Same image, two very different cards

Interesting stamping session tonight. I was playing with this gorgeous tree stamp from the new Stampin' Up! set Thoughts & Prayers. I inked it up with a big handful of SU! markers (chocolate chip plus several different greens) and stamped it a couple of times. I really liked the way it looked, so I started playing around to see what kind of cards they wanted to be. I ended up with two very different cards, one more masculine and one more feminine, using almost all of the same basic supplies. Very small changes, such as the mat color, knot versus bow, and font made a big difference in the overall feel of the cards. I think I like the masculine one best. What do you think?


Details: stamps - Thoughts & Prayers (Stampin' Up!), Birthday Basics; paper - Aqua Mist, Figgy Pudding (Basic Grey); ink - dark chocolate, markers (SU!); accessories - ripe avocado twill ribbon, 5/16" neutral brads (SU!)


Details: stamps - Thoughts & Prayers (Stampin' Up!), Birthday Basics; paper - Aqua Mist, Figgy Pudding (Basic Grey); ink - dark chocolate, aqua mist, markers (SU!); accessories - aqua mist twill ribbon, eyelet border punch (SU!)

Look ma, no red!

Can you believe it? I finally made a card with no red paper or ink! I have been seeing photos of these Top Note die quilts for the past week or so, and decided to try it out for myself today. It's not difficult at all. Just cut a piece of scrap paper (I used regular computer paper) 3 3/4" by 5". Then punch twelve pieces of patterned paper with a 1 1/4" square punch - or you could cut them with your paper cutter. Glue the pieces down to the scrap, then run the resulting quilt through your die cutter with the Top Note die. It doesn't take long to do, and it's a real wow!


Details: stamps - Quilter's Sampler; paper - barely banana (Stampin' Up!), vintage cream, Urban Prairie (Basic Grey); ink - regal rose (Stampin' Up!); accessories - 1 1/4" square punch, horizontal slot punch (SU!), corner rounder punch (SU!), Top Note die (Sizzix for SU!), vintage brads (SU!), summer sunrise twill ribbon, dimensionals

What have you done with your life?

Saw this on Shannan's blog this morning and thought I'd play along. All of the bolded lines are things that I've done in my life. Want to play too? Just copy the list to your blog and bold your experiences instead of mine. And link back so that I can see your list!

1. Started your own blog
2. Slept under the stars
3. Played in a band
4. Visited Hawaii
5. Watched a meteor shower
6. Given more than you can afford to charity
7. Been to Disneyland/world
8. Climbed a mountain
9. Held a praying mantis
10. Sang a solo
11. Bungee jumped
12. Visited Paris
13. Watched a lightning storm at sea
14. Taught yourself an art from scratch
15. Adopted a child
16. Had food poisoning
17. Walked to the top of the Statue of Liberty
18. Grown your own vegetables
19. Seen the Mona Lisa in France
20. Slept on an overnight train
21. Had a pillow fight
22. Hitch hiked
23. Taken a sick day when you’re not ill
24. Built a snow fort
25. Held a lamb
26. Gone skinny dipping
27. Run a Marathon
28. Ridden in a gondola in Venice
29. Seen a total eclipse
30. Watched a sunrise or sunset
31. Hit a home run
32. Been on a cruise
33. Seen Niagara Falls in person
34. Visited the birthplace of your ancestors
35. Seen an Amish community
36. Taught yourself a new language
37. Had enough money to be truly satisfied
38. Seen the Leaning Tower of Pisa in person
39. Gone rock climbing
40. Seen Michelangelo’s David
41. Sung karaoke
42. Seen Old Faithful geyser erupt
43. Bought a stranger a meal at a restaurant
44. Visited Africa
45. Walked on a beach by moonlight
46. Been transported in an ambulance
47. Had your portrait painted
48. Gone deep sea fishing
49. Seen the Sistine Chapel in person
50. Been to the top of the Eiffel Tower in Paris
51. Gone scuba diving or snorkeling
52. Kissed in the rain
53. Played in the mud
54. Gone to a drive-in theater
55. Been in a movie
56. Visited the Great Wall of China
57. Started a business
58. Taken a martial arts class
59. Visited Russia
60. Served at a soup kitchen
61. Sold Girl Scout Cookies
62. Gone whale watching
63. Gotten flowers for no reason
64. Donated blood, platelets or plasma
65. Gone sky diving
66. Visited a Nazi Concentration Camp
67. Bounced a check
68. Flown in a helicopter
69. Saved a favorite childhood toy
70. Visited the Lincoln Memorial
71. Eaten Caviar
72. Pieced a quilt
73. Stood in Times Square
74. Toured the Everglades
75. Been fired from a job
76. Seen the Changing of the Guards in London
77. Broken a bone
78. Been on a speeding motorcycle
79. Seen the Grand Canyon in person
80. Published a book
81. Visited the Vatican
82. Bought a brand new car
83. Walked in Jerusalem
84. Had your picture in the newspaper
85. Read the entire Bible
86. Visited the White House
87. Killed and prepared an animal for eating
88. Had chickenpox
89. Saved someone’s life
90. Sat on a jury
91. Met someone famous
92. Joined a book club
93. Lost a loved one
94. Had a baby
95. Seen the Alamo in person
96. Swam in the Great Salt Lake
97. Been involved in a law suit
98. Owned a cell phone
99. Been stung by a bee

