Sorry

Sorry, I haven't posted in a long time. My DH is readying the house for fishing season which starts on May 1 for him. Our house looks beautiful but I haven't had any free time to stamp or take care of any of my other stamping duties. Jim will put his boat in the water on Thursday afternoon and become emersed in the world of Lake Erie walleye and perch. I will be spending time with friends and stamping.

Stampin' Up! has some great specials coming up and we will be readying for convention, so there is a lot of excitement to be shared in our stamping world and I can't wait to share it with you. Check back soon or, if you haven't already, subscribe to my blog and receive email notifications when I post something new (see the Feedblitz subscription link to the right).

Thank you for your patience and Happy Stampin'! EdieB

Enjoying The Free Wheelin Promotion!

If you haven't already noticed, I took good advantage of Stampin' Up's! Free Wheelin' Promotion. I was on the fence about the Enjoy Every Moment set but decided to get it when I saw that the Daisy Dash jumbo wheel was the free wheel being offered with it.

I knew I wanted to use the Afternoon Tea DSP in Groovy Guava and Chocolate Chip for this card, since I wanted to use my new Chocolate Chip Poly Twill Ribbon. Isn't that just something else when you plan your card around new ribbon? And, did I mention that the Poly Twill Ribbon frays nicely at the ends?

Anyway, the layout is a CASE from a card by Nancy Riley. Check out her blog. She has a lot of great ideas and I love her color choices. For my card, I used a Groovy Guava card base and rolled the Daisy Dash jumbo wheel in Groovy Guava ink. Jumbo ink cartridges are not offered in the new In Colors so I used a Groovy Guava ink refill and an uninked jumbo cartridge to make my own. To do so, just rub the ink into the wheel cartridge using the tip of the re-inker. The amount of ink depends on the color you desire really. If you apply too much, just roll some off or add more ink if you find the color too light.

I used the Stamp-a-ma-jig to position the "e" from enjoy perfectly in the center of the flower and to stamp the "every moment" sentiment in just the right spot under the enjoy. The Ticket Corner punch was used at each corner and gold brads were placed as embellishments at the corners as well as at the center of the flower in the center of the O at the end of enjoy. Phew, that was hard to spit out ;-)

Finally, I used the photo corner punch to make the Chocolate Chip corner used to embellish the DSP mat and I pierced holes across the photo corner using the Paper Piercing tool and Mat Pack to mimic the dashes of the wheel pattern. All in all a fun card to make.

I think I may go order the Wonderful You bundle. LOL

Happy Stampin'! EdieB

Exotic Birthday Card

Are these colors poppin' or what? Well, anyway, I've had my eye on Stampin' Up's! Stitched Exotics for quite sometime and was so happy to see it included in the Free Wheelin promotion. Buy this stamp set before April 30 and you receive the It's Beautiful jumbo wheel FREE. Free stamps are always a good thing. :D

This layout was CASE'd from Amy Sheffer at Pickled Paper Designs. I switched out Stitched Exotics for Amy's One of a Kind and used the It's Beautiful jumbo wheel to create the background design. Did I mention that I got the wheel free? ;-}

For this card, I knew I wanted to use Old Olive, Purely Pomegranate and Basic Black. The splash of white from Amy's use of the white scalloped edge provides a brightening accent. Since the card base is Basic Black, I stamped the interior sentiment onto a 3x4 trimmed piece of Whisper White card stock.

I then stamped the flowers from Stitched Exotics in Purely Pomegranate and Old Olive and trimmed them closely so as to trim away the stitched edge of the designs. I layered these with a small Pumpkin Pie flower punched using the Three For You punch from this year's punch kit and adhered all the flower layers with an Old Olive colored brad. The mat is paper-pierced all the way around and there is a length of Old Olive poly twill ribbon tied around and knotted. The flowers are popped up using Stampin' Dimensionals. The sentiment is from Stampin' Up's! Holidays & Wishes. It is stamped in Versamark, sprinkled with Black embossing powder and heat set.

I stamped a birthday sentiment in my card to send to a good friend who recently turned 40, which you ladies know is a monumental age. Somehow though, I think 40 has been very fun for Max. It was for me too. Happy Birthday Maxine! *hugs* EdieB

In The Stars Gift Bag Set

Hi Stampers! Stampin' Up's! Free Wheelin' promotion has inspired me to get rollin' again. While this project was not made using a set offered in the Free Wheelin' promotion, it occurred to me that the Classic Stars jumbo wheel is a perfect companion to the In The Stars stamp set found in the Spring Occasions mini catalog collection.

