Is it Friday Yet? Agh, it's only Wednesday!!!

Last night I spent the night in the emergency room at Children's in Minneapolis with my sister and her son Josh. He is six and woke up yesterday not able to walk. She did take him into the local hospital here (which is a joke) and they said they were leaning towards leukemia, but then sent her home with no other explinations (after a ton of tests that they claimed leaned towards leukemia). Everything is fine with him, thanks to Children's putting our minds at ease. He has a viral infection that settles into the joints and muscles. It is more common in boys than girls and comes on fast. A child in my daycare had this same thing just last month so when the doctor started talking about it I knew right away where he was headed with it. Now I would like to know how one hospital comes up with a leukemia diagnosis and the other one just a viral infection. I guess that is what a second opinion is for!!!!

I was hopping to get some stamping in last night since I am "caught up" with school. I guess caught up would not be the right words, I was comfortable that I could take a night off and not feel stressed out about it afterward. Today I am tired and have to continue on my school path. I am thinking no stamping tonight, just reading my Cultural Anthropology book (which will probably put me to sleep). I do however have a few cards left over from last weekend that I can show off. Some of my creations from last weekend are for club next weekend (March 7 or 8th) so I will hold off showing those until we get closer

To top off my semi bad mood, it is snowing outside. I am ready for spring and do not want to repeat last March (we received several feet of snow in the first week of March). I am ready for warmer weather and green grass. Winter is getting old

I will share a card later when the kids are napping here. Until then, have a good day!

Tuesday - Just Celebrate

Yes, I know this is another card from Just Celebrate - did I tell you how much I love this set?

I started with the Afternoon Tea Designer Series Paper and built from there. I love the Groovy Guava with the Chocolate Chip. The base of the card is 4 1/4 x 8 1/2 (folded in half to make it a 4 1/4 x 4 1/4. I layered the Chocolate Chip with Whisper White and then the Afternoon Tea Paper.

I stamped the cake image on Whisper White in Basic Brown and backed that with Groovy Guava and Chocolate Chip. The Chocolate Chip is distressed and the white is pierced.

I used the scrap from my Groovy Guava and made the scalloped edge with my corner rounder and pierced each scallop too. I layered this on top of the Afternoon Tea Paper. I topped the scalloped Guava with the wide grosgrain ribbon in chocolate.

To color the cake I used my Chocolate Chip, Groovy Guava and Wild Wasabi Classic Stampin' Pads and my Aqua Painter. I added Dazzling Diamonds Glitter to the frosting with a glue pen.

I popped the image off the card with Stampin' Dimensionals. To finish the card off I added three Antique Brads above the ribbon.

Embrace Life - Even on a Monday

For my club in February we used this layout. I liked it so much I changed some things around and came up with this card. I have to say that this set (Embrace Life), it becoming a favorite too.

This card became a make and take for the SBS meeting I went to a few weeks ago.

The base is Basic Black, layered with Very Vanilla and Ruby Red. The patterned paper is from Ginger Blossoms Designer Series Paper and each piece is layered in Basic Black.

The flower is stamped in Staz On Black on a scrap of Vanillla. I used my water color crayons and aqua painters to color my image. I then cut the flower out and adhered it to the Very Vanilla rectangle with "embrace life" stamped on it. I used the mini glue dots to adhere the half pearl from the Pretties Kit in the center of the flower.

On a side note, I tired to mail this card over the weekend and it was returned. The pearl in the center of the flower ended up tearing the envelope so I have purchased a padded envi so I can get it back in the mail tomorrow.

I hope you have a good week. I have more to share from this past weekend, I have not uploaded them yet so stay tuned this week.

Pun Fun from January

This is another card from my January club. I have to say that I am really into these sets that have the cute images and the words to go with, basically two sets in one. A tip for those of you who have not been to an event of mine in awhile, I have mounted the words from this set on the edge of thge block and the image on the regular "bottom" side. This way I can stamp the image without the words and vice versa.

