Day 35 of 100 Day Blog Challenge! WooHoo!!!

I am so excited!  As you saw above it's day 35 - I'm  more than 1/3 of the way through my 100 day blog challenge! When I started I thought this would probably be one of the most difficult things I ever did, but I'm loving it!  Not only am I making more cards and other projects, but I'm finding that blogging daily is really quite fun. I still don't have many people reading or following me, but that doesn't seem to matter as much as it did, because I'm finding it's just fun to do.  And when someone does comment it's very special.

And so I move on into today's card.  I used two stamp sets today - Awash With Flowers and Sweet Little Sentiments (retired hostess set SS/09). I made a card similar to this just a couple of weeks ago with a vellum vase and Awash with Flowes, but I used an oval punch for that vase, and today I made the vase with the Ornament Punch with the bottom cut off.  I also ran it through the Big Shot using the Vintage Wallpaper embossing folder and highlighting it with the Zig Painty silver paint. I like the Top Note as a backdrop for the vase and flowers.  I rounded the corners of the Elegant Eggplant and also the corners of the card base on right side.  I punched two small ovals of Elegant Eggplant to make the backing for the sentiment. 

Supplies: 

Stamps:  Awash With Flowers, Teeny Tiny Wishes

Paper: Pirouette Pink, Elegant Eggplant, Whisper White, Vellum

Embellishments:  1/8" WW Taffeta Ribbon

Markers: Concord Crush, Garden Green, Perfect Plum, Red Rose, Pretty in Pink, Rich Razzleberry, Zig Painty (silver)

Other: Big Shot, Vintage Wallpaper Embossing Folder, Top Note Die, Ornament Punch, 3/4" x 15/16" oval punch,  Corner Rounder Punch, Glue Dots, Dimensionals, Snail.

Although, these two cards were similar, I still achieved a very different look. I love how you can use so many of the same items and still get such different cards. Here's the first card, from Day 23 to show the differences.

This was a fun card to make and I just bet whoever receives it will enjoy receiving flowers in the mail. 
 
See you tomorrow -

Happy Stamping,

Day 34 Embossed Vellum

I've returned to an old favorite for today's card.  Several years ago when embossing folders first came on the scene, we would emboss vellum and cover the front of a card.  I loved the look, but just forgot about doing it until today.

I began with Old Olive card stock, cut to make a 4 1/4 x 5 1/2" card and cut a piece of vellum 4 1/4 x 5 1/2".  I then cut a piece of DSP (designer series paper) 4 x 5 1/4".  The DSP shows through the vellum just slightly adding a slight dimension.  A brighter DSP might add more to the look.  Try some different ones to get the look you want.  I used snail to attach the DSP to the front of the card.  I embossed the vellum using the Manhattan Flower embossing folder and followed by stamping Thinking of You on the front.   I used classic ink, but because it was on the vellum it stayed wet long enough for me to add some embossing powder.  I like the look of the embossed sentiment, just

a little added touch.  I used snail along the left side of the vellum and attached it to the card front.  A simple wrapping of ribbon around and tying a bow completes a very simple but elegant card.

Sometimes the old tricks are the best tricks!  Pull out some paper and try something old or new today!

Happy Stamping,

Day 33 - Welcome Baby Follow Up

Well we have had some cold weather here in South Texas, not in Chicago or Boston standards, but for us it's been cold. As I mentioned last night I was heading to bed early to read and not use excess electricity. We had rolling blackouts most of the day (yesterday) to prevent a major blackout from the increased power usage due to an ice storm in the Dallas area. This was statewide, and so about every hour and a half I lost power for about 15 minutes. Seems crazy to me but apparently it worked and today we're back to normal.

Well, normal, if we were always watching for snow and ice. You would think we would know by now that the weather here is unpredictable at best - so I'm not holding my breath for snow or ice. I am going to make some cards tonight and I just may feature some winter scenes to commemorate the closing of schools, the cancellation of Continental flights beginning at 3 PM today prior to even a flake falling! Oh, how I love Texas!!!! Actually, I do love Texas it's the weather "people" that drive me crazy! There just seems to be a hysteria in forecasting these days and with all of the equipment etc. I just don't know how they can get it so wrong, so often!

