Thinking Inking

Sustenance: JustRite for Sympathy

Tonight I have a couple of ideas to share with you, but only one card.  I had shared a ribbon-laced Spellbinders Tulip Borderability the other night, paired with a sweet Just Rite baby shoes stamp. I'm using ribbon lacing again, but with an Eyelets Borderability instead; and I'm using the same 2-1/4" x 3-1/16" oval stamper, but with a new borders and centers set, Thinking of You, available around July 7. 

I kept this card monochromatic and soothing, using Cosmo Cricket's Everafter papers (Something True), paired with PaperTrey Ink's Vintage Cream and Ocean Tides cardstock and satin ribbon. ***I didn't have an oval die that fit my large oval perfectly, but I liked it best with my Small Petite Ovals set (which are a longer oval than the Classic Ovals). I cut the inside oval with scissors because I wanted to trim it closely and stack it with foam tape.

***Edited to add: BIG OOPS--the Small Classic oval die DOES fit perfectly, as pictured on the left. I still don't mind the Petite Oval that I used, but if you have the Classic Oval set (small in particular), they fit “JustRite.”  Can we chalk it up to working at 2am? ;-D

The ribbon is attached with a glue dot since the laced ribbon goes under the focal image. Tiny self-adhesive pearls add just a bit of dressiness without overwhelming the soft image and papers. The JustRite Thinking of You set is a very useful tool for sympathy cards, serious illness, or even encouragement.

Have a great last-day-of-June, and thanks for visiting!

P.S. If you had commented on this post and it isn't showing, I'm sorry about that. I had a post crash when I was trying to fix some weird formatting and accidentally deleted about 15 comments. Must be time for me to get off of the computer today!

Teacher Thank You

This past week my nine-year-old, along with six other local home-schoolers, had his first experience with standardized achievement tests.  I wanted to make a thank you card for the teacher who gave up three mornings to proctor his test.

Isn't this Cosmo Cricket Jack's World(Lessons and Animal Friends) paper fun? I love the chalkboard look combined with the sentiments and an apple from PaperTrey Ink's Teacher's Appleset!  Inks are PTI's New Leaf, Pure Poppy, and Dark Chocolate.  I used New Leaf Vintage Buttons, along with Rustic Cream Button Twine, also from PaperTrey Ink. Ribbon is Pure Poppy Grosgrain, and cardstock is Vintage Cream and Pure Poppy.

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The winner of my copy of Paper Crafts Card Creations 7 is number 103, Monique, whom I have e-mailed.

Today's Spellbinders Pendant Blog Frenzy is at Jennifer Davis's blog. Good luck!

Americana Rocker Copic Tutorial on the CLASSroom Blog

I have this Lockhart Americana Rocker card posted on the CLASSroom blog today, along with a stepped-out Copic coloring tutorial. 

Have a lovely Sunday! 

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The Card Creations 7 post is here,  and the Spellbinders Pendants Blog Frenzy person for today, June 28, is Linda Duke.

Bundle of Joy Meets Tulip Borderabilities

I love happy accidents!  I was cutting with the new Spellbinders Tulip Borderabilities die a couple of days ago and saw that the tulips would work to lace ribbon through. One thing led to another, and this is what happened. It is the same S4-211 Tulips Borderabilities that Mish Wooderson revealed here, die cut and embossed on a card base with 1-1/4" pink silk ribbon laced through the tulip blossoms. I also tried one of the Eyelet Borderabilities for a bit different look, but I'm not finished with that one yet.

With that sweet border, I thought I'd make another baby girl card; I used one of my favorite vintage baby stamps, the little shoes and bundle of joy sentiment from the JustRite Stampers Baby Stamp Ensemble.  Aren't those shoes sweet? I colored them with the Copic markers shown below, and colored the buttons and hearts with a new Blossom Spica glitter pen. Patterned paper is Melissa Francis Robin paper.

 

Finally, if you already have the Harmony Classic Oval II stamper that fits this baby set, you'll be glad to hear that some new oval borders and centers for this stamper will be available in early July; the art work is beautiful on them, and I'm excited to play with them soon! In fact, the JustRite Blog has some sneak peeks of some of the new sets and giveaways going on right now--go sign up!! Mish made a delicious-sounding salsa and labeled it with one of the new Preserves Borders and Centers Set  images on this post.

