Cute as a Button...

Good morning!

Hopefully, you are all enjoying a Monday of rest :)  Well, it's definitely Monday, and that means a new Stamp of the Week at Repeat Impressions!  Today's SOTW is "Cute as a Button".

Repeat Impressions 'Cute as a Button (4126-W), Tag (lg) (5216-W), New Arrival (4116-W), Pink Tombow Marker, Amuse Dots Cardstock, Ribbon from my stash, Dimensional Foam, Baker's Twine (Really Reasonable Ribbon), Memento Tuxedo Black Dye Ink, Colorbox Pink Pastel Chalk Ink

I wanted to keep this as simple as possible, so that the stamp would be in the spotlight.  If you have any questions, let me know. I've listed the supplies under the photo - feel free to let me know if you need additional info.

My fellow Rockstars have some delightful projects to share today, as well!  Hop over to see their beautiful creations!

Cheri     Geri     Karen

Remember, there is still time for joining in challenges at the Repeat Impressions blog, The House That Stamps Built - check out the blog for details!

Have a great week,
Patti J.

P.S. Thanks so much to those of you who have so graciously sent cards and/or packages to our DD and to our SIL in Afghanistan.  If anyone would like to send anything else, the shipping/mailing deadline is October 1st.  With good luck, these men and women will be back in the USA by mid December.  I have a list of needed items, so feel free to contact me.  Thanks again to some very amazing and wonderful ladies out there, for being so thoughtful the past 7 months!

Beautiful Life Together

Hello Friday!  Even though I'm retired, there is still something about weekends that makes me go "aaahhhhhhh".

We have friends who's first of three sons has just gotten married.  Today, I'm sharing a card for the newlyweds.

Before I get started, I want to thank those of you who have sent mail to our DD or her DH.  If you would like to see just how much one kind word from a stranger makes a difference, please read this blog entry of DD's. If you don't have time or money to send cards, even a simple caring comment on her blog might make the difference in her day.  Thanks everyone!

Now!  Some of you have emailed me asking for a tutorial on how I did this card:

 

I wish I could take full credit for this beautiful card/technique, but if you recall, this was one of the projects Shirley had for us to do the last time I went to her 'playroom' for a girl's day in'.

Since this technique is perfect for the wedding card I needed to make, it seemed the perfect time to post a tutorial.  Warning - LOTS of photos!

Here's what you need: Stamps (Gina K. Designs 'Beautiful Life'), Inks (Colorbox Fluid Chalks), White CS (GKD Pure Luxury White), Stamp-a-ma-Jig, and sponge daubers.

Working with your lightest color first, daub ink on the flowers.  The chalk ink that I used, will remain moist for some time, no need to huff before stamping.

Using darkest color, finish daubing on color.

Stamp image onto cardstock, being sure to place even pressure for full covrage of image.

Now, you will need some inks for your butterflies. Again, daub on your lightest color first, then your darkest color.

Voila!  Ready to fussy cut!

For the sentiment placement, I use a Stamp-a-ma-Jig.  If you don't have one of these, it is probably the best ten bucks I've ever spent.  Seriously!

First, you will place your stamp on an acrylic block.  Taking the plastic square, you will butt it up against the corner of the Stamp-a-ma-Jig.  (Some people do this at the bottom of the tool - I prefer working at the top of the tool. Your choice!) Now, take your stamp, ink it up, and place it in the corner, flush against the tool, and stamp image.

Now, place the plastic over the main focal image.  When the placement is exactly where you want it to be, move your tool up to the corner of the plastic, and be sure that nothing moves.  When it's exactly where you want it, remove the plastic....

and replace the plastic with your inked stamp.

Your sentiment should be exactly where you wanted it to be!

I should add that the green band at the bottom of the example card is simply a piece of a muse cardstock, cut to size, scored repeatedly, and sanded.  

Thanks for stopping by today!  Hope to be by soon to visit with you, but the lightning has begun again, so it might be a while!

Blessings,
Patti J.

White Space Scares Me...

Finally nabbed a few minutes in the old craft room!!! I have a very quick and simple card tonight.

The challenge this week at Simplicity, is "overlapping".

We are to overlap the sentiment and image.

Susan doesn't care where on the page we put it, but we need to overlap.

