Posts Tagged With: Occasions

Stampin’ Up! Grateful Bunch on Wildflower Fields!

Good morning!  I hope that you’re having as nice a weekend as I am!  The weather is drop-dead gorgeous – we’re talking shirt sleeves and birds singing and ducks paddling in the pond.  And today (Saturday – as I type this!) isn’t even the warm day!  To be honest, I’m happy where it is – for me, it could stay at this temperature 24/7/365 and I’d be GTG!

Wayne and I spent some time outside building my new raised Square Foot Gardens!  Well, while I’m making a card, and posting it and getting dinner ready, he’s still out there.  I can hear the grinder and the welder sparking!

Wayne Welding - Stamps-N-Lingers

Yea, I know.  A man welding  – especially in those sexy green welding “sleeves”! – is hot!  Many many years ago, we were working together on a steel structure.  I thought it was so “cool” how the weld spark looked in the night – and I was…well, head over heels, so…I took lots of pictures.  I thought I was being so careful not to look right at the spark.  Well, at 2 am I discovered I hadn’t been so careful!  Safety tip – pictures of welding at night can get you in trouble.  Also, looking away from the spark, but at a metal building where the reflection is will also get you in trouble!  I’d burned my eyes enough to need to go to the doc in the morning.  Wayne told me to put raw potatoes on them.

Uhm.  No – that didn’t really help! 😉

Anywho – here’s what he’s working on today!

Flower Bed - Stamps-N-Lingers

That’s the first bed all ready to fill and plant!  That means it’s for sure spring!! Can’t wait to see them full of tomatoes and peppers and turnips and kale…. 🙂

Well, on to the real reason you dropped in, yes?  Being that it’s feeling all spring-y today, I was feeling in the mood for flowers.  And butterflies.

I ended up with flowers – not the Rose Wonder flower I’d pulled out to use, but the pretty Grateful Bunch flowers (my faves!).  And I never did add a butterfly….take a look-see:

Grateful Bunch Wildflower Fields 5 - Stamps-N-Lingers

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Categories: Get Well Soon, Life Event, Sympathy, Thinking Of You | Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 20 Comments

Stampin’ Up! Helping Me Grow Thanks!

Well, a very scary thing showed up today!  It was very very bright.  Seemed to radiate a little heat.  Not a lot, just a little.  It’s gone now – hoping it will show back up tomorrow!

And, of course it will.  Tomorrow is supposed to be up in the 60’s and then into the 70’s early next week.  Quite the roller coaster!

I have a pretty card to share today, that only needs one stamp set.  And a set of good paper snips (aka scissors) cuz there’s some fussy cutting in this one.  Don’t fret, though – it’s easy peasy.  The pretty stamp set I used is Helping Me Grow – a new one in the Occasions catalog that, for some reason, I haven’t really used yet.  Oh, I’ve pulled a couple of sentiments from it, but never really used it.  Until today – and it’s so cool – it’s all I needed.  Take a look-see:

Helping Me Grow Thanks 4 - Stamps-N-Lingers

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Categories: Thank You Cards | Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 18 Comments

Stampin’ Up! Timelessly Textured Botanical Builder

Happy Friday, y’all!  It has rained here ALL DAY.  I’m only exaggerating a little tiny bit.  It’s been cold and wet and raining and sleeting up north of us.  Mud is everywhere.  Only the ducks on the pond – and my Halfingers – are happy with this kind of a day. 🙁

Fortunately, it’s warm and dry and cozy inside!  I have a recovering kitty – and her brother that thinks she smells bad! – sleeping by the heater.  Eating her medicine twice a day like a good girl.  So, life is pretty darned good!

I know that it’s going to be spring just any day now (that’s not a joke, it’s supposed to be in the seventies over the weekend!).  But it is rainy….so, I ended up today with a card that has flowers (spring!) and blues (rainy day!).  And lots of texture.  I combined Timeless Textures and the Botanical Builder….take a look-see:

Timelessly Textured Botanical Builder 8 - Stamps-N-Lingers

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Categories: Any Occasion, Everyday, For You, Friendship, Just Hello!, Thank You Cards, Thinking Of You | Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 20 Comments

Stampin’ Up! Special Stamp….#imbringingbirthdaysback….coming soon!

This is my second post of the day – if you’re looking for the Blog Hop post…here it is! 🙂 If you’re already thru the Hop….thanks for stopping by!

I wanted to take a quick second of your time to share some info about a new grassroots movement from Shannon West, Stampin’ Up!’s training manager, to bring birthdays back with her own “#imbringingbirthdaysback”  movement!

New stamp image

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Categories: General | Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Stampin’ Up! First Sight Thanks Kindly

Well, it’s Wednesday again.  And I’m back with another card – blogging it while I watch the lightning flash outside and listen to the rumble of thunder.  And hope my sweet kitty Katy isn’t scared!

Oh.  Did I not tell you about Katy??  Well, she’s my little tuxedo girl…

IMG_0263

…she and her brother have lived with us since they were about 7 weeks old.  That’s when I scooped them up out of a rain drain – on the 4th of July in 2003.  Leo (her brother) was sitting with a couple of kids on the edge of the street.  I saw him as I drove by (I see them all – it’s kind of my curse) and worried about what those kids might do to him.  You know – kids.  4th of July.  Black kitten.

