My stampy friends are making cards this Sunday.

Of course, I have a diving class that day, so I am going to miss it.

But in order to get all the great cards they will make, I have made cards for everyone and will drop them off Saturday with Kathy, the hostess.

I wanted to get these done before I got too far into my week.

So I busted them out last night in a mini cardmaking frenzy.

Little bits of paper were flying, let me tell you.

Anyway, I am pretty happy with how they look.

I had them without the yellow backer, just on white. They needed more to tie in the yellow in the flower and the ribbon. So I added the yellow backer.

And that was that.

Flower - Stampin' Up

Words - Papertrey Ink

Watch the birdy

I had another online card swap to do.

Which I forgot about completely until two days ago.

And it is due in Utah by Saturday.

I probably could have just flaked, but I hate to do that.

It just feels so, well, flaky.

So I started working something up yesterday.


The title of the swap is "Flowers for Mom," which is pretty open as far as what I could do.

I knew already that I wanted to use this bird. I just think it is such a pretty image.

I played around a while back with something called emboss-resist. This is when you stamp the image and them create the shiny, sort of raised effect by heat setting embossing powder over the image.

For this one I stamped in clear ink and embossed in clear powder on white paper.


Then I sponged the color (Groovy Guava from Stampin' Up) over the whole bird. The ink settles into the parts that are not embossed. In this case the floral pattern on the bird.

On the parts that are embossed, the ink will not stick. I have seen this image stamped in white ink on colored paper. Sure, you get a white bird with a colored pattern in it.

But the bird never looked really white. It looked like white ink on colored paper. Kind of muddy.

This way I got a bright white and the color exactly like I wanted, not having to rely on having a certain color paper.

Anyway, enough of the stamper talk.

It's just pretty.

Hello, spring

It has been feeling very springy here these days.

That was the inspiration for my color scheme on this card.

Patterned paper is all from Stampin' Up.

Image stamp in center is from Stampin' Up (good things grow set).

"Hello" stamp is from Paper Trey Ink (paper tray set).

Ink is Stampin' Up in Sage Shadow.

It came together fast and I was done with all 8 cards in about 45 minutes.

My battery power is at about 73 percent

Normalcy has almost returned.

I still have a bit of a cough. You know, that cough that lingers for weeks after all the other symptoms have long since left the body.

That doesn't mean I got much done this weekend.

I was actually pretty lazy.

The energy level is just starting to return. I still get tired quickly by simple things.

But I did manage to sweep and mop the floor in the living room/dining area yesterday. That was my big achievement, complete with moving the furniture and cleaning under everything.

I feel a bit guilty that I have not cooked anything in days.

Adding water to Trader Joe's miso soup mix does not count.

Manfriend came over Saturday after I got off work and grilled some veggies and a steak and made artichokes.

It was nice that he took on most of the cooking chores that night.

He doesn't cook much, but he can work the grill just fine.



Sunday I had stamping (that is my card contribution above) and, before I got sick, had signed up to bring the main dish for the lunch part of the gathering.

I was thinking Thursday that I might be too sick or tired to go, or at least too sick or tired to be responsible for making the main course.

But I decided to just do something easy.

I made the mushroom-sage bread pudding that I made as a dinner side dish a couple of weeks ago. But this time, to make it more of a meal, I added diced ham to the mushrooms and onions while I was cooking them.

I did most of the chopping Saturday night and stuck everything in the fridge.

Sunday morning, I cooked the mushrooms, onions and ham. Then I mixed the milk and eggs and put it all together and baked it. It went pretty fast having it all chopped ahead of time.

Seems like it was a hit. Most people went back for seconds.

But when I got home that afternoon, I was exhausted.

Basically I sat and stanped for 4 hours. But I was just beat.

So I napped.

Then we went out for dinner.



This week I will work six days (Mon-Sun) to cover for someone who is helping with Oscar pages.

So I sure hope the energy level is up by then.

Thinking of you...

Just a quick post to upload the photo of my card for this month's swap.

Nothing fancy here. Just a nice, clean card in a color scheme I really like.

The dots on the pink paper are from a roller stamp (Stampin' Up).

I inked the sentiment and flower stamp (Stampin' Up) with markers to get all the separate colors.

The centers of the flowers are tiny pink and brown page pebbles.

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That is all. Back to what you were doing.

Just a wee favor

No, I am not asking you all to do me a favor.

I just wanted to show off the sample for the wedding favors I am making for my uncle's wedding.

I got a Halloween-themed version of this from the Stampin' Up demonstrator, Iris, at last Sunday's stamping.

I thought it would be a great party favor, so I offered to make them.

So simple, so easy, so chocolatey. Yes, those are full-size chocolate bars.

(The image is from PaperTreyInk)

Here's a little love for my cardmaking friends

I made these last night for a swap I am in on Splitcoast.

For non-cardmakers who read this, sorry. You have to put up with my crafty side once in a while.

Anyway, the swap was for a base color scheme of black & white with one other color for pop. I signed up to make one set of full-size cards and one set of 3x3 cards.

First up, the 3x3. This is just what it sounds like. A 3-inch by 3-inch card that are good for little gift cards, with flowers, etc.

I had seen this little black dress idea in a magazine and decided to mock one up to see how I liked it for real.

I thought it came out great.

I gave a lot of thought to the color I added. I considered red, pink, purple. But decided to go for something a little different.

I really like the green. I think it is somewhat unexpected to see such a soft pastel with the b/w base.

The dress does have a fold at the top to open, so I snuck a little greeting in there. The card also opens from the top.

The frill at the bottom of the card is two layers of mulberry paper, one white, one green.

For the full-size card I knew I wanted to use this taupe as my accent color. I know it isn't very colorful, but I really like the contrast.

