Good morning! I have a great post for you on a stamp that is “walking the blank” but one that will be staying with me on Randall Lane. You know how I feel about single stamps….usually they are always “blue ribbon” ones and this is a great example of a “keeper”
Why do I like this stamp….easy – it is EASY to use and it is a great stamps to make in the masses. Let’s face it…COLDS HAPPEN and how sweet is this stamp to brighten someones day that is under the weather.
I hope that you take another look at this classic before it walks off the plank into bye-bye land at the end of the month. It is funny, when I look at the stamps that I keep….many of them are “single ones” – for some reason…they tickle my fancy!
I used the gold embossing powder to do the magical fun for this card. When you make this card, make MANY as we all know that they will go to good use in sending to family and friends.
We all know that there is something so rewarding when we heat emboss but please remember to use the stampin’ buddy to prep the cardsock so you will get a clean stamp and heat set with the embossing!
I hope that the next 2 pictures help you see that pulling this card together is actually not hard….let’s face it – nothing is hard when the method is explained to you!
Just stamp and cut. It is a wee bit of paper-piecing but I think that you can see the end result is totally worth the steps. We all have a TON of DSP and many prints work great with this stamp!
Here is the opposite angle – I tried to get the shine from the gold so you can see how rich looking it is! The color palette is using 2 of the NEW In Colors, tranquil tide and powder pink – both great new and fresh additions to our card stock collection! Remember, these are around for 2 years so there is LOTS of time to play with them!
The DSP that I used is a new kid on the block and it is from a 12 X 12 stack – (yep, I will be offering them in a product share)….the pattern might look familiar to you as it is the one that we currently have with the Navy and White…. – a true classic and one that I know we are all going to have FUN with!
Here is your “pin-able” picture for you…but if you do not have this stamp – please hit that below PAW PRINT and add it to your stash…heck – the price is great and you know that the size and simplicity of this stamp makes it an easy one to use!
Can you see that I just used the good old trimmer to make clean and simple cuts to set the tone for this fun card. You just cannot go wormng with the classics!
Yesterday was a busy day….I mailed out the NEW catalogs so if you have placed an order with me in the past 6 months…..you will be receiving some “HAPPY MAIL” from me….I know that it is a FUN time to have the actual catalog in your hands and look…and look – and guess what – soon enough it will be JUNE 1st!
I also have been working on what will be on my Product Share and I will have that ready for you soon as well. When the new catalog comes out, there is always so much to see, take in…one “heads up” about this new catalog, the RIBBON IS FANTASTIC ~ we have not had a surge of fab-o ribbons like this in years! (I know that you are going to enjoy it) as it is “practical” ribbon, meaning that you can easily use it for cards. (yep, there will be a ribbon share too)
See you in the morning for our 2 day post..Simple Saturday will get your weekend rolling~ I think that you are going to like it. Speaking of liking? – How did you like this card today – I adore the stamp and even though I am sad that it is retiring, I am happy that it has a home on Randall Lane as I will use it for many cards in the future years – IT’S A KEEPER….just like YOU!
Good Sunday morning to you! Here is the adorable snowman from the Snow Place Bundle and boy is he super cute today, (well I thought that he was super cute yesterday but today, he is POPPING right off from that black background.)
I bet I am using a product that many of you do not have….and it is a product that I admit that I do not use a bunch but boy….when I do – I LOVE it as there is always a great contrast that happens in an instant! It is the White Staz On ink.
You can see for yourself that they are both super fun and it all comes done to that TIME FACTOR! Darn, that gets us every time! (ha-ha…)
Using the White Staz On to me, makes a big difference. It dries quickly and it does make a fun statement. Have you ever tried it! Remember, the color "white" makes a HUGE DIFFERENCE"
"White" is a key factor to me in making "clean and simple"cards…Usually I do it the opposite than I am doing today but here you can see how the "white ink"makes the pop on the dark paper ~ Mr. Snowman looks happy in the snow!
In the below pictures you will see how I added the FUN FRU-FRU to the card…remember, it is the simple and little things that make a difference!
Because I struggle with making a bow I always find it easier to just add a bow on top of the piece of ribbon, it looks great and the ease of using a glue dot to hold a bow tight works like a charm!
Both of these cards are cute and the best thing is that they are really easy to make. This would be a great card to "Mass Produce" – You know what I am going to say….break it down and take steps. If I did a bunch of these, I would…do a little at a time
Cut all of the paper and score the base
Use the white piece that is going to be covered up with the black to stamp the snowman and sentiment
Cut the ribbon and make the bows
Cut the envelope paper and make the envelopes (this paper is soooo affordable)
I find if I break a project down to steps I enjoy the journey much better! I think that we have all been there before and I think that you know what I am talking about, we have great intentions on making a project but then that time thing gets in our way, by breaking it down I think it makes the whole process more enjoyable.
