Thoughts & Prayers Thinking of You Card

 I missed the Wednesday Sketch Challenge on the 21st.  We were up in Duluth watching the ships come in and relaxing!  It was a small sacrifice but I was willing to make it!!! LOL

I just pulled up the sketch today to see what it looked like.  It was a fairly simple one and I'm sure I could have done a better job on it but I had this image stuck in my head and I ran with it.  

 

I have used this tree on quiet a number of card and I just don't get tired of it at all.  I will be adding this card to the small pile of cards I have for my "card a week" to my friends.  So far I'm on track with it and I'm having a lot of fun with it too.

Anyway, back to my card.  I used the "Direct to Rubber" technique.  I colored on the rubber with a Chocolate Chip and Wild Wasabi markers.  When I was done I huffed on it so the moisture of my breath would dampen the ink and then I stamped it.  After I stamped it I cut the cardstock into 3 pieces and then layered them on the Dotted Swiss dry embossed background.

The words came from the Teeny Tiny Wishes set and I used the Label and Word Window punch to layer them.  I set them in place with Dimensionals and I did the same with the small circles.

It was a very simple card to make and it didn't take long to create it at all either.  It was a fun sketch and this coming Wednesday I will be able to play along with everyone else!  I'll be here in my workroom, at home NOT in Duluth!!!  LOL

Thank you SO much for visiting today,
Wanda

Field Flowers Wednesday Sketch Challenge

 Field Flowers has to be one of my favorite stamps in the new catalog.  I have used it several times.  But this time when I stamped the flower and the flower bud I used both stamps.  What I mean is I used the one that outlines the flower petals and the one that colors them in!  There are two stamps to each flower.  I used More Mustard on my flowers.  I did stamp off on the one image that colors in the flower and I used the ink full strength for the outline of the flowers.  Stamping off gave the flower a more muted look and yes, that was the look I was going for!!

I stamped the leaf/stem image and then I took my blender pen and colored it in using the same ink (Wild Wasabi) that I used to stamp the leaf/stem.

The background papers are from the Spice Cake collection.  Mine are from the computer.  I purchased the digital download of these.  I printed them out a week or so because I was going to use them on a different card but changed my mind and used something else.  I put these in a folder for safe keeping for another day and today was that day!

I did flip the sketch to do my card.  I REALLY wanted to use the Field Flowers stamps and I didn't like the way it looked with the original orientation. So I turned it and was able to make the flowers fit in the space provided.  

I do like how the card turned out and now I have another card to add to the pile for my "Card a Week" project.  I have a nice little stack going so I don't have any excuse for not getting a card out each week!  

This was a very fun sketch and if you have time I highly recommend you give it a try.  I LOVE it that I can use a lot of my larger image stamps in the #4 panel.  

Thank you SO much for visiting today,
Wanda

Tenny Tiny Wishes Hello Card

I have to say that "Teeny Tiny Wishes" is one of the word sets that I use a lot.  The set contains 24 words/phrases and I don't think I've used them all.  I usually stick with the basic ones.  The "hello" here came from the one that reads "hello baby".  A little masking off the words before inking and removing the mask makes the stamp now just "hello."  Simple as that!

I saw this card on the internet a long time ago and when I was going through some older emails I found it.  I had gotten it from SplitCoastStampers and it was by icanpictureit.  Sorry I don't have a link.  Back then I was just gathering images that I liked and I never thought I would be casing them.  I thought they would be more of an inspirational thing but sometimes you just have to copy them.  There is no changing it, no improving it or no personalizing it.  You just have to make it as it is.  

This card was made by using a half sheet of Whisper White card stock.  I tied the Regal Rose ribbon on and then I stamped the words.  The rest was just punching out circles.  I used Rose Red, Regal Rose, Marina Mist and Chocolate Chip card stock to make the circles and ring.  Plus a piece of Marina Mist decorative paper. All of the circles were set in place with Dimensionals and then the ring was affixed to the top.  I glued my ring in place. 

I think this would be a VERY pretty card using fall colors and leaves in stead of circles.  I don't have a current leaf stamp set that  has leaves small enough to do that.  And I also think this would be a fun card done in Christmas colors.  I'm not ready to play with Christmas stamps quite yet.  I'm making a Halloween card for later in the week.  That is early enough for me.  I wanted to make sure I was in the middle of September before I made another Halloween card.  Our weather is getting cooler here now so doing fall stuff doesn't seem so out of place!!  But it's still a bit too early for Christmas stuff.  Maybe a couple more weeks!

This was a very fun card and I would LOVE to make more some other time. And it was a very quick card to make too!  And I have yet another card to add to the stack for my Card a Week project. 

