Holy Triptych & BLOG CANDY!!

As promissed I have some blog candy, but how about a card first. Actually, how about three. I fell in love with the Holy Triptych stamp set from the mini catalog the second I saw it. I thought the price was a little high, but with it being die cut I decided to think about it. I really wanted to make some cards for the ladies at church. Then I took one look in the SCS gallery and was sold when I saw this fabulous ornament made by momma b. I am so glad that I got this stamp set.

The die cutting made it super fast to mount. I don't mind cutting my own rubber, but it does take away from valuable stamping time. I really like the style of this set. I really like the border frame for the pictures. I see myself using it in the future for other things. Put it with the companion word set Star-Studded Season and you are all set for the holidays.

For my first set of cards, I decided to make a tri of matching card layouts. The people for each card is stamped on Whisper White and then colored in with markers. The outline image is stamped onto colored cardstock and then the opening was cut out to layer over the people. The sentiment is embossed on the left side and a simple bit of ribbon was added to finish them off. These cards didn't take long to make, but will be a great gift for someone. Here are some close up with basic colors used for each.

Apricot Appeal, Soft Sky, Whisper White, Irridecent Ice (Wings outline)

Bashful Blue, Chocolate Chip, Creamy Caramel, Apricot Appeal (halos), neutral WWC (Faces)

Mellow Moss, Sage Shadow, Creamy Caramel, Perfect Plum

Speaking of gift......how about some BLOG CANDY!! As always I thank those of you who have been visiting my site. I am humbled again that I am starting to get regular returners. When I hit 500 I thought it would take another 2 months to hit 1000. I am already at 1200 and just now getting out my candy. Thank you again and I hope you enjoy.

The weather here is warm, if not hot, still. I am awaiting with anticipation the fall weather with slightly colder nights and not so hot days. I want to decorate for all the holidays. The change of the seasons got me thinking about some designer paper from last years catalog. I went through my stash of retired items and there it was. Wonderful "Four Seasons" DSP. So I have for one lucky person a sample. There are (12) 6x6 squares, one for each print. They are double sided, so if you don't like one, something else is on the other side. I thought some nice chipboard would go well with the papers. There are four, one for each season, for the current catalog or mini catalog. Since I had out my retired paper, I decided to look through my retired ribbon bag. There are 4 grosgrain yards (Light Orchid, Rose, Chocolate, and Apple Green), 4 yards of silver cord, and 1 yard of Blue Organdy.

Getting a chance to win this blog candy is simple. Simply make a comment on this post. If you feel so moved, please subscribe to my email updates on the left side and earn another chance at this candy. I will have my daughter draw a name from the hat on October 1st. Good luck to all.

Thinking of others

This week I have stamped a little bit for others. There are many blogs that mention a little girl in Texas who is ill. They are trying to get cards from every state for her. Here is mine from Oklahoma.

I didn't want to make a somber sympathy card for her. I wanted it to be bright and cheery. I have had the Cutie Pie Designer Paper for months now, but didn't have the right opportunity to use it. I got the layout from SCS sketch challenge #139. I folded over the pattern on the right side. The butterfly and priceless swirls are covered in Irridecent Ice. The pretties flower has some glitter with 2-way glue pen.

Stamps: Priceless, Sincere Salutations

Paper: Cutie Pie, Certainly Celery, Barely Banana, Whisper White

Ink: Purely Pomegranate, Bashful Blue, Certainly Celery, Versamark

Accessories: Pretties Kit, Irridecent Ice, Glitter, 2-way glue pen, dimensionals

The second card is for my aunt. Her husband passed away the other day after a long battle with various illnesses. She lives several states away, so a card is the best I can do right now. I did think this was a great time to break out the pretties kit and the hat pins. A little crystal effects holds the beads into place on the pin. I got the layout from a card I received in a swap.