OMG... do you realize how much WHITE SPACE that leaves on an A2 card? Why am I so stinkin' scared of white space? lol....

Anyway, above, is my card for the challenge. The sentiment is Stampabilities,

the roses are Inkadinkado.

I used pink and green Colorbox Chalk inks for the coloring, and actually colored them using a waterbrush. Fun and fast!

I am also going to enter this at Creative Card Crew. The challenge there is Pink & Green - I think this might fit!

I hope that you and your family are having a wonderful weekend.

We are planning to visit the graveyards tomorrow, bearing flags, flowers, and prayers.

I will probably see you on Monday!

Thanks for stopping by - Hugs to all!

Patti J.

Hang In There...

So...peeps! I went to the mailbox yesterday, and did the happy dance in front of too many people to count!

I had a package from Gina K. Designs, and it contained new stamps!

Ha! You all know how sinful it is to put new stamps away before inking them up, so I chose, instead, to put my ladder away for a while and 'play'!!!

With no further ado, Theresa Momber's newest set, Hang in There, accompanied me into my girl cave, where I nearly squealed with delight! How much fun these little critters are going to be!

I did this card today for Selma's 'Blast from the Past' challenge at StampTV.

The challenge called for paper piecing.

I pieced the frog with GKD's free (YES, FREE) downloadable green from the Timeless Solids package, and the tree trunk is pieced with the GKD free (YES, FREE) Wood Patterned Paper. The front is sponged with Tim Holtz Distress Ink, Antique Linen, and the stamping is done with Colorbox Chestnut Roan and Olive Chalk Ink. The sky is sponged with Stampin Up's Bashful Blue. You can't see in the photo, but his eye is paper pieced from the 'wood' paper, and is covered with glossy accents, so it looks like a real glossy eye!

Well, dear friends, I hope this cute little pop up froggie gets at least one squeal or giggle today!

I think he's darling!

Looks like he's perched up on that tree looking for his princess to kiss!

WARNING: No post tomorrow!

My best ever stamping buddy, Shirley, and I are taking a class from Michelle Zindorf in St. Louis.

Gasp! Gasp! Gasp!

I'm black and blue all over from pinching myself!!!

Hopefully the next thing I post will be a sheer work of art that I make in class tomorrow!

Thanks so much for stopping by today! Have a great Day!

Patti J.

Lucky Bear seems to be distressed....

Hello everyone, and Happy Monday!

It is Nilla's week as challenge hostess at There's Magic in the Air. The challenge uses Nina's adorable image "Lucky Bear". Nilla asks that we use any technique for distressing, roughing up your paper with your scissors, distressing with inks, sanding, scraping, pounding (would work well if you are mad at someone) - any technique that you consider a method of distressing.

I chose to rough up my edges just a bit, and mostly distress with ink. I printed out Lucky Bear four times so that I could pop him up a bit, and gain some extra four leaf clover balloons! I need all the luck I can get - lol...




All coloring is done with Koh-I-Noor pencils, and the distressing is done with Color Box Chalk Ink, Chestnut Roan. The sentiment is hand written.



I hope that you like Lucky - he is definitely one of my favorites! Nina has just posted about 25 new images - be sure to run over to her store, Paper Cupcakes, and check out the new goodies! You won't be disappointed!

We have been SO busy this weekend! We decided last weekend that we really needed some new family room furniture. We were nearly sitting on the floor, our sofa was so dilapidated! So, we drove into the city, found some that we liked, but just couldn't make ourselves pay for it. We came home, sat on the old stuff again, and decided to look locally. Voila! The same Lazy Boy sofa and chairs were in the showroom about 5 minutes from home. So...we ordered a new sofa with dual recliners, a fabric recliner chair to match, and a leather recliner chair to match. These are to be delivered Tues. morning. Well, Thursday afternoon, DH calls, and says - go buy carpeting. No sense putting new furniture down on old rugs. Well, I never dreamed that the carpet could be measured for and put down by Monday, but guess what, it can!!! So then, he says, well, before we put new carpeting down, don't you think we (you) should paint the woodwork? Then, walking across the old flooring revealed some squeaks, so we ended up pulling up all the old carpeting ourselves so we could screw the dickens out of the floor boards and kill the squeaks! Anyway, point is, this girl has had NO - NADA - ZERO - ZILCH time in her girl cave!

