Thank you for Julie

Happy late Tuesday evening.  I've been getting up ideas and materials for a card making session I'm having tomorrow, so this is the first time I've had available to sit down and add this post.  This is a card I made for my sister-in-love Julie and her husband Jim.  It is a heartfelt thank you card to say thank you for the wonderful time we had at their house and for the wonderful anniversary party they gave us.  Of course, thank you was not generous enough for all they did for us and I told her so.  Here is the card: (Click on any photo to see it larger)

I also have to say that this is another Becca Feekan card.  Also known as Amazing Paper Grace.  You can find her card HERE  I know hers looks so much better.  One of these days, I'm going to invest in the equipment (homemade of course) that makes the little photo tent that  helps you take better pictures.  As I was making the card, I didn't realize how many new Spellbinders dies she was using.  And of course they haven't been released yet.  She's one of the lucky ones who gets them in advance to promote them.  Ahhh, maybe one day!  Here is my recipe:

Stamps:  Because I care (thank you on front) (SU)

               French Foliage (SU)  Decor on inside

Paper:     Sahara Sand, Early Espresso, Pretty in Pink, 

               Newsprint DSP, the flower DSP is by Girls Paperie

Ink:         Black, Vintage photo distressing ink by Tim Holtz

Other:     Vanilla seam binding distressed with Regal Rose ink (all SU)

               Scalloped square and regular square nesties (Spellbinders
               Dimensionals, sponges, Big Shot

Technique Tips:
     -  The scalloped squares on Becca's card is an actual die by Spellbinders call postage stamp - soon to be released.  To make mine, I used scalloped square nesties.  Once cut out, I used the smaller regular square, placed it in the center of the scalloped square and cut.  I used them to focus on the words "thank" in the top square and "you" in the bottom square.
    -   If you look real close to the left of the newsprint DSP located underneath the pink cardstock, you will see a little square notched layer.  That is another new spellbinder's die in which I recreated by using a 1/4 inch circle punch and punched about half way in.  It was then distressed with the vintage photo distressing ink.
    -  The white scalloped squares were distressed with the vintage photo distressing ink. They were also propped up on dimensionals.
    -  The pink and flowered squares are propped up on dimensionals.

I must admit this card took me quite a while to make.  It's hard looking at a photo and trying to decipher the sizes of all the many layers.   But it was well worth it.   I hope you like it too.

To my sister-in-love, Julie (who I know looks at my blog) thanks again from the bottom of our hearts.  Words cannot express your thoughtfulness, your generosity, and the love you showed toward us!  You are the best!  I love you!

Blessings to all,

Terri

Thinking of You

I was going to share a different card with you today, but after completing this one this morning, I couldn't wait another day to show it to you.  I am loving the way it turned out. Here is my card:

I wish you could see it "in person" it is sooooo much prettier than the picture.  Here is the recipe:

Stamps:   All a Flutter, Flores Suaves, Teeny Tiny Wishes

                French Script, French Foliage (all SU)

Paper:     Deja Views Home Collection, Bashful Blue and brown.

Ink:          Black, various SU markers

Other:      Ribbon,dimensionals, eyelet lace punch (MS),
                Tiny Tags punch (SU), blue embroidery thread

I actually saw this design in a book I just purchased called Coloring Techniques for Card Making by Keri Lee Sereika.  The card design is by Debbie Olson.  I found the cover of the book on Debbie's website  HERE
Her's is the top card (naturally) and my inspiration.  

That's it for me.  I'll have another card ready for you tomorrow.
Until we meet again....

Blessings,

Terri

Mojo 203

It is unfortunate that the card I made using the MOJO Monday 203 sketch is a sympathy card.  However, I will say that I believe this card was totally God inspired.  While making this card not once did I get nervous, I never made a mistake (that is a miracle in itself) and the design flowed like water.  It definitely was "Living Water".  This card was made for a friend and fellow Sunday School classmate whose mother passed away this week.  Here is the Mojo Monday 203 sketch:

Here is my card: (Click on any picture to see it larger.)

 

Here is a close up of the details.  Here you can see that I have two or three layers of each punch or cut out.

 On the section below, I punched the border, then placed a pink strip under it and then I snipped away around the outer arches of the design so that only the background pink was showing through.  It wasn't hard at all. 

Card Recipe:

Stamps:  Verve Psalm 46:1    

               Sentiment is from SU Teeny Tiny Wishes set

Paper:     Beau Chateau DSP (SU), Pretty in Pink, Soft Suede

Ink:         Black, soft Suede

Other:     Designer Punch (SU), Lacey Circles (Spellbinders)

               Circles Small (Spellbinders)

               Morocco Lace border punch (EK Success)

I hope you have enjoyed  this card because I certainly enjoyed making.

Until we meet again, may God hold you in the palm of His hand.

(Irish Blessing)

Blessings,

Terri

Unmounting Stamp Wheels

Hi everyone.  Today, I am offering my organizational tip on unmounting and storing stamping wheels.  I think you will find this approach advantageous to storage and allows an easier use of the stamps. First, let me say that I have been trying to unmount all my wood block stamps to provide me with more storage space.  Here is a picture to show you why I am doing this:

These two boxes alone hold 92 envelopes. There is one stamp set to an envelope or many single stamps to an envelope.  You will soon be seeing my  madness behind this method.  But can you image how much space 92 stamp sets would take up if they were still in the original clam shells?  That is why I am unmounting mine.  I hope this tutorial is easy to follow and makes sense.  If you have any questions, please feel free to email me.  Also, remember to click on any picture to see it larger.  I hope you won't have a problem reading the text on the pictures.