Stamps: Holidays & Wishes

Paper: Chocolate Chip, Regal Rose, So Saffron, Almost Amethyst Prints

Ink: Chocolate Chip

Accessories: Pretties Kit, Chocolate Chip Taffata Ribbon, Clearn EP

I am sorry there is not more information on these card for you. There is a large storm coming this way and I don't want to risk the power failing and loosing my internet. BLOG CANDY COMING SOON!!!

Sketch Challenge Day

If you are ever stuck trying to figure out what your card should look like, I really suggest you check out the SCS Sketch Challenges on Wednesday. I really feel like my stamping has come a long way by doing these challenges each week. It is also nice to have all the examples to look through that everyone else did. Here are two cards I made for last weeks sketch challenge #142.

I am planning on doing the ghosting technique with my club next month. The layers are a little tough to scan sometimes, but the card base has been ghosted in Almost Amethyst with snowflakes from the "Merry, Merry" stamp set. "Merry" itself is stamped in Bashful Blue and put on a mat of the same color. The ornament image was stamped and matted in Almost Amethyst. I added a few rhinstone brads to add a little bling.

Stamp sets: Merry, Merry

Paper: Almost Amethyst, Bashful Blue, Whisper White

Ink: Almost Amethyst, Bashful Blue, Versamark

Accessories: Ticket Corner Punch, White Gel Pen, Circle Ice Brads, 2-way Glue Pen, Dazzaling Diamonds, Dimensionals

I was on a mission to use all of my Christmas stamp sets at least one time last week. Sometimes I seem to reach for the same set a lot and ignore other great sets. I haven't used "Snow Flurries" in a long time. When I do use it, it tends to be for backgrounds and not for the main image. That stops now. This card was simple to make and uses my favorite In Colors.

Stamp Sets: Snow Jumbo Wheel, Snow Flurries

Paper: Wild Wasabi, Purley Pomegranate, River Rock, Whisper White

Ink: Wild Wasabi, Purely Pomegranate, White Craft

Accessories: Wild Wasabi Dbl Stitched Ribbon, 3/4" square punch, dimensionals

All of the sketch challenges are archived so you can look through them all. I am off to do this weeks, I hope you try one today.

In Colors for Christmas

I would like to start by saying WOW! I am sure that there are many bloggers who get 100's of hits every day. I am not one of those people. I feel very humble that others are linking their blog to mine and find my tips, instructions, or creations inspiring. 143 hits yesterday is a record for me. I just might have to put up some blog candy soon if this continues :wink: Thank you for visiting and please keep coming back.

On to todays card.... I love this years In Colors. I liked last years, but I LOVE this years. They have so many uses and combinations. My favorite personally is Purely Pomegranate. With the Wild Wasabi it makes the perfect Christmas combination. I mentioned yesterday using non-traditional combinations for your Holiday Cards. These colors can be easier to use with certain images. Take the "Baby Jesus is Born" stamp set for instance.

I used the Wild Wasabi for the lower grass area and then Blue Bayou for the night sky. A quick roll of the coordinating "Sweet Stars" Jumbo Wheel on my white craft pad and we have a wonderful stary night background. If I were to replicate this card again, I would use textured Wasabi for the lower layer. I also used the white craft ink for the sentiment before punching it out with the word window punch and placing it on a strip of River Rock Double Stitched Ribbon to match the matting for the main image.

I am aqua painter challenged. I always get too much water in it and the colors run everywhere. I have found a few tips that are helping me. 1.) I take all the water out of the aqua painter. I just dip the end of the brush in a small jar of water and wipe the excess of on the side of the jar. 2.) By embossing the image first (like I did on this card with Black EP) it helps to control the area you are coloring. I am getting better at watercoloring sky area. If you are aqua painter challenged also, I suggest starting with open sky areas. The Soft Sky In Color is great for this and is very forgiving. It is hard to pick up too much color and helps you learn a good balance between ink and water.

I colored the "Baby Jesus is Born" image with all of the In Colors. The River Rock worked well for Jesus and their head dresses. Groovy Guava and Purely Pomegranate for Mary. Blue Bayou and Purely Pomegranate for Joseph. Of course the Wild Wasabi and Soft Sky for the image background. These colors are fabulous and can be used in any combination of pairs, trios or all together. Break out your In Colors today.

