HIGH TIDE STAMP SET

When I was going through my card parts a few weeks ago, I found a piece of white card stock with only the lighthouse stamped on it.  Not sure why I never finished it.  It needed to be used!  I found the stamp set and this is what the finished card looks like.  So happy with the result.

Tomorrow is September 1st!  Hard to believe!  I've already been spending a lot of time making holiday cards.  Strangely enough I have been working backwards though..........Christmas, a couple Thanksgiving and then a bunch of Halloween.  By the time I get through working on the holidays, I am always ready to get back to making some with flowers.  Thank you for coming by today.

TWISTED RIBBON TECHNIQUE

Several weeks ago I watched more than one video using the Twisted Ribbon technique.  I already posted a card a while ago with a strip that I added sideways.  I am choosing to link you to the video by Lisa Curcio and her daughter. One uses glue directly to the base to attach the strips and one uses adhesive.  Personally I found it much easier to use glue the way Lisa's daughter did.

The first card here shows the way they did their strips.....using either double sided paper where both sides coordinate or just choosing two completely separate designs of dsp that coordinate from your supplies.  The white strip that I started with was 5 1/4" x 2 1/4".  I made the 1/2" tick marks as shown in the video and 1/2" strips of dsp.  You only need 6 strips of each design.

I chose to do something different with this card.  Instead of a white base for the strips, I chose a dsp with a very subtle design and instead of using both sides of the dsp, I made all of the strips the same.  This is another great way to use up some scraps.  It looks like the base for this one was maybe just 2" wide.  (The card has already gone out in the mail.)  I found that if I had strips that were about 3" x 1/2" there was very little dsp wasted after trimming off the excesses along the edges.

I stamped a butterfly from the SU  Watercolor Wings stamp set, die cut it and mounted it on the matted square.  Check out the second picture of this card below which shows how the wings of the butterfly were not glued down and makes it look like the butterfly is in flight.

Thank you for coming by today!

FOR OUR DAUGHTER'S CAT, OLIVER

Last Friday our daughter was in a hurry trying to get ready for work and getting her furry family member, Oliver, ready to get him to the vet.  To make a long story short the highlights were that he pottied on her after she was dressed and ready to leave.  She put him in the carrier (much to his dismay).  She went to change clothes and Oliver got so angry in the carrier that he managed to vibrate it near the stairs and tumbled down the stair in the carrier!  It came open and a chase through the house began.  The end of the day with Oliver didn't go much better.  After she told me the story of her day, I saw this stamp sitting on my table and knew I had to throw a quick card together.  Not sure if the sentiment inside (shown below) applies to her, Oliver or BOTH!

 Thank you for coming by today!

DAFFODIL AFTERNOON - 2 Cards

Last Sunday I pulled out a package with what was left of the Daffodil Afternoon dsp.  (I have more though in another package!)  This package had a lot of scraps so I made a couple of strips using the "twisted ribbon" technique.  You'll see those at a later time.  There were also two pieces of the design with the little white crosses on black that worked out great for these two cards.  One was slightly smaller than the other.

This card has a 1/4" margin around the outside and a "Thinking of You" sentiment.

This cards has only a 1/8" border around the outside and a "Birthday Greetings" sentiment.

I'm continuing to work toward my goal of using up paper that I have on hand.  It feels good to see some of it landing on cards!  Thank you for coming by today!

 

USING UP SCRAPS

I've done this type of card before but after watching a video from Rita Holmes, I decided to make another one..........continuing in the effort to use up retired dsp designs.   I already had a little bag of scraps from these designs so it didn't take long to trim some of them to the size I wanted.  Rita used 1" wide strips but I chose to use strips that were 3/4" wide.  I certainly have more scraps from different designer paper packages where I will use this idea again.  

Today would have been my mother's 100th birthday.  She made it to age 98, but this year she will be able to celebrate with my father in heaven.

Thank you for coming by today!

 

WOW! 6 CARDS TODAY

A couple of years ago when Covid shut down so many things, I joined several on-line retreats presented by five ladies.  Jackie Bolhuis was one of the demonstrators.  I subscribe to her newsletter and videos because along with others that I follow, they give me the ideas to use up some of my hoard of dsp.

The first five cards are made using the very simple idea.  I chose a piece of retired Sweet Sorbet dsp.  Before cutting the paper, I stamped the large sentiment in a coordinating ink.  I knew the paper was going to be 4" wide but needed to measure a little to get the right sizes for the upper and lower pieces.  

This idea works great if you have a piece of dsp where you really like the flip side of it as well.  I didn't necessarily do mine that way simply because what I had left of these papers were just pieces of sheets that I was able to combine. 

I didn't have a piece that was the appropriate size for the bottom edge of this card, so I cut three strips to use instead.

Then I had one last piece to use.  It was 2 inches wide and slightly over 5 1/2 inches long so I trimmed it down.  I nearly threw it away but decided to make a stab at using it as well.  I have some 12 x 12 pads of in color pads that SU used to sell.  The dotted "Crisp Cantelope" dsp on the card below came from one of those pads.  

Now all of the "Sweet Sorbet" dsp is GONE!  No more to use up!  Thank you for coming by today!

