Sun Ripened Thanks

I was asked to make a card to send to the company my husband works for (Opp & Seibold Construction) as a thank you for the use of their facility. We are part of a new church planting project and have been attending meetings at their building on Sunday afternoons now for about 4 months.

In October the church will be starting regular services under the name, Vineyard Christian Fellowship. It's going to be an exciting time and I am thrilled about being a part of the founding members.

For my card I chose to use Sun Ripened II since it had an image of Grapes in it. I thought that was fitting for the new church and it's name. The grapes were colored with Prismacolor pencils and blended with Gamsol. I highlighted them with Frosted Lace Stickles and also stamped the speckles from Itty Bitty Backgrounds in Bashful Blue ink. I added punched out Photo Corners of Wild Wasabi that were ran through the Cuttlebug. The card base is Elegant Eggplant with Whisper White. I then used the Cuttlebug Textile folder (my favorite of all the folders) on some Celery Mulberry paper that I had and layered that to the white card stock with double stick tape. I added 3 purple brads (JoAnn's) and stamped my sentiment, Sincere Salutations in Eggplant ink as well. Then I attached a piece of Wild Wasabi stitched ribbon. The grape image was raised up with dimensional tape. I also distressed the edges of the white card stock with the Cutter kit.

The card itself looks a lot brighter in real life but it was hard getting a decent scan.

Also if anyone out there is interested in designing & making a banner with a Vineyard theme would you please e-mail me so we could discuss this. We would like to put some banners up in the building to help make it look nice for our services. I did some research on Banners & they are pretty costly. Since we are just a brand new congregation funds are rather limited so we are hoping to find something fairly cost effective and yet nice at the same time. - Ida

Inspiration challenge

Happy Friday everyone! - It's that time again and this week the Blogger's Challenge group was asked to create a card/project from something that "inspired" us. It could be a picture in a magazine, a pattern in a rug, something in nature, an article of clothing etc...

I must say that this week has been the most UN-inspired week I've had in a long time. I just was not at all motivated to stamp and when I did try to sit down and come up with a card idea my brain just could not think of a single creative thought. Yesterday though I got to thinking about what I could come up with for the challenge and I decided to base my card on an article of clothing that I recently purchased. It's a blouse that I bought to wear to my nephew's wedding reception last weekend. I love the colors and the pattern and the way it feels when I put it on, (very comfy) I think that my card captures the feel of the blouse but let me know what you think.

Card base: Basic black, then Blue Bayou edged with a white craft pad. Next a layer of Bashful Blue that I used the Textile Embossing folder (Cuttlebug) and distressed with Blue Bayou Ink.

I stamped the Medallion from the True Friend stamp set (I LOVE THAT SET) in Blue Bayou Ink on Bashful Blue card stock, cut it out & added some Nirvana glitter (Art Institute) to give it some sparkle and a black brad in the center. I punched out a Circle of Blue Bayou card stock using a Marvy Mega Circle punch and ran it through the Cuttlebug as well then distressed the edges and highlighted them with the white craft pad. I layered this to a Scalloped Punched (Giga) circle of Bashful Blue that I pierced with the Crafter's Tool kit & edged with Basic Gray ink. I added a strip of Blue Bayou which I stamped the leaf/flower pattern with White Craft ink, distressed the edges and then layered 2 strips of May Arts ribbon about and below the strip.

To finish off the card I added 3 half pearls (Pretties Kit) that I dyed with a Black Sharpie Marker. If you look closely at the photo of the blouse you might be able to see the shiny black buttons in the V neck portion of the blouse - I wanted to recreate that on my card so that's why I added the half pearls.

Overall I'm really pleased with how this card turned out even if it took me all week to be inspired by something. - Don't forget to check out the other Blogger's challenges. They are listed on my Sidebar under Blogger's Challenge group & be sure to leave a comment on their wonderful creations.

Music has arrived

I finally decided that I would add some music to my blog and spent the better part of yesterday creating my Playlist only to have it all deleted and I had to start all over again. What a task that was. Now I'm not sure how many of my readers enjoy music on blogs but I hope you do. If not just turn the volume control down (that's what I do if I don't like what's playing on the blogs I visit). My taste is music is mainly Classic Rock n Roll and the Oldies. I do like some Country but generally it's the older style of Country music. I've included a little of both on my Play List and I believe there are 75 tracks to choose from. Yes that was a lot of music to go through but I had fun doing it. Leave a comment and let me know what you think. Enjoy...Ida

Autumn Apparitions

Halloween is one of my all time favorite holidays and I just had to use the new Autumn Apparitions (that's a hard word to spell) set to create a card with. I started out with a White card base that I covered with Creepy Crawly DP and textured More Mustard card stock stamped with the Sanded BG stamp in Basic Gray ink and added 3 Really Rust eyelets.

