Thank You

Look who finally made it into her stamp room!   Construction for the moment has moved to the garage.  So I ventured in and started removing and moving all that had accumulated into my area.  Got my desk cleaned off so I could atleast make a card.  It felt so good!  Hopefully the start of more to come soon.

Taking a break

Well, between Christmas and construction, I'm having a hard time even getting to my craft room!  Am anxious to get in but think it will be a few more days.  Hope you are having some fun.  We escaped to the movies today so we'd be out of the way of workers.  Highly recommend seeing Unbroken. 

Dreamweaver Stocking

A little more intensive card, but did like the results.  A striped stencil was placed over the stocking and the red was applied.  Then after it was dry, translucent paste covered the stocking.  While wet, glitter went over the whole stocking.  Once dried, it was cut and mounted onto the dry embossed green paper.  A third stencil was used with white paste over the red card and glitter was added to the wet paste.  Once dry, it was placed on the card.

Tea Votives

Oh the joys of double stick tape!  Here are a couple of samples of tea lights that made for a quick and simple gift.  The votives came with the Mercury glass already on the glass.  All that was needed was the double stick tape to be applied and then came the choice of beads.  The red cup used red micro beads.  The silver cup used crushed silver glass.

Eat Cake Christmas Card

Here's a card I loved.  It says, "Aunt Mildred's learning to knit.  Guess what we all got for Christmas."  Inside the message says, "sending you warmth and cheer".  The images were colored in with Prisma pencils.  This definitely goes to someone who can appreciate the humor.

Thank you card

I'm trying to not be too anal about my "thank you" cards.  This background piece has been sitting on my desk for too long.  Finally put it to use.  This card isn't necessarily to my style, but I'm learning to let that go and think of someone who might enjoy this and send the card to that person.

Penny Black Die

Some cards you want to spend a lot of time on.   Thank you cards are not one of those!  This was a nice quick one.  The paper was already printed and all I had to do was run the words and add a little more paper.  With Christmas coming, I'm trying to stock up on Thank you notes so I have them when I need them.

Dry Embossed Star

Whoo hoo!  Found some more Christmas cards left over from other years.  Helps to bridge the gap for my shortage of cards this year.  This card used a Lasting Impressions star that was dry embossed and then sanded.  A pine sprig punch decorates the to top by the ribbon.  The background paper was cut using a die.

Verses Birthday Card

As if there isn't enough going on in December, some people have the nerve to have birthdays!  Actually, I feel bad for them.  It's way toe easy to overlook their day.  So, here is a card ready to send.  The nesting dies worked well with this card.  Background is printed paper.  Flowers and the circle were sponged with ink.

Memory Box Ornament

It's amazing to me what you can do with just one stamp.  The ornament here was first stamped with  Momento "Teal" onto a separate paper.  Then before cleaning off the stamp, it was stamped on the card.  This was repeated each time.  Once the blue was done, the stamp was cleaned and then stamped onto the card with Delecato Gold.  The words are from a set by Pink and Main and was also stamped with the gold pad.  The extra ornaments were then cut out and popped up on the card with foam tape.  The string was made with a Uno Ball gold pen.  Quick, easy, and mails with no extra postage.  Oh happy day!

Christmas cards

How are your Christmas cards going?  I came up a little short.  Fortunately, I had a few left over from last Christmas which helped fill the gap,  The first card is the one I made last year with a Magenta stamp.  The bottom card was done with a Hero star and die, and the words are by Memory Box.  I'm trying to keep my cards simple since I send quite a few to folks.  My goal is to have my ideas ready for next year's card by the end of this holiday so I can start early and work a little on it over the year.  We'll see how that goes.

Clothes Pin Ornaments

Gotta love Pinterest!  I saw this idea and thought it was worth trying out.  These are some of small clothes pins.  The top was lined with double stick tape.  The snowman and the tree were placed on the pin.  Then, for the snowman, green glass pieces were sprinkled on.   For the tree, iridescent Mica chips were added.  Add one of these to a gift!  But, it also can be used an ornament on your tree!

Dreamweaver Tree

Here is a simpler version of the tree that was shown yesterday.  A plain background, gold paste with gold glitter on top, really makes this tree pop.  Gold metallic paper was used as the base to the card.  As is my motto-simple is good!

Dreamweaver Christmas card

Well, I'm on my third medication so let's hope I'm on the mend.  Last two meds made things worse.  Oh my.  Been resting a lot, so I dug through my batch of Christmas cards and found this one.  The background was done with an embossing folder on metallic paper. The Dreamweaver stencil was used on the green paper and gold paste was added.  Once dried, the paper was trimmed  and adhered to the card.  Tiny red gems complete the card. 

A bit under the weather today.  Hope to be back in the swing of things soon.

Dreamweaver and Frantage Elements

Seemed we quickly said Thanks and moved on to Christmas!  I've been working on doing my Christmas cards.  We got in an abundant amount of the Frantage Elements from Stampendous and I used a variety of them on this card.  They work great with Dreamweaver paste to give some interesting texture.  The best part is that it doesn't add so much dimension that you need extra postage to mail the card.

