Thankful Thoughts

For the 3rd week of August, Verve's VLV with a Twist challenge was to use tags. I added an additional twist of my own by making myself use something from my vast collection of "Why the heck did I buy this?" items. I chose to use some paper from one of those ginormous pads from Provo Craft. These are the first 2 sheets to ever be pulled from this pad! I also threw in a BIBHUIY (Bought It But Haven't Used It Yet). I bought the Tim Holtz mini stapler thingy with a box of additional staples the minute it hit the retail market but of course it hasn't seen the light of day since the purchase.

To coordinate with the printed paper, I chose Always Artichoke, Pink Pirouette and Rich Razzleberry. I cut the tag with a Cuttlebug die but it looked rather plain next to the scallop layers of my focal point so I mounted a scalloped circle onto the tag. Threaded some ribbon through the tag and used one whole mini staple from my stash. It worked rather well and it doesn't look tacky like office staples do so I just may get some use out of this "tiny attacher".

My sentiment is one of the free stamps I got for ordering from Verve and it got me thinking about the things I am grateful for. First and foremost is my husband, whose love, devotion and unswerving conviction that I can do anything has made me who and what I am today. Another thing I am grateful for is my card club. Last night was our first meeting of the new year. I shared the "overflow" table with a new member who is a delightful woman and I am so glad she has joined our little group. Shared thoughts and ideas about "Copics vs Prismacolor" with another new member who fits right in. And then there are the returning members who are now my friends and confidants. Those very special friends with whom you can share not only techniques and ideas for stamping, but your personal joys and sorrows. I am grateful for this group of very special women and look forward to another year of sharing.

Til next time...

Stamps: Verve
Paper: SU Always Artichoke, Pink Pirouette, Rich Razzleberry; Provo Craft
Ink: SU Always Artichoke, Rich Razzleberry
Other: SU Ribbon; Spellbinders plain & scalloped circles; Cuttlebug tag; Tim Holtz Tiny Attacher; SU Dimentionals

Where have I been?!?

Recently I went a little crazy... OK, crazier than usual... and placed my first order with Papertrey Ink. I am now the proud owner of 13 of their stamp sets. I told you I went crazy! But where have I been that I am just now getting into Papertrey Ink? Their stamps are fabulous and I had such a blast yesterday playing with their Vintage Picnic, Vintage Picnic Sentiments and Guide Lines. I need to practice a bit to get used to lining them up right and I need to get used to wearing this brace on my hand but, all in all, I am just tickled with this card.


First I tried the Wrinkle Free Distress Technique on Curious Iridescent Cryogen White 89# Cover. It is the same as SU's Shimmery White. My first 3 attempts were way too dark. Sherry Cheever I am not! I used Worn Lipstick, Dusty Concord and Shabby Shutters Distress Ink and finally put a strip of the Shappy Shutters along the center of my non-stick sheet with just a square of the Worn Lipstick and Dusty Concord on each side of the strip. I then switched to SU's Regal Rose, Certainly Celery and Lavender Lace to stamp the background design with Guide Lines. I could stamp with that set all day! The combinations are endless.

I stamped the picnic basket and flowers with Memento Tuxedo Black Ink onto another piece of the same cardstock and colored with my Prismacolor markers - Violet Mist, Parma Violet, Avacado, Light Olive, Pink and Magenta. Cut the basket out with a Spellbinders circle die, cut and embossed a Certainly Celery frame using the same circle die and an inverted scallop circle inside and mounted it all to a Rose Red piece cut with a Spellbinders Labels 3 die.

Next came the Certainly Celery strip edged with a Martha Stewart Border Punch, mounted to a wider strip of Rose Red, wrapped with ribbon and tied in a bow. This was mounted to the left side of my background and then the basket piece was centered in the remaining area and the sentiment stamped underneath in black.

April Card Club

At this months card club meeting we got to play with the new goodies in StampinUp's Occasions Mini Catalog. We made a Mother's Day card using the outline stamps in Soft Summer, with the dogwood(?) branch as the focal point and the fluffy weed thing (?!?!) for the background on the card base. The colors were supposed to be Almost Amethyst, Certainly Celery and Apricot Appeal but the Apricot just wasn't doing it for me so I was able to switch it to Barely Banana. We watercolored the Dogwood by coloring with the crayons directly onto the paper and then spreading and shading with the blender pen. I then showed how I can get a softer effect when inking the edges by using the foam applicator and the non-stick sheet. Kim, our fearless leader and SU Demo, then tried the same technique with a makeup sponge and the image sheet from the Stamp-a-ma-jig. Well Poop!!! Why didn't I think of that BEFORE spending the money on the applicator and craft sheet?!?!? Live and learn. Anyway, the card is based on Sketch Challenge 224.
We also played with the matchbox die and the coordinating stamp set. Needless to say I had to have it ALL!! And I ate far more malted milk eggs than what went into the matchbox.

Sketch Challenges 218 & 219

I dug through my collection of scrapbook papers and pulled out this one from My Minds Eye. Using it as my base, I cut the large rectangle from the reverse side with the long deckled rectangle from Spellbinders then paired it with Not Quite Navy, Really Rust and Confetti. I used a combination of stamps from StampinUp's Flower Fancy, Wonderful Watercolors and Springtime Stems using Not Quite Navy, Always Artichoke, Really Rust and Chocolate Chip inks. I finished it off with the large Fastenator Staples from EK Success.

I tried a different way of inking my edges using the Inkssentials Ink Blending Tool from Ranger with the Non-Stick Craft Sheet. It gives a much softer look and you can control the amount of fade. You can probably use a makeup sponge and the back of the image sheet from the Stamp-a-ma-jig but I'm a sucker for doodads.


I've had this next paper from My Minds Eye in my stash for several years and it just begged to be used for this sketch. I also used one of my newest border punches from EK Success that store flat when not in use. Great idea!!! I believe they call it the Scallopped Scallop. Stamped using SU's Fall Flair in Groovy Guava and Old Olive. Used Groovy Guava for the card base and ribbon from American Crafts.

Neither of these cards have a sentiment. Since I never know if they'll be used as a Birthday, Get Well or Thanks You card until I need them, I just leave space to add a sentiment later. If I know a special event is coming up for a special friend I will sit and make a special card just for them. However, my husband and father-in-law tend to wait until the last possible moment to ask for a card so I keep a stash of blanks "Just in case"