Get Well Wishes

Today I made a card for someone special.  I have severe back problems and have to go in for treatment once a week.  One of the ladies that works on me is going in for surgery tomorrow. We have developed a very special friendship.   I have made a little card to go with some flowers I am going to take to her.  I used one of the stamps in the JustRite "Autumn Blessings" set.

To create the embossed frame on this card I used the new Cuttlebug "Grace's Frame".  After embossing it, I cut the center out with a Nestabilities "Label Ten" die and backed the opening with a piece of design paper from "My Minds's Eye.  The JustRite image was stamped and colored using Koh-i-noor pencils and OMS.  It was cut out with an oval Nestie and each scallop pierced.  A glitter pen was used to color the center of the daisies and clear glitter was added to the petals of the flowers.  I stamped get well wishes then added green pearls to complete the outside.  I have included a picture of the inside as well.  

Wishing you a speedy recovery Laura.

All the products used for this card were purchased from Joan's Gardens.

Let It Snow

Click to enlarge

This week's JustRite Friday Challenge #029 is to work with this square sketch:

The JustRite blog states that this sketch will be perfect for their 2-inch square stamps, including some of their new Christmas collection stamps or monograms. But remember, you can always cut any shape of our stamps into a square to use with this sketch!

I love working on JustRite Challenges.  My first thought was to use one of the new 2-inch square stamps for this card but then decided to create my square using one of the new circle stamps.   I have been wanting to use this snowman from the JustRite "Groovy Snowman" set and decided he would be perfect for this sketch. You wouldn't know he really came from a round stamp set, would you!  He was stamped without the round border and colored with Copic markers, then cut out with a square Nestability. The band on his hat is "blue" but sure doesn't show up well in the photo!  The colors used on his scarf are Certain Celery, Not Quite Navy and More Mustard.   I cut a 3.25 inch piece of square card stock and punched around it with the Martha Stewart snowflake border punch to create my frame and matted it onto a piece of Not Quite Navy card stock.   This really made the snowflakes "pop".   Rhinestones were added in the center of each snowflake.

A strip of Not Quite Navy cs was embossed with the Cuttlebug and backed with a piece of More Mustard.  To create the border across the bottom, five Martha Stewart snowflakes were punched and lined up from one edge to the other. 

I needed to create my own greeting for the snowflake border.  I used the new JustRite clear stamp block and added the letters I wanted from the JustRite "15pt Times New Roman" font set.   I wanted to stamp "Let It Snow" on a very narrow piece of card stock to go across the top of my snowflakes.  It was so easy to stamp on the narrow strip with the clear stamp block, because you can see exactly where to line it up.  As you can see in the picture above,  I placed a little design, included in this font set, at each end of the greeting to separate the repeated saying.   I was thrilled at how easy it was to create the greeting I wanted on this narrow strip of card stock. 

I used very non-traditional colors on my card, because I get tired of always using red and green.  I am sure someone will love receiving this card next Christmas - how could you not LOVE that adorable snowman!

STV Blog Hop for Melanie

Tonight Melanie Muenchinger has several designing friends sharing samples they created using some of their favorite sets from Melanie.  I have been a guest designer for Melanie several times and was happy to participate. My two favorite sets are "A Year of Flowers" and "A Year of Leaves".  I have created two projects so I could use both these stamp sets.

The card was created using "A Year of Flowers".  The card was inspired by all the  beautiful lilies I have growing in my yard right now.  The Apple Green card stock is from GKD.  It was embossed with the "Victoria"  Cuttlebug embossing folder.  The lace background was created with a Martha Stewart corner punch and then the center scored on the ScorBuddy.  Large green rhinestones were added to each corner.  The flowers were colored with Copic markers and cut out and arranged adding green leaves to fill in.  An embossed tag was added.  The greeting is from the same stamp set.

