Happy Weekend…Happy St. Patricks Day and a special shout out and HAPPY BIRTHDAY to our one and only “Chris. R. from Iowa”…

I hope that you have a special day and that there are many happy and healthy returns to you! (you always keep us in stitches with your “life happenings“)

I have a card for you today that will put a “spring into your step” as the minute I saw it….I knew that I needed to CASE it! There are many reasons why it “spoke to me” as it is right up that simple alley that I love in being clean and simple with design.

We also have “winners” from the can you guess on Wednesday’s post  – these have been fun! I know that many of us have “the basics” and that makes me super happy,….but I also know that many of us could easily find $125 worth of Stampin products that we use on a regular basis that would be thrilled to pay just $99 and it ships for free (free shipping is music to my ears)

Now to this super simple yet super fun card! As a Stampin’ Up! Demonstrator we get a quarterly Magazine called, Stampin’ Success sent to us. When I see it in my mailbox I get super excited as I usually sit at the end of our lane to do the quick flip through and look at the pictures of amazing samples….YEP, I did it again on Wednesday when it arrived.

You know that I adore Versa Mark…as this IS the key to heat embossing as this is the “stick” for our embossing powder but I also use it and often blog about it as a tone on tone effect it will give you when you use it like an ink! It is a magical must have…

I think that many of you think that it might not dry….trust me, it does and heck – if you are also using an embossing technique (like I am today) you will already have your heat gun out….just add some heat to speed up the drying process. I usually just let it set and it dries perfectly.

You know me….it needs to be simple, clean & easy and this is all of that and more. I started with a 4″ X 5″ piece of white cardstock and added a piece of Multipurpose Adhesive Sheet to it. This product IS one that many of you forget to have handy but it IS one that needs to be with you as it is a TIMESAVER to the max. I actually have many scraps with this adhesive on already in the basic colors (white, vanilla, black, sahara sand) already with the adhesive on it….so when I need a piece, I am ready to go!

I took the 5 colors that I chose (melon mambo, flirty flamingo, lemon-lime twist, bermuda bay & pool party) and cut them into 1/2″ strips and placed them on the white piece of paper that had the Multipurpose Adhesive Sheet on it. This adhesive if forgiving until you give it a firm press or a good “run over” with the bone folder….(and YEP, I will share with you MY FAVORITE bone folder) at the end of the post!

HOW SIMPLE IS THIS??? I just cleaned up the edges and then matted it on a piece of black cardstock that is a “smidge” larger. I just adore the look and feel of the color and just think of the ENDLESS color schemes you could go with….now to the other “easy element” that made this card special.

Now here is the stamp of the show. It is called Beautiful Day and it is from the Occasions Catalog. This is a stamp that would be super fun to color but today….a quick stamp….how simple is this!

I used the STAMPARATUS to do my stampin’ of the butterfly but by all means, you do not need a placement tool – I just wanted to do a good and firm stamp (I actually stamped it twice) to get a darker versamark image. How beautiful and simple is this? I was beaming from ear to ear with the end result.

Carrying out the theme and design I pulled out a sentiment from the One Big Meaning Stamp Set, this is in the Annual Catalog and as you can clearly see below….it is a fabulous stamp set full of great “thank you’s” with fun fonts! I heat embossed it in White on the black cardstock so the black matting would POP! This IS a stamp set that truly gives you a bang fro your buck as it is priced perfectly!

It wouldn’t be one of my cards if I did not have a fun envelope for you….and YEP….same drill as what I did for the card except I made the width of the strips a bit smaller so I could fit all of them on. I know that it doesn’t take much to make me happy…but this card DOES make me happy and I will use the design and layout for many cards that I create in the future….(A formula) as I like to call it!

Now to WEDNESDAY’S WINNERS…..please go back to the blog post from Wednesday to see….then it will make perfect sense! The items that I would have chose from the ones that I listed were…… and we have 2 winners……

WOOT-WOOT to Kathy Beemer & Pam Traffis…

These are the items that came to $124.25 – Yep….all keepers and you would only pay $99 and it is free shipping! (heck, that is an additional $12.40 off)… Envelope Punch Board, Stampin’ Trimmer, Extra Blades for trimmer, Simply Scored, Paper Snips, Tear & Tape, Glue Dots, Dimensionals, Mini Dimensionals & Foam Adhesive Strips.

The key hint that I gave was…“what tools/aids” would I use…..I was super proud that no one put the bone folder (that means you read) and below I will share my favorite. If you look at the picks that I chose…you will see that I did them for a purpose….to be “set” for creating with the basics! Way to go….Kathy…..please email me…I know Pam’s address!

Let’s Chat about Bone Folders as these little gems are a must have for what we do. I always say that I am honest with you in the things I love and use to make the process work for me and true, the stampin’ up! bone folder gets the job done (and it is great for a beginner) but once you get your paws on a teflon bone folder….you will see what a GAME CHANGER it is.

I also have this one, the Ergonomic Square Bone Folder and I am thinking that I like this better as it fits on my hand perfectly and I can give it a good grip…I know…I know – many of you are saying….why in the world would someone spend that money on these???…well – I am just being honest as these are tools that I use ALL OF THE TIME and they make what I do more enjoyable and easier for me!

Why do I like the teflon material with these bone folders??? They are both SUPER SOLID and it will not leave any of that shiny residue (especially on darker cardstocks) when you score. I love a very solid and firm score with my projects as it is this element that really makes your projects look more polished.

There you go….some inspiration for your weekend. I cannot wait to continue to play with this layout design. Please go to your stash and great the stripe part today so you can get the feel and then look at it and think of all of the ways you can use it! I think even after you create the base….it would be super cute to cut a circle out and make a fun and festive shaker card!

That is why I love this thing that we do….there are always sooooo many ways to create and I do love sharing my passion and love with you. Now to the answers that I asked about me…from Wednesday…..

• If you could be anywhere in the world for New Year’s Ever this year, where would you most want to be? THIS ONE IS SUPER EASY….HOME! There is no place that I would rather be than HOME call me simple…call me boring but I just love the simplicity of home. Many of you got this one!

• What is your favorite saying or quotation? I loved your guesses and YEP, you do know me but the key word that is in my saying is “JOY” I think that is such a powerful word….and just think 3 simple letter…..that has one HUGE MEANING! Here you go…..and trust me – this goes through my simple little head a bunch as it is soooooo true…..

“If there is no joy in the journey…than there is no joy at the journeys end”

There you go….to me, a great way to live by. Have a fabulous and safe weekend. For you Basketball Fans out there……YIKES – big shake up last night…#1 seated Virginia lost to UMBC….I am sure there are lots of brackets messed up! I will see you on Monday…all of the supplies that I used will be found below and I do hope that you let some fun and festive stripes in your life and card making!