Belle Papier {pretty paper}

I am in serious need of some thank you notes! I’ve had a dreadful sinus headache again today but am starting to feel better now. Thought I’d get started on at least one of the notes and decided to keep it fresh and simple for spring. I LOVE this Cosmo Cricket Dutch Girl line that I bought from Jacksonbelle! It is so easy to work with and the colors and patterns, so fun! I don’t known if you’ve noticed…but I’ve rediscovered SU’s kraft cardstock. I love using it as a card base…it goes with everything.

For this card I used my old SU Love ya Bunches stamp set. I’ve been spring cleaning and thinking of getting rid of some of the sets I haven’t used in a while. I came across this one and decided I needed to give it another whirl. Have you ever done that? Brought out an older set and breathed new life into it. Sometimes our styles change, color combos change, embellishments change and it is so much fun to pull things out again and use them with your latest additions.

Spring Bunches Thank You

Supply List:

Cardstock: Kraft, Whisper White - Stampin Up

Patterned paper: Dutch Girl line - Cosmo Cricket

Stamps: Love Ya Bunches

Ink: Black, Rose REd, So Saffron, Close to Cocoa, Bordering Blue, Certainly Celery

Other: Crystal Brad - Making Memories, Sewing machine, Prima Flower, Aquapainter and tab punch - SU, ribbon

Yeah….I’m back on-line! Tried out a new theme this morning that totally crashed my blog! I was really freaking out! I’m so glad that someone who knows what they are doing rescued it from cyber-space. Thanks so much Scott! I think that is it for me! No more theme switches until someone else works out all the glitches.:)

Yippee!!! I can’t believe it! Another A Muse blog prize…for ME!!! Am I lucky or what?! Check it out… A Muse News . After commenting on some beautiful creations by Elena Shacochis…A Muse’s first guest designer!, myself and four others were luckily drawn to receive a new A Muse stamp and a package of Lime Peel Dot Notecards….I can’t wait to receive them and have some fun! They are going to work perfectly with my A Muse polka dot monograms! I’m going to have pleasant dreams tonight with dotty designs floating through my head.:) Have you seen the new Spring line A Muse has just released?! So much fun! I just can’t resist…I’m going to order some more of their stamps…they are just too adorable for words!

I designed a cute little “click on it thing a ma gig’ for Jacksonbelle’s ebay store for her! Very technical term, I know! Does anyone know the proper name for it? I am such a Tech-tard as JulieHRR would say! LOL  It is the little box down in my sidebar that says Jacksonbelle’s Embellishments. Just click on it and it will take you right to her store. I made it, one- to challenge myself and see if I could! ( you KNOW I love a challenge) and two - as a little thank you to my good friend Lindsey! Please note!!! I do not profit in any way from sales from Jacksonbelle’s ebay store! I don’t want you to get the wrong idea.;) Anyway…I think it is supercute and I was so tickled that I actually designed it and figured out the code…I just had to share! If you love Lindsey’s store too and want one…just let me know!

I also changed up my blog template….sigh….again! I loved!!! my banner but it just wasn’t working right now with the blog host software, so I went back to the daisy. The sidebar was driving me crazy with add-ins popping out of it all over the place! So now I am here with Misty Look! Not totally satisfied yet! Stay tuned for more upcoming template woes!

It’s been pretty crazy around here this week. I’ve been very busy with Joshua who is much improved but you know, still kind of cranky! I’ve also been busy doing write-ups, and working on some design calls…so many things to do and just not enough time.

 I thought I’d share one of our favorite family dessert recipes with you! As my oldest DS would say…chocolatey goodness. So yummy and chocolatey (is that a word!?LOL) and so easy to make. Chocolate is one of my many weaknesses and this is definite comfort food. It is one of my daughter’s faves and we made it last Thursday night for my MIL’s visit. I hope you enjoy it as much as we do!

Hot Fudge Cake

In a medium bowl, combine flour, sugar, 2 tablespoons cocoa, baking powder and salt. Stir in the milk, oil and vanilla until smooth. Spread in an ungreased 9-in. square baking pan. Combine brown sugar and remaining cocoa; sprinkle over batter. Pour hot water over all; do not stir. Bake at 350 degrees for 35-40 minutes. Serve warm. Top with whipped cream or ice cream if desired.

