Happy Mother's Day!

Hope you had a wonderful day. We didn't do much. My youngest came over for dinner and we did a little shopping earlier in the day. That's about it! My favorite Nascar driver won! Go Jeff Gordon! Woohoo!

This is the second in the series of Triple Mosaic technique. I softened the look of the background by using cardstock vellum over the top. It is subtle, but instead of using Chocolate Chip for the "grout" lines like the first one, this time I used Creamy Caramel. I embossed with Silver on the vellum layer and on the tag. The top has a scallop awning that I also faux stitched. I'll be using this card for a wedding I have coming up.

Sets: Floral Background, Both Way Blossoms (retiring), Warm Words
C/S: Certainly Celery, Regal Rose, Almost Amethyst, Cardstock Vellum
Inks: Creamy Caramel, Whisper White Craft, Versamark
Other: Silver EP, Word Window punch, Paper piercer and mat, Rose eyelet, Rose grosgrain ribbon, White gel pen, Slit punch

Floral Triple Mosaic

Another gorgeous day here in Ohio. Mother Nature is definitely making up for the cold winter snap we had here this spring that ruined all our flowering trees. I finally felt confident enough to buy my annuals. I don't do a whole lot of planting, just about four containers filled with geraniums, marigolds, coleus and some wave petunias. The beds are mainly full of perennials, shrubs and evergreens, so I just use a little extra color here and there for contrast.

It's Mother's Day weekend, so I hope all the mothers out there will be pampered on their special day. We bought my MIL a beautiful Hydrangea plant that goes with the stack of cards I gave her a couple weeks ago. My mother took off with my dad on a three-week tour of Yellowstone, Badlands and Black Hills country, so she won't get her gift for a few more weeks. I have a stack of cards for her, too, and I bought her a photography book of Charleston. We visited there when we were in Hilton Head a couple weeks ago. I thought she'd like the remembrance of our trip. I also am making up a Scrapbook in a Box of the pictures I took on the trip..or maybe I'll save that for my dad for Father's Day! Hmmmm...

Once again I'm showcasing a technique I learned on Technique Junkies (http://www.techniquejunkies.com/) called Triple Mosaic. When you make this technique, you end up with pieces for 3 different cards! I'll show you the other two card variations over the next couple days. I used the Floral Background stamp with Craft White ink over the cardstock.

Who doesn't love these big flowers that are all the trend right now? This one came from a scrapbook kit I had purchased and the color matched the background of the card perfectly! I stamped the center with Riveting hostess set (retiring soon!) and layered it, added a colored mini brad and slipped it through the center of the flower and secured it with dimensionals on the card. I added a little ribbon for the "leaves" and a little "something-something" up in the corner with 3 mini brads. I'm laughing because it seems so simple, but I have agonized over this card for two days! I find that when I'm stuck, if I set it aside for a day or two, then I come back and work with it again. The background is so dramatic with the triple mosaic cuts and stamping, I didn't want to detract from it too much.

Sets: Floral BG, Riveting (retiring)
C/S: Certainly Celery, Almost Amethyst, Regal Rose, Very Vanilla
Inks: Basic Brown, Craft White
Other: Rose mini brads, 1-1/4 and 1-3/8 circle punches, 1/16 circle punch, Grosgrain ribbon, non SU flower, dimensionals, cutter, sponge

Coaster Challange

I took the Coaster challenge on SCS and made this magnetic coaster post-it note holder. I used a medium weight coaster and covered it with decorative paper (both sides if you want to hang it) using Stampin' Up's glue stick. I sanded the edges to get rid of excess paper and then punched 1/8 circle punches along the top and tied ribbon in them. I punched another 1/8" hole on the right side to hold the pen...folded a piece of ribbon in half and secured it with a mini brad. I used the Round Tab punch and stamped "Remember" on the left side. Added a matching pen, post-it notes and a magnet on the back and it has a place on the side of my refrigerator! (I know they make them, but I couldn't find any pink post-it notes so it would match a little better!)

Sets: Expressive Flexible Phrases (retiring)

C/S: Regal Rose, Rebecca Designer paper

Inks: Basic Brown

Other: Grosgrain ribbon, mini brad, round tab punch, coaster, pen, glue sticks

35th Anniversary card

I SHOULD be in my studio working on some upcoming assignments. I also am almost finished cleaning and putting things back in order from my last classes. But...I'm sitting reading Blogs instead. Does anyone else think Blogs are a black hole that sucks in time? I can sit down and the next thing I know it is an hour later! lol!

I was talking with my friend/customer yesterday and she mentioned that she and her husband were going away for a week because it was their 35th wedding anniversary this weekend! I quickly made up this card for them. The tag pulls out from behind the truck from Loads of Love. I know she has this set, so she'll appreciate another idea for using it...although she is so talented she doesn't need more ideas. I ended up using my Cricut for the numbers because I couldn't find a single set of smaller numbers that I could stamp! I have large numbers from Headline and Letterpress, but my Whimsical set is missing and I know I have a couple retired number sets. Grrrr....I'm sure that my Whimsical ones probably got mixed in with my retired sets and since I reorganized the retired sets, I'm having trouble putting my hands on things quickly. Need to get a better system for them, and a cheat sheet on what shelf they are stored. (Maybe this is an indication that I have too many sets?????? nah......). lol!

