Make a Difference

Last week or sometime in the flurry of last week of school activities, I mailed some of these images and DieCutsWithAView paper to Angel, Beate, Jenn & Sharon. Beate wasn’t happy with me…about the purple…but what was I thinking?? This was a tough one for me, too!

Bird by WhipperSnapper stamped in Black StazOn on Shimmery White. He’s colored with SU! reinkers and an aquapainter. The green paper is from Basic Grey - LilyKate collection. The scallops are made with my SU! corner punch (guard removed). To make the double layer, I started with the patterened paper and punched the scallops, then I laid the green over that and matched up the punch to the middle scallop, punched one and then worked my way to both edges. “Chirp UP!!” is with my Karen Foster Snap Stamps.

I’m off to check on the other girls’ cards….I’m sure they did much better with purple tones, and I have no one to blame but myself…<sigh>

A little apprehensive when I saw the color challenge this morning over at SCS. Cool Carribean, Chocolate Chip and GARDEN GREEN! I rarely use Garden Green, by choice!

All the white cardstock is SU! Glossy, Inks are SU! Classics in colors mentioned above. Stamped images are from Stampendous. I get my Stampendous stuff from Joy & Daisy at eclectic Paperie. The Linograph background is a retired SU! favorite stamp. I thought it helped with a retro look. The flowers and butterfly are accented with Stickles for a little sparkle and shine. 

Thanks for looking!

A few more RAKs to show you this morning. Sure makes going to the mailbox a fun thing to do again. Remember when you were a kid, and it was so fun to see what was waiting in there…even when it was never for you? Thank you, thank you, ladies! Take a look at these beauties ~  

 Beate Johns ~ Fresh and Fun

Pam Downs!

This was a 10 minute card that I stamped on Friday night. I was headed to the hospital to see my friend Sarah’s new baby boy! I was in a hurry to go snuggle the ‘little’ (10′8″) guy. What a doll!

The card is SU! notecard size, and attached to a vase of flowers. The stamps are from a set out of the 2006 Winter Mini - stamp buffet. They are stamped in StazON Black, the lamb on Whisper White. On the lamb, I watercolored around the outside of the lamb and then gave the inside line a thin touch of the lightest gray marker to make him POP! I tried to refrain from glitter because the baby is, well, a boy…but I wasn’t successful! LOL! Hey, at 10′ 8″ there’s nothing sissy about him, and a little glitter never hurt nobody! The little paper charm has a J for Jack, and the saying says “your baby is a dream come true”. The monogram alphabet is from a Paper Salon tin.

A couple more gorgeous RAKs that have made their way to Missouri recently. Look at these gorgeous cards! Thank you ladies for making me feel like a princess!

My sweet friend, Angel

uber-talented, Jami Sibley!

OK…not hand-stamped, but I laughed until I cried…from my dear friend, Jill! Check out those plaid pants….LOL!

This is for a WhipperSnapperDesigns swap that I am participating in. Can’t wait to see what the other gals come up with! Little guy, an Anna Wight original design, is stamped with StazON Black on Shimmery White, colored with aquapainter and SU! inks - from the ink box lid. I gave him some extra shimmer with Dazzling Diamonds on the tail feathers and the leaf, added a Prima where Anna’s flower should be, ticket corner punch the top edges and layer on black. The sentiment is stamped with Karen Foster Snap Stamps, and the tag (made with the 3/4″ circle punch) says “Chirp UP!” Color scheme for card is Caribbean Cool, Pretty in Pink and Basic Black. Ribbon is pink grosgrain and pink gingham.

The black layer is embossed with a Cuttlebug embossing folder. Why, oh why, did I wait so long to try my Cuttlebug embossing folders? I have had them FOREVER - or atleast 6 months! I use mine with a Sizzix machine (because I refuse to buy another dust collector!) I’ll post pictures of how I do that later tonight for anyone who is refusing the Bug, but not the embossing plates!

I made 2 extra cards of this design this morning, and they have both been used by my family today for friends in the hospital and not feeling well. And, speaking of Anna Wight, she’s got a big ole blog candy secret this weekend. Check it out at Sassy & Sweet!

Thanks for looking!

In all the last week of school and birthday hype last week, I lost the first birthday card that I made for my nephew, Zachary. (It’s still MIA, with a school form already filled out & a thinking of you card - all addressed, all stamped…LOST!) So, for once I was going to be on-time with a card, and still ended up being late!

This card is for yesterday’s Sketch Challenge 125 over at Splitcoaststampers! Lots of wide open space was the goal of the challenge.

Using Crab & Company from the SU! Spring Mini (I accidently ordered 2 for a customer, and kept the extra because of Cambria! ~ love her stuff!), I colored the little guys in with PrismaColor pencils and blended them stumps and Gamsol. You can see the easy to follow, Gamsol Magic tutorial: HERE! The center panel (approx 1″x3″) is slipped into the crabs claw which I cut out with an exacto knife. I have been working on keeping the inside panels of my cards “clean”, so I snipped the prongs off of the black brads with wire cutter and adhered them in the corners with glue dots.

It’s 2:20 a.m. and the tech guys over at Splitcoast are doing a software upgrade - woo-hoo! But, I can’t post any links tonight. I’ll try to update that tomorrow, so you can see the challenges, the inspiration for the stamps and the tutorial for the pencil technique. Thanks for looking! I’m off to bed!

More of those BEAUTIFUL RAKs to show you. Here’s another 3 for you to oogle at. Special thanks to all the ladies who have send some happy mail my way. Gorgeous, gorgeous cards and great techniques.  Check these out!~

Love this sparkler, Lynn Mercurio ~ Lynn in St. Louis

Thank you, Kara Bidelspach ~ hulkabigtoe

Thanks so much, Kerney Whitman ~ mom2grace

I have a small mountain of BEAUTIFUL RAKs to show you. I thought I would post 3 a day to give you some eye candy. Special thanks to all the ladies who have send some happy mail my way. Gorgeous, gorgeous cards and great techniques.  On with the show ~

From Debbi ~ stampinCPA

From Debi Klason ~ bottomphish

From Angel Wilde

This is for the SCS Color Challenge today - click here to see the challenge - any card layout using Certainly Celery, Vintage Violet and Old Olive ink. This particular card is for my husband’s grandmother, Nana. She’ll be 93 years young this week.

The layout came from a card I received from Trudee Sauer, paper genius, some time ago. It looks like a pocket card, but it opens from the right. The top 1 1/4″ is scored across the front of the card, a slit cut down the center fold and folded down to create a flap. The flower panel (Flowers for a Friend - hostess set) sits on top of the front panel and sticks up over the top flap. The Celery Palette O Prints layer is actually mounted on the inside of the card to write on.  Now to get it in the mail on time….