Oh, and did I mention that while we were at Lowe's buying drywall screws, we picked out new tile and paint for the kitchen? And that when I start that job, all 47 drawers and doors, and bases will all have to be sanded and repainted? Sigh.... oh, well...it will be SO worth it when it's finished! We've made very few changes in the past 20 some odd years, and it's time! At our ages, this will probably be our last big remodel that we do ourselves, so it's actually a lot of fun!

Gotta get back to it!



Have a great week, and forgive me for not doing much blog hopping this week!



Big hugs - Patti J.

A CAS Card (really!)

Yes, I really did it! It's a CAS card from ME - those of you that know me well, know that I am terrified of CAS, therefore, this is really an exciting post! This is actually one of the several items we will make in my workshop on Tuesday, providing we don't get snowed out!







I sponged with Tim Hotz Antique Linen distress ink, then stamped with Color Box Chalk Ink, Olive. The sentiment is a Verve, Plain Jane.






Since CAS is not my thing, I would love some feedback! Feel free to 'moral support' me to pieces! lol...

Hugs and blessings...

Patti J.


Food for thought: Sign at a laundromat: "Anyone leaving garments here for more than 30 days will be disposed of.

I'm a bit late with my mask....

Lol...Just kidding! No, it's not a Halloween mask...

I am the 'leader' at Stamp Club today. I am going to fearlessly lead where no leader has lead before! (Well, it's true, all but the fearlessly part - I HATE being up in front of other people!)

Actually, I was asked to do some beginner masking for our meeting today. There will be possibly 10 ladies at Stamp Club today, and of these, only my DF Shirley has masked before. So, we will do these basic projects, and it it goes well, the next time it's my turn, we'll turn it up a notch and do some collage type masking projects.

I'm certainly not a pro at this stuff, but I've been doing it long enough now that it is really hard for me to tune my mind into words like 'basic', 'easy', 'clean and simple', 'quick', etc....

Anyway, thanks for looking, and I really hope you will drop me a comment letting me know what you think - it's still early enough to do something different!!!

Enough jabber - here are my prototypes...

For this first card, I used an ornament image by Inkadinkado, a sentiment by Great Impressions, and this fabulous script by The Angel Company.

I wanted it to look a bit vintage, and be super fast and easy, so only Colorbox Chestnut Roan Chalk Ink was used. The only embellies are the three mini brads at the bottom of the card.

This next card uses a TAC sentiment, and a Great Impressions Tree Image. At club today, we will also have the option of the Stampin'Up multiple tree stamp. Members can choose whether they want a tall card or a wide card. The Stampin' Up Bashful Blue Ink was stippled on for the sky, and the tree was then stamped multiple times using Adirondack Denim Blue. I dotted the trees with my Uniball Signo white pen, and also with the Sakura Starburst Glitter Pen.

Since the card is dark blue, I figured we'd need something on the inside for writing to show up on, so we will put a piece of white on the inside, and will punch a snowflake (EK Success) out before adhering. The glitter pen will also accent this snowflake (I don't think it shows up on the photo)

So, I've been seeing a TON of pink this year - it appears that pink is the new red!!! So...I thought I would spunk things up a little with some color!!!

So.......last, for this card, I simply 'punched' out a circle from a piece of CS using a circle nestie. Using that circle, again, I stippled the Marvy Magenta Ink into the center using a circular motion, and keeping it a little heavier to the outside edge. I stamped the snowflakes by PSX, and the sentiment by Paper Salon with the Magenta ink. The only embellies were a 2" piece of silver trim, and a bow.

The inside needed 'something', so I stamped the snowflakes once in the top left corner.

So, would love to hear what YOU are all doing today!

Hope to have some blog candy posted by tomorrow! Wahoo!!!

Only a few days and a few hits late, right??? Oh well, better late than never!

Have a wonderful Tuesday!

Patti J.

~Food for thought: Some peoples minds are like concrete, thoroughly mixed up and permanently set!

White Space

Ouch! The theme today at 365 Cards is White Space. We were given the following sketch, and were told that the only stamping, designer paper, embellishments, etc., must be contained within the black lines. Well, this might be easy for some, but YIKES! That whole clean and simple thing just freaks me out!

