Sure Do Love You

No really - I do! I'm honored that you take the time out of your busy day to stop by here for ideas and inspiration. Coincidentally (or not) Sure Do Love You also happens to be the name of one of the stamp sets used here. The other set is Heart Happiness.

Since we are in that Valentine/Love time of year, I thought this would be a good card for my stamp club ladies to make. This was a quick and easy one, which was their reward for the torture of making them color the other card we made. Oh, the humanity! It sure gets quiet around here when everyone is concentrating on coloring their card image, LOL!

This card doesn't necessarily have to be for a spouse or partner. It will work just as well for a child, dear friend, sibling, parent, pet, UPS guy, or anyone you love!

Here's the "How To"
 Banner: Whisper White 1-1/2" x 4"
 Embossed heart: Whisper White 2-1/4" x 3"
 Stamped heart: Whisper White 2-1/2" x 3-1/4"
 Mat: Red Glimmer Paper 2-3/4" x 3-1/2"
 Background: Springtime Foils Specialty DSP (avail. 2/16) 4" x 5-1/4"
 Card base: Whisper White 5-1/2" x 8-1/2" scored & folded at 4-1/4"

1. Stamp banner from Sure Do Love You using Real Red ink. Cut with coordinating die from Lots to Love Framelits.
2. Heat emboss striped heart from Heart Happiness with silver embossing powder. Cut with coordinating die.
3. Stamp heart vine on the 2-1/2" x 3-1/4" cardstock using Real Red ink. Adhere to red glimmer paper mat.
4. Adhere DSP to card base, then adhere stamped heart/mat to DSP.
5. Use dimensionals to affix the silver embossed heart inside the stamped vine heart.
6. Use dimensionals to attach the banner (single layer of dimensionals in the middle, and double layer on ends).

Product List

Sure Do Love You Clear-Mount Bundle

Heart Happiness Photopolymer Stamp Set

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

Red Glimmer Paper

Real Red Classic Stampin' Pad

Big Shot

Big Shot Magnetic Platform

Stampin' Dimensionals

Crazy About You

Are you scrambling here at the last minute for a Valentine? Here is a quick and easy way to let the love of your life know exactly how you feel about them! All you need is the Bloomin' Heart Thinlits Die, some glimmer paper, and a greeting. I used the Sweet Sugarplum glimmer paper from SAB, but I think the red glimmer paper, or even gold or silver would look great, too. The black striped background behind the heart is from the Color Me Irresistible DSP, now retired.

So super easy, and lots of WOW! Here's a little hint: When using a detailed Thinlits die with glimmer paper, you really need the Precision Base Plate to ensure it cuts through the plastic-y backing of the paper. I run it through Mr. Big twice just to make sure. Nothing irks me more than wasting that lovely, shiny, glittery cardstock with a bad die-cut!

Product List

Crazy About You Photopolymer Stamp Set

[137137]

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

[100730]

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

[121045]

Color Me Irresistible Specialty Designer Series Paper

[138439]

Basic Black Archival Stampin’ Pad

[140931]

Big Shot

[143263]

Precision Base Plate

[139684]

Bloomin' Heart Thinlits Dies

[140621]

Pearl Basic Jewels Embellishments

[119247]

Loving the Freaks!

Now that things have settled down in our new home, and the craft room is up and running at full speed, I can get freaky with my fellow Control Freak Stampers once again. It sure feels great to be back! This month the theme is "Love is in the Air", which means anthing love-related, but not necessarily a Valentine. Did you see what Connie Babbert did? Uh-MAZE-ing!

I have three little cards for you today; two Valentine-y ones, and one just letting him know I love him. (I'd planned a treat holder, too, but ran out of time. Oh well....still working the kinks out of my crafting muscle.) For my first card, I tried to keep it simple yet elegant. It's a little non-traditional with the Crumb Cake color added, but I think it works, don't you?

STAMPS: First Sight, Bloomin' Love   CARDSTOCK: Whisper White, Crumb Cake   INK: Crumb Cake, Cherry Cobbler   ACCESSORIES: Big Shot, Happy Heart TIEF, Sweetheart Punch

Next up is another card with non-traditional colors, but I think it's also kind of elegant. This uses the fabulous Bloomin' Heart Thinlits Die, and if you simply MUST get it, I highly recommend getting the Big Shot Die Brush to go with it. It made getting rid of all those tiny fussy bits in the die-cut a piece o' cake, and saved me tearing my hear out, I can tell you! Here's a little hint, though - don't use it if you're cutting any of our foil papers. Ask me how I know (and don't look too closely at this card, lol). Hello Honey was the color of the cardstock flowers, and I thought it was just so.... appropriate!

