A new kind of stamp..

I needed a sympathy card and I have been itching to use this set from JustRite stamps. It is the Thinking of You set and you can find it here at The Stamp Castle. As I mentioned in my last post, they are having a Black Friday Sale until midnight on the 30th so hurry on over. I stamped the sentiment and border in SU- Not Quite Navy and then went over the leaves with a Sakura gelly pen- clear star for a bit of bling. You can see it in more detail in the next photo. The birds were punched from a McGill Birds punch that has two different birds and a wing. Very fun to use. The background is one of my newer Cuttlebug embossing folders- Victoria. The paper is SU Not Quite Navy and the brushed gold is something I found in my scrap drawer. I also used my oval nesties a bit of more bling.

The picture below shows everything that comes in the set. You have to buy the wood block to mount them but you can reuse it for other sets that are the same size. This set uses the
2 1/4" x 3 1/16" oval block.

This is what the stamps look like. I had mentioned how versatile they are and this is why. See how you can interchange the border with any of the sentiments. You don't even have to use these sentiments. If you have one of the font sets you could make up your own.



All of the sentiments or images come as a complete oval as shown below but if you trim them as I did here you won't have to worry about getting ink smudges or edges when you stamp them. Believe me I highly recommend you trim them. Been there- done that!



This is a picture of what the block looks like and how you mount the stamps. You just push them into the grooves. I wish I had taken a picture of the back of the stamp so you could see what that looks like. The back of the stamp has ridges that fit into the block. It is actually is a tongue and groove system.



Below is a picture of the stamps in place and ready to be used. Don't worry you shouldn't end up with ink on the grooves unless you are using a pigment ink pad and you are pushing too hard into the pad. If that happens just use a Q-tip and clean it up.



I didn't do much shopping yesterday but I did a lot of stamping. I'll have several new cards to share with you soon but before I go I have to share with you a semi-disaster (ok maybe it wasn't a disaster because it worked out fine). I had made this card along with three others and I had them sitting on my desk, admiring them as I created more. When to my horrors I noticed this card laying face down on my light pink ink pad that I was using. Luckily it was only the upper left corner and I was able to wipe the ink off the dove. Since it was brushed metallic I think that's what saved me. I have a bad habit of not closing the lids on my pads as soon as I ink the stamp. I can't tell you how many times I have found a corner of my project brushed up against the ink pad. So ladies (and gents if there are any) make sure you keep you ink pad covered or at least at a safe distance from your project. Loreal can only cover so many gray hairs.

Have fun and enjoy!


~Kim

Happy Thanksgiving

Happy Thanksgiving. I can already smell the turkey and pumpkin pie. If I had to pick my favorite part of the dinner it would be the croutons that have fallen out of the turkey and have baked them selves to the bottom of the roaster. I only get to enjoy that if I am the hostess so I guess having to put on the big dinner is all worth it. Before I go any further I need to tell you about a Black Friday Sale. Go on over and check it out at The Stamp Castle. The new JustRite squares and circles are awesome. You can find them under the "new products", but the sale only lasts until midnight Monday the 30th. I can't wait to start creating my monogrammed Christmas gifts with them. Just think of the possibilities. If you haven't tried these JustRite stamps, now is the time. You will absolutely fall in love with them. The versatility is amazing. Saturday evening I will post something new that I have made with these stamps. Until then you can see a card I made with the Damask Borders and Times New Roman font set that was on my blog October 31st called Simply Black & White.

Now back to today's card. I layered a Nestabilities Label Four in SU Dusty Durango on top of So Saffron Nestie scalloped oval. Two small ovals fit perfectly which were stamped with the pumpkin stamp from a company called Great Impressions and the Give Thanks is a current hostess set from Stampin' Up (SU). I used Adirondack Terra Cotta ink. The designer paper is from The Paper Studio.

Happy shopping, have fun and enjoy!

~Kim

Breaking it in...

I wanted to use my new Spellbinders Classic Lace Border so today I am breaking it in. I also didn't have the chance to use my new Spellbinders Fancy Tags until now. I just love this color combo of SU Always Artichoke and retired Cranberry Crisp. Any shade of Burgundy would work. I tend to use this combo in some fashion for my Christmas cards. Maybe I should throw caution to the wind and try to the new hot pink and green combo this year. I'll have to think about that one. The DSP is from Diane's Daughters products called Sandstone Floral. I also used my Nesties Label Four- my ultimate favorite if you haven't guessed that already. The sentiment sits on a small oval punch and modern label- both from Stampin' Up. The modern label punch is becoming one of my all time favorites. As always you can click on the picture for more detail.

