Show and Tell

More Easy Thank Yous

I think that I said I would be back today with this week's One Layer Wednesday card. Then I looked at the challenge again and realized that in the course of my stamping I had lost sight of what the challenge actually was — and my card, while one layer, did not fit the challenge of layering ink. It had more than one color of ink, but they weren't atop each other. So — I had to go back to the drawing board. And hopefully I'll get those posted on Tuesday before the deadline.

So, instead, I'm going to show you another set of easy-peasy thank you cards that I made for Britt. 

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That's the basic design. A background text stamp that's all about LOVE (since Britt's about to be married) provides the grounding for the lamp and then the little thank you is tucked in there partially under the lampshade.

I actually made her a set of 12 using some different color combinations, but sticking to the same design.

My cards were actually inspired by my blog friend (and everyone's blog friend) Tina's card (photo to right) that was this week's Tuesday Trigger on the Moxie Fab blog. Ummm... now that I look at it, it's a pretty loose interpretation. Where she used a piece of patterned paper to ground her design, I used the text stamp. She stamped her sentiment underneath her grounding element, I stamped mine above. But, they both have a homey theme... so, how's that? Well, believe it or not, I did have Tina's card on my mind when I was creating. And her card definitely influenced me to purchase the Hero Arts lamp stamps yesterday. That and the fact that I needed a little retail therapy. :) [By the way, there's just a little more time before the deadline for this week's Tuesday Trigger, if you want to play along!]

AND TELL:  stamps are from Papertrey Ink (Background Basics: Hearts, Flower Fusion #4) and Hero Arts (Decorative Lamps); notecards are from a stationery store that was going out of business; ink is Stampin' Up (Going Grey, Basic Gray, Cameo Coral, Rich Razzleberry, Crushed Curry).

Now just a few more pictures from our whirlwind trip through the midwest. We left Winona Lake, Indiana and headed south to our old stomping grounds from our college days. We were buzzing through the countryside, listening to the radio...

70s music, of course, since those were the hits during our college days (yes... we're that old...).

Like I said, we were buzzing along... Ken does all the driving on these trips and he just cannot seem to bear the thought of being behind another vehicle on a two-lane road. Even if that vehicle might be going the speed limit. Or maybe even slightly above it...

as we found out when we were pulled over for speeding past a county sheriff's vehicle. Sneaky guy... driving an SUV with no lights on top.

He wondered where we were going in such a hurry... like is there an emergency or something? I explained our emergency (I'll get to that in a minute), while Ken sat with his hands gripping the steering wheel... ready to hand himself over to be arrested and hauled away to jail. (Those are Ken's words... yes, he can be very dramatic.)

When the officer came back from checking us out, he handed Ken a warning — and a lecture about how they take the safety of their citizens very seriously in Huntington County, etc. etc. etc.... while Ken nodded and said things like, "Yes, sir", "I agree, sir", "It won't happen again, sir". (And, what I'm wondering is why I never get such nice police officers when I'm pulled over for speeding... but that's probably a story for another day.)

Now, about our emergency, it involved getting to this place...

Ivanhoe's Drive-In, in Upland, Indiana —

where people come from far and wide to select from the menu of 100 kinds of ice cream sundaes...

or 100 varieties of milk shakes.

 It's not a fancy place, but they sure do make a good chocolate-peanut butter-pretzel shake. 

I'm not sure what kind Ken got, but it sort of looks like a Snickers candy bar in a cup... which is kind of funny considering I was still snickering at him getting pulled over for speeding. :)

Well, I think that's enough for one day. I'll leave you with the picture of my husband contemplating his crime...

Thank you so much for stopping by for a visit today. Tomorrow I have a 4th of July card to share and the next day a One Layer Wednesday card — and, of course, more pictures from our car trip through Indiana and Illinois. Hope to see you back soon! 

