New Stamp.

Actually, this is a stamp that I have had for well over a year I believe.  And have never inked it up till now.  There is something kinda gross and obscene about that I believe.  I mean, really, should I REALLY have a stamp that I haven't had time to ink up for over a year.  And I am sure that there are many more like me out there.  You see a stamp that YOU GOT TO HAVE and then you get it and somehow it doesn't find it's "time in the ink" on your desk.  Why don't we crafter's just use what we have and only buy when we are totally sure that we are going to use the new item immeadiately!  We don't do this I believe because we truly have an illness......a totally stamping/scrapping/crafting addiction!  Well, at least I know I do and will so own up to it!  So, yeah, I have had this stamp for-ev-er and just this week pulled it out to play with.  And found that I actually really like it.....thought that it might be too difficult to color and put into a card but I am really pleased with how this card turned out.  It is different colors for me and I seem to be trying different color combos with my last few cards.  I am liking the freshness that a different arrangement of colors and layout brings to my mind and think that I will have to make the deliberate choice to try something different more often!  This stamp is LaBlanche and the card is not stamped inside with a sentiment yet as I am not sure who I will be sending it to at this time.  Here is my card...

The stamp is LaBlanche and the dies are Spellbinders.  The embossing folder is also Spellbinder's....their basketweave one and this is a folder that I can see myself using over and over.  I have tried it on several different colors of card stock including white and I always love how it looks.  I think it is a nice bit of texture to a card base with out being too distracting.  I also am experimenting more with cutting out frames with dies to "reverse mat" images.  I find this works well for some images that just seem to "end".....it gives them more of a border than when I traditionally mat them.  Anyways, it is a brisk 11 degrees here in Wisconsin on the second day of Spring....my son has ceased to wear a winter coat in protest of the temps I believe. He just wears a sweatshirt. Oh to be 17 again.  I am wearing my parka. Ta-ta for now and thank you for stopping by!

Be well,

Sheila

Cutting....

apart an image is something I rarely do.  I have some really big images though.  And sometimes I think that the image is just gorgeous but also just a little too big for one card.  In the card that I am going to share today I loved the roses and the leaves but the actual size of the image was difficult for me to to work with the way I wanted to use it.  In the past I have just left the rectangular shape as is and simply matted it but this time I wanted to used the roses in an asymmetrical placement.  I'm impressed by the many stampers that I see out there that are comfortable cutting apart a colored image and rearranging the pieces on their card or layout as they see fit but I haven't had the nerve before  today to try it myself. One reason for that I suppose is that after an image is colored I don't want to potentially mess it up by cutting it and making a mistake.  But, yesterday I had a little more time to play and so was able to tell myself that if the image was destroyed and the card unsalvageable it would not be the end of the world!  So this is the Northwoods Rubber  Stamp Co stamp that I used...it is 4 x 4.75" in size and wood mounted. And here is where you can purchase it http://www.northwoodsrubberstampsstore.com/p6936.html

It really is a lovely image and although I am not sure I completely love how I used the cut up image this time I know that I will again cut this up to use these lovely roses!  I think that way I will get more mileage out of the stamps that I love. I am entering this into the Simon Says Stamp Challenge of Spring/Easter. I am going for Spring! 

And here is my card.

I think I am really digging this color combo....kind of a new one for me!  The dies are all various Spellbinder's mixed up together.  The basket embossing folder that you can see on the blue background is also a Spellbinders.  Oh! And before I forget....I have another sneak peek of a card over at Die Cut Diva's that Dawn and the ladies are going to show today! I was not sure about this card as it is a lot of GREEN but in the end I actually like it quite a bit and will keep this "design" as a quick go to card.  I think it would work perfectly in other colors for wedding and anniversary cards.  I also can see it as a Christmas card with a holiday sentiment in the middle.  

Thanks so much for stopping by and I hope you are having a great week.  Today  is the first day of Spring and we are supposed to be 3 degrees in the morning with windchills of -5 to -20.  Brrrrrrr!

