A Christmas Song for Stampers 4

Deck the Halls

Deck the halls with foils and glitters,

Fa la la la la, la la la la.

Tis the season for us stampers,

Fa la la.........

Don we now our inks and powders,

Fa la la...........

Troll the heatguns and embossers,

Fa la la..........

See the card stock blank before us

Fa la la......
Strike the ink and join the chorus,

Fa la la....
Follow me in merry masking,

Fa la la......
Join us in some Yuletide stamping,

Fa la la.........

Faint away with chalks and markers,

Fa la la...
Hail the new, ye rubber stampers,

Fa la la.......
Stamp with joyous all together,

Fa la la.....
Heedless of the times that's passed us,

Fa la la.....

A Christmas Song for Stampers 3

Let it Snow

Oh the weather outside is frightful

But the inks look so delightful
So while the winters cold and damp
Let us stamp! Let us stamp! Let us stamp!

It doesn't take much convincing
And I've brought a tool for crimping
Choose some paper, turn up the lamp
Let us stamp! Let us stamp! Let us stamp!

When we carefully press just right
How we smile as the image unfolds
Add some color, so bold, so bright
The result is a sight to behold!

Our projects are quickly drying
And there's new techniques for trying
So until we get finger cramps
Let us stamp! Let us stamp! Let us stamp!

A Christmas Song for Stampers 2

This is the second song for stampers. Sing to the tune of Jingle Bells

Jingle Bells
Dashing through the snow
To the stamp store here we go.
O'er the streets we pass
Anxious to spend cash!
Stamps on store shelves call
Making spirits bright.
Oh what fun it is to sing,
The stamping song tonight!
Stamping art, stamping art,
Stamping all the way!
Oh, what fun it is to stamp
In the good old fashion way!

Stamping art, stamping art,
Stamping's here to stay!
Oh, what fun it is to stamp
All the gifts you give today!

A Christmas Song for Stampers

I just came across this on Crafty Maria's Stamping World and had to share. This is to the tune of Winter Wonderland. I hope you enjoy this as much as I did!

(Winter Wonderland)

Brayers roll...are ya listening?
On the card...ink is glistening.
A beautiful sight...we're happy tonight,
Stamping in a winter wonderland.

In the kitchen we can build a snowman.
Then add color to his carrot nose.
You'll say: Are you finished?
I'll say: No ma'am,
I need to add some glitter to the snow.

When we stamp...ain't it thrillin'?
Even when...the powders spilling.
We'll create and we'll play...the art stamper way,
Stamping in a winter wonderland.

Have a wonderful day!

Blessings,
Barbara

DIVASC166 & a Sneak Peek

It's Saturday, and that means it's time for the weekly DIVA sketch challenge. You can find the list of all those who are participating here. This week I received my preorder from the new Occasions mini catalog that is available in early January, so I was itching to try some of my new items. Here is the sketch for this week. At first I was going to rotate the sketch, but as things progressed, I left it as it was.

Here's the sketch:And here's the card. Can you spot all of the new products? I am so excited about this catalog, and I know you will be too! Notice the beautifully scalloped, embossed edge. Very cool, huh? If you are a regular customer, you will be receiving your copy of the new mini catalog in the mail.

Thanks for stopping by, and have a wonderful weekend. I know mine will be filled with Christmas preparations. We will be shopping for our tree, wrapping presents, and making food for the church luncheon on Sunday. Fun times!

Blessings,
Barbara

Deck the Halls!

Last weekend when I posted I said I would share some of my decorations. I am getting ready to work on my challenge card and just remembered that I had not taken any photos! Here is a peek at some of my decorations.

When I was in Michigan for Thanksgiving, I found this sign in a cute little shop in downtown Holland. I couldn't resist! It really sums up what I love about Christmas, special times with family all together. Of course, the best Christmas present of all was baby Jesus! What an indescribable gift. None of that "Happy Holidays" greeting from this girl~ Jesus is the reason for the season!

