My Helper and my Monday Mailer card

This is my Monday Mailer that I sent out last week.   I used the Beau Chateau Side Notes to create the card.  The Side Notes are uniquely shaped die-cut tags and accents that quickly add dimension, texture, and journaling to any project. They are heavyweight felt-weave paper and come with 24 total notes.  I ordered them a few months ago and forgot about them.  So, when I was trying to decide what to make for my Monday Mailer, I found these on my desk.  I think they worked great for this card.  What say you? 

Supplies:

Paper:  Pretty In Pink, Mocha Morning DSP

Ink:  Soft Suede

Stamps:  Sincere Salutations, Creative Elements

Accessories:  Beau Chateau Side Notes

It's been a rainy cold day here today.  I don't think the temperature got past 55 degrees!  Pretty unusual for late April but we really needed the rain.  And since I didn't have anything planned for today other than doing the laundry, I could stay in my sweats all day!  I talked to my son and his family earlier in the day and he told me it was about 99 degrees there.  What a difference!  I'll take my 55 degrees any day!

I worked on making a few cards today using some of the retired stamps before it's too late.  While working on my cards, I had a little helper!  Can you spot her in the picture below?

This is a drawer unit that I have in my room.  The top drawer wouldn't stay on the tracks, so I removed it.  Sammie loves to jump into the drawer and go down in the back of the drawers.  Don't know what is back there that is so interesting to her.  She has definitely come out of her shell in the month she has been at my house.


This is her favorite spot though.  She likes to stretch out on my table and nudge my hand away from the mouse and onto her head to scratch her.



Craft Project Central Sketch #7

I had fun today creating several cards using the Sale-a-Bration stamps. To create this card, I used the sketch found at Craft Project Central.  One of my fellow NC demos (Regina) posted her card this morning in an e-mail so I decided to check out the site.  I love this sketch - very easy.  Most of the time, if you have a sketch, the rest of the card just falls into place.  I also wanted to use some of the Mocha Morning DSP.  The piece I used is flocked and so pretty up close.  It is such a rich, gorgeous paper and worked great for this card.  What do you think?

A close up of the flower - I stamped the flower twice, cut them out and layered them.

I used the new Labels Framelits (from SU mini Catalog) and the Big Shot for the black label.  I put Versamark ink around the edges and then poured gold embossing powder on them and heated it with the heat gun.  Love the effect!  The flower is also embossed with gold.  I stamped the flower twice and cut it out - layering the 2 pieces with dimensionals.

Stampin' Up products used for this card are:

• Very Vanilla, Basic Black cardstock; Mocha Morning DSP
• Creative Elements stamp
• Black grosgrain ribbon, Lace Ribbon Border Punch, Gold Embossing Powder, Heat Gun, Labels Framelets (from mini catty)
• Versamark Ink
• Rhinestone (in center of flower), Dimensionals

Have a great weekend!

Greensboro Quarterly

The Greensboro Quarterly was so much fun!  It was worth all the effort.  I got some great swaps which I'll be sharing soon.  Marianne and I left Mooresville around noon so it gave us a lot of time to stop and shop along the way.  We stopped at Enchanted Cottage in Lewisville but, surprise, surprise, left without buying anything!  Our next stop was in Winston Salem at Scrapbook Traditions.  Wow!  It is a huge store - 4,000 sq. feet and so organized!  We made a few purchases there!  Our timing was great - we arrived at our hotel around 5:15 with time to check in, unload the car and head over to the church to start on our Shoebox Swaps.  I had made dinner reservations for 7 at Anton's Italian Restaurant.  Anton's was mine and Sonny's favorite restaurant when we were dating.  (We met in Greensboro when we were both living in a single's apartment complex.)  I was excited to see that it was still going strong and being run by the same family.  Two other gals were joining us for dinner but as we were leaving the church, Brenda fell and hit her head pretty hard.  Marianne and I went ahead but they were able to join us later.  We kept our eye on Brenda the rest of the night just in case. The food was awesome.  The only drawback was that there was a 40 year high school reunion going on and the restaurant was full of a lot of loud mouth guys!!  We couldn't even hear each other's conversation. 

