her candy from Halloween so we could check it and she left this note for us to see in the morning.  Yes, Dad has a bit of a sweet tooth.  He is like a Hoover. 

Alrighty then, thats it for today.  Thanks so much for stopping by.  I love when you do that.

Blessings, b. 

what?!

How did so much time go by since my last post?  I know, you guys are used to it from me.  But really, its not my intention.  I have lots to show you.

In the last few weeks lots has been happening.

1.  The Boy turned 21.  He went to Vegas to celebrate.........without us.  I have no pic to show you because he is a dork and won't let me point a camera at him, and Heaven forbid he take any himself!

2.  I had my 2nd Holiday Card Class.  (I'm such a loser.  I still haven't shown you the cards from the first one yet.)  Here is the bag tag from the 1st one.

Thats the Ticket set.  Cherry cobbler, old olive and whisper white cardstock.  Old olive and crumb cake ink.  Sticky pearls, bird punch, ticket punch, burlap ribbon, cherry cobbler twine and season of style DSP.  


I usually give my guests some kind of bag to put their finished cards in.  Keeps them from getting lost or squished.  

 

This tag was made back in September and I thought I was fairly clever coming up with the idea of using the wing from the bird punch to create the poinsettia, but recently I saw somewhere someone else (I don't remember who or where eta: it was Mary Brown)  had done it also.  But she used 6 petals on each layer and it looked much nicer.  So if you make one, use 12 petals.

Teeny Tiny Wishes set.  Crumb cake, daffodil delight, basic black and whisper white cardstock.  Soft suede, whisper white and black stazon inks.  Big shot, woodgrain embossing folder, oval punch, bird punch, owl punch and white gel pen. 

This is the bag tag I made for the 2nd class.  I saw this cute little bat on Diana Gibbs blog.  She is a stamping/punching genius.

I inked up the woodgrain embossing folder with the soft suede ink before I ran it through the machine.  I think it looks cool. 

3.  The Hubs and I were invited to a concert at a winery by our house.  It was fun and I did have a little too much to drink.   My camera takes crummy pics. 

4.  On the 12th, Grace had Cosmic pajama bowling with her band class.  They got to bowl in their jammies and eat candy and got a ton of glow bracelets/necklaces........at 7:00 in the morning.  Did she even comb her hair? 

.............and The Hubs had his first official 100 mile ride.

Super proud of him.  He even got a medal.  Such a stud!

 5.  We had our 24th anniversary.  But because we've been so busy we didn't actually get to celebrate until last night.  I surprised him with a night out.  I never get to surprise him!  He guesses everything all the time.  I can't put out Christmas presents for him until Christmas Eve because he will guess what they are just by holding them..........even when they're disguised..........its freaky, I'm telling you. 

Anyhow I made plans for some friends to meet us for dinner and then we went to a comedy club that has opened by our house.  As soon as we got close to the restaurant he knew what we were doing.  BUT, he didn't know our friends were meeting us there.  SURPRISE!  We had a great time!

These are the flowers he gave me.  So pretty!

Here is the card I made him.

Yippee Skippee set.  Pool party, real read, whisper white and crumb cake cardstock.  Soft suede and black stazon inks.  Big shot, expressions thinlits, woodgrain embossing folder, deco frame framelits.

Everything I make him has some sort of wood component.  I inked up the "I freakin'" part, stamped, cleaned it, inked up the "you!" and stamped again.  I freakin' love it!  I know some people did not like the words on this particular stamp but I got a chuckle out of it.  I just freehand cut a heart out.

Alrighty thats it for today.  I do have all the holiday cards we've made at the classes.  Look for those this week.  Plus, Grace and I are working on a project to send to 19 for Halloween.  Never a dull moment around here.

Thanks so much for coming by and hanging out.

Blessings, b.

thankful

Hey! 

A month or so ago I needed some thank yous (see how far behind I am?) anyway, I made a neat card.  Well, I think its neat.

What do you think?

Fabulous Phrases set.  Whisper white cardstock.  Bermuda bay, crushed curry, crisp cantaloupe and black Stazon inks.  White bakers twine, big shot and expressions thinlits.

The finished size is 6 1/4 x 2 3/4.  Take a closer look:

Crisp Cantaloupe. 

Crushed Curry.

Bermuda Bay. 

If you can tell, the color is behind the white panel. 

Can you see it now? 

Instead of taking each teeny tiny little piece and placing it just so, I came up with an easier idea.  Lookee:

Here are the measurements for this particular card.

Take the 5 3/4 x 2 1/2" piece and using an aquapainter and ink, paint the cardstock.  Set aside to dry.

Add a little extra water in the lid and put in the baker's twine.  Let it soak up the ink and set aside to dry. 

Here is the sandwich I use:  Platform, cutting pad, cardstock, parchment paper (or wax paper) die and cutting pad. 

Run it through the machine.

Keep the whole thing together and turn upside down on the table.

Okay, its all still together.  You haven't taken it apart yet.

Take your Tombow Mulit Glue and put glue on all the pieces except the actual word. 

Take your dry painted piece and lay it upside down on top of the die.

Now press on the cardstock making sure you're really getting all the little pieces stuck onto the painted piece.