This set was on my first catalog purchase. I love the rocket ship in the set (I will share a sample of that later), but this time I used the cute hippo. My club members have said that they wanted more "birthday" cards so I gave them birthday cards this month.

The base of this card is Soft Sky with a strip of Soft Sky Designer Series Paper. I layered this with Basic Black and Real Red. I stamped the image on Whisper White and adhered that to the Real Red.

The image is stamped in Black Staz On and colored with the Aqua Painter and Soft Sky Classic Ink. For the balloon and the bow we used the Stampin' Write Markers in Real Red and So Saffron.

I had to used the new striped Grosgrain Ribbon (hense the Real Red cardstock). The words are stamped in black Staz On also. To finish off the card I pulled out my handy dandy tool kit and pierced some hole along the bottom right.

Thanks for looking.

Just One More

Since I did not post for a whole week I have decided to post another one today (maybe more who knows).

This card was done at my January club. The main image comes from the set A Light unto My Path. Last summer my family and I took a trip to Duluth and had a day adventure to Splitrock Lighthouse. My oldest is counting down the days until we get to go again. I purchased this set because I too love lighthouses.

The lighthouse image is stamped in Chocolate Chip and then misted with water to give it a softer feel. We stamped it on a piece of Very Vanilla Card Stock. Very Vanilla is backed in Bordering Blue. The base of the card is Chocolate Chip (yes I have a Chocolate Chip fetish these days), layered with Creamy Caramel (they are meant to go together - Chocolate and Caramel I mean). Not that you can see it, but the Creamy Caramel is stamped with the Flannel Plaid Background Stamp in Creamy Caramel Classic Ink.

To finish the card off we used a "S" paper clip from Hodgepodge Hardware and secured that to the card with Vanilla Grosgrain with a little Caramel Gingham Ribbon.

Just Celebrate (Again)

I told you, this is my favorite set at the moment.

I knew I wanted to use some of the new Designer Series Paper from the Ocassions Mini Catalog. I just love the soft feeling of this particular piece of background paper.

Once I pulled the paper I settled on Chocolate Chip, Soft Sky and Groovy Guava.

Look close enough and you will notice the glitter on the butterfly.

Here is the recipe in case you want to copy it.


Stamp Set: Just Celebrate

Ink: Basic Brown, Groovy Guava and White Craft

Card Stock: Chocolate Chip, Soft Sky, Groovy Guava and Whisper White.

Accessories: Paper Piercing Tool, Corner Rounder, Vintage Brads, Glue Pen, Dazzling Diamonds Three For You Punch Box and Afternoon Tea Designer Series Paper.

I'm Back Whoo! Hoo!

This is one of my favorite sets at the moment. It is called Just Celebrate and is in the new Occassions Mini Catalog.

Sorry for taking a week to post again. This past week has been very stressful here, a true test of my faith.

I made this card for a SBS swap. I got togther with my fellow SBSers this past weekend.

I am not going to get into details but here is the recipe.

Stamp Set: Just Celebrate
Ink: Chocolate Chip Craft and Classic, Creamy Caramel, Pumpkin Pie and Basic Black
Card Stock: Very Vanilla, Old Olive, Chocolate Chip and Creamy Caramel
Accessories: Chocolate Twill, Piercing tool from Crafters Tool Kit, Clear Embossing Powder, Aqua Painter, Cutter Kit and Summer Picnic Designer Series Paper.

Check back tomorrow for another card made with the same set, different image.

Happy Valentine's Day

I wanted to wait until today to post the card I made for my husband for Valentine's Day. I am notorious for making cards and leaving them on the kitchen counter or on my craft desk, he ends up seeing them and then I stress making a new one that is never as good as the first one.

I had many versions of this card before this one just sort of fell into place.