STAMPS: Bloomin' Love   CARDSTOCK: Basic Black, Hello Honey, Gold Foil, Gold Fancy Foil Vellum   INK: VersaMark   ACCESSORIES: Big Shot, Elegant Dots TIEF, Bloomin' Heart Thinlits Dies, Big Shot Die Brush, Heat Tool, Black Stampin' Emboss Powder, Embossing Buddy, Pearl Basic Jewels

And last, but not least, another simple card that I'm going to give to my honey "just because."  It probably doesn't show, but there's some Clear Wink of Stella on the propellar so it looks like a shiny propellar spinning. (Before we retired, we used to live near a small airport, and the planes that towed banners over the beach and sporting events would fly over our house. And no, I don't miss that AT ALL!) He will get a Valentine, too, but sometimes you just have to let them know you luv 'em, even when it isn't a holiday, or anniversary, or birthday, or....

STAMPS: Sky is the Limit (SAB freebie)   CARDSTOCK: Basic Black, Whisper White, Pool Party, Vellum, Watercolor Paper   INK: Basic Black Archival, Smoky Slate, Real Red, Pool Party   ACCESSORIES: Aqua Painter, Whisper White Baker's Twine, Clear Wink of Stella, Tree Builder Punch

That's all for me today. Just click the links at the end of each blog to continue on the hop. Up next is Mindy Backes, and I'm sure she has something absolutely LOVEly to share! (See what I did there? Heh heh.)

Forty Years!

Today is the 40th anniversary of the best day of my life......the day I married my best friend! He has been my consistent, steady rock, made me laugh every day, been an outstanding provider for our family, and I am truly blessed to have him as my life partner. You know you have something special when you emerge from even the tough times stronger and more committed than before. What can I say, I luff him! And it just gets better every year!

This was one of the cards we made in the very last (*sniff*) Second Saturday Stamp Club. Actually, we made them with no greeting so they could be customized as needed. I thought the colors looked masculine enough that I could turn this into my anniversary card. The inside was appropriately mushy; I'll spare you the details.

STAMPS: Wild About Flowers, Timeless Love (how appropriate was that for the greeting?!)
INK: Night of Navy, Mossy Meadow
CARDSTOCK: Whisper White, Night of Navy, English Garden DSP
ACCESSORIES: Big Shot, Honeycomb embossing folder

Stampin' Up! Leadership

The past three days Stampin' Up! had its Leadership event in Orlando, Florida. I was very sad that I wasn't able to attend, but they did stream the general sessions live, so I was able to see the stamping presentations (always a highlight at SU events).

WELL.......Katie Adams positively knocked my socks off with her presentation about our stamps. She "accidentally" used the back side of the Sheltering Tree photopolymer stamp, the side you would normal place against the clear block. I was so taken with the effect that I had to run into my craft room and try it! She stamped off once (I think she was using Wild Wasabi), but I went for our lightest green, Pisctachio Pudding, and used it full strength. Then I flipped the stamp over and used the Wild Wasabi (stamped off once) for the individual leaves. A couple of punches with the Confetti Hearts Border Punch, and I had all the hearts I needed for the tree. Sooo quick and cute!

Now I'm looking at all my other photopolymer sets and wondering what other cool things I can do with the "wrong" sides!

STAMPS: Sheltering Tree
CARDSTOCK: Whisper White, Real Red, Red Glimmer Paper, Stacked With Love DSP Stack
INK: Soft Suede, Pistachio Pudding, Wild Wasabi, Real Red
ACCESSORIES: Confetti Hearts Border Punch, Stampin' Dimensionals, Multipurpose Glue

LOVE

Love is Kindness, that is. This is one of the a la cart stamps in the the Occasions catalog that I just adore. It is so quick and easy to color with the Blendabilities markers, and depending on the colors used and other card elements, it can take on many different looks.

This stamp has the greeting attached, so I just masked it off with a bit of Washi tape, inked it up with Memento ink, and then stamped, after removing the Washi. Of course, the first time I did it, I forgot to remove the Washi before stamping, and had an ugly inky blob where there wasn't supposed to be! (Note to self......remove Washi before stamping!)

STAMPS: Love is Kindness, Hello Life

CARDSTOCK: Real Red, Whisper White, Stacked With Love DSP Stack
INK: Memento Tuxedo Black, Cherry Cobbler Blendabilities, Old Olive Blendabilities, White Gel Pen
ACCESSORIES: Real Red 1/4" Cotton Ribbon, Glue Dots, retired Washi tape

Best Valentine's Greetings

Some of the best Valentine's messages (to me, anyway), are ones that make me laugh. Don't get me wrong, I like the mushy stuff as much as the next girl. But my husband's ability to make me laugh, and his warped sense of humor, are some of the things that first attracted me to him, so I'm not miffed if his card to me is humorous, rather than sappy. I know that he loves me - he shows it in a million little ways all the time.