QUICK AND EASY - SEASHELLS 3D EMBOSSING FOLDER

I started with a Crumb Cake card base and added a 4" x 5 1/4" embossed piece of ivory card stock.  Before adding the embossed piece, I wrapped the linen thread through the piece with the sentiment and attached it to the back.  When that was finished, I tied a little linen bow and added it with a tiny glue dot.

Thank you for coming by today!

 

HAPPY "BIRD"DAYS TO YOU!

 This is one of the wood mounted stamps that I still have.  I plan on trying to sell it but before I do, I stamped off several of the design to use for "fun" cards.  (Right now the stamp is missing in action so I can't say who makes it.)  Quick and easy to stamp and color.  

Thank you for coming by today!

STAMPIN' UP - BERRY DELIGHTFUL - 3 CARDS

A bit of good news!  Last week we were concerned about the weather affecting the surprise party for our granddaughter, Emma, but everything worked out just great AND she was genuinely surprised.  She laughed and told my husband and I that she couldn't believe we had lied to her that we would be gone for her birthday.  Saturday was a big day here also for a baseball celebration which was going to be partially outside.  Rain had been predicted but we lucked out there too.

I have so many cards made up ahead for my blog that I had intended for these first two to be on my page Saturday.   Since I forgot to do that, you will see three cards today using this DSP .

I had watched a video on using circles.  These were fun to make.

This was a layout from another video I had watched and while I had this package of DSP on my table, I made this one.  I'm gradually using up retired paper, but it is amazing how many cards you can make out of a package of 12 sheets!  I have new papers that I am itching to get into.

Thank you for coming by today!

 

HAPPY BIRTHDAY, EMMA!

Card Front

In August, we celebrate birthdays for three of our granddaughters.  Today is Emma's 21st!  A long time ago I found this paper and had to buy it.  The design is called "Emma".  I think I made a card for her once before using some of this but pulled it out again.  Since it's a special birthday, I decided to make a "fun fold" card for her.  I really like this type of card.

Card Inside

 

This little treat box using Hershey Nuggets is one I saw on a video from Brenda Quintana.  I had seen another one as well, but Brenda's "box" was a little more sturdy. She has instructions for making single line boxes in various sizes on one video and another video having 2 and 3 lines of treats.  I don't have bags like the second video I saw but she told me she uses "pretzel bags" from places like Michael's or Hobby Lobby.  Fortunately I have some small 3 x 4 bags with a zip closure that fit this little box perfectly.  These are so fun to make!

Emma's mother has planned a surprise birthday party for her tonight.  We're sure hoping that she hasn't found out about it.  Emma was really "disappointed" when we told her that we would have to see her at a different time to give her her gift.  We told her a "story" about going away for the weekend.  The disappointment showed on her face but I think she'll forgive us when she finds out the truth.

Thank you for coming by today!

HOW ABOUT A CHRISTMAS CARD

This top fold card was made using retired "All Is Calm" dsp. I rounded the corners on the bottom edges of the front and back.  I really like the red along with this designer paper.

Thank you for coming by today!

 

RETIRED STAMPIN' UP! - Floral Boutique

I made this card a long time ago when I was concentrating on using up the dsp from that package.  Rather than post them all at that time, I sharing one now and then.

Thank you for coming by today!

 

CASING LISA CURCIO & RITA HOLMES

Lisa Curcio (and her daughter) & Rita Holmes both had videos showing this "Twisted Ribbon" technique.  After making a couple of strips, I grabbed this retired dsp from a 6 x 6 pad.  I made the strip with the pattern, mounted it on narrow strips of one of the patterns.  I used a Penny Black die and cut out the balloons.  The ties for the balloons were drawn randomly with a fine Sharpie.  

I had previously posted a card with an ice cream cone that I had intended to give our youngest granddaughter on August 9th.  Long story, but that wouldn't have been a good choice, so this is actually the one I sent her.

Thank you for coming by today!

HAPPINESS ABOUNDS

I made my card after seeing one using these items.  I did use yellow flowers instead of the color used on the card I saw.  I didn't have the same embossing folder for the bottom but used a border one in my supplies.......that I had never used before.  This dsp is gorgeous and I love that there are dies to cut out flowers from one of the sheets of paper.

Thank  you for coming by today!

HAPPY 24TH BIRTHDAY, ALLISSA!

I'm not sure how we got here to be old enough to have a 24 year old granddaughter!  Seems like just the other day I was helping our daughter with her newborn baby girl.  Now that Allissa is older, I figured she deserved a "more grown up" card.  The dsp is from a retired Stampin' Up! "Magnolia Lane" package.

Allissa surprised us this last week and stopped in to see us.  It was so special having that time with her.  She is studying in the PA program in Dubuque so our time with her is limited normally to family gatherings if she can be there.  Somehow the conversation turned to a little about school shopping and she remembered how much she loved shopping for new crayons etc.  My husband picked up a little box of crayons and we stuck it in a package to send her.  I'm sure it will give her a laugh.

Thank you for coming by today!

Thank you for coming by today!