Sets: Loads of Love, Warmest Regards (retiring)
C/S: Brocade Blue, Night of Navy, Real Red, Shimmer White, Oxford Designer Paper
Inks: Stazon Black, Real Red
Other: Watercolor crayons, AquaPainter, Tag punch, Brocade eyelet, Red gingham ribbon, 1/8 circle punch

In Color Challenge

YEAH! I'm registered for Session 2 at Convention! Now it really seems like it is real...the new catty and convention will be here soon! Woohoo! I can't wait to chill out with my gal friends, see and meet some new friends and absorb all that information from SU.

The Drywall maintenance is done...what a pain. They were supposed to show up at 10:00 AM and they arrived at 9:00 AM...luckily I was dressed. They were supposed to do some things and they didn't, so I had to contact our builder again and complain. That just wears me out. Now they messed up the paint on the garage walls, so I have to have the builder come back out and paint. But...good news is that is the last of the one-year maintenance items.

I signed up for a card challenge on one of my groups. As it happened, the person I was assigned to send it to is a good customer and friend! Hope you like it Rachel!

We were to use the outgoing In-Colors to make a card with at least two layers. I was happy that I could use 4 out of 6 colors on this card! I probably could have used all 6 on the flowers, but didn't want to push it. This is the retiring Flower Filled stamp set...another set I haven't used much except to make the Display Samples for convention. It is hard to see, but I masked off the center portion of Marigold Morning and then sponged MM ink on the top and bottom. I also used Word by Word background stamp while the mask was in place...I think it looks like a wide band of cardstock in the picture, but in person you can tell it has been sponged. The corners I used the 1-1/4 circle punch and cut them in half...then folded the edges around to the back. The boots are stamped twice, the top one cut out and popped up with dimensionals and the gold mini brad for the buckle.

Sets: Flower Filled (retiring), Word by Word background

C/S: Marigold Morning, Buckaroo Blue, Cranberry Crisp, Glossy White

Inks: Marigold Morning, Buckaroo Blue, True Thyme, Cranberry Crisp, More Mustard

Other: Gold and Ruby Red mini brads, Cranberry Stitched ribbon, Bordering Blue eyelet, 1/8 circle punch, 1-1/4 circle punch

BLOG CANDY WINNER!

We have a winner! Sorry I am so late getting this pulled together. Seems like it has been one thing or another since I returned from vacation, left again for some classes and then returned.

By random selection...Angel...you are the winner! Congratulations!!!

Angel said...
LOVE these sympathy cards. I will be caseing them! My favorite vacation spot? I once went to Hawaii and can't wait to go back. Maybe for my 25th anniversary in 3 1/2 yrs?

Angel...please email me with your snail mail address. I'm sending you some fun things to alter! You will get a blank DVD tin, a spiral bound scrapbook, some chipboard microscope slide holders, two large paperclips and a clear checkbook/calendar cover! Enjoy! Thanks for posting a comment on my Blog.

My husband and I visited Oahu and Maui on our honeymoon. We really want to go back soon and visit some of the other islands. Our 30th anniversary is in a couple years and our youngest son will be out of college. Sounds like a great time to go!

All The Best 2

Ugh...a wasted day. Well, not really. Yesterday, a drywall serviceman for our one-year walk-thru on our new home was supposed to be here at 10:00 AM. They called to reschedule for today. At 11:00 AM today, no one is here so I called the company and asked where the person was...they wanted to schedule again for tomorrow! Ridiculous! They've had this appointment on their books for over a week. I had the same problem the first time they came out (to do the prep work). I called the Service Manager from our builder to get him to put some pressure of them. Of course, I haven't heard back from HIM either. Frustrating! But, I went to my Studio and started working on a couple things due later this week. So I guess it wasn't a complete waste...but I bet I'll be waiting around the house again tomorrow. Grrrrrr.....

This card uses the retiring All The Best. Since I had it pulled out, I thought I'd do something one more time before it retires. It really is a versatile set. The background (under the sentiment) is Wax Paper Resist...another technique I learned from Technique Junkies newsletter. It is made using Lavender Lace, Bashful Blue and Almost Amethyst...pretty, soft colors. I must be in a Soft Subtles mood these days! lol! I stamped the flower three times, cut them out and slightly curled the petals back, added a Bashful Blue mini brad in the enter. This card is going to in a pack of cards I'm making for my mom...hope she likes it!

Sets: All The Best, Cheery Chat (both retiring)

C/S: Bashful Blue, Almost Amethyst, Lavender Lace, Whisper White, Glossy White

Inks: Basic Black, Bashful Blue, Almost Amethyst, Lavender Lace

Other: Ticket corner punch, Soft Subtles mini brads, dimensionals