This is the beautiful Christmas keepsake box that Stampin' Up! offered as a kit. I spent a morning with three of my down line putting our boxes together. It took us almost three hours to make them. The kits had everything we needed and really look great. The only thing I have to do yet is add my pearls, but it looks beautiful even without them.

Here are the two pieces together on the shelf of the cabinet in my family room. I like to change the items on display as the seasons change.

I hope you can stop by tomorrow to see my sketch challenge.

Blessings,
Barbara

Snow Much Fun!

It's the most wonderful time of the year! I just love Christmas and all of its festivities. I decided this year that I would do a little decorating each day instead of one big blitz, so right now my house is half decorated for Christmas and half decorated for Thanksgiving. I think I will try for a big push to get the rest done this weekend, and I'll post a couple of photos when I am done.

Happy Saturday, and welcome to the weekly DIVA sketch challenge. You can check out the list of all those participating at the DIVA blog. Here is this week's sketch. I'm taking a little liberty here and keeping the sketch intact but doing it as a horizontal card, not a vertical. That is different than rotating the whole sketch, but hey, that's what a sketch is for, to inspire us, right?

I did use the color coach for my color combination. Gotta love it!

And here is my card.
I love the color combination of Baja Breeze and Cajun Craze, don't you?


Stamps: Snow Much Fun
Paper: Whisper White, Baja Breeze, Cajun Craze, Not Quite Navy
Inks and markers: Not Quite Navy, Baja Breeze, Cajun Craze, More Mustard, Garden Green, Basic Gray
Accessories: Big Shot, Northern Flurry and Snow Burst embossing folders, 1 1/4" and 1 3/8" circle punches, aqua painter, dotted ribbon border punch

I had a lot of fun with this sketch! Can you tell?

I hope you have a wonderful weekend! I'm sure a lot of people will be putting up Christmas trees this weekend. We always get a live tree, so we wait a little bit longer before putting it up so it doesn't get too dry. As I said earlier, I am going to work on decorating tomorrow. The most time consuming by far is the garland and swags that I put up in my foyer. It takes a whole morning to get it done. I used to do live roping every year, but it would get so dry by New Year's Day that it was a mess to take down and probably a fire hazard as well. I finally decided to spend the money on a really nice artificial garland, and I have been using that for the last several years. It is not as messy, and I can leave it up as long as I want. I'll try to post some photos of that later this weekend.

Thanks for stopping by. I read all of your comments and really appreciate it when you take the time to leave one!

Blessings,
Barbara

Hello!

Well, here it is Saturday, and if you are anything like me, you are probably recovering from eating too much on Thanksgiving! I'm glad you stopped by to see the newest Diva sketch. This is the last one designed by Ruthie, Diva SC164. Here it is, and you can see the list of those participating this week here.

I really liked this sketch, although I guess you can say I did a variation of the theme! Here is my card. I just love this sweet little girl in the Gift Givers stamp set, and this is the first time I've inked her up. (sigh)
As you can see, I substituted a circle for the oval. I also eliminated two of the horizontal lines since I thought the rosette was quite large and I didn't want too much going on.

Stamps: Gift Givers
Paper: Early Espresso, Whisper White, Baja Breeze, Frostwood Lodge DSP
Ink: Black Staz-on, watercoloring with aquapainter and ink pads
Accessories: Northern Flurry embossing folder, scallop punch, circles #2 die, Big Shot, Simply Scored, cherry Cobbler quilted ribbon, 2 way glue pen, dazzling diamonds

It's really hard to see in the photo, but the snowflakes and snow in the main image are very sparkly!

Thanks for stopping by! I hope you had a wonderful Thanksgiving, and may our thankfulness for our blessings last throughout the year!

Blessings,
Barbara

Shabby Christmas Lodge

Well, here it is Saturday again and time for another sketch at the UDI blog. You can find a list of all of the participants here. This week we have another sketch by Ruthie. Here is the sketch, DivaSC163:



And here is my interpretation. I'll be back with the details later. I combined the diva sketch challenge with Inkspirations colour challenge #96.



