Running With Scissors…

Hello!  Well, I’ve had a busy but fun evening.  I finished this little gift box and card tonight in between baking blueberry muffins and running back and forth to greet the trick-or-treaters.  Oh, my goodness!  Have I ever seen some adorable costumes today!  Halloween is always quite a day at work with the costume and pumpkin carving contests and employees and patients bringing their little ones around for treats.  I’m sure this day is second only to Christmas when it comes to excitement and anticipation for the kids.

This Christmas gift box started out as one of those little white boxes that department store jewelry comes in.  I used Alene’s Tacky Glue to cover it with Bashful Blue cardstock and some of last year’s SU! Christmas designer papers.  The ribbon is adhered with Sticky Strip, with the ribbon ends tied through a pewter ribbon slide.  After the papers had been applied I sanded the edges to smooth, distress and soften them.  I sanded the cardstock, too, which made it soft to the touch as well as soft in appearance.

The beautiful Peace stamp by Flourishes was stamped on an oval of Whisper White with ColorBox Sky Blue pigment ink and embossed with Stampendous Stardust embossing powder.  This EP is very glittery with a silvery cast, yet transparent enough to allow the ink color to show through.  It’s one of my favorites!  This stamp set is one of my favorites, too.  I love how I was able to make such a wonderfully coordinated set with the image in two sizes.  I rarely mount a main image without matting it, but I liked the clean and wintery look with the ovals simply sponged around the edges with Bashful Blue ink. 

By the way, there’s a Christmas brooch inside the box.  It’s the Dove of Peace studded with multicolored rhinestones.  The gift is much more special now with a little simple altering of the package and a matching card.  Isn’t stamping wonderful?  I hope you had a nice evening, too!  See you again soon!

Stamps:  Peace by Flourishes

Paper:  SU! Bashful Blue, Whisper White and double sided designer paper

Ink:  ColorBox Sky Blue pigment ink, SU! Bashful Blue

Accessories:  Offray ribbon, silver cord, ribbon slide, slot punch, Creative memories oval cutting system, Scotch brand dimensional mounting tape

ETA:  Oops!  I almost forgot to tell you…a lot of folks were asking about the set Flourished Christmas.  You went to the Flourishes site and it simply wasn’t there.  The set was so popular they plum ran out!  However, they’re back in stock — hooray!!  What a gorgeous set that is!  Enjoy!

It’s not my intention to skimp on my Ruby Tuesday card but sometimes it’s necessary to attempt an appealing card that can be finished in a minute (or ten).  With a bagful of these quote cards I’m determined to use and paper too pretty to cover up I decided to bring the two together again and satisfy the “quick card” requirement at the same time.

To tell you the truth, composition is one of my favorite aspects of the whole stamping process, which is why I enjoy cardmaking more than altering objects.  It’s like working with a miniature canvas on which the art in your mind’s eye is revealed, while at the same time decorating the room in which the art will be displayed.  I didn’t indulge much in the decoration of this card.  Rather, the art here is mostly prefabricated and it’s displayed in a sparsely decorated room but this simple message will be sent with no less sincerity than one arranged on a more intricate layout.

I cut quite a bit off the edges of the sentiment card and still had space to stamp those pretty leaves from SU!’s Wild Rose set.  It was just enough to settle it comfortably into its surroundings and allow me the satisfaction of having added my own decorative touch to this room.  Sometimes you just have to keep it simple or not do it at all (perish the thought).

I’m wishing you a very nice Tuesday and I hope you encounter many wonderful smiles.  Keep an eye out for them!  Sparse details are listed below.

Stamps:  Wild Rose

Paper:  Always Artichoke, Regal Rose, Rose Red, BasicGrey Stella Ruby designer paper

Ink:  Always Artichoke

Accessories:  Offray sheer ribbon, brads, Scotch brand dimensional mounting tape

The thing I like best about Halloween is the opportunity to play around with colors like this.  So intense!  I brayered the Pumpkin Patch spectrum pad ink onto Whisper White and rolled the Spooky Skyline wheel over it in Basic Black.  The Pumpkin Patch ink wouldn’t look nearly so vibrant without the contrast of the black.

The card is decorated with last year’s SU! Halloween paper which a good friend was kind enough to share with me.  It’s matched up with Vintage Violet and Pumpkin Pie cardstock.  I love this paper!  Thank you, friend!  The “or treat” and “Happy Halloween” are inside the card.

I’m being uncharacteristically quick tonight because I’ve had a busy and wonderful weekend, spent mostly outside in the beautiful Fall weather.  I’m glad I had a chance to get this card made, though, because it needs to go in the mail tomorrow.  Thank goodness it doesn’t have far to go!  Have a great week!