Again, Envelope Punch Board to the rescue…just follow the measurements for a 4 1/2" card and you are good to go! This is a must have tool as you will be amazed at how many odd shaped cards you will make when you have this gem!
This is a card that I would be super happy to send out, even if it requires extra postage since it is a square card! What do you think…Which one do you like?
Please feel free to leave a comment, we all love to hear everyones thoughts! I hope that you will come back tomorrow as I have super FAST…FUN Halloween treat for you to make that is super sweet and super easy = just like I like them ~ SIMPLE!
I loved yesterday's card and I love today's card…you can't go wrong with either one – it all comes down to time (darn that word – time is the one thing that always seems to get the best of us)!
Here you go with the cards side by side so you can see the difference. It is not a huge difference but when you see it in person you say – "WOW…..that is so darn cute"!
When I showed John the cards and I always ask him which one is for Saturday and which one is for Sunday? (smart husband, he does get that right )…I told him that this is a football card. He looked at me with the funniest face…I said, I can cut out a bunch of soup bowls while we watch a game….( I love to multi-task)
Please click on the below collage image to make it larger….
It really is not hard, it is just one more (or I should say – 2 more steps)….the dsp for the "soup bowl" and then the little vanilla piece that you snip out and then use "green glue" to adhere it on top!
From 1 sheet of DSP you can easily have "4 bowls" of soup – I hope your hungry! I just love these paper stacks as they are 6" X 6"….and because you get (4) sheets of each print, you can line the envelopes as well!
This paper stack is FILLED TO THE BRIMwith fun prints, Stampin' Up! really out did themselves on this one and guess what, it is on the weekly deals – a total win-win! Remember that tomorrow night will be the last time for you to take advantage of the current weekly deals!
The "shine and fun" of heat embossing gives you an instant WOW – you never, ever get tired of doing this method and it is always so rewarding. Remember. keep the heat tool moving so you do not scorch your paper!
The reason I did not emboss the heart is that I wanted to POP up a heart and the itty bitty heart punch did not cover the one on this stamp so I did the next best thing – eliminated it and it works out great!
Well….thoughts my friends? Do you have a favorite? This would be a great way for you to use up printed DSP that you are not using….discontinued etc…..I think it lends itself to a wide variety of options!
It is funny…I used exactly the same products today that I did yesterday! It just goes to show you how making some alterations can make a difference. Again,you cannot go wrong either way! You can see the products I used int he "scrolling store" below….shopping in your jammies is FUN!
Many thanks for your kind words of our dear friends passing. It is just about 11 years since we have bought our farm and I always said that I think when we bought our property, it came with "Art". Art had horses here at our house with the previous owners.
When we bought our house Art simply became a member of our family. His wife had just passed away and we adopted him and he adopted us. He spend holidays with us, he went to each and every game that the kids played, taught the kids how to parallel park and Art went with Hannah and I from Florida to Vermont and in between with the horses.
Here is a picture of Hannah and Art, just about a year ago right when he found out he had cancer. Art adored Hannah and they had shared so many times together….she is a great young lady and is doing very well as it hurt her to see him "not himself". He used to love to pick her up from school…with snacks ready… and go to the barn together for a lesson…he was so special to our family.
Yesterday we just stayed at the house and had fun…something that Art would have wanted to see and be a part of….Eddie jumped in the pool to get his ball….Hannah worked down in the barn, John and James fixed fences and did odds and ends and I was a good girl!
Art was always the "foreman" telling each of us how we should be doing this and that….we were so used to it as he was a true "old timer" with old fashion remedies and advice!
We have wild red raspberries and I would always ask Art to come with me to pick berries as I am scared to death of "critters"….he would take a 4 wheeler and again, be the "foreman" telling me to reach deeper…..now go to the right…..to end up having poison ivy from head to toe (me only as he sat and told me where to pick)….but we always laughed!
We had one of Art's favorite dinners, hard shelled crabs, mussels, fresh corn and tomatoes and we talked and talked about happy and wonderful memories. He was a special person to us and we were blessed to have him in our lives.
Please make some memories today, we all have so much to be thankful for….tomorrow I have a super quick and fun 3D that will make you smile!
Good Morning and welcome to Simple Saturday, if you are NEW…WELCOME and if you are OLD….I love seeing you back! On the weekends I do a 2 day posting….Saturday it is a simple card and then Sunday it is the "Stepped up version"of the same card!
You know that I adore Single Stamps… and I fell "head over heels" with this one when I saw it in the catalog. WHY??? Easy-peasy…it is super simple and clean!
It only comes in Wood Mount and you really want this one to be a wood mount as it is a BIG stamp and I think that the wood makes it easier to hold. It is SUPER cute and wow, what an easy card.