Oh the weather outside is frightful...

Actually it is still hot here in Oklahoma. We are still close to 90* every day. I guess that could be considered frightful, since it is September and the temp should be coming down. I have been dreaming of the holidays. I have been ready to put up Halloween decorations for weeks already, but don't want my house to look like the store that puts things out months in advance. I promissed DH I wouldn't put up anything until October 1st. That doesn't stop me from being about to make Holiday cards. The last few days I have had a number of Fall cards. How about some Christmas cards. It is never too early to get ready for Christmas cards. I make several before finally picking one for my card to duplicate and mail to everyone.
So here are a couple that I have done this week. The first I made for the sketch challenge on SCS. #135 It may look more complicated to some than it actually is. Basically I started in the center. Here are the steps to cutting this card. Sorry there are no pictures. I made the card and then realized it would make a great tutorial.


1.) Start with a pattern piece 4"x5.25". (I used Dashing) Using the coluzzle cutting system, cut the forth (counting from the center) oval in the center of your paper.
2.) Measure 3" from the corner on the long side and 2" from the corner on the short side. Cut from these two marks. Do this on two opposite corners. I layed down my pattern paper on my stamping grid paper, placed a ruler on the two points and then used a cutting knife to cut the paper.
3.) Now for the-looks hard-easy part. Adhere the pattern to the next layer (4.25"x5.5"). I used Old Olive. Place the layers in your paper cutter. If you are using the SU! paper cutter, move the edge of the pattern paper you just cut so it is lined up with the clear center edge of the cutter. This will give you a semi-perfect and straight 1/8" layer. (I hope that made sense). Do this on both sides.
4.) Attach your ribbon if you choose at this time. Layer this on your card base. (I used a Real Red card from--attached to a Whipser White Card Base) I also pierced the corners before attaching the front to the base.
5.) Stamp the center image on a piece of cardstock. I used "Jolliest Time of the Year" in Basic Black on Whisper White. Color your image and surrounding as desired.
6.) Using your coluzzle cutting system. Cut your image out with the third oval, counting from the center. Adhere to your card as desired.

Stamps: Jolliest Time of the Year

Paper: Real Red, Old Olive, Whipsper White, Dashing DSP

Ink: Basic Black, Old Olive, Real Red, Summer Sun, River Rock

Accessories: Chocolate Chip Taffata Ribbon, Coluzzle Cutting System, Spounges, Aqua Painter, Mat Pack

When most people think Christmas, they think of red and green colors. I went with more of a non-traditonal color combination for this one. I think the blues give a wonderful winter look to cards. The layout is again from SCS. #137
Things the scan may not show well. The card base is Textured Soft Sky on top of Brocade Blue. The Snowman and Tree image are watercolored with Soft Sky from the ground up. The snowflakes in the background are stamped in versamark and embossed with Irridencent Ice. The snowman and tree panels are up on dimensionals.

Stamps: Flaky Friends

Paper: Brocade Blue, Soft Sky Textured, Regal Rose, Whisper White

Ink: Basic Black, Rich Regal Markers, Close to Cocoa, versamark

Accessories: Gold Elastic Cord, Ticket Corner Punch, Irridencent Ice EP, Aqua Painter, Dimensionals

Don't be afraid to start your Christmas Cards early. Try something new. A new color combination, a new cut or layout. Have fun designing.

Pumpkins and Paper

Before we all go into Christmas overload with designing our Holiday cards for December, let do some more Halloween and Thanksgiving cards. I have two for you today. One has a defined layout that I got from SCS. The other is a way to do layers without them being lined up on top of one another.

"Batty for You" is a fun little stamp set. The images fit perfectly in the scallop punch. They can be layer on themselves to have different colors for the image, the cardstock and the lettering around the image. They can be quick additions to a card, scrapbook or altered item. OR they can simply stand alone as the main image focus.