I went back to my apartment.  I paced.  I tried to talk myself out of it.  After all, I had my older kitty, Toe – and we were quite happy.  Me.  Wayne.  One cat.  Nice dynamic.

I picked up the cat carrier and a bag of Tender Vittles and returned to the scene.

45 minutes later – I’ve got Leo.  I’ve got Katy – she was way hidden – she’s always been the skittier of the two.  The kids think I’m a cat whisperer – cuz they hadn’t been able to catch either one of them!  I started to figure out how to find them a home.

So here we are thirteen years later. 😉

Katy hadn’t been doing well – so we finally pulled up our big girl panties (well, I did – Wayne….??) and managed to catch her and get her in the carrier and to the vet.  She needed teeth work.  Bad!

Today was the big day.  We went to pick her back up and discovered the extent of her surgery.  BIG.  Decided to leave her another night so they can manage her pain.  And give her another shot of antibiotic tomorrow.  Before we start with the twice daily pill routine.  Like that’ll ever work!

Hence – I’m worrying about her being by herself, not feeling good.  Scared of the the thunder. 🙁

So – I distracted myself by making a card – cuz sitting here worrying won’t help anyway – and she’s probably still pretty zorked (yes, that’s what the vet said!) by the anesthesia, so she’s probably sound asleep.

That’s my story and I’m sticking to it! 😉  I think she probably is, don’t you?

The card I made to distract myself uses the pretty Occasions stamp set called First Sight.  I combined some paper from Love Blossoms and a sentiment from One Big Meaning.  And I ended up with a card that’s sweet as a chocolatier’s confection.  Take a look-see:

First Sight Thanks Kindly 1 - Stamps-N-Lingers

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Categories: Thank You Cards | Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 16 Comments

Sending Wishes for a Happy New Home!

Our friend and Stampin’ Up Demonstrator Senior Manager Awesome Goddess of Cards, stamping, journaling, art…well, you get the picture! is moving to the frozen country north of our border.  She and her husband are moving back to Canada for his business and to be closer to family.  Fortunately, she’s going to be able to keep all of her USA stamping family – but she’s also going to have a Canadian group  – so she’s going to be one busy lady!  To wish her luck, a bunch of us in her downline surprised her with Stampin’ Up! cards – all timed to arrive in the last week or so before their big exodus.

My card used the Butterfly Basics Stamp set, as well as a sentiment from the Holiday Home set.  The overall design was inspired by the Freshly Made Sketches #171:

FMS171

I’d been waiting for just the right design to dive into my Artisan Embellishment Kit (Occasions catalog) and this was perfect.  I also used Painted Blooms and Irresistibly Your DSP.  And some Blendabilities and some Textured Embossing Folders and ….well, take a look-see for yourself:

Sending Wishes Outside 3 Watermarked

I like pinks and greens together – I just think they look very spring-y.  Not boing-y springy, but….oh, you know.  Springy spring-y!  Got it?  Good.

I started the card front with Pink Pirouette Card Stock, that I ran through my Big Shot in the On Point TIEF.  So, here’s a little lesson in patience (of which I showed none in this instance!).  I had, just a few days before, ordered the Spring Flowers TIEF.  If I’d waited for it to arrive, then that’s the one I thought I’d have preferred to use on this card.  But – I didn’t wait!  So, I used the On Point.  And, in truth, I think it was probably the better choice – cause, as I think about it, I kind of think the Spring Flowers would have been too busy for the card – so perhaps it was a blessing! 😉  I attached it to a Wild Wasabi card base with SNAIL.

I cut three strips in ever-increasing lengths and cut the banner ends with the hexagon punch.  The longest banner is from the Irresistibly Yours DSP (Sale-A-Bration), that I colored with my lightest Pink Pirouette Blendability.  It’s matted with Wild Wasabi CS.  The middle banner is a piece of Wild Wasabi CS that I embossed with the Happy Hearts TIEF, and matted on Pink Pirouette CS.  The final, and shortest banner, is some of the Painted Blooms DSP, matted on Wild Wasabi.  All three banners are SNAIL’d to the card front.

Sending Wishes Outside 2 watermarked

I built the sentiment circle using the circle framelits to cut a Whisper White circle (2 3/8″ diameter) and a Pink Pirouette (2 3/4″) circle.  I SNAIL’d them all onto one of the pretty doilies from the Artisan Embellishments Kit (Occasions).  The sentiment comes from the Butterfly Basics Stamp Set, and I stamped it in Mossy Meadow Classic Ink.  I also edged that white circle with some Pink Pirouette Blendability Marker and then with the Mossy Meadow.  The Pink circle, I “stitched” using the Pistachio Pudding Stampin’ Write Marker. Then, I attached the layered circle to the card front.  The left side is SNAIL and the right side is little bits of Stampin’ Dimensionals, placed on the most-solid parts of the doily.  The Dimensionals compensated for the added thickness of the banners under the left side of the circle.

Sending Wishes Outside 1 watermarked

I made a little bow with the green Painted Blooms Thick Twine (have I mentioned how much I love twine – especially when it comes to making bows?!?!) and glued it to the front with a little dab of Multipurpose Liquid Glue.  Three Pearl Basic Jewels finished it off.

