SOCK MONKEY

This is the sock monkey I remember from my teen years! Did you have one too?

Anna Wight Does It Again!

This new "Give Thanks" set from Whipper Snapper Designs is just right for autumn and Thanksgiving cards that are simple to do. This one was done with Versamark and chalks for a soft, colorful look. Mounting the image on two sides of one sheet of designer paper from K and Company finishes it off.

Thank you Anna for yet another beautiful design!

(Looks better IRL--scanner made it look washed out.)

Another Thankyou Card

Using my Cuttlebug, some metallic paper and some crystals, I'm ready to respond to the many birthday cards I've been receiving. Whether you use the full folder image or just a partial piece, this CB design gives you a lot of options. One of the other cards I made uses the bottom half of the embossed piece on a horizontal card for a different effect. Either way, it makes for a look that is simple, yet elegant.

Mothers Class

Mothers Class went very well today. Everyone loved making the cards and are looking forward to the next class. It's always fun when you get a chance to introduce the art of stamping to someone new, which was the case for a few of the moms. They were happy to hear that by the end of the semester, they'll have made a dozen Christmas cards!

(See Mothers Class Design post below.)

Technique Tuesday Thankyou Card

This card was made at Cyndy's Technique Tuesday class, which was actually held on Tuesday --imagine that!

Anyway, this one is very easy to make. Starting on the yellow cs, we stamped the trees, then masked them, randomly stamped the leaves and sponged white ink around them. Using the reverse mask, we sponged green and orange over the trees. After stamping "thanks", we used the ticket punch on the corners, mounted it on orange cs and then mounted it on green cs. For the button, we backed it with yellow cs, knotted a piece of twine through the holes, then mounted it on an orange circle. The edge of the circle was roughed with our fingers.

Since I've been getting a lot of birthday cards from my Silver Stamper friends, I'll be using this as a thankyou for one of them.

Thank You Card

Here's a simple card I made with Evelyn today, using her "Gratitude" stamp. After cutting it out with the scallop punch, it was mounted on a piece of metallic paper that I ran through the Cuttlebug. The "black" strip is actually a piece of shiny metallic purple paper that looks black only on the scanner. With a purple crystal gem added to the letter G, it was done...another easy card...

Mothers Class Design

Here's the first card for opening day of the Mothers Class at my church on Monday, the 15th. It's a top fold, with a scalloped edge on the bottom of the top flap. Although they look purplish here, the flowers are a soft pink to match the lighter color in the dp (looks better IRL.)

I plan to teach the class how to cover a slide frame, giving them the choice of which side of the dp to use. The flip side is used for the bottom and background of the white piece with the greeting. Embroidery floss is used around the white cardstock and just tied in a knot. The crystals are Hero Arts--one large for the center of the punched flower and two small as accents on the white.

Although there are several different steps (and skills) involved, this is really easy to do in a class setting. I hope the moms enjoy this one!

Tropical Storm Hannah

Rainy days make such good stamping weather! I was able to spend my whole day yesterday in the Tower getting ahead on my Christmas cards, thanks to TS Hannah.

This one was done with one of the clear sets I got from Hero Arts. I stamped it in dark green, then colored the pine cones with 2 shades of brown and added a speck of white ink on the tips of the cones. The inside is stamped with a nice bold "merry Christmas" that was included in the set.

As of this morning, I have 76 Christmas cards done--only 24 left to go! Then I can concentrate full time on the cards and kits I've designed for the Mothers Class this semester at our church. (See "Ready for Fall" below.)

Pocket Silhouette Thankyou

Here's another card using one of the 5 new sets I just got from Stampin' Up, "Pocket Silhouettes." I've made one card using each of the 4 main images in the set, all using this cardstock and dark green ink. Some have button embellishments, some with embroidery floss, etc. This one has twine and a ripped edge on the bottom, which I curled slightly with my fingers.

Three more new sets to play with as soon as I get caught up...

First Christmas Card Ready

Here's the first Christmas card I've made so far with one of the new SU sets for this year. The image is so simple, I didn't want to overwhelm it with a lot of color or embellishments. First it was stamped on off-white cardstock with Versafine Olympia Green ink. The light blue sky was dabbed on with a tissue, the church colored with markers, and a piece of torn white cardstock was added to the bottom for "snow."

The sheer ribbon has a little shimmer to it for a subtle bling.

Somehow, the steeple and treetops remind me of the spires of Prague (where my daughter and her family live.) Overall, the image has a serenity to it. For those of you in the Deep South or West, I hope you've had the opportunity to experience the hush of fresh-fallen snow, which I think this image captures...

Ready for Fall!

I've been busy getting all the designs ready for the Fall Semester at Bible Study. This year, I decided to try something new: an "After School Activity" for those who want to make holiday cards. As soon as Bible Study is over, I will demo that week's card for 15-20 minutes before offering kits to take home and make. The images will be pre-stamped for them to color and mount on the card. I've kept them as simple as possible, as seen in this first card for Sept. 16th. (The same cards will be done in the Mothers Class at church, except that they'll stamp and assemble them there.)

