GIFT EXCHANGE........

At the end of June, I joined my friends Cindy and Debbie in Chantilly for a scrapbook convention. One of the things that caught my eye, and some of my money, was a kit that you used to make a canvas wall hanging. I actually purchased 2 of them. They were the inspiration for my contribution to our gift exchange for the shoe box swap yesterday.

I decided to do 2 coordinating pieces using the Inspired by Nature stamp set. The DSP is from the long retired Flowers for You. Each canvas is 6 X 6. They are about an inch thick, so they can hang or sit up on their own. I sponged around the edges, one with Regal Rose and the other with Certainly Celery. The other colors used are Lovely Lilac (retired) and Tempting Turquoise. The butterflies are from the Big Shot embosslit Beautiful Wings. The grass was stamped in Certainly Celery and Old Olive, to give it a little depth. The flowers were colored with markers directly on the stamp. To finish them both off, I added some ribbon and pearls.

This is how I packaged it. The gift was to be around $10 and the canvas's did not cost quite that much, so I was going to throw in some chocolate to make up the difference (because chocolate and stamping just go together). Well, lo and behold, I see online where some of the plastic scrapbooking cases that people use to store projects were on sale for only 2 days. The pictures fit perfectly, don't you think?

Wrap it up, add a bow and --- Viola!!! Oh, yeah, and Wendy chose my gift. I hope she enjoys them.....

Thanks for checking in!!!! Have a great week!!!!

SHOEBOX SWAP FUN...........

Today was my Little Debbies summer shoebox swap meeting. I always love these get-togethers and today was no different. I am part of such a talented group of ladies, hard to believe they are all so nice, too. I got to see some ladies that I had not seen for a while and met some new ones. We stamped, we ate (don't even get me started on the food) and we talked and laughed. Fun, fun fun. Six hours passed in no time at all.

This was the card I did for the swap. I used the Grunge Rock stamp set. I just purchased this set when it was on sale in May (I think). I cannot believe it took me so long to get it. I love how this turned out --- and I even received an "It's okay" from my soon to be teenaged daughter. I started out with a Cherry Cobbler base and added a Basic Black panel layered on top of it. The stamped panel is Whisper White and has some of the Baker's Twine wrapped around it.  The guitars are cut out and raised on dimensionals. The "real" circle was stamped twice, then the center was punched out with the 1" circle punch from the Cherry Cobbler and the ring of words was Basic Black with the 1-3/8" circle punch. This all was raised on dimensionals, too. If you noticed, the background was color spritzed with Cherry Cobbler and Black. I added a little sparkle with the rhinestones on each guitar, for the rocker girl. If they were left off, I think this would work for a rocker boy.

I will post a picture of what I made for the gift exchange tomorrow. Thanks for stopping by!!!!

SYMPATHY - PART 3.........

This is the last in the group of sympathy cards I did. I finally used my Lovely as a Tree stamp set. I heat embossed the trees with clear embossing powder and then sponged over them with Old Olive and Cherry Cobbler. The DSP is the Jolly Holiday paper from the now retired catalog. I did add some brads to this one, because it was being hand delivered. I really like how this turned out, but it kind of looks like a Christmas card. What do you think?

Thanks so much for stopping by!!!! Have a great day!!!!

SYMPATHY - PART 2..........

This is another card done for the family who lost their father/brother. This one was CASE'd from my friend and upline, Debbie Naylor and you can find her's here. I used the Crumb Cake cardstock again for the base. It is topped with layers of Night of Navy, Marina Mist and Whipser White. I stamped the larger white layer 3 times with the flowers from the Just Believe stamp set in Night of Navy. The smaller white layer was stamped with the frame in Marina Mist and the sentiment with Night of Navy. Another nice flat card for easy mailing.

Thanks for visiting!!! Come back tomorrow for the third card I did.

SYMPATHY - PART 1......

A local gentleman recently passed away and, although I did not know him personally, I know his son, daughter and brother. This is one of the cards made for them. I used the color combo of Crumb Cake, Old Olive and Chocolate Chip. The Old Olive layer was ran through the Big Shot with the Square Lattice embossing folder. It was then layered on top of the Crumb Cake card base. The image is the tree from the Thoughts & Prayers stamp set that was colored on the stamp with the markers, "huffed" on and stamped on Very Vanilla. This was then layered on the Chocolate Chip panel that was then attached to the Old Olive on the base. The sentiment is from the same set and was stamped in Chocolate Chip.

I kept this card nice and simple, since it was being mailed. No ribbon, buttons or brads to make it bump up in the envelope. Plus, I like to keep sympathy cards as simple as possible (not sure why, but it seems like the thing to do).

