Know What You're Getting On Your Birthday??

I needed a masculine card for a family member and came up with this. The gift stamp is from Great Impressions. I stamped it three times - once on white shimmer cs and then on two different designer papers all with SU's Chocolate Chip ink. I cut out the dp along the outside of the stamped image and popped all three up for dimension. The sentiment is from Hambo - also stamped with Chocolate Chip on shimmery cs. They have so many cute sentiments. The inside: "OLD!!" Thanks for stopping by!

NOTE: For what it's worth, the "pop dots" or "dimensionals" that I almost always use are 1/16" in height rather than the usual 1/8". I definitely prefer that size when paper piecing.

I Am A Flower Stamp NUT

You'll soon see a pattern if you visit my blog regularly. . . . I've never "met" a flower stamp I didn't love. I have tons of flower stamps that have never seen ink, and I still gravitate toward the flower stamps when visiting stamp stores and invariably leave with at least one. It's a sickness, I tell ya'. Ok, enough with my obsession . . . this flower stamp is from Inkadinkadoo and belongs to my girlfriend. This card is pretty self-explanatory. The back ground is Cuttlebugged and the flowers are colored with Prismacolor markers (not my best effort) with some popped up for dimension and matted with black.

Thanks for coming by. I appreciate the comments and have tried to reply, but if you are "anonymous", it comes bouncing back, so I want you to know I appreciate your taking the time to visit and value your comments. Thanks!

Pocket Full of Posies

Today's card was created using a piece of cardstock from DCWV's Pocket Full of Posies Matstack. Oddly, it wasn't one of the pieces I liked best until I used it. I knew I had a Sizzix Emboss 'n' Cut flower just like the one in that paper, so that got me going. You can't tell from the picture, but the front of the card is cut in a curve and the flowers hang over the edge. The piece that was cut from the front was put on the inside of the card along the bottom edge. I cut the flowers with my Big Kick and chalked them a bit, but wanted them to mimic the flowers of the cardstock, so that's it. I added ribbon and stamped the greeting (Hero Arts).

Thanks to everyone for the kind comments on my cards. They are much appreciated.

New Address Face Off

I can't decide which of these cards I like better, so I'm asking your opinion. The main image of both is from Stampin' Up's recently retired Right At Home set. I used one of the houses from the stamp of three houses. I stamped on shimmery cardstock and colored both with Prismacolor pencils, shading around the edges with the pencils and adding a bling doorknob to one. The first card is mounted on SU Blush Blossom and Chocolate Chip and the corners trimmed with SU's ticket punch. The scraps behind the main image are a scrap made with a stamp from SU's Looks Like Spring and a scrap from SU dp called Spring Flowers (from one of the mini catalogs). The base card is Blush Blossom (also SU) and I ran the front of the card through my Big Kick using a Cuttlebug embossing folder, added some punched flowers (used SU's punch that matches Looks Like Spring) and a Queen brad and tied two pieces of ribbon around the dp for the finishing touch.

The second card uses mats of SU Pretty in Pink and Chocolate Chip for the house and more scraps from the SU dp and stamped scrap to create a custom paper. I took a plain scrap piece of paper and glued strips of the dp scraps in rows on the piece of paper and then cut a piece the size I needed for the card from that and put it on the SU So Saffron base card that I stamped in So Saffron ink with the Paisley BG stamp. I scalloped the edge of the card front with my scallop scissors and used the SU slot punch to add a piece of ribbon. The upper left corner accent is a Sizzlet Cut 'n' Emboss diecut. The sentiment is a combination of a Hero Arts stamp that says "Bless Your Heart" and an Amuse stamp that says "New Address".

I WON !!!!!!!

I'm so stoked! Amy Westerman over at Heartfelt Greetings http://heartfeltgreetings.blogspot.com/ held a contest for business card creations and my entry won! A big "Thank you" to Robbie for letting me know. Google Reader hadn't "fed" it to me yet, so I was clueless.

I used a combination of two stamps for my entry. First, I stamped a small flower from Impression Obsession's Wreaths & Garlands - Floral (CL85) with my ColorBox Que Fluid Chalk ink pads. I then masked the flowers off and stamped with a Magenta border stamp. The number on the stamp is 140861K. I purchased it at Stamp Your Art Out in Cincinnati, Ohio, just recently and their stock # is 4289. The Magenta stamp is about 4 inches long, so only a portion of it would fit on my card. If you have any more questions or need clarification or more details on anything, please let me know. I'd be happy to hear from you.

Stampendous Agapanthus Cluster

The background paper for this card is from The Paper Company. I found it at Archiver's. I stamped the image with Versmark ink and embossed it with white embossing powder. I then added various shades of yellow and gold pastels (chalk) to the centers of the flowers. The sentiment is from Impression Obsession, and I stamped that in black (Memories) ink and matted it with black cardstock. I then added black pop dots to the back on the top edge only. This is a "kick stand" style card, meaning the top base of the card is cut about an inch shorter than the inside of the card, and the sentiment is the mounted to match the length of the inside of the card. I added ribbon to the top fold area. Enjoy!

Easy Peasy Penny Black

I made this card with Stampin' Up paper and Penny Black stickers. I matted the stickers on kraft cardstock and added touches of glitter to dress them up a bit. I stamped a white circle with a Hero Arts stamp and mounted it on a Marvy scalloped circle. I customized a Prima for the center by adding some orange to a pink flower to match the flowers in the sticker and adding a Hero Arts crystal to the center. Very quick and easy.

Hip Hip Hooray

I can't believe it's taken me this long to use this Stampin' Up set, "Doodle This". I made this card for my daughter who has accepted a promotion where she works. I hope this new position will be much less stressful for her.

I stamped on SU Kraft paper and colored it with Prismacolor pencils, blending with the blender pencil. In the past I've used OMS, or gamsol, but the the class I took recently used only the blender pencil, so I've been trying that. The jury's still out on which I like better . . . I'll let you know. This turned out to be a very simple card, just added a little bling to the flower. I'm tempted to add ribbon, but I'm always tempted to add ribbon. I think I like this as is. What do you think?

Christmas in . . . August

I'm getting a head start on my Christmas cards, and this will be one of them. I'll make other designs because I have a hard time mass producing . . . I get bored after about 10. This stamp is from The Cat's Pajamas. They have the cutest stamps! I colored the image with Marvy markers and matted it on shiny silver cardstock, then added it to the navy card front and added the silver cord. The pine boughs are a punch from McGill Designer series. I added touches of glitter with a Sakura glitter pen, but those don't show up in this photo.

Lockhart Tulips

Here is a card that is similar to one I submitted (and won!) in Ellen Hutson's Sketch challenge this month. I used Ranger Glossy Accents to highlight the tulips. Thanks for looking.

Lockhart "Thanks" card

I made this card with some Crate designer paper and Lockhart rubber stamps (LOVE these!) I colored the strawberries with Prismacolor Pencils and a blender, even adding the shading with pencils (See the edge of the paper with the image?). I recently took an excellent class on using Prismacolors in Cincinnati, so I'm all over these pencils right now LOL

First blog card

My first blog card was created using an Impression Obsession stamp I found recently at Stampaway in Cincinnati, and I used the illustration on the case for my color choices. Prismacolors and blender pencil were used. Sorry for the crooked picture. I've got some work to do getting these right.

So Here Goes . . .

This could be fun . . . . we'll see . . . I've been reading a long list of rubber stamp related blogs daily and have finally decided it's time to join the club. I don't claim to be nearly as talented as the those I've stalked these past few months, but will share my creations and bits of information about the hobby that has become my obsession - rubber stamping/card making.