St. Patrick's Day Blessing

I know that I am early with the St. Patty's day stuff, but I can't help myself, because I am trying to rush into Spring. However, the weather in Ohio is not cooperating with my wishes. It warmed up some and then "BAM" hit with 28 degree temperatures. My daughter and I have been coughing and dealing with sinus drainage for several days. So, if I am in a hurry for anything Springish, can you blame me? So much for Global Warming! Hahahaha! Ok, on with a card!

I found this very sweet St. Patrick's Day blessing on the internet, so I copied it into a word document, played around with the font style and color a wee bit, and then printed it out onto some Stampin Up Very Vanilla card stock. I then cut it out with a large rectangle Spelbinder's Nestibility, and mounted it with foam dimensionals onto some Stampin Up Garden Green card stock that I cut out with a Scalloped Rectangle Nestibility. I just can't seem to quit using my die-cuts and Cuttlebug machine this week. Anyways, next I punched out some small shamrocks with an EK Success Paper punch and adhered them below the sentiment. At this point, I set it aside for several days because I got stuck. Don't ya hate it when that happens? So, this evening it kind of fell into place. I had some shamrock DP (from Provo Craft) leftover from my previous card, so I laid that down onto some SU Certainly Celery card stock, and adhered the sentiment with some foam dimensionals. The corner accents were made with cuttlebug's antique corner die-cuts and some SU Very Vanilla


cardstock and popped up with dimensionals also. The ribbon is some retired SU Wild Wasabi double stitched. The bow is entirely held together with the sparkly brad in it's center. The brad is from Michael's Recollections collection. They had them on sale a few weeks ago and are so gorgeous.

I think that covers the instructions, if not leave me a comment or email. Actually, leave me a comment even if I did explain it all. Tee Hee. Am I begging for attention, or what? Yes I am and not a bit ashamed of it. Ha ha.

Anyways, have a great weekend and blessings to all everyday, not just on St. Patty's day.

Lisa

Talk to me, and a simple card

Hello! Is anyone there? I know you are, my little counter thingy keeps increasing. Is there any reason why none of you leave comments and talk to me? Just curious, because I am getting lonely out here in bloggers world all by myself. Criticize my creations (positive or negative), ask me a question, just say hello.................anything will do! Phew, I feel better to get that one off my chest.

Now, on with a card! My stepsister is having a birthday on the 16th of this month, so I went ahead and made a quick card to send to her. She lives a couple hours away from me, so I can't help her celebrate in person. Darn those winter birthdays. Anyways, since her birthday is in February, I decided to make her card with a heart theme. Of course I was also still in my chipboard mood. I promise I will set that mood aside after this card. I am so tired of Valentines now too. I shall post a wee St. Patty's card next time, it is already started. My hubby is 75% Irish, and I am a whole 1/8th Irish (approx.) so St. Patty's day is always remembered in our house. Anyways, here is the birthday card:

I started with a Stampin Up Whisper White card stock base, rounded the corners with my SU corner rounder. Then I ran the card through my Cuttlebug with my dotted square embossing folder. Then I took my 1-3/8" square paper punch and punched out a window. Then I colored the embossed dot frame with my Stampin Up Pink Passion Marker. Next I punched the same size square out of SU Pink Passion card stock. The SU chipboard heart is heat embossed with retired SU pink embossing powder, and the pink sticky gem, is from Hero Arts.

The ribbon slide was made with SU Pretty in Pink card stock and the Stampin Up Key Tag punch, and the small slot punch. The sentiment is from retired Birthday Whimsey stamp set, with SU Pink Passion Classic Ink. I sponged a little Pink Passion around the edges as well. Finally, the ribbon is from the Michael's dollar bin, and is adhered with just a little bit of snail adhesive at each end, as it cannot be seen through this particular ribbon, and it holds very well. I did want to mention that the ribbon slide could also be made with Stampin Up's Designer Label Punch, which you can see in the photo below. Oh, I almost forgot...the chipboard was adhered with SU Crystal Effects. Enjoy the rest of your Sunday, and I hope you enjoyed the card!

Lisa

Easy Valentines Card

Hello. I was in the mood to make a simple valentine card last night, and this is what I came up with. I used one of the stamps from the Hero Arts "Patterned Hearts" stamp set. Pop on over to their blog, and check out their online catalog. They have some cute stamps. So, The picture quality is not too good, as I am still scanning instead of taking photos. I will correct that issue in the next few days, it is driving me nuts! How the heck did we survive without digital cameras? Anyways, I achieved the dotted square image by running the card stock through my cuttlebug with one of my small embossing folders. There are 4 square frames in a set. Then I took my Stampin Up Real Red Marker, and dabbed it on each raised dot. Next I stamped the heart on my versamark ink pad, then a real red classic ink pad, then on card stock (whisper white) and heat embossed with clear embossing powder. It is kind of hard to tell in the photo but I stamped the red ink lightly on the stamp, then again darker on the edges of the heart. I am sure you have all heard of this method called the "Rock and Roll" technique. Next I cut a panel of red card stock from my "Die Cuts With a View" stash. I couldn't get that heart border punch through the thick Stampin Up card stock. Bummer! After the border was finished, I added some cute satin offray ribbon to it that a friend gave me, and some red sticky gems that the same friend gave me. So easy, I had it made in a flash. I hope you enjoy.