Well, that's it for me today. Have a great weekend!

P.S. If you are looking for the Paper Crafts Card Creations 7 giveaway post, it's just below, or linked here.

Also, the next few blogs in the Spellbinders Pendants Blog frenzy are:

June 27: Heidi Blankenship

June 28: Linda Duke

June 29: Jennifer Davis

Card Creations Volume 7 Blog Tour: You and Me

The winner of my copy of Card Creations 7 is number 103, Monique. Monique, I have e-mailed you for your address. Thanks!

True Random Number Generator Min: Max: Result: 103 Powered by RANDOM.ORG

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I don’t know if you have noticed, but there has been a flurry of activity in blogdom this week and some fantastic goodies being given away in celebration of --[are you ready?]-- Card Creations Volume 7,  which is now available!  I recently looked through a copy and saw some ideas that I'm just itching to try, along with a lot of familiar names of blogging friends—some for the first time! 

I love the Card Creations series because it is always chock-full of trendy, simple ideas.  Paper Crafts was gracious enough to provide an extra copy for me to give away on this blog post. Not only that, but they are also giving away ten fabulous prize packages to people visiting and commenting on all fifteen of the blogs in the blog tour! (More about that below.)

This is an anniversary card that I had in this issue. I enjoyed making this card because it combines some of my favorite things—a whimsical Kim Hughes image, my beloved Copic markers and Cosmo Cricket papers, and my favorite Spellbinders Label die. I chose my marker colors from the paper colors, and I gave the male bird the bolder color for variety.

So, would you like a chance to win a Card Creations 7? Leave a comment on this post saying what you stamped or crafted last. The random number drawing for my blog’s copy of Card Creations 7 will close at 10pmCST on Sunday night, June 28—one comment per person, please.

Now, how about a chance to win one of the TEN prize packages that Paper Crafts is giving away (five on the Moxie Fab World Blog and five on the Paper Crafts Connection Blog)!  In Addition to leaving a comment here, you will need to visit and comment on all fourteen of the blogs linked below:

Charlene Austin

Ashley Newell

Beatriz Jennings

Kim Hughes

Carla Peicheff

Dawn McVey

Betsy Veldman

Kim Kesti

Alli Miles

Maren Benedict

Melissa Phillips

Sherry Wright

Teri Anderson

Layle Koncar

After visiting all fifteen blogs in the blog tour, you will need to go back to Moxie Fab World and/or Paper Crafts Connection to tell your favorite project. Be sure to check out specific instructions on Moxie Fab World or Paper Crafts Connection. Best of luck in winning a prize!

Summer Flowers: PaperTrey Ink July Blog Hop

 

For tonight’s July PaperTrey Ink Blog Hop, the theme is anything summer, complete with inspiration photos. Here is Nichole’s challenge:

“Summer is FULL of so many wonderful colors, sights & sounds!  This month your challenge is to get inspired by the lazy days of summer and reflect our inspiration in a project of your choice!  Whether it be the colors in your favorite summer treats, the pattern on your bathing suit & beach towel or even the texture of the sand between your toes, use any or all of these things as a springboard for your design.  Please be sure to share an image found online, in a magazine or a photo you have taken yourself that communicates your point of inspiration within the body of your blog post!  With everyone's amazing contributions, this ought to be one of the most colorful Blog Hops yet!”

I found some flower pictures that I had taken a couple of years ago in Door County, Wisconsin, that just shouted summer to me, so I’m drawing inspiration from those tonight.  Even though the flower from the Friends ‘Til the End set isn’t a Black Eyed Susan, I colored it that way using the Copic colors shown below ( all PaperTrey Ink colors: Lemon Tart, Summer Sunrise, Dark Chocolate, Ripe Avocado, Smokey Shadow).

Patterned papers and cardstock are all PaperTrey Ink—Dark Chocolate and Vintage Cream cardstock, and Friends ‘Til the End, 2008 Bitty Boxes, and Green Tea Leaves Collection.