The Gable Box was created following a tutorial on SCS.  The card stock used is GKD "Pumpkin Spice".  Sorry this box did not photograph the rich colors on this box.    The leaves and acorns  are from Melanie's "A Year of Leaves" stamp set and were stamped on glossy card stock.  The color was added to the leaves by sponging on different colors.  The acorns were colored with Copic markers.  The verse is also from the same set.  The background paper is from "Me & My Big Ideas" paper pack and has metallic copper in it so I added some copper cording above the handle.  A Velcro dot holds the box closed.   

 
Be sure to check out the links below to see other cards and projects  created with Melanie's stamp sets:

Brenda Turner
Carla Suto
Carolina Buchting
Geri Utterback
Karen Knegten
Libby Hickson
Linda Payne
Melissa Shultz
Selma Stevenson (you are here)
Sharri Seffens
Sue Van DeVusse
Tina Gilliland

Sending Sunshine

Doesn't this look like a beautiful place to sit and relax!  This card was created using Theresa Momber's "Sending Sunshine" stamp set, available from Gina K Designs.  I decided to create a scene using four stamps in this set.  First the tree was stamped on white card stock then the sky was sponged on.  The tree was colored with Copic markers.  I wanted to make the tree dimensional so l used purple Flower Soft on the flowers.  I love how this looks.

Next I cut a piece of Basic Grey design paper layered onto white card stock and cut the opening using an oval Nestability.  This was attached over the tree using dimensionals to give the card depth.  The bench, bird bath and butterflies were stamped and cut out then added with dimensionals.  The water in the bird bath has diamond glaze added to it.

The bench and bird bath looked like they were just "floating" on the front of the card so I used  scissors to create layered grass.  This seemed to ground these items.

This is a beautiful set by Theresa.  There are eleven images and five greetings so there are lots of possibilities for creating pretty scenes or to just use the stamps individually.

 

Heartfelt Creations Daisy

This card was made using the Heartfelt Creations Daisy Patch Background stamp and the Daisy Patch Bouquet set.  These stamps were purchased from Joan's Gardens.

To create the background, I used VersaMark ink and stamped on the pink card stock then embossed with clear embossing powder. . This made a beautiful background for my main image.  The Nestability Lotus pendant was placed on the background then the layered flowers from the heartfelt Creations Daisy Patch Bouquet stamp set placed on top. I stamped the image three times -- twice with pink ink on pink card stock and once on green using green ink.  There are dies to cut these flowers out.   Each image was cut out to layer. My card is 5.5 inches square.  The daisy background stamp fits a 4.25 x 5.5 inch area.  On the bottom of the daisy background, I placed a piece of white card stock that was embossed with the Dotted Swiss embossing folder.  A Martha Stewart punched border was placed across the seam.  Pink pearls and a dotted Swiss bow were added to complete the card.

If you haven't seen all the great Heartfelt Creations stamps and dies yet, be sure to check them out on Joan's Gardens.

 

Enjoy Your Day

Well I guess I was really ambitious today. I have three posts for you so be sure to scroll down to see all three.

I told you I had one more card to make for the StampTV CHA Envy challenges.  This one was for Theresa Momber's challenge --  Stamp an image sideways, upside down, or at a different angle than normal. 

The background paper is from the Basic Grey "Lime Rickey" paper pad.  The stamp set used was from Theresa's "Hope Grows" set available from Gina K Designs.  The branch was stamped then cut out with a rectangle Nestability, then sponged with yellow prior to taking it out of the die.  The bird was stamped onto a piece of card stock that I did the "Shaving Cream" technique on.  I only used one color of reinker in the shaving cream and that was Not Quite Navy.  When I stamped the image I mostly wanted to get the blue on the tail feathers.  I really like the way it turned out. The bird was attached with a dimensional. 

Something on the card had to be at a different angle so I stamped the greeting from the same stamp set and cut it out with a round Nestability.  A green scallop was added around the edge.  The main image was also matted onto a scalloped green background.  All the scallops were pierced.  Think the bird is reading the greeting?

