A totally different look

From the same card sketch as yesterday's post showing the little truck card, comes this card made with Designer Series Paper instead of cardstock and different colors for a completely different look. What is the same are all the measurements and the arrangement so the card came together quickly.

Ingredients: Stampin' Up! stamps Fifth Avenue Floral, message from Make It Count

DSP: Green Tea (I think, I'm going to have to go back and check that.)

Inks: Old Olive, Baja Breeze

For the Love of Reading

Often I think of things I did as a kid during the summer. Some are individual events like the first time I got to fly - by airplane of course, I didn't try to jump off the roof with homemade wings. I remember other trips we made by car to see relatives and explore new places. And there are the rituals, going for ice cream after my parents closed their business on a hot evening, riding my bike, laying in the hammock that Daddy hated because it was always in his way of mowing grass, but I loved because I could watch the cloud patterns. I loved visiting my grandparents. I remember, barely, watching the moon landing on my grandfather's black and white TV.

Some are fond memories of one time events and some are rituals. One constant was reading. While I got to read or had to read for school all year long, I got to read for myself in the summer. I remember my first Judy Blume books - boy, were there some eye openers there! I remember slowly devouring Judith Krantz's Scruples when I was in high school - more eye openers and still a favorite book. There were a lot tamer things too. I was hooked on Nancy Drew and collected and read all 56 books published in hard back. My grandmother would read them as well.

I still read for pleasure. My husband and I are avid visitors of our county library. One of us is in there every week exchanging books. These last few weeks, I've been 'laid up' a bit with an injury and have spent a lot of time in the house. My books have been my friends as always.

Today I clicked on a link from blogger to a featured blog and found the bloggers Shelfari list. Shelfari is apparently a site that lets you store a list of books you are reading, have read, are planning to read, and share that love of books with others. You can also add a widget to your blog with your 'bookshelf.' My bookshelf is on the right below my bio.

The book on top "A Goodbye Summer" is one I just finished along with A Whole New Mind - a non-fiction about how our society is moving from the information age to the conceptual age where right brain thinkers are more valued. Take heart. We left brained people have value especially those of us who exercise our creativity regularly!

Also included on my shelf are a lot of books I've read in past years but are favorites. Some are just one example of an author I love - like Mary Kay Andrews and Jane Green. I'm not into a lot of heavy stuff. I guess they call most of this "chick lit." Whatever, it is entertaining to me and I always learn something usually about people and relationships.

Being a reader means you are never alone, lonely or bored. While I love technology, I hope we never get so advanced that we stop printing novels and binding them up to hold in our hands and fill our hearts and our minds with pleasure.

Brighten Up

We had fun in our High on Impact, Short on Time class last night. Here is another of the cards we did. This one features a stamp I normally color either with markers or a blender pen. It's very cute ... and very time consuming to do that. In this design, the truck still makes a bold statement thanks to the Brilliant Blue and Only Orange cardstock and the little silver brads as the center of each 'hubcap.'

Tomorrow I'll post another card in exactly this same layout that looks completely different! Stay tuned...

Ingredients: Stamp Set: Loads of Love

Ink: Basic Black

Cardstock: Brilliant Blue, Only Orange, Going Gray

White grosgrain ribbon

TIPsy Tuesday - Double Ribbon, Save Ribbon

The original design I did for this card, had ribbon going all the way around the width of the card. That's about 15" of ribbon! If you are making several cards or short on ribbon, you might look for some other options. Here's one:

1. Select two complimentary ribbons such as two ribbons of the same color in different widths. Or two ribbons pulling in different colors from your project. Here I used 1/4" black gingham and 5/8" Brocade Blue - the color of the cardstock.



2. Punch two holes side by side. Depending on their location, you may be able to use the nifty double horizontal punch. I used the Crop-a-dile in this case.



3. Feed the narrow ribbon through the holes so it ties on top.



4. Before tying, slip a short piece of your wider ribbon in between so it gets tied up with the smaller ribbon.

The quantity you use of each will depend on how long you want your tales and whether you want a double knot or a bow with your narrower ribbons. Whatever, it is a cute look that takes half the ribbon.

