Back to School

Hello everyone! Today started out just great. It's my Birthday and I don't have to go to work! Then, I was strugling with this card last night and woke up to an epihany on what to do to spiff it up. There's some history that I should share first.

Last month, my sister sent my birthday gift to NY with my daughter. It was a combined gift from the two of them and my Mom. They wanted to take advantage of no shipping and make sure I would have it for my birthday. Daughter wanted me to open it in front of her so she could see my face. Now I wasn't too excited about opening my birthday gift a month early because what would I have to look forward to for the big day? Anyway, I saw the box and knew it was a Slice. I had been trying to win one for months on Danielle's site "Life One Layout at a Time" but was only successful in winning Lin the Bind it All and me some Shimmerz and Spritz. I was very happy with my prize and knew that Linda would love hers. But the Slice always eluded me. Then there it was in front of me and I was psyched! I had never used one before but liked the idea of it.

Then, my Michigan friends Debbie and Denice took me out for a birthday dinner on Thursday and gave me a great new purse. If you know me, you know I am purse picky and this one fit me to a T. Love it! Husband organized these guys to attend a birthday dinner for me at the club on Friday night with spouses and we had another great evening. I got more gifts too; some Moscato di Asti wine and a gift card to Hobby Lobby. Oh my, these guys spoiled me. I couldn't wait to go shopping. They said they wanted to get me Slice stuff but they didn't know what to get. Since it's so new to me I didn't know either. I headed off yesterday morning with gift card in hand and searched the aisles. First, I headed for Spellbinders. I had heard that Hobby Lobby was finally expanding their selection and I wanted to see what was in stock. Of course the new pendants were all sold out so I meandered on. That brought me to the clearance section. I found two Slice cartridges. One was Fall Back to School and the other was Fa La La. Perfect, that should cover the next two seasons.

I wanted to make a card for all my Back to School nieces, nephews and school aged friends. I struggled though. What papers, layout, die cuts should I use? This ended up so much better than where it was headed last night. The apple and "a,b,c" came from the slice. The tag is from the Spellbinders tags 5 and the border punch is the Martha Stewart Cornice edge. The red and white paper is by DCWV and the brown was a scrap from my pile. I didn't have a "back to school" stamp so I had to hand write my sentiment. I used my dauber to add some Memento ink to distress it a bit. I finished it off with some sheer black ribbon from Offray - more from my Mary Maxim super clearance stash.

I hope those of you heading back to school have some great adventures this year. Knowledge is power so study hard!

Love you all. Thanks for stopping by and have a great week!

Cath

Life deserves a Woo Hoo...

I saw this dress sentiment stamp at the Novi Rubber Stamp convention I went to earlier this month and just had to have it. My friend Sue saw me eyeing it and told me she already had it. She also offered to share it with me so I could make a few impressions - how great is that? I just loved this sentiment. I think it should be our mantra and speaks volumes about not only going outside our comfort zone - but doing so with pleasure and loving life! A few people immediately came to mind as to who I could share it with...some as inspiration, some as birthday sentiments.

Anywhooo, I needed a sketch and headed over to iheart2stamp to see what Jen had for this week's SFYTT (that's sketch for you to try). I always check her out on Saturday but haven't had the time to participate. This week's sketch I thought worked great with my long sentiment panel so I sought out some papers to make this work. I pulled out the K&Company Wild Saffron Designer Paper as well as some K&Company embellishments that I found eons ago and never found the right project for. I thought the colors blended nicely here and also added glitter and bling. What girl doesn't like that combination in a greeting?



Anyway, notice that I changed the sketch up just a little because the original used two designer papers where I have the brown patch and ribbon. It just looked too busy with the big sentiment panel and I felt the ribbon "tied" it together much better.

Here's a peek inside where I used some scraps from the front background paper and my Deckled Rectangle Nestabilites to create a sentiment panel. Since the butterfly showed on the DP I added a dimensional butterfly from the kit and drew on antenae.




Here's a look at the same card in red.



Again, I used K&Company embellishments and Wild Saffron DP. You'll notice here that they are again a perfect match. Can you catch the red paisley in the lower right corner of the DP? It mirrors the embellishment - a red and blue paisley! I finally found a use for these guys Woo Hoo! I used a tag from the embellishment kit here for the inside of the card...



A few blue brads from The Paper Studio brings all the colors together as well as a bump up flower to enhance the flower that came on the tag.

Why don't you try giving this sketch a try yourself and see what you come up with? Then head on over to Jen's blog to see what everyone else has done.