Now flip it over again and take the die and the parchment paper off.

This is what you're left with.  Neat eh?  I originally wanted to do an hombre sort of effect but it just came out watercolored looking.  I still like it. 

Now your string is dry and you can assemble the card.  

I thought it was kinda nifty and an easy way to use the relief part of the die without needing tweezers to place little pieces. 

Okie dokie thats all for today. 

Thanks so much for stopping by.  Enjoy your weekend!

Blessings, b.

love......western style

Howdy there!  We are having glorious weather today.  I hope you are too.  So why am I inside?  Well, I just came in from watering the garden.  The aphids have left and the zuccs and pumpkins are trying to make a comeback.  Hey, if they are willing then so am I.  

Anyway, I was thinking about you and I've been meaning to post something.  So I was trolling through my pics looking to see what I haven't shown you yet and I got alot.  So I'm getting on it. 

Over summer we were invited to a wedding that we couldn't go to.  It was a western theme and I know I would have loved it.  I tried to make their card western looking.  What do you think?

From my Heart set.  Whisper white and Crumb cake inks, versamark pen.  Basic black and crumb cake cardstock.  Big shot, woodgrain embossing folder, pearls, label framelits, white embossing powder, expressions thinlits, burlap ribbon, natural trim and white gel pen.

This is 4 1/4" square card.    I used the Versamark pen to ink up just the frame part of one of the stamps in the From my Heart set, stamped and embossed.  It looks kinda sketchy but I figured it just makes is look........... older, I guess you would say.  Maybe "worn" is a better word.  Yep, I think I like "worn" better. 

It was a slighty thicker card but it wasn't overly bumpy.  I didn't use extra postage. 

When using the Expressions Thinlits, make sure you put a piece of wax paper or parchment paper between the die and your cardstock.  It makes it much easier to remove the word from the die.  I'm going to have a tutorial coming up with how to do that. 

A few pearls........it was for a wedding after all. 


Alrighty then.  I still need to get pics of the cards we did at my Holiday Card Class.  I want to get that thinlit tutorial out first.  I'll get right on that. 


Thanks so much for stopping by and checking in.  I love when you do that.

Blessings, b.

coming around

I'm trying to find a new rhythm.  Ever since school/work started again I haven't been able to get a new routine down.  Something is always coming up. 

But things are settling down and so I hope I'm coming around. 

I have lots of pics to show you.  August was an incredibly busy month, and not just for stamping.   So lets catch up a little shall we?


I had my regular club meeting.  This is one of the cards we did.

Giggle Greetings and Dictionary sets.  Crumb cake, choc. chip and watercolor paper.  Crushed curry, crisp cantaloupe, sahara sand and black Stazon inks.  Dotted scallop ribbon punch, summer starfruit ribbon, neutrals buttons, aquapainter and Sweater Weather DSP. 


I just love this card!  I copied the design from a card on page 82 in the main catalog.  My base measures 5 1/2" x 3 3/4".  The banner extends to 4 1/4" so it still fits in a regular envelope.

I used the lids of my inkpads and my aquapainter to color in the kitty.  I know Summer Starfruit isn't one of the colors in the Sweater Weather DSP but I didn't have Crushed Curry ribbon and well heck, I really didn't think anyone would notice.  Did you? 


Lets see, what else happened......

We had an archeological expedition in my backyard. 


Just kidding.  We finally trenched for sprinklers.  I'm surprised you didn't hear me whooping it up in the next few states.  I've wanted grass so llllooooonnnnnnggggggg.

(The tent was mine and Grace's reading cave this summer.  I got her to read the first 3 Harry Potter books.  Yes, I hooked her!)

Then this happened.  Again, I'm surprised you didn't hear me jumping for joy. 

Then this one went back to school. 

Then we had to take this one back to school.  I miss her already. 

Then this one became a TEENAGER!  Holy Moly!

Headline numbers (retired), Dictionary and This and That rotary stamp.  Bermuda bay, versamark, smokey slate and whisper white cardstock.  Bermuda bay, basic gray and whisper white inks.  This and That washi tape, clear embossing powder, big shot, Alphabet press embossing folder, rhinestones, bermuda bay ribbon, chalk talk die and white gel pen. 

This is Grace's birthday card.  She really liked it.

I embossed the numbers with clear embossing powder.  I first stamped the number in versamark, then in bermuda bay and stamped.  Then sprinkled the embossing powder and heat.  Simple!

The white spots are me squishing the lid of my white ink pad and taking a really wet aquapainter, picking up some ink and then flicking it onto the cardstock. 

To get the smokey slate mat, I just freehand cut around the tag. 

This is my last harvest.  I ended up with 8 pumpkins this year.  The garden just didn't do so well this year.  My tomatoes have been limping along.  Those yellow pear ones are from a volunteer plant from last year.  I think I only got 6 zuccs all summer and no bell peppers.  The aphids tried to kill the watermelon but it is now coming back.  A little late though.  I think I'll empty the dirt in my boxes and start fresh.  I'll be planting onions and carrots in November. 

Alrighty then, I still have lots more stampy projects to show you.  I'll be getting right on that. 

Thanks so much for stopping by and hanging out.

Blessings, b.