You just never know...

Most of today was spent getting projects planned, cut, and packaged for classes next week. Usually this is an ongoing thing, but because of the battle of the bug, I'm really running behind in the planning phase. And if you don't have the projects planned, it's really hard to cut cardstock, write instructions, and package it up! lol

There's been this idea for a Christmas card percolating in my brain for the last several days. Today was going to be the day it would finally come to life. NOT. It just didn't seem to work out the way it was planned in my brain. Hmmm... it must be all the sinus pressure that's messing up my planning. It certainly couldn't be that it was a lousy idea now, could it??! Naw, I didn't think so either. Anyway, the card was salvaged. It's not at all like the planned idea, and I have absolutely no idea when or where I'll use the card. But it is done....
That's about all I have to say for it. lol

This is it. Not too bad, but not fabulous either.

Stamps: Medallion and Tres Chic
Cardstock: Ruby Red, Basic Gray, and Whisper White
Ink: Ruby Red, Basic Gray, and Basic Black
Accessories: Sponge quarter, Pretties Kit (half pearl), Basic Black Narrow Grosgrain Ribbon, and Mini Glue Dots

Like I mentioned earlier, I'm not sure what this card will be used for so there are no words inside yet. Maybe I'll keep it for an anniversary card. The words seem like they would fit that nicely. Do you have any suggestions for an occasion to use the card? Well, what do you think of it?!? Be gentle with me now. Remember my brain's all clogged up and I'm not thinking too clearly. (I think that's a darn good excuse and I'm sticking to it!) Hopefully this bug will clear up some day soon and I won't have it for an excuse anymore! Now that would really be something to celebrate!

Happy stamping, stay well and happy,
Sharon

CASEing an idea

Hi ladies! First I need to thank all the wonderful ladies who are leaving the kind words and get well wishes for me. I can't tell you how wonderful you are andd how much your words mean to me!! And I'm still working on the getting better part. It's killing my bottom line having to cancel workshops and classes. Bummer!! But this too shall pass, and life will be rosy again. At least, that's the plan. lol

But on to the CASEing part. For those of you that don't know, CASE means Copy And Share Everything. Earlier today I was down in the dumps so thought I'd peek at other blogs to get ideas. That always makes me happy and itching to stamp. And today was no different. Before today, I had never heard of Joyce Spears and her little blog, but luckily stumbled upon it. There was this cute color combo on some cards that just called out to me. Plus the cards used one of the Autumn Traditions papers that I hadn't figured out what to do with yet. So that took care of that little problem, now didn't it?!

Here it is! I just love how the colors work together on this card, don't you? The colors I chose to use are all part of this sheet of DSP. Can't get any easier than that!

Stamps: Trendy Trees

Cardstock: More Mustard, Elegant Eggplant, and Very Vanilla

Ink: Soft Suede, Ruby Red, Always Artichoke, and Soft Suede

Accessories: Stamp-a-ma-jig, and Eggplant Grosgrain Ribbon

This design is different than the ones Joyce showed on her blog (she had several different ones), but the idea works pretty much the same. I can't believe how quick this card is to make - just a few minutes! Maybe I need to make a few more of these for different occasions since they go together so quickly. Not a bad idea.

Happy stamping and stay healthy!

Sharon

Good Evening Ladies!

It's me and all my germs coming for a visit! It's been a long day, but I actually got a few things done today - like visit the doctor! Again!! And I'm still contagious, but I'm getting better. Honest, I am!! After that visit and a load of laundry, I had had enough for today. But then I got a 2nd wind or something late this afternoon. And trundled downstairs to see if I had any mojo left, or if it had all been coughed and sneezed out of me! I really needed help, so I checked out the Stamping 411 blog for some inspiration. After many tries, I actually finished something. And it's not too bad. Not wonderful, but it's gonna do for today.

Here it is. The layout was great to work with, but my problem was I wanted to do Christmas and to use the Christmas Moments Designer Series Paper. That seriously narrowed down all my options. Guess this will do for today.

Stamps: Season of Joy and Christmas Punch sets

Cardstock: Very Vanilla, Garden Green, and Real Red cardstock with Christmas Moments DSP

Ink: Garden Green pad and Real Red and Garden Green markers

Accessories: Scallop Edge Punch, Scallop Oval Punch, Round Fire Rhinestone Brad, and Dimensionals

Once I decided to put the red rhinestone brad on the tree, I needed to change the layout just a tad. I think the card still pretty much follows the layout as shown on the blog.