In the previous post I showed you the Valentine's treat bags that I made for my daycare kids. I printed "Happy Valentine's Day" on Real Red card stock in dark Red ink so it would show up enough, but not stand out. The long piece of Real Red that is under the hearts is a scrap from my treat bags. It was perfect for this card. I wanted something to go on the side, but nothing was catching my eye until I was cleaning up after working on the treat bags.

The base of the card is Whiper White (4 x 8 1/2). I then layered it with a piece of Basic Black. The Basic Black is layered with Real Red. I then layered my scrap pieces of Happy Valentine's Day Real Red with Whisper White and Basic Black. The heart image comes from the Occasions Mini in the set Just Celebrate. I stamped the first one at the bottom on an angle and then masked it and stamped again. For some reason the card was calling for TWO hearts. I stamped the hearts in Black Staz On and colored them in with the Real Red Stampin' Write Marker. I followed the outline of the image with my Basic Black Journaler (I like the blunt end of this maker for thick lines).

After coloring I placed the stamped piece of Whisper White onto a larger scrap of Basic Black. I was going to trim down the Basic Black to fit the image better but decided to pull out the Crafter Tools Kit and do some paper piercing (you really cannot see this unless you enlarge the card). I then popped this off of the card with Stampin' Dimensionals.

I stood back and thought of what the card needed to be finished. I grabbed my Black Grosgrain Ribbon and added that across the bottom. Notice the bow, I never tie a bow!! I knot all my ribbon, but the knot did not look right so I retied it as a bow.

I looked at the card again and decided it needed something on the top now, so that is where the three black brads came into play. One last thing, I needed to add some glitter. I pulled out my glue pen and my Dazzling Diamonds Glitter and filled the polka dots on the hearts in with glitter. After I set my card aside for a few hours I thought the hearts would look good with Crystal Effects over them too. Now it is done!!

Hope you enjoy it!!

Daycare Valentine's Projects

For our Valentine's Day Party tomorrow for daycare I made these little treat bags. I found my favorite Valentine's candy in the bulk candy bin at our local grocery store so I purchased enough for my treat bags. I have 12 kids in my daycare so there are 12 treat bags here.

I knew I wanted to use the Just Celebrate stamp set from the new Occasions Catalog (available to customers on 3/1). The heart from the set was calling my name, begging me to be used. To match the red candy hearts I pulled out Real Red, Basic Black and Whisper White Card Stock.



I stamped the image in Staz On Black because I thought I was going to watercolor. Unfortunately the image did not look good watercolored so I grabbed my Real Red Stampin' Write Marker.



The Happy Valentine's Day stamp that I had would not fit in the space that I had left after finishing up my hearts. I was stumped at what I was going to do. I was not in the mood to make the stamp I had work so I had to come up with something. If you look close enough I took my Real Red Card Stock put it in the printer. I printed "Happy Valentine's Day" over and over across the whole piece of Real Red.

I finished the goodie bag up with a Black Grosgrain Ribbon just tied in a not. The cello bags that are used are Stampin' Up! small Cello Bags.

Thanks for looking.

3 x 3 - Friendship Blooms

This here is a card for my club that is meeting this weekend.

The card started by looking at my messy desk. I had just cut the supplies for another card that I am using for club (I will post the card later) and had a pile of Soft Sky Card Stock pieces sitting on my desk. I decided to use these up THIS club or else they will just get filed and forgotten about.

I knew I wanted to focus on Sale A Bration this month and show off the cute sets that are available so I grabbed Friendship Blooms. I stamped the large flower from the set in Chocolate Chip Craft Ink and embossed with clear embossing powder. I colored the flower with my Classic Ink Pad in Soft Sky with my Aqua Painters. I went over the outer part of the petals a few times to get it darker. To finish off the flower I placed a Felt Fusion Flower in the center and secured it with a Blue Rhinestone Brad.

The strips on the card are also scraps that I found on my desk (basically this card is using up scraps from other projects). I layered the Chocolate Chip strip on Whisper White followed by Purely Pomegranate. This was all layered on a Soft Sky base. The card is just a mini, 3 x 3.