Thanks for joining me for the June PaperTrey Ink blog hop! 

Arranged with Love

Goodness--this is turning out to be quite the blogging day!  Just to let you know ahead of time, I have two posts going up this morning, and I'm also hoping to post for the PaperTrey Blog Hop tonight.  Tomorrow's post has a giveaway attached, so you may not want to miss that!

My friend Melanie Muenchinger has a new flower set out called Arranged with Love. Melanie sent me the set, knowing that I love flowers and love to color. This is a large image on an oversized (5" x 7") card.  After spending a while coloring it, I wanted to give it some breathing space and let it be the big arrangement that it really is!

I used so many Copic markers that I photographed them in a big bunch rather than setting them neatly in a row. (The row would have been too long for my blog column.) Anyway, for anyone who wants to see the colors, they are shown on the left. The colorless blender in the lower left is a custom blend of half colorless blender and half BG000 ink.

The little pink pearls on the stamped notecard edges are found here, and the ribbon is from Sharon Johnson, found here.  Cardstock colors are PaperTrey's Stamper's Select White, Basic Black, and Sweet Blush. I stamped the image in Memento Tuxedo Black ink and lightly sponged its edges in Antique Linen Distress ink.

Finally, if you are looking for this stamp or any of GinaK's other new releases, there is a release party in their SplitCoastStampers member forumfrom 7-10pm CST, stamps here, and Melanie's blog post about her stamp here.

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The Spellbinders Pendant Blog Frenzy continues at these blogs:

Thursday, June 25, 3009 – Keri Lee Sereika

Friday, June 26, 2009 –– Sherry Cheever

Have a lovely day!

Happy Birthday, Emily!

It's Emily Block's birthday--Stamping Bella herself! Shannan Teubner e-mailed me an image of Emily that Christy Croll, the Tiddly's and Bittyblooms artist, had drawn. This image captured Emily so well that I decided to try it, even though I have never colored shiny, naturally curly black hair before. (So when you see the gray marker in there, trust me, it's highlights--not gray hair! ;-D)

I colored Emily with the Copic markers shown on the left--yes, that's a bunch of markers!  The colorless blender in the lower left is a custom blend of half colorless blender and half BG000 ink.

Emily's a fun-loving girl, so I chose to go with a retro party look for papers, Cosmo Cricket's Wednesday and Saturday papers from the Girl Friday Collection. The mat cardstock layers are SU's Rose Red, and the birthday wishes tag, cut with a Spellbinders Tags Trio die, is from PaperTrey Ink's Mixed Messages set. 

Happy Birthday, Emily! 

Thanks: CPS 121

This week's CPS 121 Sponsor is My Sentiments Exactly, and my chosen set packs some serious Word Flower Power! I turned the sketch on its side since my flower needed a stem.

I stamped two of the bloom images on PTI's Vintage Cream cardstock using Adirondack Red Pepper and PTI Aqua Mist inks and cut these out. Next I stamped a word center using Versamagic  Turquoise Gem and Aquatic Splash inks and zig-zag stitched around that center. I lightly sponged Antique Linen Distress ink on all exposed edges to shabby them up just a bit. The thanks sentiment at the base of the flower is die cut and embossed with a Spellbinders Labels Trio die.

Papers are Apron Strings and Cherry Pie from Cosmo Cricket's Early Birdcollection. The green felt ric-rac is from Reasonable Ribbon, and the buttons from Buttons Galore. Sting for the buttons is PTI's Rustic Twine.

If you play along with this week's sketch, be sure to leave a link on the CPS blog. Thanks for visiting!

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If you are looking for the next Spellbinders Blog Frenzy stop, you'll want to go see Mish Wooderson. Remember that you have until June 24, 11:59 pm EST to enter (as explained in the post below) for the Eyelet Pendant set that you saw here yesterday.  Good luck!

  

Eyelet Pendant and Borderabilities: Spellbinders Blog Frenzy Day 2

Spellbinders Introduces
Shapeabilities Pendants Blog Frenzy

June 22 through June 29, available for ordering on June 30, 2009

Commenting on this post is welcome but does not enter you into the contest. This contest is sponsored directly by Spellbinders Paper Arts. Please read the post to find directions for entering. If you have any questions, please e-mail [email protected].

