FEELING BLUE

I look at this card and wonder to myself, "WHO MADE THIS????" It is so not me - hearts AFTER Valentine's day? That NEVER happens and mostly blue? Rarely. But the fact is, I DID make this card AND I like it!


Unlike most my cards, this one didn't start with the image. It began with the ribbon.

I was learning a new "no-tie bow" technique which called for the use of a wide ribbon and this happened to be the only wide ribbon I had in my stash. After I finished the bow, it didn't really work with any images I have - there was just too much formal pattern on the ribbon - so I thought I might be able to use it if I kept the card image free.

I cut out the Spellbinders LATTICE die from WHISPER WHITE cardstock and placed it in the center of a BALLET BLUE (retired) cardbase. Next I stamped the medallion image in Ballet Blue ink, cut it out and used dimensionals to pop it up in the center of the lattice cut-out. Then the bow was glued down with Elmer's Glue All to hold it securely.

Okay so far - but now what? Not a circle because once I made the bow, it came out with circles in the pattern - and not a square shape (much too plain) - so hearts it is. I stamped the Punch Potpourri heart in Ballet Blue ink and punched it out with the coordinating punch from Stampin'Up! Then stamped it again on another piece of cardstock and cut around the outline so that it was larger than the stamped image. I sponged the edges of the back and used that as a mat for the stamped heart. These were joined together with a DIMENSIONAL, then added to the center of the bow.

To finish, I punched corners using corner dies from Cuttlebug.

So, are you feeling a little "blue" now?

Enjoy your day -
and until next time,
Happy Stamping.

Jill

IZZY'S 2ND BIRTHDAY

Izzy is the now 2-year-old son of a friend of my son's. This was a fairly last minute request, as was Tristan's invitation to the party. Seems to me that's how alot of people do things - VERY last minute.

In searching for an image for a toddler, I realized I really don't have alot of choices - so I used this image from the retired Stampin'Up! set "LITTLE TRUCKS". It's definitely cries out "little boy birthday" to me.

I used a handful of Copics to color the image, sponged around the edge of the cardstock and used the TICKET CORNER PUNCH from SU! on both the image piece and the BASIC BLACK mat. The PACIFIC POINT cardstock is embossed with an SU! EMBOSSING FOLDER (sorry but I can't think of the name right now - but it's current) and is adhered to a TANGERINE TANGO cardbase. Once it was all put together, I added the 'GOOGLEY EYES" for an extra bit of fun!

The number is computer generated and also colored with Copics. The little stars are buttons I found. I clipped the shanks off with my CRAFT RUBBER SCISSORS from SU! and stuck them into place using MINI GLUE DOTS.

The card was pretty quick to make - the coloring took the longest - but it worked to make a little guy quite happy.

Thanks for stopping by
Until Next Time
Happy Stamping.

Jill

HAPPY ANNIVERSARY!

Today my husband and I celebrate our 29th wedding anniversary! It's amazing to me how quickly the years have gone and how wonderfully blessed I feel to have met, loved and married such a wonderfully kind, sweet and generous man. He's lucky too - because after the request for the Valentine's for three other women - I could have decided to boot him out the door! He's fortunate that I'm not the jealous type! LOL!!!

I made this card for him for our anniversary and will give it to him at dinner (Red Lobster - yum!) tonight.

I was at Walmart the other day and found a card that had a beautiful verse inside. It perfectly put into words how fortunate I feel to be married to my hubby so I put it in the cart to buy it. On my way to the checkout line I got to thinking he might get offended if I bought him a card so instead, I took a photo of the saying with my phone and computer generated it on the inside of the VERY VANILLA cardbase. I DID reword it so it wasn't TOTAL plagiarism though - I just borrowed the basic theme.

I layered a piece of designer cardstock from SU!'s TO THE NINES paperpack onto a piece of BRAVO BURGUNDY cardstock then stamped my image from SU! WITH GRATITUDE in BRAVO BURGUNDY ink onto VERY VANILLA cardstock. My plan was to leave the image uncolored but it looked too "naked" so I added a touch of color with COPIC markers in BG10, B000 & YG00. I used a stamp from ITTY BITTY BACKGROUNDS and stamped over the image piece in SOFT SUEDE ink then distressed the edges with my fingernail. NOTE: For you ladies out there who pay to have someone do your nails - you might consider buying a distressing tool or using the grated edge of a butter knife for this.

After adhering the image to the BRAVO BURGUNDY mat, I added the BRONZE METAL CLIP . To get the right spacing for the brads I used the MAT PACK and PIERCING TOOL from SU! After placing the brads, I glued the finished pieced to the cardbase then added a touch of ICICLE STICKLES to the leaf image. Normally I don't add bling or glitz to masculine cards - but the leaf really just needed that extra something - and the STICKLES make it look like dew drops sparkling in the sunlight. Just the right finishing touch.

Until Next Time -Take a minute to remember all the wonderful qualities that caused you to marry the person you did. I'm sure they're still there somewhere! :D

Happy Stamping!