On the Chocolate Chip I stamped the three flowers from Friendship Blooms in White Craft Ink. The words "for you" are from the All Holidays stamp set. The ink used for the words is Chocolate Chip Classic Ink.

Thanks for looking!!

SCS Tuesday Color Challenge

Yeah, I had time to stamp today. While the kids were napping I decided to take some me time and stamp a card.

I browsed Splitcoaststampers for their weekly color challenge and saw that the colors were Tempting Turquoise, Green Galore and Kraft. I love Tempting Turquoise and use Kraft often enough, but Green Galore is not a color tend to grab for. I decided I would attempt this challenge along with yesterdays technique challenge.

I started with the base of my card as Kraft and then added some Basic Black in there to help break up the bright colors. I used a scrap of Tempting Turquoise and left it the size it was. I added polka dots from the Background stamp set Polka Dot in Tempting Turquoise. I layered this in Basic Black also. To pull in the Green Galore I pulled another scrap and cut it to the length of the card. I layered this too in Basic Black. To add a little something to the Green Galore I used my Distressing Tool.

I knew I wanted a layer over the Basic Black with white, but it was too plain. This is where I decided to pull in the technique from yesterday on Splitcoast. I pulled out the Tempting Turquoise and Green Galore Classic Refills and my Glossy Cardstock and followed the technique directions. I actually liked the way it turned out.

Ok, so I get this far and I did not know what set I wanted to use. I had a few in mind, but decided to play with In the Stars stamp set from the Occasions Mini Catalog. I pulled in Yo Yo Yellow (another color a seldom use). I stamped the larger star out of the set in Yo Yo Yellow Craft Ink and embossed with clear embossing powder. I cut this out and layered it on the Tempting Turquoise. It was still too plain so I punched out three stars out of Yo Yo Yellow with the small Star Punch.

The words were stamped in Basic Black and also came from In the Stars. To finish off the card I added three black brads along the Green Galore strip.

Enjoy and thanks for looking.

Late Night Stamping

Here is my first attempt at using my new items from the Occassions Mini Catalog. I could not sleep last night so I went to stamp. My husband asked me why I put a red eye in the middle of my flower. Does it really look like an eye?

I am having a tough time with the black rub ons. I LOVE the white ones, but I am saving those to play with at club.

For the base of the card I pulled Real Red. I wanted to use the new Designer Series Paper Summer Picnic and love flower images. I orginally had the designer series strip cut as a larger square and centered towards the bottom of the Real Red (then I dropped my stamp pad on it and it needed to start over). Once I had the flower paper cut to size it needed to be layered. I originally started with the Old Olive, but it needed a neutral to sandwich between the Olive and the flowers. To tie in the black from the rub on I decided my neutral was going to be Basic Black. I used the Black Flower rub on from A Perfect Day Rub On pack on Bashfull Blue scrap and puched it out with the Scalloped punch. I then used my 3/4 circle punch and punched out a Whisper White circle for the middle of the flower. Still too plain. I pulled out a button, but did not like it. I then grabbed the Build a Brad since they were still on my desk from Friday's card (see last post). I used the Black rub ons again to add something to the center of the flower.

Once the Flower was finished it needed to be layered on something. I pulled out a white scrap and cut it to size, but it was too plain. I pulled out the All in a Row stamp set and added a frame in Basic Black. I layered the Whisper White on Basic Black and then again on Old Olive. For the word "celebrate" I used the set Just Celebrate from the Occassions Mini (I really like the font of the words from this set).

I added the Poly Twill Ribbon in Old Olive at the end.

Thanks for looking.

One of a Kind - Beate's Sketch #34

Yeah, two weeks in a row I was able to participate in Beate's Friday Sketch Challenge.

Forgive me for the Pretty in Pink and Close to Cocoa Combo. I guess I am still thinking Valentine's Day, even though this card was supposed to be for my club, not Valentine's Day. I am thinking of reworking the colors, we will see how my time goes this week.

