happy birthday dad!

Howdy!  I hope everyone had a great day.  I mean, its Friday after all. 

A few weeks ago when we were in New Mexico, we celebrated my dad's 71st birthday. 

Of course I was super busy getting everything ready to go before we left our house and forgot about making him a birthday card............until the last minute.  Of course :)

I also had to make a Thank You card for one of our friends that was going to drive The Boy to the airport to get to N.M. later in the week.

Well, after putzing around for too long, I realized that I only have maybe 2 sets that are somewhat manly.  And my dad has seen them all. 

What to do, what to do.............. 

I know!  I'll pull out the grass.  I like grass.

Woodgrain background, Inspired by Nature, Thank You Kindly, some old alpha I had.  Soft suede, early espresso and naturals white cardstock.  Soft suede and old olive inks.  1", 1 1/4" and 1 3/8" circle punches, linen thread and dimensionals. 


I think they worked out great!  My dad liked them.  He asked where I buy my cards.  "Oh, there's this little place I know."  He doesn't really understand how involved I am in stamping. 

The thank you I made into a gift card holder.  I keep thinking I should have made something peek out of the grass.  Or maybe just clouds.  I need to make another one for my neighbor that watched our zoo and watered the garden.  Maybe I'll get extra creative with his. 

Okay, while I've got you here, I need to ask a favor.  I'm sure my neighbors, if they happen to look out the window, get a kick out of watching me "pet" my plants every morning looking for bugs. I need to get a life. 

I need to identify some bugs.  I know, just what you wanted to hear right?  I tried looking on the internet to figure out what they are but just got grossed out.

So maybe you can help me.  I have so many crows in my yard that I think are trying to eat the bugs.  That may be why I haven't seen many grasshoppers.  As much as I dislike the crows, I guess they can hang out.

These guys especially like the sunflowers

I only have 2 tomatoes the size of grapes on my Celebrity plant and this guy was halfway inside one! 

This guy I found almost dead in my onions.

Okay, this is not bug related.  This tree hangs over my fence and drops these cherry looking things every summer. 

They are the size of cherries. 

They don't have a pit, but they do have seeds.  They are hard when they fall and are crunchy.  They have a kind of bitter taste.  Are they crab apples? 

Alrighty then, thats all for tonight.  Aren't you glad?  I promise no more garden/bug/plant stuff, for a while anyway. 

I have more stampy stuff to show you later.  Thanks so much for stopping by and thanks for your bug/plant/garden knowledge.  Big cyber hugs to all of you. 

Blessings, b.

home for good this time

Howdy.  We are back home.  Home at least until Thanksgiving...........or Christmas.  I'm so glad to be home.  I like home.  

I have a ton of pics, of course.  But tonight I want to finish showing you the projects I made with my card ladies a few weeks ago.  Then I can get into all the other stuff.  Okay?  Okay.

Inspired by Nature and Elements of Style.  Naturals white, daffodil delight, old olive, crumb cake and CALYPSO CORAL (new In Color) cardstock.  Versamark, early espresso and old olive inks.  Big shot, beautiful butterflies die, linen thread, paper piercer, cutter kit, wide oval punch, lunch bag and glue dots.

The ladies were getting a little tired of making cards all the time so I tried to switch things up and we made a bag! 

Just keeping it fresh you know ;)

I used the In Color, Calypso Coral.  I will admit that I don't much like this color.  Not sure why.  I had bought the Color Coach add ons and one of the color combos they suggested was Calypso Coral, Daffodil Delight and Baja Breeze. 

Now I tried putting those colors together and they just screamed Miami Beach to me.  That kind of art deco pastel thing going on.  Really not my style. 

BUT, my job as a demo is not neccessarily to only do things I like.  Although that makes it much easier.  I have to step out of my comfort zone once in awhile. 

So I cut up a bunch of butterflies in all three colors and let them choose which and how many they wanted for their bag.   

I layered the butterfiles and stamped the top ones using the Elements of Style swirly in Versamark.  I don't have the Calypso Coral ink yet so using Versamark is the best idea until I do. 