Now before we go any further…I need you to trust me on this one – I think that you know by now I would not steer you wrong. Here are some points that I learned while making this.
It TOTALLY works best if you heart emboss it, today I used very vanilla as the base and then the black embossing power….
I did try it with the Memento (and the stamp-a-ma-jig) you know me, I need that wonderful piece of plastic….and it truly did not give me the coverage that I was happy with.
PLAN B – I tried it with the Black Staz On (that poor stamp pad was mad at me as it has been monthssince I have used that)….and same thing – it was ok but not to my "type A" standards.
So the moral of the story is – heat emboss it! You know that WOW factor that happens when you heat emboss and I also think that the heat embossing makes a dramatic effect!
You know when you heat emboss you use the versamark pad….this image is so easy to "ink up" without inking the heart. I purposefully did not want the heart embossed as I wanted to pop a heart out using the itty bitty accents punches (now please tell me that you have these gems….they are a MUST HAVE).
Before I added the heart to the image, I turned over the embossed part and using the Simply Scored Tool, I scored all the way around….just love that effect.
The bring this sweet card to an end, the liner was from the Pretty Petals Paper Stack – another "keeper"from the new catalog…I love the fact that it works with Very Vanilla.
Many, many thanks for all of the comments yesterday and on Thursday…..last night, I sat in bed with that darn ice on my foot and went back to read the comments and add some to yours.
I apologize but we had a very special friend pass away on Thursday morning. Hannah is flying home today so even though it is at a sad time, as a family we are going to make it a joyous time! In our hearts, we know that our dear friend is at a better place as he has fought a hard battle with cancer.
Please feel free to email me and please remember to share my blog and love for stamping and teaching with your family and friends…I love what I do….and I do hope that you pop back tomorrow….I think you'll smile!
I am sure that you have seen this card before but the 1st time I saw it was when Jeanie gave a card similiar to me last winter when I was sick! My dear friends daughter McKenna just had her Wisdom Teeth yesterday and has "chubby cheeks" and I thought that this would be PERFECT for her!
So here is my take on it! If you have ever had your wisdom teeth out you know that it is not the most comfortable thing to go through…2 of my children went through with no problems…then when Hannah had hers out she was the cutest "chimp munk"you have ever seen!
I am going to do a quick run through and I hope that you try this and to me…this is one that you need to keep in your "dear little head" as it is a TOTAL keeper! I am going to share with you some tips and tricks that I hope you take me up on!
You can see that the card is the good old A-2 size in Strawberry Slush but folded to make a vertical card! I know that you are probably tired of me using the Large Polka Dot Embossing Folder but what can I say…I just love it – Polka Dots just make me happy!
The Blushing Bride is 3 3/4" X 5" and then the Strawberry Slush before I ran it through the Big Shot is 3 1/2" X 4 3/4"! Next is to the part that you are going to NOT GOING TO STRESS ABOUT as it is easy peasy!
Making the box is very easy. I took a 3″ by 2 1/4″ piece of All Abloom designer paper and scored in 1/4″ on all sides. I then cut out each end to make it come together for a box and voila. I had a kleenex by my side to go forward!
Yes, this is an open backed box BUT being the "type A" person I am…I needed to have a little support so I could adhere it the way I thought it should be so I added a piece of scraps. I cut a 1/2" strip that was 3 1/2" long and scored it at 1/4" so I could "green glue" it….and WOWZERS – it worked!
Jeanie used an oval punch but I could not find that anywhere so PLAN B went into effect and I went for the 1" circle punch and then accented it with the 1 1/4" Scalloped Circle Punch! I added my Kleenex inside and voila! Let's put this aside!
Let's go to the base that the box sits on….a blushing bride piece of 3" X 2 1/4" piece of paper but I thought that it needed something simple! PAPER to the rescue….I adore the stampin' trimmer and I just made "slivers" to make it a bit interesting!
The MUST HAVE is the Silicone Craft Sheet…this is the TOTAL lifesaver and for just $5.95 – you will be amazed at how you use it over and over! Love…love…LOVE! It is the best to work with adhesives…after it dries – it rubs right off!
Can you see that you can use all sorts of DSP to make this different but I would suggest that you use a print that is rather small and one that you can "accent with"
The sentiment is PERFECT for McKenna…."Happy Healing" and it is from the MUST HAVE sentiment set…And Many More – it truly is a keeper and one that you will never look back at! I try to learn…always – and when Mary Fish told me…when in doubt – GO FOR THE SENTIMENTS!
At first I scratched my head but she is so right. You can so soooooo much with paper….let the sentiments shine!