I'm sorry I missed last week's sketch. I was vending all day Friday and Saturday, and then again Wednesday night at craft shows. I'll try to post some of those pictures next week.

Thanks for stopping by!

Blessings,
Barbara

Top Dog!

Well, I finally had time to stamp today! This is the first of the sketches that Ruthie will be doing for the month of November, and I really like this sketch! You can see the list of participants in this week's sketch here. Here it is, DIVASC161.

When I saw it, I immediately had an idea. I had seen a really cute card by Monika Davis, which inspired me to buy the set "Not So Seriously." (page 55, IB&C, #123087, $25.95) And here's what I did with it. I combined DIVASC161 with color challenge PPA118, and here's my card.


Recipe:
Stamps: Not So Seriously
Paper: Whisper White, Soft Suede, Early Espresso
Inks: Soft Suede, Early Espresso, River Rock, Black Staz-on
Accessories: Soft Suede 1 1/4" striped grosgrain ribbon, neutrals brads, word window punch, Modern Label punch, Dotted Scallop Ribbon Border punch, circle punch, stripes embossing folder

I need to stop working at night because I hate using a flash for my photography! I would much rather have natural daylight to take my photos. You can hardly see the striped embossing in the background. Sad...

Oh, I saw the greatest idea today for the word window punch, and now I don't remember where I saw it! The "top dog" greeting was too long for the word window punch, so I measured the length I needed, folded a piece of card stock in half and used the window punch on the folded card stock to get the longer length. I did the same thing with the modern label punch. If you look closely, you may see the fold in the papers. If you have any questions, I can take a photo later to show you. Just give me a holler!

Thanks for stopping by today! If you have time to leave a comment, I really appreciate them! It let's me know that people are actually stopping by.

Blessings to you and yours,
Barbara

Life Gets in the Way

It's been a topsy-turvy week here on the East coast! One week ago today we had a freak snowstorm that dumped a lot of heavy snow, bringing down power lines and lots of trees. My street is three blocks long, and when the builder developed this area 25 years ago, he lined the street with Bradford pear trees. It was a beautiful sight in the spring, when they were white with blossoms, as well as late fall, when they turned a beautiful cranberry red. Sadly, fourteen trees came down in the storm. Our road was impassable for 24 hours, until people could get out with chain saws. So many people were without heat and electric, and some still are. My in-laws came to stay with us for 36 hours until they got their power back. Needless to say, there was nothing like a "normal" schedule at my house.

I had a class last night, and while I was scrambling with last minute preparations, I realized I had not prepared my sketch card. Me bad! :-(

Check back later today if you have time. Meanwhile, you can find the list of participants over at the Diva blog.

See you later!

Blessings,
Barbara

Babushka Dolls

Happy Saturday, and welcome to another Diva Sketch Challenge, DSC159. If you are interested in seeing who is participating in the challenge this week, you can find the list of names over at the Utah Diva Blog. This is the last week of sketches by Elizabeth, and I have really enjoyed her sketches! Here is sketch number 159. If you stopped by last Saturday, you know I jumped the gun and did DSC160 last week. Yikes! So I hope you are not totally confused. This week's sketch is DSC160, but because I did that a week early, I am using the sketch from last Saturday.




Earlier this week I was blog surfing and I came across the most adorable Babushka dolls, created by Deb Fearns. I fell in love with them, and I couldn't wait to make one. Here is a sneak peak at the inside of my card

Deb had the punches listed on her blog. The dolls required the Owl Builder punch, the extra large oval punch, and the 1" circle punch. Isn't this just the cutest?! On my card I stamped "friend to friend,"so I thought it was quite appropriate to have one little friend on the front of the card as well as one on the inside. What do you think? There isn't any stamping on the card other than the greeting. The doll's eyes and cheeks are both from the owl punch, as well as the bow at her neck, which is two hearts. For her lips I used the tiny heart from the pinking hearts border.