I used this fun combo to make this gift bag and matching card. These started out as very plain & inexpensive white tissue paper and a brown paper gift bag. First I stamped the bag in Real Red Classic Ink with two different sized stars from the In The Stars set. I stapled 5/8 inch Real Red grosgrain ribbon and 1/4 inch More Mustard grosgrain ribbon to a strip of striped paper from the East Coast Prep Designer Series Paper pack and a strip of Real Red cardstock. Using the Large Star punch, I punched a star from the More Mustard polka-dot paper from the same pack and a small Real Red cardstock star using the regular-sized Star Punch. Using the 1/16 inch handheld punch, I punched holes through the stars and through the ribbon and paper mat. I adhered all of those together using a Tempting Turquoise Bold Bright brad and then adhered that to the bag using Sticky Strip. Once in place, I cut another length each of Real Red and More Mustard ribbons and knotted them around the original ribbon to form a make-shift bow which also covered one of the staples.

I rolled the tissue paper using the Classic Stars jumbo wheel and Real Red ink. Voila! Matching tissue paper and bag! So, while we are talking about it, do you hate to use your wheels because your lines come out curvy, crooked or unevenly spaced? What you need is Stampin' Up's! Wheel Guide. It provides a steady guide to keep you wheeling straight and doubles as a ruler so that you can readily measure your lines for perfect spacing each time. It will absolutely change your life for the better. :D

I am also a huge fan of ink cartridges. Sure you could wheel back and forth a few times on your Classic Ink pads; but, it really is a bummer when your wheeling fades at the end due to lack of ink. Ugh. Go ahead and invest in the ink cartridges. You will not regret it.

Anyway, on to the card. Actually, the card is stamped much the same as the bag. The card itself is Kraft cardstock stamped with Real Red Classic Ink using the same two stars from the In The Stars stamp set. The argyle-patterned paper is from the East Coast Prep DSP pack and the ribbon is stapled to the paper before adhering to the card much the same as the bag. Of course, you see that I stamped three varied sized stars from the In The Stars set with Real Red and More Mustard Classic Inks. The stars are all embellished with Tempting Turquoise Bold Bright brads and adhered to the card with Stampin' Dimensionals. An appropriate greeting stamped inside readies this dynamic duo for gift giving.

Thank you for stopping in and sharing some stamping time with me. Please visit again soon. EdieB

Wanted

Happy Monday stampers! We had gorgeous weather in Erie this weekend. It was sunny and a balmy 60 degrees. The sunshine and fresh air was enjoyed by all-even the turkeys made an appearance and one hen took roost in a tree by our bank for the night. Since we live on the banks of Lake Erie we are often visited by turkeys, raccoons, and other wild-life including deer. Apparently, while I was busy with 8 of my friends stamping yesterday afternoon, there were 3 deer in our yard. DH was outside building a ramp for Roscoe and along came 3 deer. We see these 3 deer often strolling along the path to the lake which is just behind our house. Well, I guess they stopped to check out Jim's handiwork yesterday. He said they stood and watched him for a bit of time and nibbled on tree buds then just kept on moving on. Of course we missed this all despite the huge picture windows in our family room since we were stamping. LOL

Well, moving on with my project: This is a card that I made using the Wanted set. I lifted the layout from another dear stamper, but I'm not sure who. Sorry. Anyway, the background paper is Western Sky DSP which is complimented by Blue Bayou and Ruby Red cardstock. I used the Photo Corner punch to make the corner embellishments, piercing with the Paper Piercer from the Crafters' Tool Kit and Mat Pack. I then inserted Antique Brass brads from the Vintage brad collection and adhered the corners to the mat.

I stamped the filigree circle design from Wanted on Whisper White cardstock in Ruby Red and punched it out off-center using the Star Punch. I used the Crop-A-Dile to punch a hole and set an Antique Brass eyelet and then adhered this to the mat using Stampin' Dimensionals. I wrapped Natural Hemp Twine several times around the mat an tied it off for a finishing touch.

I have just started playing with this set and hope to have a Wanted & Bronc Buster set sampler drafted and available soon. Happy Stampin'! EdieB

I've Been Tagged!