The inside of the card was treated to a Whisper White liner, with some more of the Pink Pirouette and Wild Wasabi across the bottom.  I ran the Wild Wasabi through the Big Shot in the Happy Heart TIEF and SNAIL’d it to the Pink Pirouette mat (which I also stitched with Pistachi Puddding).  Repeating elements from the front of the card – whether it’s colors or textures or patterns or some combination thereof – ties the entire card together, and helps it to be “finished”. IMHO, of course!

Sending Wishes Inside 2 watermarked

The sentiment comes from the Holiday Home stamp set, and is stamped in Mossy Meadow Ink, that I stamped off once on scrap paper before stamping it on the card.  So – I used a “happy new home” sentiment, cause this card was headed to Sandi to celebrate her…well, new home.  But, if you wanted to make this card for almost any other kind of occasion – sympathy, just-because, feel better, whatever – you could easily use a different inside sentiment – or even just leave it blank.  “Sending Wishes Your Way” is a pretty versatile sentiment – and just another reason that having the Butterfly Basics set in your stamping arsenal is a really good plan! 🙂

I wanted the envelope to be a little special, too, so I SNAIL’d some more Painted Blooms DSP onto the inside of the flap, and then trimmed the excess with my snips.  I really think it completed the whole ensemble.

Sending Wishes with envelope watermarked

So – what think you?  I hope that you like it – I enjoyed making it for Sandi to wish her the best on her next adventure!

Tuesday heralds the arrival of new Weekly Deal specials – take a look and see if there’s a special something (or somthingS!) that you’ve been waiting for a good deal on!  There’s even a deal on one of the brand new Occasions bundles (From the Garden)!

Stampin’ Up! just announced a brand new stamp set, called Lovely Amazing You.  And it’s really cool!  Some super sentiments and a cute “envelope” stamp.  And – it’s in Photopolymer – my fave!  Click here to see the set and a couple of ideas for using it!  And check it out in the store when you decide you NEED to have it in your stash…..

And – here’s a teensy sneaky-peek…..26 Feb is the date for the next Happy Stampers Blog Hop.  Be sure to check back for more details, and mark your calendars.  We’ll all be sharing some new cards or….?  and will share a little blog candy, too!

TTFN

Mary

FEBRUARY 1 – 28 HOSTESS CODE:  RKBPBNYM Use this hostess code when you order and receive a free gift from me!  But, if your order is over $150, please do not use this code (you’ll miss out on your own Stampin’ Rewards/Hostess $$ if you use it) but you’ll still get the free gift.  The free gift for February is your choice of any item valued up to $4.95 in either the 2014-15 Annual Catalog or the 2015 Occasions Catalog!

Here are the card cuts for today’s project:

Wild Wasabi Card Stock: 5 1/2″ x 8 12/” folded at 4 1/4″ (card base); 7/8″ x 5 1/4″ (largest banner mat)); 3/4″ x 4 12/” (middle banner, embossed with Happy Hearts); 7/8″ x 4″ (smallest Banner); 5/8″ x 4″ (inner liner embellishment, embossed with Happy Hearts)

Pink Pirouette Card Stock: 4 1/8″ x 5 3/8″ (card front embossed with On Point TIEF); 7/8″ x 4 5/8″ (middle banner mat); 5/8″ x 4″ (inner liner embellishment mat); 2 3/8″ circle (sentiment mat)

Whisper White CS: 2 3/8″ circle (sentiment)

Irrestistibly Yours DSP: 1/2″ x 5 1/8″ (longest banner)

Painted Blooms DSP: 3/4″ x 3 7/8″ (shortest banner); 4″ x 5 1/8″ (inner liner); inner flap of envelope

 STAMPIN’ UP! ITEMS USED IN THIS PROJECT:

Price: $99.95

Supply List

Built for Free Using:  My Stampin Blog

WEEKLY DEALS 10 Feb – 16 Feb 15 Click here to see the Weekly Deals from Stampin’ Up! in my online store.  The Weekly Deals are only while supplies last and only available at these great prices through 16 Feb.

If you need any stamping supplies, I’d be very happy to be your Demonstrator. Just click on the Order Stampin’ Up! Online Now button on the right side of the screen to go directly to my online store or drop me an email if you have any questions. Happy Stamping!

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It’s Sale-A-Bration Time!! Earn a free item for every $50 that you purchase. Click here to read all about it.

Shop the Clearance Rack here.

Earn FREE Stampin’ Up! Products – Join my Punkin Head Peppermint Rewards – My online customer thank you program!

 

Categories: Any Occasion, Everyday, General | Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 3 Comments

Lotus Blossom Thinking of You

So, in a week where I ought to be building wonderful, creative, gender-specific, gender-neutral, romantic and yet funny Valentine’s Cards, I find myself working on other kinds of cards entirely.  A friend of mine has family in the hospital, who isn’t doing well.  I want to send a card letting her know that I’m thinking about and praying for her.  So, I delved into my more somber creativity and mined the beautiful Lotus Blossom SU Set (Sale-a-Bration item – still FREE with a $50 purchase thru 31 Mar) and the equally lovely Irresistibly Yours DSP (Occasions catalog) to build today’s card.  I also used the Annual Catalog stamp set called Thoughts and Prayers for the sentiment.

About the same time that I knew I needed such a card, the weekly Mojo Monday sketch arrived in my e-mail.