In My Beautiful Balloon

I haven't played along with a Moxie Fab challenge for quite awhile. Seemed like now might be a good time. Cath's current challenge is called In My Beautiful Balloon — to use a hot air balloon (or balloons) in an innovative way. Not sure that my tag is innovative, but I did use a balloon. :)

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I did a couple things that I don't normally do here... coloring... especially on colored cardstock stamped with colored ink... don't think I've ever done that. And heat embossing the background clouds in white... though I do emboss from time to time, it's not my favorite technique... too messy and takes too long... yes, I'm a bit lazy. :)

This challenge reminds me of singing that song (In My Beautiful Balloon) in 5th grade choir. When it got to the part "love is waiting there, in my beautiful balloon," I would gaze across the room at a certain boy that I had a huge crush on at the time (and blush). He had the biggest dimples, blonde hair, and was oh-so-cute. Ah, young love. :) So anyway, I think it'd be appropriate for me to use this tag on one of the bridal shower gifts for my daughter. Ah, yes, today we're celebrating young love on the ol' blog. :)

AND TELL:  stamps are from three different Unity Kits of the Month (December 2009: Delightful Moments, October 2010: Take Time to Laugh, February 2010: Nothing but Blue Skies); cardstock is Stampin' Up (Marina Mist, Gable Green, Whisper White) and Papertrey Ink (Stampers Select White); ink is SU (Taken with Teal) and PTI (True Black); markers are from SU (Daffodil Delight, Pumpkin Pie); embossing powder is Stamp 'n Stuff (Detail White); button is PTI (Harvest Gold); seam binding and floss are from my stash; also used PTI's largest cloud die.

I'm feeling a little chatty tonight, so while we're on the topic of young love... as I was backing my car out of the driveway this afternoon, I noticed this on the car our senior in high school neighbor Molly drives:

 
Isn't that the most clever invitation to prom that you've ever seen? I immediately had to calll and find out if she said yes. And she did... :) I'm not sure that it's young love, but it's definitely young like. Apparently he wrote it on her car last night after dark. What a fun surprise for her, huh?

I have another fun thing, too, but I think I'll save it for another day. This post is already long enough. Thanks so much for taking a few minutes to drop by. Your visit means a lot to me! See you soon.

Farewell Tour #1

Remember all those stamp sets that I had removed from their drawer and stacked all over the floor of my stamp room? Well, I got tired (finally) of stepping around and over them. So — I put them back in the drawer. And — tried to weed out a few in the process. The unofficial goal was to fit them all in the drawer with no stacking (I stand them on their sides so I can read the label) and when I was finished I was like — yippee! I did it! And then I turned around and saw about 10 sets that I had somehow left out. haha. They were all "keepers" — so now I'm back to stacks. {sigh}

Well — out of all those sets that had been on the floor, only nine ended up in my "get rid of" pile. That's pretty pathetic, isn't it? But I can't seem to send them away without a party — so each set is getting it's own "Farewell Tour". At least, that's the current plan. :)

Here's the first set to go. Say good bye to "Suitable for Framing". I believe this was a Stampin' Up hostess reward set from five or six years ago.

Edited to add:  It dawned on me that these cards would work for the Card Style Clean and Graphic Challenge in the Moxie Fab World -- so I'll be linking there now.

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That was the first one. And it was fun. So — I decided to make another using the same layout with a different stamp.

And then another.

And, yes, another. You know how it seems that we (as people) are always wishing for what we don't have? It's been so hot here. And humid. So — now I'm kinda wishing for this:

But, in about 6 months when we're freezing our tails off I'll be wishing for this:

Yeah — never satisfied. That's me. :)

But, the stamps did make a cute little set, didn't they?

  

Yep, I sure did have fun with these stamps. I guess the danger of this little farewell tour is that I'll be tempted to change my mind — and I am tempted — but these are still on the way out. Bye-bye, "Suitable for Framing"!

AND TELL:  stamps are from Stampin' Up (Suitable for Framing, Sweet Little Sentiments, Happy Moments, Small Script); cardstock is Papertrey Ink (Stampers Select White); ink is SU (Kiwi Kiss, Cool Caribbean, Positively Pink, Bashful Blue) and PTI (True Black); markers from SU (Real Red, Rose Red, Regal Rose, Pink Passion, Yoyo Yellow, Only Orange, Basic Black); also used The Essential Glue Pad, Martha Stewart crystal glitter, Kaisercraft clear rhinestones, pink rhinestones from my stash, and a few shapes pre-punched from scraps using SU's Merry Details die and a Martha Stewart butterfly punch.