Then I took a strip of Basic Black card stock distressed the edges with the Cutter Kit and added another strip of Designer Paper that I stamped the Happy Halloween sentiment on in Basic Black Ink. I stamped the spider in basic black and punched it out with the 1 1/4" Circle Punch, distressed the edges and edged it with Really Rust ink. Then punched a 1 3/8" circle of the textured Mustard Card stock to layer i with. Finally I punched out a Scalloped circle of Basic Black card stock, pierced holes & highlighted them with a white Gel Pen and mounted it with mounting tape. I embossed the cat with Black EP and cut it out then mounted it to the corner of the card with the mounting tape to complete the card. It's a fun & fairly fast Halloween card.

Altered Journal

Wow hard to believe we are into week 7 on the Blogger's Challenge Group. We had several new members join last week so please be sure to check out their creations as well. Their names are listed on the sidebar under (Blogger's Challenge Group).

For this week we were to Alter something, anything we wanted, a tin, a CD case, a picture frame etc...Well I must admit that I had thought about skipping this challenge because I just don't do that sort of thing. I'm really more of a Card Making stamper then anything else. I don't Scrapbook (Gasp!) and have a hard time figuring out patterns for 3-D items like boxes and such so it was hard for me to break out of the "box" and complete this challenge but I did try it. The first picture is the "Before" picture except that I had already removed a little medallion off the front where the circle is and couldn't find where I'd put it so you'll just have to image what it looked like with the medallion on it.

I decided to try a fairly simple idea by Altering a Journal as that didn't seem like it would be to difficult. It's nothing fancy and I did have a few minor problems as the spine of my journal doesn't lay flat since I apparently didn't measure it properly and then the glue stuck down before I could fix it so it's staying as is but since I'm using the Journal it doesn't matter to me that it's not perfect.

I used the Refuge & Strength stamp set from the new Fall/Winter Collection from SU and Chocolate Chip Card Stock along with Whisper White & some designer paper from DCWV that I thought reminded me of a Stained glass window. I dyed one of the flowers with a Chocolate Chip marker and glued a half pearl (Pretties Kit) in the center. The other 2 flowers are from a bunch of flowers that were sent to me and I added brads in shades of brown to their centers. The sentiment was computer generated. If you have any questions on how this was made feel free to e-mail me.

Again this was a Challenge for me but it was good to try something different and that's the fun of belonging to this group.

True Friend Tri-Fold Card

I received a great card from Rose Kerry that was a Tri-Fold card and I really liked the idea so I created this card for today's Color Challenge on SCS (Blue Bayou, Soft Sky & Cameo Coral). At first I thought I wasn't going to like the color combination but I decided to just use the Cameo Coral as an "accent" color for my card and I like the results. I hope you do as well.

My card measure 4 x 5 1/2 when folded. I started with an 8 1/2" x 5 1/2" piece of Blue Bayou card stock that was scored at 2" & again at 6" to make the two folds. I stamped the leaf image from True Friend in Blue Bayou ink on Soft Sky card stock ( 2 1/4" x 5 1/2") added some speckles from Itty Bitty Backgrounds and a bit of direct to paper distressing then distressed the edges with the Cutter kit and edged it with Blue Bayou ink then glued it down on the top portion of my tri-fold card. Then I cut a piece of Soft Sky designer paper (2" x 5 1/2") and glued that to the bottom portion of the tri-fold card. Next up I cut a 1" strip on Cameo Coral card stock and a 3/4" piece of the Dotted Soft Sky DP glued to the Cameo Coral and scored at both ends at 2 1/2" then glued together to form a band to go around the closed card.

For my focal piece I cut a 2 1/2 x 2 1/2" Square of Blue Bayou card stock, then a slightly smaller square of the Soft Sky and finally a piece of Cameo Coral that I stamped the Simple Stripes background on (now retired) and distressed the edges with the cutter kit and glued this down to my card band being careful to only put a line of glue down the middle of the piece. Then I embossed the medallion using a Cameo Coral stampin spot & Clear EP on Whisper White card stock & cut it out. Then I stamped the star image with Blue Bayou ink on Soft Sky card stock & punched out the star portion using the 1" Circle punch. I layered this over the center of my embossed medallion and added a Ice Blue Rhinestone brad to the center and mounted this with foam mounting tape.

On the Inside I glued a piece of Whisper White card stock and stamped the flower in Blue Bayou and then again in Soft Sky cut out the center portion and glued it over the Blue Bayou flower and added a 1/4" circle of Cameo Coral for the flower center and stamped the True Friend sentiment in Cameo Coral ink.