Mojo Monday 383

I gotta tell y’all – for some reason, this one just confounded me!  I have no idea why – but it took me two days working off and on to finally build something that I liked well enough to call it good.  I struggled with colors and patterns and…well, I just struggled.  Maybe because it’s February.  Or perhaps the moon is setting in the House of the Rising sun and Mercury is playing with Mars.  Or something.  But, I finally decided to quit overthinking it and just put it all together.  And – really ended up liking it quite a lot!  See what you think:

Thinking of You Outside 1 Watermarked

I started with one of our ever-so-handy Crumb Cake Cut and Ready Card Bases and cut a piece of Very Vanilla Card stock for the main card front.  Then, I matted a piece of the Sale-a-Bration Irresistibly Yours DSP onto a piece of Crumb Cake CS.  The DSP, I’d colored with an almost dry SU Sponge Dauber – my “brown” one.  It had been used for Crumb Cake  and Soft Suede ink at various times in the past few days.  The exact ink color is less important than the fact that it was ALMOST DRY, so the DSP is only very lightly colored.

My art piece is from the Typeset DSP that I edge sponged with some Old Olive and then stamped with the Lotus Blossom.  Remember, this is a multi-step stamp that comes in photopolymer – so, as I mentioned in an earlier post, you’ll want to use a squishy mat under your paper when you use the stamps (this is true for ANY photopolymer stamp!).  Use your piercing mat or one of your old squishy mouse pads.  Any-who….the first two stamps are done in Pumpkin Pie and the third layer is with Crushed Curry.  I experimented on scrap paper a couple of times to come up with the best way to lay down the colors before putting it on my DSP – and I ended up with this one, which I loved!  Now, take note: this is the way that I liked best – you can definitely be your own boss with this stamp.  Whatever YOU like best IS the best!  Play with it and have fun with it – there’s no telling what you’ll be able to come up with!

The stem is also two -step and I used Old Olive on the first stamp and Mossy Meadow for the second layer.

Thinking of You Outside 2 Watermarked

The banners are the polka dots from the Irresistibly Yours DSP.  I colored them with Soft Suede – and just used the same dauber on both, but colored the bottom piece more – making it darker. I like the tone-on-tone result.  Made these into banners by cutting the ends with the Hexagon Punch.

The Sassy Salutations set provided my sentiment, which is stamped in Soft Suede on a Vanilla circle die-cut that I edge-sponged with more Old Olive.

As I adhered all the layers to my Vanilla card front, I used SNAIL for all the pieces, except for the right-side edge of the art piece.  That area has SU Dimensionals on it to compensate for the raised layers of the vertical DSP.

I finished the card front with a tiny Linen Thread bow glued to the sentiment, and three rhinestone jewels that I colored with the darkest Pumpkin Pie Blendability.

Thinking of You Outside 3 Watermarked
I wanted the inside to have a sentiment for this card, and I chose the Thoughts and Prayers set to accomplish my goal.  It’s stamped in Soft Suede on vanilla card stock that I lightly edged with Old Olive ink.  And, just cause I could and I liked it so much, I added another Lotus Blossom in the bottom corner.  I think it finished it off nicely.  What’s so fun about this particular stamp is that even using the same colors and stamping the same way each time, each flower you build looks just a little different than the last one – just like real flowers.  I love it more every time I use it!

Thinking of You Inside 2 Watermarked

Obviously, if you left the sentiment out, this would make a very pretty every-day-just-because-I-was-thinking-about-you-today card!

This really wasn’t as hard a card to make as I made it out to be – at least in the end!  And I really love how the whole card is in soft, neutral tones, with just the Lotus Blossom popping off the card.  Pumpkin Pie and Crushed Curry – beautimous!  Try it today – you’ll like it!

There’s still time to get in on the weekly deals – check out the Hearts border punch!  Mine is already on it’s way to me – along with some Dazzling Diamonds Glimmer paper.  Can’t wait to play with them! 🙂

TTFN

Mary

FEBRUARY 1 – 28 HOSTESS CODE:  RKBPBNYM Use this hostess code when you order and receive a free gift from me!  But, if your order is over $150, please do not use this code (you’ll miss out on your own Stampin’ Rewards/Hostess $$ if you use it) but you’ll still get the free gift.  The free gift for February is your choice of any item valued up to $4.95 in either the 2014-15 Annual Catalog or the 2015 Occasions Catalog!

Here are the card cuts for today’s project – starting with a Crumb Cake Cut and Ready Card Base

Very Vanilla Card Stock: 4″ x 5 1/4″ (large card front); 4 1/8″ x 2 7/8″ (art piece mat); 1 7/8″ Circle (Sentiment); 4″ x 5 1/4″ (inner liner)

Irrestistibly Yours DSP: 5 1/8″ x 2 7/8″ (vertical band); 3/4″ x 2 1/2″ (lighter banner); 1/2″ x 3 1/8″ (darker banner)

Typeset DSP: 4″ x 2 3/4″ (art piece)

Crumb Cake CS: 5 1/4″ x 3″ (Vertical band mat)

 STAMPIN’ UP! ITEMS USED IN THIS PROJECT:

Price: $99.95

Supply List

Built for Free Using:  My Stampin Blog

WEEKLY DEALS 3 Feb – 9 Feb 15 Click here to see the Weekly Deals from Stampin’ Up! in my online store.  The Weekly Deals are only while supplies last and only available at these great prices through 9 Feb.

