A Sad Day for Stamping

Today I had to make a sympathy card I never dreamed I'd have to make, at least not for several decades. My best friend/bosum buddy from college, Cindy, was killed in an accident as the family was traveling home from spring break last Friday. I've been pretty messed up since I heard the news, but decided I had better pull myself together today and at least make a card for the family since I won't be able to attend the memorial service in northern Illinois on Saturday. While I was at it, I wrote a letter to her husband and kids letting them know how much Cindy meant to me and what an impact she made on my life. There was some healing in writing that letter, but I still feel like someone's ripped my heart right out of my chest.

Anyway, my brain's not in a very creative place at the moment, so I decided I would CASE a card by Julie Buhler over at Paper Pleasing Ideas. I mis-measured the image panel, though, so my card ended up looking different from hers. Simpler, even. Which works just fine for where I'm at.

Stamps: Branch Out, Brighter Tomorrow, Warmest Regards
Colors: Always Artichoke, Certainly Celery, Old Olive, Chocolate Chip, Whisper White
And: Scallop Edge punch, sponge

Hero Arts Blog Turns One!

The Hero Arts blog is one year old this week! If you haven't seen the blog, take a look and prepare to be impressed.

Snail Mail Cards

A friend of mine sent me some stamps from The Angel Company, which motivated me to dig in my stash for my other TAC stamps which I had purchased years ago. Seems I developed a bit of an attitude last time I used UMs because I was having trouble getting the stamps to stick to the acrylic blocks -- so in a fit of annoyance, I put them all away with no intent of EVER working with them again! (Not that I overreact or anything, LOL!)

Anyway, I am so pleased I found both my TAC sets and my collection of other UMs. I have some gorgeous stamps that I had completely forgotten about! And you know what? If you (get this!) CLEAN the acrylic blocks, the cling mounting stuff WILL stick to them! Who'da thunk? (Hangs head in embarrassment over previous hissy fit.)

I did end up mounting some of my TAC stamps on wood mounts because I didn't have enough cling stuff, but I'm kinda liking the idea of UMs now and want to get some cling stuff (what's it called, anyway?) for my other unmounted rubber. I will never give up my wood mounted stamps, but it's nice to have been reminded of this other alternative.

I made some incredibly simple cards out of cardstock scraps while I had my TAC snails out. Don't laugh at these sad little cards -- or if you do, don't let them hear you!

More Beautiful Butterflies

These three cards are in the same vein as yesterday's, with a few minor differences:

1) I used half-pearls from the SU! Pretties kit instead of dew drops.
2) The stamp is from Sweet Little Sentiments, a current hostess set.
3) While making the last card, I was thinking of my friend in NC who especially looooooves pastel colors with Chocolate Chip. (Smiles and waves at F.)

Beautiful Butterflies

One of the Yahoo groups I belong to has a "Wish Wednesday," and last week I wished for some die cut butterflies made with the Big Shot Beautiful Butterflies Bigz die. Well, they showed up yesterday in the mail (thanks again, Shellie!), and I just had to get busy putting the little guys to good use!

Stamps: Hope Happens, Pocket Silhouettes, non-SU! contraband
Colors: Pirouette Pink, Baja Breeze, Whisper White
And: DSP taken from several sets; I'll look 'em up if anyone's interested enough to leave a comment and ask
Fun Stuff: Oval punch, Scalloped Oval punch, clear dew drops, white glitter brads, Flower Fusion felt flowers

Roof Garden x 13 Cards

Several months ago I decided to treat myself to the SU! Accents & Elements Roof Garden set (retired), which consists of 12 sheets of self-adhesive die cuts that come in an alterable silver tin. This weekend I finally sat down to see what I could accomplish with the die cuts, and the end result is thirteen cards I'm pretty darn proud of.

I'd like to let the pictures speak for themselves, but to be honest the photos are pretty lousy. The problem (besides having an inexpensive camera which was given to me as a gift) is that light tends to bounce off of these slick die cuts, more so than off regular cardstock. If the white flowers and stuff seem to be glowing, that's why. Still, I hope you can get an idea of how great these cards look in real life. If you'd like a better view of the pics, click on them to enlarge.