Hope you enjoyed today's card. I love this paper and this card really shows it off nicely. It's a great layout to use for so many different cards. Maybe I'll try another style tomorrow.

Have fun stamping and get out the Lysol spray to disinfect everything! Do you think I need to wipe all my stamp boxes and ink pads off before class next week??? lol Maybe I should...

Sharon

Still Hanging Out...

Just laying on the couch, that is. I think I've made a permanent dent in it! lol When is this bug going to leave??! I'm so tired of feeling tired! It's a shame, when you really want to stamp, that you just don't have the energy. Oh woe is me!

My big accomplishment for the day was making a big old pot of chili. I just needed some comfort food, something that would warm me up from the inside out. Yummy. It really worked - in fact it's gotten my sinuses running too now! Oh, sorry!! I suppose that was really more than you wanted to know. But now I'm exhausted again. whine, whine, whine. Enough of that! Because I didn't stamp again today, it's back to the archives! Let's see what we can find this time around..... hmmm... Oh, how about this one?

Yesterday afternoon my daughter ran by to pick up a couple of sympathy cards from my stash. Seems like I've been needing a lot more of these than normal as my friends all get older. (Of course, I'm not getting any older at all! lol) Anyway, everytime I make a sympathy card, I try to make two or three at the same time to add to the stash. So luckily there were some for her to choose from. But that reminded me of one I had taken a picture of and never got around to posting here. So you're in luck today!




Stamps: Embrace Life and Teeny Tiny Wishes
Cardstock: Rich Razzleberry, Pale Plum, Old Olive, and Whisper White
Ink: Stazon Jet Black, Rich Razzleberry, and Old Olive
Accessories: AquaPainter, Big Shot with Texturz Plates, Scallop Edge Punch, Trio Flower Punch, Ticket Corner Punch, Silver Mini Brads, Rich Razzleberry Polka Dot Grosgrain Ribbon, Mini Glue Dots, and Dimensionals

This card is clean and simple, but gets some pizzazz from the punched flowers and added brads. The petals of the flowers were curled up a bit to give more dimension. Interest also comes from the two different texturz added to the different layers. That is a great way to add interest to a large expanse of paper without any more stamping.

This is a great card to make in multiples, and can also be made in different color combos if purples and greens aren't your favorites. For some reason, I love using these colors for sympathy cards. They're pretty and soothing, but not too overly sweet. Just right in my book.

Well, the archives are geting a bit empty. Looks like I'll have to stamp someday soon. Oh, there's always tomorrow.

Another Autumn Card

Maybe I'll get back to my stamps tomorrow. Still didn't feel up to it today and had absolutely no creative urges. So instead here's another card from last Saturday before the bout of flu really kicked in big time. I've been trying to use some of the techniques that I haven't used in months. Sometimes even years! Have you heard of the 'cracked glass' technique? That's how the main image on this card was created.
Here it is. Isn't it just about perfect? As I was looking at it just now, I had this image of kids out playing football in the street and having it sail into a livingroom window with a huge crash! Does that sound like fall to you? Or is that more spring-time and baseball? hmmm.... Anyway, back to stamping and this fun technique.







Stamps: Autumn Splendor, Define Your Life, Itty Bitty Backgrounds, Grateful Greetings, and Teeny Tiny Wishes
Cardstock: Taken with Teal, More Mustard, Really Rust, and Very Vanilla cardstock with Autumn Meadows Designer Series Paper
Ink: Chocolate Chip, More Mustard, Taken with Teal Classic Pads, and Chocolate Chip Craft, and Versamark Pad
Accessories: Heat Tool and Glassy Glaze Embossing Powder, Twill Tape, Scallop Edge Punch, Buttons Latte', Sponge quarter, Mini Glue Dot, and Dimensionals

The colors used on the card are taken directly from the colors in the Autumn Meadows DSP pack. I had never used teal with fall colors before I saw this paper, and now it's one of my fave color combos! Did you notice the little speckles of color on the main image? Again it's a mix of the colors from the paper. Got to love it!

To make the 'cracked glass', stamp your image, color if you want. Then ink the entire piece of cardstock with a VersaMark pad, load it up with the Glassy Glaze E.P. and heat. Repeat this til you get a lovely, smooth, shiny surface. Then I put it into the freezer for 10 - 15 minutes. Take it out and 'crack'. I sponged on a bit of ink so the cracks show up nicer.

Also added a strip of DSP to the inside of the card, along with the acorns and speckles to make it special.

There, that's about it for today. Hope I have a bit more energy tomorrow so I can think about stamping again. This whole week has really been the pits. Things can only go up from here, I hope!!