Supply List

Built for Free Using:  My Stampin Blog

If you need any stamping supplies, I’d be very happy to be your Demonstrator. Just click on the Order Stampin’ Up! Online Now button on the right side of the screen to go directly to my online store or drop me an email if you have any questions. Happy Stamping!

Online Shopping Icon 3

It’s Sale-A-Bration Time!! Earn a free item for every $50 that you purchase. Click here to read all about it.

Shop the Clearance Rack here.

Earn FREE Stampin’ Up! Products – Join my Punkin Head Peppermint Rewards – My online customer thank you program!

 

Categories: Any Occasion, General, Sympathy, Thinking Of You | Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 2 Comments

Seeing Double Happy Birthday Cards!

Tuesday happens.  Usually right after Monday!  Says Captain Obvious.  And what does that have to do with today’s post?  Not much OTHER than the fact that Tuesday heralds the arrival of BRAND NEW WEEKLY DEALS!  See what’s on offer this week at the bottom of this post.  Hint:  there’s a lot of good Valentine’s Day card tools for you!

So – last week, I faced a conundrum brought on by my very severe case of procrastination.  Last Saturday was our friends twin boys 22nd birthday (I’m sure an apostrophe is needed somewhere here, but….?).  Now, I totally knew that.  My phone obediently told me – on THURSDAY! – that their birthday was Saturday.  Did I respond then?  Of course! – I ran out and got a couple of presents and then I sat down and toiled over two wonderful cards for them.  They were unique.  They were the same and yet different (as things for twins often are).  I spent hours on both of them.  She said – never.  For certain I did nothing of the kind.  I TOLD myself to do all those things and then….I didn’t.

Saturday rolls around and it’s getting time to head over for birthday dinner.  I cleverly and creatively determine that the very best gift for young men is something that always fits.  Is always the right size.  Is versatile in the extreme.  Cash!  And then I sit down at my craft table and think…..now what?

Below is what I came up with.  I think, considering I didn’t use any Blog sketches or ideas from anywhere other than my very own noggin, that they turned out pretty good.  And, considering how quickly I made them both – they certainly qualify as Quick and Easy!

Both Birthday 1 Watermarked

Both cards started with Crumb Cake Cut and Ready card bases.  These are so beyond handy to have!  Both cards are matted with card stock – Night of Navy and Cajun Craze (I’ll trust your deductive reasoning to determine which went where!).  For the blue card, the front started with a piece of Typeset DSP, that I sponged with Night of Navy ink.  After I SNAIL’d the DSP to the CS, I “stitched” the edge of the CS with my white gel pen.

Blue Birthday 2 Watermarked

I cut the tag from a piece of Night of Navy CS, using the Chalk Talk Framelits, and then stamped it with a background wood-grain stamp in white.  Mine is a generic one that I’ve had in my stash for a while, but the stamp that comes with the Build a Bouquet stamp set would work swimmingly well (probably better!).  And then “stitched” it up – by now, I was apparently going for a “denim-y” theme.

The sentiment is from Sassy Salutations in white on Night of Navy CS, also cut with one of the dies in the Chalk Talk set.  Also stitched.  I SNAIL’d them to the card front and then glued a bow made from a little piece of Painted Blooms Cotton Twine (Occasions catalog) to the top of the tag.  The front is popped out with Dimensionals onto the card base.

The other card again started with a mat, and this time I used a piece of the Motley Monsters DSP (OBTW – I just checked this morning, and this cute DSP is still available in the Clearance Rack for only $4.39!).  I sponged the edges with some Crumb Cake ink and SNAIL’d it to it’s Cajun Craze mat.

Wood Birthday 1 Watermarked

Then I cut a couple of “happy” die cuts with the Hello You Thinlits (Occasions).  One is Cajun Craze and the other is black.  I used some multipurpose liquid glue to adhere them together – just to give it a little depth.  I used a little more to glue the happy layers to the card front.  Note: SU Multipurpose Liquid Glue is excellently strong and a little goes a long way!  The second part of the sentiment is cut using the Note Tag Punch (Occasions) from more of the woody Motley Monsters DSP, edges sponged and the sentiment (from the Crazy About You bundle that I bought with the Hello You Thinlits!) inked with Crumb Cake ink.  I layered that piece on another Note Tag punched from Cajun Craze CS – a little offset to create a “shadow” – and then stuck it under the Happy with some SNAIL and glued a tiny Linen Thread bow on.  I popped it with Dimensionals on to the card base, and called both cards complete.

At this point, I would usually show you the inside of my cards.  But, I forgot to take any pictures, so….that would be hard to do.  Or, even, impossible!  But, they each had a piece of Very Vanilla CS put into them to give me a place to write, and I stamped the liners with “Celebrate”, from the Good Greetings set, in Night of Navy and Crumb Cake respectively (and amazingly I even got the right color into the right card!).  Wayne and I wrote a little note, added the show-me-the-money-honey, and off we went to dinner! And – unless they happen to read this blog, they’ll never know that I didn’t do all this on Thursday when my phone Notification went off – thereby preserving my reputation as an organizational wizard (she says again – never!).

