Mother's Day--The Only Time I Choose Pink

I am not a fan of pink, which I'm sure you could surmise by the lack of it you see on this blog. For some reason, though, I choose this color for Mother's Day cards. I don't do it on purpose; it must be some sort of subliminal message the color sends out each year. Don't believe me? Check out the archive tab for Mother's Day. So why I chose Pretty in Pink, Perfect Plum, and Rose Red for my Mother's Day card this year? Who knows? My mother doesn't even like pink! I'm tellin' ya--it's a conspiracy!

This card was inspired by a reminder from a fellow demonstrator of what you can do with border punches to make cool frames for images or sentiments. Thanks, Dawn! I used the Scallop Trim Border Punch, centered it on each side of a 3" square piece of Perfect Plum, and this was the result! Easy and such a cool look! I created the mat for the sentiment by using the complementary Scallop Trim Corner Punch and a piece of 2.25" square Rose Red card stock.

I stamped "wonderful mother" from Well Scripted and used the butterflies from Great Friend to complete the focal image. That cool frame embossed into the Pretty in Pink card base? That was made using the Framed Tulips Textured Impressions Folder for the Big Shot. It's available in the current Occasions Mini, which is only current through April 30. If you'd like to order, you can do so through my shop 24/7 button in the upper right of this blog.

Origami Shadow Box Card

Nancy Riley is one of my favoritest stampers, and a few days ago she posted a card featuring a technique for an origami shadow box that she saw on LeAnn Greff's blog. I loved the look, so I decided to continue toying with the things I already had on the table from yesterday's card to see what I could come up with.

This is SO easy and looks so cool! The interior will hold a 1 3/8" square, so that sort of limits what you can do. I am one who is not easily thwarted, however, so I stamped the "Thinking of You" stamp from Kind and Caring Thoughts in three steps using Tangerine Tango ink so that it would fit on my small square! The little leaf is from Great Friend, stamped with So Saffron.

The ribbon was a bit tricky, but I like the placement at the top. It sort of makes the square look like a picture being hung by the ribbon knot, don't you think?

I'm not sure who will receive this card, but it's a good one to have in the stash. It's always good to try out a new technique. Give this a try and let me know what you think! Thanks, Nancy!

Hip to be Square!

I struggle coming up with creative titles for my posts! But this card has lots of little squares and I grew up in the 80s, which was synonymous with Huey Lewis and the News, for me at least. It's how my mind works.

This card was really inspired not by Huey, but by Mary Fish. I chose this card's color scheme to give some time in the spotlight to a few colors that are retiring at the end of next month: Really Rust and Sage Shadow.

The retiring colors will be available until June 30, or while supplies last. We demonstrators were informed last week that some card stock has already begun to be depleted, so textured card stock in the same color is being substituted until it runs out too. The reinkers will be restocked until May 30, and then once the stock is depleted, they will not be replenished.

I stamped images from these sets, just pulling out what I liked and what I thought went well together. All were stamped in Chocolate Chip classic ink, which is being moved from the Earth Elements family (which is being renamed the Regals Collection), into the Neutrals Collection.

These 1.25" squares were mounted on the Really Rust card stock, and accented with Sage Shadow .25" grosgrain ribbon, and a butterfly stamped in SS and mounted on top of the same image, creating a shadow of sorts.

Another Celebration

Today is the 15th birthday of my only son. He shares this day with Emily, one of his best friends, whose parents were (and still are) dear friends when we walked through pregnancy together the summer of 1994. Our due dates were 2 days apart, and we promised each other we'd call when we went to the hospital. But we were only 2 days late, and they were 5 days late, so we didn't call and they didn't either. We found out we were both in labor when we arrived on the labor and delivery floor at the hospital and saw each other's names on the wipe board listing who is in what room. I'm sure they don't do this today, due to privacy issues, but we may have not known otherwise!

Our labor rooms were separated by only a thin wall, so Brad and Darcie could hear my dear husband shouting the numbers 1 through 10 as I pushed, so they knew where we were in our delivery process! We chose not to find out what sex our child would be, so we were thrilled to let them know that we'd had a little boy. Darcie delivered Emily Joy few hours later, (they hadn't found out either)and we shared a recovery room. To say these two are friends since birth is true. They literally have never known life without each other.

So, until 3 years ago, they celebrated their birthdays with each other. Separate friend parties and all, but at least a cupcake or ice cream dessert (Michael doesn't like cake) and a gift were exchanged. Moving changed the face to face nature of the celebrating, but we do not let the day pass without at least a card being sent to let Em know we're thinking of her.

This year's card was inspired by the colors of her room--hot pink and orange. The simple color block design was what I chose to communicate a more sophisticated, growing up look. I utilized the Great Friend set and stamped the leaf image with Versamark on the Pink Passion and Only Orange blocks. I used a stamp from Flight of the Butterfly set which says, "one person can make such a difference and that person is you" as the trail from the butterfly.


I wanted a simple interior that would carry the theme forward. I used direct to rubber inking of the border image from Great Friend for message. The "happy birthday" is from Mark the Date.

Mambo, Anyone?

As in Melon Mambo...This is one of the new InColors, and it's growing on me. I'm SO not a pink person, and this color reminds me of my sister's bridesmaids' dresses (as in watermelon), but still. Paired with Chocolate Chip and some retired felt ribbon (with the cream stitching colored MM, thanks to the new InColor Stampin' Write Marker in the same hue), it's stylin'.