This was a fun card to make and I hope you enjoy it. - Happy Stamping, Ida

A True Friend

Today's card is made using the, True Friend stamp set from the upcoming Holiday Mini Collection from Stampin'Up! I so love this set and it's going to coordinate fantastically with the Wanted and the Bronc Buster sets that are in the Fall/Winter catalog. (At least in my opinion)

I couldn't wait to get this set & the best part is that I got it for FREE because I had points for the Consistency Counts program that SU had going last year. Now what could be better the FREE rubba! Another great feature is that all the sets in the Holiday Mini are "Die Cut" which means you don't have to cut them yourself. They just pop out of the rubber and you mount them and away you go. Fast & Easy.

For this card I went with some Autumn colors since we are rapidly approaching that season and the Earth Elements are my favorite color family. I started with a card base of Pumpkin Pie and then layered a piece of Whisper White that I had stamped the Linen BG stamp in Old Olive ink and distressed it directly to the paper with my ink pad. Then I stamped the leaf pattern from the True Friend stamp set in the Old Olive ink as well and layered a solid piece of old olive on top with a strip of Really Rust textured card stock and 3 Old Olive brads. I stamped the sentiment from the set in Garden Green ink.

For the focal piece of the card I punched out a scalloped circle (Giga punch) in Pumpkin Pie and edged the scallops with Pumpkin Pie ink and pierced holes in the scallops. I then punched out a (Mega) circle punch of Really Rust card stock that was also stamped with the Linen BG stamp in Really Rust ink and distressed the edges with the Cutter Kit. I stamped the medallion with Really Rust ink on Pumpkin Pie card stock & cut it out then added a Rhinestone brad to the center and mounted it with mounting tape onto the Rust circle and glued the piece down on my card.

It was hard to get a decent scan of this card. I need a way better camera but alas I don't have the $$ for a new one so this one will have to do. I can assure you though that in real life this card is really COOL looking. Can't wait to play with this set again and tonight my Apple Cider designer paper will be here so look for more fun cards this week done using this set. - Ida

New Header Photo

Okay for some time now I've been including pictures on the header of my blog and they have mostly been pictures of the flowers in my garden & my mom's. I hope you have all enjoyed them. This week I am featuring a photo of me & my granddaughter, Coleen that was taken at a fountain at Bonneville Dam in WA on our recent 3 day weekend trip down to visit my brother and then to the coast. We had a really good time & Coleen enjoyed seeing so many new things which made it fun for the rest of us. Seeing things through a child's eyes is such a wonder. Ida

Study in Purple

It's FRIDAY!!! - With that comes the Blogger's Challenge and this week I was actually able to participate. I missed the last 2 weeks challenge's due to being on a trip for a few days and then recovering from the trip. (Isn't it weird how you take a vacation to relax and when you get home you need to relax from your vacation!) - But back to the challenge.....This week we were to make our card using the sketch/card on Pg. 165 of the new Fall-Winter SU catalog. If you don't have a catalog you can view it on-line at http://www.stampinup.com/ .

I had a particular person in mind when I made my card and if she's reading my blog she may guess who I'm talking about. If not she'll find out because I'm sending this card off to her in the mail as a little surprise RAK - Can anyone guess who this card might be going to? I know the gals from the Blogger's Challenge group might have some guesses.

My card base is actually white card stock that I purchased from Papertreyink called, Stamper's Select White card stock. It's a heavier card stock then SU's Whisper White and since I was adding some Chipboard embellishments I wanted something sturdy so the card would stand up properly when displayed. I layered a piece of dark plum textured card stock by Bazzill on top of the white card base. I had some really pretty floral designer paper that I bought ages ago so I can't tell you who made it and I wanted to use up the scraps I had left so I covered the large flower from the On Board Blossom and Basics kit with it and then edged it with Wisteria Fluid Chalk ink by Color box. Then I took a smaller circle and layered a piece of Green Galore card stock on top and covered it with Key Lime glitter (Art Institute) then edged it with Lime Pastel Fluid Chalk ink. For the flower in the center I took a small flower from the Pretties Kit and dyed it using Stampin Pastels (Orchid Opulence, Lavender Lace, Lovely Lilac) then sealed it with WorkableFixative by Krylon. I dipped the white center in crystal effects and covered it with the Key Lime Glitter then punched a hole through my chipboard and threaded the flower down through the hole and used a piece of sticky tape to hold it down (I cut off the excess).

I stamped the Harlequin (or Argyle) from the Looks Like Spring stamp set with the Wisteria Chalk in on light plum textured card stock. Then I stamped the new Polka Dot background stamp with Wisteria ink on Whisper White and layered that to my plum card stock. I wrapped my ribbon (May Arts) around those pieces and added 2 purple brads then glued this down on my card and tied the bow. The sentiment is from the Holidays and Wishes stamp set and was stamped in Basic Black Ink.

