February Birthday Happiness!

 I have another friend and cardmaking buddy whose birthday is in mid-February, so yet another birthday card is needed.  I was in the mood for flowers, so I thought I'd look for a Splitcoaststamper Inspiration Challenge to get me started.

While in my E - F stamp set boxes back in January, I ran across a wonderful flower stamp set, Field Flowers, that I had used for its flourish in the past but not the flower.  I pulled it just in case I found that I could use it in the near future and here was my chance.  After finding the SCS Inspiration Challenge, I was delighted to know that this stamp set would work, but I would be able to add other challenges if I added butterflies and glitter as well.  Take a look at the finished card inside and out below:

Ingredients: SU Cardstock--Sahara Sand; Retired: Always Artichoke, Lucky Limeaide, Tempting Turquoise. Stamps (retired)--Field Flowers, Elements of Style. Dies--Sizzlits Embosslit/ Beautiful Wings. Inks--Sahara Sand (over-the-edge stamping/ distressing), Old Olive (distress L. Limeaide cs), Early Espresso (distress T. Turquoise).  SU White Embossing Powder.  SU Dazzling Diamonds glitter. 3/8" Stitched Satin Ribbon--Gumball Green. Punch (retired)--Scallop Trim Border.

Improving on the Christmas Oldie but Goodie!

WONDROUS NEWS!  

THIS CARD IS NAMED A

SPLITCOASTSTAMPERS FAVORITE OF THE

WEEK ENDING - SEPTEMBER 16, 2017!!

In my last blog post, I made a card from an old, never used 1995 PBX stamp with a verse from the poem, The Night Before Christmas.  I entered it in several Splitcoaststampers challenges, and one in particular, the Alphabet Challenge, Round 7, it was entered for Letter J = "Just color...no dies."  The kicker is, the very next challenge for Letter I is "Improve upon your last card," which means I needed to do another card using this same stamp, CASE the card, and change it somehow by improving upon it.  Now, I really like my previous card, so all the while I was making it, I kept saying to myself, "Now, don't go overboard, because you have to leave something to do to it to improve upon it."  Take a peek below...here is my improved upon card.  I have also included the original below it so that you may see what I did to improve it:

Newest Version...improving upon the original.

Original version.

Ingredients:  Papers: Master's Touch 140# Watercolor Paper (WalMart); Core'dinations Silk Glitter Opulent Oval cs; Stampin' Up--Dazzling Diamonds Glimmer cs (retired), Night of Navy (card base).  Stamp: PSX (Personal Stamp Exchange)--Dasher Dash Away All!  Ink:  Stampin' Up--Night of Navy, Rose Red, Marine Mist; Versamark--Watermark Ink.  Paint: Folk Art Metallic Pearl White (splatters).  Gelly Roll White Gel Pen.  Stampin' Up White Embossing Powder. Dies:  Spellbinders--Layered Poinsettias; MemoryBox--Poinsettia Trio Blooms.  Offray Ribbon: White/Silver Striped Organdy (stash).  MISTI Stamping Tool.  Techniques: Heat Embossing; Watercolor background; Splattering.  Size: 4-3/4" x 6".  Inside: Computer verse.

Christmas Card from an Oldie But Goodie!

 MORE GOOD NEWS!  

THIS CARD IS NAMED A

SPLITCOASTSTAMPERS FAVORITE OF THE

WEEK ENDING - SEPTEMBER 9, 2017!!

I own what is now considered a vintage stamp, produced in 1995 by Personal Stamp Exchange (PSX) Stamps.  It is a stamp I have actually never used, but always wanted to.  There is, of course, a story behind my owning it, but never using it.  Well, I decided it was time to dig it out and use it to make my second Christmas card for 2017, and enter some challenges at Splitcoaststampers as well!  Take a peek below at my finished card, and then jump down to "The Story" below if you are interested.

Ingredients:  Papers: Master's Touch 140# Watercolor Paper (WalMart); Core'dinations Silk Glitter Opulent Oval cs; Stampin' Up Night of Navy (card base).  Stamp: PSX (Personal Stamp Exchange)--Dasher Dash Away All!  Stamp: Ink--Stampin' Up: Night of Navy, Rose Red, Marine Mist; Versamark--Watermark Ink.  Paint: Folk Art Metallic Pearl White (splatters).  Gelly Roll White Gel Pen.  Stampin' Up White Embossing Powder.  Offray Ribbon: White/Silver Organdy (stash).  MISTI Stamping Tool.  Techniques: Heat Embossing; Watercolor background; Splattering.  Size: 4-3/4" x 6".  Inside: Computer verse.

