Constantly Stamping

Happy Memorial Day Weekend

This coming Monday we observe Memorial Day here in the United States. Memorial Day was originally a day that was set aside to honor those who died during any war while serving in the United States Armed Forces. It has since come to be a day that we remember all of our loved ones who have passed. In addition, many people recognize the three-day weekend as the unofficial beginning of summer. Be sure to take some time to reflect on the memories of your loved ones.

I think this card is perfect for this weekend. I started with a Simply Sent Everyday Elegance (#122377) and built upon that. I stamped the Sweet Floral background stamp several times in So Saffron and Bashful Blue. For the So Saffron flowers I colored the inside accents with a More Mustard marker. I used a Marina Mist marker on the inside of the Bashful Blue flowers. I also stamped the background once with Certainly Celery ink. Next, I cut, cut, cut, and cut some more. Then I arranged the cut flower sections to look similar to gladiolas. Honestly, it really wasn't that difficult and the end result was definitely worth the effort. You can't see it in the photo, but I also dabbed on some 2-way glue added just a hint of Dazzeling Diamonds glitter to the flower centers.

For the inside of the card I stamped the background with So Saffron ink making sure to mask off the portions of the card where I didn't want to stamp. Both the sentiments on the front and on the inside of the card are from the Blessings from Heaven stamp set (#123050/123052). They are stamped in Cherry Cobbler ink.

Wishing you a happy and safe Memorial Day weekend.

 

 

Another Father's Day Card

I mentioned in my last post that I would have another Father's Day card to share. Actually, this is just a different take on the same card. Not every man likes automobiles, so this card is a little more generic. I feel like I should go on and on about this card, but honestly, it is pretty straight foward. The only thing that was really out of the ordinary was that I wanted to tone down the brad in the lower left, so scuffed it up a bit with a sanding block and dabbed on some Jet Black Stazon Ink. Other than that and the fact that I used different colors, it is pretty much the same card. Well, almost...you may notice that the strip of card stock is one continuous piece. I used a trimmer to cut right up to the oval portion of the embossed area, then I trimmed the top and bottom portions by hand.

I will try to have another card for you soon. I am still "patiently" waiting for my supplies for convention displays. So in the meantime, I am trying to get lots of other stuff done around the house so that I can focus more on stamping when the box finally gets here. I nearly had a heat stroke yesterday doing yard work. It isn't supposed to be this hot and humid in May. It feels more like July.

The Last Hoorah!

The 2011-12 Artisan's are being featured one final time over on the Stampin' Up! Facebook Artisan Gallery page. This time we had the option of creating either a Father's Day project or a project of our choice. Obviously I decided to do a Father's Day card. I must say that creating masculine cards is not really my strongest area, but I gave it my best shot...after all, we send at least a couple of Father's Day Cards every year. I am so grateful that both of our dads are still healthy.

My father-in-law is a retired mechanic, so I wanted to make something that is a reflection of what he loves...automobiles! I am just thrilled about how well things came together for this card. I started with a card base made with Brushed Silver card stock and embossed the front of the card with the Houndstooth embossing folder. Next, I embossed a strip of black textured card stock using the Simply Scored tool (oops, I think I forgot to mention that in my list of supplies) and also embossed a piece of black cardstock with the Designer Frames embossing folder and trimmed it out by hand. I used a sanding block to smooth out any rough edges. I used the Mat Pack punch guide to punch holes for the silver brads...this made it easy to space the brads evenly. I used twenty-six brads, but you can spread your brads a little futher apart if you want to cut back on the number. I didn't like the shiney brads against the brushed silver card, so I used a sanding block to scuff the top of each brad for a brushed silver look.

I used Basic Black ink to stamp the Father's Day greeting from the Delightful Dozen stamp set on Whisper White card stock and punched it out with the wide oval punch. I thought the greeting looked like it was missing something, so I used the fine tip of a Real Red marker to fill in the word "FATHER'S". This one little step made a big difference in the finished look of the card. Finally, I dug through my husband's stash of nuts and bolts and pulled out a little hardware to finish everything off. I washed them with a little bit of Dawn dish soap to remove any greasy residue, dried them throughly, and then used mini glue dots to adhere them to the card.

