Autumn Greetings

Though I hate to say good bye to summer, it's time to think about making some fall cards.  This card uses the acorn stamp from the Truly Grateful stamp set in the Holiday Catalog.

Supplies:
Stamp sets - Truly Grateful, Sanded (retired), Teeny Tiny Wishes
Cardstock - Cajun Craze, Crumb Cake, Sweater Weather DSP
Ink - Early Espresso, Cajun Craze
Accessories - 7/16" Natural Trim, Small and large oval punches, Stampin' Sponge, Stampin' Dimensionals

This would be a nice card at Thanksgiving time, using the Truly Grateful or the Thankful for sentiment.

Home Again!

I'm home from my Alaskan cruise and short stay in the great state of Washington. We had a great time but the weather didn't cooperate.  When we landed back in Dayton on Saturday, it reminded me of landing in Ft. Lauderdale in Feb. if you know what I mean!! But it's back to reality - cooking, laundry, cleaning - but thanks goodness there's stamping!! I got the idea for the card I made today from some notecards created by Peggy Noe.

Supplies:
Stamp sets - Everything Eleanor, Birthday Greetings (retired)
Cardstock - Very Vanilla
Ink - Crumb Cake
Accessories - Pretty Print Textured Impressions Embossing Folder, Extra large oval punch, Crumb Cake 3/8" taffeta ribbon, Stampin' Sponge, Stampin' Dimensionals.

The inside just says Happy Birthday with a few of the "swirly" designs on the edges.  I just couldn't get a good picture of the inside.

Simple card, but I love it, love it, love it!!

Yippee-Skippee with Field Flowers

Here's my Friday card for the nursing home.  It can be tough to come up with the right combination. The card can't be too simple for them, but it can't be too complicated either.  Their fingers don't work too well and too many steps really throws them.  But you have to have more than a couple of pieces to glue together, you know what I mean?  I think they'll be pleased with this one.

Supplies:
Stamp sets - Field Flowers, Yippee-Skippee, Gorgeous Grunge
Cardstock - So Saffron, Whisper White, Subtles Designer Series Paper stacks
Ink - Old Olive, So Saffron
Accessories - Ovals Collection Framelits, Big Shot, Eyelet Border punch (retired), Decorative Label punch, 1/4" grosgrain ribbon (retired), mini glue dots, Stampin' Sponge, Stampin' Dimensionals

I stamped the Gorgeous Grunge on the So Saffron cardstock to keep it from looking so plain and it really did the trick!  I use this stamp set all the time for just that reason! It adds texture too.

Chalk Talk Halloween Candy Holder

There are a lot of these Chalk Talk Framelits candy holders on the web and I'm not sure to whom the credit goes for being the creator of this cute idea, but I copied mine from Becky Roberts.  You can take the idea and make these for any holiday or any occasion.

Supplies:
Stamp sets - Halloween Hello
Cardstock - Pumpkin Pie or Basic Black, Witches' Brew Designer Series Paper (DSP), Whisper White
Ink - Basic Black
Accessories - Chalk Talk Framelits, Big Shot,  1" circle punch, 1 1/4" scallop circle punch, Scallop edge punch, 1/4" hole punch, 3/4" Basic Black Chevron ribbon, 1/8" Basic Black taffeta ribon, Whisper White Baker's Twine, Basic Rhinestones

Here are just a few of the dimensions and directions you need to make these. You can pretty much figure them out from the picture.

- Cut DSP to 2 1/2" x 5 1/2".  Score at 3 1/2".
- Cut Pumpkin Pie (or any color) cardstock to 2 3/8" x 3 5/8".
- Fold DSP on the score line and place just inside the bottom cutting line of the Chalk Talk Framelit (so you keep the fold and don't cut it off.)
- Adhere the top and bottom of the DSP to the cardstock. The middle will be open to slide ribbon between. Add your tag to this ribbon
- Trim the corners of the Pumpkin Pie cardstock to match the corners of the DSP after it's been cut with the framelit.  I used a corner punch for the top corners and a corner rounder for the bottom corners.
- Pull the Chevron ribbon through the 1/4" hole but don't tie it.  Tie it closed with some Baker's Twine or crochet thread.

Just play with them a little bit, you'll see what needs to be done to complete them.  They're easy!!

Chalktalk with Flower Shop

This was a card from my Saturday stamp club. It's all Soft Sky and Whisper White.  It's so soft and pretty. I CASED it from Nikki Spencer, though I changed the colors.  The flowers from Flower Shop and the leaf from Fabulous Florets are watercolored with the ink from the lid of our stamp pads.

Supplies:
Stamp Sets - Chalk Talk, Flower Shop, Petite Pairs, Fabulous Florets
Cardstock - Soft Sky, Whisper White, Subtles Designer Series Paper Stacks
Ink - Black StazOn, Soft Sky, Wild Wasabi
Accessories - Chalk Talk Framelits, Big Shot, Pansy Punch, 1 1/4" and 1 3/8" circle punches, Aqua Painter or watercolor brush, Stampin' Dimensionals

Thankful Thinlets

Today's card is a 3 x 6 card made with the Expressions Thinlits Dies and the Big Shot.  It's not really a Thanksgiving card, as I plan to make a Thanksgiving card with this layout at a later time.  This can be used at any time when you want to let someone know that you are thankful or grateful. It is a CASE from Daniela Sucker, a demonstrator from Berlin, Germany.

Supplies:
Stamp sets - Gorgeous Grunge
Cardstock - Crumb Cake, Early Espresso, Cherry Cobbler, Whisper White
Ink - Crumb Cake
Accessories - Expressions Thinlits Dies, Big Shot, Heart punch (retired), Linen Thread, Stampin' Sponge. Tombo Multi Liquid Glue, Mini Glue dot

I did a lot of sponging with Crumb Cake on the Whisper White cardstock after stamping the lines with the Gorgeous Grunge lines stamp.

When using this Thinlits die, I had a little trouble getting the words to pop out of the die, so a used a piece of waxed paper along with the Early Espresso cardstock and it popped right out!! Then you just peel the waxed paper away. It is definitely a time saver (not to mention getting rid of the aggravation of a word torn in two!)

Clockworks

I made another card with the Clockworks stamp set and this one is a CASE from Carolyn King, a fellow demonstrator from Australia.  She has made some gorgeous cards with this stamp set. I can't wait to try a few more.

Supplies:
Stamp sets - Clockworks, Teeny Tiny Wishes
Cardstock - Crumb Cake, Basic Black, Very Vanilla, Newsprint DSP (retired)
Ink - Basic Black, Crumb Cake
Accessories - Argyle Textured Impressions Embossing Folder, Big Shot, 1/2", 3/4", and 1" circle punches, Early Espresso Baker's Twine, Stampin' Sponge, Stampin' Dimensionals

I sponged heavily over the Argyle embossing with Crumb Cake ink to make the embossed image stand out.  When I stamped with black ink over the Newsprint DSP, I stamped off first so it wasn't so dark.

Off the Grid with Clockworks

I was playing with the Clockworks stamp set today. It's a great masculine set but can be used for lots of feminine and generic cards.  I added Off the Grid stamp set for this card. I did a lot of sponging and stamping off to get the look I wanted.  It's a little shabby and rustic.

Supplies:
Stamp sets - Off the Grid, Clockworks
Cardstock - Midnight Muse, Very Vanilla
Ink - Baked Brown Sugar, Crumb Cake, Midnight Muse
Accessories - Chalktalk framelits, Big Shot, Soft Suede 3/8" taffeta ribbon, Stampin' Sponge, Stampin' Dimensionals

Very manly, don't you think? (yes, I know it has a ribbon!)