Stamp Sets: Batty For You

Cardstock: Creep Crawly DSP, Pumpkin Pie, Whisper White, Basic Black

Ink: Basic Black

Accessories: Gold Elastic Cord, Photo Corner Punch, Scallop Circle Punch

Here I used it as the main focus. Instead of layering it on the scallop punch, I used the scallop punch to cut a notch in the Creepy Crawly Designer Series Paper. To help the image stand out a little more, I stamped the ghost on Whisper White cardstock, cut it out and mounted it on dimensionals over the pumpkin pie image. I used layered photo corners to control the area of focus and break up the large print and white areas. Remember the photo corner actually puches two different size corners that can be layered on one another. A little gold cord from the mini catalog finishes it off.

"Carved and Candlelit" is one of my favorite Fall stamp sets. It can be used in a comical way with the different pumpkin faces or in a more subtle serious card like below. I wanted a more subtle look to this card. I didn't want too many layered lines. I decided that tearing would be the best way to give a softer look to the image.

Stamp Sets: Carved and Candlelit, Holiday Wishes, Canvas

Cardstock: Garden Green, Really Rust, Very Vanilla, More Mustard

Ink: More Mustard, Really Rust, Basic Brown

Accessories: Eyelets, Hemp Twine, Crop-a-Dile

The pumpkins are two colors mixed together. I first covered the stamp in More Mustard then went back with my Really Rust ink pad and put ink on the edges and some lightly in the middle. The stems are Garden Green. I like that you can use the same stamp to make the stem go up or to the side. The bottom of the area is spounged with Garden Green and then I drew in little wisps of grass with a black marker.

I purposely didn't line up a mat under the image area. I did want to fill in the left side with something. I didn't have any Designer Paper in my collection that worked here, so I made my own. I stamped the Really Rust cardstock with the Canvas background stamp in Basic Brown Ink. I put the eyelets on with my crop-a-dile and threaded the hemp twine through them before tying on the sentiment tag.

Haunting Halloween

Halloween will be here before we know it and then the worldwind of holidays begins. Are you ready for them? I'm ready to have fun making cards for all those holidays. I have been on a little stamping plurge this week. My housework is not getting done, but I am relaxed and enjoying myself. The Fall Frenzy stamps on sale have been enjoyable to work with. Here are two more cards using the stamp sets on sale.

The first is a Halloween card using a modified color blocking technique. The cauldren from "Haunting Halloween" is so cute. That little frog it a nice touch. I colored my cauldron with chalks and a blender pen. I like the Eggplant potion. I also picked up some of the Pumpkin Pie from the sentiment tag into the stars. The Handsome Hunter strip on the left contains images all from the "Bitty Boos Too" stamp set (also on sale). A simple string of black hemp twine finished this simple card off.

Sometimes simple is all you need. Sometimes more is better. Take these two cards for instance. They both use the same layout from SCS sketch challenge #141. The color structure is the same on both. More Mustard, Close to Cocoa, and a Really Rust base. The center strips are layered onto Chocolate Chip. I simple strip of Chocolate Chip Taffata Ribbon follows the sketch. The stamped images are all from "Autumn Fest" (on sale this month).

The second card is definitely stepped up. I want to thank More is More for her encouragement on SCS and her blog to go above and beyond.

The acorns for both are stamped in Chocolate Chip Craft Ink. The second they are also embossed with clear embossing powder to give them some shine. The More Mustard stirp is stamped with the background "Sanded" in Chocolate Chip Ink. Both leaves are stamped in More Mustard with Really Rust highlights. I traced the stem lines on the second with a marker and then layered it on more colors, mounting in on dimensionals.

The most noticable change of course is the stitching on each side. I used the mat pack to punch holes in the cardstock. Then with a little needle and linen thread I cross-stitched the x's on. Add a couple of Hodgepodge Hardware pieces and this card is stepped up.