Speaking of cute stamps, have you seen the new Stampin Up catalog? Oh, my gosh, they have so many new and adorable stamp sets, and some really fun new accessories, from glitter, to buttons, to corduroy buttons to new chipboard shapes and new cutting/embossing die cuts for the Big Shot machine. They also work in the cuttlebug if you already have that one. I am going to plan an open house soon to show off some of these new things, I just have to wait until they arrive at my door. Until then, click over to their website and view the catalog online. See link on my sidebar.

Blessings, Lisa

Early Mother's Day card

Hello. I was feeling inspired when I saw my Prima flowers and my cuttlebug supplies sitting on my craft table, so this card was the result of that inspiration. Not too much stamping involved, but tomorrow there will be. The sentiment on the front is a hero arts stamp that I have had forever, and it came in a container with a dozen other nice sentiments for almost any occasion minus any holidays. I plan to stamp "Happy Mother's Day" on the inside, and sore it away for my mom. Good thing she doesn't have or play on computers. I was kind of bummed with how the photo turned out, the lighting was bad I guess, and you can't see the true colors on the card. I wanted to use these particular flowers, because they were a shade of blue that my mom loves, and the retired Buckaroo Blue color from Stampin Up matched them perfectly. So, I got out my treasured stash of Buckaroo Blue card stock and went to town cutting. Who better to use such a precious retired color on than a card for mom? The paper that the flowers are on is an iridescent white from The Paper Studio, and ran through my cuttlebug machine with one of my Die-cuts. Then I double mounted them on Buckaroo Blue and Bazzill's Navy card stock (I ran out of Night of Navy - one of my favorites). Next, I took some SU Whisper White, and ran it through my cuttlebug with one of my embossing folders. Then I sponged some Buckaroo Blue ink onto the embossed piece, and double mounted it as well. Then I pulled some ribbon from my stash that came close to matching, and adhered that, along with a blue rhinestone brad from SU. Next I stamped, sponged, double mounted a sentiment and adhered with foam dimentionals. The flowers are popped up with foam dimensionals as well. Then the last thing I did was to mount the whole thing onto some SU Whisper White card stock, sponge the edges, and add some light blue gems to the flowers. Tah Da. Now, always remember that any Cuttlebug die-cuts, and embossing folders can be used in the SU/Sizzix Big Shot. I can show you how! I already had a cuttlebug long before the Big Shot was introduced, so I continue to use that. If anyone wants to do a workshop using the SU Big Shot die-cuts, just let me know. We can do some really cute stuff with them. I need to go pay some attention to my daughter before bed-time, so I am off. Enjoy the close-up photo below, and come back tomorrow so we can "Embrace Life" together. Am I witty or what? Probably the "what".

A Card Made from Leftovers

Hello. Ok, not all the pieces of this card are leftovers.

The Royal Blue (SU Brilliant Blue) piece is leftover from another card. Keep scrolling down, and clicking on older posts at the bottom to find it. The little butterflies are left over from another project (Martha Stewart Trio Butterfly Punch). The Brilliant Blue and the Center pieces are popped up with foam dimensionals. The white piece below was run through my Cuttlebug with the Swiss Dots embossing folder, and the base of the card and the center piece are SU Bashful Blue card stock. It is hard to tell in the photo, but the stamped image is heat embossed with SU Clear embossing powder. I first stamped the images onto my Versamark pad, then stamped the images onto the SU Classic Ink colors that I wanted, then stamped the images onto the card stock so that I could add some clear embossing powder and heat emboss. Heat embossing is kind of an obsession with me these days. The bow was simply adhered in the middle with a foam dimensional, and snail adhesive on the back of the white section. Oh, there is Stickles covering the butterflies too even though you probably can't see it in the photo. I will add a close up and see if that helps.

Supplies:

Stamps: Stampin Up Retired Wee Watercolors Ink: SU Classic Brilliant Blue, Always Artichoke, Versamark Card Stock: SU Whisper White, Brilliant Blue, Bashful Blue. Accessories: Spellbinder's Nestibilities Large Scalloped Ovals Die Cuts, Cuttlebug Swiss Dots Embossing Folder, SU Clear EP, MS Trio Butterfly Punch, Foam Dimensionals, Unknown Organdy Ribbon.