Plus the color goes great with the French-inspired image I chose and the "Bonjour" greeting.

The photo corner detail was done with a heart-shaped scallop punch that I folded around to make the corner.

The vellum on the front is a tiny envelope. I got them in clearance and figured I would think of how to use them later. I cut off the top flap so the greeting tag just slides in and out.

I really love this card. I think it is fun, but elegant.

And I have a bunch more of those vellum envelopes. So you are likely to see more of this type of thing.

Quick post about a not-so-quick card

This card was done for a Splitcoast swap on triangle fold cards. I don't do too many different folds, so I thought it would be fun to try it.

Plus it gave me a chance to use some paper I got on sale and one of my new Marvy Uchida scallop punches.

Go here if you want to try it: http://www.splitcoaststampers.com/resources/triangletrifold.php

I won't go into a lot of detail about the products I used. That stuff is all pretty simple. I think the key is learning the fold.

Time to start cooking up some ideas

Here is a simple card I did for an online swap. It is just the image stamped in the magenta then versamarked and embosses in ultra thick clear, then versamarked again and double embossed in the ultra thick clear. It gives it that glassy look I like.

Stamp is from Stampin' Up.

Anway, I had a busy, but good day today. I started by doing some errands (carwash, Target, bank, etc.). Then I had lunch with a friend and went to work.

I really didn't accomplish anything at home, but that is OK. There is always tomorrow. And the weekend.

I want to start looking into some ideas for my kitchen remodel on Sunday. I am so excited about this. It really will be nerve-wracking for me though. It is a huge deal and likely will end up being a good chunk of money.

I have a friend who recently redid a kitchen (among other things), and he is going to share his budget with me and what all he put into his remodel. You can check out what he is doing on his blog at http://intergalacticrehabs.blogspot.com/.

I am so looking forward to a new kitchen, but worry about the work time and being without a kitchen while they do the construction. I guess there is always paper plates and cooking on the grill if I get sick of takeout.

Once I get started on this whole adventure, I will post some before, during and after pictures.

So, anyone go through a remodel like this recently? Have any tips?

Time to get creative again - already!

It seems like only a couple weeks ago that the stamping group met.

Oh wait... it WAS only a couple weeks ago.

The thing with the group is that we don't always meet on a set Sunday, say the third Sunday of the month. We meet on the Sunday that is the best for the most people. So sometimes they come one right after the other.

I was going through some cards I did for some recent Splitcoast swaps. The one above seemed to be well-received and it was quite simple.

I may do that. But since I am doing premade cards instead of sets that we make during our gathering, maybe I can get more elaborate.

I like to keep the ones we make at the gathering simple. I feel bad when I make people spend so much time on a really fancy card with lots of little doo-dads and techniques.

Anyway, the image and sentiment on this card are Stampin Up, as are the inks. I used generic patterned paper for the stripes. I like a lot of layers and I like a lot of texture. So I used my paper crimper on the pink backer paper. And I turned the stripes horizontal since I mostly see vertical stripes on other cards. It also is a good contrast to the vertical crimping. Then I used the extra strip of orange behind the "Heartfelt" to make it stand out more from the vellum.

I inked the flower with my markers to get the mottled look and then added a coat of glitter glue to give it some sparkle.

Sounds like a lot of steps, but it really is an easy card.

A couple takes on one set

This set is the Pattern of Friendship set from Stampin' Up. It was in one of the mini catalogs a while back, last summer I think. It has the small dresses (four in a row on one stamp) and a couple '50s looking ladies in dresses on a larger stamp. There are some others in that set, but I can't remember them all.

Whatever.

I did the red card first for a swap with my regular stamping group, it was late last summer. I did the pink and brown card a few weeks ago for a swap on Splitcoast (http://www.splitcoaststampers.com/).

The Splitcoast swap was to highlight the use of brads or eyelets. I chose eyelets and played them up with the ribbon.

I really like the simplicity of the red card, with its graphic colors and a touch of black. But the pink and brown combination is a favorite of mine. And I thought using the different patterned papers and the pinking shears would make it look like different patterns of fabric.

Maybe. Maybe not.

But it is a fun card. And there was a prize attached to that swap. The hostess was having her fiance choose the winner. He didn't choose me. But she liked my card enough to declare me a winner also. So I get a prize, too. I won't know what it is until I get my swaps back in the mail next week.

Anyway, here is a link to the card that her fiance chose: http://www.splitcoaststampers.com/gallery/photo/571720?cat=10336

I finished cards for the purple swap, but don't have photos yet. I will post those when I have time. Maybe tomorrow.

Beaded Butterfly

Here is an example of a more complex card. It has a simple look in that there are very few paper layers and very few colors.

I used PaperTrey's Butterfly Kisses for the butterfly and starbursts and Little Lady for the flight trail.

The ink is Archival Brilliance in Aegean blue.

I stamped the butterfly in the blue then embossed with clear, sparkly powder. I attached some beads with the blue wire to add detail to the body.

I stamped the trail in the blue then glued on beads sporadically along the trail. The starbursts were stamped in the blue, then I stamped over them with a solid circle of versamark and embossed them in the sparkly, clear powder.

The contrasting dots are just circles I made with a standard hole punch in the taupe cardstock.

Not a difficult card, just a lot of embossing and glueing of little tiny beads.

Finally...

It took a few days, but here is the card I did for this past Sunday's swap. I was busy all week with work and life stuff, so I decided to keep it simple.

The flower stamp is Paint Prints from SU. The sentiment is from PaperTreyInk.

The inks are Ruby Red and Really Rust from SU.

I think the constuction is easy to figure out. I was trying to use colors that might not be an obvious combination. I am really into putting orange tones with other colors lately.

Sometimes I get very complex with cards. Then when I take a step back and do something as simple and clean as this one, I really love it.