Make a Difference

After some serious deadline stamping, I am back to projects for friends and family this weekend. Seems like I have been out of that zone for ages.

 This is a card that I created this morning to send to my girlfriend, Jill. She is leaving on Sunday for a 7 day trip to Red Bird Missions in Kentucky. I am so proud of her for organizing this event for her church and being committed to bringing glory to God in her walk with Him. Over and over again in our friendship, she has proven (with action, not words) that His Glory is her purpose. I *love* her for that! She leaves on Sunday, so being the last-minute Lori that I am, I’ll be overnighting this to her with an absolute trip necessity, chocolate, oh! and quarters for the Diet Coke machine!

I got to ink up some new rubber from eclectic Paperie this morning. I just love this butterfly and the spring blooms. This tri-fold card is fun because the folds are just a little bit unexpected out of the envelope. Here is a picture of how it looks with the first panel  lifted and then completely open:

 The hardest part about making this is keeping the measurements straight. Other than that, you just stamp and embellish like any other project. Here are the measurements so you can try this too! Bottom layer: 4 1/4″ x 5 1/2″, Second layer:  4 1/8″ x 8 1/2″ (score at 5 3/8″) and Top Layer: 3 1/4″ x 9″ (scored at 4 1/2″).

Colors used are Regal Rose and Caribbean Cool. Butterfly stamped on Shimmery White - love that stuff!! and then accented with Rose Red ink on a super-mini sponge that I hold with crocodile clips. Stickles cover the wings to give her some more shimmer. Ribbons are all from Stampin’ UP! The stitched ribbon is from Sweet Shoppe Ribbon Originals, Caribbean Cool fibers are Elizabeth Fibers dyed with reinker and then Rose Grosgrain ribbon. One note about the Elizabeth Fibers - if you are on the fence - TRY THESE FIBERS! They are gorgeous and shimmery, and they retain their shimmer even after you dye them which is a very quick process, less messy than you might think.

The scalloped edge was made by removing the corner guard on my Stampin’ UP! corner rounder and punching straight across the edge of the cardstock. My friend, Beate has a excellent visual tutorial. You can view it here: Fresh and Fun.

My blog wasn’t the only thing neglected this week. I’m off to do laundy and tidy up. I’ll be back over the weekend! I have several more things I want to show you! Thanks for stopping by!

What a way to bring some cheer to a sloppy, wet, rainy day! This beauty from my friend, Teresa Shaw, paper genius, from the Sunshine State found it’s way to my mailbox. I just *adore* the card!

Several things about this card make it perfect for me! First off, So Saffron is one of my favorite SU! colors. In fact, most of my home is decorated in this color. Combine that with the dreary weather (poor lighting), and I had a hard time getting a good photo. The other thing that Teresa and I share is a love for the Linograph Background stamp. Just another example of a good thing that caught on a little too late. It’s one of those stamps that seemed to pick up pace in the popularity race just about the time it hit the retirement list. 

Run on over and check out Teresa’s blog. If you’re quick and you leave her some *love* by way of comments <wink>, you might get some blog candy out of the deal! Teresa, you know I love your stuff, and I think you are extra sweet! Thanks for making a difference in my day!

Each month I lead a stamping or paper crafting class at the county adult education building. Thought I would share a project that I am sharing at the county career center here in my community this week. The gals are making a lunch tin very similar to this one and a quick set of note cards! I just love these for a quick gift idea!

I used the Friends and Flowers Simply Scrappin’ Kit to put this together in a jiffy. The big petal flower is stamped with vanilla craft ink using my beloved, Paisley BG stamp from Stampin’ UP! “Smile” is from a versatile SU! set called “Be Happy!” That’s all the stamping here, folks. The rest was pieced together oh-so-quickly. I think my girls in the class will *love* it because they are all about attractive and duplicatable gift ideas. 

The biggest question about these tins seems to be, “how do I adhere my paper?” I use 2 methods: 1) most often & here, I used Stampin’ UP! Sticky Strip to adhere a heavy-weight cardstock. I put a strip of adhesive on each edge and a few pieces in the middle. That seems to do the trick. 2) if I am using a lesser weight cardstock or decorative paper, I use Mod Podge. I cover the tin with Mod Podge using a foam brush for even distribution, then I carefully wrap the paper around the tin, pressing firmly to smooth out air bubbles. (I might even use the back of a wood-block stamp to press the bubbles out.) Then, I apply another layer of thin Mod Podge, again with the foam brush. Let dry and you’re good to go.