Welcome to the second day of Spellbinders Pendants Blog Frenzy!

Spellbinders is celebrating the introduction of Pendants die templates, a new die line that will inspire your creative mind.  You have the opportunity to win the Pendant and Border dies I’m introducing today by entering the contest at the end of this post. Be sure to read all the rules before entering! You still have until June 23, 11:59 pm EST to enter Becca Feeken’s blog contest here, and until June 24, 11:59 pm EST to enter mine. Please Note: Although the contest entry is now closed on this blog, please see the list below for blogs in which the contest remains open. Thank you!

To see previous reveals, or to go to any of the ones coming up, feel free to visit the following:

June 22, 2009 - Becca Feeken http://www.amazingpapergrace.com/

June 23, 2009 – Debbie Olson (here)

June 24, 2009 – Michelle Wooderson http://michellewooderson.blogspot.com/

June 25, 3009 – Keri Lee Sereika http://pinklemonade.typepad.com/my_weblog/

June 26, 2009 –– Sherry Cheever http://sherrycheever.blogs.splitcoaststampers.com/

June 27, 2009 – Heidi Blankenship http://embellished-dreams.blogspot.com/

June 28, 2009 -– Linda Duke http://www.lindaduke.typepad.com/

June 29, 2009 – Jennifer Davis http://www.preservationarts.com/

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With no further ado, here are the dies that I am introducing today:

S4-205 Eyelet Pendants        MSRP $24.99, and

S4-214 Eyelet Borderabilities      MSRP 19.99

 

When I saw that I was introducing the Eyelet Pendants and Borderablities die templates, I knew that eyelet would be perfect for a sweet little girl project. "Sugar and Spice, and everything nice--that's what little girls are made of!"  First I converted and resized a picture of my niece to black and white and die-cut it with a Circle Standard large die template (S4-114 ), and then used the JustRite Stampers Times New Roman font in both Upper and Lowercase, along with a 2-3/8" round wooden block to spell out my sentiment. The sentiment is cut with a Circle Standard small die template (S4-116 ). I used the S4-205 Eyelet Pendant die template to cut and emboss a doily shape from PaperTrey Ink's Sweet Blush Cardstock.  The S4-214 Eyelet Borderabilities  is cut from Stamper's Select White cardstock. Pink gingham background is stamped with a Cornish Heritage Farms Fine Gingham backgrounder, and pink silk ribbon (shown later) is from Sharon Johnson's Stamp Simply ribbon store. Rhinestones are by Zva Creative.

 

Next  I stacked my layers and added rhinestones (Melissa Frances) to the eyelet flower centers.  I used foam tape to mount the photograph onto the round sentiment.

 

Here are my finished parts using both the Eyelet Pendant Center and Eyelet Borderability.

 

One last detail view--isn't she a sweetie?

 

I have one more quick piece to share; every time I tried to stack the Eyelet Pendant die template with its Center, I kept envisioning a summery hat. . . I finally stopped fighting the urge and made a hat card. Paper and tag stamp are from PaperTrey ink. I'll show the close-up view first, because it makes more sense visually that way.

Small tag is cut with a Spellbinders Double Ended Tags die template (S3-149 ), and then trimmed to length.

That's it--one more Pendant reveal down, and six more to go! Again, my dies are the S4-205 Eyelet Pendants and S4-214 Eyelets Borderabilities.

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The Fine Print (or Official Rules Continued)

After the entry deadline is reached, Spellbinders will randomly pick one entry from each Blog Frenzy reveal as stated in the “Rules”. Winner will be contacted by e-mail within 24 hours of the contest deadline. Winner will have 72 hours to reply to that e-mail to claim the prize. If Winner fails to respond within 72 hours, a new name will be drawn for said prize. Winner will receive the new die templates being revealed on the specific daily blog post they are entering.

Entrants visiting all eight Spellbinders Pendant Reveals and correctly entering their information into the separate drawings, as described below, will automatically be entered into a GRAND PRIZE give away of a full set of the eight Pendants die templates and eight matching Petite Border die templates being revealed.