Thanks for stopping in!!! Have a great day!!!

IT JUST SEEMS LIKE YESTERDAY........

Obviously, I am not posting things in a timely manner. I must do better. This is the card I did for my niece for Easter. It was made to hold a gift card. I found this on Debbie Naylor's blog here and she has even listed the punches used.

The outside:

The inside:

Thanks for stopping by!!!! Hope you have a great week!!!!

JUNE'S SIMPLY PAPER DESIGN CHALLENGE.....

I am a little late on posting this, but what's new, huh? This is my first card as part of the Simply Paper Design Team. You can find the sketch/colors and Cindy's card here. I love the flower stamp Cindy used from the Because I Care stamp set (now retired). And that satin ribbon is just gorgeous!!! Debbie is being fashionably late, so I will link hers when Cindy posts it.

Here is my card. I really wanted to use some of my new stuff that I received with my pre-order from the new SU! catalog. It went into effect yesterday, so I am getting my wish list together. It has some great new stamp sets and accessories that I can't wait to get ahold of. But I digress --- back to the card. I used the new Lace Ribbon Border punch and added some pearls to the centers to class it up a bit. I stamped color on color using the Delicate Doilies stamp set and layered them using dimensionals, finishing it off with a pearl for the center. I love how this stamp set coordinates with the punches, making it easy to cut the shapes out. The Basic Gray one is punched using the solid or first layer of the Doily Triple Layer punch. It was a little tricky trying to figure what to line up where, but I finally got what I wanted. The sentiment is from the Watercolor Trio set (retired) and is layered with the oval, scalloped oval and decorative label punches. Again, I added pearls. Too much???

Thanks for stopping by!!! Have a great weekend!!!

HOW SWEET IT IS.......

Can you believe it???? I have been awarded The Irresistibly Sweet Blog Award from my friend/upline, Debbie Naylor. Her blog is Unfrogettable Stamping and is pretty sweet itself. According to the rules, I have to tell you 7 things about myself. Hhhmmmm....... this could take awhile.....

1. I am the baby of my family, with only an older sister who happened to turn 50 this year. When you start talking in numbers like that it kind of voids out the baby thing, doesn't it?

2. My husband and I just celebrated our 23rd anniversary. We dated over 6 years before we were married, so we pretty much have been together absolutely forever.

3. I have a 12 year old daughter and a 10 year old son. And because of them, I also have a dog. The dog is almost 2 years old and is a miniature Australian shepherd. Never again (referencing both the kids and dog).

4. I at first resisted going to a stamping workshop, figuring why buy stamps that I will only use once. Then a friend talked me into going to one and I was hooked. She, on the other hand, doesn't stamp anymore. Me, I signed up to get the discount and have not had any trouble making my minimum (and usually more) all by myself. Of course, actually paying for it is a different matter. As for the using the stamps only once, as most of us that have this addiction, I have stamps that have never seen ink --- some I have are not even mounted yet. One day........

5. By day, I am a mild mannered (most of the time) draftsman in the mechanical engineering department of a local business that designs and manufactures specialty machines. I have also become the somewhat social director of our department, planning the birthday lunches, holiday gatherings and what not. I also do whatever everyone does not want to do --- can you say "bottom of the totem pole"? But, I do like my job, even if I do complain about it.

6. I love action movies!!! The Transformers, Indiana Jones, National Treasure to name a few. I like chick flicks, too, but get out voted if I want to watch one.

7. I have dabbled in all sorts of crafts over the years. I have taken classes for sewing and painting. My mother owned a ceramic shop at one time, so I was into that for a while. The twist is that I am not all that good at any of it, but I guess you can call me persistent. But there is no natural ablility that has shown up at any time, so far. Thank goodness for blogs that can inspire us..........

Speaking of, I am now suppose to list the blogs that inspire me (not counting Debbie, who gave this award to me, and Cindy, who was also on Debbie's list, but if I could name them they would be on the top of my list). Just so you know, this is just a very small part of the blogs I try to follow.

1. Beverly Cole - http://beestamper.blogspot.com/
2. Jill Hilliard - http://jill031070.blogspot.com/
3. Julie Buhler - http://www.paperpleasing.typepad.com/
4. Nancy Dawson - http://creativewishes.blogspot.com/
5. Mary Fish - http://www.stampinpretty.com/
6. Diana Gibbs - http://dianagibbs.typepad.com/stampin_with_di/
7. Janine Tinklenberg - http://stampspaperscissors.typepad.com/
8. Corinne-Roxy Somerville - http://stampingwithroxy.typepad.com/my_weblog/

Check them all out. Thanks again to Debbie for this honor. And thank you for stopping by........