Lace Ribbon Border .....

They are laying the tile in the bathroom and the kitchen backsplash today so my house renovations are almost done! Yeah!!  I'm ready to get the house back to normal (whatever that is) and start playing with my stamps again.   (Ed. note:  Obvisouly they aren't laying tile today, Sunday.  I wrote this entry on Thursday and just wasn't thinking about when it would post.  Sorry!!)

Today I thought I'd share another sample I got to make recently.  I used the new Lace Ribbon Border punch on this one--using Pear Pizzazz cardstock for it.  I layered that onto Pacific Point.  I made a trim in Night of Navy using the Dotted Scallop Ribbon Border punch and put half of it behind the Pacific Point strip.   I wanted that to be the focal point of this card, but knew it needed something on the right side.

                                    

 So I punched out a flower using the Blossom Party die.  The largest layer of the flower is Pacific Point, the next layer is Night of Nave and the top layer is Pear Pizzazz.  I put a Navy center to the flower and added a Glimmer Brad from the Basics collection.  I popped up the flower with dimensionals and curled the petals a bit to give it dimension.

Here is the sentiment on this card.  I used the new stamp set, Friendly Phrases, to add "Wow, You're the best".  It is stamped in navy on pear cardstock, backed with Pacific Point.  I know I'm going to be using this set A LOT!

Well, that's my share for the day.  I hope you like it!!  With so many new goodies to play with, I can't decide where to start.  Stay tuned to see more! 

Thanks for stopping by!!  Come again!

Smiles, Laura

Three Little Duckies.....

For many of you, this card will be familiar.  I saw it in some pictures that were shared from Convention.  It was posted on one of the Stampin' Up! bulletin boards.  I loved it and just purchased this new set and just had to make one, with minor changes.  For my local customers, this will be a new card for you, so I hope those of you who attended convention or saw the pictures will bear with me.  

The little duckie, of course, is from the new Easy Events stamp set.  I cut my sentiments under each image separately so that I could use the images without the sentiments if I want to.  I oftentimes do that on my stamps.  I know I will be using this little duckie often!

The card for this one is the new Pool Party color.  The dotted paper is from the 2011-2013 In Color Patterns Stack in Calypso Coral.  You KNOW I love the patterns stacks!!  They are so easy to work with. 

I used Lucky Limeade for the bottom border, punched with the Dotted Scallop Ribbon Border punch. I love how it looks like eyelet lace.  And I tied Bakers twine in white around this one.  The sentiment is from the new Friendly Phrases set. 

I can see the end of our house remodeling in sight and hopefully will be back to designing cards soon!! I've really missed having time to be creative!!  Glad I saw this one I could copy to share with you today.  And if you didn't see it on the board at Convention, well, I hope you like mine.

Thanks for stopping in! Smiles, Laura

Blossom Bouquet Flowers....

Hello!  I hope you are enjoying the hot summer day.  We are setting records here in the South, as is most of the country,  I think.  I heard today that part of Washington state has not gotten over 70 degrees  this year.    Amazing!  But we sure have here in the South!!  Temperatures in the 90's with our high humidity are hard to take.  We "wear the air" as one forecaster here says.

  

I wanted to show you the blog candy I'm mailing to Martha Hepburn tomorrow as part of my 100,000 bog hits celebration!  Martha was drawn as the winner.  I hope she likes this.  The back item is one of the Grag Bags that SU offered earlier this spring, which has a lot of delightful things in it--ribbon, designer paper, buttons, cardstock, etc.  The stamp set is The More The Merrier which is retired but is a fun one to play with.  And there are some Sale-a-bration buttons thrown in, too.

 Here is a close-up of the new embossing folder Martha is receiving!  Thanks to all who visited and all who left comments!

Here is the card I want to share today.  I made this one to send to my dad and his wife for a gift they sent me.  I used the Blossom Bouquet Triple Layer punch for the flowers.  They are punched from the new 2911-2013 In Colors--Wisteria Wonder, Lucky Limeade, and Calypso Coral. 

Here (below)  is a close-up of the flowers and it shows the background which I ran through the Perfect Polka Dots embossing folder.  Yes, those are gold brads in the center of each flower. 

I wanted to show you a close-up of the ribbon, too.  This is the new Ruffled Ribbon in Wisteria Wonder.  I am so going to enjoy using this new ribbon.  I bought it in all 5 colors!

The sentiment on this card is from the Thank You Kindly set.

Well, thanks for stopping by today.  I hope it's a good one for you!! Come back soon.

Smiles, Laura

The winner is....

OK, we've reached 100,000 visits and believe it or not, since my announcement offering blog candy,  I only had 5 people leave comments on my blog.  (Lots of you visited but you didn't leave comments!!)  I did have another person email me who could not get her comment to post.  So the name is drawn and the winner is Martha Hepburn (I think she's the one who emailed me).  My sweet miniature Schnauzer Gabby did the drawing.  Here's how:  I numbered each entry and wrote the numbers on slips of paper.  I put the numbers face down with a small crumb of Gabby's favorite treat on top of each one, across the room from her.  When she went to them, the one whose treat she ate was the winner.  (No, it wasn't the middle one, either!)  Martha, I'll be contacting you about how to mail your blog candy!!  And I'll share what I'm sending Martha in my next entry!!  Thanks to all of you for leaving comments and especially for visiting my blog!!
Smiles, Laura

Blog Candy Coming up!!