In that vein, I thought I'd share a few that I've seen recently that cracked me up. (One of these is rated R......you've been warned!)

Card front:
Did you know it takes ONE HOUR of rigorous sex to burn off the calories from five pieces of Valentine's chocolates?
Inside:
Eat the whole box. I've got plans for you tonight, Valentine!

Card front (with illustration of heart from medical book):
You make my heart have premature ventricular contractions

Here's another great reason for making your own cards...
Card front:
Happy Valentine's Day, Sweetie
Inside:
If this card hadn't cost $6 you would have gotten chocolates, too.

So, you see, it is possible to get the message across without being too mushy. And, just so I don't lose street cred with my female friends, here's a sentimental-type Valentine.

Stamps: Affection Collection
Cardstock: Naturals White, More Amore Specialty DSP
Ink: Crumb Cake, Early Espresso (stamped off once)
Accessories: Big Shot, Adorning Accents Edgelits, Stripes embossing folder, Artisan Embellishments Kit, 5/8" Flower Trim, stapler (non-SU)

You can Google "Best Valentine's Greetings" and come up with a bunch of ideas for your own message to put on your handcrafted, special card to your love. And have enough left over for those chocolates!

Stampin' Addicts' Spring Catalog Blog Hop

Hello, and welcome to another fabulous Stampin' Addicts blog hop, where we will be showing off the new goodies coming in the Stampin' Up! Spring Catalog. There are fourteen blogs linked together, each featuring a different item. If you started at the beginning, and are following in order, you just arrived from Holly's blog, Rubber Redneck, using the adorable Hearts a Flutter set.

Today I'm showcasing the Ciao, Baby stamp set. It's so versatile, it's a must-have item! Especially since it coordinates with the new 7/8" Scallop Circle punch (and a new one coming in Sale-A-Bration). But today it's all about the Spring Catalog. Stampin' Up! is launching it's year-long celebration of 25 years in business with this catalog, and it is something special!

We're starting with a birthday card for a son, using just the center portion of the Ciao, Baby "#1" stamp. I was going to make it #1 Dad, but the circle fit better in an O, so the son won!

Up next is a sweetheart of a card that uses several different items from the new catalog. I adore the vintage feel, don't you? For this one, I just inked up the "Love" because I didn't want to use the Petite Curly frame around it. The heart doily is from the More Amore Specialty Designer Series Paper, and the lace can be found in the Artisan Embellishments Kit. See the brad? (Yes that IS a brad!) There's a bit of More Amore DSP under the epoxy bubble. Just a hint of what's in that pack!

For the final project, there's a treat box, filled with love notes and a sweet surprise under the lid! Took me a little while to figure out how to do it, but it finally worked on the third try.

Each little note has a matching envelope, and they all peek out of the oval window in the box. Did I mention the oval? No? There are Oval Framelits in the new catalog, too!!!

So, there you have it, a little taste of good things to come! Your next stop on the hop is Rhonda Griffin, The Stamping Bunny. She's going to wow you with the Secret Garden Bundle (stamps and matching Framelits).









Thanks so much for stopping by today. This hop is put on by The Stampin' Addicts, a wonderful group of folks who love all things Stampin' Up! When you have a chance, drop in and say Hi. We'd love to meet you! And be sure to check out the gallery for lots of stamping inspiration.

SUOC 43, Occasions Goodbye!

The excitement of the Stampin' Up! stamp retirement list coming out a couple days ago kind of pushed the fact that the Occasions Mini catalog is ending in less than two weeks(!) out of the spotlight.  There are several stamp sets and accessories that I really hope will carry over to the big catalog in June! Really, really hope. Like, I'm going to throw a temper tantrum if they don't. Well, okay, maybe not a tantrum, but I will be very sad.

Our Challenge this week at SUO Challenges is to bid a fond farewell to something in the Occasions Mini that you are going to miss. If you don't have anything from the Occasions Mini (gasp!), then any retired Stampin' Up! product may be used.  I hope you will join us and share your project at SUO Challenges. We love to see what other creative people make with Stampin' Up! products. You all are so inspiring!

The sketch this week from Mojo Monday was my inspiration. The individual tea cups were colored with a marker and stamped twice. One was punched out with the circle punch and the other was fussy-cut and popped up on a dimensional onto the circle. Since the greeting was already on the last circle, pearls were added instead of a banner at the bottom.