The Golden Leaves of Fall

I am working on catching up with the SCS Sketch Challenges. This card is for SC138. The open four areas needed something special so it didn't look plain, but didn't distract from the image. Embossing!!!
I started with the pumpkin. It is from the "Thoughly Thankful" stamp set on sale this month. I stamped it on Whisper White, colored it and then cut it out. I colored the pumpkin with a few markers; Pumpkin Pie, Really Rust (on the lines) and More Mustard (near the top and bottom). I then went back over it with Pumpkin Pie to make sure it was the primary color.
To follow the sketch I knew I wanted to use the square metal edge tag in the center. They come with an alluminum edge, but I wanted it to be gold to match the embossing I planned to do. I colored on the edge of my tag with a versamarker and then embossing the tag edge with Gold Embossing Powder. It took a little longer to heat up the embossing powder because it was on a metal surface and not on cardstock. It also took a couple of coats to get an even coat. I then used an aqua painter and my Garden Green marker to color the bottom area of the tag, and the aqua painter and ink from the lid of my Soft Sky ink pad for the top of the square tag. (scan doesn't pick it up as well as it looks in real life) The pumpkin is adhered with a couple of dimensionals.
I picked out my card base colors to go with the pumpkin colors. Layer 1 is the same Garden Green from the stem and bottom of tag. Layer 2 and 3 are Pumpkin Pie and Really Rust, respectively, to match the pumpkin coloring. The Really Rust layer was one rectangle. I embossed the leaved from the same stamp set with Versamark and Gold Embossing Powder. I cut it into 4 sections and adhered my card base together with snail adhesive.
I helped tone down the layers with some faux stitching from my gold ZIG Painty pen. The square metal edge tag was then attached with some dimensionals.
I really do like this stamp set and now is the perfect time to get it on sale. A simple $30 purchase and you can get all 6 stamp sets on sale at a great price.

Sparkle Farkle Chipboard and GIANT Paper Bows

We have a lady in our church crafters group that we nicknamed "Sparkle Farkle". Everytime she makes something she insists on putting glitter on it. When I made this card for my chipboard class, it just called for some "sparkle farkle". (I will try and get a better picture-my scanner took a lot of the sparkle away)

The snowflake came from the On Board Trimmings collection in the current mini catalog. You get TONS of snowflakes in various sizes with this collection. This is one of the smaller snowflakes.

To get the sparkle on your snowflake follow these easy steps.

1.) Coat the entire piece in white craft ink. It helps to give a base to work with and something for the embossing powder to stick to.

2.) In a small container (I used an old medicine bottle) mix white embossing powder with Dazzaling Diamonds until you get a sparkle consistency you like. I used more sparkle than white EP.

3.) Cover the item with the mixture, tap off the excess, and heat at usual.

4.) If you didn't get enough sparkle-adjust your mixture, coat your piece with veramark and emboss it again with the new mixture.

My other item today is actually from someone elses blog, The Stamp Doc. I have got to try one of these. I love HUGE bows on presents, but I can never find the color I want in the bag. Now you can make bows to coordinate with anything including our wrapping paper. How about a small gift wrapped in Designer Paper with a coordinating bow? Oooooh, my mind is a turning for a gift I need to send to a fellow stamper.

Here is the link to Melissa's wonderful blog tutorial to make this bow.

More Fun with Chipboard

Here are two of the cards I showed my club the other night. Both use stamp sets that are on sale this month. Don't miss out on 30% off of these great stamp sets.

The first card uses two of those great stamp sets. This great cat on a broom is from "Haunting Halloween". The scan doesn't show well, but she is colored with several orange pastel colors. The card base is stamped using the small stars in the stamp set in black ink onto Really Rust cardstock. The pattern paper is from my favorite "Creepy Crawly" collection.

The Chipboard piece is from On Board Accents. "Eek" is from "Bitty Boos Too" on sale this month. Here are the steps to get a great glowing color on top of black.

1.) First coat the chipboard in Basic Black Classic Ink and let dry.

2.) Stamp the image in White Craft Ink

3.) Emboss the image with Winter White Embossing Powder.

4.) While the image is still warm, color over the image with a q-tip and desired color.

