My Sweet Mother-in-Law

Today was a very sad day for our family. We had to say goodbye to my husband's mother, Gloria Thomas, aka Nana to her grandchildren. She has been sick for a while with heart disease and respiratory disease, but rapidly declined within the past 6 weeks. She passed away Monday, 3/30 at 1:19 pm. We were all there with her when she took her final breath. Although we are all very sad, we know she is no longer suffering.

Here is a picture of her on her 81st birthday in September of 2008.



















Thank you to everyone who offered up a prayer for her to ease her pain and for our family. I really appreciate it.

Thanks for stopping by.
~Barbara

NMBS Challenge #37

Be Inspired.....
Today I hosted the challenge on the NMBS group blog. Inspiration is the theme, find something either around your home or from a store while shopping that you can use for inspiration to create a card.

My Sample:
















I found the tumblers at Target and immediately thought of the Good Morning Sunshine DSP. I made a card using the DSP as my background and took the colors from that to complete the card. Hope you like it.

Stamps: Trendy Trees
Paper: Chocolate Chip, Good Morning Sunshine DSP, Pink Passion, Very Vanilla
Ink: Chocolate Chip, Pink Passion, Kiwi Kiss
Access: Chocolate Chip Grosgrain Ribbon, Kiwi Kiss Corduroy Buttons, Dimensional Adhesive, Glue Dots

Thanks for stopping by and have a creative day!
~Barbara

Saturday Sale-A-Bration Stamping

Elegant Blooms
I had such a great time stamping on Saturday with my best friend Vicki. She wanted to play with the Botanical Blooms SAB set, and I just wanted to do some stamping. We always come up with great creations when we are together stamping. So we searched blogs and galleries and found some inspiration. We made four cards using this awesome set. Hope you like them.
The first card is our design, we were inspired by Lisa (Creative Cucina), her use of pearls and the sentiment. I used the NEW Matchbox Die with Labels to cut the layer for the stamped sentiment & image from Great Friend.















Stamps: Botanical Blooms, Great Friend
Paper: Regal Rose, Raspberry Tart DSP, Pink Pirouette, Whisper White
Ink: Basic Black, Pink Pirouette, Regal Rose, Kiwi Kiss
Access: Pearls, White Organza Ribbon, Dimensional Adhesive, Glue Dots, Sponge Dauber
Tools: Big Shot, Matchbox Die

Thanks for stopping by and have a creative day!
~Barbara

Baja Blooms

Botanical Blooms
This is another of my favorite color combos and the Parisian Breeze DSP. I was inspired to use Christine's (Christine Creations) idea for this card, only making a few changes to her original design.



















Stamps: Botanical Blooms
Paper: Parisian Breeze DSP, Baja Breeze, Kraft, Watercolor Paper
Ink: Chocolate Chip, Basic Black, Baja Breeze & Kiwi Kiss re-inkers
Access: Aqua Painter, Dimensional Adhesive, Chocolate Chip Taffeta Ribbon
Tools: Eyelet Border Punch, Large Oval, Paper Piercing Tool

Thanks for stopping by and have a creative day!
~Barbara

Dimensional Blooms

Botanical Blooms and Yummy combine to make this card so sweet. I got the idea from Trisha_Dawn on SCS. I used the Flourishes Texturz Plate on the Regal Rose and lightly sponged the entire surface to bring out the embossed images.















Stamps: Botanical Blooms, Yummy
Paper: Rose Red, Pink Pirouette, Regal Rose, Whisper White
Ink: Basic Black, Kiwi Kiss, Rose Red, Regal Rose
Access: Kiwi Kiss Stain Ribbon, Dimensional Adhesive, Sponge Dauber
Tools: Big Shot, Flourishes Texturz Plate

Thanks for stopping by and have a creative day!
~Barbara~

Watercolor Blooms

Botanical Blooms
This card was inspired by Creative Daze. I used different colors and changed the layout a little.



