Well, things are moving along faster than I thought.  When I posted yesterday, I noticed I was several hundred away from reaching the 100,000 visitor mark.  Wow!!! You all do me an honor for so many to visit my blog in the short period of time I have had it, so I thought I'd offer some blog candy. Well, I thought I had several days and could decide on what to offer, photograph it, and post on some of my groups that I'd be giving blog candy, etc.  I log on today and see I'm less that 200 away from that 100,000 mark.  So if you trust me to send you some GOOD blog candy, I'm offering it now!!  Everyone who leaves a comment between now and when I hit 100,000 visits, will be entered into a drawing for the blog candy!  Just leave a comment, and your email address.  I'll contact you if you win to see where to mail the candy, should be you be the winner!  Please know that I very much appreciate the honor of your visits each time you stop in!!

Today I thought I'd share another card that I made recently.  This one used Elegant Eggplant, Old Olive and Pacific Point.  For the three colors of stripes (which are from the Brights Pattern Stack) cut three pieces  3.5” x 1.25”  Cut the three backgrounds for them from solid cardstock,  3.75” x 1.5”.  The center Razzleberry is cut 3.5" x 3", it's layer of Pacific Point is  3.25" x 2.75" and the center white is 3" x 2.5". 

                                    
 We don't have a punch that will reach in far enough to punch for the ribbon, so I punched two small 1/8" circle holes as far apart as my ribbon is wide and clipped between them with my scissors.  I like how the two colors of ribbons looks on this one, too, don't you?

I got this layout from Anne Marie Hile.  (She's another Schnauzer owner and I LOVE her work).  See her blog  here and look for her March 1 entry.  Our cards are different and I'm not sure our dimensions are the same but that's where I saw the layout.

I'm so glad you stopped in today!! Don't forget to leave a comment with your email address, to be entered into the blog candy drawing!  Smiles, Laura

Wish Big....

I LOVE finding several uses for each punch I own--it makes the investment in these punches more worthwhile.  Well, on the card I'm sharing today, I used two petals from the Blossom Petals Builder punch to make the flame and center of the flame.  I saw this candle on the Artistic Avenger's (Carrie Gaskin)  blog but she did not have the inside "hottest" part of the flame.  I thought of that myself and think it adds alot to the candle.  I used So Saffron and Pumpkin Pie for the flame colors, and sponged around both with the Pumpkin ink to add depth.  I used the white gel pen for the white "light reflection" on each candle.

This card itself is 4.25" x 4.25" when folded up, so the candles can stick up above the card and it still fits nicely into our medium envelopes for mailing.  This card is made from Pear Pizzazz cardstock, layered with Tempting Turquoise and topped off with In Colors Patterns DSP.

The beauty of this card is that you can pick ANY scraps you have to make the candles--candles can be ANY color.  It's a great way to use up those bits of DSP!!  I sponged the edges of the candles to make them look more "rounded" and I used the Small Oval punch to punch out the tops of each candle.

                                

 Here is the same layout, with a Soft Suede card layered with Bashful Blue color theme, and topped again with the Patterns DSP.  The candles are different colors on this one, but you get the idea--you can use anything.

The sentiment on this card, Wish Big, is from the Word Play set.  I colored the various letters using markers so they would be different colors.  And I sponged around the edge of this square, too.

Don't you think this is a neat birthday card to send!!   I made several for my June birthdays!  I hope the folks getting them liked them.

Thanks for visiting today!!  See you another day!!

Ed. Note:  I finally found the original card by Carrie that inspired me and actually I'd say I CASE'd her card!  My candles are a bit different but the layout and using 3 candles was her idea.  Thanks, Carrie!!  Check hers out at http://www.artisticavenger.com/ .

Smiles, Laura

Hello to you!!

 I know, I know, you can't believe I'm back.  Well, I thought I would not get back to you and my beloved stamping but I hope I'm about there!!  I have MOST of the work done on the house--they just need to tile my backsplash and one bathroom floor next week.  I am definitely tired of cleaning out!! I told friends today that I still don't have "empty spaces" in my drawers and cabinets.  But where they once were "crammed to spilling out" they are now "comfortably full"---which is better than it might be. 

I have missed posting for you all.  When I saw my friend Judy Friday night, I said , "I haven't posted to my blog in forever."  Judy replied, "You haven't since June 27."  I was amazed that she knew the exact date of my last entry.  I love being missed!!! 

In spite of working on the house, I DID take time to place an order for tons of new stuff.  Hey, I might be busy, but my priorities are in order!  ha!  I have tons of new stamp sets to create with, some new designer paper and new ruffled ribbon.  I can't wait to get started in my stamp room!!!

Here is a card I made during June as part of a swap I was committed to.  I used the new set Pennant Parade and the new Petite Pennants Builder punch.  The colors are Wild Wasabi, Pumpkin Pie, and So Saffron.  I used the Just Add Cake Designer Series Paper for this one, too. 

 Here are the pennant pieces.  I stamped them in Wasabi on Saffron and then punched them out.  I've found with this new punch that you stamp to the RIGHT side of a piece of paper and then punch--this will save you some cardstock.  Then I punched out a "plain" pennant (without scallops) from striped designer paper to layer on the Saffron.  I used the Naturally Serif die and Pumpkin cardstock  for the letters "Y O U".  Here you can see the close-up of the white background, too, where it is embossed with the Square Lattice die.  Love that die!!

I wanted you also to see how I punched a small hole in the corner of each pennant and ran white bakers twine through it to tie all three pennants together.

 For this part (below), I punched 5 circles from various patterns of the designer paper with the 1" circle punch.  The circles are glued to a strip of designer paper.  This picture also shows the sentiment.  The Saffron back is punched with the Scalloped Oval punch.  I layered Pumpkin punched with the Modern Label over that and stamped Happy Birthday and punched it with the Word Window punch. 

Well, I hope you like the sample today.  I'm glad to be back.  Leave me some comments, so I know you are glad, too!!