Ornament on a Card

Hello. Well, I don't mean to sound like a "grinch", but I am just about all out of Christmas card ideas for one year. However, I have been wanting to try something that I saw on Splitcoast Stampers Website a few times. Which is, a paper christmas ornament on a card. I have to say, its not as wonderful as I had hoped it would be. I decided to run some miscellaneous red card stock through my cuttlebug machine with the swirls embossing folder, and then heat emboss the raised surfaces. I saw this technique on Jennifer McGuire's blog. However, Jennifer's sure looks cleaner. Maybe because she used clear embossing powder. Anyways, I heat embossed with silver EP, then cut into a circle, then punched half of an SU Round Tab Punch with SU silver card stock. Next I added the SU retired silver cord, and red satin bow. The red satin ribbon was a gift from a friend, I believe it is Anna Griffin ribbon. Then I heat embossed the sentiment (SU - from retired set "Warmest Regards").

Next, I punched a border with my Martha Stewart Gingerbread Border Punch, and added the red card stock behind the border to show it off a bit more. The ornament itself is just adheared with some snail adhesive. That about sums it up.

A Hero Arts Christmas Card!

A few months ago, I won a free Hero Arts Stamp set on a blog of a very nice and talented crafter named Jana Millen. Click on her name to visit her blog. She was hosting a Hero Arts Stamp set giveaway, and I actually got lucky and won one of the sets. So, I wanted to post a card that I made with that stamp set as another thank you for the very nice prize she gave me. Here is a photo of the stamp set.


Is this too cute or what? I am completely in love with it.



So, the next photo is a card that I came up with; made with a few of the stamps from this awesomely adorable set.













The base of the card is some unknown red card stock, the blue rectangle is Stampin Up's Bashful Blue, and was run through my Cuttlebug with a Spellbinder's Nestibilities Die-cut Rectangle. The piece of card stock behind the blue rectangle is SU Vellum Card Stock (not vellum paper). I ran it through my Cuttlebug snowflake embossing folder. Have I ever mentioned that you can use the Cuttlebug die-cuts and embossing folders in the Stampin Up Big-Shot Machine? Yep! Totally possible! You can also use the Big Shot Die-cuts in the Cuttlebug Machine! So, contact me when you you want to order some Big Shot Die-cuts and/or the Big Shot Machine itself. It is a very wonderful tool to have. Ok, back to the card. The little penguin and saying were stamped on SU Whisper White card Stock and then cut out before adhering. The penguin's scarf was then colored with SU marker-Real Red. The snowflake embellishment was made with a Martha Stewart Paper Punch, and the Rhinestone on it is from Michael's, along with the red ribbon on the card. Oh, please excuse my pitiful bow, I am still trying to improve my bow tying technique. I have watched the video tutorial on bow tying on Becca Feeken's blog several times, but I think I need to watch it a few more times. Oh well, I hope you like the card, it came to me after a two day creative block! I hate it when that happens, don't you? Anyways, I am going out of town for the weekend to visit family, so I won't be posting for a few days. Have a blessed weekend.

Lisa

Blue Jay in Flight

Hello. So sorry about my absence this past week, I have been not feeling quite like myself. Then, I just couldn't decide on what ribbon to put on the card to finish it off. It is strange; that no matter how much ribbon I collect, I still have trouble finding what I want to use on cards from my collection. Anyways, here is a card that I have been working on that uses one of the bird stamps in my new stamp set that my DH got me for my birthday last week. I first stamped it with versamark ink, then Stampin Up's classic Brilliant Blue ink. Next I colored in some of the bird with my SU white gel pen. I thought he looked more interesting that way. Then I mounted him onto some SU Brilliant Blue card stock. Both rectangles cut with my Nestibilities large regular rectangles diecuts, and added some sticky gems from Michael's, and popped the bird up a bit with some foam dimensionals. The panel on the left is hard to see, but it was ran through my cuttlebug with the "Birds and Swirls" embossing folder, and mounted on SU Brilliant Blue card stock. Then, I had some of my favorite layered Martha Stewart Butterflies pre-made, so I glued that on. Finally I added a sentiment from SU's Retired "Warmest Words" stamp set, and a mediocre looking ribbon tied in a bow. I was wishing I had royal blue satin instead. Gotta suggest that to Stampin Up........More colors of their pretty taffeta ribbon. Don't you agree? The next photo is just a close up, to make the embossing show up a little better.