Recipe follows
Stamps: Teeny Tiny Wishes
Paper: Cheerful Treat DSP, Concord Crush, Pink Pirouette, Melon Mambo, Basic Black, Whisper White
Ink: Concord Crush
Punches: Owl builder, Extra-Large Oval, 1" circle

I can hardly believe we are at the end of October, and we are expecting some snow later today. We didn't have a great fall this year. There was not much color, and we still have lots of trees loaded with leaves. This could potentially be a very bad storm. Maybe we'll be lucky and we won't get much.

Thanks for stopping by, and have a delightful weekend!

Blessings,
Barbara

It was a dark and dreary night...

I often say, "If it wasn't for the last minute, nothing would get done." So here it is, the last minute, and my card for the Utah Diva Saturday Sketch Challenge, DSC160, is done. And I just realized that I used the sketch for next week, October 29! My apologies to the rest of the team. You can see the correct sketch here, as well as the list of those who are participating this week. I'm too tired to start another card now, so what you see is what you get! I will try to get back to this and do the correct sketch.

So here is next week's sketch:



And here is my card:



Recipe:

Stamps: House of Haunts, Spooky Bingo Bits
Paper: Basic Black, Whisper White, Cajun Craze, Frightful Sight DSP
Ink: Basic Black, Basic Gray, Old Olive, Cajun Craze, Cherry Cobbler
Accessories: Stampin' sponge, Lucky Limeade designer printed brads

Well, it's getting late and I'm going to call it a night. I hope to be back later today with another card. We'll see!

Thanks for stopping by!

Blessings,
Barbara

Beautiful Season

Happy Saturday, and welcome to another Diva Sketch Challenge, DSC158. If you are interested in seeing who is participating in the challenge this week, you can find the list of names over at the Utah Diva Blog. This is the third week of sketches by Elizabeth, and I really am enjoying her sketches! Here is sketch number 158.



I thought I would rotate the sketch, but I ran into a problem when I finished the main image. I couldn't fit it on the card if I had it horizontal, so I tipped it back to a vertical image, so it did alter things slightly. Also, I substituted ribbon for the scalloped edge that Elizabeth showed in her sketch. Even though I changed it, I think I have captured the main idea.


I was determined to use products that I bought but had not yet used, and I succeeded! I inked Beautiful Season and my letterpress plate for the first time and also opened the spool of quilted satin ribbon. (Too often I order things but fail to use them, falling back on my favorites!) Here are the supplies.

Stamps: Beautiful Season
Paper: Cherry Cobbler, Very Vanilla, Early Espresso, watercolor paper
Ink: Always Artichoke, Riding Hood Red, Soft Suede, Versamark, Black Staz-On
Accessories: Watercolor wonder pen, Fancy Fan Letterpress Plate, Early Espresso 3/8" quilted satin ribbon

I inked the Letterpress Plate with Versamark ink before I put it through the Big Shot. I think it made such an elegant background. The main image was stamped with Black Staz-On and then water colored with my ink pads and a watercolor wonder pen.

Thanks for stopping by. I hope you have a wonderful weekend!

Blessings,
Barbara

P.S. I had a wonderful visit with my family in Michigan, and we had a great time at Mabel's birthday party! And we found out this week that Mabel will be welcoming a little brother in late February. That will be grandchild number seven. We are all very excited!

Language of Friendship

Happy Saturday, and welcome to another Diva Sketch Challenge, DSC157. If you are interested in seeing who is participating in the challenge this week, you can find the list of names over at the Utah Diva Blog. This is the second week of sketches by Elizabeth, and I had fun with this one. Here is the sketch we had to work with.



Sometimes it is amazing to realize where we can find inspiration. Earlier this week, I cased a card from the catalog. I had so much fun with it and it served as the inspiration for my sketch. Here is the card I cased, and you can read about it here.




I changed the color scheme from Old Olive and Baja Breeze to Old Olive and Marina Mist and obviously changed things up to accommodate the sketch. What do you think? Considering I had a great sketch and inspiration card to work with, I think it came out pretty stinkin' cute!



