Word Play Birthday Presents

There's always need for a birthday card, and when my new downline, Bekah, found a card by Angie Leach on the gallery for demonstrators only that she wanted to make, I knew I'd be using the layout too. It's just too cute and really quick to assemble! I used the Designer Series Paper Patterns Stack for the InColor Collection, which features Concord Crush, Pear Pizazz, Poppy Parade, Peach Parfait, and Blushing Bride. These colors are in the same order as the packages, with BB featured as the card base. The boxes measure 1.75" wide x 1.25" high, 1.5" wide x 1.25" high, 1" square, and .75" wide x 1" high. There are many many different patterns to choose from, so I could make this card again using the same paper but the flip side of the DSP, and it would look different. That's BOING for the buck, friends! The bow at the top is made using Whisper White 1/8" taffeta ribbon. Can't believe we didn't have this width ribbon as an option for cards before this year! I use it all the time! It's adhered with a glue dot. The sentiment is colored direct to rubber using the Stampin' Write Markers for the InColor Collection. I don't own the stamp pads for these colors, but with the markers in my supply cabinet, I can color coordinate my card anyway. Wish BIG is from Word Play, a versatile new set featuring 12 different sentiments crafted using unique font combinations. When Bekah made this card at her workshop, she gave the gals the choice of sentiments. It was fun to see how a different stamp can make the card applicable for a completely different occasion. Tomorrow I'll show you how the same sentiment, combined with Extreme Elements, makes a fantastic birthday card for a guy. See you then!

The Snowpocalypse and More Love

Hey all! I've been a little distracted this week with the 6" of snow that the good Lord dumped on the Atlanta area Sunday night. I've been responsible for getting the store's workforce to the building each day, since I'm the only one with a large vehicle capable of traversing snow with 4 wheel drive. The shift supervisor stayed at my house for 3 nights because she lives too far from the store to make it in in this weather. We were open 3 hours on Monday, 5 hours yesterday, and will be open 8 hours today. Three days later there are many still trapped in their subdivisions, since those roads haven't been plowed at all and they're hilly and glazed with ice.

It has been quite an adventure, and I hope that things will get back to normal by the weekend. The boy hasn't had school all week, and who knows if he'll go Friday. All the built-in "inclement weather" days the school system had in the calendar have been used, and it looks like we'll be losing some extra days around President's Day and Easter. Michael could care less what it means for the future; he's just happy to have had all the time in the world to play computer games!

Before the storm struck, I did make some cards, which I'll share with you over the next few days.

My last post was of a card using Lots of Love Letterpress Plate for the Big Shot, and this one is another example. This is a CASE of Lydia Fiedler's card. I used Crumb Cake and inked the plate with Whisper White craft ink. I love the look! I mounted it on Cherry Cobbler and added the heart from Always, also stamped in Cherry Cobbler. I added some Victoria Crochet Trim and Cherry Cobbler seam binding and made it wavy by adding tape to the back and scrunching it against the card stock as I went. I'm still not sure how I feel about this way of adding ribbon to a project, but I'm going with it and hoping it'll grow on me. What do you think of it?

Letterpress Love!

SU! debuted a new product in the Holiday Mini Catalog. It's called a Letterpress Plate, and with it and the Big Shot, you can create the look of letterpress. The items have carried over to the new Occasions Mini, and they bring elegance to Valentine's Day cards. The first photo is of what the letterpress--entitled Lots of Love--looks like after it has gone through the Big Shot. It's subtle but stunning. One of the other things you can do, just like with traditional letterpress plates, is add ink. That's what I chose to do while I was experimenting with this technique, and a lovely accident occurred.

I added Frost White Shimmer Paint and used Basic Gray again as the card stock. Then I added Clear Stampin' Emboss Powder and heat embossed it. Somehow the ink and EP combined to create this tarnished silver look that is so cool! I matted the main image with Whisper White and Basic Black and mounted it on a 5.5" square card of Basic Gray.


I decided this card needed very little embellishment, except these little items. They're called Trinket Keys, and there are 4 in a set. Couple this with a new stamp set called You're a Gem that includes the phrase "key to my heart" and a perfect symphony of elements coalesces--cue Michael Buble magic. What man wouldn't want to know that he has the key to your heart? As you can tell, I haven't received my latest order, or you'd be viewing the card attached to the front with silver cord.

You can order everything used to create this card by making a list of the highlighted items and using my online shopping link, or you can attend my monthly Stamp-A-Stack on Jan. 29 and make it! Leave a comment if you'd like to register your attendance.

New Year, Same Holidays

Hope your personal version of 2011 is off to a great start. Having worked in food service retail for 10 years now, I know a thing or two about January.

1) Everyone tries in some way to do better in the new year. They diet, they curb their spending, they make resolutions. I love a fresh start as much as anyone.

2) Retailers want to skip January and steer people right toward The Next Big Thing, which, obviously, is Valentine's Day. At Starbucks, we have Valentine's mugs, tumblers, bears, and red velvet cupcakes on display already. Yes, it's only Jan. 6.

Since there is something to be said for planning ahead, and if you can't beat 'em you might as well join 'em, here are two cards I made for Valentine's Day. Each uses Love You Much, a very diverse set that coordinates with the Heart-to-Heart Punch.