To give the card dimension I made five small yellow flowers out of vellum and placed on the stamped branch.  Small green pearls were added in the center.  Three additional large vellum flowers and some vellum leaves were made for the upper left corner.  To complete the card, large pearls were added to the corners.

Tomorrow Melanie Munchinger has asked  her guest designers to participate in a blog hop  featuring new projects created with  her stamp sets.  I will be participating in this blog hop so be sure to check back tomorrow evening to see several new projects I have created for her.

Joan's Gardens - Challenge #8

Have you seen the fun challenge on Joan's Garden this week?   It is to do a fall theme card using pumpkins or fall leaves with either embossing or glitter.  The winner of the week #8 challenge will receive  a Heartfelt Creation Stamp.  Joan will soon be getting in a lot of new Heartfelt Creations stamps.  You can see the picture she posted of some of the new items here.

The stamp set I used for this card is the JustRite "Autumn Blessings" set.  The image and border were stamped using Memento black ink then Koh-I-Noor pencils and OMS were used to color.  The design was cut out with oval Nestabilities.  The background paper is embossed.  A silk ribbon was added and a bow added to the top.  To complete the card I punched out a bunch of small leaves and a few acorns.  They were sponged and the centers embossed with a stylus to give them more dimension.  They were glued down to look like falling leaves. 

Hope you will go over to Joan's Gardens and join in on the fun. 

Thanks for stopping by.  Have a wonderful weekend.

StampTV CHA Envy Challenge #3

Here is another card for the StampTV CHA Envy Challenges.  For this Challenge Melanie asked us to use Navy, Olive and Ivory OR use DP and try to recreate or match the pattern with your stamping.  I decided to go for the first choice.  I used a piece of Basic Grey design paper for my olive background and lined it with navy card stock.  The daisies,  are from Asela's "Flowers For Daisy" stamp set available from Gina K Designs.  I used a navy colored pencil and oms to color.  They don't look very "navy" do they!  Pale Yellow Flower Soft was added to the center of each flower.   Leaves were cut with a BossKut die and sponged then layered under the flowers.  They are mounted on a Nestability Label Ten die cut that was sponged with olive green.  The  verse is from Melanie's "Arranged With Love" set, also available from GKD.  Two different sizes of GKD ribbon was added for the border across the bottom.  To finish the card three navy butterflies and some ivory pearls were added.

The deadline for this challenge is this evening and I have one more card to make for Theresa's challenge. 

StampTV CHA Envy Challenge #2

There are three StampTV CHA Envy Challenges and today I am posting a card I made for Lee's   CHA Envy Challenge #2.   She  challenged  us to use Yellow and Black as the main colors. 

The card opens from the top.  I used a square Nestability to create the flap on the top.  A flourish from Heartfelt Creations was used for the decoration along with a bow made with ribbon from GKD.  The black design paper is from the Making Memories "Wedding" paper pack.  The flowers are from the StampTV Showtime Stamp kit "Picture It".   The inside of the card was lined with yellow dotted paper.  The verse is from Melanie's "Say It With Flowers" stamp set available from Gina K Designs.  It was stamped on a Nesties Label Ten die and sponged prior to taking it out.  The butterfly is from the Picture It stamp set.  The card is held closed with a round Velcro dot.

Thank You Melissa

Today is going to be a busy day away from home so I am posting a thank you card I am sending to one of my blogging friends, Melissa Cash.  She is also one of the CSS design team alumni for StampTV and has a beautiful blog.  You can check it out here.  Yesterday I received a package from her with lots of wonderful things.  I created this card with some of these items. 

The package of ten blank cards and envelopes are from "Soiree".  What a beautiful light green pearl card stock.  It is so pretty I didn't want to cover much of it up.  The butterfly stamp was in the package but does not have a name on it but it is beautiful.  I used my JustRite stamp set "Just A Note" for the Thank You.  It was cut out with Nesties and attached with dimensional tape.  I decided to add some of my vellum flowers because they just seem to go with that butterfly.  In the center and on the salutation, I included some of the pretty pink crystal rhinestones she sent.  Along the bottom edge is a piece of trim I purchased from Hobby Lobby when I was in Chicago. 