Well, I hope you like it. I have another Father's Day card to share with you, so be sure to check back here in a couple of days. Hope you have a wonderful weekend!

Creative Happiest Birthday Wishes

Today I want to share a card that I made using the soon to be retired hostess set, Happiest Birthday Wishes, along with the set Creative Elements. I just had to use some of the retired Everyday Enchantment designer series paper from Sale-a-bration. The unique thing on this card is how I created the stamped border on the large die cut piece. I used the double-ended frame from the Creative Elements set and stamped the frame four times in Peach Parfait and again four times with Pool Party ink, rotating each time I stamped. A stamp-a-ma-jig makes it much easier to line up the image to create a unique look.

I was surprised at how well the Tangerine Tango Scallop Dots Ribbon goes with this card. It is good to try a different hue of the same color on your projects every once-in-a-while. It can really add some interest if you choose your colors wisely.

 

Creative Elements Thank You

I fell in love with this set (Creative Elements) when I saw it in the catalog last year...and honestly, I just haven't used it very much. So I decided to make a card that features the beautiful flower stamp. I thought I would try something different. Instead of using the yellow for the flower and the navy for the accent, I totally reversed it.  It really makes a unique card. I love pairing Daffodil Delight with Night of Navy. The colors really pop against each other.

 

There are tons of flowers on this card. For the bottom layer of flowers I used the masking technique, but I wanted the flowers to bloom right off the card, so I stamped lots of extra flowers and trimmed them down. That way I could stack several layers on top of each other using dimensionals.

I used Attic Boutique DSP for the background. It is no longer available, but thankfully there is a digital download available, so you can print your own.The greeting is from the set "Perfectly Penned". I stamped it on Whisper White cardstock and punched it out with the Extra Large Oval Punch. Then I sponged the edges with Daffodil Delight Ink and layered it on top of a piece of Whisper White cardstock that I embossed with the Oval Designer Frame.

This week the Artisan's received an email asking us to be display stampers for convention. Of course I said "yes", but that means I may need to neglect my blog for a few weeks. I hope you understand why I won't be posting as frequently. But the good news is, I will have 24 new projects to share with you later this summer after convention. So don't give up on me. I promise to try to have something to share every so often. The Artisans also have one final Facebook Gallery coming up in a few weeks. I'll be sure to let you know when that happens.

CAS MDS Hybrid Wedding Card

Life has been coming at me hard and fast the past few weeks. We had a lot of hail damage back in March, so I have been busy dealing with the insurance company trying to work out all the details of the repairs. This is also achievement test week and the last week of tutorial at our son's homeschool group, so needless to say, I have been a bit distracted from my blogging. I needed a quick card for a wedding, so today's card is clean and simple. I created the card front using the flower image from the recently released "Earth Laughs" MDS digital download and the "Happy Greeting" digital stamp brush set. I printed it out on Whisper White card stock and then colored it with Daffodil Delight & Lucky Limeaid markers. To create a glow around the image, I sponged Tea Stain distress ink from the Distressing Essential Kit around the edges. I trimmed it down and added it to a Daffodil Delight card base. That's all here is to it. I may go back later and add a little bling, but for now this is a great, simple card that I can put in the mail without any worries.

Rubber Stamping Estate Sale

Friends of the late Donna Finney are having a rubber stamping/paper crafting estate sale on Friday, April 27, 2012. The sale will be held at 5145 Millbrook Drive, in Nashville (Bellevue area of town), in the Stonemeade subdivision next to Chaffin's Barn on Hwy 100, beginning at noon. The sale will also open to the general public all day on Saturday, during the annual neighborhood garage sale.

Many in the Nashville stamping community are aware that Donna Finney recently passed away and that she requested that some of her friends hold an estate sale for all her crafting supplies.  Donna and her sister were enthuastic stampers for several years, so there is a huge selection of storage, papers, stamps (several brands), markers, pads, tools, embellishments of all kinds, and lots more. Donna hoped to raise enough money to pay for one month of Pat's care (her sister) at the Alzheimer's facility, so this all goes for a very worthy cause.