Yesterday, we also said farewell to something that's been a fixture in our driveway for many years.

 
When the mechanic said he was up to $1700 in needed repairs and that the little truck wasn't worth anywhere near that — well, what had to be done became obvious. So — good-bye old truck. We'll miss you with your dents, peeling paint, stained upholstery, and frequently-lit check engine light.

But — hello, big boy.

 
And, welcome to the neighborhood. :)

Thanks so much for stopping by today — I'll see you again soon!   

3 {Chairs} 4 U

I haven't had a chance to play along with the challenges in the Moxie Fab World lately, but carved out a little time this weekend so that I could just squeak this card in before tonight's deadline. The challenge is called "Three Cheers for Chairs" — participants were to create a project using chairs in an innovative way. Well — given the name of the challenge (which I'd forgotten when I started working) I don't think I was too innovative, but here's my card...

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And, just in case the recipient doesn't "get it" — I finished the inside, too.

   
I thought that adding pieces of the little paper bunting that my daughter Britt made last Christmas gave the card a bit of a celebratory feel. Red, purple, and yellow is a rather odd color scheme, but it seems to be working in this case.

This card actually went through several renditions. It kept evolving, mainly due to mistakes that I made — the biggest of which was stamping "hip hip hip hooray" three times on the inside of the card before I even realized what I had done. I certainly had the whole idea of "three" firmly implanted in my brain, didn't I? :) And that's how the inside sentiment came to be on three (there's that number again!) different panels. You know my "no do-overs" motto, right? Well, some things you just can't ignore. And, reworking is not really doing over, is it?

AND TELL:  stamps are from Papertrey Ink (Chair-ished, Fresh Alphabet); cardstock is PTI (Stampers Select White, Lemon Tart, Guide Lines II Grid, Lavender Moon); patterned paper is Cosmo Cricket (from the Garden Variety collection); ink is PTI (True Black); ribbon is PTI (True Black satin); also used pieces of a pre-sewn paper bunting.

Here is what Ken treated me to on Mother's Day.

We went to the matinee performance of Cavalia.

Aren't those tents delicious? I love the festive yet regal look of them.

The performance (kind of like a Cirque du Soleil with horses) was really amazing. Of course, anyone who can do a flip amazes me. Doing a flip on the back of a moving horse? I can't even imagine. 

We got out of the performance in time for Ken to pick up a late afternoon golf game with friends. The golf course happened to be right next to some U-pick strawberry fields. I didn't pick, but I did buy.

My picture's not very good, but the berries sure are! It's amazing how much better fresh picked strawberries are than those in the produce section of the grocery store.

On the way home I decided to stop at my local independent scrapbooking store to treat myself to a few sheets of patterned paper or something... and... it... was... closed. Not as in it's Mother's Day and it's Sunday and we're closed. As in, the space is empty and it's for lease closed. :( Too bad. Another one bites the dust.

Well, that's all my ramblings for today. Thanks for visiting and I hope you have a fabulous week!

  

Easter Blessings

When I was cleaning up my craft room Sunday afternoon, I rediscovered my Cricut. And, as I said in my previous post, I discovered Betsy Veldman's die-cutting challenges, too. This is my second post for today (scroll down for the first). There will probably be a couple more, too, so keep checking back!  

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This card was for the paper piecing die-cuts challenge. You can see that I cut the bunny pieces from a couple different papers. Cute, huh? But — hmmm — I just reread the challenge and maybe I was supposed to do it in more of a patchwork style. Oh, well. It should still work for the Moxie Fab paper piecing challenge. Don't think I'll have time to try the patchworking tonight, so this will have to do. 

AND TELL:  stamps are from Papertrey Ink (Background Basics Text Style and Tags for Spring); cardstock is PTI (Vintage Cream, Spring Moss, Lemon Tart) and Stampin' Up (Going Grey); patterned paper is PTI (Bitty Box Basics in Lemon Tart and Bitty Dot Basics in Sweet Blush); ink is PTI (Tea Dye Camomile, Sweet Blush) and Stampin' Up (Going Grey); also used Stampin' Up's Floral Fusion Sizzlit die, Winter Woodland and Storybook Cricut Cartridges, a Marvy scallop oval punch (the yellow one), and adhesive pearls from my stash.

