Circle of Friendship / Cute Layout

This is one of my favorite layouts ever! The main card is cut 4 1/4" x 9 3/4" and scored at 5 1/2". The top Designer Paper is cut 4x4" and the bottom is cut 4"x 1 1/2".

The circles are attached on the bottom half only, just to the back of the card, with 2 Dimensionals. Then I've punched a 1 3/8" half circle (a little more than a half circle) out of the top part of the card. That part of the card hooks behind the top part of the circle and stays in place by the top part of the circle.

Man - this is hard to explain with words! Easy to show in person though. If you have questions, leave a comment and I'll try to explain a little better. My friend Teri introduced me to this layout and we have used it to death! We love it! The stamp set I used for the polka dot background was Polka Dots & Petals. I used the Stamp-a-ma-jig to get it lined up perfectly.

Year after Year Birthday

Here is yet another simple card. I used the See You Around Jumbo Wheel in the background and colored the present with the Stampin' Pastels. I added a square rhinestone for a little dimension. This little touch of ribbon is a good way to go when you want to add something, but are someone who tends to hoard your ribbon, or you have lots of one card to make! ;) I was doing this card as a make & take at a beginner workshop, and wasn't sure how many people to plan on, so it worked out great.

I let them choose between using the present stamp or the flowers (also in the Year after Year set) and then they could choose which greeting they wanted from the Happy Everything set. (NOTE TO SELF: Pastels and lots of beginning stampers don't go well together!)

Thanks for Everything / Lots of Dots Wheel

This is kind of a simple card. It is just on a vanilla piece of card stock. NO layering......unusual for me! I used the Lots of Dots wheel from the Occasions Mini Catalog at the top and used the Wheel Guide to keep it straight. Next I stamped the "thanks" and the flower, which is from the Priceless set. I think I should've used something to keep the thanks straight! I wrapped the 5/8" olive ribbon around the card and held it in place with a little Sticky Strip, then added a Square Rhinestone, using the Crop-o-dile to punch the circle out. Don't you love that tool?

Wonderful You Smear

When Wonderful You went on special, I had been wanting it for a while. I ordered it right away. My friend Cindy was wanting some ideas for a class she was working on, so this is one of the ones I threw together quickly. I'm trying to remember how I inked up the flower. ?????? I think I did the bold stamp with markers and the line stamp with StazOn. After stamping it, I gave the card stock a couple of squirts with a water spray bottle, then let the card stock dry. That is where the smeared look comes from. Some guests at a workshop thought they had spilled something on it. Nope ~ that look was actually on purpose! The artichoke card stock has the big Paisley stamp on it with VersaMark ink. That stamp makes the best backgrounds! The ribbon comes from the Theater Ribbon Originals.

Wonderful You

I made this card when this stamp set, Wonderful You, was on special. I demonstrated it at a workshop and the crowd went wild for these colors! As all of you stampers know, everything always looks better in person. The Perfectly Pomegranate flower looks a little scary on the scan, but it does match the paper very nicely, I promise! The Designer Paper I used is Bali Breeze. I've had a hard time coming up with something to do with the large design on back of this pumpkin color, but folding up the corner works well.

With cards like this one, where I can use it for a variety of occasions, I like to leave the greeting off until I know what I'd like to use it for. I file it away in my Forget Me Not Keeper (page 193 of the catalog) under "Generic" cards until I need it, and add a greeting at that time. At the workshop, I stamped the greeting diagonally, on the Pomegranate paper, right next to the Designer Paper.

Phrases for a Friend

Thanks to Tanya, my downline and bloggin' buddy for guiding me through the Friday the 13th fiasco. It is all figured out and things are find now!

Don't you love this Designer Paper??? It is one of my favorite packages, and will only be available until June 30th. It is the Afternoon Tea DP and is featured in the Occasions Mini Catalog on the right hand side of my blog. The stamp set has four stamps in it and is called Phrases for a Friend. It has this stamp, plus Congratulations, Thanks So Much and Celebrate You. It also uses several of the In Colors: Soft Sky, Wild Wasabi and Groovy Guava. These will all be retired August 10th. For the phrase, I inked the whole stamp with the Groovy Guava ink pad, then used the Chocolate Chip marker to ink the "you" and also outline the "thinking of" a little bit. Sounds a teensy bit complicated but it wasn't really.

UGH!

I loaded a bunch of cards for while I was busy for a couple of weeks, but didn't take time to write up posts for them. So now when I just went to publish one of them (Purple Heart) it goes onto the day I loaded the scan (Friday), rather than the day I wanted it published (today)!

If I have any loyal viewers out there, you'll have to be jumping back to Friday the 13th (hmm - very interesting!) for a couple of weeks for the cards I have ready to go, yet any other posts will show up as new items on a current date. Sorry about that. I'm still learning this blogging stuff. If you know me, you know I try to be very organized and I thought I was really being on the ball! :) Lesson learned!