A few of my designer friends and I decided to take a little challenge. Lindsey (Jacksonbelle)  and I have done this before, but this week we are adding quadruple the fun as Michele Boyer (Shel9999) & Trudee are joining us! This week we are all taking our Mixed Bouquet stamp sets from Stampin UP and giving them a whirl with the Twirl designer paper line from Crate Paper. I just love flowers and the fun fresh colors of the paper line. I love this challenge as it highlights the flexibility of the papers and stamp lines…who doesn’t want to get lots of ideas from one product?!  I’ve created my card and as I write this…I’m anxiously waiting to see what my friends have come up with for theirs! I know you are going to want to peek as there designs just as much as I so I have included the links to their blogs or galleries! Jacksonbelle’s Blog, Trudee’s Blog, Shel9999’s gallery!

Hopes & Dreams

This is my Hope & Dreams card. I love the sentiment…Dreams come a size too big so we can grow into them. I have many dreams…some personal, some for my family, some for friends…the list goes on. One of my dreams, that of being published, is being realized next month. I can’t wait to see my first designs in print! Another dream I have, is being on a design team for a rubber stamping or papercrafting company. Each day I try to work on my skills and I know that someday, the right opportunity will come along. I’m sure that you have lots of dreams too! I’d love to hear some of yours, if you have the time to share!

For my card, I was inspired by the paper to use the Mixed Bouquet daisy style stamp. I inked it in So Saffron craft ink and stamped each daisy three times to get a full-petaled effect. The leaves and flower centers were also stamped in craft ink and then I sprinkled the whole panel with Irridescent Ice embossing powder and heated it. I just love the sparkle it added. After this, I rolled the panel with close to cocoa classic ink and the Rough Texture Stampin’ Around wheel by SU and then buffed off the ink from the embossing powder. The sentiment was then added in black stazon as it would be difficult to stamp on the embossing with regular classic ink. The sentiment is actually clearly stamped in real life…the glitter is refracting the light and making it hard to read in the picture. To create the rest of the card, I made a 5.25″ square card from Whisper White cardstock. I bought a new EK Success large corner rounder the other day. I love how you can take off the guide and use it to punch scallops along the edge….a tool that does double duty ranks high on my list! I already had the small version of this punch…it makes nice tiny little scallops. This one has a fun different look with the larger scallops and it goes a lot quicker when you don’t have to punch so many times! I bought my Prima flower and the gorgeous Twirl Crate Paper from Jacksonbelle and the beautiful stitched and dotted May Arts ribbon from Starlitstudio.

Supply List:

Cardstock: Whisper White - SU

Patterned Paper: Twirl  - Crate Paper

Stamps: Mixed Bouquet, Happy Harmony, Rough Texture wheel - SU

Ink: So Saffron Craft, Rose Red Craft, Certainly Celery Craft, Close to Cocoa Classic, Basic Black Classic - SU

Other: Prima flower, K&Company charm, ribbon - May Arts, eyelets - Making Memories, Large Scalloped Punch - EK Success, sewing machine, Irridescent Ice embossing powder - SU

I picked the winners via a random number generator on the web. The numbers were 33 for the bog comment prize and 93 for the Feedblitz subscribers list. That means that Stampinsusie has won the Prima flowers and mini frame blog prize and Cassandra Hill has won the SU Warmest Regards Stamp set & rick rack. Congratulations ladies! Please e-mail me with your addresses so that I can get these out to you! Thanks so much everyone for all your lovely comments. A few of you are new stampers and quite a lot of you have been at it for quite some time! I myself started stamping 3 years ago this month! I have learned so much and had so much fun! Thank you for allowing me to share my creative interests with you.

Thanks also to all of you who expressed get well wishes for Joshua. He is much better this morning…running around and getting into everything. He managed to spoon a few cups of brown sugar into the milk jug while I was trying to get some laundry on….quite the mess! He is making up for some lost time of getting into everything! LOL

Make sure you come back later….Lindsey and I like to throw in a Take Two challenge every other week. This afternoon, we now have two more fabulous stampers joining us for quadruple the fun!

