The Stamping Critique......

"Delighting in Delightfulness!"

I love a good "Verve" every now and again.....those who stamp would understand the "Verve" those who don't stamp will have to assume that it’s something wonderful!!

I made this set of cards; there are 4 of them (2 of each kind). An interesting note is that there were suppose to be 4 of the same card when I started out. I did a major "card blooper" which I had to work with....I flipped the background layer upside down on one of the cards!! If you look close, you'll see the same design...just a little variation of the stamped and mounted image with the verse...this was necessary to accommodate the blooper and to keep me from wasting any paper!

I used my new curved rectangles from Nestabilities for the stamped image to sit upon. These are delightful in themselves to use! The stamped verse is from "Verve" and I love using it! This saying really does it for me.... "Delight yourself in the lord, and He will give you the desires of your heart." isn't that just fantastic!! Love it!!

I used some brads from the stash and the ribbon....you guessed it...from the $1.00 bin at Michaels!! Lots of little things on these but they came together to make beautiful cards that I hope will be given to someone who is "card worthy" from my "Maine" mom!

Hope you enjoy! Until next time.
Theresa

"Coffee Time With A Friend"

Hi everyone, boy it's been a while since I've had any time to post! It feels good to be back again. Life has been pretty busy with work, school and family...leaving little time for anything else which is pretty sad. I miss my alone time in my studio.....I have to work on getting in there more often!

This card is part of a pack being sent to my "Maine" Mom! I've neglected her card ministry for a while now and need to make amends for this! I was able to get a few done over the past few days and will get these up to her tomorrow so she can get back to deciding who is "card worthy!" (She cracks me up!!)

I used my set from Flourishes called "Coffee with Friends" for this one. I enjoy this set almost as much as I enjoy a real cup of coffee...(ok, mayne not quite that much but this is ok!)

I went to the stash for the paper, I'm not real sure where I got this but it's a nice set to use. I applied distressing ink over each piece to give it more of a vintage feel. The cups from the Flourishes set are cool as a stamped image on top of the striped paper I think. I used a punch to create the holes for the ribbon and wrapped it around the entire base of the card.

Sometimes simple is the best way to approach a card, it's a nice first glance but what's really important is the message on the inside!

hope you enjoy! Until next time.

Theresa

Easter in Pink.....

Is there any other color to do an Easter card in?? I guess maybe a light green or yellow is good as well...it just makes sense to go with the pink.

Easter is like the other holidays for me, for some reason that I can't explain, I make just one card in observance of the holiday....no more...no less. This one started as a cased card from Becca at Amazing Paper Grace (I'm her groupie!!!). I like the layout, which included embossing on vellum and layering it with coordinating colors. I used my MS punches in several areas, including the butterfly.

I'm always thinking about using my supplies such as punches, Nesties, cuttlebug folders and all the other "toys." I feel guilty having so many to use and not using them on a regular basis. The craft industry is changing so quickly that if I don't use something alot right now...it won't be long before it's out of date!!! Lesson learned...pull out your supplies and use them!!

Hope you enjoy! Until next time.

Theresa

Cherishing Shades of Pink

We're entering our spring season which means it's time to pull out all the bright colors that for me, bring my cards to life! One of my favorite blends of colors for spring are pink and yellow. I know they're seen alot with Easter themes, I enjoy them for that but also for just making a statement about the beauty of spring!

  This card started off on the wrong foot but ended nicely. when I began putting it together, I was visualizing a bit too many things and it overwhelmed the creative side of my brain. (This would be defined as the most active & responsive side of my cranium!) I laid out patterned papers with pinks and yellows and before I knew it, I had enough to create a 20 layer card!! Now, typically, I wouldn't back down from a challenge but in this case, I had no choice. Can you imagine the cost of sending 20 layers through the mail!!

The directions for this card are non-existent. It's called "keep putting things together and moving them around until it works!!" I did use a flower from my Heide Swapp Floral stash {{yummy}}. I also tried out a new Martha Stewart punch and topped it with some ribbon. The paper is from Making memories. I also used my just Rite stamps for the "cherish" logo.

All in all, I think this card displays my anticipation of "brighter" days to come!

Hope you enjoy! Until next time.

Theresa

"Clean and Simple"

From time to time, I enjoy making a simple card. I find that being simple can at times be more challenging then making something that's real involved. After making so many different cards, it becomes a habit to always "out due" the previous cards. This is why I like to step back on occasion and make something using minimal supplies and techniques.

If I can't see "simple" in my mind when making something, I wander through other crafters websites to gain inspiration. This is how I came up with this card. In the crafting world, this is called "casing." You look at something that someone else does, and make your own card by changing a few things. if you didn't change anything, then you would be guilty of copying and there's no creativity or fun in doing that.

I recently got this new fence punch and wanted to incorporate it into a card. This is where the casing comes in. I saw someone use it in front of a tree (their tree was more whimsical than mine!!) and by popping up the back of the fence to separate it from the tree. I added a little sentiment stamp in the corner, tied on a little ribbon and it's finished!! I think this would be a good set of cards to make for someone and can be varied by changing the sentiment or the tree image.

Hope you enjoy! Until next time.

Theresa

Colors Can Make A Difference!

Day two with my monograms and I'm in "B"liss......(ok, not so creative with the wording) but it is day two with my monograms and I'm pleasantly enjoying their involvement with my cards. Yes, I do know more letters in the alphabet than the letter "B", and I'll be using those very soon, but for now, the "B''s" are boss!!