Both Birthday 2 Watermarked

So – a couple of ideas for quick birthday cards.  Hope that you like them, and can/do add them to your cards-on-hand-for-those-“sudden”-emergencies! ;0

One other little piece of “fun” stuff.  I spent some time last Saturday with Amy Koenders and Sue Prather at the Heritage Rubber Stamp show up in Lawrenceville (Heather Van Looy was there for a little bit, but had to leave soon after I arrived).  Finally got to meet Amy in person, after having e-mailed with her and joined the company because of her (my husband says “Thank you very much, Amy!).  We had a great time – and met a lot of fun folks who stopped by to make our completely cute make-and-takes (designed by the very talented Sue).  They featured the new Bow Builder Punch – which is really great and easy to use (I’d never used it before Saturday and was able to pick it up by watching a couple be made – so, yea, it’s pretty easy!).  It’s definitely on my wish-list now.  Anyway – here’s a couple of pics of the festivities! That’s me on the left-left!

IMG_0020 IMG_0018

Be sure to check out the new Valentine’s-ready Weekly Deals!

TTFN

Mary

FEBRUARY 1 – 28 HOSTESS CODE:  RKBPBNYM Use this hostess code when you order and receive a free gift from me!  But, if your order is over $150, please do not use this code (you’ll miss out on your own Stampin’ Rewards/Hostess $$ if you use it) but you’ll still get the free gift.  The free gift for February is your choice of any item valued up to $4.95 in either the 2014-15 Annual Catalog or the 2015 Occasions Catalog!

Here are the card cuts for today’s projects – both start with Crumb Cake Cut and Ready Card Bases

Night of Navy Card Stock: 4″ x 5 1/4″ (mat); Thinlits Tags;

Cajun Craze Card Stock: 4″ x 5 1/4″ (mat); Hello Die cut

Basic Black Card Stock: Hello Die cut

Very Vanilla CS: 4 1/8″ x 5 3/8″ (inner liner)

Typeset DSP: 3 3/4″ x 5″ (card front)

Motley Monsters DSP: 3 3/4″ x 5″ (card front); Note tag for sentiment

 STAMPIN’ UP! ITEMS USED IN THESE PROJECTS:

Price: $99.95

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 WEEKLY DEALS 3 Feb – 9 Feb 15 Click here to see the Weekly Deals from Stampin’ Up! in my online store.  The Weekly Deals are only while supplies last and only available at these great prices through 9 Feb.

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If you need any stamping supplies, I’d be very happy to be your Demonstrator. Just click on the Order Stampin’ Up! Online Now button on the right side of the screen to go directly to my online store or drop me an email if you have any questions. Happy Stamping!

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Categories: General, Happy Birthday | Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 6 Comments

Tall and Skinny Wishes

Happy Monday, y’all (or is that an oxymoron!?!).  I bet today finds you 1) excited and happy that the Patriots won or 2) recovering from the devastating, last-possible-second loss of the Seahawks or 3) wondering….”huh?  There was a big game yesterday?  All I saw were some funny commercials interspersed with some guys running around on grass.”  However you spent your Sunday evening, I hope you’re well and recovered, cause it’s Monday now, so…. 😉

Speaking of Monday, this is the day I announce the winner of last week’s Blog Candy!  Drum roll….and yea, you have to read all the way through to the end to see who won! See how I did that?

This week I made a card to share using some Irresistibly Yours DSP and the Butterfly Basics stamp set (from the Occasions Catalog).  I based it – pretty loosely, as you’ll soon see! – on the Mojo Monday Sketch #382.

mojo382

This card fits into an A2 envelope, with plenty of room to spare to accommodate the embellishments.  I think the entire ensemble turned out really pretty!

Tall and Skinny with envelope watermarked

To build my card, I cut a piece of Very Vanilla card stock to 3 1/2″ x 11″ and then scored and folded it at 5 1/2″ on the long side.  That yielded the Tall and Skinny look driven by the MM sketch.  And, that’s the dimensions they gave me on their website, so the math was pretty easy! ;0

I sponged a piece of the Irresistibly Yours DSP with Soft Suede ink, and then wiped the excess off of the resist areas with a paper towel.  Then I SNAIL’d a length of SU Natural Cotton Ribbon onto a piece of Crumb Cake CS (which I’d lightly sponged with Crumb Cake ink) and then SNAIL’d that layer onto the DSP.  I actually attached the ribbon to the CS, leaving a little excess on both ends, before I attached everything to the DSP – and then I wrapped the ribbon around and secured it to the back with tape.  That way I had a nice, smooth edge, and won’t have to worry about the ribbon fraying on the edges.

Tall and Skinny Outside 3 Watermarked

Over that, I ran some Daffodil Delight Stitched 1/4″ Grosgrain ribbon.  Like the wide ribbon, I wrapped the ends around the back and secured them with tape.

Then I cut out my art square and rounded the corners (note to self: get oval collection framelits in next order…!!).  I stamped the flowers from the Butterfly Basics onto the square in Soft Suede and colored it in with my Pink Pirouette and Old Olive Blendabilities (that I got for Sale-a-Bration!).  My Butterfly Basic sentiment  is stamped in Strawberry Slush onto another square of Very Vanilla.  Both these pieces were matted onto Crumb Cake CS and then layered onto the card front.  The sentiment is SNAILd and the flower is popped up with Dimensionals.