This is a super easy and cheap idea for giving gifts.  Just cut down your lunch bag to the desired height.  I cut mine to 5.5".  Add some cardstock to the front and back and decorate.  WaLa!  Instant prettiness. 


So keeping in the bag/box idea, we also made a 2,4,6,8 box.  Remember those?  Love them!

Wonderful Favorites (retired).  Island Indigo, rich razzleberry, baja breeze, whisper white and old olive cardstock.  Early Espresso ink.  Curly label punch, blossom bouquet triple layer punch, early espresso bakers twine, big shot, little leaves die, brads, dimensionals, scallop border punch and 1/2" circle punch.


A nice simple little box.  Here is how you make it:  sorry no pics

Take a piece of 8.5 x 11 cardstock and cut it in half.  So you have a 5.5 x 8.5 piece. 

Then put it in your trimmer lengthwise and use your scoring blade to score a line at 2". 

Then turn it widthwise and score at 2", 4", 6", and 8". 

Cut off the little 2 x .5 piece.  Then just fold up and glue.  Easy.

Let me know if you need more help with that. 

Otherwise I'm sure you can figure out the punched peices.  If you use the Tombow Multi Glue this will be a very sturdy box.  It will fit a regular size gift card nicely. 


Alrighty then.  Since coming home I've been trying to catch up on everything.  We brought a bunch of stuff home from my dad's house.  I don't have anywhere to put this stuff! 

Plus I'm going through pics of our trip.  I know you can't wait to see ;). 

AND convention is over and I've been spending too much time on the computer looking at display board pics.  I did enter the Artisan Award contest again this year and didn't win.  I guess I didn't make the finalists list either because nobody emailed me to let me know.  Oh well.  Maybe I'll try again next year.  I'll be showing you those projects soon. 

Oh, I almost forgot, Ali Edwards is doing her yearly Week in the Life project this week.  I had planned on doing it but with getting home a little later than expected and then getting a migraine and feeling overwhelmed for a day or so, I had forgotten about it.  I remembered this morning and was going to just say, "forget it.  I'll do it later"  I decided to just go ahead and start today.  The procrastinator in me just said, "WHAT?!"

I really love this project and will show you what I have so far tomorrow.  Why don't you do it with me?  Just pick up your camera and start shooting.  Today I shot:

What I had for breakfast, going to the grocery store, going to the bank, playing darts, the hubs working,  the cat, etc.   Just whatever your life is about today.  No stress, just document what you can. 

This was supposed to be a quick post.  HA!  See what happens when I don't talk to you in so long?  I get backup. 

Thanks so much for stopping by.  I love that you do.

Blessings, b.

recap

Hola mi amigos!  How is everyone today?  I've caught up on all the things I was behind on last week but this week is getting crazy too.  Every single day for the next 10 days is packed.  Jam packed!

So let me recap the very important week I had last week.  Lots of pics here tonight.

First I have to show you an award The Boy got.

I laughed quite heartily when I saw this.  Does his teacher know him well or what? 

Then there was..........GRADUATION! 

Hmmmmm......I did much better with this than I thought I would.  I was so busy the day before and day of, that I didn't really give it much thought until................they started playing Pomp and Circumstance. 

Then I wanted to lose it.  But I didn't.  Just 1 or 2 tears.  The rest of the time I kept it in check and my eyes only welled up.  I hid behind my sunglasses.  Don't want to be the embarrassing mom you know.  Well, sometimes I do ;)

See the medal?  He was an Honor Graduate.  So proud of him. 

Most of my pics of him look like this.   He was looking into the sun but the expression says, "do you have to do this?"  Yes I do.  I told him he had to pose for some pics.  This moment needs to be documented.  The other boys were more happy to pose. 

He has known these 2 boys since they were 8.  My heart just about bursts when I see how much they've grown and stayed good boys.  They are all going off to college (2 different colleges right next door to each other) and then all hell will break loose probably.  But for now they are good boys.  One of them is even an Eagle Scout. 

He got 2 graduation gifts before we even sent out the announcements so I made up some 1/4 sheet note cards for him to write thank yous on.  They don't fold.  He slipped them in with the announcement when he sent them.  He wrote the best thank yous.  I was quite impressed. 

