Butterflies Thinlits and Louisville Hot Browns

Today's workshop was small but fun.  After I got the girls started on their projects, I was in the kitchen making our Louisville Hot Browns.

First, one of the cards we made.  This is one I posted a little bit ago.  To see full details with measurements, see it HERE.  For today's workshop though, we added the Butterfly from the Butterflies Thinlits Dies which are finally available for ordering again.

My sample for today simply added a plain vellum butterfly, but Brittney took it a step further and sponged the edges with Strawberry Slush.  Linda loved it so much, she had Brittney add it to hers.  

The girls also decided to stamp their sentiments on Whisper White and then punched them out with Word Window and then punched out Strawberry Slush with the Modern Label (which is retiring!).

They are both so beautiful!

Now, on to lunch!  Since Saturday was Kentucky Derby Day, I decided to make something that would be on a Derby Day menu.  Louisville Hot Brown.  They came out wonderfully!  I'd made them once before on full size artisan rolls and hubby and I loved them.  For this, I wanted them to be more bite-sized so found the cocktail breads and this is how they looked.

Yummy!  If you'd like the recipe I used, let me know, I'll be glad to share it.  We also had brownies and a small veggie tray.  

Thank you for looking in today.  Have a blessed Sunday.

~ Donna

Border Blooms

I love CASEing cards, but wow, when they don't have measurements, it makes it even more FUN!  You thought I was going to say difficult didn't you?  I found this one by Robin Messenheimer.

Begin with a base card of Whisper White - 8 1/2" x 5 1/2" - scored at 4 1/4"
Strawberry Slush - 5 1/4" x 4"
DSP - Painted Blooms 5 1/8" x 2 1/2"
Whisper White - 5 1/8" x 2"
Wild Wasabi - 5 1/8" x 1"

Stamp the two-flower bunch from Painted Blooms with Strawberry Slush and the single leaf's in Wild Wasabi.  To line the stamps up easily, choose the Photopolymer set and refer to THIS POST to make it easy to line up.  In this case, stamp the flowers first, the sample will show the leaves first.

After stamping, trim one side of the flowers.

Adhere the DSP first to the Strawberry Slush, then adhere the Wild Wasabi to the other side, leaving the same margin of slush showing.  Lastly attach the stamped flowers.

Wrap a 22" length of 5/8" Organza Ribbon around the Strawberry Slush and Flowers tying a large bow across the front. Attach to the base card either directly or with Stampin' Dimensionals.

I stamped "best mother ever" from And Many More.  I think I might re-do it by stamping the sentiment on Whisper White and then punch with Modern Label or Word Window.

Thank you for looking in today.

Remember to click the link to get to my blog to see the products used today.