Marianne and I worked on our swaps until midnight when we had to call it quits!  We got a little over half of the cards done (there were 28).  We took pictures of the rest of the swaps and collected our packets to do the cards at home.

Saturday we were back at the church by 8:30 and ready to work.  We had a little introduction and welcome time and then it was on to the projects presented by the organizers.  They did a great job and we made a lot of different things which I'll be sharing with you this week.  There were also presentations going on for us to observe - making flower roses and wax paper resist technique. 

One of the new things we did this time was a Favorite Card Contest.  The ones who wanted to participate had made a favorite card and the group voted on their favorite.  It was a secret vote and you didn't know whose card you were voting for.  I really worked hard on my card and it paid off!  My card tied with Nancy Carr's card and we both won!  Here is my card:

I used Creative Elements stamp set, stamping the flower 3 times each, cut each one out and stacked them on top of each other using dimensionals between each level.  In the center of each flower is a rhinesone.  The colors I used were Soft Suede and Pool Party plus the Spice Cake DSP.  I dyed my Vanilla ribbon with Soft Suede ink.
Here is Nancy's card that tied with mine:  It is very pretty.

Marianne also made a great card for the contest.  I really thought she would have won.

So what do you think of our cards?  Do they inspire you?

Marianne and I found a couple more scrapping shops before leaving Greensboro.  One was a "must see"!!  It had so much stuff it was unbelievable!!  It was the Scrapbook Shop on Battleground.  If they didn't have it, I don't think you need it!!  We'll definitely be making another trip there some day.

Creative Elements

I have a new favorite stamp set.  It is Creative Elements.  I don't know why it has taken me so long to use it and realize how beautiful it is.  I ordered the stamp set before I went to Texas and took it with me but I never got a chance to use it while I was there.  And since I've been back, it's been pretty crazy.  But this week, I finally got a chance to put the rubber to the paper.  What do you think?

I stamped four flowers on white cardstock and colored tw of them with different shades of blue Copic markers and cut them out.  The other two I colored with a green Copic marker and cut them up.  I taped the green ones under the blue petals of the flower.  I stamped the flourish in Garden Green.  The Brillant Blue cardstock is the last piece of the retired cardstock that I had and it matched my Copics perfectly.  The green cardstock is Garden Green which is one of my least favorite colors but on this card, it just set off the flowers perfectly.

Marianne and I am going to the Quarterly meeting tomorrow in Greensboro so I probably won't be blogging over the weekend.  But, I'll have new goodies to share when I return.

I went to the Southern Living Luncheon today and ate way too much!  We had 13 people and everyone brought something so that was a lot of food!!  Needless to say, I didn't make dinner tonight.  I had cheese and crackers and tried to get Sonny to make himself a sandwich.  Instead, he had a slice of apple pie!!  So nutritious!   I made the appetizer today - Blue Moon Inn Cheese Spread from the September issue.  It was really good.

Ingredients:

1/2 cup pecans

3/4 cup mayonnaise

1/2 cup pimiento-stuffed Spanish olives, chopped

1/3 cup bottled chili sauce 1 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce

1 (10-oz.) block sharp Cheddar cheese, finely shredded

Garnish: sliced pimiento-stuffed Spanish olives

Assorted vegetables and crackers

 Preparation:

1. Preheat oven to 350°. Bake pecans in a single layer in a shallow pan 8 to 10 minutes or until toasted and fragrant. Cool 5 minutes; finely chop pecans.
2. Stir together mayonnaise and next 3 ingredients until well blended. Stir in cheese and pecans. Garnish, if desired. Serve with vegetables and crackers.
 
We had a lot of dishes that I wouldn't normally try.  That is why I enjoy these luncheons .... I get to try new and different things.  Today I had gazpacho and risotto for the first time and liked them.
 
Let me know what you think of my card!