It uses a very old retired stamp from the set Sketch and Event.  I saved the hat because I knew I would need it someday.  It also uses Thank You Kindly. 

In the few days leading up to the last day of school, Grace and I had to make gifts for her teachers.  This is what we came up with. 

Grace decorated some pots and we planted some flowers and made a little Thank You banner.  Like my last minute pic in the back seat?

Flight of the Butterfly and Inspired by Nature.  Old olive and rose red inks.  Crumb cake and naturals ivory cardstock.  Natural hemp and a bamboo skewer.


Why did I take a pic of the uglier one?  The other banner just seemed cuter.  Anway, I used the hemp to bind the banner to the skewer.  The teachers seemed to like them.


Then I also had a baby shower to prepare for.  2 of the ladies at work are expecting within 2 weeks of each other right when school starts again.  So we won't see them again until after they have the babies. 

A Word for You set (on the inside).  Early espresso, regal rose and whisper white cardstock.  Big shot, simple serif alpha die, square scallop duo die, square lattice embossing folder, white taffeta, neutrals button, paper piercer and dimensionals.

Can you guess that they are both having girls?  Almost everyone I know of (with the exception of 1) finds out what the sex is.  Why?  They say they want to get the right color.  Well, what are they going to do if the next one is a boy?  Buy all new stuff again in blue?  I think its better to just be surprised on delivery day.  Makes that special day even more special. 

So I'll laugh my head off if one of them turns out to be a boy.  I'm just mean that way. 

 

I tied the button on with some white embroidery floss.  Nice and tight.

I used the initial of what the baby's name is going to be.  The j was a little too tall  so I just chopped a little off the top. 

I think the square lattice looks like a soft blankie here. 

Speaking of blankies, I found these blankets at Target.  OMG!  They are so soft!  The reverse side is even softer!  I bought diapers and then swaddled them with the blanket.  I remembered how to do it!  I used a diaper pin to secure the tail. 

The white ribbon is just the ribbon that the blankets came with. 

Alrighty then.  I have to make some cards for the people that are leaving my school next year.  They are closing my school and reopening it as a charter school.  So lots of people are leaving and going to other sites.  I have no idea what I'm going to make. 

Father's Day is Sunday.   I guess I'd better get on that too.  It never ends....................................

Blessings, b.

Valentine's Day continued............

ello govna  (that is 16's greeting to you all)

Hey everyone (my greeting),  its definitely a TGIF kinda day around here.  Although I have had 3 days of feeling pretty darn good. WooHoo!!  Hopefully the Creeping Crud won't come back. 

So today I wanted to show you the Valentines I made for the girls.

Remember, this is what they started out as.

This is how they ended up.

Woodgrain background and Well Scripted (retired).  Whisper white, soft suede, early espresso, riding hood red, marina mist, crumb cake and old olive cardstock.  Soft suede, Marina mist, crumb cake and black Stazon inks.  Sm. and Lg. oval punches, little leaves die, big shot, 2 step bird punch, small heart punch, sticky rhinestones, black sharpie and dimensionals.


This was alot of fun to make.  I love how it turned out.  I freehanded the tree, that was interesting.  Its really hard to make branches look natural.  Well, hard for me. 

I took one of our sticky rhinestones and colored it black with a Sharpie and used it for her eye.  Nifty eh?

This is the daddy bird.  Its hard to tell in this pic but I sponged some clouds.  Its much more noticable looking at it in front of me here. 

This one was for 16 and she seemed to like it alot. 

Here is Grace's

Inspired by Nature, Flight of the Butterfly and Well Scripted (retired).  Whisper white and poppy parade cardstock.  Old olive, bashful blue, black Stazon and pumpkin pie inks.  Beautiful butterflies die, big shot, transparencies, polka dot embossing folder, sticky rhinestones. 


She is much more girly than 16 so I used alot of rhinestones on hers.  Good thing they're cheap.  I need to order more.

I thought maybe the transparency would make it look like the wings were fluttering really fast.  Not sure I achieved that but it still looks cool. 

