Ever Wonder What to Do With the Cards You Make?

I saw this today and thought it was hilarious!  Enjoy!

Stamping Queens Sketch 29 - not MDS - and a prize!

Do you believe it?  I did a Queens Sketch Challenge card without using My Digital Studio!!  I think this may be a first!  But what a fun card.   Button Buddies was one of the first sets that I had to have from the SU catalog when it was released last summer and I have not used it near enough.  I thought it was the perfect thing for this sketch.  Unfortunately, I had a hard time getting a good picture of it.

Supplies used:

• Stamps:  Button, Button and Button Buddies
• Ink:  Bashful Blue, Certainly Celery, Pretty in Pink, Wild Wasabi
• Cardstock:  Wild Wasabi, Whisper White
• Accessories:  Wasabi wide grosgrain ribbon, Stamp-a-ma-jig, Soft Subtles Buttons, Bakers Twine

And if you follow THIS LINK, you may win a prize for playing along!!

Here is the sketch for this week:

I really got a good workout at my water aerobics class Tuesday.  The class I took on Monday was really boring and I never really felt like I even got my heart rate going.  I can't say that about Tuesday's instructor.  I think I will be feeling it tomorrow.  But, I would much rather the class be intense so I feel like I am really working out.  Guess I will skip the Monday class from now on.

Go Green for Spring!

I have to make this one quick - I need to get ready to go to the "Y" for a swim aerobics class.  I'm trying hard to be good about working out a little.  This will be two days in a row!!  Sonny doesn't believe it - he thinks I am sick.  I'll show him!

This is the Monday Mailer that I mailed yesterday.  Our theme this month is "Go Green for Spring."  I don't seem to use green much in cards so I am trying to challenge myself.  This card uses a lot of the Sale-a-Bration supplies that were FREE!!

Supplies used:

• Soft Suede card base, Poppy Parade, Whisper White, SAB Enchantment DSP
• Fresh Vintage stamp set (Free - SAB), Tiny Tags stamp
• Ribbon from SAB Brad & Ribbon Pack
• Postage Stamp Punch, Jewelry Tag Punch
• Dimensionals to pop up the postage stamps

This is the last February Monday Mailer that I received from Karen.  The butterfly is covered in glitter - hard to see in this picture.

It was great to talk to Ashley yesterday.  She had a great time on her Rock Boat Cruise but didn't have much of a voice left!  Don't know if you are watching the tv show, The Voice (I love it!) but the first contestant last night on Adam's team was Tony Luca.  He was just on Ashley's cruise.  She called me and said it was so funny watching the show since she was just hanging out with him last week!  He made it through last night on the first cut.  He is really good and I predict he will go pretty far.

Stormy Weekend

Crazy weekend!   Guess everyone knows about all the tornadoes that were reported over the weekend.  Well, we had one touch down in Charlotte.  We didn't get anything at our house except a little rain but it was a different story in northeast Charlotte.  We got an early morning wake up call Saturday morning to see if we would be available later in the day to work at the Red Cross shelter that had been set up for the displaced residents.  The hurricane (oops - tornado) hit about 3 a.m. and did major damage to one neighborhood in Charlotte before moving on to Cabarrus County.  Charlotte bus service moved through the neighborhood collecting people to take them to the shelter.  I think they had about 40-50 people in the shelter.  By the time Sonny and I got there at 3:00 in the afternoon, there was only one family there and they left around 5:30.  So there was a lot of sitting around and doing nothing for a long time!  We were supposed to stay until 11 pm but at 9:00, Sonny and I had had enough and left!  I felt sorry for the volunteers who were coming in for the 11-7 shift and was glad it was not me! 

Sunday Sonny and I went to the movies to see Act of Valor.  It was really good and the actors were actual Navy SEALS.  It was inspired by true events and was a powerful story about anti-terroism.  I can say without a doubt that I am glad my son or my husband did not want to be a SEAL after seeing this film!