I used sticky tape to glue down the large flower and foam mounting tape to raise up the center. I also used the mounting tape to raise up the smaller flower. I like how this turned out.

Enjoy & have a truly great weekend! - Ida

Bronc Buster Exclusive to my blog only

Sometimes I like to have cards exclusive to my blog as I also have a gallery at SCS and often have to post the same card to both my gallery and blog due to time constraints to make different cards for each site. This card though I'm only sharing here on my blog. I hope you enjoy it.

When I made my original card see Bronc Busting post, I started out using a Chocolate Chip Stampin Spot and clear EP for the Cowboy image. For some reason I just didn't like the way it looked for the rest of that particular card so I set it aside and started over. Not wanting to "waste" my original image I cut it down to size and created this card with it. Note the cowboy imaged was also stamped with the Linen background stamp using Sage Shadow ink & I layered it onto a piece of Chocolate Chip card stock distressed with the Cutter kit.

My card base is Sage Shadow and then I layered a pieces of the Outlaw designer series paper that I distressed the edges of with Close to Cocoa ink. I then took some Chocolate Chip card stock and tore it into strips and crumpled it and the glue it to a piece of Soft Sky card stock, curled the edges up and added 2 punched out stars and added two aged copper brads from the Hodgepodge Hardware kit. I stamped the sentiment (Priceless) with Chocolate Chip ink to complete the card.

Be sure to check out these FABULOUS cards by Anna Wight and Lindsay Botkin using this set. They are 2 of my Stamping Heroes and their work is FANTASTIC! - Ida

Autumn Beauty

More fun with SCS challenges. This one combined 2 of the challenges. Making a Brown/Black card & Distressing.

Fall is one of my favorite seasons and the colors of this card seem fitting for the upcoming season.

Card Base: Chocolate Chip, Layered with Going Gray (I thought black would be to harsh) distressed with the Cutter Kit and then layered with Creamy Caramel that I embossed with my Cuttlebug and distressed with a Close to Cocoa ink pad. I added 3 brads (Bazzill Basics) in various shades of brown. The leaf image is from Botanical Garden (SU - Retired) and I embossed it on Very Vanilla using Woven Tapestry EP (PSX) and colored it with Watercolor Crayons. I layered this to a piece of going gray & Creamy Caramel distressed & inked with the Close to Cocoa ink. My sentiment is from Hero Arts - Take Good Care greetings set. I used a Cuttlebug die for the tag and stamped the sentiment in Close to Cocoa ink, distressed the edges as well. Then I used a gorgeous satin like ribbon from May Arts to complete the card.

Enjoy!

Monet Cracked Glass

More fun over at SCS for the Dare To Get Dirty challenges posted today. I tried the Monet/Cracked Glass technique posted by BadSherry. My first attempt sort of turned out badly since I over misted my watercolor paper and the image bled so much you couldn't even tell what it was. I hated to throw it away though so I decided to keep it and use it as a background piece for another card.

Card One - This is the actual technique: Card Base, Not Quite Navy, Taken With Teal & Back Ground paper by Cut-it-Out. I misted my watercolor paper with water and let it sit for a few minutes then stamped my bird image (Song Bird by Penny Black) using Caribbean Sea rainbow Kaleidacolor in pad on the watercolor paper and slightly misted it again so it would bleed a little more. Then I let it dry and over stamped the En Francais background stamp. Next up I embossed the entire piece with my Versamark Pad & poured a layer of Glassy Glaze on top and heated it up. I repeated this step 2 times and then put the piece in the refrigerator for 10-20 minutes and then bent it to crack the glaze giving it a "cracked glass" effect. I mounted this onto a piece of Taken With Teal cardstock & punched out Photo corners of Green Galore and pierced them before mounting them onto the image.

I added a bow that I tied using a technique taught by Nicole Heady here only I used actual ribbon and instead of the pop dots I used sticky tape to glue the bow pieces together and then added the Teal brad to the center of the bow. I mounted the bird image to the card using mounting tape to complete the card.

Card #2 - Card base, Taken With Teal, Shimmery White embossed with Textile Cuttlebug Folder. Okay this is the original card that I "goofed" on because my bird image bled to much. I used the same images as card one & inks except that I stamped the bird image in Basic Black on top of my bled out image this time. I repeated all of the same steps as card one for the glazing & cracking. Then I died a silk flower from my Pretties Kit using a Green Galore re-inker and added a big brad (K&Company) to the center then attached it to my bird image and mounted it onto the card. I stamped my sentiment (So Many Sayings Hostess set) in Basic Black ink & punched it out using the Word Window punch and mounted it to my card with mounting tape to complete the card. I also wrapped a piece of Apple Green grosgrain (retired SU) around the upper portion of the Shimmery White card stock and used a White Gel Pen to highlight the piercing on the photo corners.