Thank you Melissa for all the beautiful stamping things and this card will be in the mail to you.

Well off to take my dog in for grooming and to get new cell phones.  Have a great day.

Christmas Notes

Have you ever seen these cute little note books at Michael's in the $1.00 bin?  Usually they come in bright colors but are very easy to cover.    I decided to cover one for Christmas notes.  It is always nice to have note paper handy during the holiday season to jot down things you want to remember.  These little books are perfect because they even include a pen.  It is very easy to create a pattern to cover them and that is what I did.  I needed a small image so chose a stamp from the JustRite "Hearts Come Home" set.  The border used is from the JustRite "From Our House" set.  I thought the two images fit together very well and would look nice with the SU designer paper.   The poinsettia was stamped and colored with Koh-i-noor pencils and oms.  I wanted to be able to blend out the "scroll" background using several different colors and this was very easy with colored pencils. I think I put four colors on there and blended them all out. The image was popped up on dimensionals.  This was a quick and easy project and will make a great little gift for someone closer to the holiday season.

Well I'm off to spend time with my husband and daughter today.  Hope you have a great day.  Thanks for stopping by.

A Picture is Worth a Thousand Words Challenge

This card won the JustRite Challenge

Today I made a card for a challenge I didn't think I could make.  This week's JustRite Friday Challenge,  A Picture is Worth a Thousand Words, sponsored by Copic, is to use a photo on your card combined with JustRite stamps, to make a one-of-a-kind greeting card!   I have never made this type of card.  I love to participate in the JustRite challenges, but I really thought I would need to skip this one.  This afternoon I was looking at this picture of my granddaughter and it always makes me smile.  Her hat has a big yellow flower on it and I realized I have a JustRite stamp flower set with a a similar flower stamp, so maybe I should give this challenge a try after all.   I have to say I really enjoyed working on it.

The two JustRite stamps sets used are:  "My Garden" and "Seeds of Kindness".  The flowers were colored with sponge daubers and cut out with scissors.  Copic markers were used to add a little extra color in the center.  Leaves were cut out with a BossKut  "Daisy Leaves" die.  The background paper is from the Basic Grey "LilyKate" paper pad.  Alexandra's picture was  matted with red card stock.  When this picture was taken, we were out in my garden admiring all the flowers and a butterfly flew by.  I love the expression on her face.

When I had the front of the card completed, I did not have room for the salutation I wanted to add "You make me Smile".  The only thing I could think of doing was to convert it to an easel card.  This worked out perfect.  The salutation is from the JustRite "Seeds of Kindness" set.  It says exactly my feelings every time I look at this picture.  The border was added along the bottom and three butterflies added.  Flower soft was added to the center of all the flowers.  Pearls were added to the bodies of the butterflies and up in the corners to complete the card.

Aren't challenges fun; sometimes they push you to try new things and can give you a real feeling of satisfaction.  I am so happy that I gave this challenge a try.  I will always cherish this card and also have a chance to win  a great prize I would love to have.

Plant Smiles plus Mini Tutorial

Today I am working with some more of the Heartfelt Creations Daisies that I purchased from Joan's Gardens.   The sets I used are "Daisy Patch Bouquet", "Daisy Patch Flowers", and the Daisy Patch Diecuts.  Below I have posted some pictures below to show you how you use the Spellbinder dies you can purchase for this stamp set. 