I could have easily dropped this off in their mailbox but when I went to the Post Office for work and saw this padded envelope….I just knew that it was meant to be and I needed to purchase it!!! Doesn't it work perfectly!
After writing a "chipmunk" note to McKenna (don't you love that name) I tucked in 3 movie passes for her and her parents to "go in the dark" and have fun! I can remember when Hannah was healing, that's what we did…sneak off and have some time together!
I am super excited that I was able to order the NEW goodies…..from the NEW Holiday Catalog! I know that you are going to love them as much as I do and I am looking forward to inspiring you with samples!
Please feel free to email me and please POP back tomorrow….it is a card that has been a hit for a long time and I have some very special young people to send it to!
Let's have a great Saturday , I relalize that I usually do "simple saturday's" for you…but tomorrow is "simple sunday!"…until tomorrow!
A couple of weeks ago, I blogged about Mr. Paul having a grand-daughter….he loved is card so much and the baby is doing great! Every morning when I get to work I say…"How's Maci?" – next is this huge smile and always ends with a "thank you for asking"…he truly is the sweetest!
Well today – he is having a big surgery on his ankle and foot. I truly hope that this will give him the relief is deserves! There really are not many people left in this world that have such a kind and warm heart that honestly never complains about pain, discomfort etc….
Remember I was on a roll with B-day cards…well I am going to have to come up with some great cards for Mr. Paul as he is going to be out for 8-10 weeks (I think longer) Today's card is a CASE from a card I received at Leadership in January from Demonstrator Michele Robins-Keifer!
I instantly loved the colors and I knew that I would find a way to tweak it a bit so here you go! Here is my version…at the end of the post you will see the difference!
On Tuesday, I did a baby card post using the Hexagon Hive Thinlits and shared with you that I was going to share with you another way to use it! Well….here you go…a way to think out of the box a bit but still keep things clean and tidy!
The base of this card is Island Indigo…love the bold and crisp color against the white, real read and Smokey Slate! I made this a vertical card…scoring at the 5 ½” mark!
TIP ALERT: – In my opinion – this is a perfect card to make many of….why? Well once you see the technique – you might as well keep stamping and using the big shot…you can change up the color scheme and also it is a great way to use up odd sizes of paper…you’ll see why!
Cutting a piece of whisper white just ¼” smaller = 4 ¼” X 5 ¼” I ran it through the Big Shot with the Honey Comb Embossing Folder! (Embossing folders are the best – not only are the super inexpensive…they truly give you a WOW that is always fun!)
Now to the Hexagon Hive Thinlit…this is the magic for this card! As you can see in the below picture, I took a template from the thinlit and then placed it over a piece of whisper white and then drew a faint line around the hexagons that would be popped out when you run it through the big shot!
Now to the white piece…take the Six Sided Sampler Stamp Set and stamp the hexagon in the areas that were penciled ! Now to the big shot….PRESTO – your shapes are cut out and now they will fit perfectly on the embossed hexagon piece!
To adhere these…I used the "green glue" to have perfect placment!
The adorable sentiment is from the Tag It Stamp Set and I used 2 of the brush ends of the markers to stamp! I love doing this….just use the brush tip and then give it a "good huff of stampin love" to keep the ink mpist and stamp away!
TIP ALERT: When you do this technique…I like to keep Q-Tips handy just in case I smear when coloring…works like a charm every time!
The Chalk Talk Framelits were my life saver to make this quick and easy! I popped this up and I also place a mini glue dot under the red ribbon to stabilze it a bit more….I just adore these little tricks that make you look good!!!!
Peel off and adhere to the Island Indigo Base….to the envelope – the Brights Designer Series Paper Stack was the pick of the day - Real Red…..love the POP!!!!
Now look at this picture below…this is the card that I received at Leadership and true it looks very similar but if you look at it closely, you will see that Lori used the Hexagon Punch for the Stamped Hexagon and you can see that they are much bigger.
When you see it in person, side by side…you notice the difference but the great news is…they both look great! I just liked showing you a technique that fits these hexagons great! As the saying goes….there are always 2 ways to do things!
Please keep Mr. Paul in your thoughts…he truly is a gem of a guy and I will miss him while he is gone! He has suffered for so many years, I am just thankful that he is getting relief! We take many things for granted and I have been encouraging him togo to the doctors to get help….I am just glad he is having this surgery!
I am off to see Hannah and I cannot wait! I have made a BIG basket of Stampin' Up! goodies for her sororitys silent auction that is for early detection for Breast Cancer! Remember Ted, my other friend I am making cards for….I am going to stop and spend the night with him and his wife tomorrow…please keep him in your thoughts he is just starting his 2nd round of chemo….
I hope you liked today's card….I adore the colors and different textures it brings! You can see…there are always many ways to do things…and I hope that I have inspired you to look at your tools you have!