Hope you enjoy both of these cards. - Sorry if you get double postings about this but I had to edit to include the Copyright information. Ida

Bronc Busting

SCS is having a "Dare to Get Dirty" challenge this week and this is a card I did for one of the challenges posted today.

I love Western themed cards. Now I'm a "City Girl" by heart but I love PBR Bull Riding and oh those "Cowboys" can be pretty easy on the eyes as well! When I saw this set in SU's new Fall catalog I just knew I had to have it.

For this card I used: Chocolate Chip for my card base layered with Very Vanilla that was distressed with the Cutter Kit and Close to Cocoa ink. Then I stamped the Linen BG stamp on Sage Shadow card stock with Sage Shadow ink and the stamped the Bronc Buster in Chocolate Chip Ink and layered some Outlaw designer series paper to the left hand side with a strip of Chocolate chip that I tore & curled up the edges. I added 3 Aged copper brads to the lower right hand corner. The sentiment was stamped in Basic Brown Ink on Very Vanilla and colored with Sage Shadow & Creamy Caramel markers and some Sage Shadow Chalk. I punched out a Star of Chocolate Chip & layered that onto my sentiment and attached another Aged Copper brad. Then I punched out a 1 1/4" Circle of the Outlaw designer paper and layered that on a 1 3/8" circle of Chocolate Chip and added another aged copper brad. The sentiment was raised on dimensionals.

I think this makes a great looking "Masculine" card but I'd be happy to receive it as well. Ida

Priceless

This card is for a challenge given over at Poetic Artistry following a sketch that was posted there.

I chose the new Priceless stamp set & paired it with the Fall Flowers Designers series paper.

Card Stock: Really Rust, Old Olive, Whisper White, Soft Sky

Ink Pads: Old Olive, Really Rust, Bashful Blue, Garden Green

Others: Frame Punch, Circle Punches, Three For You Flower Punch, Crafters Tool Kit,

Clear EP, Mounting Dimensionals.

If you have any questions on how this card was made please e-mail me. Ida

Rockin' Girl Blogger

How FUN is this? I've been nominated as a, "Rockin' Girl Blogger!" Thanks so much Patty.
Now to nominate some other "Rockin' Blogger Girls"
Sara, Julie, Laurie (who's been nominated but I'm 2nd the nomination)and Pat . There are "tons" of great stampers out there so be sure to visit lots of blogs & have fun. Ida

Garden Whimsy Sparkle

I love this set even though I've only had a chance to play with it a couple of times. This is a card I'm doing for a swap on another Stamping Group that I belong to. I really like how this turned out.

Stamp Set: Garden Whimsy, Itty Bitty Backgrounds
Card Stock: Chocolate Chip, Textured Pumpkin Pie, Garden Green, Soft Sky, Whisper White & Fall Flowers Designer Series.
Ink Pads & Markers: Garden Green, Pumpkin Pie, Only Orange, Close to Cocoa, Sahara Sand, Blue Bayou
Other: Creamy Caramel & only orange eyelets, 1" circle punch, Key tag punch, Ticket corner punch, Small Oval Punch (used to make a frame to sponge the ground under the flower) Cutter Kit, Crafter's Tool Kit, Pumpkin Pie grosgrain ribbon, Iridescent Ice EP & mounting dimensionals.

Summer Salad Recipe

Here is a terrific recipe for a Yummy summer salad. I was watching the Food Network the other day and Ina Garten (The Barefoot Contessa) was on. She was making a picnic lunch which included something she called, "Guacamole Salad" and it sounded so good so I thought I'd give it a try. I did the entire recipe exactly as called for except for the onion as she used a Red (purple) Onion and since we have our famous "Walla Walla Sweet Onions" here right now I couldn't pass up the opportunity to use them in my salad instead as they are oh so delicious.





Here is the recipe if you want to try it out.


1 Pint Grape (we call they Cherry) tomatoes, halved
1 Yellow Bell Pepper (red can be substituted) seeded and diced in 1/2" pieces
1 (15 ounce) can black beans, rinsed and drained
1/2 Cup small diced red onion (I used the Walla Walla Sweet onion instead)
2 Tbls. minced jalapeno peppers, seeded (approx. 2 peppers) - Don't forget to wear your gloves when you cut these babies up or DON'T rub your eyes afterwards if you forget to wear the gloves.
1/2 tsp. freshly grated lime zest
1/4 cup freshly squeezed lime juice (2 medium limes)
1/4 cup olive oil
1 tsp. salt - She used Kosher, I just used regular table salt
1/2 tsp. ground black pepper
1/2 tsp. minced garlic
1/4 tsp. cayenne pepper
2 Lg. Ripe Haas Avocados, seeded, peeled & chopped in 1/2 inch pieces (do this right before serving so the avocado doesn't get mushy.)