Images are from the One of a Kind stamp set, which is becoming a favorite already. I stamped the large flower from the set onto Very Vanilla in Chocolate Chip Craft ink. I then embossed this with clear embossing powder. I colored the image with my Pretty in Pink Classic Ink Pad and Aquapainters. I was not too fond of the look, it needed "something". So I repeated the process again on a scrap piece of Very Vanilla. I colored this with Pretty in Pink and Purely Pomegranate with the Aquapainters. Then I cut this image out and popped it off the original image. I thought the flower still needed "something". I have been sitting with the Build a Brad box on my desk now for a few months and nothing amazing had come to me with them, but tonight I thought that the Build a Brad would be perfect for this card. I stamped the small circle flower from One of a Kind in Purely Pomegranate on another scrap of Very Vanilla and punched this out with my 1/2" Circle Punch. After building my brad I popped this in the center of the flower, much better.

For the base of the card I used Chocolate Chip, followed by Very Vanilla and then Pretty in Pink. I pulled out the Close to Cocoa Designer Series Paper and pulled out a piece of scrap, which fit perfect. I layered both the stamped image and the Close to Cocoa Designer Series Paper with Chocolate Chip. Then I assembled the card.

Ok, so I was not done, the card still needed "something". I pulled out the Wide Grosgrain Ribbon in Chocolate and the Pretty in Pink Narrow Grosgrain Ribbon because I was not sure which one would work best. I decided to layer the ribbon and use them both.

In the end I liked the way the card turned out. I think I am going to play with the colors so that it does not look like a Valentine's Day card. Maybe Bashful Blue and Chocolate Chip instead.

Friendship Blooms Sale-A-Bration Set

These are my cards from Friday night. I liked them on Friday, but come the light of the morning on Saturday and I thought I could have done better.

Anyhow, here are three cards featuring the Sale A Bration Stamp set Friendship Blooms. I guess I had a thing for my rhinestone brads because each card has one for the center of the flower. The Pumpkin Pie centered flower is a felt flower (which I love and we will be using at our February club meeting). The Rose Red center flower is made with the Boho Blossoms Punch and the Bashful Blue center flower is cut out with scissors from the flower of the Friendship Blooms stamp.

If you want a close up of an individual card just e-mail me and I will post one. If you need more info on any of these three cards just e-mail me and I will get into more detail.

Thanks for looking.

This and That

• Wow, I have not posted since Wednesday. I actually spent some time on school work. Not as fun as stamping, but if I plan on getting out of Anoka Ramsey I HAD to focus and not think of stamping. I did get time to play this weekend though. I will post pictures in the next couple of days.

• I did get to play with some of my new items I received last Wednesday. My mind kept on saying Sale A Bration though, so I played with those this weekend. Plus, I played with my new rub ons (and I am in love) and cannot figure out why I did not order these sooner.

• Coming this week will be a list of stamp sets I will have for sale from the last catalog. Take a look to the right under ITEMS FOR SALE. I know I am a little behind, but I was still trying to decide what I wanted to keep and what needed to go. E-mail me if you are interested in any of them.

• By the way, once my blog grows you will be able to find samples by set name. Just look to the right and you will notice them listed under LABELS. Yeah, this will be easy to find my samples again. Enjoy!!

New Occassions Mini Catalog Items

UPS just pulled up with my latest order. I placed an order on February 1 for a good portion of the items from the Occassions Mini Catalog (available for customers on 3/1).

I could not help myself, I really wanted almost everything in there. Plus, Stampin' Up! has started allowing demonstrators to purchase some new accessories in bulk so I had to tack those on the order too.

Here is what I purchased from the mini:

In the Stars Stamp Set (I had to get this one. I love the Star Punches so this was a must have).

Just Celebrate Stamp Set (This is another set that has an image with words that I will cut off and attach to the side. I loved the Owl, Heart and Butterfly).

