Go With the Flow

 Intended schedule for Valentine's Day:

*get up, finish washing dishes i didn't get finished yesterday.
*get ingredients together and chop walnuts for surprise black walnut cake for
  husband (one of his favorites)
*shower and go to doctor's appointment
*get back by lunchtime and bake cake
*have cake beautifully presented and waiting for hubby when he gets home
  from work.
*go out to dinner. 
*come back for dessert.

Actual schedule for Valentine's Day:

*sleep in a little because didn't sleep well because of hubby's moaning and 
 coughing and my own aches and pains.
*get up and call daughter for help because sick husband's doctor's 
  appointment is at same time as mine but in the opposite direction and he's 
  too sick to drive himself. 
*shower quickly and go to doctor's appointment.
*stop at grocery store for soup etc. for lunch.
*stop at pharmacy on way home for hubby's prescription.
*wait for said prescription because of course it's not ready.
*get home and eat a quick late lunch.
*run grandkids' valentines to their house because i of course forgot to mail
 them in time.
*get back home and hubby asks if i'd run to the ac&t for a bottle of coke.
*purchase said coke plus chocolate eclair for husband for valentine's day.
*sit in parking lot and talk on phone to help out some people i love. (not
 complaining)
* get back home and get on computer to send important email. 
*still on computer chuckling to myself as i write this and about to head 
  downstairs to fix supper.

Ain't love grand?  

...you make my heart sing.

A Little Stamping

I get to do a little stamping once a month with some dear friends. And I actually got a few cards made.

On this, and the rose card, I lightly sanded the raised portion of the embossing. This exposes the white core of this cardstock, highlighting the embossed design. The white oval bearing the sentiment was lightly sponged with blue sky while still in the oval die, to protect and emphasize the white border. Also, I stamped the flower portion of the oval stamp again on the blue paper, cut it out and adhered it to the white oval. Then I used the 3D paint to make tiny dots in the center.

Recipe:  paper-  white, Core'dinations canvas textured cardstock "vacation blues" (Storage Units, Inks & More);  stamps-  Oval All (Stampin'Up);  ink- archival black, blue sky (Stampin'Up);  accessories-  Elegant Bouquet textured impressions embossing folder (Stampin'Up), sanding block, ribbon (American Crafts), Nestabilities (Spellbinder), shiny white Scribbles 3D paint.

As soon as I saw this stamp of Ronda's, I knew I wanted to paper piece it. 

Recipe:  paper- white, K&Company designer papers;  ink-  black archival;  stamps-  need to find out;  accessories-  Square Lattice textured impressions embossing folder (Stampin'Up),  punches (Stampin'Up), shiny white Srcibbles 3D paint.

Recipe: paper-  K&Company designer paper, white, black;  ink-  black archival;  stamps-  Oval All (Stampin'Up), hummingbird stamp;  accessories-  Nestabilities (Spellbinder),  Scribbles shiny white 3D paint.

I used the same sanding technique on this as the first card.  Also, I cut away part of the embossed panel to highlight the roses. 

Recipe:  paper-  white, K&Company Classic K Designer Mat Pad, Core'dinations canvas textured cardstock (Storage Units, Inks & More);  accessories-  Manhattan Flower textured impressions embossing folder (Stampin'Up), sanding block.

Easy Peasy

 Sometimes it's just nice to do a quick and simple card. I love this bouquet of balloons. It's easy to color and cut out, and I think they look pretty festive on the Cuttlebugged birthday background. And as much as I wanted to do layers, I made myself keep it simple. Ah, self control. ;) 
As soon as I get back together with my friends, I'll update this entry with the name of the stamp (it's not mine).  The balloons are colored with Stampin'Up and Copic markers.

Just For You

It seems like I only get to stamp once a month anymore, when I get together with my special stamping friends. And even then, I often do more talking than stamping. But that's okay, too. I always have a wonderful time.

Recipe:   stamps- Le Jardin Botanique and Teeny Tiny Wishes (SU);  paper- wild wasabi and chocolate chip (SU), white, Stella Ruby (Basic Grey);  ink- black archival;  accessories- Cuttlebug embossing folder, SU markers, ribbon (American Crafts).