Stamps: Botanical Blooms, Great Friend
Paper: Rose Red, Kiwi Kiss, Regal Rose, Raspberry Tart DSP, Watercolor Paper
Ink: Basic Black, Kiwi Kiss reinker, Rose Red Watercolor Crayon
Access: Aqua Painter, Black Brads, Rose Red Grosgrain Ribbon, Dimensional Adhesive
Tools: Big Shot, Matchbox Die, Mini Dot Texturz Plate, Paper Piercing Tool

Thanks for stopping by and have a creative day!
~Barbara

Thursday Stamping Fun

I had some time to stamp on Thursday with my best friend Vicki, who needed some stamping therapy after getting laid off from her job on Monday. My husband was out of town, so she came to stay from Wednesday thru Friday. She helped me put together the Big Shot Sampler Book (in my previous post) on Wednesday night and we finished it on Thursday morning. Then we got down to stamping.
Here is our first card. We used some new SU! goodies from the upcoming Occasions Mini Catalog that we were able to pre-order. One of the many perks of being a SU! demonstrator is being able to pre-order before the release date!!















Stamps: Great Friend
Paper: Pacific Point, Whisper White, Garden Green, Printed Window Sheets
Ink: Pacific Point
Access: Pacific Point Corduroy Buttons, White Tafetta Ribbon, Glue Dots
Tools: Large Oval and Scalloped Oval Punch, 1/8" Hole Punch

If would like to join my SU! team, contact me for more details!

Thanks for stopping by and have a creative day!
~~Barbara

CASE'ing the Catalog

Our second card from Thursday is a CASE from the new SU! catalog.
Vicki and I both loved this card. Without a stamp set to use for the tree, I cut the tree trunk and branches freehand from Chocolate Chip.



















Stamps: Always
Paper: Chocolate Chip, Old Olive, Certainly Celery, So Saffron, Whisper White
Ink: Old Olive, So Saffron, Chocolate Chip
Access: Silver Brad, Buttons Latte, Dimensional Adhesive
Tools: Big Shot, Texturz Plates Backgrounds 1, Circle Punches

Thanks for stopping by and have a creative day!
~~Barbara

Big Shot Sampler Book

I participated in a Big Shot Swap with robinsmail3 on SCS, send in 65 cuts and receive a sample cut from all of the dies that SU! sells. This was an awesome way to get a sample of each one. I decided to put all of them in a book to show my customers. Kristen Perry on SCS posted some sample pages and these were a major help in completing my book. I printed each page on Whisper White Cardstock and secured the negative and positve images of each die using SNAIL adheisve. I have them in order as they appear in the SU! catalog with the exception of the Manhattan Flower Textured Impressions and the Textured Plates which I wanted in the front.
Here is what I came up with. I hope you like it.

Cover of Book



















First page - Textured Impressions



















Two page spread from my book












Let me now what you think.

Thanks for stopping by and have a creative day!
~~Barbara

NMBS New Catty Swap - Part Two

As I promised yesterday, here are 2 more cards I designed for the NMBS group swap. I hope you like what I came up with. I am loving all the new sets.

MAN'S BEST FRIEND
This swap card is 4-1/4" square. I stamped the fire hydrant onto the Whisper White. I stamped the image again on a separate piece of Whisper White, cut it out and adhered it over top the stamped image with dimensional adhesive. I also used dimensional adhesive to adhere the ovals.

















Stamps: Man's Best Friend
Paper: Riding Hood Red, Basic Black, Riding Hood Red DSP Prints, Whisper White
Ink: Basic Black, Riding Hood Red, Gable Green
Access: Riding Hood Red Striped Grosgrain Ribbon, Apricot Appeal Brads, Dimensional Adhesive, Aqua Painter
Tools: Small & Large Oval Punch, Three For You Punch, Paper Snips, 1/16" Hole Punch


SIMPLE FRIENDSHIP
I love these colors together. It is hard to see in the picture, I used the NEW Flourish Texture Plate for the background on the Whisper White and Basic Gray. The butterfly was stamped on a separate piece of Whisper White and cut out, and flat mounted on the Whisper White layer. The Cameo Coral layer and the sentiment are adhered with dimensional adhesive.



















Stamps: Simple Friendship
Paper: Cameo Coral, Basic Gray, Almost Amethyst, Whisper White
Ink: Basic Gray, Cameo Coral
Access: Basic Gray Taffeta Ribbon, Silver Brads, Dimensional Adhesive
Tools: Big Shot, Flourish Texture Plate, Horizontal Slot Punch, Paper Snips, 1/16" Hole Punch

Thanks for stopping by and have a creative day!
~~Barbara

NMBS New Catty Swap - Part 1

The swaps are now postal coming back to me, so I think it is safe to post my cards that I designed for this swap.