Hodgepodge Hardware Syled Silver (Oh my gosh, these are too cute. There are brads that are embossed, circle frames, a cute flower slide and more frames to match our popular punches).

Carousel Note Cards and Envelopes (Can I just say I cannot wait to place another order for these. They are circle scalloped card stock that are calling my name to play. They come in Soft Sky, Wild Wasabi and Groovy Guava with Chocolate Chip Square Envelopes).

Afternoon Tea Designer Series Paper (I love the soft images and see a TON of cards made with these cute papers. This is the paper in the bottom corner of the photo).

Summer Picnic Designer Series Paper (I am not into the fruit, but I love the other side of the paper. Now I will not feel bad using it. These are the papers in the upper corner of the photo).

1/4 inch Chocolate Chip Poly Twill Ribbon and the 1/4 inch Old Olive Ploy Twill Ribbon (I am a ribbon freak so these were a must).

A Perfect Day Rub Ons (Believe it or not these are the first Rub Ons that I have purchased from Stampin' Up! I have several packs of Rub On's from other companies. I cannot wait to play with these).

Die- Cut Blooms (These are sort of like the Chip Board, but in our textured card stock. These too are calling my name to play with them. Opps I forgot to add these into the picture).

Oh the ideas running around in my head. I cannot wait to play. Maybe I will skip school work tonight and just play. We all need time to play don't we? If I do play, check back tomorrow for some samples.

Boho Blossoms and Punches Galore

I am in the mood to stamp today. Unfortunately I have to work so I can afford my stamping supplies. Plus I have been avoiding school work all week so I know I need to concentrate on that tonight. Here is a card I made over the weekend that I finally took a picture of.

I started with the Boho Backgrounds and One of a Kind Stamp sets. Then I grabbed for my Scalloped punch, my all my Circle Punches and my new Boho Blossoms Punch. From there I just played. I like how many of the images in these two sets works with many of the punches.

For the colors I grabbed Basic Grey, I wanted to use this color today for some reason. I then grabbed my Pumpkin Pie Card Stock because I wanted to use my Pumpkin Pie Stripped Ribbon. For some reason the Wednesday Sketch from Splitcoaststampers kept on calling to me (see post from 2/2). From there everything fell into place. The other colors used were Pink Passion and Whisper White.

There is too much detail to type up regarding the card. If you have any questions just e-mail me and I will give you more info. on it.

Valentine's Goodies

Andrew, my six year old, brought home a letter from his teacher saying that they will have a Valentine's Day Party this year at school. I silently cheered inside knowing that this would be my last year that he will allow me to make his Valentine items. He wanted something that he could include the big converstaion hearts (he loves these). I wanted something that he could help me with and something that was going to be fast.

I decided to make them in Pretty in Pink, Whisper White and Basic Black. He wanted Red, but I was trying to coordinate with the colors of the candy, I know something that only a crafter would think of. I stamped the heart from Priceless in Pretty in Pink Craft ink. I tried my Classic Ink but it was not as dark as I would have liked and I am fresh out of Classic Refill (reminder to self, add to next order). Then I stamped Happy Valentine's Day From Holidays and Wishes in Basic Black. To assemble I put together one and had Andrew do the rest.

For the card I used the same Priceless Stamp set, decided to use Beate's sketch challenge again (see post from 2/1). I wanted the card to go with the Valentine treat bags for the class, but did not like Basic Black on the card so I opted for Close to Cocoa. I grabbed my Close to Cocoa Designers Series Paper and the rest fell into place. The swirls are stamped in Close to Cocoa on Whisper White. I stamped the heart in Pretty in Pink Craft ink on top of the swirls. Then I stamped the hearts again on srap paper, cut those out and Dimensionaled them off the original hearts. I backed the Whisper White in Pretty in Pink which was layered onto of another Whisper White piece. At the bottom of the long Whisper White I tied a Chocolate Chip Taffeta Ribbon in a bow. I layered this onto the Close to Cocoa Designers Series Paper and my Pretty in Pink base. To finish it off I added three Antique Brass Jumbo Eyelets. I wanted to add words too, but they just did not look right so I placed them inside instead.