The Occasions Mini items used were the Tea Shoppe stamp set, 40mm Pearl Basic Jewels, and Twitterpated Designer Series Paper. These are all going away April 30th!


Stamps: Tea Shoppe
Cardstock: Whisper White, Island Indigo, Baja Breeze, Pear Pizzazz, Old Olive, and Twitterpated DSP
Ink: (Stampin' Write Markers) Island Indigo, Baja Breeze, Pear Pizzazz, Old Olive
Accessories: Big Shot, Perfect Polka-Dots embossing folder, 1" Circle Punch, 1-1/4" Circle Punch, 1-3/8" Circle Punch, 40mm Pearl Basic Jewels, Stampin' Dimensionals

SUO Challenge #38 - Valentine's Colors!

Wow, I nearly forgot! I've been so busy making cards for Stampin' Addicts swaps, Valentine mailboxes (commissioned work), and starting my swaps for the Stampin' Up! Regional in Phoenix this Saturday, that this post nearly slipped my mind.

The theme this week at SU-Only Challenges is a Valentine with two colors, plus a neutral or two. I've always liked red, pink, and white together, or red, black, and white together, so I decided to combine them on this card. The DSP is Real Red with pink stripes, so there's the two colors, and the black and white are the two neutrals.

The ruffle around the large Framelits heart is made from the new White Waffle Paper (pg. 28 in the Occasions Mini).  Love that stuff! I want to try stamping on it and maybe embossing it, too.  Oh! And maybe the Faux Silk technique would work, too! (Hmmmm, the wheels are turning in my head...too many ideas and not enough time!)

Stamps: Take It to Heart, Loving Thoughts
Cardstock: Real Red, Whisper White, Basic Black, Real Red DSP (Brights Collection Paper Stack)
Ink: Basic Black
Accessories: Big Shot, Hearts Collection Framelits, Pearls Basic Jewels, Large Pearl Basic Jewels, Whisper White 3/8" Taffeta Ribbon, White Waffle Paper, Stampin' Dimensionals

Yesterday was the best birthday! I stamped ALL day, and then my sweet husband took me out to dinner. Life doesn't get much better than that!

Simply Thanks

Sometimes, simple packs a more powerful message than elaborate, and that's what I really hope this card conveys. This card on Pinterest was the inspiration when I sat down to make a bunch of Thank You cards. One of my (many) goals this year is to send more cards, especially ones that express my gratitude. I really must stock up on them so they will be handy when I need them, since I am blessed with so many people in my life to which I know I'll owe a debt of gratitude, in one way or another, this year.

Shelli Gardner's theme for this month's So Shelli Challenge is a "Simply Stunning" Creative Challenge, so I think this qualifies. Well, it's simple, anyway......don't know about the stunning part. Maybe if it whacked you on the head you'd be stunned. ;-)

The name of the card is "Simply Thanks" because I used my Simply Scored Scoring Tool to highlight the embossed hearts from the Adorning Accents embossing folders set. Zip, zip and done!

I LOVE creating cards (no surprise there, right?) but the problem in the past has been actually sending them, once they were made. Operation Write Home has helped find good homes for many of them, but I want to spread more RAK around.

So don't be surprised if, out of the blue, you find a little something in your mailbox (that is, if I know your address, lol)!

Stamp: Pocket Silhouettes (inked just the 'thanks' on the sentiment)
Cardstock: Whisper White Textured, Rose Red, Melon Mambo, Regal Rose, Pretty in Pink, Pink Pirouette
Ink: Rose Red Stampin' Write Marker
Accessories: Simply Scored Scoring Tool, Big Shot Die-Cut Machine, Adorning Accents Textured Impressions Embossing Folders, Heart to Heart Punch, Tombow Mono Multi Adhesive

Blessed by Love

Day 2 - Thirty-seven years ago this Friday I met a man like no other I had ever known.  He is funny, kind, smart, and my rock. Today I am feeling blessed to know true, unconditional love. Being married to a mate with whom you can be completely at ease, and know that they love you (even when they've seen you at your worst), is the BEST possible gift in life!

Stamps: Young Vermillion, (greeting unknown, stamp says Stampin' Up! 2002)
Cardstock: Night of Navy, Poppy Parade, Whisper White, Watercolor Paper, Pocketful of Posies DSP
Ink: Jet Black Staz-On, Poppy Parade, Night of Navy, Basic Gray, and Soft Suede Classic
Accessories: Blender Pens, Gold Brads, Stampin' Sponges