I probably 'stretched' my black lines a tad here, but I either had to do so, or sit on my hands, and if I had sat on my hands, the card would be unfinished! Actually, if I'm going to be honest, I did really mean to trim down the bottom line, and had everything adhered before I remembered to do so!!!

Card and envelope:

Card front:

Card Inside:

Supplies: DCWV CS and Matstack, Colorbox Chestnut Roan Chalk Ink, Raffia, Antique Button from Grandma's button jar, Autumn Ribbon (Hobby Lobby)

Hope you like it - I am stuck on fall right now. I love the colors of fall and spring! They are so much fun to work with.

Have a great day!

Patti J.

I saw this sign outside a nearby church yesterday, and I liked it! "If God is your co-pilot, you should change seats"!

It's a Super Sketchy Sunday...

Literally! It's Sunday over at 365 Cards, so that means it is sketch day! We were to use the following sketch for our cards:

I have this amazing pad of Basic Grey June Bug papers (thanks Lisa!) that I can't seem to keep my hands off of! It is going to be gone before I know it! (sad face here) However, I love all things BG, so I couldn't resist using it, along with a wonderful Unity stamp, and this fun sketch!

I followed this sketch exactly, which is not my norm (as you know I usually flip or rotate), and even included the cute little triangular pieces at the top! I punched a circle from the DP, and popped it up for a 3-D effect. Ink is Colorbox Olive Green Chalk Ink, and distressing was done with Palette "Haystack". The darling little yellow flat pearls are Kaiser's.

The colors don't photograph as well as I'd like, but overall, this is one that when finished, I was quite pleased with. It will make someone a nice card!

Well, peeps, I must go get ready for a trip to the airport to pick up DH. He's flying in from LA today, we drive to Branson, Mo. AND back tomorrow (4.5 hours each direction) to check on a jobsite, and then he flies out to Phoenix on Tuesday a.m. for some safety meetings. He's had a wonderful visit with DS, and they have been to several Cardinal's (sorry Caryl) games together. It will be good to see him!

I hope your Sunday is blessing filled, and will probably be MIA until Tuesday night! Take care all!!!

Patti J.

Life is good!

Sleepy...

Cardinal's are trying to win the ball game! DS lives in California, and DH is flying out tomorrow to go to some games this week out there - they should have a good time, hopefully!

This will be a super short post, as the old eyelids have been open since 6 this a.m.! I tried and tried to think of something really unique for today's challenge at 365 Cards. In Pam's words: "Today's challenge is called Double Duty because I want you to make a card that doubles as something else.... examples would be a bookmark, a place card, or some sort of pocket card. HOWEVER - NO GIFT CARD HOLDERS OR MONEY HOLDERS!" I finally gave up, and just made a little photo frame for desktop, countertop, etc...

Used cardboard covered with Provo DP from Big Lots, Sentiment is from Great Impressions, Cute little butterfly, once again, is a Megan (Shirley's granddaughter) creation!, and used Colorbox Chestnut Roan Chalk Ink to stamp image. Cute little scallop at the bottom of image was a gift from Jan MacGowan, who is a Stampin' Up Demonstrator.

Hope you like my little project!

See you all tomorrow, and hopefully, with brain cells working!

Patti J.

~Thought I'd leave you with this blessing tonight! Just prior to getting dark, DD came in and said there was a double rainbow.... sure enough, this is what we saw! Blessings, everyone...

Oh no...not again!

I don't know about the rest of you, but I'm getting very discouraged by blogger going down as often as it does! It is once again, telling me that I have no blogs that I am following... sheesh. Hopefully, it will fix itself tonight while this tired girl sleeps! I'm about a half step away from going to Typepad or Wordpress...


I have spent most of today just hangin' out with my peeps... we BBQ'd, watched the Cardinal's win the ballgame, etc. I didn't even go to town!


I worked on only one craft project, and that was the 365 Cards Challenge for today. It is Sunday, so that means Sunday Sketch Challenge!




I used DCWV CS, DP by Provo that I found at Big Lots last week, and a scrap of rick rack. The only embellishment was a silk flower, topped by a punched (Martha Stewart punch) flower and brad.


Paper Inspiration dragonfly stamps are old, old, old! (1999) , but are some that I just drag out over and over as they work so well!


