Mmmmm....Deliciously SIMPLE!

Although strawberry season has come and gone in Florida, there are still some yummy remnants that can be found in our house. I dug through my card supply that I keep on hand and found another simple, yet enjoyable card that can be whipped up in minutes. This is one of my favorites. I really enjoy this Tart & Tangy set and should really make a class around it. It is versatile and just screams summer to me! (Which in FL lasts 8-9 months!)

This is a standard size card with a 3" wide strip covering the middle. Using my markers I hand colored the stamp each time and just rotated its direction. I think it makes it look like it is rolling along the paper. There is some rub-on stitching (non SU!) along the top and bottom of the paper. The "Be Happy" sentiment is from a previously available hostess set. The inner sentiment that I stamped (with another strawberry of course) is "find joy in the little things" from the retired Polka Dots and Paisley set. As you can see there are also some basic black brads along the upper right hand side to add a little dimension. I hope you enjoy this tasty tidbit as much as I did making it!


Supplies: (All Stampin' Up! unless otherwise noted)
Stamp Sets: Tart & Tangy; Polka Dots & Paisley (retired); ? Hostess Set (retired) Cardstock: Real Red and Whisper White Markers: Real Red, Garden Green Accessories: Rub-On Stitching (Michael's Craft Store); Black Brads

A simple cup of coffee...

is sometimes all you need to tell someone you love them! I adore this Pun Fun set. I am actually in the process of coloring several sets of cards made from this set as gifts. I'll post the complete grouping once I am done. The coloring on those are done with my Prismacolor Pencils and is a little more detailed. In the meantime, here is one of my favs. It works well as a note for a friend, or even better, slip a Starbucks gift card in it. YUMMY! I must say I wasn't an everyday coffee drinker until I had kids. Being that my children require absolutely no sleep whatsoever, I have now graduated to a cup of black coffee first thing in the AM if I am to function and be a good mommy!

I did this card very quickly and simply. It was even watercolored the easy way. I stamped it in Staz-On and then used my Stampin' Up! markers to color around the edges. Then using my beloved Aquapainter, I just dragged the color and shadowing where I wanted it. The cardstock used was Chocolate Chip, Rose Red and Very Vanilla. Punches: Word Window and Spiral. A basic gold brad and simple twine distressed at the edges completes the look.

As a side note, here is a little tidbit for those of you that follow many blogs (and really - who doesn't!?) My SIL got me hooked on a great site actually created by my nephew! Go to Start.IO (no .com) and register for free. You can set it up with titles , colors and groupings however you like. What you do is list the blogs you read. Then when you are ready to go online to read your blogs, just go to your Start.IO to check their status. Any blog you follow that has been updated since your last visit will be marked with a dot. No more searching and bouncing from blog to blog to make sure you didn't miss anything. Just click on the ones with dots and catch up easily! It's been great for me. I have one group for my B7 bloggers, another for my friends with family blogs, another for magazine blogs, etc. You can also list your favorite websites there too (although they won't show any dot if they've been updated.) It is so nice to have a clean format to see all my favs in one place.

On that note, it is time to sign off. So glad to be "back in the blogging saddle!"

Thanks for visiting!

Heartfelt Birthday Wishes!

I mentioned in another post that Heartfelt Thanks is a tried and true for me. Well here it is once again. This is a super simple card that I made for a workshop that I did. Pink Passion and Only Orange keep jumping out at me to be used. I'm not usually a Bold Brights kinda gal, but it just speaks tropical summer fun to me. Living in Florida summer is about 8 months long, so maybe that is why. Anyway, this is a two step stamp set, but I used each portion separately. I used the floral part with Whisper White Craft Ink on the pink cardstock and then tore it on the diagonal. The outline portion of the flower was again stamped in Whisper White craft on the orange portion. The "Happy Birthday" scalloped sentiment is from a retired set of which the name escapes me right now. I stamped that in each coordinating color. Punched the orange out with the scallop punch and the center out with the 1 3/8" punch. Then layered them with a dimensional for a little depth. If you look at the close up photo you can see a glimmer of glitter on the scallop. I actually added some Dazzling Diamonds to my Crystal Effects and placed it around the edge for sparkle. This allowed some glam without glitter all around the house. (Not appealing for some hostesses!) I hope you enjoy this oldie but goodie. And if you are interested in owning this card, or any creation of mine, please drop me a line at my email.

I also have some great blogging news!  I have joined up with a team of 20 talented ladies to work on our Blogs!  We are sharing, learning, and challenging each other to be the best Bloggers that we can be!  So PLEASE check out my B7 Blogging Gals by visiting the Blogs listed to the side under SU! B7 Blogs.  They are sure to inspire you as much as they inspire me!

A little something for the ladies!

Here are some small gifts I made for some special ladies in my life. They are Milk Bottle Manicure Sets as I call them. Basically, a dolled up Frappucino Bottle filled with a mini manicure set and polish. ( Both available in the Target $1 spot seasonally.) I used the SU! Heartfelt Thanks set (I always fall back on this tried and true set) and punched out the flower with the Scallop Square punch. Inked the edges with Chocolate Chip ink and added a bow. You can also see the little details that I added in the bottom of the bottle and on the lid. I used the Scalloped Circle punch for that as well as an old retired set called Circle of Friendship. I love those little circles with sayings. Especially the one that says "rubber stamper 24-7, tap, tap, tap" Too cute! Enjoy!