I dug into my scrap stash (one day I'll need to take pictures ofthe sash so that you can better appreciate it's enormity...). I haven't used this paper in quite some time and wanted to see how it would go with the monogram. I must say, I'm loving the combination! Tonight was a typical night.....rearranging scraps of paper on ym work desk to come up with the perfect layout.....with these monograms, I've decided that I'm not quite ready to get "jiggy" with my designs....just a simple look will do.

I chose to make two cards for this sitting, more then two may require the use of another monogram and I'm just not ready for this tonight. I have to choose my letters carefully, finding that special person who will be "monogram worthy!" Now, you are not only "card" worthy, you also have to be "monogram" worthy!! Love it!!

Until next time! Hope you enjoy.

Theresa

A Touch of Elegance for "Blake!"

My maiden name is "Blake" which of course, is my mom & dads last name currently (Nowadays...it doesn't heart to clarify these things!) What's really cute is even though my dad's last name is Blake, when my mom wants to get his attention she yells "Hey Blake!" I just think it's adorable, although at times, I'll assume she doesn't want it coming across that way!!

I've entered the world of monogrammed cards and I must say that I'm very intrigued with this style. I love that you can take a simple layout and with a few changes on the card, with color or with the style of monogram used, you can end up with a good variety of note cards for some.

These two cards are just are for "Blake". It seemed like a good place to start (sometimes I don't know how to spell someones name even if it seems obvious!) I love white, black and sage green together. To me, these are very strong colors and with the monogram added, the cards receive a nice touch of elegance.

I used my cuttlebugs for the background on this and scored two straight lines at the bottom. I used the circles netabilities for the scalloped circles (black and sage) and a circle design and letter "B" from the Just Rite stamp set. These are great gift ideas, and you can make other items such as tags to compliment the cards.

Hope you enjoy! (You too Blake!!) Until next time.

Theresa

"Creating A Birthday Blessing"

Wow....have I been gone for a while!! Between work, school, family and everything esle that can be squeezed into a day, I'm not been able to have much creative time lately! My DH was hard at work doing some upgrades in my craft room which is going to help me out tremendously. Since it's getting harder to bend over to do things as I become "gracefully older", he's making adjustments to bring my work space "up" to my level!!

I thought I'd start simple as I ease back into making cards. No rhyme or reason to this one, it's really quite basic. I start with a 5 1/2" X 4 1/4" card base (SU's purely pomegranate), on top of this is a layer of black adn then the main layer. I covered around the edges of the white in rose red and then stamped my image in rose red on top. I then ran the white stamped piece through a straight crimper (Remember to use a good image if you're using a crimper, otherwise it can easily become distorted). I glued the white to the black and used a rose colored sheer ribon to give a little dimension. I also tied a bow out of black (onto the rose ribbon) to give a little extra dimension as well. The flowers are from my stash, I punch black leaves (Martha Stewart leaf punch) and glued these underneat the flower. The birthday blessing stamp is from Penny Black stamps.

I did do a little inking and stamping on the inside since I wasn't going to use another sentiment stamp.

Hope you enjoy! Until next time.

Theresa

Coffee Time With A Friend

I am addicted to coffee!!! Those wo know me know that I am usually not doing anything without a cup of coffee in my hands (minus shower time!!) I love the warmth of the mug in my hands and the smoothness of the beverage as it slips down my throat, the entire experience that coffee provides is near and dear to me.

What's better then sitting with a cup of coffee you might ask? sitting with a cup of coffee with a friend of course! Coffee, casual conversation and the companionship of a true friend tie all together to make the experience complete!

Flourishes make this stamp set called "Coffee with Friends" and I absolutely had to have it! I sat on my floor this morning in front of the paper bin and searched for soft colors that would welcome a cup of coffee...I believe these colors worked out quite nicely! I also used my oval Nestabilities to provide the dimensional layering. The swirl Cuttlebug folder really goes with coffee, adding more "steam" to the layout.

I hope you're sharing coffee time with someone special!

Hope you enjoy! Until next time.

Theresa

"Cocoa Love"

Here's a quick one as I am trying to spend a little time learning more about my blog site and how to upgrade it. After you learn all the ins and outs of this thing it's fairly easy to do but it's the learning part that is wearing me out!!

For this card, I became a thief. Yup, you heard me right, I stole supplies to make this!! My sister had given me some card stock items for Christmas cards which never came into being. I looked down on my shelf yesterday and thought how cute those things would look as a valentines card. Cocoa and burgundy aren't Christmas colors for goodness sake!! they were crying for some love so I adopted them and started creating.

So sis, I'm asking for forgiveness for my theft.....but how cute is this card?? haha!

Hope you enjoy! until next time.

Theresa

Chalked Birthday Card

My friend Gaynell requested a birthday card for a friend. I had this image and hand'e had the opportunity to test it out yet but I thought for a soft card, it would be perfect with a little chalking.

This card measures 5 1/2"x 5 1/2". The image is quite large which leaves little room for embellishments. After mounting the image on several layers of complimentary card stock, I placed gold brads in each corner and wrapped them with gold floss. I had wanted to use a ribbon but I just couldn't find an appropriate spot on the card without taking away form the chalked image.

This could be used for many occasions,I enjoy working with images that can be altered in multiple ways depending on the need.

Hope you enjoy! Until next time.

Theresa