I did have a little bit of time though over the weekend to make a few cards.  I made another starburst card ... I really love these cards!  I think we may do one at Stamp Club this month.  This one uses an old paper stach that I had in Pumpkin Pie.  I also used the Triple Treat single stamp that is available for FREE during Saleabration.  (You can also get it in the regular SU catalog.)  What I love about this stamp is that you can use punches to make it dimensional.  I stamped the flower in Not Quite Navy first and using the Fancy Flower Punch, punched it out.  Next I stamped it in Pumpkin Pie and punched out the next layer with the 5-Petal Flower Punch.  The inside circle could be punched with the 1/2" Circle Punch but i decided to use the Boho Blossom Punch and a Designer Brad for the center.

Simply Scored Diagonal Plate

I am excited to offer you the all-new Simply Scored Diagonal Plate  item #125586 perfect for creating envelopes, boxes, and more! It’s the must-have companion to your Simply Scored Tool.

Product Features

• Sits on top of the Simply Scored base
• Held securely in place by rubber pads on back of the plate
• Has etched grooves every 1/8"
• Can score any size card stock up to 12" x 12"
• Includes instructions for creating common envelope sizes
• The new Diagonal Score place has limitless possibilities for creation--especially when the price is just $11.95. You can’t afford not to buy it!
• The Simply Scored products are just what they imply--simple! This new plate was designed to make everything that deals with scoring easy. The plate includes the same 1/8" spacing as the Simply Scored, so each groove of the diagonal plate corresponds with the ruler--and all of your projects!
• The Diagonal plate contains wonderful features like two silicone patches on the back to hold it in place while you are scoring your projects. It also has this arrow on the back to help you use it correctly. Just make sure the arrow is pointing to the ruler before you use it.
• Are you worried about finding another place to store your tools? The Diagonal Plate stores easily right on top of your Simply Scored, so you’ll know exactly where to find it.

And it is available for you to order NOW!

Click below to watch the video from Stampin' Up:

Startburst Card

Each week I receive a newsletter from Splitcoast Stampers with new techniques and ideas in card making.  It is free so if you are not signed up for it, you should!!  So one of today's "hot topics" was how to make a Starburst background.  It is great for using up scraps of DSP.  I just love how this card turned out using the Twitterpated DSP from the Occasions Mini Catalog.

I even made a "lolly" medallion out of the DSP.  So what are you waiting for?  Gather up some of your scraps and make one yourself.  Here is the tutorial for the card - http://www.owhstarsandstamps.org/2011/06/tutorial-starburst.html

I attended the Newcomers Southern Living luncheon today.  We had so much food that I didn't have to eat any dinner!!  There were about 25 ladies there and each brought a dish from the Southern Living magazine.  We had 4 appetizers, 4 salads (all of them were a variation of spinach salad), 4 main dishes (all of them chicken!), 3-4 vegetables, 2 breads and 2 cakes, 1 pie, 1 cobbler, and pecan bars!  Wow!  I sampled a little of everything (except the carrots and asparagus) and it was all delicious.  But I am still stuffed!!  I have a friend who had a knee replacement last week and just came home from the hospital today.  So, I made her a plate - well, actually 3 plates!  That should tide her over for a couple of days!

I have been walking with a bit of spring in my step.  Some good things have been happening in my family and things are starting to look up for strained relationships.  I am hopeful! 

Stamping Queens Sketch 28

I made a pretty masculine card for the Stamping Queens Sketch Challenge this week.  This is pretty out of the norm for me but it's good to stretch yourself and do something different, don't you think?

Again, I used My Digital Studio to create the card.  The stamp set is from Extreme Elements and Word Play.  The colors I used are Soft Suede, Not Quite Navy and Kiwi Kiss (which is retired but is one of my favorites!)