So there ya go.  My special Valentines for my special Valentines. 

Tonight was also a special night.

 The Father/Daughter dance. 

Ahhh............my husband dreads looks forward to it every year.  After tonight he only has one year left.  I tell him to enjoy it because he won't be dancing with her again, most likely, until her wedding.  And I'm hoping that is at least 15 years away. 

They are home now and she had an awesome time!  Thanks Daddy!

Alrighty then, thats it for tonight.  I want to hear all the details of the dance. 

Thanks for stopping by.  You make me feel all warm and fuzzy inside. 

Blessings, b.

stamping...........again?

Hey everyone!  Its Monday again.  Seems like we get to Wed. and Thur. and then its Monday again.  Where did the weekend go? 

We had a preview concert for the band on Saturday night.  We heard 2 movements of the field show.  Its so amazing how great these kids sound!  Makes me a really proud momma.  BUT, I forgot my camera!  I had 16 take pics with her phone but now I have to call Verizon and find out how to get the pics from her phone to the computer.  This shouldn't be so hard. 

School starts on Wed. around here.  Then I get a whole week to stay home by myself while the kids are in school before I have to go back to work.  I'm giddy just thinking about it. 

Anyhow, today I needed some Thank You cards.  So inbetween going to Grace's school and finding out who her teacher is and going to Target to get a new lunch box, etc., and chatting with neighbors and getting dinner together, I worked on cards. 

You know how when you haven't stamped in a long time and you sit down to do it, it feels like you're trying to decipher ancient Hebrew?  Yeah, thats what happened to me today.  Of course once I'd get the feel of an idea, I would get interrupted and lose the idea. 

So I tripped on over to the Stamping 411 site for inspiration.  Now this seemed like an easy enough sketch but holy cow I was struggling!  I ended up with 2 cards.

Flight of the Butterfly, Inspired by Nature and A Word for You sets.  Crumb cake, old olive and whisper white cardstock.  Tangerine tango, old olive, more mustard, pumpkin pie and soft suede inks.  Large oval punch, Newsprint DSP, round tab punch, spiral tab punch, scallop edge punch, 1/8" circle punch, stapler and sponges.


Now, I know this DSP makes no sense with this card, but I've seen so many cards lately that when I look at the elements of the card separately, they make no sense.  But when you look at the whole, its cute.  Not sure I accomplished this here, but I tried. 

I got the new Newsprint DSP back in June with my demo preorder.  I think I've used it once.  I sometimes have a hard time coming up with ideas to use DSP and I thought maybe you would too.  Here is my solution:

CUT IT UP! 

Really.  I only do a sheet when I think I'd like to use it but don't know how.  So take a sheet and cut it up into 4x4 squares.  You'll get 9.  They layer very nicely on a regular sized cardfront.  When I see it in a smaller size I seem to get ideas for it.  Does that make sense?  Try it.


I really need some new stamps!  Maybe a fairy Godmother could bring me some.  There are so many stamps and half back pearls and sticky rhinestones and brads and ribbon and wheels and diecuts that I want out of the new catalog.  AND JUST WAIT UNTIL YOU SEE THE HOLIDAY MINI CATALOG!!  Love the stuff in there too.  Yours should be coming your way in the next few weeks. 

See this stamp?  Its a new one out of the catalog.  SU! gave it to me for FREE!  Aren't they nice?  Its on page 158 of the new catalog.  This stamp originally said, "thanks big time".  I decided I didn't like the "big time" part so I cut if off.  I could have just used a marker and inked up the "thanks" but I decided I would never in real life say, "thanks big time".  So its gone and I'm happy. 

One of the new punches in the new catalog is the Dotted Scallop Ribbon Border.  I like this punch but of course don't own it.  So I made my own version of it. 

See the old olive strip?  I took a 1 1/8" wide strip of old olive and used my Scallop Border punch on one edge.  Then I turned it over, lined up the top scallops with the bottom and punched out that edge.  Then I used the 1/8" circle punch and eyeballed the little holes.  Its a little funky but I think I like it. 