 

Another Artisan Facebook Gallery

Today the Artisan's are being featured again over in the Stampin' Up! Facebook Artisan Gallery. We were asked to choose between making a Mother's Day project or something for spring. I decided to go with the Mother's Day theme...afterall, I needed to make a card for my wonderful mother, so why not now?

Can you believe that this card is made entirely from Whisper White card stock. I started with a basic 5.5" x 4.25" card base. Then I punched three strips of white card stock with the Lace Border Punch and carefully glued them to the base. I love how it gives the illusion of dry embossing. Then I stamped the greeting in Basic Black Classic Ink. Once the base of the card was finished, I stamped several sets of flowers on Whisper White CS with Basic Black Ink and colored them using a blender pen and reinkers. After everything was dry, I fussy cut three bunches of flowers and arranged them like a bouquet using Dimensionals to adhere them to the card base. For the final touches I added a double bow and various sized pearls to the flower centers. You can find a list of the ingredients over in the gallery. Be sure to head over and see what some of the other talented Artisan's have to share with you today. 

Sometimes I get asked how to mail a card like this. Most of the time I hand deliver a card with lots of layers, but if it absolutely needs to be mailed, I use a padded envelope. Yes it does increase the mailing cost, but it is worth every penny.

Clean & Simple Masculine Birthday Card

This morning I was feeling a little bit guilty for not posting on my blog over the past two weeks. I have really enjoyed spending a little time with my family over spring break, but it's time to get back to stamping. I typically avoid making masculine cards because they aren't exactly my strongest style, but with my dad's birthday next week, I thought I had better get busy and get him something in the mail right away.

This probably won't make it into my favorite cards folder, but it will do in a pinch. It was supposed to be a one-layer card, but after two attempts, smearing the ink both times, and running out of time, I changed directions. I stamped a white strip of card stock with the flower(?) image from the Simply Soft hostess set in Versamark ink and embossed it with white embossing powder. I stamped the image again with Early Espresso ink to fill in some areas. Then I sponged on various colors of ink (Soft Suede, Chocolate Chip, & Early Espresso) until I got a look that I liked. I mounted the strip with dimensionals onto the white layer. To give the card more interest I added some linen thread and a button. Everything got mounted onto a Early Espresso card base, and I added a personal note to the inside. Now it just needs to get into the mail so that it will be there in time. I forgot to send a card for my Dad's birthday once and I kicked myself for weeks. I managed to somewhat redeem myself at Father's Day, but still, I won't make that mistake again...even it means buying a card (ouch).

Whew...What a Weekend!

This weekend was crazy. It started with a dress rehearsal on Saturday morning for our Easter program a church. For those of you who don't know me, I play clarinet in the church orchestra (or I should say I attempt to play). I also sing in the church choir sometimes too, if I am not playing that particular Sunday. Then I attended a ladies luncheon, also at my church, on Saturday afternoon. It was absolutely wonderful. Everything was so pretty. Our guest speaker was a friend from my old church, Jennifer Walker. I didn't know that Jennifer had moved, so it was really good to see her. If you are looking for an uplifting blog to refresh you soul, you might want to check out Jennifer's blog called "Smelling Coffee". Jennifer is one of the most inspiring people you will ever meet and she is a fabulous speaker and conference leader. Then after all of that, I came home and mowed our 1+ acre yard and did some other yard work. I was exhausted. On Sunday the orchestra played as part of our Sunday morning worship and then I was home for what seemed like a few minutes before I had to be back at church for our Easter music progam. The program was very nice and the choir sang beautifully.

I haven't stamped a thing this weekend, but I have one final project from leadership conference to show you. I have been saving my favorite for last. I am sorry, but I don't really have the instructions for this project. It just came together and before I knew it, I had to mail if off. What I do remember is that I let the Big Top Birthday DSP take center stage. I based all of my measurements on the scallop strip from the Tasteful Trims die. I wanted to make sure that each section of the lid had exactly three scallops, so I scored the paper accordingly and worked backward. All of the little embellishments were cut from paper in the collection. The banner is stamped with the Sale-a-bration set "Outlined Occassions". I think this box would be really cute on top of a round birthday cake.

Just a little note: I am going to take a couple of weeks off from my blog to spend time with my family over spring break. Don't worry, I'll be back soon.