Stamping In My Neighborhood

Sharing Someone's Sorrow

Someone I know recently lost his wife to cancer.  Actually, she was the recipient of one of the gift cards that I purchased from last year's Breast Cancer fundraiser.  Unfortunately her cancer spread and she did not make it.  She was blessed by the generosity of my customers who made the gift card possible, though, so I wanted you to know that.  For those who don't know what I'm talking about, I held a fundraiser last October (and the one before that) in order to purchase gift cards to a local lingerie shop that specializes in undergarments for women who've undergone mastectomies. 

The background of the image layer has a Watercolor Wash on it (AquaPainters and Classic ink) of Bashful Blue, Apricot Appeal and Certainly Celery.  Once that dried, I stamped the daisies from Upsy Daisy and the sentiment from Thoughts & Prayers in Black StazOn.  A little matting completed the card. 

A 1-Minute Card

And that's probably stretching the time.  I made this for friendswho recently moved.  I was going for a very clean and minimalist kind of design.  I grabbed a piece of Crushed Curry (definitely not green, as it sort of looks like to me in this image), some Chocolate Chip cardstock and my Autumn Harvest rubons.  So quick and easy.  And I totally love it.  Most of you know that I like clean and simple anyway, but this really pleased me.  When I look at others' creations that are all decked out, it can be intimidating for me, but when all is said and done, most times they're a little too cluttered for my liking.  Maybe all the elements just overwhelm me.  But give me a card like this and I'm overwhelmed by it's simplicity and beauty...in a good way.  I still made it myself, which meant I cared enough to take the time.  I'm not going to get hung up on the fact that it only took me one minute.  My friends are worth more time than I could ever put into a single card, so I guess it doesn't matter if it took me one minute or 1 week.

Not my usual stuff

This is definitely not one of my typical cards.  First of all, I tend to rarely put anything other than rectangles on my page.  But the Big Shot makes it so easy to get this scallop circle shape, I decided to give it a try.  I also knew I wanted to use some of my beautiful Bermuda Bay polka dot ribbon, so I selected the combination of Bermuda Bay, Old Olive and Pumpkin Pie from a chart that SU provided us with for the new In Colors.  It's a great fall combination. 

It's a little hard to tell from the picture, but I used the Paper Piecing technique on the large flower.  It's actually three layers!  Sure it takes a little time to cut out each layer, but not that long and when you add them with dimensionals, it really adds realistic dimension to the flower.

I had to make something a little out of the ordinary because this was going to one of my friends (and former downline) for her birthday.

Autumn Days are Winding Down

I know I've shown you a bunch of different cards...have I convinced you that this is one of the those sets that you'll get lots of use from?  I just love it, hope you do as well. There's still all of November to make autumn-themed cards and then you can, as you'll see in a future post, use it for Christmas or winter cards!

  Another Pastor Appreciation card.  I markered the sentiment in three different colors for interest.  I didn't like how plain the top was so I added some leaves.  The berry branches were also markered.  I do love my markers...they allow me to do so much more with my stamps!  The bottom vine is a rub-on from the Autumn Harvest collection.  Remember, to get a better look at any of the images on my blog, all you have to do is click on them and it will enlarge.

This card went to the lead pastor of my church.  I cannot take credit for the design.  It was CASEd from someone at SCS.  I know I wrote down her name somewhere, but because I've waited so long to post, I can't find the piece of paper.  My craft room is actually a disaster area right now, with only a few spots left to stamp...tiny spots, I might add.  The button looks a little different than most of our buttons...that's because I markered it and embossed it so it would be a color that coordinated with the card.  I wish I'd had the right color craft ink as it would have yielded better results, but it worked well enough. 

More Autumn Days

Wow...where did the time go?  I thought I'd written a few more posts to be put in the queue, but I guess I only THOUGHT it.  I actually have a ton of cards to show you, so I guess today will be the day I actually write a bunch of posts for the queue.  Let's get started.

Here's another Autumn Days card that I made as a quick thank you note.  Well, I suppose that was obvious based on the sentiment, huh?  By the way, that sentiment came from the coordinating Autumn Harvest Rub-On package.  I used a multitude of colors for the leaves, but it was so long ago that I can't remember exactly which ones.  No doubt Crushed Curry and Dusty Durango were among them.  Probably some Ruby Red and Pumpkin Pie too.  I just love the fall...the colors are so gorgeous!