Stamps:  Spooky Skyline, Hero Arts sentiment

Paper:  Vintage Violet, Pumpkin Pie, Whisper White, last year’s SU! Halloween DP

Ink:  Pumpkin Patch spectrum pad, Basic Black, marker in Basic Black

Accessories:  Tab punch, 3/4″ circle punch, ribbon, elastic cord, Scotch brand dimensional mounting tape

It may not look like it but this was one of the more difficult cards I’ve ever made.  A friend asked for a card for a male friend of her’s who’s suffering a grave illness.  He’ll not survive much longer so she asked that I not delay. 

There were the usual considerations when making a card for someone else’s use:  lightweight for no extra postage, not too bulky for mechanical mail handling yet with enough dimension and special details to set it apart from mass produced cards.   This particular card needed a quiet, masculine feel and an appropriate sentiment so I immediately thought of Lovely As A Tree and these words from the older SAB set, Garden Collage.  However…I had a completely different card made…trying to come up with something more expressive.  It’s now in the scrap heap and I came right back around to Lovely As A Tree.

I had misgivings and second thoughts and uncertainties about this card all along the way.  I wanted a sentiment on the card front but did she expect or need a sentiment inside the card?  Was she hoping the card would say enough that she wouldn’t have to struggle with her own words?  What, exactly, does one say?  I don’t know the gentleman, myself, and I’m not sure what her relationship with him is.  Unfortunately, when all these questions arose she was not available to answer them.  I had to ask myself, how shall I make this soothing and thoughtful without looking like a sympathy card?  Will the somewhat faded image of the mighty oak evoke yet more sorrow for him and his family?  I was so concerned about getting it right.

I stamped the oak images opposite of how I’ve used them in the past, placing the leaves in the foreground this time.  The leaves are colored with SU! markers.  The tree is stamped on the River Rock panel with True Thyme.  Sanded was stamped over that in River Rock.  I resolved the inside/outside sentiment dilemma by cutting an oval window in the card front so the sentiment is visible whether the card is open or closed.  The design issues were relatively small worries.  My most pressing concern was the individual who would receive it and the effect it would have on his frame of mind.

I learned something from this most difficult card, though.  I need more appropriate sentiments and verses for this type of card and I need to have them ready before the occasion is at hand.  It won’t be the last time I’m asked for a card like this and I’d just as soon have a selection available.  I’m sure you’ve all been through this same process.  Thank you for visiting today and for wading through another long post with me.  I’ll try to be a little more brief next time.  Have a great weekend!

Stamps:  Lovely As A Tree, Sanded, Garden Collage

Paper:  Naturals Ivory, River Rock Very Vanilla

Ink:  River Rock, True Thyme, Timber Brown Stazon, Chocolate Chip, markers in So Saffron, More Mustard, Really Rust and Old Olive

Accessories:  Thyme stitched ribbon, linen thread, swirl clip, Creative Memories oval cutting system

This is the Stampin’ Up! Level 1 hostess set, Sidekick Sayings.  I earned it by overspending but I wasn’t sure how much I really cared for it.  I feel differently now that I’ve actually used it.  It makes for a very quick card and sometimes that’s one of the “grand essentials of happiness”.  Well…maybe one of the lesser essentials…

I stamped it in Basic Brown and colored the leafy stem with More Mustard, Really Rust and Garden Green markers.  I shadowed it with my Pale Plum marker.  The edges of the main image panel are lightly sponged with Blush Blossom.  That’s it — main image done!

Wanting to play with some Fall colors, I used my almost new Flair Designs Autumn Splendor papers.  I love all the color choices it gave me.  That was the most difficult part of making this card — decisions!  I did go ’round and ’round on that for a while.  In the end it still came together fairly quickly with a simple layout and some ribbon and eyelets.  Not too fancy but it’s colorful!  Take care and have a wonderful day!

Stamps:  Sidekick Sayings

Paper:  Wild Wasabi, Groovy Guava, Whisper White, Flair Designs Autumn Splendor DP

Ink:  Basic Brown, markers in More Mustard, Really Rust, Garden Green & Pale Plum

Accessories:  Groovy Guava double stitched ribbon, Making Memories eyelets, Scotch brand dimensional mounting tape

It’s been a while since I let a week go by without posting a Christmas card so I guess there’s no reason this week should be any different.  I decided to finally use this scruffy little tree from Flourishes.  It’s the O Christmas Tree set.  I had decided upon a really cute piece of designer paper to use with this, too.  It would have been perfect.  I seem to have somehow lost it.  Now, how does that happen, I wonder?  Could it be because I cleaned and reorganized my stamp room?  I thought that was supposed to be a good thing.  I think in the end I like these backgrounds better, though.