Have a lovely weekend,
Sharon

On the mend...

Hey, I'm back again! Not really great today, but certainly on the mend. After I finish posting today, I'm actually going to tackle the backlog of emails I haven't looked at since last Friday. I'm almost afraid to see how many are there, and what all I need to take care of. Yikes!! It's mind-boggling just thinking about that task. Ok, so then I won't! Think about it, that is. I'll just enjoy my time here with you today, and be thrilled that I'm on the road to recovery. Slowly, but it really is happening, thank God!

Last Saturday morning before being tackled by the flu bug, I had some ideas I was playing with, and this is one of them. I wanted a simple card for Christmas, that still looked nice and not too plain. This is what I came up with on that morning as the 'bug' was flexing it's muscles for a take-over.

Stamps: Dasher, Many Merry Messages, and Winter Post (inside of card)
Cardstock: Very Vanilla, Real Red, and Old Olive
Ink: Soft Suede and Old Olive
Accessories: Horizontal Slot Punch, Sleigh Bells Ribbon (Holiday Mini Catalog), and Dimensionals


As you can see, there are very few accessories used, and really aren't very many layers either. So I would classify this as a clean and simple card. And it really doesn't look too plain to me at all. Let's get some feedback here, and let me know what you think about this card. Does it need anything else? Buttons, punches, brads, more layers???? Or can clean and simple rule the day here?


I also kept the inside simple, but added just a bit of pizzazz with the skinny strip of cardstock. You know all those little bits that get trimmed off to make layers? Why not add to the inside of the card for some added interest? Most times I do some added stamping inside my card to carry a theme throughout the card. With this one, I grabbed the reindeer from the Winter Post set to coordinate with Dasher. It's smaller and not as elaborate so I thought it would be a good accent.
Of course, it's a totally different style from Dasher, but I still think it works together to form a pleasing look.

Well, that's it for today. Now on to all those emails awaiting my attention. I figure that'll wear me out too much to get any stamping in today. Can you believe it's been a week since I've held a stamp in my hand? A whole week since my fingers had the blush of ink on them? Oh, you've really got to be SICK to stay away from your stamps for a whole week. Maybe I should stamp instead of checking emails. Ah, no. That would NOT be a good idea. Remember, I'm supposed to be running a business here. Just in case you've contacted me to place an order or you're dying to be a hostess for me, I'm going right now to check my mail. Be patient, I'll be right there.....

Sharon

Still Battling the Bug

Yes, I am still battling the bug, and I think I'm winning. Sometimes I'm not too sure - like in the middle of the night every time I drift off to la-la land the coughing starts up again. Oh fiddle! This is NOT fun! But you didn't come here to hear me complain, did you? So, looks like I'll be hitting the archives to find something I made that didn't make it here before now. (creak, rummaging around, crash, stumble) Hey look, I think I found one! Whatcha think?

This little gem was created when I first got my Jumbo Snowflake punch and the co-ordinating Simple Snowflake stamp. I thought this one was ok, but I've gone on to make cards I like better than this. But I do have to show you something, don't I?!

Stamps: Simple Snowflake and Many Merry Messages
Cardstock: Brocade Blue, Bashful Blue, and Shimmery White
Ink: Brocade Blue
Accessories: Brocade Blue Wide Grosgrain Ribbon, 1" Circle Punch, Jumbo Snowflake Punch, Ice Circle Rhinestone Brads, and silver glitter glue (non-SU!)

I had this cool idea of layers of snowflakes, all the same, but still all different too. Just like a for-real snow storm! Oh well, (shrug) it really did make sense at the time. To keep the snowflakes 'the same', I used Brocade Blue to stamp the punched snowflake, and off-stamped Brocade Blue for all the background snowflakes. Because it really needed just a touch of another shade of blue, I used a Bashful Blue punched circle behind the snowflake to hold it together and make it stand out a bit more. I had thought of using Dazzling Diamonds glitter for the card, but liked the thought of a dimensional glitter glue instead. Not sure it really worked out as planned. Maybe one of these days I'll get ambitious and try this idea over again. Or maybe you could do that and link here so I could see your take on the layers of snowflakes idea!! Yeah, I like that even better! Give it a try and let me see what you come up with.

Well, the coughing has been causing problems with the typing. I think it's time to give it a break and get back to the "bug battles". Hopefully tomorrow I'll be a little better and posting again.
Keep those prayers coming, I can use them and I know they're helping!

God bless,
Sharon