Here's the recipe:
Stamp: Language of Friendship
Paper: Old Olive, Marina Mist, Very Vanilla
Ink: Early Espresso ink and marker, Marina Mist Marker
Accessories: Boho Blossoms Punch, Bird Builder Punch, linen thread, Marina Mist 1 1/4" Striped Grosgrain Ribbon, Stripes embossing folder

To get the stripes on the Old Olive, I inked the embossing folder with Old Olive ink and then ran it through the Big Shot. I was going to put a piece of Marina Mist paper in the long rectangular area of the sketch and was inspired to put the striped ribbon there instead.

I'm so happy you could stop by today! I'm actually in Michigan for the weekend. I flew out on Wednesday to attend a Calvin College Alumni Board Meeting, and while I'm here I have a chance to celebrate our granddaughter's birthday. Here is sweet Mabel, and she turned one on October 3.



Mabel's birthday party is this afternoon, and I get to see all of my grandchildren as well. I know we'll have a ball! It is always so much fun to be together.

Boy, this has been a long post. Thanks for sticking with me to the end! As always, I appreciate your comments and feedback.

Blessings,
Barbara

Casing the Catalog

Today I had a little time to play, and I decided to CASE (Copy And Share Everything!) a card from the catalog. A couple of years ago I was in a swap where we did just that. We selected a card from the catalog that we were willing to copy and sent them off to the swap hostess. As beautiful as the catalog is, the photos just cannot capture how beautiful the cards are in real life. I used "Language of Friendship," which had not been inked up until today. I love all of the little details of this card.


What do you think? Isn't it sweet? You can see the card I cased on page 101 of the 2011-2012 IB&C.

This card also serves as inspiration for my Saturday DIVA sketch challenge card. I hope you can stop back to see that. I think it will WOW you!

Thanks for stopping by!

Blessings,
Barbara

A Grateful Heart

Today is October 1, and I, for one, find that hard to believe! The days and months just seem to fly by! It's also Saturday, and time for another DIVA sketch challenge. This month's sketches were prepared by Elizabeth, and I really love the simplicity of this first sketch. If you are interested in seeing what the other team members have come up with, just follow this link to see who is participating this week.



A good friend (who is also a member of my down line) came to do some stamping today. We stamped, talked, cut paper, cranked a lot of things through the big shot, enjoyed lunch out on the deck, and generally enjoyed each other's company! I was working on cards for a class, and I was using the beautiful set Gently Falling as well as the Spice Cake DSP. Since all of those supplies were already out, you shouldn't be too surprised with my take on the sketch.





Stamps: Gently Falling, Pursuit of Happiness, Faith In Nature
Inks: Soft Suede, Pool Party, More Mustard
Paper: Very Vanilla, Soft Suede, More Mustard, Spice Cake DSP
Accessories: Stamping Sponge, Jewelry Tag Punch, Vintage Trinkets, Linen Thread, Paper Piercer

It's hard to see because I stood the card on a shelf to take the photo, but there is an even mat all the way around the card. The More Mustard CS is cut 5 1/2" x 8 1/2," Soft Suede is 5 3/8" x 4 1/8" and the Spice Cake layer is 5 1/4" by 4".

I am ready for this cooler fall weather! I just love the crisp air, the beautiful colors of fall, and all of the pumpkin goodies available this time of year! I need to stay away from the Pumpkin Spice lattes, pumpkin donuts, pumpkin bread, pumpkin pie... I think you get the picture!

Have a wonderful weekend! Thanks for stopping by, and if you have time to leave a comment, I read them all, and I really do appreciate the feedback!

Blessings,
Barbara

Let it Snow!

I'm in a punch art swap later in the month, and I have 21 of these ready to go in the mail. I had so much fun making these snowmen! Here's what I used.