Be well,

Sheila

Well, shucks.....

....and also Thanks!  And I really mean thanks for all the wonderful comments that you guys gave me over on Die Cut Diva's blog.  I really appreciate it.  To say that you all were just too kind, too darn nice is just an understatement.  So, again, thank you. ;-D  And, besides thanks I also have a card today.  It has been snowing here in Wisconsin.  And when it hasn't been snowing it has been thinking about snowing again!  We had snow Friday and will again tomorrow.  Like another 5-6 inches I've heard.  And it is past mid March.  I have never remembered this much snow on the ground at this time of the year ever!  So....I decided to make a very summer-y card featuring sunflowers.  I love sunflowers and love to color them.  This image is by Hero Arts and it is colored with copics.  The dies are Spellbinder's and the ribbon is basic seam binding that I colored with one of the yellow copic colors that I used on the sunflowers.  Finally, the sunflowers have yellow stickles on the petals and glossy accents on their middles.  Kind of an easy peasy card.  The inside sentiment is WhipperSnapper designs and the card is finished off with scraps.  I  hope to have a little bit more time to craft in the next few days....my husband has been gone for over a week and will be gone until next Friday so sometimes that gives me time to craft and other times that means that there is no time what so ever to craft!     I hope that you all are having/have had a nice weekend....mine was very nice.  My middle daughter came home for the weekend which is always nice and my son had his music competition all day yesterday and I love to go and hear him play.  I am sure going to miss the music when he leaves next September!  Anyways, here is my card....I plan to enter it into Die Cut Diva's March Green contest.

And, here is the inside of the card.  I love this little sentiment....especially when I pair it with a sunflower image.

Thank you for stopping by today and again, thank you sooo much for all your wonderful comments on the Die Cut Diva's blog!

BIG NEWS!

Big News today!  In fact, downright Happy news today.....because today I am being featured over at Die Cut Diva's and I couldn't be more thrilled for being spotlighted!  I love the ladies over there and the Die Cut Diva's blog is one of my favorites to follow as people from all over the globe submit their creations to both the blog challenges but also the Flickr page. When Dawn contacted me about being their March interview I was just tickled beyond words.  If you like to incorporate die cuts in to your card designs as well as your scrap layouts then both Die Cut Diva sites should be on your daily web stroll!  The challenge this month is to make a GREEN card.  Well, at least a card with a lot of green in it!  And green is a go to accent color for me but not necessarily a focal color soooooo not a very easy challenge for me!  I did come up with three cards though...two you will see here and over at the blog where I am featured in an interview....do you want to know that much about me???? ;-D  Please, stop over at the Die Cut Diva's blog and show the gals a little love....they are such a sweet group!  Here is a little sneak peek of two of the cards that my friend Dawn put up today.....I  hope you head over to Die Cut Diva's to see the rest of them!

Please stop over at the Die Cut Diva's Blog to see the full reveal!   Thanks!

Be well,
Sheila

A "Find" and a Card....

I want to share a "find" or discovery that I recently made.  I like to use seam binding ribbon on my cards.  It is easy to work with and if you get a white or eggshell it so easy to custom dye your ribbon or bow with distress inks, copics etc..... The rayon seam binding is the ribbon I usually reach for and it works so well when making two, three and even 5 loop bows of various sizes.  The only problem is that I am never able to find it anywhere except in small amounts on line!  I have brought in samples to Jo-Anns and to Hobby Lobby but neither sewing department has anything like it at all.  And so I am reduced to purchasing it on line from etsy stores or other craft type stores that cutely re-package the ribbon in small amounts.  And I don't mind doing that except I use a lot of ribbon.  I mean, I tend to add bows to almost every card and now that I have an array of inks and markers I really don't need to purchase any other type of ribbon in any other color.  So, I have been buying my seam binding ribbon for app $2.50 for 5 yards.  Well!  I have found the same seam binding thru Amazon and it is 100 yards for $8.50....I am so PUMPED!  This is such a huge savings.....I am enclosing a picture of the roll of ribbon and there are other widths as well as colors available.  As I said above it is soooo easy to dye your own either with copics or distress inks that for me white is the best way to go.....less craft product to store!

