SILVER STAMPER VISIT

One of my Silver Stamper friends on tour from Minnesota stopped in for an overnight visit yesterday and today. Since it was such a beautiful day, we took a walk up the road near our house. Linda, Steve and "Mac" posed on the edge of a cliff for this photo with the valley in the background. Afterward, we all enjoyed an evening of good food and conversation around the dinner table well into the night. It's amazing how much Silver Stampers and their husbands can have in common!

This morning, Joan came to stamp as usual; and Linda was able to join us in the "tower" where she taught us how to make tiny folded boxes and encouraged us to use them as gifts of encouragement. She explained how she has given them as thank-yous, pick-me-ups, and other impromptu occasions with little candies or notes inside. What a great idea!

Next Stop...Sturgeon Bay, Wisconsin

As a member of Silver Stampers (for stampaholics over 50) I'm looking forward to the Stamp Escape weekend in Door County, Wisconsin next month! I've got my reservations made at the resort where the stamping events are being held and booked my flights; so I'm good to go. It should be fun to meet Silver Stampers from other parts of the country!

I plan to bring some cardstock, ink, stamps and other supplies to "play" with while I'm there.

Now, what shall I pack...

Silver Stamper Thank-you's

As a member of Silver Stampers, I received almost 50 birthday cards and will be busy sending out a thank-you note for each one of them. This is just one of the designs I came up with. (The card is done on white cardstock--the polka dot paper behind it was just for contrast in the scanner.)

Thank you Silver Stampers for making my day so special!

STAMPER'S BIRTHDAY

When Mary came over to stamp this morning, she took my picture to post here. Then she, Joan and I stamped all morning... Now that's my idea of a great birthday!

Another Christmas Card

When you send out 100 Christmas cards, you need something quick and easy. This tree was gold-embossed on dark green cs, mounted on metallic gold cs and layered over green and red background papers split down the middle and glued to a beige parchment card. It was easy to do; but a bit time-consuming with all the cutting and layering, so I'll only be making a few.

For the rest of my cards, I plan to use a combination of two SU sets: City of David (on order) and Wondrous Gift (posted on Sept. 6, below.) With so many to do, I like to design a variety in order to keep things interesting. Starting in August also helps!

Little by Little...

...I've been making Christmas cards and stashing them in a special drawer until it's time to mail them. Here are 2 cards made with background papers and a diamond punch. The blue one was mounted over a snowflake cuttlebug design and centered with a snowflake button. The green one was done the same way with a green button for the center.

Speaking of Snow...

I, for one, am not looking forward to those cold wintry days of chipping ice off the deck. However, I do love the bright sunshine that leaf-less trees allow to penetrate through the windows--great for stamping!

Here's a peek at one of my Christmas cards for this year! The blue "snowflake" at the bottom was punched from blue cardstock (the same used as background for the JOY snowflake) and attached with a silver brad in the middle.

Leftover card from last winter

Here's a card from last year that was fun to make and could be used for Christmas or a winter birthday:

Stamp snowflakes and trees in white on navy cardstock. Add torn white cs to the bottom, tie silver twine around it and set aside. Stamp blue snowflakes on white cardstock and mount the blue image over it. Highlight the branches by adding "snow" with a white gel pen.

Total time to make: 5-7 min.

HOLIDAY CARD MAKING

This year at Ladies Bible Study, we're doing an elective for card-making. Since not all the ladies are stampers, I pre-stamp the appropriate pieces and make kits for them to assemble after they color in the images. This is the one I designed for Thanksgiving using the Pomegranate card stock from Stampin' Up.

First they will crimp just the front edge of the card. Then they will color the main image with markers, attach it to a slightly larger rectangle of pale green and wrap embroidery floss around it, securing the floss on the back. Next, they will stamp the verse and smaller image, color the berries and leaves, punch it out with a circle punch and tie a bow with matching embroidery floss. After taping the rectangular piece to the card, they will attach the "tag" with a pop dot...easy!

I like the unusual colors for this Thanksgiving card--what do you think?

Criss Cross Card

The Criss Cross tutorial on Spit Coast Stampers was easy to follow, so I used it to make an anniversary card for my daughter and her husband.

The pullout card has "Happy Anniversary" in the lower left corner. The swirls from the Cherish (SU) set in the upper right corner was stamped with VersaMark and clear-embossed. The "tab" at the top is a flower from the same set stamped twice and mounted back to back.

Christmas Card Design #1

This is one of my designs for this year's Christmas cards--EASY!

First, I stamped the tree on green cs and gold embossed it. After cutting to size, I punched holes in the tree for "ornaments" and taped it to red paper, leaving a narrow border. Next, I gold embossed the gift package on a scrap piece of the same red cardstock, cut it out and attached it to the card with a pop dot. The star was punched out of a piece of metallic gold cardstock and attached to the treetop with a mini popdot. The finished image was taped to the natural cardstock with the fold at the top. The inside message is: "It was a simple gift of love that changed the course of the world."

Stamps used: Wondrous Gift (SU), City of David (SU), Gift for You (TAC)
Cardstock: Dark Green and red, natural, metallic gold
Ink: Versamark, Deep Green (ColorBox) inside
Accessories: Long reach punch, pop dots, gold tinsel EP (Stampendous)

Blue Ribbon Card

This is the card that won 1st place at the county fair this summer. Don't get too excited--I was the only one who entered! (sad, really...)

HIGH-SPEED INTERNET IS BACK!

I'll be posting my latest creations again as soon as I remember how! My scanner, camera and computer are all waiting to be put to good use. What fun!!