Hope you are enjoying the rest of your weekend.

Thanks for looking!

Cath


Card Details:

Stamp: "Woo Hoo" Dress by Paula Best
Ink: Sentiment: Memento Tuxedo Black and Water Color pencils, Close to Cocoa to distress with dauber
Paper: K&Company Wild Saffron DP, Bazzil plain cardstock
Accessories: Offray ribbon, K&Company flower embellishments, Nestabilities long rectangle and scalloped rectangle dies, dimensionals, Aqua Pen, corner punch

It's a Bikababebella...

So excited, I just got some new Stamping Bellas delivered and I just had to ink them up. The first one I tried is Bikababebella and I think she is just too cute. I colored her up with Copics using a few tips I picked up at the Rubber stamp convention. I always started with the lightest color and then highlighted with a darker color, then came back to blend with the lighter color. The ladies showed me to color dark and then push color out with a lighter color. It worked! I've admired so many artists for their ability to bring depth to their colored images and I'm trying to develope mine.

On to the card, after coloring my image on Neenah Columbia Crest Solar White paper, I used my Nestabilites rectangles to cut her out. The DP is Basic Grey Urban Prairie. The colored card stock is Bazzil. The border punch is from Fiskars and the wired ribbon is from Offray. My sentiment is also from Stamping Bella.

I think Bella looks ready to take on the world in her own free spirited way! Wish I was confident enough to comandeer a bike on my own. For now, I'm content to let my DH block a good wind and I get to enjoy the ride. Speaking of which, it's finally cooled down a bit here and we're hoping to take our bike out tomorrow. I'm still hoping to get some card time in - I have a few more Bellas to play with.

Hope you all enjoy your weekend and I'll be back before you know it.

Love Ya,
Cath

Wedding Wishes

Ok, I made this card this past weekend. The DH needed a card for a co-worker so I set out to make him one. I wanted to try a monotone color scheme to keep the look simple yet elegant. I also added lots of shimmery paper to dress it up but it doesn't show very well in the picture. If you click on the image you can enlarge it and see the detail better.

Now onto the details, I started with Neenah Columbia Crest Solar White cardstock, added a silver metallic layer and a layer of shimmery DP from DCWV called The Luxury Stack. I backed this layer with another piece of white cardstock that I imprinted with the Martha Stewart Embossing Scallop punch and then wrapped it with an ivory satin ribbon bow. The image panel was layered with the Nestabilities Classic large and small ovals and raised using dimensionals. The sentiment is from the SU! Wonderful Words set. I finished this off with four silver Dew Drops. Not so hard, right?

Here's a peak at the inside...



I started with the DCWV DP and then added my sentiment panel using a wooden stamp from My Sentiments Exactly. I likely picked this up from Hobby Lobby when they had a 50% off stamp sale. I topped this panel off with Kaiser mini pearls. Not alot of coloring or stamping but I think this would be a great on hand card so I quickly made another. That's almost a rule I follow - while the paper is all out and I have a sample to quickly measure, I make another.

I have some interesting stamps to share with you soon. I picked them up at the Heirloom Rubber Stamp Convention in Novi, MI a few weeks ago. I had never been to a stamp convention but I'll tell you that it was fun to do make and takes, see new techniques and buy paper crafting supplies on sale and in front of you. I like to touch and see the products and try them and this was a great opportunity to do so. Novi is about 1 1/2 hours from me so it wasn't a bad drive. Actually it was just a little further than my old commute to Southfield. I actually cringed while I drove through 696 especially since 4 lanes were reduced to 1. I cringed thinking what that morning commute would be like today. I'm so thankful that I'm not doing that any longer.

One of my newest additions to the craft room was a stash of Flower Soft. I tried it out at the Impression Obsession booth and loved the way it gave life to the flowers on my image. I can't wait to start creating using this fun product.

So...be on the lookout for some new projects coming soon.

Thanks for stopping by!

Cath

Blog Candy of your dreams...

Hey everyone, I know that it appears that I have been MIA but it's summer so I've been having fun with some things other than stamping. My crafting is done mostly on weekends and if I travel, visit art fairs, a rubber stamp convention, or garden, then that time is diminished. I have a few projects to share so sit tight.

First I want to let you know about some awesome blog candy I have stumbled across...how would you like $150 to spend at the vendor of your choice? If that sounds appealing to you then visit this blog and leave a comment to be entered to win. The contest ends on the 28th of August so you have some time yet to participate.