Jill

AHEAD OF THE GAME

Hah! For once, I am actually ahead of the game and have several of my valentine cards already made! Not that I don't have a stash of greeting cards for general occasion and birthdays, but I am rarely prepared with holiday cards and am always hurrying at the last minute to come up with ideas and time to actually put the ideas to paper. I don't know what's happened to me! Perhaps it was hubby's request for the ladies at work that spurred me to action. Whatever it was I managed to create 3 treat boxes and 4 cards last night into the pre-dawn hours this morning. Four down with several more to go - but I'm off to a good start.

This is my favorite of the 4 cards and the third one I created. I really like everything about it - and the shabby chic poppy was just too fun to make - even tho' it's just a tad bigger than planned.

The first three cards were created using basically the same supplies.
Stampin'Up!:Raspberry Tart Designer Paper; Whisper White, Real Red and Basic Black cardstock, Punch Potpourri Stamp Set, Heart Punch, Old Olive & Pretty in Pink markers (Copics were used on the card above) and Black & White Gingham Ribbon.

The embossing folder used is Cuttlebug's Love Language and the buttons were purchased at Hobby Lobby years ago.

This next card was created after the card above and uses left-over pieces from rejected ideas. I made this at about 3 a.m. this morning - and looking at it now, I realize it should have been made in the vertical format because my embossed hearts are floating sideways. Oh well - at that time of the morning my brain was probably floating sideways and only functioning because of the amount of caffeine being pored into my veins!

The last card created (finished at 4:45 a.m.) goes in a totally different direction than the first three and was made with a particular "red-hating" friend in mind. It still incorporates the main heart image, punch, markers, Soft Suede ink and Whisper White cardstock - but the change in cardstock colors and embossing folder has given it a softer, more romantic effect. I used Pink Pirouette Cardstock, the floral spray is from SU! GENTLER TIMES and is stamped in Pretty In Pink ink, and the embossing was done using Cuttlebug's Textiles Embossing folder and Nestabilities Scalloped Rectangles.

I'm not crazy about the placement of the heart - maybe it's too small or maybe it's the sponging around the edge that makes it look "off" - I can't quite decide - but with the floral sprays in the opposing corners it was the only placement that seemed to work. Suggestions?

TIP: Use the STAMP-A-MAJIG to get the perfect placement of the floral sprays. It works BEAUTIFULLY!!!!

So what do you think? Do you have a favorite?

Stay tuned - there'll be more to come in the next few days.

Until then - Happy Stamping!

Jill

VALENTINE TREAT BOX

What would you do if your husband called you from work and asked if you would make 3 Valentine cards for the ladies he lunches with every day???? Uhm - hello???? You want me to make a Valentine card for not one - but three - other women - and you can't even remember my birthday without a reminder????? If he were a different type of man - I might be jealous. If he were a different type of man - I wouldn't even consider it. But because he is the man he is, I promptly said "sure", hung up the phone and then began thinking about how I could make a Valentine card without it being an invitation to one or more of those women to "be 'his' Valentine". LOL! I finally decided that a treat box and not a card was the safest way to go with this - especially since one of the women is single and we don't want her thinking he's making a play for her affection. The treat box and the fact that he is giving all the women the same thing at the same time should help with that.

Here's the box. It's finished size is 3"x3"x1".

The box is created using PRETTY IN PINK cardstock cut to 9" x 5", scored at 1" on all sides then scored at 4" and 5". I embossed the top with the Cuttlebug Embossing Folder: Swiss Dots. The heart was stamped with the heart image from PUNCH POTPOURRI in SOFT SUEDE INK with the stems colored with an OLD OLIVE MARKER. I colored the flowers, after the image was stamped, with a PRETTY IN PINK marker. Then I punched out the image with the SU! HEART PUNCH and sponged around the edge with REAL RED INK. I tore "hearts" from REAL RED and BASIC BLACK cardstock then lightly sponged the edges with CRAFT WHITE INK. The red paper heart was adhered to the black heart using SNAIL ADHESIVE, while the stamped heart is popped up with DIMENSIONALS to allow the length of ribbon to slide underneath and around the box. I placed the little heart-shaped plastic button from Hobby Lobby to add an extra bit of "pop".

For the inside top of the box, I cut a 2.75" square of designer paper, punched out the center with the HEART PUNCH, and sponged the edges with REAL RED INK. The sentiment is from the SU! set HOLIDAYS AND WISHES and stamped in BASIC BLACK INK. I punched holes for the brads but then attached the sentiment using Glue dots rather than have the brads poking through the designer paper. I originally used the Satin Ribbon shown in this photo to tie up the package - but decided it was too formal for the torn edges of the black & red hearts, so I changed it to the red & white gingham ribbon shown in the first photo. The gingham worked MUCH better.

The treat is a a LITTLE DEBBIE "BE MY VALENTINE" cream filled cake and purchased at Walmart. They come packaged two to a pack - so I cut the package open, ate one of the cakes (yes, I REALLY DID!!!!) and then taped up the end of the package before putting it in the box. THAT was my favorite part - and the good news is I have two more to make! LOL!

Thanks for visiting -
and until next time -
Give thanks for all those blessings we take for granted.

Jill