I used the Spiral Tab punch for this edge.  Looks like real notebook paper huh?  I got a wild hair and decided to scrunch up and abuse the DSP.  Really it makes no sense to the card but, its done now. 

Okay, moving on..........

Season of Friendship set.  Crumb cake, soft suede, very vanilla and real red cardstock.  Soft suede, old olive and black Stazon inks.  Scallop border punch, Newsprint DSP, dimensionals and sponging. 

I like this card but I feel like it needs something.  For one, I need to reink my soft suede ink pad.  It gets alot of love. 

When I first got this stamp set, the first idea I had was to make a mask for a full tree.  I just freehanded it and it stays in the box with the stamp.  Again this DSP has nothing to do with a tree but............. 

I did the scallop edge punch trick again here.  This time I used a 1 1/4" wide strip of cardstock.  Really changes the look of it. 

When I get up tomorrow and look at this card with fresh eyes, maybe I'll see what it needs.  Otherwise its going in the mail tomorrow.  I won't say who its for but, act surprised when you see it.  Okay?

Alrighty then, this old lady is going to bed. 

Thanks so much for stopping by. 

Blessings, b.

concrete, blood and Molly

Hey everyone!  Was it hot enough for ya today?   We have been working our patooties off and the hubs even got a heat rash.  Who decided to pour concrete in this weather?  Look at what we have been doing

I know, from this picture, my backyard looks like Sanford and Son.  Really its not.  Its just that we had to take everything from the side of the house and put it out in the open.  UGH!!  This is the walkway we're getting ready to pour.

This is the side by the pool equipment.  The neighbors' sprinklers always flood this area and the bugs and weeds love it!  NO MORE!!  Concrete can be a beautiful thing.  We are also pouring the footing for the retaining wall.  All in all, we're pouring almost 8 yards.  Thats alot!

Also today, I popped a blood vessel in my eye.  What the heck!  I had turned my head to look behind me and felt this tingling in my eye, and Grace was like, "whats wrong with your eye?"  I had to go look in the mirror and kinda grossed myself out.  YUCK!  Why does that happen?  It hurt for awhile but now it feels fine.  Just looks really gross.  Apparently I just have to let the blood  reabsorb.  Nice..............

So, since no stamping is getting done and won't, because the hubs has the rest of the week off,  I thought I'd show you some more of the Artisan Award contenders.  At least I hope they were contenders. 

Inspired by Nature and Woodgrain stamps.  Whisper white, creamy caramel, choc. chip, real red, old olive, blush blossom, going gray and brocade blue cardstock.  Old olive, going gray, creamy caramel and brocade blue inks.  Small heart punch, wide oval punch, large oval punch, 1/2" circle punch, dimensionals, big shot, naturally serif alpha die, black journaler and a heck of alot of sponging. 

Remember Molly?  I was so fascinated by her.  I was trying to hurry up and get all the Artisan entries done and everytime I heard a noise on the computer I would stop and see what she was doing.   

For the contest I had to make 3 scrapbook pages.  This was my last one.  I really like it but of course I can see things I would change now.

Molly was the female and her hubby was McGee.  So I punched out 2 little hearts and put "M"'s on them.  There was a ton of sponging going on here.   This is what the actual nest box looked like. 

                                                      

The kiddos really didn't get what all the fuss was about.  But it was so interesting!  I even got to see one of the babies hatching!  Very cool.   I freehanded these clouds and really had to cram in all that writing. 

I can see now that this wasn't exactly award winning quality but I had a great time making this page.  Thats what counts right? 

Alrighty then, I'm pooped!  I can't wait for the concrete to be all done.  Whew!

Thanks for stopping by and have a wonderful Wednesday!

Blessings, b.

butterflies and a bullet

Hey there!

I hope you all had a wonderful Sunday.  We have been garage cleaning fools.  We took out the trailer to get ready for camping and the hubs decided it was a good time to clean out the garage.  UGH!!

He didn't have to work this weekend.  He is one of those guys that can't sit down for very long.  Mainly because he'll fall asleep.  So he always wants to be doing something.  Its odd because, I'm very good at sitting down for long periods of time.  Reading, stamping, watching a movie.............. I like it.  My backside can prove it.