Thank you SO much for visiting today,
Wanda

Upsy Daisy Friendship Card

I have not used the "Upsy Daisy" set in a while.  I LOVE it with the Spice Cake decorative papers!  

This is another card I am adding to my stack of cards to go out in my weekly cards to friends.  Normally I am cranking out the birthday cards because "one can always use birthday cards."  But now when I am not sure what "theme" to have for my cards I will be leaning a bit more towards the friendship cards. I'm now 3 weeks ahead in my friendship cards!!!  I LOVE it!!!  

This one will be going out in the mail in the morning.  I don't have any special order I'm sending them out in.  I just set the other two cards on the ledge in my workroom and will just be taking from the pile when it's time to send out the next card!  Of course I won't be keeping them on the ledge, it's so messy that I won't be able to find them when I need them!!!  

This was a very easy and fun card to make.  The Upsy Daisy stamp makes it easy to do a quick card!  Gotta love that!

Thank you SO much for stopping by today,
Wanda

Beau Chateau Hello Card

Need a card and need one quick?  This layout is perfect for that. Plus it's also a bonus too!  You can use up scraps of card stock to make it too!  Can't beat a deal like that?

I like the layout but wished I had used brighter colors of card stock.  But I just LOVE the Beau Chateau and I had some left from a previous project!  Hence using scraps to make a quick card!

The "hello" is from the "Teeny Tiny Wishes" set.  There is a stamp in the set that reads "hello baby" and I just used a marker and colored over the hello part and just stamped that on my card stock.  Then I punched it out and layered it on the scalloped circle and the other Pink Pirouette circle.  

I had some left over ribbon that I also used up too.  I believe it is retired now but I just had to use it.  I don't want it just sitting around.

The very bottom white part of my card is textured using the Square Lattice embossing folder.  It is one of my favorite folders to use on those blank spaces.

The base of my card is Pacific Point.  A color, at first I thought was too bold but now just LOVE using!  And now I have another card for my "Card a Week" to my say hello to my friends!!!  I will  be making these for months and months to come!!! 

Thank you SO much for stopping by today,
Wanda

Every Little Bit Friendship Card

It has been two weeks now since I decided to send out the "card a week" to friends.  So far I'm on track and I want to keep it that way.  So today I decided to make a card to send out for next week.  Then I have no excuse as to why I didn't get that card out!  I REALLY want to continue with the mailing a card a week.

I was looking though a file of cards I had been downloading for several years now and when I opened the file, this is the card that popped up.  I loved it back when I first saw it and still love it.  Michelle Woemer on Split Coast Stampers originally did the card.  I don't know where the image she used came from but it was a small palm tree.  Her card was done in greens.  I SO love the Marina Mist and I wanted to work that color into this fabulous layout!  My image, the cute little bird in the cage is from the "Every Little Bit" set.  That is such a fun set to play with and this layout is PERFECT for sets with smaller images!  

It was fun putting all the punched pieces together too.  I pretty much followed Michelle's layout.  A few of the circles are up on Dimensionals.  The birdcage one is and the Sarah Sand circle above the birdcage one.  

A tip on dying your satin ribbon.  If you want the color to match the card stock a bit more closely, you really do need to soak the ribbon for a couple of hours.  I often use a two to one ratio with the ink and water.  Two drops of ink to one drop of water.  But when soaking for a longer amount of time you can get by with a one to one ratio.  When I dye the ribbon I often let it just air dry and I don't wring it out either.  I want the color to be rich enough to match.  If I let the ribbon air dry I will just iron it smooth.  And if I don't have time to let it air dry then I will dry it with the iron.  It dries it and smooths it out in one easy step.  But be sure to put something under the ribbon so the ink doesn't go through to your ironing board pad.  I usually use several layered paper towels. I iron them first to make sure they are smooth!  I know, ironing paper towels and I won't even iron hubby's shirts!!!! LOL

It's really hard to see in the photo but I did use my Martha Stewart scoring board for the lines under and off to the sides of the ribbon.  It is SO much like the new Stampin' Up! one that I could not justify replacing it.  The Martha Stewart one also has a triangle piece that slides in on the back side for making envelopes or for angled lines.  I do like the markers on the new Stampin' Up! one.  I did buy them and broke off the nubs on the back.  I just add  some double sided tape and I can mark my Martha Stewart one when I need to have spots marked for multiple scorings.  I really did like that feature on the new Stampin' Up! one but like I said, it was just too much like the Martha Stewart one to justify replacing it.  Anyway, I had scored on the card and maybe you can see them if you click on the photo for a larger view.  I made 9 score lines. I'm not sure if that was how many Michelle made but it looked like it was the right amount to cover the area I thought needed covering.