Vintage Vogue

Love this new set and wheel. I unmount all my wheels, lay the rubber out flat on my table, and take the paper to the rubber. I've never regretted doing this. I feel you have more control and a much better stamped image, plus easy storage. And I love that Stampin'Up is now selling unmounted stamps...cheaper and less storage room. 
As I often do, when I create a new card that I'm happy with, I do it in several colors. This time I used wild wasabi, rich razzelberry, buckaroo blue and close to cocoa. I did a second stamping of the section of the wheel that has the butterfly, cut it out, and adhered it to the stamped image for a little dimension.
For the friends card I stamped the main image twice, cutting out just the "F" and raising it on pop dots.

Recipe:  stamps-  Very Vintage Wheel, Vintage Vogue, Graceful Words (SU);  paper- wild wasabi, rich razzelberry, buckaroo blue, close to cocoa (SU), white, very vanilla;  ink-  wild wasabi, rich razzelberry, close to cocoa (SU) and denim (Adirondack); accessories- scallop trim border punch, pop dots.

Patchwork Thanks

This card was inspired by a beautiful one created by Kalyn Kepner on page 67 of the Jan/Feb issue of Paper Crafts magazine. I used different colors and papers, distressed the edges and instead of sewing, did faux stitching, using a paper piercing tool and a white gel pen. The sentiment in the center is embossed.

Recipe: stamps- Simple Sketches by SU (sentiment); paper- off white, designer papers by Basic Grey, DCWV (Old World Stack), and Kelly Panaco; ink- versamark; accessories- white pearl brads, flower punch, white ep, white gel pen, paper piercing tool.

Finally, Some Stamping!

I've done such little stamping in the last few months. My Christmas cards are only two thirds finished. That means the good news is that I have a good head start on next year's cards. Lol!
I did get a few projects finished that I started at my monthly stamping day with my good friends. I borrowed this darling little girl stamp from one of those friends and paper pieced her. It reminds me of something I loved doing when I was little....playing with paper dolls. The gray embossed coat was simple. I stamped the girl onto the gray cardstock, cut out just the coat, ran it through the Cuttlebug for texture, and glued it on.

Recipe: paper- chocolate chip (SU), brown and gray Bazzil, white, natural, designer papers (Old World Stack from DCWV, Classic K pad from K and Company, Della Fantasia cards from The Paper Studio); stamps- girl (source unknown), friend sentiment (Stampabilities), simple things sentiment (Hero Arts); ink- black archival, chocolate chip (SU), red and cameo coral markers (SU); accessories- Cuttlebug embossing folder, buttons.

Color Challenge

It's been a long time since I've participated in a challenge for SCS (Splitcoaststampers) or even visited the site for that matter. I spent some time there today and the colors of the Tuesday color challenge piqued my interest...black, soft suede and vanilla. Love neutrals. I added Stickles to some of the details in the bird stamp for a little subtle bling.

Recipe: stamps- Inkadinkado, Small Script (SU); paper- black, vanilla, soft suede (SU); ink- black archival, Color Box Petal Points (brown); accessories- Cuttlebug embossing folder, SU ribbon, frosted lace Stickles.

Basic Grey Fall

I've mentioned more than a few times how much I love Basic Grey designer paper, and I never tire of using it. The distressed solids provide such a rich and interesting background for the silhouette stamps. These are a couple of cards I've had finished for two months and just haven't gotten around to photographing. I've used my favorite leaf stamp. With no hardware, these are flat and easily mailed.

Recipe: stamps- Branching Out (SU), leaf from Botanicals (SU); paper- Basic Grey designer paper, black, rich razzleberry (SU) leaf on tire swing card, rust (leaf on other card); ink- black archival.

Mini Lunchbox

Tosh sent us CCEE'ers a mini lunchbox to decorate for the October 26 challenge. And by mini, I mean 3 1/2" by 2 1/2". I sprayed the box with Rustoleum hammered pewter paint and covered the sides and front with pink designer paper. The snowflake is stamped and embossed in white, then areas are colored with diamond Stickles.

