Grandma's Collection!

Hey!  I told you I'd be back with another card from "The Grandma Collection".  Keep in mind, I kept this collection pretty flat if you will, so that there wouldn't be extra postage for my Grandmas to pay.

There is so much I like about this card - the color combo, the delicate doily, the graphic butterfly!  Even the embossing on the bottom of the card.  I did this by using the new embossing plate that you can find in the Spring Catalog.

Did you receive your Spring Catalog yet?  If not, please be sure to email me, and I'll get one in the mail to you right away!  You don't want to miss all of the great things in this catalog....many of which you see on this card!

Sneak peeks:

1. Bitty butterfly punch - isn't she cute?
2. Tea Time DSP - that's the yellow polka dot pattern
3. Tea Lace Doily....ahhhh....love!
4. Chevron pattern on butterfly - from the Oh, Hello stamp set.
5. Embossed design - using the new Borders Scoring Plate!!!  swoon!

I think the only thing that this card needs is some splatters of shimmer paint.....what do you think?  How would you jazz up this flat card and keep it mailable w/out extra postage?  Leave me a comment...I'd love to hear from you!

Ahhh.....I'm back!

Howdy Folks!!!  Did you think I disappeared?  Well, I didn't  but after the week I had I was beginning to wish I had!  Geesh....my head was spinning, wondering what direction to head next.  Last week we had 4 different Christmas festivities (and we still have 2 to go yet...one today, and one that is yet to be announced.)  And then, we had 2 days of funeral activities.  Andy's Grandpa passed away - he was 90 years old, and had lived a good full life.  Andy was one of the Pall Bearers, this was his last living Grandparent.  Then, to top the week off with some great chaos....Alex laid in our bed one night barely able to breath, wheezing and wheezing, making this momma worried to death.  Andy and I laid there with Alex in between us debating whether or not we should make a trip down to the ER.  We didn't end up going to the ER, but I did get up early in the morning and got him into the Dr. early as I could, only to find out that he had a bit of pneumonia. UGH!!!  I'm hoping that we can leave that week behind us and never look back!!  Too much craziness for this gal.

Besides the fact, that in my typical "Procraftination" mode, I was counting on those 3 days to finish up some card packs for my 2 Grandmothers.  Needless to say, I was burning the midnight oil to get all of the cards finished up in time.  Note to self....don't wait until the last minute to do this next year!  UGH!  I don't know what I think....I mean, seriously, I make cards all year long.  At least 25 cards a month.  You would think I could just set a couple cards back each month throughout the year....but WHY?

Because I'm a "Procraftinator!"

So, for the Grandma's, I created a packet of 20 handmade cards (and also included postage stamps).  One thing with my Grandmas, they aren't too keen on paying extra postage, so I tried to steer clear of bulky objects like buttons and ribbon knots, etc.

The first card I'm going to share with you is this one that uses the Chalkboard Technique that I showed you earlier.  You can find the video tutorial HERE.

I found inspiration for this card from the new Spring Catalog.  Aren't these pennants awesome!  It's one of those must have things on my list!

I let this card be a Celebratory card for any occasion.  I was going to turn it into a birthday card, but thought that it could be for numerous occasions.  Wouldn't this be cute as a graduation card - esp. with that chalkboard technique on there???

Don't worry - I'll be back tomorrow with another card from "The Grandma Collection".  Promise!  Hope to see you then!

Thanks for the Sneak Peek!!

More sneak peeks for you today.  And also a tutorial on how to create the background with one little bitty stamp!

I really like the card I created today - it's clean, it's got some great trendy items attached, and it's a nice flat mailable card!  Ahhh....what? No buttons!  It was really hard not to throw a button on this one...but I resisted and all is good.


Hope you enjoy the little tutorial!

Techie Tuesday! My Digital Studio "Stitching"

Howdy!  I've been working on a few desktop calendars to give some of my girlfriends as Christmas gifts.  My Digital Studio make that so easy! and quick!  Plus, Stampin' Up! offers a Desktop Display Calendar Case for a mere $1.95!!!  You can't beat that at all.  

To create these, I opened a project in a custom size - using 7 1/2 x 4 1/4 as my project size.  Then, I started dropping objects in.  You saw the tutorial last week about how to add calendars, right?  You can go to this post to see it again.

Today, I'm sharing a tutorial from Stampin' Up! on how to add custom stitching.  I used stitching on my project to "ground" the white paper to the scalloped border.  I think this helps make the project look finished.

Supply List
Background
     Designer Series Paper\_Designer Kits\Be Awesome Today - designer series paper\Be Awesome Today - 10

Embellishments
    _Designer Kits\Be Awesome Today - embellishments\Be Awesome Today - miss all the fun
    Corduroy Buttons\Corduroy Buttons - Basic Gray
    _Designer Kits\Family Fun Photobook - elements\Family Fun Photobook - bow

Punches
    Borders\Dotted Scallop Ribbon Punch, Fill Color = 253,196,43

Photos
    Card Stock\Whisper White    

Just a little Sneak Peek!

Well.....maybe more than a LITTLE sneak peek....  Everything on this card is new!!  ('cept the bakers twine)    

Don't you love to peek at and see what's coming up.

If you are on my mailing list, you should be getting a new Spring Catalog in the mail...possibly this week.  It's like a little Christmas present in your mailbox.  If you aren't on my mailing list - please be sure to sign up over on the right side, clear up at the top.

Check out all of these fun new products.  New embossing folder....swoon!  New stamp set....called Oh, Hello.  New buttons....Sale-A-Bration time....c'mon!  New doilies...ahhh.  New DSP...flippin' out!