Tall and Skinny Outside 1 Watermarked

I punched out a few Bitty Butterflies from some scrap Irresistibly Yours DSP that I’d lightly colored with my lightest Pink Pirouette Blendie, and very artfully (she says modestly) arranged them onto the card, using glue dots.  I embellished them with some Pearl Basic Jewels and added one more pearl to the center of the largest flower, and called it good.  The card front was SNAILd onto the card base – there’s plenty of “popping” already!

Tall and Skinny inside 2 Watermarked

On the inside, I went ahead and added a liner, still in Very Vanilla, just to keep the card feeling solid.  I edged the piece with Pink Pirouette ink by simply running all the edges across the ink pad itself.  Using the smallest butterfly stamp in the Butterfly Basics, I stamped a little swarm of them (what IS a group of butterflies called?  Swarm?  Herd? Flock?  Must Google that) across the bottom in Pink Pirouette.  I left this card blank on the inside, so it can be used for almost any occasion, I’d think.

I used a Crumb Cake Envelope, and stamped the flower in Crumb Cake on the front, in the bottom right corner, just to finish things off.

Tall and Skinny with envelope watermarked 2

Hope you enjoy this one – and give Tall and Skinny a try soon!  Card cuts are below,

Today’s the last day for this week’s Weekly Deals, so act quickly if you’re wanting to stock up on embossing folders or add a Texture Boutique machine to your tool set!

TTFN

Mary

FEBRUARY 1 – 28 HOSTESS CODE:  RKBPBNYM Use this hostess code when you order and receive a free gift from me!  But, if your order is over $150, please do not use this code (you’ll miss out on your own Stampin’ Rewards/Hostess $$ if you use it) but you’ll still get the free gift.  The free gift for February is your choice of any item valued up to $4.95 in either the 2014-15 Annual Catalog or the 2015 Occasions Catalog!

Here are the card cuts for today’s project

Very Vanilla Card Stock: 3 1/2″ x 11″ (card base – folded at 5 1/2″); 2 3/8″ x 2″ (flower); 2 1/4″ x 2 3/8″ (sentiment); 3 3/8″ x 5 3/8″ (inner liner)

Crumb Cake Card Stock: 1 1/8″ x 3 3/8″ (ribbon mat); 2 1/8″ x 2 1/2″ (flower mat); 2 3/8″ x 2 1/2″ (sentiment mat)

Irresistibly Yours DSP: 3 3/8 x 5 3/8″ (card front); Bitty Butterflies

 STAMPIN’ UP! ITEMS USED IN THIS PROJECT:

Price: $4.95

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Built for Free Using:  My Stampin Blog

 WEEKLY DEALS 27 Jan – 3 Feb 15 Click here to see the Weekly Deals from Stampin’ Up! in my online store.  The Weekly Deals are only while supplies last and only available at these great prices through 3 Feb.

Built for Free Using: My Stampin Blog

 BLOG CANDY WINNER!
Thanks so much to everyone who stopped by my blog to leave me a comment – I really appreciate that you all took the time – there were some really nice things said!
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The Random Number Generator chose comment #11. Comment #11 was left by Kristi Gray.  Kristi said: “Congrats on your first blog hop, they are so much fun. Your cards are so pretty. I love that stamp set and am amazed at all the different looks you get from these cards. Thanks for sharing.”Congratulations Kristi!! I’ll get your embellishments packed up – please send me your snail mail address (stamps-n-lingers@comcast.net) so that I can ship them to you!

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Earn FREE Stampin’ Up! Products – Join my Punkin Head Peppermint Rewards – My online customer thank you program!

 

Categories: Any Occasion, General, Sympathy | Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 7 Comments

Bitty Butterflies to Celebrate the Arrival of A New Little Girl!

Yeah! It’s the weekend and I wanted to share another girly baby card with you.  But, first two little pieces of news.  News one – today, I’ll be at the Heritage Stamp Show with my friends Amy Koenders, Sue Prather and Heather Van Looy.  It looks to be a lot of fun – we’ll have a card display and make & takes along with catalogs and other goodies!  Here‘s some info about the show, if you happen to be in the area – it’s at the Gwinnett County Fairgrounds, 2405 Sugarloaf Pkwy, Lawrenceville, GA 30046.  Second – and this is HUGE (well, for me, at least!).  Today marks the first post I’m writing on my brand new computer!  This is really pretty epic.  My old computer is a vintage 2007 model iMac.  And, in 2007, it rocked.  In 2014, it IS a rock!  I tell you true – I could feel hairs on my head getting gray waiting for that poor thing to load a website, or – gasp! – save a file!  I am a died-in-the-wool Apple girl – so this post comes to you from my new MacBook Pro.  And.  It.  Is.  Like.  LIGHTNING!  Of course, if I hang on to THIS one for 7 years, it may well be a rock, too.  But not today – whoo whoooo!

Okay – that’s the end of the new news.  Let’s get to the card.  This one is purely girl.  All pink and yellow and pretty.  I used the Stamping and Blogging Sketch #87 as my inspiration.  If you click the picture below, you’ll go to the wonderful card that Sandi MacIver did with this sketch.  I really DID build my card before I saw Sandi’s creation – even though it doesn’t look like it!  I guess great minds think alike.  😉

SB87

I used Strawberry Slush Card Stock for my card base.  I folded it so that it was a tall card, opening long-ways.  Yikes – that hardly made sense at all – here’s the picture so you can see what I tried to say.