I pulled these three background pieces from my scrap drawer.  There’s Flannel Plaid (that I used on my husband’s BD card the other day), Canvas and Linen.  It was nice that they all happened to be faux fabric backgrounds and worked very well for the homespun look I’d decided upon for this tree.

I didn’t do much with the tree.  There’s not even any presents under it.  The folks who put up this tree don’t have a lot of fancy stuff and probably won’t have many presents, but their Christmas spirit is intact.  They’ll wait for the little ones to fall sound asleep before placing their few precious parcels under its branches.  Remember how hard it was to fall asleep on Christmas Eve?  It was a near impossibility for me.  I knew morning would come in an instant if I could just fall asleep…  The single strand of baubles is colored with blue and purple markers and then dotted with Crystal Stickles.  The dimension and the sparkle are wonderful in real life!

Well, that’s it for Christmas this week.  I know it’s never too soon to get the cards done but, gosh, I’ve got Halloween and Thanksgiving to think about, too.  Have a super great day!  We’ll meet here again soon!

Stamps:  O Christmas Tree, Flannel Plaid, Canvas, Linen

Paper:  Always Artichoke, Ruby Red, Kraft, Close to Cocoa, Mellow Moss, Whisper White

Ink:  Always Artichoke, Close to Cocoa, Chocolate Chip, Creamy Caramel, markers in Close to Cocoa, Ruby Red, Always Artichoke, So Saffron, Creamy Caramel, Ballet Blue, Elegant Eggplant

Accessories:  Ribbon, buttons, linen thread, Stickles, dimensional mounting tape

This isn’t my usual type of Ruby Tuesday card, I know, but I need some Halloween cards for the few people I send them to every year.  I thought there must be some way I could get Halloween out of Stella Ruby and these pieces seemed to work just fine.  Actually, I was surprised to find that Stella has a downright sinister side to her personality.  Scared me a little.  So I put a friendly Jill-O-Lantern on her and she didn’t look quite so forbidding.

I used a combination of older CTMH and Hero Arts stamps to put this card together.  It’s been a while since I bought any new Halloween stamps so I’m afraid my Halloween cards may look a little dated.  I do enjoy the challenge of bringing out the old stamps and trying to get a new look out of them, though.

After I stamped this pumpkin I realized its face is completely smooth and unlined.  It must be a very young pumpkin.  I chose these stamps just so I could use my new black Stickles on the hat.  I didn’t think to glitter up the face until I saw these on Sophia Landry’s blog, Moonlight Inker.  How could I not be inspired by her adorable card?  Thanks, Sophia!  I’ll be sending this to a friend who not only loves glitter but could use a little sparkle in her days right about now.  Just in case you’d like to be enabled, I got my BasicGrey Stella Ruby designer paper and both of the Stickles at Jacksonbelle Embellishments.  What a fun place to shop!  Thanks, Lindsey!

I hope everyone has a wonderful day and I’ll see you again soon!

Stamps:  CTMH pumpkin, hat, spider & web, Hero Arts greeting and zig zag

Paper:  Basic Black, Old Olive, Very Vanilla, BasicGrey Stella Ruby DP

Ink:  Basic Black, Color Box Fluid Chalk Ink–Tangerine, Going Gray

Accessories:  Ribbon, brads, raffia, Stickles, Scotch brand dimensional mounting tape

I put my stamps to work on this birthday card for my husband — no designer papers, just stamps.  I’m not much better at buying masculine designer papers than I am at buying masculine stamps but I do love a natural, woodsy look so I always have something on hand I can work with for an outdoors theme.

The main image is a CHF Thomas Kinkade I’ve been hanging onto.  I stamped it twice — the first time in Chocolate Chip ink on Very Vanilla cardstock.  The second time I stamped it in Versamark on Kraft cardstock that I’d first stamped with Canvas in Close to Cocoa ink.  I black embossed the Versamark image and cut out the oval with my Exacto knife to create a frame.  I adhered the two images together and matted those onto Always Artichoke.

The upper background is stamped with the pine boughs and cones from SU!’s retired Fantastic Foliage.  The lower background is Flannel Plaid stamped first in Always Artichoke and then Close to Cocoa, slightly offset the second time.  It gave the flannel two colors and a softer look like an old flannel shirt.  It’s finished with Martha Stewart twill, some hardware and a sentiment my husband has in the back of his mind every time he sets off with his fishing rod.  The edges of all the pieces and the twill are besmudged with Close to Cocoa ink.