I was SO glad I ran across this card layout. I think it's a lot of fun and I would love to use it again this fall or Christmas!  

Thank you SO much for visiting today,
Wanda

My Friend "Hello" Card

I made today's card for my "Mailing a Card a Week" promise!  I vowed to send out one card a week to a friend to let them know that I'm thinking of them.  A different friend each week.  This is week two.  It's great to be on track, isn't it?? LOL  I'd hate to think I wasn't on track so early in the project/promise!  

Ok, onto this card.  I did not buy the "My Friend" stamp set.  I purchased the download.  I played with it a bit on my computer to get the image to print out to exact or near exact same size as the image in the catalog.  I did set my printer to print at the lowest quality while I worked on the size. It only took a few tries and I got it.  SO when I was done I did save it so I can print it out another time in different colors.  I won't have to mess with the size thing anymore!!  And I did the same with the wording.

The butterflies are the "Beautiful Butterflies" Sizzlet.  I LOVE that little Sizzlet!!  

The background paper is from the "Spice Cake" decorative papers but once again, mine is from the download.  I not only downloaded the image for the "My Digital Studio" (MDS) software but I also downloaded it for the "other" software.  My "other" software is Print Artist.  I use that program when I want to print out the papers.  The MDS doesn't print out the way I want it to an I really can't play around with it.  SO I use Print Artist and I can enlarge the background to get it to fit 12" x 12". On the paper image on the screen I see 8-1/2" x 11" and I just stretch the image to go beyond that paper size to the 12" x 12" size.  Stretching it out makes image the same size as it is printed on a 12" x 12" page but I only get a portion of it printed. But that portion is in proportion and that was what I was looking for.  Though I have had times were I did like the image printed out smaller.  It all depends on what I'm working on at the time.

Anyway, back to the card. The base of the card is a half sheet of Very Vanilla folded in half on the long side.  My layers are the new "Pool Party" card stock and the ink color I chose was also Pool Party.  Printing these out makes for a quick card.  I don't make too many like this because printing them through the MDS wastes a lot of card stock.  It only prints out one at a time and it prints it in the middle of the card stock.  I have not played with the software enough to know if I can have it make the image on a full sheet of card stock and do a copy over 4 times so I can get 4 images on one sheet.  It's something I plan to play with more in the future.  

Playing with the MDS is fun and using the downloads saves a lot of money in stamps!  I don't have room for more stamps!!!

Thank you SO much for visiting today,
Wanda

Touch of Kindness Greeting Card

I thought I would play with this stamp set before It retires.  I didn't see it in the new catalog but I have a feeling it won't be in the 2012-2013 one.  I just love this kitty and wanted to make a card using a few images from it.  Well, what a better layout than this to use several images!  There is only a couple of the small word images in this set that I did not use so I am happy to say I was able to actually use the bulk of the set before it retires!!!  

I have used this layout on a card a while back.  I don't use it too often because it takes a while to make because of all of the pieces there are to it.  But when I do make one I am happy with it and don't mind cutting all of those pieces!

And any chance I get to use the Color Spritzer Tool I grab it.  I LOVE using that thing!!!  I did learn that you should never NEVER toss out your old markers.   Yes, even if the tips are smashed down so they won't write at all!  You can take one part water to two parts inker and re-ink your markers.  Then you can use these nice juicy markers with the Color Spritzer Tool!  This also avoids anyone damaging the tip on one of the better markers!  I know, more stuff to keep around the workroom.  But if it's going to save your good markers from getting damaged it's SO worth it.  I like to ink mine up so they are REALLY wet.  They work SO much better in the tool.  A really wet marker is difficult to color with so if it's an old marker then you don't have to concern yourself with the coloring quality!  Anyway, I thought I would share that tip with you.  

I also did a fun thing for the grass on the card.  I was going to be using the "hello" image in the set and I had it out and ready to go. I took the Wild Wasabi ink pad and inked up the "hello" and stamped it and inked it several times under the flower so it looked like grass.  

I have someone special I am going to send this card to.  I decided that I was going to try very hard to mail out a card a week to those special people in my life.  It's sad that months and sometimes years go by that we don't contact our friends (except at Christmas with our annual Christmas card).  I make so many cards and I have 2 drawers full of various cards so it's not like I can't part with some.  And I usually make 5 cards a week and I try to do a project or something else but I do average 5 a week so I have plenty to pick from.  And not to fret if you didn't get a card from me (you are special to me) but I do have a LOT of people in my life and I'm guessing that 52 cards a year is probably not going to cover them all!!!  But my goal is to send out one a week and the first one went out today.  It's a great feeling to do this too!

Thank you SO much for stopping by today,
Wanda