The second card also uses chipboard. This piece is from the Holiday Trimmings collection in the holiday mini catalog. It is the center of one of the scallop frames. I colored it with Yo Yo Yellow Watercolor Wonder Crayons. I wanted the chipboard to show through in small bits, so the moon looked a little hazzy. The bat was then stamped in basic black ink on top. The bat is from "Bitty Boos Too"-on sale this month.

Other stamps used: Spooky Skyline Jumbo Wheel, All Holidays ("Happy Halloween")

The sentiment in stamped in versamark and embossing in gold. THe ribbon and card base are both Pumpkin Pie.

Fun with Chipboard

My monthly stamping club met last night. We had fun working with chipboard. I showed them a few cards (to be posted later this week) that used pieces of chipboard. Then we did two projects with the most popular ways to alter chipboard.

The first project was to coat the chipboard with Classic or Craft Ink. I then gave them an assortment of stamps, punches and embelishments. We used E6000 glue to adhere the jumbo paperclips to the chipboard piece. We punched a circle or square to place on the back. Then they had the option of adding a piece of magnet so they could use their paperclip on the fridge.

The second project was a photo mat that I picked up at the dollar store. I got two in a pack for $1. We covered them with designer papers from the "Creepy Crawly" Collection. I then again had various stamps and such (including several of the Fall Frenzy Sale stamps) that they could use to decorate their mats.

I decorated mine with "Headline Alphabet" letters, bats made with the tab punch, pumpkins from "Carved and Candlelit", and a tag made with "Batty For You" and the scallop punch. Pick up some photo mats at your dollar store and have some fun with chipboard.

"FALL" Scrapbook page

I have been working on a number of sample projects for my stamping club this evening. Though our focus tonight is on chipboard, I wanted to show them some examples using the Fall Frenzy stamp sets on sale. I wasn't sure what I wanted to do with the "Autumn Fest" stamp set. This project originally started out to be a card, but obviously went in a totally different direction.

I started with the leaves. I wanted a multi color look to them, so I went with Poppin' Pastels. I stamped the leaves in Versamark on Whisper White paper. Using a q-tip I covered the versamark with various Earth Element pastels. The leaf on the right used a more line approach and the others a more swirly motion. I traced the lines in the leaves with a Close to Cocoa marker (thin tip). I cut out the leaves and put them on some dimensionals. The acorns were stamped using markers. The top of the acorn is Chocolate Chip and the bottom in Close to Cocoa.

For the Title at the top I stamped each letter from the "Headline" alphabet using Earth Element Craft Stampin' Spots. I crimped the background for the letters, before adhering them with mini glue dots. Using my crop-a-dile I added some eyelets to each corner and then threaded some hemp twine through the eyelets. A quick altering of the photo mat with the cutter kit to rough up the edges and a ticket corner punch for the journaling block and I was done.

I may try again for a card using those leaves, but I am very pleased to have this simple to make scrapbook page in my book as the leaves are changing outside. If you would like to make this page with your friends, give me a call to book a workshop.

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Baby Scrapbook Page-Welcome/Journey

One of the wives in my hubby's unit had a baby today. My DH asked me if I would make her a gift. This is what I came up with. I had the train pieces left over from some 2-5-7-10 boxes I made a few weeks ago, so that is where I started from.

She had a boy, so I wanted to keep the basic color scheme more towards the blue side. The Bashful Blue Background, Letters in "Baby", the "Jj" on the Journey tag, and the Bashful Gingham ribbon help bring out the boy of this page. The Barely Banana areas in the highlights on the train, the scallop punch, along with the border mats for the photo and tag give the page a little light. The scallop tag is from a retired set "Riveting". The letters in the title and the tag are from the "Defining Alphabet". The "journey" sentiment if from "Define Your Life". I hand drew the tracks on Creamy Caramel with a journaling pen.

To help give the page some depth, the train, scallop and photo corners are on dimensionals. To break up the large blue main page, I rolled the Baroque Borders wheel down the side in versamark ink. The double matted photo corners with rinestone brads and ticket corner punch help to finish it off.