Two little lovebirds sitting in a tree

Well, no tree, but aren't these little birds adorable? When my order from The Cat's Pajamas arrived a couple of days ago, these birds in the Puppy Love set immediately caught my interest. I paper pieced the birds using two of the papers in the Basic Grey Eva 6x6 pad, which is also where I got the super-cool dotted paper at the bottom of the card.


Details: stamps -Puppy Love (The Cat's Pajamas), Mailbox Greetings; paper - rose red, kiwi kiss (Stampin' Up!), vintage cream, Eva (Basic Grey); ink - Memento Tuxedo Black (Tsukineko), Copic markers - R29 for the hearts and YR09 for the birds' beaks; accessories - 1 3/4" circle punch, scallop circle Nestabilities, kiwi/vanilla satin ribbon (Stampin' Up!)

Here's a fun use of some of my supplies that we came upon at our house recently. We have four identical mp3 players, one for each member of the family. We were looking for a way to distinguish them from one another. Enter my stash of rub-ons from Stampin' Up!

I got out a bunch of different packages of rub-ons and gave everyone their choice. We decorated the backs of our players and now they are all easy to tell apart! Here's mine:

Birthday girl

Today is my older daughter's birthday. I can hardly believe that she's eleven years old! We had a wonderful day. Juliette decided that we should eat dinner at Cold Stone Creamery, which serves only ice cream. So the girls both had ice cream for dinner and then cake at home for dessert. I'm pretty sure they'll be starving at breakfast time. But birthdays only come once a year, so the sugar high was well-earned. Darrell and I opted to skip the ice cream and have some actual dinner before our cake. We also went along with Juliette to the local game store, where she spent all of her birthday money on game cartridges for her Nintendo DS. She's a very happy kid tonight.

Here's the birthday girl, crooked ponytails and all.

And here she is at about 16 months old. She's always been a cutie.

And here is her birthday card. Juliette loves cats and black is her favorite color at the moment. She can purr just like a cat, so the sentiment on this was "purr-fect"!


Details: stamps - Cats (Inkadinkado); paper - ruby red, basic black (Stampin' Up!), white, Scarlet's Letter (Basic Grey); ink - ruby red (SU); accessories - Nestabilities - classic rectangles and classic scalloped rectangles.

Moving on to non-holiday stamps

I don't know about you, but I'm ready to leave the Christmas stamps alone for awhile! I got in the mood to make something bright and floral today. I was born and raised in Kansas, and am partial to sunflowers, which are the state flower. The Floral Frenzy set makes really great sunflowers! I stamped a few panels of flowers, then figured out what to do with them after I was done. I'm really happy with the nice variety of cards that I ended up with.

The following supplies were used for all five cards: stamps - Floral Frenzy; paper - vintage cream, pure poppy, summer sunshine, ripe avocado, dark chocolate; ink - pure poppy, summer sunshine, ripe avocado, chocolate chip (Stampin' Up!). Other supplies used are listed under each card.

Additional details for this card: stamps - Thankful Blossoms (Verve Stamps); ribbon - ripe avocado polka dot satin, Cuttlebug Embossing folder - swiss dot


Additional details for this card: stamps - A Little Somethin' (Stampin' Up!); ribbon - ripe avocado polka dot satin, 1 3/4" circle punch (Stampin' Up!), Nestabilities - classic scalloped circles

Additional details for this card: stamps - Thank You Kindly (Stampin' Up!); Cuttlebug Embossing folder - diamonds in the rough; scallop edge punch (Stampin' Up!)

Additional details for this card: stamps - Thankful Blossoms (Verve Stamps); scallop edge punch (Stampin' Up!)


Additional details for this card: stamps - Thank You (Green Grass Stamps); ribbon - pure poppy polka dot satin, Cuttlebug Embossing folder - textile texture

I want to show you a peek into my index book. I don't index every single stamp I have, but I have started to stamp various categories, especially sentiment stamps. This makes it so easy to find the right size or shape of words to fit the space I need to fill. This is one of the "thank you" pages in my book. Under each stamp, you can see that I've handwritten a code, such as V21. Each of my stamp sets has a code on the spine of the CD case. All of the "V" codes are for Verve Stamps, the "S" for Stampin' Up!, and so on.

Here's the spine of one of my CD cases. You can see the "P8" label, which corresponds to the codes in the index book

Here's the CD rack holding my stamps.