FIFTH AVENUE FLORAL
I love these colors together. I stamped the large flower twice on Whisper White with Basic Black ink. Using the paper snips, cut out one full flower image and flat mount that onto the DSP layer. Cut out the second image, and cut away the outer petals. I used dimensional adhesive to adhere this over the first image.















Stamps: Fifth Avenue Floral, Holidays & Wishes
Paper: Basic Black, Baja Breeze, Urban Oasis DSP, Whisper White
Ink: Basic Black, Kiwi Kiss, Baja Breeze
Access: Black Brads, Baja Breeze Striped Grosgrain Ribbon, Dimensional Adhesive
Tools: Paper Snips, Horizontal Punch, 1/16" Hole Punch

GARDEN GREETINGS
This is a fun new set and great color combination. I cut out each flower image and flat mounted it onto the Whisper White layer. I used the ribbon knots for the center of each flower.
To make the ribbon centers: take a 5" piece of ribbon, tie a knot in the center of the ribbon. Punch a hole in the center of your cut out flower and thread both ends through the hole, once the knot is in the center, fold back the ends to form leaves. I used glue dots to secure the flower to my card.















Stamps: Garden Greetings
Paper: Sage Shadow, Chocolate Chip, Whisper White, Pink Pirouette
Ink: Chocolate Chip, Sage Shadow
Access: Sage Shadow Grosgrain Ribbon
Tools: Paper Snips, Paper Piercing Tool & Mat Set, 1/8" Hole Punch

Check back tomorrow for the other cards I designed for this swap.
Thanks for stopping by and have a creative day!
~~Barbara

Hats Off for NMBS Challenge

NMBS Challenge #34
This week's challenge on the NMBS blog HERE is to create an altered project with something that you recycled. I made this adorable St. Patrick's Day favor using an empty packaging tape roll. I found this idea from craftycaro on SCS. The cardboard circle that held the tape is used as the base for the hat. I filled a cello bag with Mint Hershey's Kisses to put in the middle.















Stamps: Think Happy Thoughts, Shamrock (SU! incentive stamp)
Paper: Green Galore, Basic Black, Brushed Gold, Glorious Green, Whisper White
Ink: Glorious Green
Access: Medium Cello Bag, Apple Green Grosgrain Ribbon
Tools: Scallop Square Punch, Scallop Circle Punch, 1-1/4" & 1-3/8" Circle Punches

Thanks for stopping by and have a creative day!
~~Barbara

March Plate Insert

Happy St. Patrick's Day...a little early. I wanted to add my plate to the area of the dining room that I have a few St. Patrick's Day decorations, including my specialty Longaberger baskets. So I needed to design an insert for St. Patrick's Day. Here is my design:















I didn't have a stamp set for St. Patrick's Day, so I used the heart from Polka Dot Punches and the Full Heart Punch to create a shamrock. I hand cut the stem and added it with dimensional adhesive. I also found a small shamrock stamp in my basket of SU! incentive stamps and made my own background paper. The sentiment is from a retired SU! set All Year Cheer III. I hope you like it.
Paper: Whisper White, Glorious Green, Green Galore
Ink: Glorious Green
Access: White Grosgrain Ribbon, Green Galore Buttons, Dimensional Adhesive
Tools: Full Heart Punch, Scallop Edge Punch, Ticket Corner Punch

Thanks for stopping by and have a creative day!
~~Barbara

Ready for S P R I N G

Happy Spring!!
I made this banner last night in preparation for Spring decorating. I decided to share it with you today so you would not think I am laying around watching TV shows like CSI or Grey's Anatomy and not being creative and stamping.
I love making these banners for each season or holiday. I am ready for spring to be here, after all it is has been 80 degrees for the past few days here.