 This particular tin was a silent auction donation to raise money for a family here in town suffering from cancer. I filled it with some paper-shred, a set of quick notecards and some chocolate nuggets. Easy-peasy! The auction was all about trying to Make a Difference for this family during an incredibly difficult time. They raised over $5000 that night! I was more than happy to donate, and even happier when my girlfriend told me that the tin went for more than a pure-bred labrador puppy on the same auction. I can’t believe it, but sure made me feel good! <wink>

My husband & I took our girls to Branson, MO this past week for a mini vacation. We had a great time, and I returned late Saturday night to find some ‘happy mail’! How fun!! I had some new rubber from Anna Wight, aka SweetMissDaisy. Can’t wait to play with that and show you some new things! AND, I had 2 gorgeous cards from my SCS friends, Britta Ward and Beate Johns!

Britta, aka Camsmom, paper genius, is just a doll who I met and roomed with at Stampin’ UP’s Houston Leadership training this past January. I love that she sent me this card. You can get the details on her awesome blog - Made by *B* - but the 2 things that stand out are 1) her using a favorite layout, on an angle, for me and 2) the saying about a true friend. That’s special! Britta, is a longtime moderator at SCS, and she gives TONS of time to making it the *best* stamping site on the net. When you check out her blog, make sure you give her some love! Thank you, Britta! You are ROCKin’!

 The other special card waiting for me was from my friend, Beate Johns, paper genius. Beate has been so helpful and encouraging to me the last few months. We have started down this blog-road together, and I have learned a lot from her. She has sent me tips, tricks and very pretty cards. I envied this one on her blog, Fresh and Fun, last week! Check out her *awesome* tutorial for this card, the Cami-trifold! Those of you who are SU! demos, no doubt, know Beate from her frequent cards on the Showcase, and SCSers know her from her gorgeous gallery uploads and the staggering numbers of incredible stamping tutorials that she has written.  Beate, thanks for thinking of and encouraging me! You are one special lady!

No winter lasts forever…no spring fails to come.

I just love that quote. I know it’s out there on a stamp somewhere, and when I find it again, it’s mine!

Seems like the last month has just drug on and on as I wait for that first fresh breath of spring.  I am in the midst of taxes and that hush-hush stampin’ project I mentioned last week, but wanted to share with you one of my favorite things.

When we purchased our house over 2 years ago, we inherited the most beautiful water garden thanks to the love and care of the previous owners. I *love* to have the back door open and hear the water fountain bubbling up. We enjoy sitting beside it with an iced tea and watching the fish and frogs. The water lilies, when they bloom, are just gorgeous.

So imagine my surprise when I came home from an errand a few minutes ago and Wes had the fountain going for the first flow of the season. Until 4 days ago, we still had 3 inches of ice over most of our pond! I just sat in the car, window down, listening…smiling. Ahhhhh, that sound…spring is here.

The water garden is kind of like me. It’s a little rough around the edges after a long, cold winter, but the flowing water reminds me more than anything that God sees inherent beauty in each of us, and He alone can change the view…it’s about his timing. 

He is like a tree planted by streams of water, which yields its fruit in season and whose leaf does not wither. Whatever he does prospers.        ~ Psalms 1:3

Here’s a SU! sample that I promised yesterday. Finally mounted my Doodle That, and used it in the Ways To Use It Challenge  over at Splitcoast. I am determined that this is the week I have 100% on the challenges, just for fun!

The challenge was to incorporate fabric into your card some way, some how. This is be no means my favorite card of all time, but I wanted to play and it had to be fairly quick. I’ve got stuff to do….lol! So, dug out this scrap of fabric and used it like I would background paper. This is a layout that I use over and over again! I especially like it with the scalloped punch.

Doodle That is stamped in Timber Brown StazOn on watercolor paper, watercolored with Classic Ink and Markers. I used the StarDust Clear Gelly Roll to give the petals a little shimmer and a pretty Prima in the corner. (I have Primas, I just find them hard to use and look natural on the card, KWIM? This was a stretch for me.) Should I have used more than one Prima? Left it off completely? I didn’t want to overpower the Doodle That, and I didn’t want to add more stamped flowers, either. Comments? Critiques? 

I have lots of things to work on today for an upcoming SU! deadline. For the first time ever, SU! is selecting 10 paper artists for an Artisan Award. The application is pretty detailed and very involved. However, the honor of winning and prize is definately worth the efforts, so I am going to see what I can pull together. You don’t know if you don’t try! My friend, Beate, paper genius, reminded me this morning that entries cannot be posted anywhere on the web, so it will be a while before you get any peeks at what I come up with. So sad, I know…

Have a great day! 

Took at peek at the Splitcoast Technique Lover’s Challenge from Monday (since I have some extra time this afternoon). Man oh Man! Frayed Ribbon! Perfect for my little chick card! 

