Thank You

Cardstock:     Bazzill Light Olive, Marcos’ Kraft

Stamps:          Papertrey Ink Flower Fusion #6, text (unknown)

Inks:                Memento Pear Tart

Embossing Powder:  Vippies Transcendence

Dies/Punches:           Papertrey Ink Flower Fusion #6 die, Spellbinders Tags Trio #2

Embossing Folder:    Cuttlebug Argyle

Doo Dads:                  Jute twine, metallic Khaki sheer ribbon, pearls

Tip of the Day, plus two more (such a deal!):

~While I often use very narrow twine for embellishment, sometimes it’s too thin and gets lost in the layout.  One solution is to double or even triple the strands so that your knot or bow makes more of a statement.

~Pearls are easily colored to match with Copics or any alcohol inks – use two or three coats as needed.

~The slots on the ends of the tag were too wide for the ribbon I wanted to use.  After threading the slots with the ribbon taped at an angle on the back, problem solved.  Creativity wins again!

It's Raining Shamrocks!

My dear friend Carol (who really ought to get her own blog – her stuff is dynamite!) sent me this St Patrick’s Day card which arrived this morning.  It shared the mailbox with my new light box which was due in three weeks but showed up today.  I don’t know which is more exciting:  Carol’s card or my light box.  Whatever . . . I couldn’t think of a better way to christen my new Blog Improvement Toy than to take a pic of her card.   Enjoy!

In addition to Light Olive Bazzill cardstock, she’s used Hero’s Envelope Pattern, and Tim’s Umbrella Man stamp.  Along with a wee bit o’ glitter added to some of the shamrocks, you’re lookin’ at one happy card for sure.  Raining shamrocks . . . now there’s a sight to see!

Be My Valentine

This card was given to my wonderful hubby Igor on Valentine’s Day last month.  He is a transplanted Ukrainian who, despite a few memory issues, plays a monster game of chess.  He also delights in looking over my creations and perhaps making an occasional kind suggestion or two.  When I am smart enough to follow them, my cards always turn out better. 

This card is easy to do with either punches or dies.  I die cut the hearts out of the card front and saved the punch-outs for another project (my cardstock is textured and I wanted to use smooth cardstock for the  stamped hearts).  The smooth hearts were held in place on my work suface with removable tape.  After stamping and embossing them, I added regular tape to the backs of the three hearts, closed the card front, and inserted each heart through its matching opening.  This makes it easy to get them perfectly positioned. 

 

The only problem with a peekaboo card front is that you have to get creative with the location of your written sentiment.  But creativity is the name of our game - right?

I am posting this card because it is a good example of Boo Boo Control: on the inside of the card, the heart over the ribbon covers the spot where the ends of the ribbon join.  Also, the layered sentiment covers a bad job with the original stamping.  I used a scrap for the new stamping which otherwise would have been tossed.  Sweet!

 . . . and yes, I'm a bigtime fan of eyelash fibers:  warm fuzzies are always good.

Decorative Birds

This was a Thank You card sent to a dear lady I’ve never met:  her husband Allan became our computer guru several years ago and he has rescued us many times from dreadful events that lurk all too frequently in the electronic world.  Donna is a demon baker who loves to gift us with extraordinary goodies which have absolutely no competition from anyone else out there.  Sorry folks, she’s simply the greatest!

Cardstock:  Medium Purple Bazzill, Cheddar Bazzill, Beckett Iceberg

Stamps:       Hero’s Decorative Birds 1-4

Inks:             ColorBox Black, & Copic markers Y17, G46, V28, B24

Embossing Powder:  Judikins Black Detail
Dies/Punches:     Spellbinders largest Fleur de Lis die, 1.5” square punch, 1 5/8” 
                             scalloped square punch, Oriental Trading wavy line punch

Doo Dads:              Black circle stickers for the corners, crystals, Purple & Green eyelash fibers tied around the fold.

Card for a New Day!

Today's card is an encouraging one for any friend who is in recovery, especially within a Twelve Step program.

Cardstock:       Cocoa Bazzill Crisscross, Beckett Moonlight, Wausau Firecracker Red*, generic    Chocolate  Brown background embossed with Tim’s Damask folder 

Stamps:           Hero’s ‘Today is a new day’, Rubber Stampede’s Crackled Background, Rubber Mania’s Twig Spray            

Inks:                Color Box Ruby, Cream White, Distress Brushed Corduroy, Ancient Page Leaf Green, White gel pen

Emb Powder:  Transcendence by Vippies **

Doo Dads:      Saddle stitched Cocoa/Chocolate grosgrain ribbon, berries embellished w/Red Stickles, Chocolate Brown twine, punched bird layered 4X and dotted with white gel pen,  Firecracker Red scrap arrow punched, stamped with Crackled Background and foam mounted lower left to cover boo boo***.

*A beautiful deep rich red that is no longer available.  The good stuff always tanks way too soon . . .

** Unbelievable how great this stuff is.  Lets any color of ink shine through, rarely clings where you don’t want it, and always leaves a slightly dimpled texture that is way more cool than boring perfection.

*** LOVE the total forgiveness that rubber stamping offers – almost any witless mistake can be morphed into something attractive.

New blog!

My first day and my first post - patience please, while I get the hang of this!  Will be posting my rubber stamped cards ASAP (as soon as I learn how to do THAT) . . . and I'll be posting as regularly as possible.