Snowman body: 1 3/8", 1 3/4" and 2 1/2" circles, all sponged with Pool Party
Scarf: Modern Label punch and Letters to Santa DSP
Arms: Snowflake punch and Soft Suede CS
Hat: 1" circle, small oval for hat, word window (cut down) for hatband
Eyes: Neutrals brads
Sign: Word Window, Frostwood Lodge DSP, Punch Pals for "Let it Snow"

To make his carrot nose, I used an craft knife to trim a pencil eraser into a carrot shape. I've used this technique before when I have something small I need to add. I guess in a way it's like carving your own rubber stamp! I leave it right on the tip of the pencil so it is easy to hold on to. Once it was done, I just had to ink it up with Pumpkin Pie ink and I was ready to go!

The background is Pool Party, and I used a sponge dauber to add Frost White Shimmer Paint to the embossed snowflakes (Northern Flurry embossing folder).

If I have time I will make a sheet of directions and pieces to post so you can see how I put this together.

Thanks so much for stopping by!

Blessings,
Barbara

The Stockings Were Hung...

Happy Saturday! Welcome to my blog! I hope you are enjoying a morning cup of coffee and you can stay a while. If you are following the DIVA Saturday Sketch Challenge, you can find the list of this week's participants here. This week's sketch really got me thinking! I kicked several ideas round, and finally came up with something I like. Here's the sketch we were given.

The first thing I did was to rotate the sketch. Then I changed the number of ovals from five to three. It worked out perfectly for what I had in mind. Earlier in the week I was playing with Stitched Stockings and the Stocking Builder Punch for a swap I was in. It got me thinking about stockings hanging from a mantle or a railing. Here's my card. (The base is Cherry Cobbler with a mat of Early Espresso and Frostwood Lodge DSP.)

Here's the supply list:

Stamps: Stitched Stockings, Short and Sweet
Ink: Cherry Cobbler, Early Espresso
Papers: Whisper White, Garden Green, Cherry Cobbler, Early Espresso, Frostwood Lodge DSP,
Accessories: Bird Builder Punch (garland), mini Jingle Bells, Early Espresso Baker's Twine, Stampin' Dimensionals, Stocking Builder Punch, Decorative Label Punch, basic rhinestones

I've included a detail of the stockings. The new mini Jingle Bells are adorable, but they are a bit of a challenge to get threaded on the Baker's Twine. Let's just say I wouldn't want to do a hundred of them...


I just love working with sketches! They lead me to places I would never go on my own. This sketch reminded me that when my children were little, we would decorate the staircase railing with garland and hang decorations from them. That gave me the idea of the stockings on the staircase with a garland. I hope you like this card as much I as enjoyed making it.

Thanks for stopping by! Have a wonderful weekend!

Blessings,
Barbara

Snow Much Fun!

Happy Saturday! It's time for the weekly sketch challenge with the Utah DIVAS! To see who is participating in the challenge this week, you can check here and you will find all of the links to the blogs. Here is the sketch we were given. As soon as I saw it an idea popped into my head, and that's what I went with. Here's the sketch.

And here's the card I designed. I used one of my favorite new holiday sets, Snow Much Fun!

Stamps: Snow Much Fun
Papers: Whisper White, Pool Party, Island Indigo
Inks: Pool Party, Island Indigo, Lucky Limeade, Calypso Coral
Accessories: Aquapainter, Basic Black and Basic Gray markers, Stampin' Dimensionals, Big Shot, Snow Burst embossing folder, Northern Frost decorative strip die

Here's a detail showing all of the wonderful texture created by the Snow Burst embossing folder. I think this snowman and his little friends are having snow much fun, aren't they?
(My pictures were taken with my cell phone since I am having some camera issues, which I hope I can resolve soon! I also don't like taking pictures in artificial light, so I apologize that they are not the best quality.)

Thanks for stopping by today, and have a wonderful weekend!

Blessings,
Barbara

Diva Saturday Sketch 153

Well, I'm delighted to be back! Here's this week's sketch. You can find the links to the other sketch team members if you head over to the

UDI blog

.