~ Donna

Built for Free Using: My Stampin Blog

Trust God

— Download the 2015 Stampin’ Up! Retiring List PDF HERE —

~~~ Fully Sortable Stampin’ Up! Retiring List (EXCEL file HERE) ~~~ UPDATED DAILY

I wanted to play with my newest stamp set, Trust God.  It was on my wish list for so long and I finally got it.  I'm happy to say it isn't on the retirement list so, Yay!

With any luck at all, Painted Petals will stick around and move into the annual catalog.  I sure hope so, I love these flowers so very much!

Recipe:

Base - Calypso Coral - 8 1/2" x 5 1/2", scored at 4 1/4"
Crisp Cantaloupe - 5 1/4" x 4"
Whisper White - 5 1/8" x 3 7/8"

Smaller square for flowers:
Calypso Coral - 3 3/4" x 3 3/4"
Crisp Cantaloupe - 3 3/8" x 3 3/8"
Whisper White - 3 1/4" x 3 1/4"

Ink:  Calypso Coral, Crisp Cantaloupe, Pear Pizzazz

Ribbon:  Pear Pizzazz

Do you have trouble lining up your flowers when they come in layers?  Try this:

First stamp your stems where you want them to be:

Then place the flowers - stamping side down onto your paper exactly where it needs to be.

Take your clear block and keeping it square with your card stock lay it gently over your photopolymer stamp.  Press gently and lift up.

Then ink your stamp and you're ready to place it back easily by lining it up.  Perfect every time!

Thank you for looking in today.  I hope you had a great Wednesday.

~ Donna

IT’S GIVEAWAY TIME! ORDERING VIA MY ONLINE STORE? 

Use Hostess Code DF4T24M9

Everyone who uses the hostess code DF4T24M9 when placing an online retiring list order through my store will receive a surprise in the mail as a little thank you.  Remember to leave your contact information or I won't be able to send you your thank you.  

Note: Don’t use the code if your order is over $150.00 – instead you can be the ‘hostess’ and choose at least $25 worth of free goodies! 

Painted Blooms and Scalloped Tags

More of the beautiful Painted Blooms Designer Series Paper.  I really love these cute little flowers and the ability to stamp them on the tag using the Painted Petals Photopolymer stamp set.

The tag was made using the Scalloped Tag Topper.  Simply cut a piece of Whisper White 2" wide.  For the larger of the two that I made, I cut the Whisper White at 3 1/2" long and then punched at both ends.  The Blackberry Bliss is also 2" wide and cut at 3 3/4" and punched at both ends.

To trim the Whisper White I placed it on the Stampin' Trimmer as shown below and trimmed off that little bit.

Then simply trim around the squared edge with your Paper Snips and it will come out nicely.  Layer it onto the Blackberry bliss with your favorite adhesive.

Thread you ribbon or twine through the holes and wrap around the DSP and Mat layer.  Attach that to the card base with Stampin' Dimensionals.

RECIPE:
Base - Pistachio Pudding 8 1/2" x 5 1/2" scored at 4 1/4"
Mat - Blackberry Bliss - 5 1/4" x 4"
DSP - Painted Blooms - 5 1/8" x 3 7/8"

Since this page of 12 x 12 DSP can only be upright one way, you have to decide which way you want them on the card before cutting.

Thank you for looking in today.  Have fun with this paper, it is still my very favorite!

Remember, if you are reading this in an email, be sure to click on the link to my blog to see the items used in the card and click on any of them to shop my store.

~ Donna

Built for Free Using: My Stampin Blog

Painted Petals and Washi Tape

I spotted this beauty on LeeAnn Greff's Flowerbug's Inkspot as a swap card by Mary H. and fell in love with the softness of the stamping and the boldness of the black matting.

My Washi Tape is different from what Mary used, but it was what I had.  Apparently I don't have much of the current Washi Tape - going to have to remedy that after making this card!

Have you ever wondered how to get the Washi Tape lined up perfectly straight?  Here's how I do it.  I lay my card stock down on my Grid Paper and making sure it's nice and straight, I then lay a piece of Washi Tape down lining up with the grid lines.  That makes lining up the rest of them nice and easy as well.  Then simply lift off the Grid Paper and wrap it around the back of the card for a secure fit.

Recipe:

Pistachio Pudding base 8 1/2" x 5 1/2" scored at 4 1/4"
Basic Black 5 1/4" x 4"
Whisper White 5 1/8" x 3 7/8"

For the Whisper White for stamping, I started out with 4" x 3" but found it was too big after stamping and cut them down to what looked good.  I think the "thank you" card looks the best.  The Whisper White is 3" x 2 5/8" and the Basic Black is 1/8" larger at 3 1/8" x 2 3/4".

Stamp the flowers from  Painted Petals with Crisp Cantaloupe and the leaves with Pistachio Pudding and stamp the sentiment with Memento Black.