I also have a card to share today.  I paired a few Spellbinder dies with an older LaBlanche stamp image.  I think the effect is kinda "Spring-y".  I added some bling in the way of pearls as well as some yellow stickles to the center of the flower and the wings of the butterfly.  Pretty straightforward and a really simple card.  Cards like this are a blending of the two things that I like most in papercrafting.....die cutting and coloring.  This time the coloring was done with copics.

Thanks for stopping by and I hope you are at the start of a wonderful week!

Be well,

Sheila

Birthday boy...

Yesterday was my husband's birthday.  And he was on a plane home from France....actually, he just left on Wednesday to attend a meeting in Paris on Thursday and then fly back home on Friday so we didn't do anything when he got home to celebrate his day....to tired!  But today/tonight we are going out with friends to dinner and a movie and that should be nice way to mark the day.  We are planning to have the whole family, all three kids and our oldest daughter's boyfriend (who has been around so long we think of him as our family ;-D)  together for a trip soonish and then we will celebrate Joe's birthday all together.  I can't wait.  Each year since our oldest left for college we try to make a get together happen in March....it is nice to have that break even if it is just for a day!  And this year with such a pounding non-stop winter it will be doubly sweet to see everyone....a way to segue into the Spring.  Today my card is the one I made for my husband's birthday.  Again, I am LOUSY when it comes to masculine cards so on this one I didn't even try to "man it up"!  I did go with a "love" rather than birthday theme though so I do think that the way this card turned out is just fine.  I tried something new, new for me that is.  I colored the butterfly, which is a WhipperSnapper Design image and then triple embossed it to make it thick as though it were an embellishment rather than a stamped image.  Then when the rest of the card was done and I was adhering the butterfly to the front as the last touch it cracked.  The embossed area cracked and left a whitish scar running down one of the wings.  Bummer as this was not intended and was not cracklin' powder....so, what to do? what to do?  Then, it occurred to me that I could re-emboss the image again but this time use sparkly embossing powder and hopefully the sparkly would camouflage the crack.  And, after doing that twice it did help with concealing the crack.  And, my husband will be a sport and tell me that he can barely see it hehehe!  So, the various dies are Spellbinder's and that is about it!

Thank you so much for stopping by today and I hope you are having a great weekend!  Aren't weekends just the best?

Be well,
Sheila

Back to Basics.....

And for me the basics are floral cards.  I love coloring floral cards!  And, after the crazy, crazy blizzard that we had this week a nice, spring-y floral card is just what I needed!  We got just under 15 inches in my town. Wild!  The paper reported that the authorities couldn't even get to all the people that were stranded in ditches and so there were numerous folks who had to spend the whole night in their cars stuck in 6 ft high drifts.  Yikes.  And we had just gotten a snow storm a few days earlier too....not bad but still....I am ready for the snow to MELT!  But the upside is that we were completely stranded in the house and so I had to cancel some plans and errands and besides watching Argo with Corm I was able to sit and craft.  Sigh.  So fulfilling!  There is nothing better than canceling the outside world and being able to watch a movie in the middle of the day, read a good book and get a little coloring and crafting in!  I picked up this Northwoods Rubber Stamp image a few weeks ago. I can always depend on Northwoods to deliver me a great image....and most of the ones that I am drawn to are florals.  They also have wonderful winter scenes and bird images too. Check them out sometime if you have a few minutes.  They are a small stamp company located in Stillwater, Minn and if you like to color then you will LOVE their product!   Just thought I would share one of my go to stamp loves with you.  I then multi-matted this cut out image and then  used some Spellbinder dies and a Spellbinder embossing folder as well.  The card is also finished off inside with pink paper and some coordinating  scrap paper borders.  I forgot to take a picture of that  though.  Here is the front of the card however.  I hope you like-y.

Enjoy the weekend and thank you so much for stopping by!

Be well,
Sheila