OK — that's post number two for the day. Two more to go. Maybe I'll be more chatty on the last one.

Thanks for stopping by. Come again soon! 

Happy Valentine's Day, Inside & Out

The theme for this month's Papertrey Ink Blog Hop is "The Total Package." Meaning decorate your card inside and out. (Oops — I just reread the challenge. It also mentions decorating the envelope. Didn't do that...) The Moxie Fab blog also has a similar challenge going on, to decorate a card inside and out. Since they dovetail so well together, I'll link up to it, too. Don't you love killing two birds with one stone?! (Boy, now that I wrote that, it sure doesn't sound very nice, does it?)

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This card started out as a nice white 4-1/4" square card. Completely clean and simple. But then I tried something around the embossed border on the inside and it just didn't work. It was awful. Unsalvageable. Well, maybe not quite. I cut it all apart and mounted the stamped and embossed pieces on a 4-1/4" x 4-1/2" hibiscus burst card, added a little red, a little glitter, and rescued it all from the garbage (or from being punched into little shapes — see this post if you don't know what I'm talking about...).

Here's the inside.

I thought I might write a little note above the "Always" and then sign the card below. I hardly ever decorate the inside of my cards — although, I do like the way they look all fancied up like this. I do, however, usually sign the back — along with some stamped image that relates to the rest of the card. So, here's the back of this one.

 
AND TELL:  stamps are from Papertrey Ink (Turning a New Leaf, Heart Prints); cardstock is PTI (Stampers Select White, Hibiscus Burst, Pure Poppy); ink is PTI (Hibiscus Burst) and Stampin' Up (Kiwi Kiss, Real Red); also used a Scor-Pal for embossed lines, a Fiskars border punch and an EK Success heart punch (medium), a Cuttlebug embossing folder border, and 1/4" Scor-Tape with Prisma glitter.  

It's been so long since I had time to participate in a PTI blog hop — can't wait to see what everyone else has done. However, it is Monday night and that means our regular Monday night company will be here (Southwest Steak and Potato Soup has been simmering away in the crock pot all day, making the house smell really yummy) and we'll be watching 24, so I may have to wait until later to get hopping.

But, tomorrow I'll be back here again with more Valentines — two using sketches from the Clean and Simple Stamping blog.

Thanks so much for stopping by. Have a great evening and I hope to see you back here soon!

Plum Crazy!

Yep, plum crazy. That's what I must be to have tackled this project for this month's stamp club.

You know I'm usually quite clean and simple. Few layers. Not much trimming of anything. Just let the stamps, papers, and sentiments speak for themselves. Well, maybe I don't accomplish that much, but that's my preference. Quick and easy. Especially when I'm making 12 of something.

But, our theme for November's stamp club meeting is "packaging". So, I thought I'd dress up simple lunch bags by sturdy-ing and fancy-ing them up with cardstock fronts and backs. And, I thought I might as well step way out of my comfort zone and participate in Cath's Moxie Fab Plum Crazy challenge.

Packaging for Stamp Club. Moxie Fab. Plum. Those were my starting points. 

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Here it is from the side. Using a plain, ordinary lunch bag makes the base of the bag inexpensive and really provides ample room for a nice little gift. Add some tissue paper, maybe tie it shut with ribbon, and you've got a pretty classy looking gift. Especially considering its humble beginnings. 

AND TELL:  stamps are from Stampin' Up (Medallion; Delightful Decorations); cardstock is Stampin' Up (Perfect Plum, Pale Plum) and Papertrey Ink (Kraft); ink is Stampin' Up (Perfect Plum, Pale Plum, Rich Razzleberry, Craft White); ribbon is PTI (Plum Pudding): buttons are PTI (Lavender Moon); Kaiser clear rhinestones, gold thread, and Stampin' Up punches (Scallop Border Punch, Ornament, Scallop Oval, Large Oval, 1" Circle). 

Thanks for coming by today. I know I've been a bad blogger this week. I really appreciate you not giving up on me! Gotta get to club...