 

BERRY BLESSINGS + one

I made this card a while ago and it was a CASE of one I saw on Pinterest or YouTube.  I had some of this dsp (and still have) so I decided to copy the one I saw.  So easy to CASE what someone else had made because I don't waste time trying to decide what I want to do and how to arrange it!

Below is a card I made using strawberries, but it isn't dsp from Stampin' Up!  The card base and strips of card stock are from SU.

Thank you for coming by today!

 

SYMPATHY CARD

  

I think I have probably posted a card like this in the past, but wanted to share it again.  Recently I needed two sympathy cards so this is what I made for both of them.  I had seen this idea months ago on Pinterest and loved the simplicity of it.  It is also a great design to send to men who have lost a loved one.  The leaves are stamped and die cut from the Stampin' Up! Forever Fern set.  The sentiment is from My Sentiments Exactly.

Thank you for coming by today!

 

SPELLBINDERS DIE CUTS

One of the ladies who lives in our small town periodically asks me to make special cards for her.  The Deacon of our church recently celebrated an anniversary of when he became a Deacon and she wanted to give him a card.  This is what I made for her.  

Thank you for coming by today.

 

LET'S SET SAIL - 2 cards

For this card, I cut the white piece of card stock to 3 3/4" x 5" because I wanted a wider border of the Night of Navy card base.  I cut out the circle for the sky and sponged it with Daffodil Delight ink.  The white layer was added with foam squares and then the circle inserted back into the opening with the stamped birds.

The sailboat was cut from navy card stock and some striped dsp that was in my supplies.  Most of the sailboat was glued to the front but tiny pieces of foam dimensionals were added to the part that was above the circle opening.

When I made this one, I didn't add the white layer with foam squares.  I just adhered it to the navy card base.  The circle was cut from a piece of the New Horizon dsp which had great colors for the sky and birds were stamped.  I added some small die cut clouds with dimensionals.

This time I stamped the "sails" and cut with the matching dies.  The "waves" were added with an old embossing folder that I have had.

Thank you for coming by today.

 

STAMPIN' UP! - Too Kind

While I was working to use up the Watercolor Wonder dsp, one of the pieces had this subtle dotted design on what I think of as "the reverse side".  I decided it would make a great background for a stamped design.  Keeping with using up "old" things, I pulled out the SU embossing folder and the Too Kind stamp set.  The little "candy dot" from SU had been being ignored in my stash so another "old" thing used.  I did add the "new" little metal butterfly.

Thank you for coming by today!

 

GREAT WAY TO USE A 12 X 12 DSP

One of the packages of DSP that I have and want to get used up is the "Watercolor Wonder" DSP.  One of the sheets has a zig zag pattern in multiple colors.  The other side was a variegated yellow/orange combination.  Recently I saw something on Pinterest that then referred me to a blog where she showed how to cut the entire sheet into sixteen  3" x 3" squares.............so I gave it a try.  I used my own designs and layouts.  Below are the 7  cards that I have made so far using some of those squares. The 7th card also uses some dsp from another sheet.  Below that there is an 8th card which uses another design from that pack.   

This one made me think of the forest fires in the West.

The next 3 cards also use the Daffodil Delight layer but the color is really washed out.

For the next one I used one of the 3" squares as a mat for the sentiment layer.

And so there are 8 cards using up some of the Watercolor Wonder dsp........and yet there is still more to use.   If you have some sheets of dsp that have a similar background to the first cards you saw, this method can be used for all kinds of colors.  Thank you for coming by today!

STAMPIN' UP! - Dots and Spots Die

I splurged and purchased the SU Spots and Dots die (or is it Dots and Spots).  I cut a piece of white card stock with it and then layerd it with black card stock.  After I added it to the white card base, I die cut two of the flower and some leaves from the Hues of Happiness designer series paper and adhered the flowers with foam dimensionals.

Thank you for coming by today!

 

SCRAPS MOUNTED ON SQUARES

Looking at this picture, the squares look just a little crooked.  Now that paper has been used up completely.  Many more to go!  Thanks for stopping by!  I'll have something better tomorrow.

 

GREAT WAY TO USE SCRAPS

 No explanation necessary for this one.  Thank you for coming by today!

USING UP SCRAPS

All morning I was stewing about having to go to the dentist this afternoon.  I have genuine anxiety about it and couldn't seem to focus on anything else.  I almost forgot to post my card for today but I'm home now and survived...........although I had a reaction to the novacaine they used and my heart rate went crazy!  Scary!

I had two odd pieces of this paper from yesterday and saw a layout something like this and made it work.

Thank you for coming by today!

2 VARIATIONS - SAME PAPER

For the first card, the dsp reminded me of a stamp I had.  I pulled out the stamp and stamped the edges of the top fold base with VersaMark and then heat embossed with clear powder.  It doesn't show up very well on the picture.  I wasn't real thrilled with how it came out so I made a second card. (Below)

The "pink" in the dsp matched well with Stampin' Up! Petal Pink.  I used the same stamp that I used on the first card but stamped it with Petal Pink ink.  I like it better.

The dsp on these cards came from the same paper pad as the cards I posted on July 21 and 22.  

Thank you for coming by today!