Place tomatoes, yellow peppers, black beans, onion, jalapeno peppers and lime zest in a large bowl. Whisk together the lime juice, olive oil, salt, pepper, garlic & cayenne pepper and pour over the vegetables. Toss well. Just before serving slice the avocados & stir into the salad.





Simple but so very tasty!!!

Summer Events

I've taken a brief break from stamping this week & will be gone this weekend for our much needed excursion to the beach. I can't wait as it's been ages since we've gone anywhere. Granted it's only for 3 days & just 1 day at the beach but it's going to be so much FUN! I'll get back into the swing of stamping after we return.

Thought I'd share a couple of things with you today. Last weekend the Rotary Club here in Walla Walla held it's 20th annual Salmon bake & of course we went. The company my husband works for supplies FREE tickets for employee's and their families so you can't pass up a great deal like that. Of course this year it was pretty HOT outside with temperatures in the upper 90's but we sat under a shade canopy and ate fast so it wasn't to bad & besides the food was so worth it!

Picture 1 shows how the Salmon is cooked on an open Fire Pit the way the native Indians did here hundreds of years ago. This year the Salmon was so tender, moist & flaky it almost melted in your mouth. I'm not a big fish eater but I have to say that I cleaned up my entire piece of Salmon and all the delicious salads that they serve with it. So yummy! The 2nd picture is "yours truly" eating (well actually having my picture taken) and Coleen and Greta are also in the photo.

A good time was had by all!

Garden Whimsy

Today's card is a card that I did for another stamp group that I belong to. We have weekly challenges where you do a 1-on-1 card swap with an assigned partner and theme. For this challenge it was called, "Challenge Your Partner" and what you did was sent your partner an assortment of card stock & embellishments and they were to create a card with what you sent. We could use any stamp sets/inks we wanted but we had to use the stuff our partner sent us to make their card and send it back to them.

I really laughed when I opened the envelope with the stuff my partner had sent me. She included a note about how she had bought the "clear" buttons from SU ages ago and had never used them and she needed me to convince her that she still needed them! - What's funny about that is that I too bought those same clear buttons ages ago and have never used them!!! Talk about a challenge. On top of that she sent me colors from the Rich Regals color family which has long been my "least" favorite of all the SU color families so here again was yet another challenge for me. Since we could use whatever stamps we wanted I chose to use my new Garden Whimsy stamp set and the new Sanded background stamp (Gotta love that one).

My card base is Elegant Eggplant followed by a layer of So Saffron stamped with the Sanded background stamp in Always Artichoke ink. I stamped the large butterfly with Eggplant ink on Confetti White card stock and punched out the corners with the Ticket punch, used my Color Spritzer to add some saffron highlights and then layered this to a square of Eggplant that was distressed with the Cutter Tool kit and added the 4 Saffron brads she had sent. I stamped the same butterfly again but this time cut it out and embossed it using my Versamark ink pad & Iridescent Ice Embossing Powder. They I layered this on top of the other image with dimensional tape.

I took the piece of Always Artichoke card stock she sent and cut a strip to go across the middle section of my card and distressed this as well then sewed along the edges with white thread. Then I layered a smaller piece of the Confetti white card stock & wrapped two pieces of Eggplant grosgrain ribbon around it. I stamped the bug image with Artichoke ink on Confetti white card stock and glued down my square button (my partner gave me a choice between the large square and large circle buttons so I picked the square for my card.) I lined up the button holes on my image so they would look like part of the ladybug as tying thread threw it just didn't look right to me. Then I layered that to a piece of the Saffron card stock and glued this down on my card. The sentiment was stamped in the right hand corner with Eggplant ink and I hand drew my bug trail with an Eggplant marker.

Over all I was happy with the results and I did challenge myself to use colors & embellishments that I normally wouldn't. I just hope my partner likes the results as well.