Not much to talk about today. I have a very busy weekend planned. We have to dismantle our over the stove microwave that is being replaced with a new stainless steel one and this is the weekend the Christmas tree goes up. Some how I also have to find time to make a "thank you" card and a "welcome baby". I better put on the coffee pot and get crack'n.

If you remember the black and white monogram "C" thank you cards that I had posted on my blog a few weeks ago; I have a great place for you to buy the monogram stamp sets 25% off. It is called The Stamp Castle but hurry because I don't think the sale is going to last much longer.

I hope to have a Thanksgiving card posted by Wednesday but if I don't, I wish you and your families a warm cozy day filled with laughter and good food.

Have fun and enjoy!

~Kim

Create Joy...

As I mentioned in my last post, I was taking a road trip with a few of my stamping buddies for some well deserved shopping. With coupons in hand we headed out to our favorite stores and a few new ones. Being the professional shoppers that we are, there wasn't one store that we didn't have a coupon (or two) for. We couldn't have saved more money unless we had stayed home. Today's card was made using some of my fabulous finds. Michaels had MS punches on sale and they had quite a few of her new ones.

I used the MS daisy border punch on this card. I didn't purchase the corner punch to go with it because I wanted too many border punches instead. You can also purchase the matching borders and corners as a set but they are pretty pricey. I also saw that MS has come out with punches that are also a stamp. That Martha- she must have come up with a lot of ideas while she was on her "sabbatical" a few years ago. Anyway back to the card. I found the vine ribbon for a dollar and the rhinestones are by Prima all from Michaels. The rhinestones on the daisy border are actually light peach color not clear. The sentiment is from Hero Arts. Don't you just love how the citrine rhinestone fit right in the "O" of Joy.

We headed over to Archivers where I got the dark chocolate card stock with my five free sheets- coupon. I know, I know- I feel the guilt of using any other card stock other than Stampin' Up but it was freeeee. I did use Stampin' Up's "so safron" and the DS paper is BasicGrey. The scallop ovals are just McGill punches. The luscious chocolate panel was run through my Cuttlebug using the Victoria embossing folder.

I really like the sentiment I used today because it not only is saying to create joy for others but you have to create joy for yourself. Don't wait or depend on others to design your life for you. You need- to live your life. We are the creators of our own destiny.

I wanted to include this picture because it reminded me of "Twilight"- sort of spooky and ghostly. I was taking pictures this weekend and it was a really foggy morning. As the sun started to come up, the woods behind our house got really creepy. I was hoping against all hope that Edward would come walking out but no such luck.

Enjoy and have fun!

~Kim

My favorite season

This is a little project that was in the works but I hadn't gotten around to finishing it. I figured I better get going before I had to change the letters to S-N-O-W. I love the smell and crispness of Fall and it is my favorite season. I rememer spending hours playing in the leaves as a child. I grew up in the UP and the color of fall is like nothing you have ever seen. True God's country at a slower pace.

I pulled this out of my stash that had come from a dollar bin and the letters were just plain cardboard. The "F" and first "L" were covered with the Paper Studio ds paper. The "A" is from Diane's Daughters and the last "L" was covered in Bo-Bunny. I added some embelishments to each letter and you can get a closer look by clicking on the picture.

Trying to stay awake past 9 o'clock these days. I do much better with the time change in the fall than I do in the spring but I have the hardest time between 8 and 9 in the evening. I can hardly wait to crawl into bed. I seem to get my second wind around 9:15 and then I'm good until 11. So bare with me if I seem to ramble. I have at least another hour before I am good to go.

A few of my stamping buddies are taking a road trip with me this weekend for some well deserved shopping. There are several stamping stores we have on our list of places to stop and we have coupons galore. Watch out- here we come! The ride should be just as fun. I really enjoy spending time with these girls and we always have more than a few good laughs when we get together.

I think that will be all for tonight. If I don't get off the computer I'm going to end up with keyboard keys imprinted on my forehead. It has been a long week.

Have fun and enjoy!

~Kim