So, What Do You Think I Did With My Battery Charger??

I've said it before--we just have a few too many gadgets, gizmoes and what-nots around here! All of the cords, cables, chargers and power packs look the same, although my son could give me a long recitation on all the differences, to which I would respond, in my best teenage-impression, "WHATEVER!" I just want the stuff to work, and when it's not, I want a quick fix!

Well, that's not to happen this morning! I was all excited! I found a way to use Tangerine Tango on a card! A card that used the beautiful mums that I found in the "3 for $10" bucket at the grocery story as inspiration! And when I go to take a picture, the screen says, "Change Battery Pack." Okay, um, yeah. Where might I have put that?" I have NO IDEA! I don't think I've had to charge the battery since we were on vacation this summer!

So, in order to share my mum-inspired, Tangerine Tango creation, I had to rely on the ol' stand-by (not so hot) camera and the scanner, neither of which are doing my creation, or the mums for that matter, any justice. I'll just have to wait until the teens get home and then maybe I will be able to take a decent picture. If not, I might have to bother my good stamping friend, Laurie, 'cuz she just happens to have the same camera I have! Maybe I can barter some cardstock for a battery charge!

Anyway, I arranged the mums in my turkey "vase" with hopes that they last until Thanksgiving. The colors that came together in one package were just incredible. So I decided to "save" them on a card. Let me tell you, my first idea was WAY too involved--punched flowers, scalloped edges, too much stuff. What a mess I made in four short minutes. Time for a different idea. I scaled it back and went with super simple.

The card uses the "Poppin' Pastels" technique with the large stamp from the "Upsy Daisy" stamp set. Stamp the image with Versamark ink and add colored chalk ("pastels") with a q-tip or sponge-tipped eye shadow applicator. The colors seem to blend themselves as you add more color. Any stray chalk can be removed with a clean, soft eraser. I used the Earth Elements family of chalk, mostly Summer Sun, Ruby Red, Really Rust and Garden Green. I threw a little of the Bravo Burgundy (from the Rich Regals family) in there because my mums had a few of a deep, deep red variety.

I matted the image (that was stamped on Very Vanilla) onto some Old Olive and a stray piece (oops!) of Purely Pomegranate (thought it was Riding Hood Red at the time!). The card base is Tangerine Tango that has been stamped with the Sanded background in Versamark.

On to the project du jour: carpet cleaning. yippee. . . I'd so much rather be stamping!!

I will be back later, however, when I can get a decent picture posted. Hope you have a great day!

Presto! Chango! Secrets of a SU! Demo!

My stamp clubs meet during the first week of every month and we just finished our meetings for November. We usually do a couple of projects at each meeting, one that uses the technique that I'm teaching that month and another one that is more of the quick 'n' easy variety.

This month's "quick 'n' easy" card featured the "With Gratitude" and "Define Your Life" stamp sets and the awesome "Autumn Vine" Designer Series Paper that is in the current Holiday Mini Catalog. My "Define Your Life" set was a little dusty and begging to be used, and the colors in the "Autumn Vine" papers are so yummy I needed to use them before we get totally consumed with Christmas trees and snowflakes.

The dilemma I face when designing group projects that use Designer Papers is, that even though I've become a pro at getting lots of cards out of one sheet of 12 X 12, often the two sheets of each pattern don't always stretch far enough and I have to make project modifications. This was one of those months.

My stamp club members don't know it (until they read this!) but the evening club did a slightly different card than the morning club. Because the DSP patterns all coordinate with one another, it's not really that difficult to use the same colored card base and the same layout with different patterned paper. In this case I had to switch out the ribbon color too, because my much-loved roll of 5/8" Chocolate Chip grosgrain ribbon was no more. I think the Very Vanilla ribbon works just as well--how 'bout you?

To stamp the leaf, we inked up the stamp with the More Mustard ink pad and then added Really Rust ink and just a touch of Chocolate Chip ink with daubers. As with so many stamping projects, all the leaves looked just a little bit different but equally great! The "gratitude" stamp ("Cause of happiness or joy. Expressing appreciation for something or someone") from the "Define Your Life" set works equally well for a Thanksgiving card or a thank you note. (Paper dimensions: Whisper White/Very Vanilla: 2-3/4" X 3-3/4"; patterned paper #1: 3" X 4"; patterned paper #2: 4-1/4" X 2")

To add the ribbon embellishment, wrap a 6" piece of ribbon around the patterned paper, adhering the ends of the ribbon on the backside of the paper. Tie a single knot in another 6" piece of ribbon and trim the ends to make the "bow." Add this to the card with a couple Mini Glue Dots.

One other idea for getting the most from a package of DSP: Piece scraps together if the seam can be hidden under another element. I had several scraps that were too small to use on this project by themselves, but when I taped them together and cut them to size, I was able to get a few more of these cards made. The tape gets hidden under the leaf element.

I'm thinking about making some quick Christmas cards using this layout, either the "wish" or "memories" definition, with the Christmas tree from "Season of Joy" and the "Holiday Treasures" DSP.

Hope you had the chance to do something creative today.