Ashley started her vacation today.  She is spending a couple of days in New Orleans with her friends before they all board the cruise ship.  They depart on Thursday afternoon for Cozumel although she doesn't care where they go.  The fun is being on the Rock Boat Cruise and enjoying all the shows and concerts on board.  She has been going on this cruise for about 10 years I think.  They missed the year Katrina hit and of course, she missed it last year.  Each year she adds to the group that goes with her on the cruise.  I think they are up to 30-40 people in their group now!  Friends from college, medical school, DC, Army, Seattle, etc. as well as their friends are in the group.   

Totally Addicting .... Pinterest!

Have you discovered Pinterest?  Oh, so addictive!  I find myself "pinning" so many things.  Who knows if I'll ever go back and do anything with them - especially the recipes I've been pinning but it's a good creative outlet to look at what others like.  Here's a link to my fav's.

I saw a card on Pinterest which inspired this card I have made.  .I did  two versions of the card .  After I made the first one, I decided it would be cool to paper-piece the butterfly to match the DSP so that's what I did in the second card.  What do you think?

 I used a FREE stamp set from Sale-a-bration - Outlined Occasions and colored it in with my Pacific Point, Daffodil and Lucky Limeade markers.  I stamped the butterfly from Flight of the Butterfly with Pacific Point ink.   I used the Adorning Accents die and embossing folder for the various layers along with the DSP from Beyond the Garden.

This is the second version of the card with the butterfly paper-pieced with the Beyond the Garden DSP.

Here is the inside of the card - you can see a peek of the DSP when the card is closed - you just can't tell from above.

I have a great tip for you using the Framelits Dies from the mini catalog - specifically the Labels  but you could also do this with the Hearts.  You can emboss with them as well as cut the frames.  Here is what it looks like:

Here's how to do it:
Set your Big Shot Multipurpose platform so Tab 1 is on the bottom and add the following:
-Plastic Cutting Pad
-Rubber Flexible Crease Pad
-The card stock you are embossing
-Framelit with cutting edge facing upward (make sure it's facing UPWARD! if you place the cutting edge down it will cut through your card stock and maybe your crease pad)  Ask me how I know this??
-scrap cardstock or lightweight chipboard
-Standard cutting pad
-Shim or extra piece of copy paper

And here is another great idea -

What I did on this one was first emboss the cardstock with the Lattice Embossing Folder.  Then I took the two Labels Dies and inked them with Versamark.  Then I made the sandwich as outline above.  Isn't it cool?

Monday Mailers

Just a quick post before I head out to play cards today!

I haven't shared the Monday Mailers I have received this month.  They are great cards!  Our theme for February is to use any item in the Mini Catalog or SAB Catalog so I have been getting lots of good ideas from the cards!!

Enjoy Every Moment

I made this great birthday card this weekend to send to a good friend for her birthday.  I had such fun making the card.  It was trial and error cutting the little squares and getting them spaced out but I finally got it pretty close.  The squares are 3/4" each and I didn't have a punch for that size so I used the good ole SU cutter.   I used last fall's Spice Cake DSP (which is no longer available) and Pool Party card stock.  I used a lot of different elements for this card - the eyelet at the top is retired but I still love them!  I ran a piece of the eyelet ribbon through it and used my Crop-a-dile to set the eyelet.  The tag is just a metal tag that I got at an office supply store.  The bird is from a retired SU set and I colored it with markers.  The butterfly is punched using the SU butterfly punch.  I layered the Pool Party behind the Spice Cake DSP and used the Butterfly Embosslit Die for the small butterfly in the center,  I wrapped twine around the center for the antennae.

I got news today that my friend and the owner of our local stamp store lost her husband in a battle with dementia.  What a cruel disease!  He had steadily been going downhill for the past year and died in her arms last night.  She told me recently to enjoy every moment I had with my husband and I am passing that advice along to you.  Enjoy every moment of life and take time to give thanks for what you have.

Well, it's starting to storm here - thunder, lightning and winds outside so I'd better sign off and shut down my electronics!!