Thank you to Mary H. for making this great card and to LeeAnn Greff for sharing it.  I was drawing a blank on what to create and needed some inspiration!

Thank you for looking in today!  I'm so happy it's Friday because tomorrow we're having a workshop and that means a day of stamping with friends!  No better way to spend a Saturday!

~ Donna

If you are reading this in an email, be sure to go to my blog to see the items used in these cards.

Built for Free Using: My Stampin Blog

Amazing Painted Petals and Blooms

These cards came together SO fast, it was awesome.

Something to always keep handy are thank you cards and these little cards make the perfect size for a quick note to say hello or thank you for someone special.

I used the beautiful Painted Blooms Designer Series Paper in the Occasions Catalog - still my favorite DSP we've EVER had!

The note cards are 5" x 3 1/2".  Two of the cards the DSP is cut 4 1/2" x 3" and the other two are 4 1/4" x 2 3/4" and the Blackberry Bliss behind it is 1/8" bigger all around - so 4 5/8" x 3 1/8" and 4 3/8" X 2 7/8".

Remember to check the Weekly Deals that are new today and every Tuesday!

Thank you for looking in today.

~ Donna

If you are reading this in an email, be sure to go to my blog to see the items used in these cards.

Built for Free Using: My Stampin Blog

Best Day Ever Bunny

I have found my next new love!  Happy Easter Bunny - Minus the Easter (for now).  When I first spotted this stamp in the 2015 Occasions Catalog, I fell in love with the bunny, but mostly just the bunny.  Don't get me wrong, I like the whole stamp, but the bunny is what I really wanted.

So... (don't panic please) ... I cut the bunny OUT of the stamp!  EEEKKKK!  I know, I heard you all shriek there.  But it's okay, because I have two Happy Easter Bunny stamps.  Does that make it a little better?  ha ha!  The little eggs and sentiment were saved as well and are set apart so I can ink up just what I want, depending on the project.  Pictures at the bottom...

Here is the first card I made with my single bunny.  Isn't he (or she) just adorable?  There are so many cute things to do with it.  My boss, Karen, loves one of my other cards that has the Best. Day. Ever. with Cheerful Critters.  If you missed it, you can see it HERE.

I stamped the bunny first on a post-it note and fussy cut it out to make a mask.  Then I stamped bunny on the card and then put the post-it mask over it so I could stamp the flowers around.  The flowers are from Painted Petals using Wild Wasabi and Calypso Coral.

The "clouds" in the sky are also flowers from Painted Petals stamped with Soft Sky.

If you have a weak stomach when it comes to altering your stamps, you might not want to see the next two pictures.  *wink*  You've been warned...

So, will you give it a try?  If you need another Happy Easter Bunny, you can find it at my store!  Just click any of the pictures below from the "My Stampin Blog" links.  IF you are reading this in an email, you will need to go to my blog to see the pictures.

Happy Sunday!

Thank you for coming by today!

~ Donna

Built for Free Using: My Stampin Blog

More Painted Petal Blooms

I wanted to share a couple more thank you cards using Painted Petals.  These cards are the standard card size of 5 1/2" x 4 1/4" instead of the 3" x 3" I posted earlier this week.  You can see that post HERE.   Do you notice anything familiar in one of the cards?

The one on the right, with the green "thank you" is one that was left over from the small 3 x 3's  I just attached it to a full sized card. 

There's no such thing as having too many thank you cards.  I like to keep them around for so many reasons.  Let's bring back the tradition of actually sending a proper thank you when someone does something nice. 

I also decorated the envelopes and the flaps of the envelopes to make them pretty as well. 

Here they are with some of the mini thank you's.  I just love these colors together.  So pretty!

Well, it's Friday and I'm very thankful for another weekend!  Looking forward to enjoying some quiet time stamping.  What are your plans for the weekend?

Thank you for taking the time to stop by my blog.  I'd love to hear from you, could you take a minute and just say "hello"? 

Happy Friday!

~ Donna

Built for Free Using: My Stampin Blog

Blackberry Bliss Painted Petals

I just can't get enough of the Painted Petals stamp set from the 2015 Occasions Catalog.  In Photopolymer, it is so easy to use and always has awesome results!

The color that should be the best match for this DSP is Blackberry Bliss (according to the color list on the back of the package) however, when I stamped with the Blackberry Bliss ink, it was just too dark to go with this particular DSP pattern.