Art Journal-Encaustic Wax

Had a great time with my Art Journal friends this week.  They have been anxiously awaiting doing a page with encaustic wax.  Now that we are in our new building with window that open, I am finally able to make their wishes come true.  This will be page for our next class in January.

Dare 2 B Artzy

Happy Thanksgiving to you all.  There are so many things to be thankful for- and I thank all of you who take the time to come and visit this blog.  I started it with the hope it would be an inspiration for folks in their stamping journey.  I get a lot of joy and satisfaction in doing this hobby. I certainly hope you do as well.

Dare 2 B Artzy

Here's a quick Christmas card.  It was stamped with a Versamark pad and embossed with sparkly white embossing powder.  All set and ready to go.

Dare 2 B Artzy

Afraid I'm old enough to remember this Jim Croche song when it first came out.  It was a good one and holds some significance for my husband and me.  So, this stamp set seemed a perfect one to have.  The clock and gears were stamped in a bronze ink.  The words were stamped in a brown ink and the edges were sponged with the bronze.  Then a metallic ribbon was added to the bottle.

Dare 2 B Artzy

These images came in a set of words and some random designs.  But, when I saw these two designs it made me think of flowers on stems.  Worked for me!

Dare 2 B Artzy

This is a retro set from Dare 2 B.  It has a two part stamp.  The purple blocks were done first and then the gray outlines were stamped.  Words are also by Dare 2 B.  The circle has an image stamped first in purple and then in gray. 

Dare 2 B Artzy

Shhhhhh! I'm giving you a sneak peek at one of the new companies that will be introduced at Angela's Happy Stamper today.  We are having our official Grand Opening of our new location.  We actually have 3 new companies being introduced!  This is one from a company out of Ohio.  Really like their clear sets which stamp beautifully.  I love their leaves sets and this one uses a die set as well.   Hope anyone close can come for our party.  It'll be a fun day of celebration.

Thankful Notes

My boss needed multiple note cards to thanks all our customers who helped us move.  I dove into my scrap stash and pulled out coordinating papers and went to work.  Words are from an Impression Obsession clear set.

Dreamweaver Wheat Shafts

Love this stencil by Dreamweaver for Thanksgiving.  It works so well with the copper paste.  As you can see, I liked the copper look so much copper metallic paper and copper metallic ribbon finish off the card.

Verses Get Well Card

Verses has the best message stamps of any company I know.  Used the one here to make a card for Pop.  He's been feeling poorly with a cold gone bad.  Hoping this helps cheer him up.

Thanksgiving Card

Gotta love Pinterest.  I saw a card there that used strips of printed paper that I liked.  This is my version based on that sample.  The tree is by Hero Arts.  The oak leaf is a felt sticker.  Words are by Paper Inspiration.

Dyan Reavely's Stamp Set

Dyan has some fashion design stamps.  For this card I took the dress and hat and made them festive with the pick of the paper.  Then it was finished off with a Christmas stamp by Great Impressions.  Quick and easy!

Doodle Bug Paper and Buttons

Not sure what this white paper is a left over from, but the hole was already prepunched and calling to me.  So, I punched a piece of the printed paper and put it inside.  Then glued some of the coordinating buttons on the front.  Words are by Rubber Tapestry.

Dina Wakely Paints

Paint is a bit intimidating to me.  As I have watched how Dina paints, though, I'm getting over my fear.  Been doing some experimenting.  This is a cut down piece from a page of brayered paint.  I liked how it looked and decided to just leave it be.  The words are from the WPlus9 Feather set. 

Grateful Jar

Have you heard of the grateful jar?  You take a jar and for a year you fill it with remembrances of moments during the year for which you are grateful.  I'm going to include a small note pad and pen along with the jar.  We did one last year and kept the paper and pen by the jar so it was easy to quickly jot down a note when we thought of it.  At the end of the year you take out the papers and read over the items you wrote down.  It's a good way to focus on the positive things that have happened and helps to build thankfulness into our lives.  My ladies Bible study group will make one this week before our study. 

I took a clear jar here like you see on the left and colored the jar with alcohol ink on the inside of the jar.  Besides the one color, some blending solution was added to help spread the ink.  For the paper on  the lid, some double sided adhesive was punched with a Marvy punch and placed on the middle part of the top.  Then the paper was punched and placed over the adhesive. A stamp by Sweet N' Sassy was inked on the paper.  Then a coordinating ribbon was tied around the lid.

Dyan Reavely's Bird Birthday Card

What is it about birds with hats that just makes me smile?  I love this set of birds.  Had way too much fun putting this card together.  It's paired up with a message stamp by Cat's life Press.  I liked having the design show through the birds, but if you wanted to make them more distinct you could embossed them with black embossing powder.  Any way you do it, they are a hoot!

Distress Spray card

Well, technology and I seemed to have resolved our spat for now.  The card here is using a Penny Black stamp for the message.  The fern is a die by Dreamweaver.  They were matched up with printed paper but when it went on the card it still needed something.  Happily, I had just purchased the new Distress spray and it gave the card the texture it needed.  Gold pearls went well with the spray.

