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.

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. 

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.

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.

winter holly

I haven't photographed the projects from our stamp group yet.  I've just been so busy the last few days.  Cross your fingers I get it done tomorrow. 

So today I have another Christmas card to show you.  When I got Watercolor Winter from the Holiday catalog I made lots of cards with it.  This is another one.

Watercolor Winter set.  Garden green, whisper white and crumb cake cardstock.  Cherry cobbler, garden green and black Stazon inks.  Cherry cobbler seam binding, wooden buttons (holiday mini) paper piercing pack, aquapainter, big shot, window framelits and linen thread.


I really like this one.  It is 4.25 x 4.25.  I think it would mail easily enough.......maybe. 

When watercoloring on the whisper white you can't have your brush too wet.  The cardstock will pill and warp.  So this was quick and easy coloring. 

Alrighty then, thats all for today.  Oh!  Did you see The Amazing Race last night?  I even stayed up late to watch it.  I'm so happy The Beekman Boys won.  They were so nice the whole time.  I would love to go to their farm.  Those twins!  UGH!  They were horrible! 

I have one more funny thing to show you:

Proverbs 31 is my favorite and when I saw this I laughed out loud (LOL!) 

Okay, thanks so much for stopping by.  You make my day.

Blessings, b.

watercolor blossoms

Happy Friday!  I've got a special weekend planned and I can't wait for it to start.  I have to go to work first though :(  But it is payday :)

Remember a few weeks ago when I was trying to get thank you cards made?  Well, I actually did and got them mailed out.  I just forgot to show you. 

Ready to see?

Blooming with Kindness and A Word for You sets.  Crumb cake, naturals white and watercolor paper.  Black Stazon and crumb cake inks, rose red, more mustard and always artichoke watercolor crayons.  Baja breeze seam binding, linen thread, big shot, window frames framelits, vintage wallpaper embossing folder and dimensionals.

I love how these turned out.  I guess they were worth the wait, eh?  I hope my friends think so anyway.

 

I colored directly onto the stamp then misted with water.  I used the rose red crayon first on the whole bloom.  Then layered more mustard and colored the stem.  Then sprayed with water and let it sit for a few seconds so the colors would mix a little.  Then stamped on the watercolor paper. 

I love how each one came out slightly different. 

For the bow, I took a length of ribbon and tied a knot in the middle.  Then punched a 1/8 hole right on the stem and threaded my ribbon through.  So the knot stayed in the back.  This bow isn't going anywhere! 

Of course I ran out of the baja breeze seam binding and so I used some of the rose red seam binding (I LOVE the seam binding).  I'm not sure which color I like better. 


Okay, one last one. 

This uses all the same supplies but with a strip of embossed Baja Breeze cardstock. 

So there ya go.  Get out your crayons and give them some love. 

Alrighty then.  I hope you have a wonderful weekend.  I'll share about mine next week. Thanks so much for stopping by and checking in.

Blessings, b.

ch ch ch changes...........

 What a crazy 2 weeks I've had.  Okay, week and a half. 

First, we moved 18 into her dorm. 

Yes, we have smiles here but it got ugly.  A few hours later I left her there.

 By herself. 

Without me. 

I have to say it was probably the hardest thing I've ever done.  The car ride back was not pretty.  Not pretty at all.

But Skype is a beautiful thing.




Then later in the week Grace had a birthday.

...........sigh..............

I made her a card. 

Storybook Friends, retired number set and polka dot background stamps.  Crumb cake and watercolor paper.  Whisper white craft, black Stazon, crumb cake and soft suede inks.  Stitched grosgrain, wooden buttons, aquapainter, jewelry tag punch, and linen thread. 


I just love the Storybook Friends stamp set.  They are so cute and remind me of first grade when we read the Dick and Jane books.

Yep, I'm that old.

I love these wooden buttons too.  And the ribbon?  That is new this year.  I think its called Stitched Grosgrain.  For some reason the white makes me think of shoelaces. 

This puppy just makes you smile doesn't it?  I only used Soft Suede here.  I just layered on color as it dried.  It doesn't look so great up close but at regular distance it seems to blend more.  Or maybe that is just my old lady eyes. 

Alrighty then.  Today was the first day in I don't know how long that I didn't have to go somewhere or do something.  So I didn't.  It was nice. 

Thanks so much for stopping by.  Oh, in case you were wondering, a whole week has gone by and 18 seems to be doing just fine.  I, on the other hand, am taking longer to adjust. 

Blessings, b.

tweet tweet tweet

I love birds.  I don't want to own any.  I just like them in my backyard.

side story:  I once owned a canary.  Lovely bird.  At the same time I also owned a cat.  Lets just say the poor bird's cage had so much duct tape on it because the cat would jump from the counter to the cage and it would fall down and crack.  How that bird survived I'll never know.  We ended up finding him a new home.......with no cats.  

18 made me a ceramic bird house for Mother's Day and I would love to put it out but I'm afraid the cat would kill any little birdies that she finds.  She is an excellent mouser, grasshopperer and lizarder.  Catching a tasty bird would just be extra yummy.

So I was still trying to get a thank you card made (no such luck yet) and made this card instead.  I had the base laying on my desk from a failed attempt at something else and reasoned that I needed to get it off the desk before I made the thank you.  Sounds logical right?

Ready?

For the Birds.  Crumb cake and watercolor paper.  Marina mist, soft suede, real red, black Stazon and sahara sand inks.  Big shot, labels framelits, bakers twine, Aquapainter,  wood button, chevron embossing folder.

Isn't she/he cute?  I should have made him look like a canary.  Next time. 

Its not often (like never) that I do a one layer card.  It just seemed to work though. 

See the shape of the die cut.  That is my Groovy Square.  You can see here how to do it. 

See that button?  That is one of the new buttons in the catalog.  They are wood and you get 3 differnent styles. 

I've been loving the watercoloring lately.  I use my Aquapainter and the smooshed ink from the lids. 

I like this design.  I might try it with the Christmas bird too. 


Alrighty then, school has started here.  The big kids start on Monday but Grace started this week. 

My big 6th grader/middle schooler.  I can hardly believe it.  So far she has thoroughly enjoyed it.  So far.  I know that won't last. 

T-minus 36 hours before I willingly move 18 out.  The Hubs has informed me that if I cry all the way back home that I'm not allowed to go.  Or he'll tie me to the roof rack.  Such a swell guy. 

Thanks so much for stopping by and hanging out. 

Blessings, b.