My other "oops" while taking the photos was in neglecting to take pictures of the insides. I suppose I could say I'm leaving that as a mystery to surprise the recipient(s) of the cards, but I'm just too darn tired to pull out the camera again tonight. I used Bodacious Bouquet, Fresh Cuts, and the single posy from the Three for You Punch Box kit to make coordinating accents on the card insides and envelopes. Really, I did!

Colors: Not Quite Navy, Baja Breeze, Basic Grey, Kiwi Kiss, Whisper White
Other stuff: Sakura Gelly Roll in Stardust; Not Quite Navy brads, white "Dot Candy"; Martha Stewart Classic Butterfly punch; paper piercing tools; self-adhesive half-back pearls in assorted sizes; white taffeta ribbon; Keytag punch; Scallop Edge punch; several non-SU! stamps for sentiments




















I'll be creating two sets out of these 13 cards and listing them in my online store tomorrow, so "stay tuned" if you're interested!

Update: These cards are now available for purchase at Roof Garden Set 1 and Roof Garden Set 2. Thanks for your interest!

One of a Kind (March Sketch Challenge)

Here's a card I put together for a sketch challenge in one of the Yahoo groups I belong to. I kept it pretty simple.

Stamp set: One of a Kind
Colors: Cameo Coral, Kiwi Kiss
DSP: Raspberry Tart
And: Colorbox Lava Black + Clear EP; Copics; clear dew drops; Crystal Effects

Set: Dream a Little in Raspberry Tart

I need to get serious about selling my cards online -- before they totally overrun my apartment! To that end, I decided to make a batch of cards to be sold as a set. I used the same stamped image and the same papers on all of them, yet they are each unique.



Stamp sets: Dream a Little, Heard from the Heart (the "friend to friend" stamp)

Colors: Kiwi Kiss, Rose Red, Cameo Coral, Pretty in Pink, Real Red

DSP: Raspberry Tart

Punches: Word Window, 3/4" Circle, Ticket Corner, Corner Rounder

And: Grosgrain ribbon; Real Red, Pretty in Pink, and Rose Red brads; Stampin' Dimensionals; non-SU! fibers
















Watch for this set to show in my online store later this week!



Update: This set is now available for purchase! Please visit http://www.shophandmade.com/Item/6-758-H410AW5 for more information.

Dream a Little

I cracked into my new Dream a Little Stampin' Up! set today; and though I started out just goofing around, I think the end result is a pretty decent card.



The card base is Pirouette Pink layered with Regal Rose DSP from Patterns Pack II. My upline created a supply of Top Note die cuts for me a few months ago, and they've been sitting on my desk just waiting for an opportunity like this. I sponged the top half of a Whisper White one with Bashful Blue and then stamped the leaves in Old Olive and the flowers on the lower right with Regal Rose. I stamped the three large flowers in black and then used my Stamp-a-ma-jig to two-step-stamp in Pirouette Pink. I fussy-cutted the three flowers, the Old Olive hummingbird, and the sentiment with my Cutter Bee scissors. The hummingbird and one large flower is popped up on foam dots, giving the card some dimension. I used my fine line glue pen and Dazzling Diamonds glitter to jazz up all the flowers. As a final touch, I added a trio of dew drops (*squeal of delight*). Pretty cool, eh?

Trendy Trees

I have two cards for you today. I had hoped for more, but I kept getting sidetracked. You know how that goes, I'm sure.



This first card may look familiar if you looked at my previous post. Actually, it's the same card except that I used the Trendy Trees set instead of Pocket Silhouettes, and changed the color from Night of Navy to Kiwi Kiss and Chocolate Chip. I've been having the nagging feeling that I picked up this layout from someone else, but I can't seem to place the card or the stamper; so if I did, and if it's you, please speak up!






I made this next card over several hours of putzing around after supper. Colors are Pirouette Pink, Pretty in Pink, and Regal Rose -- my favorite monochromatic color combination -- and Chocolate Chip again. The frame is from the Patterns Pack II DSP offered as a hostess reward in the current catalog. The brads are Pretty in Pink. Punches used: Ticket corner, scalloped edge. I used the coordinating stamp wheel, Funky Forest, along the bottom of the inside of the card.





