My Parents' 40th Anniversary!

Sunday is my parents' 40th anniversary - I am so blessed in this day and age to have parents who are still married. They mean so much to me... here is the card I made for them:

Once again, I snuck in a retired stamp on this one... the "Love you" sentiment comes from Sweet Thing. For the flowers, I spent some time coloring the rubber with my Stampin' Write markers to give it a bit of shading. I don't usually cut things out that are this detailed, but this was a special occasion! What's more, I used my Versamarker on the flowers so I could emboss them with a little clear powder to make them stand out a little more. It's hard to see in the photo, but here's a closer shot:

The embossing makes the darker part even darker, which helps the shading. You can tell that I even used Dimensionals to raise the flowers up a bit. I like the way that casts a hint of a shadow and gives the whole card some extra depth.

Happy Anniversary, Mom & Dad! I love you!

Card Recipe:
Stamp Sets: Inspired by Nature, En Francais background, Sweet Thing (retired)
Ink: Chocolate Chip, More Mustard, Pumpkin Pie, Creamy Caramel, Always Artichoke
Cardstock: More Mustard, Chocolate Chip, Naturals Ivory
Accessories: Chocolate Chip Wide Grosgrain ribbon
Tools: Designer Label Punch, Horizontal Slot punch, Versamarker, Clear Embossing Powder, Heat Tool, Dimensionals

May Stamp-a-Stack

It's May 1st... and you know what that means! Three brand new Stamp-a-stack cards! Well, in this case, it's more than three... but three basic layouts.

First, let me remind you of the details. This month, my Stamp-a-Stack workshop will be held on Tuesday, May 20th. Together, we will complete 12 cards (4 each of the 3 different designs below) using my supplies. The only thing I do not provide is basic adhesive. The cost is $10 with a $15 minimum catalog order, or $20 without an order. Clear envelopes are included, unless you'd like paper envelopes that can be stamped to match the cards. I sell those at the workshop for .20 cents each.

Can't make that date? Or you don't live in the Dallas area? No problem! You can receive the supplies by mail! I will send you all of the consumable supplies (cardstock, envelopes, ribbon, brads, etc.), along with detailed instructions with color photographs, and you can complete the cards at home with your own stamps, ink, and tools. If you need any of the stamp sets, ink, and/or tools, I can help you with that as well and have it shipped right to your home or office. The cost for the Mail-a-Stack option is $15 for local pick-up, or $19.60 if shipping is necessary (I use Priority mail). I take payment via PayPal and will send an invoice when you place your order.

Whether you would like to come to the class or have the kit mailed to you, I will need to know by May 18th! Please contact me at mgf@forceworld.com.

Okay... enough of that! This month, we are going to focus on Father's Day (which is June 15th), Graduation, Friendship, and Wedding (for all those June weddings you'll be invited to!)... although the wedding card could also double as an Anniversary card or a Baby card. I like versatility, don't you?!

This layout came from an old card I made, which I CASEd from who knows where. It was one of the very first cards I ever made... I won't show it to you here because I don't want you to get confused as to which cards are in the Stamp-a-Stack this month. But I'll show it to you tomorrow, just for kicks. In any case, as you can see, I modified it to fit both Father's Day AND Graduation... you know how the saying goes about the two birds and the one stone. Poor birds. Anyway, my idea was to make 2 of each, but if you happen to have 3 dads and only 1 nephew graduating, then you can do it that way... or if you have 3 graduates and 1 dad... oh, you get the idea. Here's a closer look at them:

The colors on these cards are Night of Navy, Bordering Blue, Always Artichoke, Mellow Moss, and Whisper White. The stamp sets are All Holidays and Great Grads. Obviously, I used my Stampin' Write Markers on the stamps in order to get the two colors. The backgrounds stamps I used are Sanded and En Francais. There are also two Night of Navy Eyelets and a scrap of Grosgrain Ribbon.

This next card uses a new favorite set of mine (not a new set, but new to me): Blossoms Abound. I just love how easy it is to stamp this cascading flower... and it looks difficult! (but it's not!) The colors here are Regal Rose, Rose Red, Old Olive, and Naturals Ivory. The ribbon is Vanilla Taffeta.

This card could easily be adapted into a different color scheme - Perfect Plum and Pale Plum would be beautiful as well, but I chose rose because I did plum in this next set...

This layout was directly inspired from a card in the August issue of Cards. It was on page 130 and designed by Melissa Phillips (I like to give credit where credit is due!). My version is different in that I stamped the upper portion instead of using patterned paper. Her card used Organdy type ribbon, whereas I'm using the gorgeous Taffeta. And, obviously, the stamp set is different. I used Carte Postale and Warm Words. The colors here are Mellow Moss, Always Artichoke, Pale Plum, Perfect Plum, and Whisper White. In my mind, these cards could be suitable for a wedding, anniversary, or even a new baby!

I hope you like this month's cards! Remember to either sign up for the Stamp-a-Stack or order the Mail-a-Stack before May 18th!

Baroque Anniversary

Today is a very special anniversary for some very special friends of mine! Here is the card I sent to my dear friends in Scotland... yes, I pulled out the ever popular Baroque Motifs again!

Although I would've easily spent hours on a beautiful card for them, I must confess that this one took me all of about 15 minutes!! I blame it on the beauty of the Baroque Motif swirl - it simply makes the card for me! This one is stamped onto Soft Sky with Soft Sky ink, and then mounted on a piece of Blue Bayou before mounting onto the Naturals White card base. The sentiment is from Hugs & Wishes and is stamped in Blue Bayou ink. I used some Whisper White Taffeta ribbon for it's soft elegance (which, by the way, is part of my current Ribbon Share - more on that later), and then finished it off with some pearls from the Pretties Kit.