Ingredients: Stamps by Stampin' Up! Brocade Motifs, Lovely Letters

Cardstock: Brocade Blue

Ink: Brocade Blue, Basic Black

Happy Birthday, Amanda!

My stepdaughter, Amanda, celebrates her birthday this week. The floral ribbon on her card is from my stash. I think I bought it at Walmart a few years ago. They used to carry some great ribbons but unfortunately they have closed out their fabric departments at the Walmarts I go to. This is the first time I've used this ribbon and it hadn't occurred to me to cut the flowers out until I started playing with it and needed more flowers for balance. One of those fun 'found' embellishments.

Ingredients: Stamped greeting from Stampin' Up! All Holidays in Orchid Opalescence

Chipboard letter from Cloud 9 Design

Paper is DWCV

Brads are from Oriental Trading

Simply Scrappin' Cards

I'm having so much fun!!! I've dived into my Happy B-day Simply Scrappin' Kit and have been making cards. I'm not sure I can stop!

Here are a couple of examples. We will use the Happy B-day kit in class on August 13. To register, e-mail or give me a call. Cost is $22 which includes half of a Happy B-day kit - 3 sheets of die cuts, 3 sheets of pattern paper and 4 sheets of textured cardstock. All products are color coordinated and make cardmaking really fast and fun. Of course, you can use these products for scrapbook pages, too.

I'll have coordinating stamp sets and embellishments for you to use during class.

Even though this kit is focused on birthdays, we will make a couple of other types of cards. The papers and many of the die cuts are multipurpose.

Here I've used the set along with an"On Your Birthday" stamp set greeting and the slit punch to create a gift card holder.


















Come join the fun on Thursday, August 13 at 6:00 p.m.

(Pre-register by Thurs, July 30 so I can have your materials on hand for class.)


Ingredients: Happy B-day Simply Scrappin' Kit from Stampin Up!
Ribbon: Brocade Blue 5/8" grosgrain
Ink: Ruby Red

TIPsy Tuesday - Why Craft Ink?

Not too long ago someone asked me what the benefits of Craft Ink were verus Classic Ink. It's a good question. Craft Ink is more expensive and slower to dry so why would you want it?

Actually, I started with craft ink and bought all 48 colors! The main reason was embossing. Stamp an image in craft ink, sprinkle clear embossing powder over it and heat with heat tool - instant embossing without having to buy a specially colored embossing powder.

The other major benefit to Craft ink is that it will stick to surfaces Classic Ink won't. The word "Cherish" stamped from the Baroque Motifs set on this piece of designer chipboard is an example. The chipboard was is slick and when I tried it in Classic Ink, the image smudged. Fortuantely, it didn't dry instantly that time so I could just wipe it off. I tried again with Craft Ink and got a very clear image. It was further enhanced it with embossing.

This thickness makes Craft Ink perfect for coloring chipboard. It doesn't get absorbed as much as Classic Ink. I've used Craft Ink on fabric, ribbon, cork, chipboard - both finished and unfinished, and even photographs.

You can use Craft Ink when making coasters. Members of our stamp club remember making coasters a couple of years ago. Craft ink must be sealed but it shows up beautifully on the coasters.

The only drawback I've found besides drying time (and that is seldom an issue) is the thickness. When I'm stamping a particularly small font word or very detailed image, sometimes I prefer Classic Ink.

A great way to get Craft Ink is to buy Stampin' Spots. That is how I got all the 48 colors for a reasonable price. And the small size of the Stampin' Spots is great for directly coloring chipboard.

High on Impact, Short on Time

Having a card sketch and easy to follow instructions makes card making fast. In the High on Impact, Short on Time class on July 28, you can learn several techniques for turning out great cards in a hurry. For each card, like the one above, you'll get a recipe that includes "ingredients", "measurements" and "substitutions."

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Speaking of substitutions, guess how many stamps you could substitute from the current catalog alone for this flower stamp above and still use all the same card cut measurments?

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Over 50! Snag one of the last spots in this class to get all the great recipes!

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Ingredients: Detailed instructions in the class. Stamp sets used are Fifth Avenue Floral and On Your Birthday.

Razzleberry Lemonade DSP, Crushed Curry Cardstock

Melon Mambo Ribbon