Stamps: A Good Egg, Polka Dot Punches, Happy Everything
Paper: Certainly Celery, So Saffron, Bashful Blue, Whisper White, Delicate Dots DSP, Sahara Sand
Ink: More Mustard, Brilliant Blue, Bashful Blue, Basic Black
Access: Silver Brads, Filigree Brads, Silver Library Clip, Build-A-Brad, So Saffron Brads, Celery Buttons, Dimensional Adhesive, SNAIL Adhesive, Glue Dots, Sticky Strip, Ribbons: Bashful Blue, Certainly Celery, So Saffron Grosgrain Ribbons
Tools: Big Shot, Serif Essentials Alphabet Dies, 5 Petal Flower Punch, Word Window Punch, Large and Wide Oval Punches, Scallop Circle Punch, 1-1/4" Circle Punch, Three For You Punch, Paper Piercing Tool
Close up of the first three letters












Close up of the last three letters











Thanks for stopping by and have a creative day!
~~Barbara

Glass Plate and InsertsTutorial

Thanks to everyone for your wonderful comments and emails asking me how to make these. I originally showed my Glass Plates with seasonal inserts in December. I was inspired to make these at the SU! Convention in August 2008.
Today, I have prepared this tutorial to share with you, so you can create your own. I purchased the dinner size glass plates at WalMart. You will need to have your plate before making your templates for the inserts as they may be different in size than mine.

SUPPLIES YOU WILL NEED
Dinner size Glass Plate, Decorator Plate Stand,
Kraft Card Stock, Velcro (adhesive back), Scissors, Pencil,
Designer Series Paper, Cardstock, Inks, Embellishments, Ribbon, Punches

MAKING YOUR TEMPLATES

Step 1 - Make your templates by tracing around the base (part of the plate that rests on the table) of the glass plate onto cardstock, I used Sahara Sand for one and Kraft for one.














Step 2 - Cut 2 of these templates. Make one template 1/4" smaller in diameter, by trimming 1/4" off one of the circles.














Step 3 - Here are the finished templates you will use these for making the inserts. I have mine labeled - outside layer is the one that is the size of the bottom of your plate, top layer is the one that is 1/4" smaller in diameter. Now fold in half, then half again and continue until you have 8 triangle sections. This serves as a cutting guide for the layers. I drew a line across the center of mine as seen in the photo below.














Step 4 - Templates, Glass Plate and Velcro - now you are ready to create inserts for your plate.

HOW TO MAKE INSERTS

Step 1 - For each insert you make, first cut 1 base out of cardstock ( I used Kraft here) using the Top Layer template as a guide. Trace and cut out.














Step 2 - Then fold the template in half and trace onto your first layer (I used Delicate Dots DSP here).



















Step 3 - Flip template over using the other side as a guide for the lower half. Then cut one Outside Layer (here I used Bashful Blue). Here are the pieces all cut out and ready to assemble. Once assembled this will be a very stable insert to go onto the glass plate.














Step 4 - Now you can assemble the pieces, stamp and embellish as desired. I used the Good Egg Set and several accessories to complete my insert.

HOW TO APPLY INSERT TO PLATE

Step 1 - To adhere the insert to the glass plate, apply two 1-1/4" pieces of the rough side of self-adhesive Velcro to the glass plate as shown in the photo.














Step 2 - Attach two 1-1/4" pieces of the soft side of the self-adhesive Velcro to the top of the Velcro pieces already adhered to the plate. Peel away the tab to expose the adhesive on both pieces of Velcro.

















Step 3 - Place the insert down on top of the Velcro pieces and press to adhere. Here is what it will look like once done and you separate the Velcro to remove the insert.





























Step 4 - The photo below shows what the back of the insert will look like with the tabs in place.
To remove insert from plate, gently separate the two pieces of Velcro. Repeat step 2 when making another insert for the plate, adding the soft side of the Velcro to each insert, this allows
them to be interchangeable.

FINISHED PLATE WITH EASTER INSERT

Thanks for stopping by and have a creative day!
~~Barbara

Raspberry Tart Milk Carton Holder

After running errands and cleaning house a little, I had some time to stamp. I made this adorable Milk Carton Holder. I got the complete tutorial from Becky Roberts on her blog Inking Idaho, see her blog HERE. Her tutorial is so awesome and so easy to follow. She is a very talented lady with so many tutorials on her blog.



















