Lovely Friends Makes Me Happy!

I love quick and easy cards, and this card couldn't be much quicker or easier to make! The large greetings in Lovely Friends make up the "easy" part of this card, which makes me ridiculously happy. And so does the color combo of Tranquil Tide and Pool Party - it's a match made in heaven!

Today we are taking Mom to one of our favorite restaurants in the "big city" so I needed to get a quick card done and posted.

Here's the "How To"
 Greeting: Whisper White 2-7/8" x 3-7/8"
 Mat: Tranquil Tide 3" x 4"
 Background: Pool Party 4-1/8" x 5-3/8"
 Card base: Tranquil Tide 5-1/2" x 8-1/2" scored & folded at 4-1/4"

1. Stamp background Burlap stamp in Pool Party on Pool Party cardstock. Attach to card base.
2. Stamp greeting on Whisper White in Tranquil Tide ink, then attach to Tranquil Tide mat. Adhere to card base with dimensionals.
3. Make loops of Copper Metallic Thread and adhere with a glue dot. Attach In Color Bitty Bow on top.

Seriously, it doesn't get any simpler! I hope you all are enjoying your first day of Summer, and I pray the people affected by the awful heat out West, and tropical storm Cindy here in the South will be safe. (I just want to state right here and now that I am not responsible for any storm damage, LOL!!!)

Product List

Lovely Friends Photopolymer Stamp Set

Burlap Clear-Mount Stamp Set

Whisper White 8-1/2" X 11" Card Stock

Pool Party 8-1/2" X 11" Card Stock

Tranquil Tide 8-1/2" X 11" Cardstock

Tranquil Tide Classic Stampin' Pad

Pool Party Classic Stampin' Pad

2017-2019 In Color Bitty Bows

Copper Metallic Thread

Stampin' Dimensionals

Glue Dots

Birthday Blossoms in Monochrome

Still using up that retiring Pop of Pink Specialty DSP! If you think about it, you can get 72 cards out of one pack of Designer Series Paper, just by using it as a 4" x 5-1/4" background. That's a lot of cards! And if you use smaller pieces or strips, it will go even further. I just checked this morning, and the it's still available at 40% off. Of course, all the retiring things end in one short week!

This has to be a short post, because our dog is having tummy issues, yet again, so we have an appointment at a new vet shortly. I'm keeping my fingers crossed that they can figure out what is going on with her. Nothing like the sound of a dog retching at 1:30 a.m. to wake one up in a hurry. *sigh*

Here's the "How To"
 Flowers: Whisper White 2" x 4"
 Background: Pop of Pink Specialty DSP 4" x 5-1/4"
 Strip: Pop of Pink 3/4" x 5-1/4"
 Glitter strip: Silver Glimmer Paper 1/8" x 5-1/4"
 Card base: Melon Mambo 5-1/2" x 8-1/2" scored & folded at 4-1/4"

1. Adhere DSP background to card base. Adhere DSP strip approximately 1/2"-5/8" from bottom of background. (Mine measured 9/16".)
2. Attach glimmer strip to center of DSP strip.
3. Stamp leaves (twice) in Melon Mambo on background as shown and use a Blender Pen to pull color from the stamped lines into the leaves.
4. Stamp blossom twice on white cardstock and color with Blender Pen using lid of ink pad as a palette. (Squeeze ink pad while closed so some ink transfers from the pad to the lid.)
5. Punch blossoms with Pansy Punch and adhere to card with Stampin' Dimensionals. Add Clear Faceted Gems to centers of blossoms.
6. Stamp greeting in Basic Black above DSP strip on the right side.

Product List

Birthday Blossoms Clear-Mount Stamp Set

Birthday Blossoms Wood-Mount Stamp Set

Melon Mambo 8-1/2" X 11" Card Stock

Whisper White 8-1/2" X 11" Card Stock

Pop Of Pink Specialty Designer Series Paper

Silver Glimmer Paper

Basic Black Archival Stampin’ Pad

Melon Mambo Classic Stampin' Pad

Blender Pens

Pansy Punch

Stampin' Dimensionals

Clear Faceted Gems

A Challenge for the New Year!

My BFF and I had a virtual play date this weekend and each chose which challenges we would do. It was kind of difficult because most of the challenge blogs were on hiatus due to the holiday! Barb went first and picked the Global Design Project #GDP067, the theme being "trees", and My Favorite Things' sketch challenge #313. So this is what I came up with. I felt all monochromatic-y for some reason. Maybe it was the gray weather? I can't complain because here we had some rain and a very few snow flurries. Barb had over 2-1/2 feet of snow at last check and it was still coming down heavily! This is the sketch she chose:

Update on the blog schedule and photo tutorials:

If I do more photo tutorials, and possibly videos, I'm not going to be able to produce a blog post every single day. I thought about it a lot, and it would just be too stressful and take the fun out of creating. SO..... I am going to keep the same 5-days per week schedule as I've been doing the past few months. I've ordered a remote shutter release for my phone/camera, and already have the stand set up and a new craft mat in place. I think the remote should arrive Thursday, and I'll start playing with it and see how it works. Hopefully by next week I'll start producing more step-by-step tutorials! This is what is in place so far. Enjoy its pristine cleanliness.....I'll have it in a fine mess in no time!