I've been tagged by my Utah Diva sister Tammy! Tammy has a great blog as does Rochelle who tagged her. OMG, the stampin' will make your head spin with inspiration.

To play, I am to tell you 7 random things about myself that you might not know! It's hard for me to decide, because I am an open book and think what could you possibly not know about me? Do they have to be true? Hmmm.

Well, anyway, before I get on with the "list", I want to share a tag that I made for a swap that I joined in with some other Utah Divas. The swap is called Stamp Camp In A Box swap (SCIAB). The swap hostess lists 8 different types of stamped items to make like, a card, a gift item, a scrapbook page, etc. You pick one of the items and make 8 identical. The hostess swaps them out so that each participant receives 8 different stamp projects and, as such, you receive an instant stamp camp in a box. For this swap I picked tags. I was to make 6 different tags, 8 of each. This is the tag I made using In The Stars stamp set and the Afternoon Tea DSP both found in the Spring Occasions Mini Catalog. It measures roughly 4 x 4 inches so you could use it for a card front, a scrapbook page, or to decorate a gift box or gift bag. I will share the other tags on a later post.

For now, on with the game~seven random things you may not know about me:

1. I love to "car sing" and often people will see me driving and comment that I was boppin' my head and singing. LOL

2. I spent the late 70's and early 80's at the roller-skating rink with my big hair and Jordache jeans. I'm so glad the 80's are coming back. I'll be showing all the neighbor kids how to peg tuck their jeans.

3. I loooove Buffy the Vampire Slayer and had a TV crush on Spike for quite a while (and still do a little bit). Yikes!

4. I collect socks. Yes, socks. I like to pick up those cute little character ankle socks when I visit someplace out of town or even just Walmart on the weekend. I have a cool pair of SLC Utah socks with skiers on them which I bought at my first SU convention. :D

5. I drove a Dodge Omni for 13 years which my DH hated. I believe to this day that he and our mechanic sabotaged the engine to force me to get a new car. :(

6. I still have ALL my baseball cards which I collected as a kid. Complete sets, autographed cards. Pete Rose was my fav and I am still hoping he is inducted to the Hall of Fame.

7. I love to make lists.

So, now I get to tag seven other bloggers. Here is my list:

1. Max at Utah Divas International
2. Michelle at A Time to Stamp
3. Andrea at Sunny Stampin'
4. Brenda at Memories by Brenda
5. Judy at Dogwoods and Daisies
6. Jeanne at Stamp with Jeanne
7. Leonie at Totally Addinktive

Enjoy! EdieB

Gracie Mae - A True Friend

Today's featured stamper is one of my very best friends, Grace. Grace & I met at our local scrapbook store, the Scrapbook Studio, when we took a scrapbook class together. We later ran into each other at a Stampin' Up stamp camp at which we spent the entire day together. We quickly hit it off, having the same sense of humour and dry wit. We really enjoy our time stamping together. We attended a scrapbook weekend at Wilderness Lodge last year that got a bit hairy at times, because I am orderly and Gracie is unmanaged chaos. I copped an attitude when her chaos would creep into my order. She surprised me the next morning at breakfast when she was wearing a t-shirt that said something like "keep your order out of my chaos". ROFLOL You see, we understand & love each other despite are differences! We are going on an adventure again this May when we will attend the Creating Keepsakes Convention in Buffalo. Look us up if you are there!

So, anyway, this True Friend birthday card is an example of Grace's handiwork. She found this sample in a magazine and CASE'd it. She is a very accomplished stamper and this card shows just that. Here is the recipe to CASE this yourself:

Stamp Sets: True Friend and I'm not sure from which set is the sentiment.
Papers: Whisper White, Certainly Celery, Soft Sky & Blue Bayou
Inks: Certainly Celery, Soft Sky & Blue Bayou
Other: Bold Brights Brad, Blue Bayou Double-Stitched Ribbon

Thank you for sharing your card with us Gracie. Look for more featured stampin' friends in the future. For now, have a great day and Happy Stampin'! EdieB

Stampin' Sisters Program

Hi Everyone! Sorry I haven't posted. I am just really busy. Today, I would like to share with you this wonderful cards sent to me by my Utah Diva Stampin' Sister, Terry J. To read more about the Stampin' Sisters program and this gorgeous card, click here.

I will be back tomorrow with a card from one of my friends, Gracie, so please stop by to see what's coming!

Happy Stampin'! EdieB