Birthday Card Challenge

The Denami Challenge theme is "birthday". I have so very many "girl" cards, that I thought this would be a good time to create a "boy" card. I definitely accomplished that by using Crumbcake and Night of Navy Cardstock and ink, together with a little of the Neutrals' Designers paper pack. The Denami birthday set stamps are very cute. Even better, the Denami birthday hat matches an image from the Cricut "Celebrations" cartridge. I was able to cut a hat that would fit perfectly in the center of the Celebrate stamp, also from Denami. Hope you are having a great weekend.

A Cute Sydney Story

I just have to share my granddaughter's wonderful sense of humor. Sydney turned six years old last month and she is our little dolly. She hangs with me and John quite a bit (so glad we moved back from Phoenix so we can do that). Between her mommy and me, Sydney learned about senses of humor early in life. My husband was on a ten day fishing trip up in Canada a couple of weeks ago. He caught some very nice fish--the opposite of not catching any when he went fishing on Father's Day with Sydney. We met Sydney and Jenny for dinner the other night to celebrate Syd's first day of first grade. John started showing her the pics from the fishing trip. One was a 39" Northern. Sydney looked at it and then with this cute little smile on her face says, "So John, who painted the fish on the picture for you?" My daughter and I were practically rolling on the floor at the restaurant we were laughing so hard. I am sure it was one of those times when you needed to be there but her tone of voice and the sweet little smile on her face was beyond description. And of course the face on Grandpa John was pretty precious, too.

So Simple

Today's card is one I consider to be extremely simple, yet pretty. I used the Level 1 Hostess Set--Silhouette Sentiments--together with Regal Rose cardstock and ink, Whisper White cardstock and white taffeta ribbon. In addition to those supplies, I used the oval punch and the scalloped Oval from the Magnetic Movers & Shapers Sizzix die. The possibilities are endless when it comes to using this stamp set as the set includes 4 sentiments and 4 images. Don't have punches? Stamp an image on a square or rectangle you cut with your paper trimmer or with your Cricut. And of course, the stamp-a-ma-jig comes in handing when centering the image. Have a wodnerful day and find yourself a little stampin' time.

Thank You

Today's card is quick and simple. I used two of the pattern papers in the Brights stack, the scallop edge border punch, retired ribbon and a sentiment from the Thank You Kindly stamp set on page 158. Since my last post, I have been researching two items: a computer for my scraproom and Make the Cut software that I can use with my Cricut. My first thought is to get an Apple computer for my office and take this one downstairs. But then do I really need an Apple? I have been reading that Windows 7 has many great features on it and that would be much less of an investment. In the meantime, I have been organizing photos and scrap pages so that when I do decide on a computer, I will be able to whip out titles and embellishments using the MTC software. Of course, after doing a couple of the MTC tutorials I doubt that I will be "whipping" anything out! Have a great day.

Cricut Cards

Sunday was Cricut Sunday and we all made this stairstep card. The Life Is a Beach cartridge has the chair, crab, dolphins and sun images on it, so there was no need to swap cartridges. In order to "weather" the chair a bit, I applied gray chalk from my SU pastels. As the card is right now, it is an all occasion card. But when I know who I am sending this card to and for what occasion, I will stamp a sentiment on a little cloud an add that to the sky. The sentiment is not a SU stamp, but it is the perfect sentiment for this beach card. The "Celebrate" card was quick and easy. The greeting and party hats are from the Celebration cartridge. Using the Cricut software I welded a party hat to each end of the greeting. If you do not have the software, no big deal. Just make a couple of little party hats and adhere them close to the sentiment. Quick and simple but so perfect! Try to find yourself a little time to "rest, relax and enjoy your day"!

Sympathy Card

One of my all time favorite and often-used stamp sets is Teeny Tiny Wishes on page 157 of the SU IB&C. I now have another favorite stamp set. It is the Just Believe stamp set on page 109 of the new IB&C. These two sets work very well together. "With Sympathy" is from the Teeny Tiny Wishes set and fits perfectly in the frame image shown here which is from the Just Believe set. A number of the sentiments from Teeny Tiny Wishes fit in this frame. The Just Believe set also has three very nice sentiments that will fit in the frame image. I just have to mention that the stamp-a-ma-jig is the tool to have when stamping the sentiment in the frame! Have a wonderful day!