Urrgh!  Having some computer issues.  Hope to post soon.

Stazon Tree

The squares are bigger on this card than the ones I was using before.  This time there is a piece of acetate over the squares on which this tree was stamped with a black Stazon pad.  After turning the paper over, the leaves were colored in with Copic markers.  The the clear sheet was attached with the brads.

Acorn Card

There were some squares left over from doing my other cards.  This time I put them on some neutral paper and put a punched acorn on top of the squares.  All done.

Impression Obsession Card

Both stamps here are by IO.  The background stamp was inked with a Versafine pad and lightly sponged.  Velvet ribbon and lace finish off the card.  The words are from a clear set.  Two copper pearl brads are in the upper corners.

Sweet n' Sassy Card

Last month I did a whole class using this candle and die to show how you can create multiple cards for Chritmas-without having to do multiples of the same card.  Today though, the candle has been adapted so it can be a Thanksgiving card.  The paper flower covers up the holly image and the colors bring out the fall feeling to the image.  Sentiment is by Impression Obsession.

Corn Gatherer

My sister-in-law enjoys all things Native American so I hope she enjoys this card I am sending her for Thanksgiving. It was made with two stamps.  The woman is one stamp which was colored in with Copics on glossy paper and then cut out.  The other is the design stamp with was stamped repeatedly in rows and then also off stamped behind the woman and in between the design rows.  A Thanksgiving sentiment is inside the card.

Plain and simple Thanksgiving Card

Welcome to November and the holiday month that has yet to be taken advantage of by consumerism!  It's rather plain and simple and that's exactly why I like it.  Today we have cards to match.  Easy to do and easy to change up a bit.  Do you have a preference?  They are fun to do and quick to make so think I'll soon be doing more.

Cityscape in Moonlight

Came across this card I had sent to my dad.  It was stamped in gray onto the blue paper and cut out.  A white  moon made with a Marvy punch was placed behind the scene and laid onto black glossy paper.  Simple, but nice.  Hope you all have a nice, safe, night tonight.

Dreamweaver Poinsettia

When we had the Christmas stencil class, we needed to mix some paint with the paste to do this card.  There was some paste left over so I made some extra cards with the paste.  Once the paste was down, glitter was added.  After the paste was dry, some white pearls finished off the flower.  Then it was layered onto the card and the white satin ribbon run between the layers.

Lawn Fawn Printed Wood Paper

Been itching to try out a card with this paper.  It comes in a bunch of colors and I thought they would be perfect for fall.  The printed paper here is actually the back side of some Christmas paper, but looks perfect for fall.  The ribbon is a brown velvet placed on with a strip of red adhesive tape.  Added a button with some brown twine to the bottom.  The stamp was inked in red and then the edge and the leaves were enhanced with a brown colored pencil.

Impression Obsession Fall Stamps

The oak leaves here are part of a background stamp by IO.  It was inked in brown and then extra color was added with a Dove blender pen and dye ink.  I'm learning to stretch myself with mixing patterns so I paired the stamped paper with some printed paper.  I think it worked.  What do you think? 

Embossing folder Birthday Card

My brother-in-law has a birthday coming up.  This embossing folder seemed a good fit for the occasion.  The paper was sponged over with "Rubarb" dye Momento ink.  The words are by Serenity stamps.  Some ribbon was cut and folded behind the tag.

Doodle Bug stickers

A quick and easy card today.  Sponged a little around the white squares and then added a sticker to each square.  Words at the bottom say "Happy Autumn Days".  Done!

Dyan Reaverly Bird Stamps

There is a group of ladies that will be meeting at my house next week for a Bible study.  Many of them were at our fun craft night last week and expressed a desire for more crafting.  So, before our study starts, I've planned a quick  craft with the new set of birds that are by Dyan.  The bird here is stamped with a Versamark black pad onto a text page. The page was sponged with some Distress ink.  The hat is in the same bird set.  It was colored in with Copic markers.   

Painting

Thanks to Gelli plates and Dina Wakely paints, I am tentatively dipping my paint brush towards other projects beyond cards.  Started with this easy one.  The words were already on this block.  All I had to do was add paint.  I had picked up some glittery paint and this seemed a good place to try it.  First thing I found out is that it needed a base layer of paint.  It was not opaque enough to just paint directly onto the bare wood.  Out came the basic acrylic paint in a similar color that went on first.  Once dried, then the glittery paint was added in two coats.   My handmade Christmas gift is ready!

Craft Night

Did a craft night with friends over the weekend that was so much fun I just had to share the idea.  There were about 12 of us.  A pretty large group.  But, I had set up stations and let them go wherever they wanted-so it spread out the people in a very comfortable way.  We had a center where they could do two different cards, a paint place for decorating gourds, and a writing spot where they did the same activity Dyan Reaverly taught us at the store last week.  Food was centered in the kitchen complete with a chocolate fondue! Folks brought most of the food so I didn't have to worry about getting that ready.  We are definitely going to do this again.