Product List

Lovely As A Tree Clear-Mount Stamp Set

All Things Thanks Clear-Mount Stamp Set

Whisper White 8-1/2" X 11" Card Stock

Basic Black 8-1/2" X 11" Card Stock

Neutrals Designer Series Paper Stack

Basic Black Archival Stampin’ Pad

Versamark Pad

Heat Tool

White Stampin' Emboss Powder

Big Shot

Woodland Textured Impressions Embossing Folder

Stampin' Dimensionals

Monochromatic Christmas Bauble

I've been experimenting with different techniques using the Stampin' Blendabilities, and this was one of the results. I've heat embossed with gold on the Brushed Gold cardstock before, and really loved the look of it, so rich and elegant. But this time I wanted something with more pop, to stand up to adding color with the Blendies, so I tried it with Early Espresso embossing powder. Wow! Definitely more pop!

The Crumb Cake Stampin' Blendabilities were used, and the Bronze and Mocha from the Skin Tone Assortment were also used. Just a fabulous selection of browns!!!

Check back in a day or two, because I did another one in blues with silver embossing on Brushed Silver that I'll be sharing. It looks gorgeous!

STAMPS: Christmas Bauble, Endless Wishes
CARDSTOCK: Baked Brown Sugar, Early Espresso, Brushed Gold, Gold Soiree Specialty DSP
INK: VersaMark, Crumb Cake and Skin Tone Ass't. Stampin' Blendabilities
ACCESSORIES: Big Shot, Oval Collection Framelits, Extra Large Oval Punch, Heat Tool, Early Espresso Stampin' Emboss Powder, Tea Lace Paper Doilies, Early Espresso 1/4" Cotton Ribbon, Stampin' Dimensionals

Chomping at the Bit!

Still have lots of thank-yous I need to send, but meanwhile, I needed a get well for a friend.  I used the Stampin' Addicts Pinterest Recycle Challenge #6, which happens to be a sketch, for the inspiration.  The monochromatic look works well on this card, I think.  And you can't see it in the photo, but the dahlia has Dazzling Details glitter accents and looks fab in real life. ;-)

This sketch would work for so many occasions! I can see it as an Autumn card, with leaves and acorns, Halloween with a group of pumpkins, or a birthday card with a group of balloons.

It is soooo nice to get back in my craft room! I really missed the "therapy" that creating gives me.  These past few weeks have been a hectic whirlwind, to say the least. From the date of my husband's diagnosis to his surgery was just SIX DAYS, so we didn't really have time to prepare (probably a good thing - no weeks of dreading it). Now it is two weeks out from the surgery and he is doing remarkably well.

I am so grateful for the blessings we've been given, from the diagnosis being something that could be repaired with surgery, to the doctors who were so skillful in doing the surgery, to the wonderful nurses who took care of him in the hospital, to being able to stay with him overnight in the ICU (and the regular room when he was moved upstairs), to all the prayers and well-wishes from family and friends.

Stamps: Regarding Dahlias, Delightful Dozen
Cardstock: Rich Razzleberry, Whisper White, Rich Razzleberry DSP (retired)
Ink: Rich Razzleberry, Basic Black
Accessories: Big Shot, Circles Framelits, Dazzling Details glitter glue, 1-1/4" and 1-3/8" Circle Punches, Rich Razzleberry Stitched Grosgrain Ribbon, Brights Designer Buttons, Stampin' Dimensionals

SUOC68, Monochrome!

Our challenge this week at SUO Challenges is monochrome! Now, monochromatic cards don't have to be monotonous (har har). Using several shades of the same color, and then adding a deeper shade of the same family as an accent can really add visual interest to your project.  Here I used Pink Pirouette, Pretty in Pink, and Regal Rose, but added Melon Mambo to make it pop!

STAMPS: Summer Silhouettes, Delightful Dozen  CARDSTOCK: Whisper White, Pink Pirouette, Melon Mambo, plus Pretty in Pink, Regal Rose, and Melon Mambo DSP  INK: Pretty in Pink, Regal Rose, Melon Mambo   ACCESSORIES: Regal Rose 1/8" Taffeta Ribbon, Tea Lace Paper Doily, Designer Builder Brad, Owl Punch (heart), Punch Pack

Two of these colors (Pretty in Pink and Regal Rose) have been discontinued by Stampin' Up! in anticipation of the Color Refresh coming in the new annual catalog June 1st. If these, or any of the other retiring colors are your faves, better stock up while you can, because everything is "while supplies last". That means cardstock, ribbon, ink pads, ink refills, markers, etc.  I know some things are already sold out!

Thanks for stopping by today. I hope you will play along with our color challenge this week!