The first card came together after a conversation with my ex-pat friend Elisabeth. We were discussing how to create the look of patterned paper using stamps, and how you can cut a window in a card and have a cool look that still a single layer card. I started by stamping the "love" image INSIDE the 4.25" square Whisper White card base with Black Stazon ink. I knew I wanted to "fill" the vase with "water" using Marina Mist, an Aqua Painter, a Versamarker, and Clear Stampin' Emboss Powder. Using Stazon meant that the image wouldn't bleed. I applied the MM ink with the Aqua Painter. I colored the area with Versamarker and heat embossed it with the clear EP. Voila--the look of water in the "V" vase!

I used a Real Red flower button from the Bold Brights Designer Buttons pack and added a little silver cord bow with a mini glue dot. Then I decided to create the look of a crystal vase by adhering Dazzling Diamonds Glitter with Tombow Multi-purpose Adhesive. Valentine's Day is synonymous with bling, dontcha know. Click on the image to see it up-close and get the full effect.

I used the heart image to stamp around the window I'd created, then colored parts of the hearts with my Basic Black Stampin' Write Marker (100082). It created exactly the look I was going for!

The second card is a takeoff of the first. I had stamped the Love image in the center of the card base, but I wanted some dimension. I had the window I'd cut out of the first card available, so I adhered it temporarily and stamped the Hugs and Kisses image in each corner. Then I traced around the square with the fine tip of my marker.

After I removed it, I realized that I liked the idea of a slightly raised image, so I restamped the Love image in the middle. I used the Small Heart Punch on a scrap of Real Red card stock and covered over the original flower image. I stamped another of the H&K image, cut it out, and colored it with just enough red to provide some more accent color. A few Stampin' Dimensionals, and the card was complete. Or do you think the Love needs to be colored black?

Are you in the mood for love now? I am. One of my New Year's resolutions is to be present, in the moment. I'm a future-oriented thinker, so I miss moments because I'm preoccupied with what's coming. And Valentine's Day is coming, folks. Just not today. Still, make it a point to tell someone that you love them today. You may not have tomorrow like you think you do.

A Card for Grandma's 90th

It's not often that you get to extend birthday wishes to someone who turns 90. My maternal grandmother had this milestone birthday Dec. 22, and we traveled from GA to IN the weekend before Christmas so that we could be there to celebrate with her and my extended family.

I knew I wanted to make her a card, but I don't have much experience making cards for these kinds of very special birthdays. I know she likes flowers, so I started with an image I've had on my desk for awhile, saving for a what I knew I wanted to be a special card.

It was the hydrangea image from Because I Care, the Level 1 Hostess set. I wove the strips of Whisper White card stock like I did for this card but I made a smaller square this time. I matted this on Baja Breeze card stock and added some 1/8" Old Olive taffeta ribbon. Then I mounted this with Stampin' Dimensionals on a Top Note Bigz die that I embossed with the Vintage Wallpaper Textured Impressions Folder for the Big Shot, and I made it shimmer using our new Frost White Shimmer Paint. It's a bit hard to detect in the picture, but it created nice visual interest and highlighted the dry embossing.

Because I know my grandma likes texture--she quilted and crocheted for years--I decided to emboss the Old OIive card base with the Square Lattice TI Folder. Love it!

On the inside, I decided to make use of the frame that remains after diecutting the Top Note shape. I stamped the sentiment from Fifth Avenue Florals and added the simplest Happy Birthday I could find in my stash--from It's Your Birthday (retired)--along with some numbers from a non-SU! set, and the card was complete.

Here's a picture of my grandma with all her grandchildren. I'm the oldest one, so that's why I'm sitting by her! For those of you who have heard me mention my sister, she's the blonde on the left. I'm so glad we made the 12-hour drive to be at this event. It kicked off our Christmas celebrations in memorable fashion.

Gone, but not Forgotten

Yes, it has been quite a busy time since I last posted. Hope you've been crafting on your own in my absence. I've

Today's card is one we made at the Ronald McDonald House where I volunteer with a team of Stampin' Up! demonstrators monthly. It was my turn to make the card, and I saw a really cute one on Rosemarie Diehl's blog. Hers used our Snowflake Punch to make a Christmas tree, and I thought it would be something the families would enjoy.

Since I don't own that punch, I borrowed a similar sized diecut from a friend. I used some retired Handsome Hunter card stock, a perfect color for an evergreen, and provided each card maker with 2 snowflakes.

One was cut in half and created the bottom branches of the tree. The second snowflake was cut in half and then the second half was cut so that there was 1 section of 2 "branches" and 1 individual section that made the treetop.

I used up some Chocolate Chip scraps for the trunk. I think they measured .5" x 4". The star was formed using Summer Sun card stock (retired) and our smallest Star Punch.

It was so fun to see the reactions of the crafters when I showed them the card. At first they thought it was going to be hard, but as soon as I deconstructed the tree branches, they were gung-ho! Although this card's picture shows red ornaments decorating the tree, I changed my mind at the last minute and took my Regals Designer Button Collection and advised each person to choose 5 buttons to use. They added great dimension and visual interest to the final project.

It is such a blessing to craft with these families each month. Since many of them have been there for many months, we are familiar to each other now and they are eager to stamp as soon as they see us arrive. We said goodbye to 2 families this month and that was exciting. The progress the kids have made in the months we've seen them is a great testimony to the dedicated professionals at our area children's hospitals who have worked so hard to help them be rehabilitated.

I can't believe we're only 11 days away from Christmas! I had a surge of creativity hit me over the weekend, and I made some more of the ornaments I originally posted about here. I'm excited to give them to my friends and family when we travel home Friday.

I'll be back tomorrow to share a wall hanging I made using the Northern Frost Decorative Strip die for the Big Shot. Thanks for hanging with me during this busy month!

Test New Post

Hey everyone - just testing my posting system.