My posts have been a little sparse this week as I’m having Portland lag, I think.  It’s taking me a while to catch up and get back in the swing of things.  Gosh, just a few days out of the routine and look what it does to me.  I’ll get there, though — I’m trying!  I’m hopelessly behind in visiting all those wonderful blogs I’ve got listed in my sidebar, tsk tsk.  Please bear with me!  Have a wonderful rest of the weekend!

Stamps:  Thomas Kincade, Flannel Plaid, Fantastic Foliage, Canvas

Paper:  Always Artichoke, Close to Cocoa, Kraft, Very Vanilla

Ink:  Always Artichoke, Close to Cocoa, Chocolate Chip, Versamark, Basic Black

Accessories:  Twill, hardware, black embossing powder, Word Window punch, Scotch brand dimensional mounting tape

One more card for Christmas with one of my favorite new sets from Flourishes.  This set is Flourished Christmas, which also includes the beautiful reindeer I love so much.  I could use this again and again in all different colors and never get tired of its elegance or ease of use.  I don’t know how much simpler it can get — one gorgeous main image and then as much fun as I desire building the rest of the card around it.

I combined this very simple stamping with papers from both SU!’s Baroque Backgrounds and Holiday Harmony collections.  I’ve also used last year’s SU! In Color cardstocks and inks — True Thyme and Cranberry Crisp.  I used the double rectangle punch to create slots to weave the ribbon through.  The tag was created with the 1″ circle punch and tied on with the gold elastic cord from the Holiday Mini Collection.  Easy, fun and, best of all, done and added to my growing pile of cards ready to send so I can concentrate on some of the other joys of Christmas as the time grows near.

Have a wonderful day!

Stamps:  Flourished Christmas

Paper:  True Thyme, Cranberry Crisp, Whisper White, Holiday Harmony DP, Baroque Backgrounds DP

Ink:  True Thyme, Cranberry Crisp

Accessories:  Offray metallic ribbon, SU! gold elastic cord, double rectangle punch, 1″ circle punch, gold eyelets

Well, here we are back at Ruby Tuesday again already.  Gee, what happened to all the other days?  Oh, yes…I was in *Portland* with some of the most wonderful, lovable, sweet, kind, good hearted and fun folks I’ve ever had the pleasure of calling “friends”!  Some I’d met before and some I was meeting for the first time but it’s amazing to me how familiar everyone seemed.  We spent our days and evenings hurrying from one event to the next – just too much activity to tell about — but we topped off each day with a little “giggle time” in the designated party room — good times!

I came home, sleep deprived but happy, and after I got my second wind I figured I’d better get Ruby Tuesday done before I collapsed for the day.  On each of the tables in our rooms at the Marriott there sat these little “smoke free” notices with the most lovely botanical image in Bravo Burgundy on a white background.  I’d love to have that image in a stamp but this was as close as I could come to the feel of it — not the same at all, just inspired, and, of course, my card required Stella Ruby’s assistance.  This is two images from Stampin’ Up!’s Stem Silhouettes with some Blush Blossom swirls from both Priceless and Season of Joy.  I outlined the stems with the fine tip of my Blush Blossom marker and, even though it’s not very obvious, it added a more dimensional look to the image.  I imagine you can see my new favorite plaything, Stickles, sparkling its little heart out, too.  I debated whether I should add them…seriously, I’ll try not to overshare my new Stickles passion but they’re just so darn pretty.

I wheeled one of the Stella Ruby layers with So Swirly in Groovy Guava and added a touch of Soft Sky cardstock for a little more color.  That about sums it up.

Before I list the recipe I’ll share one photo of my friends in Portland.  Julie HRR is missing from this picture because she wasn’t at Regionals but she was very much a part of our group.  I’d like to include everyone and I’ll get more photos posted eventually, but I’m running out of time right now.  Many thanks to everyone for the happy birthday wishes you sent my way!  After such a great time with all these fabulous friends I wish all the more that I could meet each of you in person.  By the way, that’s me in the front row in the brown sweater, looking in the wrong direction and trying not to smile too big because I’ve still got those darn braces on my teeth.

Front row, left to right:  Bev (Texasgrammy), Sharon (Stampersharon), Me, Lisa (Onestampinmama), Leann (Elyoho), Joy (Joyofstamping), Emily (Waterpixie)

Back row, left to right:  Beate, Jami, Jess (Newtnewt), Lori (Stampmomma), Cambria, Jenn (Jbalcer)

What a line up!  Thanks for visiting!  Now for the card details…

Stamps:  Stem Silhouettes, Priceless, Season of Joy, So Swirly

Paper:  Bravo Burgundy, Soft Sky, Whisper White, BasicGrey Stella Ruby DP

Ink:  Bravo Burgundy, Blush Blossom, Groovy Guava

Accessories:  Crystal Stickles, ribbon, Scotch brand dimensional mounting tape