And here's what I did with it. I had been playing with this stamp set earlier in the week, so I took the liberty of changing the central image to a circle rather than the square pictured in the sketch.

Recipe follows:
Stamps:  Christmas Lodge
Paper:  Whisper White, Not Quite Navy
Ink:  Not Quite Navy
Accessories:  Snow Burst embossing folder, dazzling diamonds, two way glue pen

I just wanted you to see how beautiful this image is. It really stands all on its own without any coloring. All I did was use my two way glue pen to highlight any areas where freshly fallen snow would be and then I sprinkled it with my dazzling diamonds. Pretty, isn't it?

Well, I'm off to the airport!  We have a wedding this weekend in Chicago.  Congratulations to my nephew Peter and his beautiful bride, Nicole!

Thanks for stopping by!

Barbara

Creative Elements

This year for convention, I joined 10 different organized swaps.  I'd never done that before, and I must say I was really pleased with the cards I swapped and received.  The day before Convention, I realized that I did not have cards for general swapping, so I got busy and starting playing with my new stamps.  This was the card I came up with, and to be honest, it was my favorite of everything I swapped.

Here's what I used to make it.

Stamps:  Hello, Doily; Creative Elements
Ink: Elegant Eggplant, Lucky Limeade, Crumb Cake
Paper:  Elegant Eggplant, Lucky Limeade, Very Vanilla
Accessories:  Lucky Limeade ruffled ribbon, SNAIL, Crop-o-dile. sponge daubers, crinkled cellophane paper

I had planned on using Wisteria Wonder, but I really felt this needed the deeper Elegant Eggplant to give it some punch.  I also did a lot of antiquing with the crinkled up cellophane paper and Crumb Cake ink.

After Convention, I made some of these for a swap I was in.  The Very Vanilla card stock was a double layer, scored and folded at the top.  Then there was a score line 1/2" from the top fold, so the front lifted up like a flap, with the ribbon securing the layers.  (Elegant Eggplant was cut 4 1/2" x 5 1/2", Lucky Limeade was 4" x 5 1/4", and Very Vanilla was 3 3/4" x 10" and scored at 4 3/4" and 5".  I hope that helps!)

Thanks for stopping by today!  As always, I love to hear your comments, and if you have any questions, I'm happy to answer them.

Blessings,
Barbara

Back to Blogging!

After taking close to three months off from blogging, I'm rested and raring to go again!  I have lots of things to show you from my summer projects as well as convention, so let's get started!

Today's card is one I just finished for a monthly swap I am in.  It is a case from a card I saw this week, from the wonderful Mary Brown, with some tweaking to make it my own.

If I could only have one new stamp set from this year's catalog, it would be "Hello, Doily."  It is just exquisite, and gives such beautiful texture to a card.  It really looks like a hand crocheted doily.  Here are all the details.

Stamps:  Hello, Doily (BG), Field Flowers
Inks:  Chocolate Chip, Crumb Cake
Paper:  Whisper White, Crumb Cake
Accessories:  Houndstooth embossing folder, basic pearls, dotted scallop ribbon border punch

After I had the main images stamped, I softened the look by taking crinkled cellophane paper (that covers our card stock) and inking it with some crumb cake ink, then pouncing it over the background.  This has become one of my favorite new techniques to give a soft, aged look.  I also added the dotted scallop ribbon punched in Crumb Cake with just the small scalloped edge peeking out.  I hope you like it!  Here's a close up so you can see the details.

Well, I'm off to do some class planning and work on some sketch challenges.  I hope whatever you do today, you can work in a little time to stamp.  It's good therapy!  :-)

Blessings,
Barbara

Strength & Hope

Welcome! It's time for our weekly sketch challenge on the UDI blog. If any of the links are missing, you can head over here. You will find a complete list of the Divas who are in on the sketch challenge. This week's sketch is pictured below. It was pretty straightforward, but I did rotate it.