Meet Riley. . .

. . .the moose. Isn't he just sooo cute? Riley is not a SU character, but he caught my attention as I was browsing the web. I was looking for a fishing or hunting stamp for my husband's birthday card and happened upon Riley. Once again I played with my Copic markers and together with my SU markers, the image turned out pretty good--just don't look to closely--LOL! The paper is from the Brights Patterns Designer Series Paper Stack now available thru SU. I adhered the pattern paper to both Pacific Point and Green Galore. I know, this green is no longer available but it matched my green Copic markers. The Paper Stacks that SU is now offering are great. They are 12x12 and there is a stack for each color collection. You get a total of 40 sheets of paper per stack, 2 each of 2 double-sided designs, in 10 colors. The cost is $19.95 plus shipping and tax. My next SU order will include the Neutrals Stack. I am thinking that the Whisper White and Very Vanilla are beautiful papers and will be perfect for any occasion. Actually, I am interested in seeing all of the neutrals collection in the paper stack. Keep cool today and find yourself a little stampin' or scrappin' time!

Denami Challenge

Glitter was required for this Denami Challenge. Anyone who knows me knows that I do not like using glitter. I have a nice selection of glitter, I just do not like when it gets all over my work space. And believe me, no matter how careful I am when using glitter, I find traces of it for days. The Melon Mambo and Black cardstock and ink is from SU. The stamps are a couple of my recent stamp purchases from Denami at CHA. Have a great day everyone!

Blue Hydrangea

Hydrangeas are fascinating flowers. I had a number of beautiful blue hydrangeas earlier in the summer and they were the inspiration for this card. As of late, some of the blue hydrangeas have turned pink! The color of hydrangeas has to do with the soil, but since I am not a gardener--rather a garden admirer--I cannot share the scientific explanation of the changes. The hydrangeas were the inspiration for this card. I used Pear Pizzazz for the card base and Bashful Blue and Night of Navy ink and cardstock. The hydrangea image and the sentiment are from the Just Because Level 1 Hostess set. I carefully inked the flower section using a N of N ink pad and then used the Pear Pizzazz marker to color directly on the stamp. Once stamped, I filled the flower using a Bashful Blue maker and a Certainly Celery marker to fill the stem and leaves. Have a great day!

Elegant Lines Embossing Folder

The cards I am posting today were made using the Elegant Lines Embossing Folder which is in the new Idea Book & Catalog. The blue card was made using Marina Mist cardstock which I embossed with the folder and then adhered to a Very Vanilla card base. Using Pink Pirouette cardstock, I embossed the front of the card base--no layering needed. The Happy Anniversary greeting is from the Teeny Tiny Wishes stamp set and both cards were embellished using 5/8" Very Vanilla Satin ribbon. Same card, two different looks. If you are someone who follows my blog, you can tell that the Teeny Tiny Wishes stamp set is one I use quite often. Purchasing this particular set was a very wise choice for me. There are 24 greetings included in this set. When I saw the price of $36.95, I hesitated. But seeing that it is one of my "go-to" sets, I have gotten my money's worth. Have a wonderful day and find yourself a little stampin" time.

CHA Make & Takes

Here are pics of some of the Make & Takes that were available at the CHA Supershow. There were many more Make & Takes that people could participate in, but my choices were based on the vendors I had on my list of those I definitely wanted to visit. The first picture includes cards from Papertrey and Endless Creations and a favor box from Denami. The second photo shows the cards made at the Archivers' booth and EK Success. I plan on recreating all of the above posted creations using my SU supplies. If the CHA Supershow is ever in your neighborhood, check it out. We purchased tickets on line at a discounted price and then validated our parking garage ticket to save another $5. As mentioned, I had a list of the vendors I wanted to visit. I came very close to purchasing a new die cut machine, but then knew I needed a new computer first as this particular machine needs a computer. Reality took over, so, I dodged that bullet--or should I say, my hubby dodged that bullet! (At least for the time being--LOL!) So what computer should I buy? Maybe a MAC? I never even played on a MAC, so I don't know. Back to CHA, when I came home, I was very happy with all my purchases. There were things I wished I had purchased. But again, if I really need them, I can shop online. Have a great day!