Are you ribbon bow challenged?

I have a hard time getting my bows just right. One loop ends up larger than the other. I accidentally pull the bow apart when attaching it to my cards. If you like to put bows on your project, but have a problem with making them just right the "Adjustable Bowmaker" is perfect for you too.

My mom bought me one and it sat on my shelf for weeks. I figured I am making acceptable bows. Sometimes I like to wrap the ends of my ribbon around the cardstock and tie the ends into a bow. They come out fine. Other times I add a bow on top of a piece of ribbon. These always look a little funny. I have larger fingers and making small bows is hard for me. There are other times when I just want a bow all by itself. I used to punch a couple of holes in the paper and tie the bow on. No more need for lopsided bows now. I can't believe I waited to try this gift from mom.

With the "Adjustable Bowmaker" I can make bows in many sizes with different size ribbon. Because of the way it ties the ribbon on, the front of the bow has a nice clean finish look to it. Instead of seeing the knot you see a wrapped piece of ribbon on the front. You also can't pull the ribbon apart by pulling on the tails. I also found myself waisting less ribbon by not having long tails that had to be cut. I was only cutting 1/4" off each end to make them even and proportional for the bow. If you like long tails that is easy to do also.

At only $10.00 this is an affortable solution to those others who are bow impaired like me or a great gift for someone who loves ribbon. You can purchase one from http://www.thecardladies.com/ They also have stamping and scrapping t-shirts and mugs, templates for tins, and roller guides in shapes along with many other great products we all like to use.

It's the little things that count

We have all heard this phrase time and time again. I have two cards here that fall into the category of the little things in life.

The first is a small 3x3. I hosted a swap and it is time to mail them back to the swappers. It was an unordinary swap and I appreciated everyone who took the chance to try it. (Samples to come another time, so you will just have to wait hanging) I made this simple notes to put in their return bags. The little bashful blue gingham bow was made on a bow maker I got from my mom (Review of this item to come Sunday). I also spounged the sentiment area with bashful blue ink. There are versamark images in the background, but the picture is hard to see.

The second card is something I started with a friend of mine. In the army families constantly move around. There are support groups in each unit, but sometimes it is hard to get constantly moving families to want to come to meetings for news or event information. I started making these cards for her to send to the new wives in our unit. This little thing has made such a big difference. The simple 3x6 card lets the new wives know we are here for them.

Since you can't get the wheel ink in every color, I just run it on my ink pad and then across the paper. If you only need the wheel to go around one time, this works great. If you wanted to wheel a longer piece (over 6") you would have to use a wheel cartridge or accept that the second time over will be lighter. Many Stampin' Up! stamps come with an image and sentiment on the same stamp. For this card I separated them. The image placed on the circle and the sentiment on the tab punch. It helps you to get more miles out of one stamp. The ladybug is from a retired SAB stamp set, but I do have one more new unmounted for sale if you would like to have it.

Have a good weekend everyone and Happy Stampin'

Pinecone Ornament

Many have done these in the last year. This is my first of many this month. I am making them for our church to sell at their craft fair in November. Participants will also learn how to make these at my Holiday Designs Class on September 22nd.

For this one I used the smaller circle in square paper from the "Dashing" Designer Series Collection. At about two hours to make one, start yours today for your holiday gifts.

Candy Winner!!

It is time to cook dinner and settle down for the night. Maybe have some kid free time for stamping. So, it is time to draw for the blog candy. I had my DD pull a number out of a hat. She picked #20.

Congratulations nancys (momsnack)!
Nancy likes all the seasons for different reasons.
Spring: all the flowers coming up
Summer: the ggkids come more often for visits
Fall: the crisp colors
Winter: the holidays and a good excuse to stay in and read or stamp!

Email me (kjbmusic@cs.com) or PM me on SCS (kjbmusic) with your snail mail and I will send out your fall color blog candy.

Thanks to all for playing.