How does your garden grow

Today's post is Non-Stamping related but hey this blog is about more then just stamping. I took some time off today from stamping & did some much needed work in my flower beds. The photo's you see in my header are pictures from my flower beds & my mom's (we live next door to each other). Of course when one has a flower garden there is always work to be done in them. The WEEDS seem determine to over take my poor Rose bed but my WONDERFUL husband took the time this morning to weed the entire bed out for me. Of course I couldn't just let him do all that work by himself so I managed to weed out one of the front beds since it was still in the shade. We've been having a "Heat Wave" here the last 2 weeks with temperatures in the upper 90's & into the 100's so I haven't felt much like weeding my beds at all since I don't handle the heat well. Thankfully this morning it wasn't to bad and we managed to get something done. I'm sharing a couple of photos of the beds after they were weeded. I sure wish I would have taken "before" shots so you could have seen how hideous they looked with all those weeds. If you look closely at the Rose Bed photo you can see the other side of the yard with tons of weeds still left in that bed waiting to be weeded. I'm just glad I had help but there are still several beds left to weed. Oh well, I'm waiting for another COOL day to do that. Ida

Baroque Christmas Wishes

It's Friday & that means it's time for our Blogger's Challenge Group to post their cards. This weeks theme was to create a Christmas card using Non-Traditional Christmas colors. For my card I took it a step further and used images that aren't normally traditional Christmas images.

For my card I choose a layout inspired by this card done by Mandy Steward that was featured in the Dec. 05/Jan. o6 issue of Paper Crafts (Pg.54) I liked the circle border that she used and went with that for the concept of my card. Her card was done "digitally" and I changed quite a few details for my card as you can see.

Card base: Elegant Eggplant, 2nd layer Pale Plum stamped with the Fine Lace background in Perfect Plum ink. Sentiment (Hero Arts) stamped in Eggplant. This sentiment was all in a row but I masked off each portion so that I could layer it instead. Then I stamped the stripes from Background Sampler on Eggplant using my Versa Mark. I added a strip of Old Olive pierced with the Crafter's Tool Kit & distressed with Old Olive ink. Next I punched out 5 1 3/8" circles of Brocade Designer Series paper and layered them under the Olive piece and added 5 silver brads. I stamped the medallion from Baroque Motifs in Perfect Plum ink on Pale Plum Card stock rounded the corner & highlighted the image with Frosted Lace stickles. Then I stamped the small star like image with Eggplant ink and punched it out with a 3/4" circle punch and added a Lavender Ice Rhinestone brad to the center and raised it up on dimensional tape.

This was layered to a Scalloped Square of Old Olive card stock and some sheer white organdy ribbon was added to the side and layered on the card with dimensional tape.

I'm really happy with the way this card turned out. It really is very "non-traditional" for me and yet it has a nice "old world" Christmas feel about it. I hope you enjoy my take on this challenge. Be sure to visit the other blogs listed on my side bar under the Bloggers Challenge Group to see what they did this week. Ida

Tagged

Remember as a kid playing the game of, "Tag" where you would touch someone and then they had to run tag someone else? Lots of fun. Well "bloggers" play tag a little differently. I was "tagged" by Leigh O'Brien (my first time ever being tagged). For this round I'm to tell you 7 things about myself & then tag 7 other bloggers to do the same. So here goes:

#1 - My most embarrassing moment in life was in high school walking home when a carload of guys kept circling the block whistling & yelling at me. About the 4th time around the block I figured something must be up & sure enough my dress had hiked up in the back and my backside (underwear) was fully exposed. Talk about not wanting to go to school the next day!
#2 - I don't know if this is something that not very many people know about me or not but I love cats (have 4 of them) but I am allergic to them. I've been taking allergy shots for 6 years now because I'd rather do that then not have a furry feline in my house to love.
#3 - I've been married twice & engaged 3 times and was asked to marry someone after only knowing them a couple of weeks (I turned him down).
#4 - My favorite movie of all time is, "Gone With The Wind", I can just hear you all saying right now, "Frankly my dear, I don't give a Damn!"
#5 - I hate flying. The last time I flew anywhere was in 1998 when my mom & I flew back to Virginia to visit one of her pen-pals rented a car & drove to Georgia to visit another one. I was certain that the pilots on that small commuter plane in Virginia tried to kill me. It was only turbulence but scared me to death & I haven't wanted to fly since.
#6 - I have UGLY feet - Now isn't that something you were just dying to know. My toenails are really short and some are damaged so they don't grow properly and then I have eczema on the bottoms of my feet that cause them to peel all the time. It's painful when that happens but can be controlled with medication.
#7 - My favorite actor is Robert Redford - I've seen all his movies, even the duds. He's got class & sex appeal by the miles in my opinion.
Okay that's a few little "ditties" about me. Now it's time to tag 7 lucky bloggers:
Wendy (I recently discovered her blog & enjoy it a lot), Kim another fun new blog I've recently discovered, Kendra, I like her blog, Sara who recently won blog candy on my blog, Melissa another new blog I found recently, Sarah and Maggie fellow members of the Bloggers Challenge group. Okay ladies, have fun & I hope you don't mind being tagged. Ida

Botanical Beauty

Here is my entry for the Beach Blogger Bingo game at Poetic Artistry. I'm also sending this card to my niece, Megan who recently had surgery and learned that she has cancer (Please say a prayer for her). She is only 19 & 5 months pregnant with her first child.