This card was hard to photograph because the bottom 1″ is cut from the front panel so that “thinking of you” shows through on the closed card. This lone chick is another of Anna Wight’s, paper genius, new releases over at WhipperSnapper Designs.

The chick is watercolored with an aquapainter and Classic ink from Stampin’ UP! The card base is Cool Caribbean and the polka dot paper from the Polka & Paisley line in the new Spring Mini. Scalloped punch is from Marvy Uchida. I’d recommend a place to buy, but I think they are like a needle in a haystack these days, something about importing issues, I think.

I have used a little glitter to accent the flower in the chick’s mouth and some of the white polka dots. The pink grosgrain ribbon is frayed by snipping off the outer edge of the ribbon and then shredded apart. Voila! Chicken Feathers! 

Stay tuned for some new SU! designs tomorrow! I need to create a few samples for my classes and workshops this month. 

WOW! I am on my second SCS challenge for the week! That’s a record for me!

Here is some more new WhipperSnapper Rubber. This stamp, called “King of the Jungle“, was created by Shelley Comiskey. I have several of her stamps in my collection. I love her style, and the size (though big) makes them easy to watercolor. I also love that the stamps themselves come with a colored sticker on the wood block. It makes it easy for me to see where the original artist intended variations of color and shading. EASY! EASY! to watercolor that way.

 This layout is for this week’s SCS Sketch Challenge. This image is stamped on watercolor paper with Timber Brown StazOn ink. I like the fact that WhipperSnappers come pre-cut and mounted for your immediate stampin’ pleasure, but I have had some trouble picking up ink on the edges of the stamps from time to time. Everytime it happened, I had pressed the stamp too hard into my ink.  I have solved this issue by turning my stamp upside down and gently gliding the ink pad over the rubber image. 

King, here, is watercolored with SU! Classic inks, directly from the pad with an aquapainter. The background is stamped with the Canvas BG stamp from SU! The strip of Bashful Blue cardstock has some decorative punches made with the paper piercer and template from my SU! tool kit. I used some rhinestones, small Making Memories brads and a little bit of pale blue CindyRibbon rik rak to finish off the card.

The kiddos are playing oh so sweetly, so I might go back and check on Monday’s challenge! Thanks for peeking in on my blog!

Had some time for the SCS Color Challenge today, and was I ever surprised to pop in and see my friend, Sharon Harnist, paper genius, as a guest host for the weekly challenge!

 Today’s theme for Color Challenge 104 is So Saffron, Regal Rose and Certainly Celery. Sharon called her sample Saffron Roses, but I am still smitten with my new WhipperSnapperRubber. So I went with one of Anna’s new stamps and created …

Saffron Chickens!

These hot chicks are stamped with Timber Brown StazOn, and watercolored with the aquapainter and ink pads. Colors are So Saffron, Certainly Celery and Regal Rose accented with Chocolate Chip. I often use Chocolate Chip where others might choose black. It just seems to work so well with …well, almost everything. Card is accented with Loves Me paper from the SU! Winter Mini, Apricot Appeal Grosgrain , Hodgepodge Hardware and a bit of Dazzling Diamonds. The inside of the card has a matted layer of So Saffron and the words “Hey Chick!”

I have had some brand, spankin’ new WhipperSnapperRubber on my shelf for about a week and a half. I was soooo excited to get this order because it was full of new releases. All of the stamps that I purchased this time, except one, were created by Anna Wight, paper genius. Anna designed over 100 stamp images in this release. I have the catalog supplement, and they are simply adorable! Congratulations, Anna!

I bought some of those fabulous Karen Foster Snap Stamps to go with ‘em, and created a few spring themed cards.  Snap Stamps are great because you click the individual letters of the alphabet together to create your own sayings and such. Here are a few cards to show off:

Happy Birthday, Spring Chick!

I sent this card to my girlfriend, Erin this week. I just love the little chick with the flower.  She’s stamped in Timber Brown StazON on watercolor paper. The flower is dressed up a bit with Dazzling Diamonds. The chicken feet are part of a favorite SU! set called ‘Best of Cluck!’

Three Cluck Hens

I had to have this stamp for my friends, Jill and Sarah! We were part of an accountability group who called ourselves the ‘babe chicks’ several years ago. The three of us continue to conference call weekly (we are in different states)  to discuss different aspects of our Christian walk and bounce ideas off of.  Everyone needs a place where they can receive honest feedback and constructive criticism. We’ve moved past the babe chick point, and I thought these CLUCK HENS were too appropriate! 

This card is stamped again on watercolor paper, accented with a white Signo Gel Pen, Stardust Clear Gelly Roll pen, big brads and ribbon from Anna’s eBay shop. The paper that I love is from Crate, one side is the floral print and the other is the coordinating tan.