Tardiness Will Not Be Tolerated!!

I confess!  I'm a day late and a dollar short.  This post was supposed to be written yesterday, but life sometimes happens.  (What an odd statement!  Life always happens, but sometimes it interferes with our plans.)  I had a wonderful Christmas Stampers' Dozen on Wednesday night.  We made 12 - note well- a dozen Christmas cards!  Three each of four different designs.  I thought I had chosen simple enough cards for the occasion, but I have been struggling with that aspect of my classes.  The designs involved too many steps or maybe I should say, too many time consuming steps.  My ladies and I worked HARD for four hours, but we finished! And they look beautiful!  And I am heading back to the drawing board for my last Christmas Stampers' Dozen in November.  I am going to get this right!

Yesterday morning, I had a meeting with someone who wants wedding invites designed and then took my DH to the hospital for a procedure on his eye, did some errands and just like that, it was dinner time! 

I started making a card to post, but the design was not coming easily.  I finally got it designed, but I had to wait for a thick layer of Crystal Effects to dry on an acorn, so figured I'd write my post, then add the photographs later.

Here is the design:

It uses a stamp set I have been wanting for a long time and finally ordered, Wonderfall.  I just love the graphics and the designs on the leaves.  I used the Autumn Accents Bigz Die and the Big Shot to cut out the leaf shapes.  This is one time where you die cut first and then stamp, because otherwise the leaf shapes on the die are opposite to the stamp shapes.  Odd, but it works okay.

 I got the idea for the book-like spine from one of the wedding invites we were looking at, trying to come up with ideas.  I am also so drawn to the Orchard Harvest DSP from the Holiday Mini Catalogue.  I love the colours and the bold images.  The torn Early Espresso paper with the lighter center is from the Core'dinations collection and comes in Early Espresso, Gumball Green and Cherry Cobbler.  I am organizing groups of 3 people right now who are interested in doing a Paper Share of the three colours of core'dinations.  Basically, you pay the price of one pack, but then you share the 3 colours.  You would get 4 pieces of each colour.  Let me know if you are interested in forming another group of three people.  The cost is $12.26 each which includes shipping and tax.

The sentiment is from Word Play, one of the three stamp sets that Stampin' Up is promoting, from which you can also purchase single stamps from the set by themselves, in a pilot project that runs through to Jan. 2, 2012.  See more here.


And I finally got to use one of the new Naturals Designer Buttons in wood grain.  It's perfect for this project!

Well, that's it for now.  Better late than never, I always say, but I'll take fifty lashes with a wet noodle for being tardy!

Stamps:  Wonderfall (w128084; c128087); Word Play (w120308; c120651)
Paper:  Orchard Harvest DSP (126895), Core'dinations Early Espresso cardstock (127848), Lucky Limeade (122926) and Very Vanilla (101650) cardstock
Ink:  Classic Stampin' Pads in Island Indigo (126986), Lucky Limeade (126984), Raspberry Ripple (126859) and Cajun Craze (126965)
Accessories: Naturals Designer Buttons (127554);  Linen Thread (104199); Crystal Effects (101055)
Tools: 2 1/2" Circle Punch (120906); 3" Circle Originals Die (122125); Autumn Accents Bigz Die (127812)

Flying!!!

Yes, that's me these days!  So much to do with my Stampin' Up business, at church, with drama group.  I feel like I need about 3 days, just to get organized and focused.  Ah, well, that will come....maybe....sometime soon....
I was hoping to have a video completed for today, and it's still a priority, but, just in case, I thought I would post my entry in the Pals Paper Arts sketch challenge #143:

This card was created for one of the very special people in my life, who just happens to love fall and fall colours, and who was, coincidentally, born in the fall!  I was thinking about needing to use up the Howlstooth and Scaringbone DSP, because it is rife with all the gorgeous fall colours, and wouldn't be as appropriate for winter and spring.  This was a perfect opportunity!

Here's the challenge sketch:

 

I just couldn't resist the chance to make a little paper medallion...rosette...lolly?  What is the official term, anyway?  Let me just consult the 2010 Geneva Agreement on Stamping Terms.........................

(Ha!  Had you there, didn't I?  There is no such thing, except in my eccentric imagination!)  Anyway, I made one:

 

I used our Simply Scored Scoring Tool to do this and with this DSP  it turned out really well.  This would be a great topic for another episode of Crafty Clues by Heather, so look for that in a week or so.

The card base is More Mustard card stock with a back panel of Early Espresso.  Then I layered on the Howlstooth and Scaringbone DSP (Love that name!  I would like to have a job with Stampin' Up just coming up with product names.  What a hoot!)  The images are from the French Foliage stamp set, which I know you know because I've used them so much recently, and the sentiments are from Loving Thoughts and Teeny Tiny Wishes.  A little splash of colour with some Tangerine Tango Scallop Dots ribbon and two cute "button" brads from Vintage Trinkets, and it's ready to go!



 Oh, and I think you will recognize the Rock and Roll technique on the the main leaf image.  That's where you ink up your stamp with the lighter coloured ink first (More Mustard here) then roll the edges of your stamp all the way around in the darker colour (Tangerine Tango).  That way you get the variegated look to your image.

So if my video is completed, I will post it later today.  Otherwise it will wait until tomorrow.  In the meantime, Happy Stampin'

Stamps:  French Foliage (w120845; c121166); Loving Thoughts (w125843; c125845); Teeny Tiny Wishes (w115370; 127802)
Paper: More Mustard (100946), Early Espresso (119686), Very Vanilla (101650) card stock; Howlstooth and Scaringbone DSP (Designer Series Paper)  (126906)
Ink: Classic Stampin' Pads in More Mustard (126964), Tangerine Tango (126946) and Early Espresso (126974)
Accessories: Tangerine Tango Scallop Dots Ribbon (124144); Vintage Trinkets (118764), Jumbo Sticky Rounds (for making the rosette) (127852)
Tools: Simply Scored Scoring Tool (122334)

Help! I Need Paper!

Help!  I need paper!  I'm trying to wait patiently for my Stampin' Up order and its new load of card stock and I know it will come soon, but I'm being forced to use paper that I don't normally choose.

My card stock storage.  I made it out of wire storage cubes.  If you want more information on how to make one, let me know by leaving a comment.

 But it's good to stretch oneself and I had quite a few pieces of Wisteria Wonder and Elegant Eggplant, so I thought I'd look for some DSP that would go with them. Now THAT was a challenge, but I found some Beau Chateau that would do, and my new You Are Loved stamp set and away I went.  Here's the outcome:

I really like the way they turned out.  I had a little trouble with the sentiment, getting it to ink evenly and completely, because it was a new stamp.  After I cleaned it with StazOn cleaner to take off the film that most new stamps have from manufacturing, I was able to get a fully inked image.  I used some Lucky Limeade ruffled ribbon for some colour pop, but softened it a bit with a layer of Victorian Crochet trim underneath.

Finally, a few pearls for some soft pizazz, and voila!



Happy Thursday!