Sweet Girl Card Front 1 Watermarked

I ran a piece of Painted Blooms DSP (Occasions Catalog) through the Big Shot in the Happy Hearts Textured Impressions Embossing Folder and then punched the “bottom” edge with one of my Martha Stewart edge punches.  I SNAIL’d that to the card base and moved on to the rest of my elements.  I stacked 3 squares of paper and card stock for the sentiment – the largest is a piece of the Painted Blooms DSP – cut with a scalloped square framelit and edged with my Strawberry Slush Stampin’ Write Marker. that I first stamped with the  also in Strawberry Slush Ink.  I inked up the Something Lacy Background Stamp (Annual Catalog) with my Strawberry Slush Stampin’ Write marker and stamped a piece of my Strawberry Slush card stock – which I then used for the middle sentiment mat and 5 of my Bitty Butterflies.

Pink and Yellow Sweet Girl Card Front 1 Watermarked

The sentiment is from the Baby We’ve Grown set in the Annual Catalog.  I stamped it onto a scalloped square in Soft Suede Ink, and then colored it with my Pink Pirouette and Daffodil Delight Blendabilities.  I SNAIL’d the whole stack together and adhered it to the card front with Stampin’ Dimensionals.  The butterfly panel started with a piece of Whisper White CS, embossed with the Happy Hearts TIEF that I SNAIL’d to a Strawberry Slush mat.  The butterflies are all cut with the Bitty Butterfly punch and then I sort of rolled the wings up a tiny it to give them a little life.  The odd-man-out butterfly is white CS stamped with the Lovely Lace background in Strawberry Slush and colored with a Daffodil Delight Blendability (this is a free item available in the Sale-A-Bration catalog, going on through 31 Mar).  The butterflies were stuck to the white panel with a little bit of Multipurpose Liquid Glue.  Then the panel was adhered to the card front with Stampin’ Dimensionals.  Just to finish it off, I gave the odd butterfly a few Pearl Basic Jewels and each little baby girl shoe got a tiny pearl – just to send the cute factor right over the top!  And – done!

Sweet Girl Card Front 1 Watermarked

On the inside, I edged another piece of Whisper White CS and stamped the bunny from the Baby We’ve Grown set in Soft Suede.  He got a quick color with the Blendabilites in Pink Pirouette and the Strawberry Slush Stampin’ Write Marker.  The sentiment, from the Petite Pairs stamp set, in Soft Suede, brought it all home.

Pink and Yellow Sweet Girl Interior 1 Watermarked Pink and Yellow Sweet Girl Interior 2 Watermarked

I think this is a really cute and happy card.  And the design would be easy-peasy to use for a boy just by changing up to blue tones, or you could go more gender-neutral and use greens and yellows.  Which, since it appears that the friends I made these cards for all are having boys….I should have done!  Anyone need a cute girl baby card….?? Let me know.

Today’s the last day to use my January Hostess Code.  Don’t forget that you’ll also get a free gift from me and you may qualify for Punkin Head Peppermints!  And, if you’ve been waiting for the Textured Impressions Embossing Folders  – this is a good week.  There are 6 TIEFs on sale right now – check out the Weekly Deals below and stock up on all your favorite folders.

And don’t forget to come by the Heritage Stamp show if you happen to be in the area today.  I’d love to meet you!

Thanks for taking the time to share my share with me!

TTFN

Mary

JANUARY 1 – 31 HOSTESS CODE:  RMQE9AEQ Use this hostess code when you order and receive a free gift from me!  But, if your order is over $150, please do not use this code (you’ll miss out on your own Stampin’ Rewards/Hostess $$ if you use it) but you’ll still get the free gift.  The free gift for January is your choice of any item valued up to $4.95 in either the 2014-15 Annual Catalog or the 2015 Occasions Catalog!

Here are the card cuts for today’s project

Strawberry Slush Card Stock: 4 1/2″ x 11″ (card base – folded at 5 1/2″); 1 3/4″ x 1 3/4″ (middle sentiment mat); 4 1/4″ x 2″ (Butterfly mat); Bitty Butterflies

Whisper White Card Stock: 4″ x 1 3/4″ (embossed panel under butterflies); 1 1/2″ x 1 1/2″ (scalloped sentiment); 4 1/4″ x 5 1/4″ (inner liner)

Painted Blooms DSP: 4 1/4″ x 5 1/4″ (Card front); 2″ x 2″ (scalloped bottom sentiment mat); one Bitty Butterfly

 STAMPIN’ UP! ITEMS USED IN THIS PROJECT:

Price: $99.95

Supply List

Built for Free Using:  My Stampin Blog

 WEEKLY DEALS 27 Jan – 3 Feb 15 Click here to see the Weekly Deals from Stampin’ Up! in my online store.  The Weekly Deals are only while supplies last and only available at these great prices through 3 Feb.

Visit my online store here
Shop the Clearance Rack here.
Earn FREE Stampin’ Up! Products – Join my Punkin Head Peppermint Rewards – My online customer thank you program!

 

Categories: General, New Baby | Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 4 Comments

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