The sentiment is a Verve Plain Jane, which I love to pieces!!!




I stamped all images first with Color Box Pastel Lime Chalk Ink, and then with Versafine Brown, moving the stamp slightly for a shadowed effect.


Sure hope you had a great day! Can't believe tomorrow's already Monday.



Take care, sleep well, God bless!!!


Patti J.
~Hmmm....there is neither egg in eggplant, nor ham in hamburger, and neither apple or pine in pineapple!!! I'm "sew" confused!!! lol

Happy Birthday Dear Friend!!!

Don't you just love a new challenge? Hannah told of an ABC challenge starting up for the third time, and it just happened to be at 'A' this week! So... I'm going to give it a try and see if I can keep up!

The challenge site is here, and the theme for this week is: A = Anything Goes (with the thought of keeping animals in mind)...

I had this adorable little retired/revived TAC stamp that has never been inked. I thought with holidays fast approaching, this would be a good one to bring out and ink up! I am so pleased with how much fun it was to color!

Supplies: Stamps are TAC, Stampin' Up, and Katie & Co., Versafine Black Ink, Kooh-I-Noor Pencils, Watercolor Paper, Provo CS, DCWV CS.

______________________________

Friday's challenge at 365 Cards, was to make your card look like a "gift"! Well, as I was on my way out the door for a trip to Michael's and Hobby Lobby, actually MAKING a card took a back seat to shopping for more fun stuff to make cards with! Lol... So this one is "falling off a log easy"! DP and some ribbon and a touch of glitter! Period. 5 Minutes tops! Not totally happy with it, but my priorities were definitely gathering wool in a shopping cart in another city an hour from my work table!!!

Whew....sure wish I'd known today's theme prior to shopping yesterday! Oh well, perhaps there is a scrap of toille DP in my bin!

Supplies: DP (unknown), Ribbon (unknown), Inkadinkado, Color Box Chalk Ink, Burgandy.

______________________________

I'm back! Rather than make an additional post, I'm posting today's 365 Cards challenge, which is to use toille on our cards! I did have a piece in my bin, so with a bit of ribbon, adhesive, and a Hero Arts sentiment, this card is finished! I thought I'd combine the Mojo Monday sketch with it, as I hadn't managed to make anything yet for it! So....here's a last minute two-fer! Cheers!!!

I wish you all a good day! I'm going to go immediately to Wal-Mart, and hopefully avoid at least some of the trauma involved in going there on a Saturday morning on the first week of school! Tee Hee!

Hope you all have a great weekend! Think positive, happy thoughts! If you get time, please drop by Shirley's blog and wish her a happy birthday! I'm sure she will shoot me when she finds out that I divulged this top secret info, but she is 19 today! Looks pretty darned good for her age, too!!!

Patti J.

Humility. A quiet conquest of selflessness over selfishness. ~Peter Reese

A Two-Fer

Well, as Barb F. would say, my card today is a "two-fer"!

Fer the 365 Cards Challenge today, the orders from headquarters were to do a Cool Collage, and not leave any blank places on our cards!

Using the sketch from the Midnight Madness Sketch Challenge #13, I came up with the following card.

The little blank places between the squares, I sponged, so technically, they aren't blank any more! Hope you like it!!!








Stamps: Inkadinkado Inchie Stamps, Hampton Art. Ink: Versafine Black, ColorBox Chalk Ink, Charcoal. CS: DCWV

I can't believe we are halfway through a weekend already! They go by entirely too quickly for this old gal!

I was asked to make 110 birth announcements this week. So...today, I went back down to O'Dear's and picked up 56 pieces of CS, some ribbon, adhesive, etc., and I guess that next week will find me buried in baby things! Can't get any more fun than that, in my humble opinion! My friend Shirley went to Hobby Lobby while in the city today and picked up the DP that I still needed, so thanks to her and her handsome manly man, I don't have to make THAT trip this week!

Have a great night, and we'll catch you later!

Patti J.
~Anger is only one letter away from danger...

Crop till you drop, and Lace!

Good morning!

I happened to get a couple of challenge cards done, and thought I'd take a minute to post them!

The challenge at 365 Cards for yesterday was so much fun, but also very difficult!