Each kit will contain all the pieces (and envies) for 2 cards, at a charge of only $1 to cover the cost of materials. There are 3 autumn designs, 1 Halloween, 1 Thanksgiving and 6 Christmas cards, for a total of 11 designs.

Inkadinka-dude!

Yesterday, I had a 40% off coupon for AC Moore that I just HAD to use; so I bought a packet of Inkadinkadoo clear birthday stamps and made this card. The eyes, which have adorable lashes, were in my stash from ages ago. I used a yellow watercolor pencil and green Twinkling H2O for the Gecko body. Another easy card!

Meanwhile, my Hero Arts Christmas order came in today; so I'll be playing tonight and hopefully posting some new Christmas cards later...

(Click on card to see the eyelashes.)

Technique Tuesday on Monday Class

Last night was Cyndy's monthly technique class rescheduled from last Tuesday. She always comes up with great "recipes" for us to try, and these are no exception.

The first was the hardest, but a lot of fun. I think it would be easier to stamp the smaller squares separately after cutting them. Otherwise, it was pretty straightforward. Cyndy chose really nice colors to use.

The middle card features a fancy folded card using the retired set "Carte Postal." The double-sided dp has "bonjour" on the reverse side in keeping with the French words and images. I chose "Mon Amie" to give to my friend, Lucienne, the "Queen of France" as her friends call her. We thought it appropriate to use this set with Mary, whose husband works for the post office.

The third was a brayered process and the easiest to do. It is embellished with white gel pen and glitter "snow."

(Click on the photo for a better view.)

Old Supplies, New Card

Here's another Christmas card made with last year's leftovers, a new stamp set and my favorite Martha Stewart punch. Most of my Christmas cards will not have coordinated envelopes due to the high number (100) but this is one exception. The Swiss Dots strip is actually the reverse of a yellow piece of cardstock that I ran through the Cuttlebug awhile back. The "i" in Christmas is dotted with a tiny crystal.

Meanwhile, my SU order from the new catalog should be here soon! Here's what I ordered:

A Wish for Peace
Christ Is Born
Sock Monkey
Pocket Silhouettes
Heard from the Heart
Riding Hood Red cardstock
and matching Designer Series Papers

Ooooh, the anticipation...

Got the Catalog--Woohoo!

Now I'm just waiting for my order to come in, hopefully before the end of this week. I'll post some cards as soon as I get my hands on the new stamp sets--especially the Christmas ones!

See ya then!

While I'm Waiting for the New SU Catalog...

The new Stampin'Up catalog is taking so long, I've resorted to borrowing old sets and going back to leftover designer paper from last year. When you need to make 100 cards by Thanksgiving weekend, you need to jump start in July.


The first card uses a piece of black and white dp from a pack of Christmas designs I bought a year or two ago. The poinsettia stamp is from a set I borrowed from Mary this week. I used a Fiskars corner punch to highlight the burgundy paper on the bottom of the inside. Silver rhinestone stickers from Michael's add bling. I also used black Stickles for the flower center.

The next two cards feature designs I came up with using the new CB border folders.

The tan card features the dotted border which I criss-crossed and mimicked with the red twine. The polkadot paper also carries the theme. The gold beads in the flower center on the burgundy card are also from Michael's.

All the cardstock is from a package I bought several weeks ago on sale at Michael's. It has 50 sheets, which translates into 100 cards.

Since I'm working with scraps and leftovers, all the cards so far are one of a kind. Not bad, actually; but it's slow going. I'm looking forward to settling down to one design just as soon as I get my hands on a SU catalog!!!

Meanwhile, Back to Summer:

Here's a card using leftover scraps from my scrap drawer--once again, it pays to keep some handy! I even had some leftover purple-tinted gems to dress it up.

Variation on a Theme

Here's the same card recipe as the previous post in a different color scheme. I used the holly and berry peg stamps in place of the pine and pine cones, metallic gold paper in place of the brown and a different designer paper. Isn't it amazing how a change of color can make such a difference!!

Notice how the large button has the words "twenty-five" printed on it. How appropriate is that! (Unfortunately, it's the only like it in the whole assortment.)

I've done 10 of this design--90 cards to go--and working on a new design for the next batch of 10, so stay tuned!

1Down, 99 to go!

Christmas is coming! I'm late getting started this year because the SU catalog won't be coming out until Aug. 11; so in the meantime, I got started using my new Hero Arts postage set and my old Rubber Stamp Tapestry peg stamps for the pine and pine cones. This took awhile (too long for 100 cards) so I'll be switching to a simpler design later, say Aug. 12th??

Thank you, Anna Wight!

Just made my first card with my new Whipper Snapper Designs set, and I love what you can do with this one. The flowers and butterfly were painted with Twinkling H2O's. The leaves were stamped with Memories dye ink, Soft Leaf. I used gold Tw.H2O to highlight around the flowers to give them a sunny glow.