I wanted to have a little fun this morning with the color challenge. Joshua is sick again! This time a cold and fever…yesterday afternoon and evening, he did nothing but cry. Poor little guy! This spring weather is going to help right?! Soon I hope! Anyway….I decided to take some creative time for me this morning while Joshua is content on the couch watching Veggie Tales. He adores Veggies Tales movies. Joshua still doesn’t talk but he has been able to “sing” the theme song in tune for almost 6 months now!

Happiness Simple Diagonal Tri-fold

For this card I wanted to give my simple diagonal tri-fold another whirl. It is a really simple fold/card design to do once you’ve done one. I’ve had a few requests so I thought I’d combine today’s color challenge and a quick tutorial to give you a better visual.  (For the original card I made in a more traditional style click here.)Today’s color challenge was to use Cool Caribbean, Cranberry Crisp and More Mustard together with the option of adding Old Olive.  I decided to pair them up with lots of white for a fresh and fun look to these colors.  My central image panel is stamped SU’s Petal Prints stamp set. I just love how flexible these daisies are and I also wanted the image to still work well once it is pivoted. To ink up the daisies, I first colored the centres with my More Mustard marker. Because Cranberry Crisp is one of SU’s “In Colors” there is no matching marker. I really hope they change that next year! I just carefully inked the petals by inking them carefully along the side of my ink pad and turning them until totally inked. Not as fast but it works! The images are all stamped with first and second impressions…I love how this saves time but also, how it adds depth to the panel. It appears that some of the flowers are more to the background. After randombly stamping the leaves in Old Olive, I stamped the whole panel with Cool Caribbean and Magenta’s fabulous crackle background stamp. I just love this 3×3 inch stamp to fill in space, add texture and pull things together. Because of its random crinkle look…it is so easy to use and doesn’t leave obvious lines when you repeatedly stamp it over large areas. I added a retired K & Company charm to the center of the Prima flower for a touch of black “pop” and added the row of black brads to the bottom for balance and interest.

Quick Tip…If you don’t have the exact color you need of your silk or paper flower embellishments…sponge them with ink or rub with chalk. This also adds interest!

Open view - notice how front panel has swung to the inside and turned 90° (for close up click on pic)

Supply List:

Cardstock: Whisper White, Cranberry Crisp, Cool Caribbean, Old Olive - SU

Stamps: Petal Prints, Warm Words - SU, Crackle Background stamp - Magenta

Ink: Cool Caribbean, Basic Black, Old Olive, More Mustard, Cranberry Crisp

Other: Prima Flower, charm - K & Company, black brads - unknown

Simple Diagonal Tri-fold Tutorial

And now finally the tutorial! This is a great square card variation as it requires no extra tools than you would normally use to make a card…just your papercutter, adhesive and if possible, a bone folder. If you need to see a picture in greater detail…just click on it!

1. Cut a large 5 1/4″ x 10.5″ rectangle from your cardstock. Fold in half into a 5.25″ square. Make sure the hinged side of the card is on the left.

2. Take top right hand corner “A” and fold across on a diagonal to the bottom left hand corner “B”. Press with bone folder to get a crisp crease. You now have your basic card.

3. Make an square image panel for your card front. The largest mat on both my cards is 4″ square.

4. Apply adhesive to bottom left half of the matted image panel. Do NO adhere the entire panel…it will stick the the inside of your card. Adhere to card front being careful to line up the corners of the image panel with the diagonal fold.

5. Decorate inside of your card. This will peek up from behind your central image panel  and become part of the design so take this into consideration when you design it.  I chose a 4.5″ square panel that I matted with a 4 5/8″ mat. For ease of writing on the inside, I also added a smaller 3 1/2″ square layer with a stamped off image. This panel is smaller than the 4″ front panel and is not visible until you open the card.

6. Add any extra embellishments if you desire.

I had been hoping that my template issues were solved. Unfortunately, NOT! So I’m back to the old daisy template. If you tried posting last night and were unable, I’m pretty sure that you will be able to now. Thanks for your patience!

My web host changed a software installation so I’m doing a little experiment and switching back to my new template! I’m sure you guys are getting sick of this! Sorry! If you cannot comment on my below blog treat…please e-mail to let me know and I’ll go back again. My e-mail link is just to the right under my pic! Just trying to get to the bottom of the problem here!

 Many thanks!