For this card I used on of my favorite retired sets: Botanical Garden (SU) and Sincere Salutations (SU) - Card Stock is from Chatterbox except for the Mellow Moss (SU).

I used my Textile Cuttlebug Embossing Folder, Mellow Moss Gingham Ribbon, Prisma Color Pencils, Mellow Moss Marker, Super Russet Pearl Ex Powder which was dusted over the colored poppy image, Frosted Stickles for the flower center, Detail Black EP, Basic Black ink pad, Craft White ink pad, Small Oval Punch, 2 gray brads (non-SU) & mounting tape.

Julee at Poetic Artistry is still running her Beach Blogger Bingo game. Today Round #5 started. She has a new "master sketch" for us to follow so today's card is based on that sketch.

I'm also EXCITED to report that I received my FREE stamp set from: Rubber Stamping Fun

in today's mail. Several weeks ago I was chosen to be part of a Review team for this new stamp company. We got to choose from 22 never before seen stamp sets and received that set for free. All we had to do was post a link to their website & show our art work using the set we received on our blogs. My card today is done using the set I received. It was #22 in the little review catalog that we got to pick from. Since the stamp sets have never been released they don't have names yet. I'm going to call my set Garden of Happiness which may or may not be the name it ends up with when they release this set to the general public. I just think it suits the stamps in the set.

Card stock used: Cranberry Crisp (SU - now retired), Pretty in Pink, Sage Shadow (SU)

Designer background paper - Source unknown as I received it as part of some blog candy that I won from, Michelle at Twisted Chick Creations. I thought it was so pretty and I decided to base my card color scheme off of that paper. I also used Shimmery White card stock from SU as well.

Inks used: Pretty In Pink, Cranberry Crisp, Sage Shadow, Creamy Caramel, (SU) & Palette Noir Black.

I watercolored the apple blossom image and punched a portion of it out with my Mega Oval Punch and then layered that to the Giga Scalloped Oval and pierced the scallops with my Crafter's Tool Kit. I stamped my sentiment with the Palette Noir black ink and then stamped the flowers around it in Cranberry Crisp ink and layered this to a strip of Cranberry Crisp.

I added to punched out pieces of Cranberry using the Word Window punch and added two Pretty In Pink brads. I glues a Cranberry Stitched bow and added 3 pink flowers punched with the new Three For You punch box set (SU) and highlighted the centers of the flowers and the main image flowers with Frosted lace stickles.

I think this card has a nice soft, feminine feel about it.

Blog Candy Winner!

First off I want to say THANKS to everyone who posted a comment on my first ever blog candy. That was so much FUN that I can't wait to do it again so be sure to subscribe to my blog so you can get updates as you never know when I'll be doing another Blog Candy give away!

Secondly I could not for the life of me remember where I read about the Random Number thing where you can have it pick out a number for you so I had to resort to doing my choosing a little differently this time around. If you know where this particular feature is found please e-mail me and let me know.

Since I had a relatively small number of comments (26 since a couple were add on's to their original comment) I decided to just print them all out, cut them up and spread them on the floor in a pile and then have Coleen (who is my little granddaughter) close her eyes and pull one out. As you can see from the photo she has a bit of a problem with the "close your eyes" part! She then proceeded to rip the paper but I was still able to see who the comment was from. Then she cried when I picked up all the other pieces of paper as she wanted them so I really do need to find a different way to do this.

Okay on to the WINNER......Drum Roll (can't you just hear it?)

The blog candy goes to: Sara from Corvallis, OR who left this comment:


Sara said...
My name is Sara, I live in Corvallis, OR and I visited the following site from yours and left a comment on her $th of July card, it is awesome (http://jacksonbelle.blogs.splitcoaststampers.com/2007/06/25/tis-the-season/).I just found your site, but your cards are very cute, I will be checking back soon... thanks!
June 30, 2007 5:47 PM

Congratulations Sara - Please e-mail me with your SNAIL MAIL address ASAP so I can get your goodies sent off to you. If you have trouble with the e-mail sidebar post a message to this message and let me know.

Thank you again everyone who left comments. On a bit of a side note I did have a couple of people who didn't follow the complete instructions as they forgot to mention who's blogs they visited. So always be sure to read the entire post and follow the complete instructions as next time I will NOT keep those comments in the drawing.