Stamps: Petal Pizzazz, One of a Kind
Paper: Pretty in Pink, Rose Red, Kiwi Kiss, Whisper White, Raspberry Tart DSP
Ink: White Craft Ink, Rose Red Classic Ink
Access: Rose Red Double Stitched Grosgrain Ribbon, Pretty in Pink Grosgrain Ribbon, Linen Thread, Dimensional Adhesive, Sticky Strip
Tools: Score-Pal, Bone Folder, Key Tag Punch, 1-1/4", 1-3/8" Circle Punches, Scallop Circle Punch, 1/8" Hole Punch, Paper Piercing Tool & Mat Set, Horizontal Slot Punch, Small Tag Punch

Thanks for stopping by and have a creative day!
~~Barbara

Sweet Stems Sketch

Sketch Challenge
My card for today's sketch challenge uses one of my favorite DSP and color combos. I used punches for the squares and watercolored the images using classic ink and aqua painters. I hope you like it.



















Stamps: Sweet Stems, Sincere Salutations
Paper: Raspberry Tart DSP, Kiwi Kiss, Rose Red, Pretty in Pink, Whisper White
Ink: Basic Black, Rose Red, Kiwi Kiss
Access: Rose Red Brads, Pretty in Pink Grosgrain Ribbon, Dimensional Adhesive
Tools: 1" & 1-1/4" Square Punches, 1/16" Hole Punch

Thanks for stopping by, leave a comment to let me know what you think, I love to hear from you.

Have a creative day!
~~Barbara

weSTAMP Sale-A-Bration Swap

Tonight I attended our weSTAMP meeting at the home of Lorri Heiling. It was so much fun to see everyone again, and share our love for stamping. The swap theme was to make a card or 3-D item using any item from the Sale-A-Bration mini catalog. Here is the project I made for our swap.



















Stamps: Polka Dot Punches
Paper: Bashful Blue, Certainly Celery, So Saffron, Whisper White, Delicate Dots DSP
Ink: Brilliant Blue, Bashful Blue, More Mustard, Old Olive
Access: Unfinished Wood Photo Holder*, Bashful Blue Buttons, So Saffron Grosgrain Ribbon, Certainly Celery Poly-Twill Ribbon, Dimensional Adhesive, Acrylic Paint, Quick Dry Adhesive
Tools: Heart Punch, Scallop Circle Punch, 1/4", 1/2", 1" Circle Punches, 1-3/8" Square Punch

*I purchased the unfinished wood block with the photo holders already attached. I painted the sides and top with Acrylic paint (Ceramcoat Green Tea), then lightly sanded the surfaces after the paint dried. I then added the large square of Bashful Blue cardstock with the smaller squares of DSP to the front and back of the unfinished wood using Scotch Quick-Dry Adhesive.

Thanks for stopping by and have a creative day!

Botanical Blooms Color Challenge

Color Challenge today on SCS using Summer Sun, Pumpkin Pie and Kiwi Kiss. I used the Botanical Blooms Sale-a-Bration set for my card. Summer Sun is not a color I use often. Leave a comment and let me know what you think.















Stamps: Botanical Blooms
Paper: Kiwi Kiss, Summer Sun, Pumpkin Pie, Whisper White
Ink: Basic Brown, Summer Sun, Pumpkin Pie, Kiwi Kiss
Access: Flower Brads, Gold Brads, Pumpkin Grosgrain Ribbon, Dimensional Adhesive
Tools: Eyelet Border Punch, 1/16" & 1/8" Hole Punch

Thanks for stopping by and have a creative day!

Bella's Bloom Designer Green

Limited Supplies Challenge
Today I created this card for the Limited Supplies Challenge on SCS. The challenge was to feature any shade of green, with bonus points for using designer paper, limit of 2 embellishments, and layers limited to 3 or less. I followed the rules except for the layers...but who's counting!



















Stamps: Bella's Bloom
Paper: Whisper White, Bella Rose DSP, Kiwi Kiss, Riding Hood Red
Ink: Kiwi Kiss
Access: Markers: Ruby Red, Old Olive; Sponge Dauber, Kiwi Kiss Corduroy Button, Dimensional Adhesive
Tools: Eyelet Border Punch

Thanks for stopping by and have a creative day!
~~Barbara