Good Luck!

Cath

Birthdays Galore...

Well another weekend has quickly gone by. I spent some time in the craft room to relax and wind down after the busy work week. My new AR clerk has 6 days off so now I am wearing 3 hats again. I can't belive how busy I am but of course this is our busy season... I get lucky to only have a three day work week coming up as we are heading back to NY again on Wednesday evening. Daughter Jessica will be heading home as well and I look forward to seeing her - it seems like ages have gone by since we were last together.

I'm sharing a few birthday cards that I made this weekend. The first is a simple and elegant black, white,teal combo. I love it. I actually made another version as well but I thought it was a little darker than this one because it had a black accent strip but the DH thought it would be scarry to get such a dark card. He usually has some sound advise so I listened and lightened it up to the card below.



I started with a balck card base and added a black and white grid pattern from a specialty cardstock pack by me & my Big ideas. I love, love, love it. It reminds me a lot of the grid pattern stamps by Papertrey Ink. I topped it with a Nestabilities label 4 panel. Now most of you know that these don't nest to 1/8 inch like much of the other dies so I had to cut my DP (also from the me & my Big ideas pack) and then trim it to be 1/8 inch smaller than the black. This is a tedious task but I love the result and am glad I made the effort. Next I added a sentiment panel using the Nestabilities classic large ovals and large oval scallops. The sentiment is from SU's Sincere Salutations. I stamped the image on Neenah Classic Crest Solar White cardstock using the Memento Tuxedo Black ink. I am a firm believer that your images will improve using the right combo of paper and ink and this one works great for me.

Of course a card wouldn't be finished without some Swarkovski crystals to bring the sentiment center stage. I like the way it makes this feel classy. I repeated the background and label 4 panel inside for my greeting and this card is a wrap.

Ketto Bella

Next up, I colored one of my new Stamping Bella images called Phoebe Ketto. I loved her bouquet of hearts and her angelic wings. I have a story to share about the Shimmerz Angel Wings I used to color these wings. I have wanted these shimmery paint accents for some time now but couldn't find them locally. The only way to get them was to order them on-line. I'm trying to be a little frugal and hate to pay shipping charges so I patiently held back adding these to my stash (and believe me my stash is growing - the DH loves to remind me of that!). Anyway - you probably think that I caved in but nope - as luck would have it, I entered a contest on "Life One Layout at a Time" and had my name pulled for the free Shimmerz and Spritz. I think I directed you all there in March and again in May. I patiently waited for my new items to arrive and I was so thrilled to get the package you should have heard the squeal of delight when I found the Angel Wings white bottle inside. There were also three other colors, Sunflower, Pumpkin (which I can't wait to use for fall) and Hottie Pink (I think this would be great on cards for Lisa, the girlies, Stephanie - gosh I can't wait to get creating!) I also received two colors of Spritz, Saphire and Concrete. I used the Saphire to color a plain silk flower and loved how it came out. Ok, sorry for the chatter but I was so happy to have won these and Danielle couldn't have picked better colors for me if she knew me. You wouldn't belive how hard it was to wait for their arrival. Sissy Linda (Scrappy Lin) won the Bind-It-All from the same site in early March - just in time for her 40th! She was equally as excited since she does the scrapbooking. She made a gorgeous book of the girls from their birthday party and her pictures and journalling make you feel like you were there dancing along. Ok ok on to the picture...




I started with a Neenah Solar White card base and added red cardstock and a cute strawberry pattern from Out & About by My Minds Eye. I used the Nesties large classic circle dies to make the sentiment panel and the classic large square and scalloped square for the main image panel. I colored Phoebe with my Copics and had fun trying a new hair coloring technique. Linda Heavens was a great starting point for this challenge and I was pleased with the result. The sentiment is a Stampabilities wood stamp I picked up from Hobby Lobby. I added a satin ribbon and tied it off with a silk flower, button combo. I even pulled out the Sunflower Shimmerz to make the flower sparkle. Loved it!

I kept the same background for the inside of the card and added a compter generated sentiment. That that.

Have a great week everyone and I'll catch up with you again soon.

Thanks for looking!

Cath

Our work is never done...

Hello everyone and hapy Sunday, again! We were quite content to be home this weekend and work in our gardens, relax on the back veranda, or in my case run to my craft room to create. Of course there is always the laundry that needed changing, food that needed preparing and an errand or two at the mall but I am pleased to say that I also had plenty of time to set about finishing some cards that needed to be made.