But enough of that weather stuff, let's move on to the details of last night's baby cards. I like these even better than the first one on Tuesday night, but you have to get started and then see how things evolve. Last night I used the Punch Bunch SAB set for this adorable blue owl! Is this cute or what? I used Bashful Blue Brads for the eyes. They are retired, but I still have a lot of them so I didn't have to improvise. I think this is a great baby boy card. I used the following punches : corner rounder, word window, modern label and the two-step owl. All of our punches can be found on pgs. 200-203 of the current IBC (Idea Book/Catalog). I would like to have had a Bashful Blue ribbon to use, but we don't have a current one and in order to keep this card current, I used the Marina Mist 3/8" taffeta. Paper colors were simply Bashful Blue, Chocolate Chip and Very Vanilla.

My next card was one I thought could be used for those babies whose sex has not yet been determined or when you just don't want to use pink or blue.  All of these cards are interchangeable both with the papers and the stamps.  I used the Short & Sweet set for the sentiment and the little diaper pin. On this card I only used the corner rounder punch on the Very Vanilla layers, just to change up the look and give additional options when making these cards.  The precious little rabbit and tree are both from Forest Friends.

One of the most fun parts of this last night was making the gift tags. When I made my first card I had made a regular size card 4 1/4 x 5 1/2 and then I decided I wanted to make a smaller card, so I cut off 1 1/2 " ending with a card 4 x 4 1/4" and a 1 1/2" x 4 1/4" piece (already folded) left over. That's when I decided that I could make gift tags. They are pretty self explanatory. I used the Modern Label to punch out the top and that can then be used for the bottom layer of the sentiment for the card.  Then I simply stamped Welcome Baby through the slot.  On the Daffodil tag I stamped Welcome Baby and punched it out and lined it up so it shows through the top. These could also be made separately without the card.  I love the possibilities.

And so now Day 33 is in the books and I will begin a new project to post tomorrow.  If we get the snow (big IF) then I will have lots of time tomorrow to craft!  

Until tomorrow - get inky and create some fun cards.

Day 32 - Welcome Baby continued!

This is going to make it as my shortest post ever! I have made baby cards again tonight and changed up the stamps from last night. I think I could make these forever, but at my age I don't need lots of baby cards - maybe I can make them and give sets to my younger friends? Now that's a thought - anyway, I'm going to post a picture of the two i made tonight a long with gift tags and tomorrow I will post more pictures, supply list, stamp information etc. etc. Tonight I'm headed to bed with a book so I can stay warm without using more than my share of electricity! For those of you who live in Texas you will know what I'm talking about and for those who don't I'll explain more about that tomorrow too. So now here are the cards and I'm off to bed.

See you tomorrow!

Day 31 - Welcome Baby

A crazy, cold Tuesday!

Tuesdays are usually quiet days beginning with Bible Study at 9 am in Katy and then an afternoon at home, but today was different from beginning to end. First, we went to bed last night with temps around 65 and woke up this morning to around 40 with rain and wind at about 35mph. Living on a prairie allows wind to blow and blow and blow! I'm still not quite used to living in the country without houses and trees all around to break the wind. Normally, I could have stayed in bed until around 7, but no in a moment of craziness I had scheduled my little dog's teeth cleaning for 8 am and needed to have him in Bellaire by 7:30. What was I thinking? Even on a good day that would mean leaving home at around 6:30 - Yikes, I'm not an earlier riser and neither is my little dog. But this morning it was even worse - winds, rain and I would be following along with the storm not getting away from it so I left later than planned, but Jack got to the vet, I had time for a coffee and made it back to Katy for Bible Study on time! Note, I had to pick Jack up at 12:30 back in Bellaire and bring him back home. Seems like I spent a lot of time on windy roads today!

So it seemed like a real break to get to sit down tonight and make a card. I have babies on my mind these days, so I made another baby card. This one is made with current Stampin' Up! stamps and papers. I did use a corner chomper (non SU) and a Zig Painty (gold end) to paint the baby carriage. Papers are Pretty in Pink, Chocolate Chip and Very Vanilla. I used markers in the same colors for the tiny little diaper pins, remember those?

What I love about this card is that it can be made using Bashful Blue to replace the Pretty in Pink and change the ribbon and pink marker and you've got a boy card. It certainly is handy that most people know in advance, but in case someone doesn't then use So Saffron or Pear Pizzaz and you've got a neutral card that can be used for the "mystery" baby. I'm going to make those colors and will show them all together in tomorrows blog.

Oh, by the way the stamp sets are Fun and Fast Notes and Short and Sweet. The punches used for the sentiment are Word Window and Modern Label. The finished card size is 4 x 4 1/4 and is finished off with Pretty in Pink Taffeta Ribbon and gold brad wheels.

Until tomorrow - stay warm!