 This is the stamp on a regular sized block.  You can see it hanging off the block because it is not big enough.  I just wanted you to see what it would look like on a regular block

This is how I mark the envelope for storage:

 Now you are probably asking yourself, how doe she know where the stamps are and how does she keep up with them.  Here is how.

I keep a xerox copy of my stamps in a big notebook.  Each xerox copy is placed in a document protector. I have  broken the notebook down into categories, i.e., backgrounds, borders, holidays, birthday.  I break it down the way I think of stamps.  Your way of thinking  may be different.  This is a look at how I categorize and  cross-reference my wheel stamps.

I think that is it.  As I said, if you have any questions, please feel free to ask!  I hope this has helped!

Blessings,

Terri

Caseing Becca Feekan

I hope everyone is having a wonderful Sunday.  John and I missed going to church this morning  because he has strep throat and he's not getting better, so he is going back to the doctor tomorrow.  Since I had so much time on my hands, I decided to make a card.  And I have to say it seemed to take me forever to make this.  It is a CASE of a  Becca Feekan card.  If you haven't seen her cards, you are in for a treat.  She is AMAZING.  No pun intended.  (Her blog is called Amazing Paper Grace.  You can find here blog  HERE. 
Becca's card I cased can be found HERE.  This is my take on it:

I have to say again.  Becca's cards are hard to recreate.  She is so remarkable, talented and has, I believe, an endless supply of resources.  She has been published numerous times and companies like Spellbinders, provide her with goods to use and to promote.   So, enough of my whining, lol!  Here is my recipe:

Paper:    Girls Paperie (Now defunct), Regal Rose,= (SU)

               Very Vanilla (SU), Music Notes

Stamps:  French Foliage (SU) (used only on the inside)

Ink:         Tim Holtz Distress Ink Vintage Photo

Other:     Pearls, dimensionals, Victoria Crochet Trim (SU)

               Vanilla Seam Binding (SU)

Technique Tips:
     - I distressed the edges of everything.
     - I lightly distressed the floral paper all over.  It was too bright to leave as is.
     -  The pink background under the floral strips is on dimensionals.
     -  The horizontal strip is on dimensionals.
     -   The rose in the middle was a creative mess.  I used a 1" circle, layered glue on it and tried to wrap the ribbon from the inside out.  It was a mess.  It wasn't quite what I was looking for and looked nothing like Becca's but it came out ok.
     - The bow is vanilla seam binding ribbon with Regal Rose ink distressed on it.  It also has five loops. 
     -  There is no sentiment on the outside.  I left it blank intentionally so I could use it for whatever I needed it for.
     -  The inside uses the French Foliage script and water drops.  I love, love, love the French Foliage Stamp Set.  Have I said that before?  Probably.  This is beginning to be my go to stamp for creating vintage cards.  And it seems lately that Vintage is my thing!

I have one more Becca Feekan card I cased, but I have to wait a few days before I put it on my blog.  It is a thank you card I made for my sister-in-love.  I have to wait until she gets it before I post it, since she is a reader of my blog.  Julie, you just have to wait!

So, for the next couple of posts, I have some organizational tips for you that I hope you will  find interesting.  I have been trying to do some consolidating organizing (does that make sense?)  I'm trying to take items that take up a lot of room and package them so they take up less room.  You'll see!

That's it for me, today.  I hope you had a great weekend.

Blessings,

Terri

Anniversary Thank You

Finally, I finished all 19 thank you cards I needed to send everyone who came to our 25th Wedding Anniversary.  There were two hard parts.  One was coming up with a card idea.  The second was redoing what I had already done due to not proofreading.  You'll see what I mean in a second.  Here is the front of the card.

 

I actually cased this card from Jo Hooper.  You can find her card HERE

I changed a couple of things to make mine easier for mass production and mailing.  Here is my recipe:

Stamps:   Medallion BG (SU), Hand Ink Letter BG (Dawn Houser

Ink:          Sahara Sand, Black

Paper:     Sahara Sand

You'll have to click on the picture to view it larger in order to see the handwritten background stamp.

Here is the inside:

The left side of the card is 1 Corinthians 13:4-8.  I just typed this with my computer and printed it out.  I used the ticket corner punch for the corners.  Then I stamped over the verses with the filigree stamp from the stamp set Creative Elements (SU).  Here is a close up:

I also used Sahara Sand ink for this stamp.  Simple, but thought it turned out nice.  It is so much prettier in person.  I mentioned earlier about time consuming.  I had two typos in the verses.  I had to retype, reprint, recut, and repaste a few.  Which meant I had to take a few off.  That was nerve wracking. The inside right where individual personal messages went had a couple of typos too and those had to be redone.  Arghh.....  It was quite an ordeal.  Hopefully, next time, I'll be more diligent in the proofreading department.

That's it for me today.  I still have one special thank you card to make.  Hopefully, I'll get it done this weekend.

Blessings,
Terri