We were to create an "Inside Scene" on our cards! Well, I just couldn't think of a thing! I was at my friend (Super Angel) Shirley's yesterday, and remembered a set that she had gotten at seminar a couple of years ago. She let me borrow it, and voila!

If you can't read the sign, it says: "Free Make & Take Projects 1:00-5:00 p.m., Crop Till You Drop - 5:00 p.m. - Midnight, Sponsored by: 365 Cards.blogspot.com, Register here!!!"

I couldn't get the look of the walls the way I wanted, but that's okay! You can look at it yourself, and decide whether the border is baseboard, and the blue is the floor... or if the border is chair rail with two different wall colors!!! Lol...

Stamps: The Angel Company, Tombow Markers, Kooh-I-Noor Woodless Pencils, Computer Generated 'sign', Versamark Fine Black Ink, Stampin Up Wild Wasabi Ink.

_____________________

This card is for 365 Cards challenge today, which was to use lace on our cards. I think the photo

is self explanatory!

Stamp: Inkadinkado, DP: Heidi Grace, Ink: Colorbox Chalk Ink, Chestnut Roan, Flower Soft (Heather)

That's all I have for today! It is a beautiful day in Missouri. I am headed back to the hallway to hang some pictures! Hope you are all having a great Friday!

Patti J.

~A bumper sticker I saw yesterday: Honk if you love peace and quiet.

Mirror Me...

Where has this week gone? I've thought all week I would try some new challenges, and suddenly it's Friday!!! Egads, time flies, and I don't feel like I have accomplished much. Oh well, that's what next week is for, right? Lol...

The 365 Cards Challenge for today was "Mirror Me". We were to create symmetry on our card. Well, again, I didn't have much time, so this was done in a hurry. I thought it best to not include any bling, or sentiment. I thought it was peaceful as is...

The tree image is from Rubber Stampede, Inc. The little birds are from Stampscapes, and I used a Rubber Stampede Mirror Image Stamp to reverse the image. (This is a flat stamp that you actually stamp ON, and then quickly stamp your cardstock while the ink is still wet). I sponged with Ice Blue Color Box Chalk ink, and stamped with Versafine Brown.

Hope you enjoy it - it is supposed to resemble trees at waters edge. I think I need some lessons on this technique!!!

I am certainly enjoying the 'blurfing' that I have time to do. It's so much fun to see all of your beautiful creations, and to get to know each of you through our love of all things paper and ink...

Be sure to check out the badge at the top right on my blog! My dear friend Lisa, is starting a Sunday afternoon Challenge!!!! She is wonderful, and sweet, and talented, and I can't wait to see our first challenge! I will be there for sure!!!

Blessings!

Patti J.

~TGIF

Sympathy (with a catch!)

Today is Day 143 at 365 Cards. The theme is Sympathy, but there is a catch! This 'Keep it to Yourself' challenge is to create a Sympathy card without putting the sentiment on the front. Whew...sounds like a CAS card to me, and you all know how I get along with CAS!!!

I found a scrap piece of printed vellum that worked perfectly on a light gray card. The stamp is Inkadinkado, inked with Charcoal ColorBox Chalk Ink. Add a ribbon - voila! A five minute card!

Hope you like it!

Patti J.

~If someone offers you a penny for your thoughts, and you put your two cents in, where does the other penny go??? : - )

Fourth of July Blessings...

Hope you and your family are enjoying all of the blessings of this day. It's been very quiet here - dear hubby and I went to the movies with friend Shirley and her dear hubby. We saw "The Proposal". It was very cute. It was nice to laugh out loud.

Heather, over at OZ-somestamps posted her challenge this week. And wowzers, what a challenge! It looks easy - she even has dimensions on her pieces! Once I got started, it was tougher than I thought! I did get carried away, and put some birds on the bottom corner - silly me. Just couldn't leave it as it was!

Here is my card - hope you like it!

Supplies:

Stamps: The Angel Co., Beautiful Day and Tag Tidbits

Ink: Colorbox Chalk Ink, Chestnut Roan

Cardstock: The Angel Co., Amelia

Paper: The Angel Co., Tuscany Spice

Ribbon: Martha Stewart Bows

Have a safe and blessed weekend.

Patti J.

~A man who wants to lead the orchestra must turn his back on the crowd.