Anyway, we got lots of stuff done.  I'll tell you more about it tomorrow.........along with a garden update.  I know you're dying for an update ;)

Anyhow, there are goodie bags in my future.  I wanted to make a cute little tag to go on the goodie bags.  I also wanted to use some of my new goodies.  How many times can I say goodie?  Goodie, goodie, goooooodie..........

So I went to the Stamping 411 site for a little inspiration.  My tag doesn't exactly match their sketch but it helped get me started at least.  They are very helpful over there.

Watercolor Trio, Inspired by Nature and Flight of the Butterfly.  Whisper white, pumpkin pie, crumb cake and bashful blue cardstock.  Old olive, more mustard, tangerine tango, bashful blue, black Stazon and sahara sand inks.  Lattice embossing folder, Clearlits scallop rectangle die, 1/8" circle and 1/2" circle punches, corner rounder and dimensionals.

Finished size is 2 3/4 x 6.   I know, I've been using Inspired by Nature and Flight of the Butterfly alot lately.  Just be thankful there is no Lovely as a Tree on there too.  I think I'm in a rut. 

Now look at the new goodies I used on here. 

See that cute pumpkin pie scalloped rectangle?  That is the new Clearlits Scallop Rectangle die.  Its clear!  You can see through it!  See:

Its so awesome!  Its especially helpful if you want to cut out a certain part of your DSP or a picture or a sentiment or .................whatever you desire.

This little cutie measures out 2 1/16" x 1 9/16".  Perfect size for adding a little tag. 

Now for the other new goodie I used.  See the pattern on the Top Note die?  That is the new Lattice embossing folder.  So fun!  I think it ends up looking like wicker or fabric.  Pretty groovy huh? 

I also used my 1/8" punch to punch a hole in my bashful blue and then used my 1/2" circle punch to punch that out.  Hole reinforcer! 

The butterflies are stamped using the rock 'n' roll technique.  Just ink your stamp in a light color ink and then rock the edges in a darker ink.  Here I used More Mustard and Tangerine Tango. 

You can look here to see how I did the clouds.  Clouds are easy!  Clouds are fun!  Clouds are for everyone!  er.........sorry

I'll be making up a few more tag ideas and see which I like better.  I have a few more days before I'll give out the goodie bags. 

Now, look what came to live at our house

                                                

THE MAGIC BULLET!! 

The kids have been asking for one ever since it came out on tv.  They love making smoothies and have gone through 2 blenders.  So we saw this at Costco, and I had a coupon, and it came home. 

I gotta say, this thing is pretty awesome!  The mess is half of a regular blender, in that you blend your drink in your cup!  And its pretty quick too.  I just hope it lasts.

Alrighty then, this old broad is TIRED!!  The hubs is just like the Energizer Bunny when he gets an idea in his head.  Needless to say, the garage is cleaned out and we're ready for a yard sale. 

Thanks for stopping by.  You rock!

Blessings, b.

books, reading, study, homework etc..........

Hey there!  So far I'm not doing very well with my scheduling.  I feel like I didn't get much done today.  So, I've got big cleaning/planting plans for tomorrow.  We'll see how that goes.  Wish me luck!

What I did get done today though, was start a new Bible study.  Those of you who aren't interested in this can just scroll down. 

Beth Moore has a summer Bible study every year on her blog.  This year we are studying Ruth.  See here for the link.  Its a quick study, only going until Aug. 3.  Let me know if you'd like to do it with me.  Maybe I can set up a special page on the blog here just for us.  I'm excited to get this started as my study habits haven't been what they should lately and God has been showing me that I need to get it together!  So do it with me!  It'll be fun!

I also started the Prout Summer Reading Program.  Every summer my kids like to forget school even exists.  So several years ago I set up the "Program".  Now, I know many of you will not agree with my Program and that's okay.  It works for us and thats what counts. 

Here is what we do:  the big kids get $5 for every 100 pages they read and the little kid gets $5 for every 50 pages she reads.  And it doesn't count towards summer homework.  The big kids both have AP classes next year and so have homework this summer.  It only counts towards recreational reading.  And of course, we discuss what they read.  Just keeping them honest.