"The Story"

In 1996, I was the office manager for a brand new elementary school to which our staff had been transferred.  The principal was a very classy lady with whom I got along famously.  She really wanted our Christmas card for our new school to be very original, handmade, and using our school colors, which were navy, forest green, and maroon.  I went out on a search for the perfect idea, thus visiting Joanns, Michaels, and the local craft store.  I found this Night Before Christmas stamp that I fell in love with, but didn't really know if it would suit the principal...I could see it with gold stamping mat layers of navy and forest green, with some possibly in navy and maroon.  

I was crafting, but if you've read my blog at all, you will know that I did not become a cardmaker until 2008!  I knew nothing about papers, stamping, ink, embossing, etc., etc....so I had no idea how any of this could be accomplished, but I decided when we made a decision on what we'd do, I learn somehow!

I bought the stamp personally, because I thought it was too pricey for our school budget, and I love it.  My youngest daughter, who was a teen-ager, loved to stamp thinks and had lots of little stamps and cheap inks, so I figured eventually it would not go to waste, right!  I inked up the stamp and tried to stamp it, and found it had lots of gaps in the printing, and I could not get a good, clean image...so we did not use it at school.

When I began making cards, I did not learn embossing right away, so still didn't use it.  I did find that I did not LIKE wood stamps because it was difficult to tell where they would land and were often difficult to ink up, especially if large...so my stamp continue to stay buried away.  As the years passed, I see it every now and then at Christmas time, but by then I really didn't like wood stamps and knew it didn't ink up well.

A year ago or so, I learned wood stamps can be unmounted and made into rubber stamps used on an  acyrlic block, but not being too familiar with this trick...the stamp continue to sit.  Then came my MISTI, and I seriously became interested in unmounting this lovely Christmas stamp to see if I could get a better imprint with my MISTI.  Recently, I saw a challenge on Splitcoaststampers called "Oldies but Goodies," and I seriously became interested. 

A few nights ago, I wasn't sleeping well, so up I popped, the stamp to the microwave and stripped it with foam pad attached from its wood.  The image on this stamp was not an acyrlic sheet glued to the wood, but rather it varnished right onto the wood, therefore, I could not remove it.  My solution for this problem is to ink up the stamp and stamp on a small sheet of white printer paper just larger than the stamped image.  I take this stamped paper and many strips, vertically and horizontally, of my tape runner, and glued it down to the foam pad.  Next, I cover this stamped paper with 3" wide clear 3M tape covering the entire paper surface (at school, we called this library tape) and then fussy-cut around the taped paper up to the edge of the rubber.  When I'm ready to stamp with it, I run a few very small tape strips on the clear tape and stick it to my MISTI.  Now, it's ready to use just like any other stamp!

My first card above is done with Versamark Watercolor Ink in order to apply an embossed finished...in this case white embossing powder, which is heat set with your heat embossing tool (like a very hot mini blow dryer).  When the powder is heated, it becomes shiny.  The stamp was still difficult to ink up and took 6 applications over and over of Versamark to get it all inked, especially the word Vixen and Away, after Dash!  But, I managed and I do LOVE the stamp!!  I'm so excited that I finally used it!

In Memory of a Lovely Lady

My husband's last surviving aunt just passed away in July.  She celebrated her 93rd birthday in late June, and we certainly were not expecting this sudden turn of events.  She was a wonderful person, so kindhearted and personable, and quite humorous as well.  She will be missed, but we know for sure that she has been welcomed with open arms into God's home in heaven.  We wanted to share our sympathy with her children, John's cousins and let Dan and Vali, and Sister Rebecca  know that we have been thinking of them often and praying that their loving memories of their mother give them solace from their grief.

For sympathy cards, I finished a few cards that I had started at a cardmaking class several months ago with Liz Thayer and converted them to sympathy cards.  I made just a few changes to Liz's original designs to change their sentiment focus.  I think Liz would approve of the changes I made for this time of sorrow.

 

Recipe Card #1:  Stampin' Up products: Cardstocks: Midnight Muse, Whisper White, Brown Sugar; Stamps: En Francaise background, Flowering Flourishes, Four Frames, Petite Pairs; Ink: Midnight Muse, Kraft White, Burnt Brown Sugar; Punch: Decorative Labels; Ribbon: Midnight Muse Stitched Satin; Button: Very Vintage.  Sizzix: Top Note die (inside). Technique: Embossed Resist; Sponging. 

Recipe: Card #2: Stampin' Up products:  Cardstocks: Strawberry Slush, Black, Whisper White; Stamps: So Very Grateful (Spring 2014), Love &Sympathy; Simply Pressed Clay--Blossoms Clay Mold; Ribbon: Primrose Petals Satin Stitched ribbon. Ink: Strawberry Slush, StazOn: Black.  Spellbinder dies: Ovals SM, Scalloped Ovals SM.  Sizzix: Top Note die (inside).  Technique Crayon Resist, Sponging.