I like it all.  The Spring Catalog has so much to offer.  I am in heaven.

What's your favorite thing you see on the card today?  Let me know in the comments!

Did you know that Stampin' Up! added hundreds of new items to the Clearance Rack?  They even added some stamp sets for the first time ever!  You'll also find ink pads, but keep in mind, these are the old style of ink pads.  Not the new Firm Foam Ink Pads.  Click HERE to shop now!

Paper Players #126 - Snowflake Challenge

Alrighty folks....I'm gonna say it one more time!

I'm ready for some snow.  Like 6-8 inches of snow.  Enough to make a snowman.  Enough to go sledding.

I was more than thrilled when the challenge for this week at the Paper Players was a Snowflake challenge.

Here, I used some paper piercing to make it look as tho the snowflakes were being blown across the page.  Such a simple card - it probably took me all of 5 minutes to create.  I love when that happens.

                               

Because my time has come to an end as a Designer for The Paper Players, I thought I would post a second card for additional inspiration.  I used the same color scheme and the same stamp set....but changed things up a bit:

Another clean and simple, quick and easy card.  Hope you feel inspired to create something with snowflakes this week - and be sure to link it up to The Paper Players challenge!

Watch Me Wedndesday! Quick & Easy Chalkboard Tech.

Hey there!  Got a super quick, easy and right on trend!, card to show you today!  We all love the chalkboard look that is so hot right now, right?  It's a little vintage, with a modern flair, right?

Watch the video to see how easy this is to create!

Once you have have your chalkboard image done, add it to your card, along with some other simple embellishments, and you've got something to talk about!

Supplies Used:

You're Amazing Stamp Set Basic Black Cardstock Crumb Cake Cardstock Festival of Prints DSP Stack Versamark Ink Pad White Stampin' Emboss Powder Heat Tool White Gel Pen Cherry Cobbler Bakers Twine

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Technical Tuesday!

Hey there!  Gosh - after a crazy, but fun filled, weekend, I've got a lot of catching up to do around here!

This week I've had a little bit of fun with My Digital Studio and created something to frame.  However, I've been having so much trouble with my printer....it may take me a while to get it to print!  I could send it off to Stampin' Up! to be printed, but I want it NOW, and my printer does a dang good job of printing (when it works!).  So.  Hopefully, I can get this printed and framed and then I'll show you a finished product.

In the meantime....I wanted these snowmen to hold something in their hands - and this string of Christmas lights was perfect.  Except - it was in a straight line.  But with the mds2 version, you can crop embellishments, and that's just what I did!  In fact, I cropped it into 4 different sections and then strung it all back together.  It was a bit tricky, but nothing over the top difficult.

Here's a video tutorial from Stampin' Up! on how to do this:

Did you know that Stampin' Up! has weekly challenges with My Digital Studio?  You can win free downloads - but you can't win if you don't play along!  You can find find the information HERE.  Then be sure to upload your project and tag it with Holiday Project.

Here is a list of the items I used in my lil' snowman project:
Background
     Card Stock\Kraft

Embellishments
    _Designer Kits\Christmas Collection - embellishments\Christmas Collection - snowmen
    _Designer Kits\Christmas Collection - embellishments\Christmas Collection - lights
    _Designer Kits\Christmas Collection - embellishments\Christmas Collection - deck the halls
    Staple & Stitching\Chocolate - Simple Stitches corner 2
    Staple & Stitching\Chocolate - Simple Stitches line 1

Stamps
    Baroque Motifs\Baroque Motifs - flourish, Color = SOFT SUEDE 124,103,74
    Winter Post\Winter Post - snowflake, Color = WHISPER WHITE 255,255,255
    Wishes & Greetings\Wishes & Greetings - verse 4, Color = REAL RED 199,44,58

Punches
    Extras\Flag Punch, Fill Color = REAL RED 199,44,58

Photos
    Designer Series Paper\_Designer Kits\Homestyle Goodies - designer series paper\Homestyle Goodies - 1
    Card Stock\Very Vanilla
    Designer Series Paper\_Designer Kits\Back to School - designer series paper\Back to School - 10
    Card Stock\Very Vanilla

Ombre Baby Card

Quick post for you today....

A simple, easy baby card.   And it's right on trend with an ombre feel to it....

How do you create that ombre sentiment.  Not to hard really.  Couple of tips:

• Grab 3 ink pads that are the same color, but different shades of each other.  Here I used Not Quite Navy, Island Indigo, and Baja Breeze.
• Stamp 4 sentiments in the darkest shade (Not Quite Navy)
• Stamp 2 sentiments in the middle shade (Island Indigo), stamp it a 3rd time without reinking the stamp.
• Stamp 3 sentiments in the lightest shade (Baja Breeze), stamp it 2 more times without inking back up.

I did draw a straight line on my cardstock with a pencil to line up the sentiment.  I was too lazy to get my stamp-a-ma-jig out and use that.  I just made a mark on the foam of my stamp with a pen, and that way I could line up the line on  the foam with the pencil mark on my cardstock.  Worked slick!

Alrighty - I gotta get busy....cookie making day with the girly-friends!  

Supply List:

Sweet Essentials Lovely Little Labels Tiny Tags Whisper White Cardstock Festival of Prints DSP Stack Baja Breeze CS Baja Breeze Ink Pad Island Indigo Ink Not Quite Navy Ink Baja Breeze Seam Binding Jewelry Tag Punch

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