I just received a new Basic Grey Paper pad called "Olivia" also available from  Joan's Gardens.  It has beautiful papers in it.  This is what I used on the lower half of my card.  For the flowers, I stamped one of the "Daisy Patch Bouquets"  using olive green chalk ink.  I wanted to make it all dimensional so cut this image out.  Next I stamped the three sizes of daisies using the stamps in the "Daisy Patch Flowers Precut set".  I cut out two of each size so I could layer them.  Did you notice I didn't even color them and I think they look beautiful.   Dimensional tape was used between each layer and Pop Dots were used under the leaves to attach to the Cuttlebug embossed panel.  Colors from the design paper were layered under this panel.  

A Martha Stewart border was attached across the middle of the card and Cuttlebug corners added to the top.  Also a small Martha Stewart butterfly, that was embossed, was added.  

The greeting and border is from the JustRite "Seeds of Kindness" stamp set. It was cut out with a petite circle Nestability. 

MINI TUTORIAL ON HOW TO USE THE DIES FOR THESE FLOWERS.

First you cut out a template on a small piece of card stock.  You need to use tape, on only one side,  to hold it in place.

With the tape just on one side, you can lift the die.  Discard the the die cut flower.  You now have a template with the die attached.

Place this template over the stamped image.  Sometimes you have to move it around to be sure and line up the petals correctly.

Place the die down and run through your die cut machine.  Fast and easy way to cut out all these flowers!  You can see how nice the cut out flowers look on the card.

Joan has many different Heartfelt Creations stamp sets and dies.  She is away at CHA this week but you can email her and let her know what you would like to order and your order will be shipped as soon as she returns home.  These have been very popular stamps and dies to work with so she constantly is getting new shipments in.  Here is her link to the Heartfelt stamps and dies.

I always appreciate you stopping by and hope to see you tomorrow.

Cherish the Simple Pleasures

Last night I was sitting out on the deck watching the birds play around the bird bath  so that is what influenced my card today.  The stamp set used is "Spring has Spring" from Gina K Designs.  I also used Kitty Caracciolo's "Cause A Scene" set for the background. 

The bird bath from GKD was stamped first then I started creating the background.  I started with the tree using stamps from Kittie's kit.  Grass was stamped  then I sponged on the sky and filled in the grass background.  Small flowers and butterflies were punched out and added to complete the card.

I love to go out and watch all the birds.  Each year we have quail that have a nest on the ground on the other side of our wood fence.  The papa always sits on the fence and chatters to the mom and babies.  As soon as the babies get big enough, they learn how to fly from our fence.  How cute they are.   We have lots of other birds too and they are all fun to watch.

Best Friends & Embossing Tutorial

I have created this card for a "newbie" stamper who is one of my followers.  Donna asked me to explain how I used Iridescent  embossing powder on one of the cards I posted a few days ago.  I decided to do a tutorial for her.   Below you will find the pictures and tutorial.

The stamp set used for this card is from the JustRite "Old Fashioned Christmas".  It was stamped then colored with Copic markers. The whole thing is embossed with Iridescent  embossing powder.  Did you notice the Polar White Flower Soft around the bottom of the snowmen?  This was added after it was embossed.  The border is also from that set and was stamped on blue card stock then cut out with Nesties.  Two additional layers of scalloped circle are under the design.  White dots were added to each scallop of the green circle, and each scallop was pierced on the blue circle.  The background paper is from SU.  Three Martha Stewart snowflakes were punch and embossed and a small button added to the center.

Donna asked me how to emboss the main image plus show her how to emboss the snowflakes.  Below are pictures. You can click on each picture to enlarge them.

Use VersaMark and Irediscent Embossing Powder.

Lay piece to be embossed on a Teflon work sheet.  Cover entire front with VersaMark ink.

Using Tweezers, cover front with embossing powder.  I store my embossing powders in small drawers you can purchase at WalMart.

Can you see the shine?

Punch out your snowflakes and pat on VersaMark ink .

With Tweezers turn over snowflake and cover with embossing powder.  Note:  do not over heat this embossing powder or it will disappear.

Now you have sparkly snowflakes.

Hope this is helpful to anyone not familar with this technique.