Last year they made some bucks.  This year I've gotten Grace to start the Narnia books and 15 is rereading Eclipse to get ready for the movie, and the boy?  Hmmm........he's not too interested this summer. Which is funny because he needs the money.  He'll come around......eventually.

I don't get it!  As a child (and adult) I loved/love reading!  I would read all the time.  Even now, I know that I better not start a book unless all the chores are done for a few days.  Because I have a hard time putting it down.  Are these children mine? 

To help Grace get into the idea of it, we made bookmarks.  I asked her what colors she wanted and she said, "blue, red and yellow".  Well, okay.  Here is what came of that:

Flight of the Butterfly and Typeset Alpha (retired).  Whisper white and yoyo yellow (retiring) cardstock.  Real red craft ink, brilliant blue (retiring) classic ink.  Small heart punch, glassy glaze embossing powder (retiring), clear embossing powder, white gel pen, Crushed Curry polka dot ribbon (retiring), filigree brad and dimensionals.

I had some chipboard frame thingys from a few years ago.  We made a bookmark something like this at convention.  I inked up the chipboard with the Real Red craft ink and embossed it twice with the glassy glaze embossing powder.  I did 2 of them, one for the front and one for the back.

I used the white gel pen for the little dots on the heart.

Here is the back.  I sandwiched the ribbon between the cardstock.  I used the Tombow tape to tape in the ribbon and then used the Tombow Multi Glue (my fave) to glue the chipboard pieces together.

The ribbon is about 12 inches long.  I wanted to make sure the brad hung out the bottom of her book.  She loved it!  She was very helpful in deciding on what should be what color. 

So then I decided I needed 2 new bookmarks for my study. 

Flight of the Butterfly and Inspired by Nature.  Crumb cake,whisper white and choc. chip cardstock.  Sahara sand, more mustard, pumpkin pie and old olive inks.  Cropodile, hemp, 1 1/4" choc. chip striped ribbon, 1/2" circle punch and corner rounder.

Its kinda big but I love it!  I had intended to make a bunch for my friend (hey Michele) for her birthday.  But of course I never completed them and she never got any.  Sorry :(  This birthday, I promise.

I used the Rock 'n Roll technique on the butterflies.  Just ink up your stamp in the lighter color (more mustard) and then roll the edges in the darker color (pumpkin pie).  Ta Dah! 

I didn't laminate them because the Tombow Multi Glue will keep it together forever.  Love that stuff!  And............I don't have a laminator at home.  And........I'm too cheap to take it somewhere to get it done.

I don't own any of the jumbo eyelets, cheapo person here, so I just punched my choc. chip cardstock with the 3/16" punch on the Cropodile and then punched that out with my 1/2" circle punch.  Thus making my own hole reinforcers.  Ta Dah! 

I also used the wide striped choc.chip ribbon because it is retiring and I thought it looked like a material that Jesus might have worn.  Its a stretch, but work with me here.

Then I decided I needed another one for my study guide book.  We are using Kelly Minter's, Ruth: love, loss and legacy.   Smaller book so I made a smaller bookmark.

Refuge and Strength (retiring).  Confetti White cardstock.  Choc. chip craft and classic ink and old olive ink.  1 1/4" striped choc. chip ribbon (retiring), old chipboard frames and Tombow Multi Glue.

I used my choc. chip craft ink spot to color the chipboard.  I didn't emboss it this time.  Makes it look a little more rustic.  Craft ink works better on covering chipboard than classic ink.  Craft is the thicker pigment ink and Classic is more of a clear waterbased ink.

Same as the other side just a different saying.  The ribbon is about 12 inches long.  Super simple and easy to make. 

Well this post turned out to be a lot longer than I thought.  Its already 9:35!  Past my bedtime!  Well, except for Monday nights.  Did you watch Bachelorette last night?  Chris L. is still my fave but he needs to kick up the romance a notch.  Just saying..........

Alrighty then.  Thanks for stopping by and if you lasted through this whole post, God Bless You!  But really, would it be fun if I kept it short and sweet all the time? 

Blessings, b.