So, Audrey and Iain, just in case the card did not arrive in time, here it is, along with a whole lot of love from your American friend! Love you!

Baroque Wedding

One of our dear friends is getting married tomorrow, and I thought it was a good opportunity to pull out a couple things I don't use very often - one of which I have NEVER used yet! Here is the card I made for them:

The two things I meant are 1) the River Rock cardstock. I have not used it very much and I should be scolded because it really is a beautiful color... hard to photograph, but beautiful none-the-less! and 2) the gorgeous Shimmery White cardstock! I have NEVER used it before and had to break open the package for this card. I'm sure you can't really see it in the photograph, but it does shimmer ever so softly... makes for very elegant cards. As does the Baroque Motifs stamp set, which is something I DO use often! The third color on this card is Ruby Red. I punched the sentiment out with the Large Oval punch - originally because I had stamped it onto the card crooked. But I like it better in the oval anyway! By sponging the edges with Ruby Red ink, it makes it stand out that much more.

I scalloped the bottom edge with the Corner Rounder punch (guard removed) and then punched the smaller circles with the 1/16" Handheld Circle punch. Which therein lies the one boo-boo on this card. Do you see it? Eeeeek! That's what happened when I tried to slice off just a wee bit on that side. But it was all already stamped and I did not feel it warranted a total re-do. What do you think?

I finished off the card with some River Rock Double Stitched ribbon, wrote a quick note inside, and slid it into a coordinating stamped envelope... all ready for the bride and groom!

...now I gotta run to the store to find a gift that's NOT made out of paper! :o)

Valentine in Blue

Here is the Valentine we made last Tuesday night - even though it's supposed to be a masculine card for our husbands, I just couldn't help adding the ribbon. But to compensate for that, I stayed clear of pink hearts!

The base card is Night of Navy (which requires a Gel Pen for writing on it, unless you want to write on a separate piece of paper and slip it in the card, which I often do) with a layer of Basic Gray on top. The stamped piece is Bordering Blue with the gorgeous En Francais background stamped in the same color and then sponged with Night of Navy ink. On top of that, we stamped the Baroque Motifs swirl using Night of Navy ink, and the small emblem using Ruby Red. The sentiment is embossed using Night of Navy craft ink with clear powder, punched with the Large Oval punch, and then sponged. It is adhered with a dimensional to make it stand out more, and the card is finished off with some beautiful Basic Gray taffeta ribbon.

This was a simple and fast card to make - it's amazing how quickly you can make elegant cards using that Baroque Motifs set!

Winter Anniversaries

First - real quick... I am continuing to update the retiring accessories list in my prior post to show items in red that are no longer available. I will keep doing that throughout the month.

Do you have anniversaries to celebrate in December? I have two special ones that I needed to make cards for. Here's what I came up with - and you'll have to forgive the photographs this time... we're having such dreary weather and I couldn't get good lighting (oh, if Santa would only bring me one of those little indoor photo studios... *sigh*)

The swirlies in the background are really much lighter in real life. Here's another one with a different color scheme:

This is the first time I actually used my Pretties kit, and I was thrilled with the way it dressed up the otherwise simple cards! Only problem is that I'm not sure how they'll fare through the mail... but I'm going to give it a try. The first card has a Naturals Ivory base color, with River Rock, Le Jardin DSP, and Bashful Blue Taffeta ribbon. The second card has a base color of River Rock (that beautiful color that is virtually IMPOSSIBLE to photograph well!), with Chocolate Chip, Brocade Background DSP, and Chocolate Chip Taffeta ribbon. That Chocolate ribbon is really interesting... it has a kind of sheen to it that makes it shimmer. The stamps for both cards are from Carte Postale and Hugs & Wishes. I paper pierced the bottom edge for added interest using my Mat pack and paper piercing tool from the Crafters' Tool Kit.

These were both very simple to make, and very fast! Just right for this busy time of year!

15 Joyful Years Together...

Today is my 15th wedding anniversary. I am so blessed to have such a wonderful husband. Our road hasn't always been easy (who's is?), but the bumps sure do make the bliss worthwhile, don't they?! I can hardly wait for Friday when he is sweeping me away for a surprise weekend! I don't know where we're going, but just as I wrote on the inside of this card, wherever he is - is home to me. This is the card I made for him:

I used a stamp set called "Summer by the Sea". It's not currently in the catalog, but it wasn't retired, either. It's on what they call the "dormant" list... meaning you can still order it if you want to and it may or may not appear in the next catalog. It's a beautiful set to watercolor, as I did here. I used Michael's favorite colors for this card -- in Stampin' Up's world, they equate to Always Artichoke (the base, stamped with the Linen background in the same color), Not Quite Navy (stamped with a swirl from "Carte Postale" using Versamark), and Bravo Burgundy. There's also Mellow Moss in there too. I usually don't use anything that's retired, but this card called for some soft (but not TOO soft!) burgundy organdy ribbon - looks darker in the photo, but it really matches nice. I also pulled out my new Library Clips (in the current mini catalog) - doesn't it look great on that tag?! The tag says, "Joy is not in things, it is in us. --Richard Wagner". And the word "happiness" is framed inside a piece of Hodgepodge Hardware.

So here's to 15 happy years... looking forward to many, many more!