You can purchase the embossing powder, Martha Stewart Punch, JustRite Stamps, Flower Soft, and Nestabilities from Joan's Gardens.  She is going to CHA but you can email her from her blog and leave an order.  She will ship as soon as she returns home.

Have a great weekend.

You are the Flower in my Garden

Well it would help if I knew how to read, LOL.  I was going to do a card for Joan's Thursday challenge but I didn't follow the rules!!!!!   All you have to do is make

 a birthday card using something bright and happy adding some kind of flower.  Somehow I didn't remember the "birthday card" part.  Oh well I can do it later.  This is a really easy challenge though, and I hope you will go over and join in on the fun.  Here is the link for the 7th challenge.

I have had a very busy day and started working on a tutorial that someone asked me for, but my box of stamping "goodies" arrived from Joan's Gardens this afternoon and I just couldn't resist making a card with these new Heartfelt Creations Daisy Patch stamps.  I ordered both the stamps and the die cuts.  The stamps are precut so you can start stamping immediately. They go on your acrylic blocks. The best part is the Daisy Patch Diecuts match the flowers exactly so you don't have to cut them out.  These are made by Spellbinders.  The only thing you need to do after cutting your die cut pattern, as shown in the "Heartfelt Creations" blog, is to twist the die cut around until it matches your stamped daisy.  It will fit perfectly.  Run it through your die cutting machine and you have a beautiful flower to place over the stamped images.  I love it!!  Using these stamps gives you a beautiful darker outline so you don't even have to sponge around each petal.  What a time saver.

This card will fit into a regular business size envelope.  I thought this size was perfect for this big beautiful design.  I embossed a piece of purple card stock for the background.  I then stamped the "Daisy Patch Swirls Precut stamp onto white card stock and colored the flowers and leaves with Copic markers.  I think daisies look pretty on a dotted Swiss background so used my Cuttlebug embossing folder for this.  The flowers from the Daisy Patch set were stamped with purple ink on purple card stock and cut out with the matching dies.  This went together very quickly.  

A Martha Stewart punch was used for the top corners and a bow added.  The verse in the Daisy Patch Swirls set was stamped and placed down in the corner.  Rhinestones were added to complete the card.

Remember you can order these beautiful stamps from Joan's Gardens.  Go over and see all the different stamps and also see some beautiful cards.  Joan is going to CHA and will be gone for a while, but you can always email her and she will get your order out as soon as she returns.  

Snowflakes Are Winter's Butterflies

I had to play one more time with my new Groovy Snowman stamp set from JustRite.  I love these guys so much; I'm glad I have a long time to work with them before I send out my Christmas cards.

The background paper is from the DCWV "Latte" stack.  Instead of a aqua line in the dp, it was green so I used an aqua marker and ruler to color over the green to match the colors I used on the snowman.  The snowman was stamped with black Memento ink and colored with Copic markers then cut out with a circle Nestie. The flower on his hat is colored "hot" pink.   I inked the whole image with VersaMark Ink then embossed it using Iridescent Ice embossing powder to give it a frosty look.  The border is also from the Groovy Snowman set.  It was white embossed on aqua card stock then cut out with both a scallop and plain circle Nestie to create a frame to go over the snowman image.  It was attached to a circle of purple card stock.  Did you notice the snowman is holding a large snowflake?

A Cuttlebug snowflake embossing border was used for the side border.  After it was embossed I embossed it using VersaMark and Iridescent Ice embossing power and lined each side with a strip of purple card stock.  

The greeting is from the JustRite "A Merry Little Christmas" set.  The border and the snowflake were white embossed on purple then a small scalloped Nestie border placed underneath.  Three Martha Stewart snowflakes were punched and also embossed with Iridescent Ice embossing power. Clear rhinestones were added to the center of all the larger snowflakes.  This is a very sparkly card but I'm not sure it shows up much in the photo. 

I am getting a great start on my Christmas cards.  This will be a real time saver when it gets closer to the holidays.