I had something totally different in mind for this, but it wasn't working out so I fell back to a favorite color combination of mine, the classic Basic Black, Basic Gray, and Whisper White.

Elizabeth's blog is the next stop, and she always does such lovely work! I know you won't be disappointed!

We are having the most glorious weather here on the East Coast! There is low humidity, a wonderful breeze, highs about 75... Yesterday and today will rank as two of the top ten days of the year, I am sure!

Have a wonderful weekend, and thanks for stopping by!

Blessings,
Barbara

See you later!

It's time for our weekly Diva Sketch Challenge.  The list of all participants can be found here, and the sketch is pictured below.  I just returned home from a shoebox swap and realized I had not made my card for this week!  I will get to it first thing in the morning, so I hope you will have a chance to stop back and see my card.

Meanwhile, if you are blog hopping, head on over to Elizabeth's blog to see what she has come up with.

Thanks for stopping by, and enjoy your holiday weekend!

Blessings,
Barbara

Daydreamin'

This is going to short and sweet! I am traveling this week but did have time to make a card using this week's sketch. I will post the details later, but I can tell you it is all Stampin' Up! The next stop is Elizabeth's blog, and if you find any broken links you can head over to the UDI blog.

Have a great weekend, and thanks so much for stopping by!

Blessings,
Barbara

Sweet Friend

My apologies for posting this a little later than I should have!  I started my sketch card last night about 8:00.  When I was finished with it, I got my camera to take pictures, only to discover that I had a dead battery!  At that point I was tired and did not want to wait for the battery to charge, and I really prefer taking my photos using natural light in the day light hours over flash at night.  I hope you think it was worth the wait.

So, all that aside, welcome to my blog and another UDI sketch challenge!  This is DSC136.  If you are hopping from blog to blog and any of the links are broken you can head over here to find the links. 

When I saw this week's sketch, I immediately thought of the new Postage Stamp Punch (#122344, $15.95) and the Pretty Postage stamp set (#123097, $8.95).  I stamped the image in Early Espresso ink and used a blender pen to add Rich Razzleberry and Old Olive to the images.  I also rotated the sketch and made the card horizontal rather than vertical.

The "sweet friend" is from an often overlooked stamp set  in the back of the catalog, "Hello, You" (#117118, $9.95) on page 183.  Here is the finished card.

Recipe:
Stamps:  Pretty Postage, Hello, You
Paper: Whisper White, Early Espresso, Old Olive, Rich Razzleberry DSP
Inks:  Early Espresso, Rich Razzleberry, Old Olive
Accessories:  blender pens, postage stamp punch, stampin' dimensionals.

Next stop is at Elizabeth's blog.  She always does beautiful work, so I know you won't be disappointed.  Thanks so much for stopping by!  If you have time, I love to read your comments, so share a little love if you can.  :-)

Have a wonderful weekend!
Blessings,
Barbara

Fabulous Flower Fest

And just in time for Mother's Day!  This may just be my favorite stamp set in the new summer mini catalog.  I started by casing the card that is on page 20.  I made cards for my downline members and then showed them how to make their own designer paper using the Flower Fest stamp set, ink pads and sponge daubers.  I had some scraps left on my stamping table and used them for this week's card.  Here's Diva Sketch 135 for the Saturday Sketch Challenge.  If you are following the blog hop and there is a missing link, you can always head here to see who is next.

Recipe:
Stamps:  Flower Fest
Paper:  Naturals White, Pink Pirouette, Wild Wasabi, Rose Red
Inks:  Pink Pirouette, Wild Wasabi, Rose Red, Peach Parfait
Accessories:  sponge daubers, dotted scallop ribbon punch, scallop trim border punch, stampin' dimensionals

After I had this put together, I realized it would have made a great gate fold card!  Oh well, next time.

The next stop is Elizabeth's blog.  I'm sure she'll have something wonderful for us.

Thanks so much for stopping by!  Have a wonderful weekend, and enjoy your Mother's Day!  I hope you are able to spend some time with your family.

Blessings,
Barbara