This next card I made for one of the pastors at my church in honor of Pastor Appreciation Month.  I got a little daring and threw in the non-traditional (as far as fall is concerned) Elegant Eggplant color.  The picture doesn't quite do it justice, but the combination is really striking.  I think if I had to modify the card in some way, it would be to change the Crushed Curry layer.  I might change that to Elegant Eggplant.  Since it was for a man, I didn't feel too comfortable putting a lot of purple on the page, even though it's a very rich purple.  Aside from using the leaf from Autumn Days, I used the large image from Baroque Motifs (one of my all-time favorites!) and the sentiment from Thoughts & Prayers.

I did not fall off the face of the earth!

Sorry it's been so long.  I've been consumed with directing my church's Vacation Bible School.  It took place last week so I'm a little freer now.  Although with family visits upon us, just a little bit, so don't look for daily posts quite yet.

Here's a card that I did at my July workshops that people absolutely fell in love with.  I CASEd it from someone else, although to be honest, I've lost the details of that in my mess that I call a craft room.  Anyway, it would make a gorgeous wedding card.  Also a nice sympathy card, I think, with perhaps a little tweaking.  Not that the two occasions go hand-in-hand, lol.

The card features the Fresh Cuts stamp set.  The large image is one stamp and the writing in the background says "thinking of you".  I added some dry embossing using my Big Shot and the SU Backgrounds' Flourish Texturz plate.  The ribbon is the white organza, one of my absolute favorites.  It combines satin with sheer...beautiful.

Crushed Curry, anyone?

This is another card I'm featuring at most of my July workshops.  The floral image was created using the Reinker Spread technique.  The stem is a die cut created by the Little Leaves die and my Big Shot and Old Olive CS.  The stamp set was Fifth Avenue Florals and I added a little interest with the Scallop Edge punch.

This Crushed Curry base color is really warm and inviting.  It's going to look especially great with the fall cards I have planned in my head.

My fall calendar is already starting to fill, so if you are interested in hosting a workshop, please schedule now.

A Perfect Summer Card

I demonstrated this card at a workshop last Friday.  It was sooooo easy.  The colors are Rich Razzleberry, Old Olive and Whisper White.  I used the Fresh Cuts stamp set to stamp "thank you" on the butterfly and the card.

The Big Shot (Butterflies Die) and SU Backgrounds Texturz Plates gave me the interest and that yummy new polka dot ribbon in Rich Razzleberry tied everything together. 

The center of the butterfly  is a clear rhinestone brad.  Did you know that Stampin' Up!'s Deal of the Week is a package of the Square Fire Rhinestone brads?  Regularly $10.95, they are on special for $6.99 until Monday, July 20th at 11:50 AM, Maine time.  Contact me today if you'd like to order some and save on some s&h charges by piggy-backing your order with others.  I have an order going in on Friday.

Mix-n-Match Card 3

Here's the third base card that was designed for the Mix-n-Match Note Card Gift Set.  This one features a 3"x5" layer of black-embossed cherries.  And the paper, from Rockabilly Specialty DSP, came embossed!  That's what sets the Specialty DSPs apart form the regular DSPs...texture!  Some are embossed, some are textured in grain,...fun stuff.

A quick pop of color added with a sentiment and layer and the card is ready to be given.  What a nice summer card to give to a special friend.

Mix-n-Match 6

Here's the last card that I designed for Summer STAMPede's Mix-n-Match Boxed Note Card Set.  Again, a very simple base.  The person finishing the card just needs to select a sentiment, a layer for that sentiment and then determine the placement of those items on the card.  The Mix-n-Match set contains 6 cards and envelopes, but 12 sentiments and 12 scalloped oval layers for those sentiments, so even on the last card, the owner of the set has choices.  And then, best of all,  there are still extra sentiments that can be used elsewhere!

The polka dot paper is from the Rockabilly Specialty DSP and measures 1.5"x3.5".  It's layered onto a piece of Basic Black cardstock that measures 1.75"x3.5". 

If you were not able to participate in Summer STAMPede but would like to learn how to make this wonderful gift set, contact me today.  The directions are free with supply purchase or when you schedule a class for yourself and four others.