Sale a Bration - Birthday Whimsy

For those of you who are familiar with Splitcoast know that everyday of the week they have a different challenge. On Wednesday's they post a sketch challenge. Often I use these sketches to come up with a card design. This card is my impression of Wednesday's challenge.

• To start I grabbed my East Coast Prep Designers Series Paper. I thought the large dots would look good with the balloons that I wanted to use from Birthday Whimsy, a Sale a Bration stamp set. I layered my dotted paper with Whisper White and Basic Black. Next I grapped Wild Wasabi to finish off the base of the card.

For the belly band of the card I pulled my color from the dots in the Designer Seriers Paper. Soft Sky jumped out at me since I wanted the ballons in More Mustard. I layered the belly band in Basic Black.

For the balloons I statered stamping them in More Mustard Craft Ink because I wanted to emboss them with Clear Embossing Powder, but the fine details in the balloon were lost the minute I started to emboss. So I grabbed my More Mustard Classic Ink and my Versa Mark Pad and embossed this way. [To emboss with classic ink, first stamp your image in Versa Merk then ink it up in the Classic color of choice, then stamp onto your card stock. Cover your image with embossing powder and heat as normal.]

Once the balloons were embossed and cut out I added strings to the back. I wanted to use my Linen Thread and keep the card 100% Stampin' Up!, but I cannot find it so I went for some retired Stampin' Up! fibers. I taped the fibers to the back and used Stampin' Dimensionals to pop them above the belly band.

For the words I grabbed the "Happy Birthday" from the Birthday Whimsey Stamp Set. I stamped the phrase in Basic Black and thought I was done. The words were too small for the space so I used the Crafters Tool Kit and pierced some holes to fill up the space.

Beate's Sketch Challenge #33

So today I woke up with a sore throat and a fever. With strep throat going around my day care kids I just knew I had strep too. Nope, it was my sinuses again. I used today to stamp since I was actually in the stamping mood.

• Here is one of my favorite cards from today. I did get more than one card stamped today. This is an unconventional size, 4 x 8 1/2, and will fit into a large envelope. The layout was not mine. I frequent another stamper's blog, Fresh and Fun and on Fridays she posts a layout challenge. This is the first time I have been able to take the challenge in a long time.

I knew I wanted to use a patterned paper so I chose that first. I chose East Coast Prep. Once the patterned paper was chosen I decided on Tempting Turquoise for the base of the card. From there I was unsure where I wanted to head with this card. I actually wanted to use a new Sale-A-Bration stamp set, but had a tough time fitting it into the design. Then I remembered that the new Occassions Mini (which will be available to all customers starting March 1st) had a star set in it that I just ordered today. My two star punches were begging to be used. I punched More Mustard with the Large Star and Real Red with the Small Star. Layered those on Whisper White, followed by Basic Black, Wild Wasabi and then Basic Black yet again.

For the words I knew I wanted to make this a Thank You card since I am still have not sent out any thank you cards for Christmas gifts. I used the Sale-A-Bration set Lots of Thoughts and just inked up the Many Thanks in Basic Black. I stamped that on a Whisper White scrap that I made into a tag. I tied this on with Black Grosgrain Ribbon and tacked it down with a little bit of Snail Adhesive.

To finish up the card I punched out Real Red with my 1/2 circle punch, snailed those down and added black brads from the Vintage Brad pack.

I was going to wait to finish this card when the order I placed today arrives, but I wanted this one done tonight. So I pulled out my Polka Dot Background Stamp, my More Mustard Craft Pad, my Clear Embossing Powder and my Heat Gun and went to town on the More Mustard Stars. This added the little bit of detail that the card was calling for.

By the way I am leaning on using this card or a version of it at my February Club meeting.