Rules
Any participant wishing to be included in the daily drawing for the Spellbinders Pendants die templates Blog Frenzy give-away must adhere to all of the following rules. We are happy to welcome US and International blog guests for this Frenzy.

To enter each drawing on sneak peeks between June 22 and June 29, visit the reveal blog and click on the contest link to reveal an e-mail window. In the subject line of the e-mail, enter the die template name being revealed. Each blog reveal will remain open for 48 hours. Only 1 entry per blog is allowed and participant must use the same email address daily to be considered for grand prize entry, no exceptions. Please consider whether you will have access to the same e-mail address from June 22^nd through June 29^th and plan accordingly.

Spellbinders Design Team members and employees are not eligible for drawings.

Any participant wishing to be automatically entered into the drawing for the Pendants Frenzy Grand Prize must enter all eight blog reveals and follow all the above rules.

Please note:

*Spellbinders will only use email information to contact the winner.

*Spellbinders will not share this email address with any other parties.

*Spellbinders will not use this email information for advertisements or communications

other than to contact the winner.

*If you wish to be included in further communications from Spellbinders, please go to their homepage SpellbindersPaperArts.com and sign up for their newsletter.

Spellbinders Pendants Blog Frenzy drawing:  To enter, click here OR e-mail your entry to: [Links removed because the contest deadline for this blog has now passed] if an e-mail pop-up box does not automatically come up.

For more Spellbinders product release information go to SpellbindersPaperArts.com/blog

If you have any questions regarding the contest, send an e-mail to: [email protected]

Thank you for visiting today!

Thinking of You

Summer has finally turned hot in the U.P. of Michigan! Today I have a cheery summer card for you. This one is similar to one I had made for the May PaperTrey Ink Release, but using a different set of the birdhouses from the Bird Watching set and a bit of change in colors as well. I adore the bright creations of Betsy Veldman, and for this card I was “thinking Betsy.”

I stamped the tall birdhouse trio on Stamper’s Select White cardstock in Tuxedo Black Memento ink and colored  the image with the Copic Markers shown below, all available here at PaperTrey Ink.

The background cardstock colors are Raspberry Fizz, Summer Sunrise, New Leaf, and Basic Black. Ribbon is PTI Summer Sunrise Grosgrain, and buttons are also PTI’s vintage buttons coordinating with the cardstock colors above. Stamps used for the background are Polka Dot Basics and Background Basics: Text Style. Punches are Fiskars Threading Water punch and Stampin’ Up’s Notebook Edge punch. I chose Raspberry Fizz and New Leaf inks to stamp the sentiment from Vintage Picnic Sentiments—one of my favorite sentiment sets these days.

Have a lovely day!

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Don’t forget about the Spellbinders Blog Frenzy beginning today at Becca Feeken’s Amazing Paper Grace blog. Good luck on the prize drawing!

Enhanced Denim Texture Tutorial on the CLASSroom

Good morning!  I have a tutorial up for creating an enhanced jeans texture on the CLASSroom blog today, if you're still looking for Father's Day card ideas. It uses a CHF Denim backgrounder, white gel pen, a ruler/piercing template and piercing tool, a white Prismacolor pencil, and three Copic markers. It's easy-peasy too!

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Stamping Public Service Announcements

Remember the Card for Heroes Memorial Day blog hop? Swarovski Crystals is partnering with CFH to try to get 30,000 cards signed for troops. In fact, if you are near one of their stores, you could sign a card, complete with crystal bling. Learn more about it here. Also, here is a link to a locator to see if you are near a store.

Next, Kimberly Schofield and Julie Masse have teamed up to bring you a Stamping Around event coming up in Connecticut on July 10-11. If you live in or would be visiting the area at that time, you might want to check out this informational blog. Future venues are Vermont and Philadelphia. These sound like a lot of fun!

Finally, tomorrow, June 22, Spellbinders has a Blog Frenzy starting at Becca Feeken's blog, Amazing Paper Grace. I'm sure that Becca will have something fabulous to share. Prizes are involved, and if you want to win the grand prize, you'll need to be hopping from June 22 through June 29. Good luck!