Recipe: stamps- Rubber Stampede; paper- Wild Rose (Frances Meyer); Ink- white pigment (Color Box); accessories- diamond Stickles, white ep, pearl trims, pink satin/sheer ribbon (Offray).

You won't be seeing any more CCEE challenge cards for a couple months. We're taking November and December off. With those two months being so busy, we decided we deserved a break. I'm sure we'll all be stamping, just no challenges.

Sparklegirl

The CCEE challenge for October 19th was the 'featured stamper' and our challenge hostess, Tosh, chose 'Sparklegirl', aka Silke. Tosh really took the word "challenge" to heart and loaded it for us this time. The card was to be square, feature a girl, have sparkle, and true to Silke's style, have lots of white space. Also, (if that weren't enough) because of Silke's name, we were to feature the faux silk technique. For those of you not familiar with this technique, it actually quite easy. You stamp on tissue paper, crumple it, cover a piece of cardstock with glue, and apply the 'uncrumpled' sheet of tissue paper. It has so much texture and gives a really nice effect. My touch of sparkle is dots of black Stickles added to the dog collar. Every dog needs a black diamond dog collar! I checked out Silke's blog to get hints of her interests and found that the family dog is a boxer, thus my choice of stamps. Also, I dressed the girl for fall by giving her long sleeves and boots.

Recipe: stamps- Le Jardin Botanique (SU), My Favorite Things; paper- white, white tissue paper, Basic Grey; ink- black archival, SU markers; accessories- black Stickles, Prismacolor pencils, Turpenoid.

A Birthday Challenge

This may look familiar. I used the exact same background for another card recently. Monday the 19th, our CCEE hostess issued a double challenge. Half of it was to make a card for Cindy's birthday. Cindy collects teapots and loves polkadots, so we were to incorporate this in our projects. I have no teapot stamps. But I did happen to have one image that I had stamped ages ago, using a friend's stamp. It was black on natural. Out of all the designer paper I have, the only paper that coordinated was the paper Cindy sent us for an earlier challenge. I had made an extra base card when I did that project, as I often do when I happen to do something I really like, and I love these papers. So please forgive my uncreativity, but this is the result.

Recipe: stamps- teapot (source unknown), sentiment (computer generated); paper- black, ivory, dp (source unknown); ink- black archival; accessories- paper flower (Creative Memories), button.

Shape Up Tall

Last week our CCEE shape challenge was square, this Monday's is to make a tall card. I turned it on it's side which I guess makes it a wide card, but I think it will pass. The four panels are cut from Basic Grey distressed designer papers, using a narrow strip on the inside part of the card behind the punched border to make it stand out. The stamp is one I've had for ages, but still love. I stamped it on four different printed papers, embossing it in black. Then I used close to cocoa and old olive SU markers to color the center and the leaves and stem, after which I cut them out. The brown base card is stamped with the "sanded" background stamp from Stampin'Up. The finished card fits a standard business envelope.
You may have noticed that I often do not put a sentiment on my cards. It's usually because I don't want to limit it's use to a particular occasion. I can always add a sentiment later, when I actually need a card.

Recipe: stamps- sanded (SU), sunflowers (Anita's); paper- brown linen (DCWV), Basic Grey dp, various dp; ink- white pigment (Color Box), versamark; accessories- black ep, ribbon (Offray), SU markers, eyelet border punch (SU).

Shape Up!

Although I really should be talking about a new shape up plan for myself, it's really the name of this Monday's CCEE challenge. Our hostess, Tosh, wanted us to make a round card. And of course, the first thing I thought of was a baseball. I used one of those wonderful distressed papers from Basic Grey for the ball. I think it captures the look of an old scuffed baseball. Then I just grabbed one of the many baseballs we have around the house and studied it. I drew the curved lines with a thin tipped black marker and added the stitches with a red sharpie. The bench was stamped on a woodgrained paper, also Basic Grey.

Recipe: stamps- Put Me In Coach (Storage Units, Inks and More); paper- Basic Grey, white; ink- black archival; accessories- SU markers, red sharpie, white gel pen (for coloring popcorn).