I used Circle Circus and the sentiment from Great Friend, as well as the Scallop Circle Punch, the 1 3/8" Circle Punch, and the 1.25" Circle Punch. Alright, that's enough capitalization.

Thanks to Brooke for the inspiration. She's part of a 12-blog tour, all featuring stamps and accessories from the new 2009-2010 Big Idea Book & Catalog. Check it out!

Another Day, Another Card...Don't Fall Over from the Shock!

This is a shameless CASE of a stunning card I saw and fell in love with on SCS. Her color combination just popped off the page; however, I didn't possess enough of said colors to recreate it exactly, so I chose three similar colors from the new InColor collection. These would be Bermuda Bay, Dusty Durango, and Crushed Curry. I added Old Olive for snicks.

The most interesting technique I used was for the "outline" of the butterflies. It's called bouncing, and uses the brush tip of the Stampin' Write Marker, in this case DD, and it is tapped along the edge all the way around the image after it was inked in CC. Such a cool effect and so easy!

I'm off to TN today to attend the fundraiser dinner for Amazima Ministries Int'l (see icon/link in sidebar). The founder's mom ordered an 8"x10" version of the invitation as a keepsake, so that'll be fun to present to her! Perhaps I'll have pics and a report when I return Saturday.

Celebrating Great Friends

I'm sure that someone's name came to mind when you read my blog post title today. I'd love for you to share with me who that person is and what he or she means to you. My great friend is my husband, Bob. For me, it's always awkward to try to articulate what someone means to me and why. Part of the reason is because when I share what is special about him, I end up describing what he does for me. Is someone a great friend because of what he or she does to make me feel good, or are there innate qualities of that person that come out in our interactions? Perhaps I'm getting too deep.

All that said, here's why Bob is a great friend. He's steady...he almost always thinks the best of me, even when (and especially when) I'm not seeing myself clearly. He's constantly cheering me on, encouraging me in my work, my stamping and my musical pursuits. He's also funny. I need to laugh, and he makes me do that, or at least smile, every day.

Before you become concerned about my card color choices, let me provide a disclaimer: this card is not for Bob! The reason I told you about Bob's great relational qualities, however, is because the stamp set used here is called Great Friend. It's in the current Occasions Mini Catalog, which means it's available through the end of June. One of the things that convinced me to purchase this set was the mix of images and sentiments this set has. The butterfly is beautiful, and the leaf stamp coordinates so perfectly with it, but what really sold me were the other stamps.

Who wouldn't want to receive a card that says, "You're a friend who makes good times great."? That label stamp will nicely frame that sentiment, and the "for you" phrase coupled with the label stamp also makes this set useful for creating small gift tags for Mother's Day, Teacher Appreciation Week, and graduation presents. Sets that serve multiple functions are fantastic, aren't they?

A few quick words about the card: it's on Cameo Coral, and it's a skinny, long note card created by cutting a 2.75" strip of 8.5"x11" and scoring it at 5.5". The DSP is also from the Occasions Mini and is called A Walk in the Park. It coordinates CC, Baja Breeze, Kiwi Kiss, So Saffron, and Basic Gray. I would never have thought to add that last one, but it really works. The ribbon is KK striped. I didn't use the Great Friend sentiment with this card because it was part of a mini SAS I did 2 weeks ago, and I was using it on another card.

Really, do take a few minutes and share with me about your great friend. Then, take a few minutes and do something to communicate your appreciation for that person. A phone call, a flower, some cookies, a CARD. These people need to be acknowledged, and there's no time like the present.

Fridays are Always Beautiful...

but THIS Friday is even more so because of this gorgeous card! I cannot take complete credit for this work of art. I had help.

While I was in Austin a few weeks ago, I was exposed to Lydia's Big Shot. I was at convention last year when it was announced that SU! would begin selling this machine. The place exploded in screams, and I had to lean over to ask Lydia what the big deal was. I had no idea what a Big Shot was. I know; this confirms what you've been thinking all along. I am so culturally unaware that I must live under a rock. More proof of this? I hadn't watched a second of American Idol before last week. How did I function in society?

Since I don't want you to have to let on that you don't know what one is, a Big Shot is a tabletop die cutting machine manufactured by Sizzix. (Follow this link to view a brief tutorial.)

Anyway, Lydia snatched one up immediately, while I still have not made the purchase. So, it was one of her goals for my time in town to convert me to a BS enthusiast.

While I am not completely converted, being able to work with the embossing folder Manhattan Flowers Textured Impressions Die to create this card made me take a large step closer toward a decision. You see, dry embossing is one of the techniques that got me hooked on card making almost 15 years ago. I LOVE that look.

The way this works is simple: cut a piece of card stock to fit the heavy-duty plastic hinged folder that has the impression molded into it. A hand crank pulls the folder through a roller press, producing this raised image. This one is designed to fit a 4.25"x5.5" card front perfectly! I used some retired copper metallic card stock for this project, and I was so pleased with the result.

I paired the image with Sage Shadow card stock and trimmed around the flowers so that they would pop even more on the card. Then I traced the top line of the flowers onto the base of my card and cut that part off the front. The little sentiment is from Great Friend, a stamp set that's in the current Occasions Mini Catalog. I heat embossed it with copper embossing powder, and mounted it the copper card stock. It is adhered to the interior of the card, although it will show when the card is removed the envelope.

This is a stunner in real life! While I may not be a convert yet, I'm beginning to consider the possibility that I may want one of these little machines. I'll keep you posted...