Trendy Trees and Funky Forest have grown on me in just two cards!

Three More Cards

I really like this first card, probably because of its simplicity.

Stamps: Pocket Silhouettes, Congrats

Colors: Night of Navy, Whisper White

Toys: 1/4" and 3/8" circle punches, Punches Plus Classy Brass template, paper piercing tools






Here's a fun anniversary card requested by my friend in Georgia to give to her husband next month. The non-SU! print paper was included with a swap card I received recently, and it just has that down-home flannel feel to me that makes me think of this guy, so I had to use it.

Stamps: Loads of Love, Loads of Love Accessories

Colors: Pacific Point, Riding Hood Red

Toys: 1/4" and 3/8" circle punches, Heart to Heart punch, black Stampin' Write for doodling, and (best of all) Spica Glitter Pens

I don't think the photo picks it up, but the whole central image shimmers!






Here's a card that was kinda thrown together, mostly because I had a piece of Blush Blossom cardstock in my scraps bin that was "bothering" me. So, I layered it on Ballet Blue... and the rest just happened.

Stamps: Garden Silhouettes, Hope Happens

Colors: Ballet Blue, Regal Rose, Blush Blossom, Basic Black

Toys: Fairy Tale ribbon (retired from SU! -- and yes, it came bunched up like that!)

More Fifth Avenue Floral

I am especially proud of this card! It all started with a strange desire to fussy cut the rose after embossing it in black. (I don't often feel compelled to cut around images, but this one wasn't too difficult to trim; and besides, it wouldn't shut up until I did it.) Once I had the rose, the rest of the card just fell together.



Stamps: Fifth Avenue Floral

Colors: Riding Hood Red, Pirouette Pink, Basic Black

Toys: Eyelet border punch, white organza ribbon, black glitter brads (non-SU!)

Fifth Avenue Floral

Fifth Avenue Floral is my new FAVORITE set!! Squeals of delight!



Stamps: Fifth Avenue Floral, Sincere Salutations

Colors: Baha Breeze, Pink Pirouette, Riding Hood Red

Toys: Scor-Pal (for embossed frames), Heart to Heart punch, Dazzling Diamonds glitter, fine point glue pen












Stamps: Fifth Avenue Floral, Congrats, Best Yet

Colors: Riding Hood Red, Pumpkin Pie, Chocolate Chip

Toys: Paper piercing tools, flower from Pretties kit (used sponge dauber to add color), Pumpkin rhinestone brad, chocolate grosgrain ribbon, Stampin' Dimensionals

Polka Dot Punches Anniversary Cards

I've been plugging away at my friend's anniversary cards for the last couple of days, and I got so engrossed in the stamping that I forgot to post! I promised to not make unwieldy blog posts anymore, so I'm grouping the photos and making several entries.



These two cards are made with the FREE Sale-a-bration set Polka Dot Punches, the FREE designer series paper that coordinates with it, and the FREE Certainly Celery ribbon which came as part of a bundle. Gotta love it!



Also used: Full Heart Punch, Eyelet Border Punch, Stampin' Dimensionals

Colors: So Saffron, Bashful Blue, Certainly Celery, Chocolate Chip

More Anniversary Cards

I made four more anniversary cards on Monday, then hit a speed bump on Tuesday -- but I thought I'd at least catch you up on photos. I sure hope I'll be back in the cardmaking groove when I wake up on Wednesday!



This first card is my favorite of the newest four, partly because it looks cool, but also because it was made with scraps of the Candy Lane DSP that were sitting on my desk.






Here's the inside of that card:






My resolve to make "flat" cards flew to the wind on this card, but I just couldn't resist the look of the felt flowers along with the rhinestone brad.






I did a bit of experimenting with this next one. The experiment was to emboss in gold and then color in portions of the image with white gel pen. At first I thought it stunk, but it's really grown on me. I'm open to opinions...






I love the SU! organza ribbon on this one:






Six down, six to go!