First up is a baby card...



This is another Amy Sheffer - yes I can do it too! I have changed the image and added a sentiment tag but the paper and layout are hers. I had more of the DCWV Nana's Nursery Boy paper and thought it would be good to use it up. All four design papers come from this pack. The colored cardstock is AC textured cardstock and the white is Neenah Classic Crest Solar White - I love how crisp and white it is. The silver brads and ribbon holders are from Close to my Heart - the ribbon is Martha Stewart twill tape in silver sage. This was a bargain I found at AC Moore last weekend when we were home and it just goes to show that although the DH thinks that I have enough ribbon to wrap the world I can always find something that I know I'll use and that I don't already own!


The image and sentiment were stamped in Mememto Tuxedo Black ink. I used Copics to color the lamb and highlighted with my Copic Multiliners. The lamb stamp came from Hobby Lobby and is by Stampabilities title "Lambie Pie". I thought he was just too cute and could work for baby and Easter cards. The sentiment is from Lizzie's shop and is A Muse Artstamps...a tiny little wooden stamp that I thought would be perfect for tags. I used the Cuttlebug Tiny Tag die to cut it out.

Of course it wouldn't be a card unless I used my Nesties and in this case I used the Circle and Scalloped Circles as well as the Classic Squares. I found a neat tutorial on how to emboss a smaller square die onto the first without cutting through the paper and I used it on the top white square for this card. Here's a tip, make sure you lightly tape your die to the paper or it will move and the lines won't be stratight. It took me three times to get this and I was getting a little testy by the time I was done.

Here's a look at the inside because I link it's as pretty and colorful as the front...



I used scraps from the front paper and used the Nestabilities Large Deckled Rectangles to back the sentiment panel. The sentiment was computer generated. I used a Martha Stewart Border punch to make the row of hearts. I added an old button to finished it off.

Baby Card number two...




So I was in the baby card mode and found a card layout that I thought would work perfectly for the image I wanted to use. Again, I used the DCWV Nana's Nursery Baby Boy pack of design papers and AC textured cardstock for the colored paper. The image is from Stampin'Up! titled Buggies and Booties. I again used Mememto Tuxedo Black ink and added some Swarkovski turquoise crystals to the top edge of the buggy basket. The ribbon is single faced satin I picked up when Mary Maxim's put it all on clearance. Of course, I got it for a steal...and yes I have about 100 yards of it which is why the DH thinks I can wrap the world with all the ribbon I have. The sentiment is from the Inkadinkado clear Baby Boy set.

Here's a peek inside...




I kept the colors from the front of the card and added a big sentiment panel. I borrowed this verse from the American Greetings online card selection and generated it on the computer using the LD Quick Note font. I cut it out with my Large Circle Nesties and backed it with a Large Scalloped Circle that I paper pierced in each scallop. I didn't want to add too much height inside so I didn't use dimensionals but I did on the front. That's it - easy peasy.

Here's number three and I still have one more to make before the weekend ends...





I know, you are probably thinking this might be a little late and it is. I told you that I have great intentions but don't always get to follow through. This has been in pieces on my craft desk and I finally set out to finish it off since we are heading back to NY again this coming weekend. Travelling every other weekend means that I don't get enough time to play in the craft room and complete the necessary cards. It would be easy to pick one up at the store but as a card maker, I just can't justify it. I make cards. I have tons of supplies and that's it. It just might take me a little time to get them done. I digress so on to the card...

For this I started with Bazzil cardstock. I then added some world map and blue ship masts design paper from Close to my Heart. The red DP is some scrap paper I have from a huge jumbo pack I bought eons ago from JoAnn's. I have barely touched it since my tastes have grown but I thought it would work wonderfully as a backdrop to my DAD chip board letters. The letters are K&Compay and the blue and beige were slightly off in color from what I needed so I added some distress Stickles in Faded Jeans and Scattered Straw. They did just the trick to make this look better.

I haven't caved to get the Spellbinders Star dies as I'm trying to be a little frugal here so I cut them out from a stencil I had from my early scrapbooking days. I topped them off with a button and some hemp cording. The top blue Dew Drops were actually silver that I colored with my Copic Marker. I love how easy these take color and how quick they are to dry.

The last tool I used was the Friskars Rope Border punch. With the nautical feel of the papers, I thought it would fit beautifully.

That's it. Phew... I'm off to do some dinner prep work and then I have to work on the next card.

Hope you all a great week. Thanks for looking and I'll be back before you know it.

Cathy