Going Digital

No matter what you're into, there's always something new to challenge you. A relatively new (at least to me) thing in stamping is the availability of digital images for purchase. You buy the image, download to your computer, print onto your cardstock, and color away! Some of the advantages of this is the fact you can change the size of the image or flip it to face the other direction. This is all new to me and I am still learning.
This is the supplies challenge week for our Monday CCEE project and our hostess, Frances, purchased for each of us this digital image called "End of Summer" from Mo's Digital Pencil. From that point on, we were free to do what we wanted.

Recipe: stamps- sentiment (Stamps and Smiles), End of Summer (Mo's Digital Pencil); paper- Buckaroo Blue (SU), white, designer paper (Chateau Toile Flat, from KandCompany); ink- black archival; accessories- paper flower (Creative Memories), button, Prismacolor pencils and Turpenoid.

Flower Pot Pocket Card

Say that four times, fast! :)
This is the Monday the 21st CCEE challenge, and there is an excellent tutorial for it on SplitcoastStampers. I had a lot of fun doing my autumn version. The flowers are attached to the panel that slides in and out of the pot. You can write your sentiment on this. I got the idea for using the 'sanded' background stamp on the pot from my Stampin'Up consultant, Carol, and I love the look. We did a beautiful summery one at her monthly stamp club. She also taught us how to do the crimped leaves for another project. You cut an oval leaf shape, fold it in half tip to tip, and run it through the crimper on a slant. Love it!

Recipe: stamps- sanded (SU); paper- white and terra cotta colored cardstock, designer paper (Hopscotch mat pad, K&Company); ink- white pigment (Color Box); accessories- eyelet border punch, green gingham ribbon (Offray), Flower Layers#3 dies (SU), crimper.

CCEE Sketch Challenge

The challenge for Monday, September 7 was this sketch provided by our hostess, Frances.



And this is my resulting card. The bottom half is a jumbo wheel called Bright Blessings. I don't use my wheels as wheels though. I always remove the rubber by slicing with a craft blade right at the seam, and peeling it off. It comes off very easily. To stamp, I lay down the sheet of rubber on a scrap of paper, ink it up, remove it from the paper and lay it close to the edge of my work table. Then I take the paper to it. For this particular one, I stamped the portion that has the 'give thanks' leaf again on a scrap and cut it out.




Recipe: stamps- Whimsical Autumn by Carolyn King ( manufactured by Gina K. Designs) (basket and ivy), Bright Blessings (jumbo wheel, SU); paper- natural, designer paper (Basic Grey "Wassail, spice tea"); ink- always artichoke (SU), black archival; accessories- antique gold brads, brown woven ribbon (Offray), Creative Memories circle cutting system, pop dots, leaf stencil (source unknown), Prismacolor Pencils and Turpenoid.

August Supplies Challenge

Cindy (Mothermark on SCS) supplied us CCEE'rs with some beautiful materials this month, and this is my result. The large ladybug is copied from the one on the ribbon. I used a circle punch for the head and hand drew the simple torso onto the red designer paper. I often do not add a sentiment right away when I do a card. This allows me to add an appropriate one for the occasion needed at the time.
I'm sorry I don't have any info about the materials used. I will add it later if I find out the sources. Just a reminder- you can click on all the photos for a closeup look.

...And the Flowers and the Trees...

Can you guess what's coming next week?

Recipe: stamps- Nature Silhouettes (SU), Bella Toile (SU); paper- blue sky, black; ink- black archival; accessories- black rhinestones, Cuttlebug embossing folder.

Let Me Tell Ya 'Bout the Birds and the Bees....

Let it up to Cindy (Mothermark on SCS) to come up with very creative CCEE challenges for August. Last Monday's challenge was to do a card with, you've guessed it, birds and bees on it. Since I didn't have any stamps that had both, and had very little time to think creatively, this is the best I could do. The bird looked like he was standing in mid air, so I drew a little fence post under him.

Recipe: stamps- Inspired By Nature (SU), Le Jardin Botanique (sentiment, SU), Botanicals (bee, SU), bird (source unknown); paper- black, white, dotted patterned paper; ink- black archival; accessories- scallop border punch (SU), ribbon (Offray).