So instead, I decided to go with Rich Razzleberry and I think it worked perfectly.  I did keep the cardstock mat and the ribbon as Blackberry Bliss and really like how it turned out.

Recipe:

• Whisper White base - 8 1/2" x 5 1/2" and scored at 4 1/4". 
• DSP is Painted Blooms cut at 5 1/2" x 2"
• Blackberry Bliss around the DSP is 5 1/2" x 2 1/4"
• Whisper White in the center is 3 1/2" x 3 1/2"
• Blackberry Bliss mat is 3 3/4" x 3 3/4"

 

What do you think about the added "clouds" here?  Do you think they look like clouds?  I wanted something to go with the little flowers at the bottom and I wanted clouds.  Can you tell where they came from?

For this one, I inked one flower Blackberry Bliss and one flower Rich Razzleberry.  It seems to have photographed strangely though.  I also left off the sentiment so I could add whatever I needed later.

Tomorrow is another day - do you plan to spend it stamping?  I know I do!

Happy Sunday!

Thank you for looking in today ~ Donna

To shop for anything you see here, just click on any of the pictures below to go shopping in my online store!  If you are reading this in an email, go to my blog to see the list of products used.  Thank you!

Built for Free Using: My Stampin Blog

Bokeh After All

There's always some hot new thing going on and I'm not always a follower and hadn't planned on really being a follower of this one, it just didn't hit me as something I liked.  Until.... we tried it at our Team Meeting last night and I decided it was kind of cool looking.

So, here I go on the trail of the Bokeh Technique.  I've heard it pronounced several ways, I'm going with the "Bo-Kay" pronunciation as that one seems to be the "most" correct one. 

Bokeh is a technique in photography that describes the appearance of blurry lights in an unfocused photo.  You see this technique used with city streets at night and Christmas trees around the holidays.  They can be circles, stars, any shape, really.  I've seen several different styles out and about.

I love the pinks and purples, so decided to go with Rose Red for my base card, then Blackberry Bliss for my defining edge and of course Whisper White which I sponged with Perfect Plum first as the lightest color, then Rose Red and finally Whisper White craft ink with a stencil and my sponge daubers.

The measurements are:

Base:  8 1/2" x 5 1/2" scored at 4 1/4"
Blackberry Bliss - 5 1/8" x 3 7/8"
Whisper White - 4 7/8" x 3 5/8"

The "thank you" is from my favorite flower set in the Occasions Catalog - Painted Petals.  You could really use any sentiment you like and any size circles using the Circles Framelits.

I added the little Banner Punch for an additional splash of the Blackberry Bliss.

The weekend is upon us - its Thursday (or Friday Eve!)  Have a great day!

Thank you for looking in!

~ Donna

If you are reading this in an email, go to the blog link to see the supplies used.  Clicking on one of them will take you directly to my store.  Thank you for shopping with me!

Built for Free Using: My Stampin Blog

Painted Petals are Pretty in Pink

Have you tried the Painted Petals stamps yet from the 2015 Occasions Catalog?  I think once  you do, you won't be able to stop!  They are just so pretty and easy to use!

To see the pictures better, just click on them and they should open in a new window.

Today's cards start with Rose Red and layered with Pink Pirouette and Whisper White.  I stamped using Rose Red and Old Olive, but changed up the ribbon to Pear Pizzazz because I wanted something a little lighter.  I think it turned out pretty well.  I put a little glue dot under the ribbon so it would lay nice and flat.

Measurements: 
Base - Rose Red - 8 1/2" x 5 1/2" scored and folded at 4 1/4"
Layer 1 - Pink Pirouette - 5 1/4" x 4"
Layer 2 - Whisper White - 5 1/8" x 3 7/8"

Stamped layers:
Whisper White 3 1/4" x 3 1/4"
Pink Pirouette 3 3/8" x 3 3/8"
Rose Red - 3 1/2" x 3 1/2"

I love that you can easily stamp and line up the individual layers with the Photopolymer set.  Simply ink and stamp the leaves and stems and then ink and stamp the flowers lining them up to fit in between the leaves easily.   If you choose wood mount or clear mount, you can easily line them up with the Stamp-a-majig.  My recommendation is definitely the Photopolymer though!

I popped up the smaller layers with Stampin' Dimensionals to set the top layer off from the base.

To purchase any of the items used today, simply click on the pictures below to be taken to my store.  I appreciate your business and look forward to having you as a customer.

~ Donna

Built for Free Using: My Stampin Blog