Now, I started something with one of my other Cuttlebug embossing folders, and I am not quite sure where to take it from here. What I did was to color the raised images with Stampin Up markers, then with my VersaMark Marker, then sprinkled some clear embossing powder, and heat embossed on the dry embossed pattern. Next, I matted it onto some SU Pumpkin Pie, card stock, and punched a border with one of my Fiskers Border punches. I absolutely love border punches. I added a few tiny, yellow sticky gems, on the swirls (they probably aren't very visible on my photo, sorry). This is where I got stuck. I think It needs to be mounted onto a larger piece of card stock, add some ribbons or brads, and maybe a sentiment of some kind on a tag or something. Anyone out there in cyberspace have a suggestion for me, it would be greatly appreciated? If not, I shall wait for a revelation! Well, gotta go. I will be back this week, but if you aren't, Happy Thanksgiving ahead of time.

Easy Birthday card

Hello. I am so into quick and easy cards, and neutral colors lately. I can't seem to get away from black this past week. Maybe it is this dull southern Ohio weather we are having.

Anyways, I am late again getting to this new post. Oh well, that's life. I have a new SU customer that said she wants to place an order and she is wishing she had bought SU's "Pocket Silhouettes" stamp set when it was on sale. Well, new customer and friend you got me thinking about those stamps, and I couldn't get them out of my mind. So, here they are on card stock. Two of them anyways. Oh, if you are hungry for some more easy cards using this set, you can find them on my completely awesome and talented friend, Lydia's blog. Just page down on the right hand side of her blog, click on September and October posts, and scroll down until you see them.

I am so bummed about my picture of this card though, the colors didn't turn out quite right. The base is SU going gray, the panel on the left is SU Basic Gray, and was run through my cuttlebug machine with my swiss dots embossing folder. It is hard to tell, but the stamped images and their basic black scalloped shadow were popped up with some foam dimensionals. I guess I need some photography lessons. One last thing is that the greeting is from a retired SU stamp set "Warmest Regards". However, "Sincere Salutations" would look just as nice and is still current. Well, that is it for tonight. Monday is my birthday, and my wonderful hubby let me get some new awesome tools with those awesome 50% off Michael's coupons from last week. I will post something made with them Monday. Gotta run.

My First Paper Crafting Post

Hello again. Tonight I actually have a card to show you, but before I begin, I happened to see something online that just screams "Stampin Workshop". Being a Stampin Up Demo, I am always on the lookout for stuff like this. Here is a link. If it for some reason doesn't work, let me know. Anyways, it is an awesome 16 oz travel mug on the LTD Commodities website. Being an all around paper crafter from scrapbooking, to card making to altered 3-d items, I am imagining hundreds of possibilities for this item.

Ok, now that I passed that info on, I feel like posting something purple! Imagine that! Yes, my favorite color is purple! However, I promise that I will create with other colors as well. Ok, that picture didn't quite load where I wanted it to, but oh well. I made this card in August right after I bought a new Cuttlebug die-cut/embossing folder duo called Gratitude (I think). I kind of borrowed the "bling inside the little flowers" idea from one of my favorite bloggers, Becca. I sure hope she doesn't mind. I will insert a close up later, so you can see the detail of the embossing. I love my cuttlebug! The cardstock is all from SU, and the saying in the middle is from a retired SU set called "Winged Things". The scallop at the bottom was made with the SU 3/16" corner rounder with the removable base taken off. The flowers were a part of the die-cut that came with the embossing folder, and the Ribbon is from a dollar bin at Michael's. I popped up everything with some dimensionals, and in order to make room for the ribbon weaving, I cut off a row of the embossed flowers, which I incorporated into another card. I will show that card as well.

Here is that detail photo that I promised. Next I wanted to show you the card made with the leftover strip of embossed flowers. I am a thrifty girl, so I hardly ever let anything go to waste. Besides, if you come up with something you like with leftovers, you will be even more proud of your creation. So, here it is. All of the Cardstock is SU except the Lavender piece under the greeting which is from DCWV 8x8 shimmer pack. I also couldn't resist trying out my new Martha Stewart border punch. I am not a Martha fan at all, but she sure sells some cute punches. I don't know if you can tell, but there is a little window on the right top corner with a die-cut flower in it. Funny thing happened to me....I seriously didn't notice that the square opening was there until I was scoring my card base. So, I decided to go with it. I don't know what you think, but I kind of liked my improvisation. Wow, that big word hurt my brain a little. The last little detail that I wanted to mention is that I popped up almost everything with some dimensionals. My other favorite thing besides the color purple is using some sort of dimensionals and popping things up. Well, I would love to keep going with another post, but I need to get to bed. It is almost 1:00am in the economically depressed state of Ohio that I live in. Hey, at least I can be cheerful about it. "A" for effort! Don't forget to check out the photo below, and I will post again tomorrow; until then..... God Bless.