Saturday, July 31, 2010

Another Recipe Card!


I have a super quick post this morning to show you another recipe card I made yesterday. I made it for a friend who requested my chili recipe. I thought it turned out really cute, and I got to use some more of my paper I bought the last time I was in Little Rock, and of course a sweet Whiff of Joy stamp from her Get Well collection. On Feline Playful, I found a really nice sketch from a challenge blog that's new to me. I did put more embellishments that she suggested, but hopefully I'll still qualify! I hope you have a great weekend, and happy stampin'! Lisa :-)

Challenges entered:
Craftilicious--make your own flower
Mami Doodles--anything goes
CRAFT Challenge--hot and spicy!
Digi Doodle Shop's Best--punches or die cuts
Dutch Dare--anything goes
I missed this one, but it is the sketch, and I'll try to play next week!

By the way, I'm giving away some Michael's coupons here!

Thursday, July 29, 2010

Something New--A Recipe Card!


Hello everyone! Today I tried something new for me that I saw out there in blogland--a recipe card! It is just the same size as a usual card (6inches in this case) but just the front. I had fun with it! The recipe is a good one, too. Hubby's chair (his boss in "academia-speak") asked me for this recipe ages ago, and I haven't done it. So, I made this for him, just to make it fun and special. Not sure what he'll think of it, but at least he'll have the recipe! :-)

Challenges Entered:
Whiff of Joy--Fuzz (this is a fun one--my brads at the bottom have flocking on them, hope that's fuzzy enough!!)

Thanks for looking and happy stampin'! Lisa :-)

Fussy and Fancy Friday DT Card--Week 16


Good morning everyone! This morning I would like to show you my card for the Fussy and Fancy Friday Challenge. This week is a special week! We are teaming up with StampInsanity to feature a new digi set designed to benefit the Susan G. Komen Breat Cancer Foundation and the American Cancer Society. You may learn more about it on the Fussy and Fancy Friday Challenge Blog




I enjoyed working with this set, and I really love the sentiments. And of course, Katie is so bold and sweet and just out there doing her best to feel and look her best. I think she's beautiful! Here is the inside of my card. DD Greta was surprised at this sentiment, but she is lucky enough not to have known anyone close to her who has cancer. Most of us have, and you know what? Cancer DOES suck! So, I think it that sentiment hits it right on the money.





Here is the complete stamp set you can purchase here. And the proceeds benefit the foundations, as I mentioned.





A close-up of beautiful Katie. . .




My simple flowers. . .




That wonderful sentiment (you know I think you could use it with other stamps too. . .)




And the inside with another wonderful sentiment. . .




I really love the font on this one--you can't really see it, but I roughed up the paper around the sentiment, to match the font. . .




Won't you join us this fortnight over at Fussy and Fancy? A great prize and a great digi set for a great cause. It's all great! Thank you for visiting me today, and I hope you have a fun stampin' weekend! Lisa

Challenges Entered:
Create4Fun--use flowers
One Stitch at a Time--black, white and one other color






Materials:




Friday, July 23, 2010

Another Toonie Digi Card--for Hubby's B-Day!


Good morning! I made another card from the sweet digi of my dog, Toonie, that Sandy made. Isn't he the cutest?! You can pick up your copy and view her other pet digis on her blog, here. This time, it is a card for my husband's birthday coming up soon. Hopefully my sentiment makes sense--I wanted it to be something like "Carpe Diem" or "Seize the Day." 

I found a really fun blog done by a lady named Karen who wants to keep track of card challenges. She takes the time to list them by day, and I've used her blog to put together this card for several challenges. Her blog is Feline Playful. She has a beautiful cardmaking blog, too: Feline Creative. So, here are the challenges I've found that I can enter today, and many are new for me--fun!

Challenges Entered:
Sentimental Sundays--men--they also have a fun free download--thanks!!
Your Next Stamp--Easel Card--they have cute stamps--must go shopping!

Wow! That's a bunch--thanks, Karen!

Thanks for looking and happy stampin'! Lisa :-)

Tuesday, July 20, 2010

My Cards for OWH and More Challenges


Hello again everyone! I've made these cute Tinkerbell cards for Operation Write Home today. I used the sketch on their inspiration blog. I turned it 90 degrees, though--hope that's OK! They also have a mid week throwdown to make a card for a child (I nearly always do, when I make cards for OWH, so that was easy!)
This week's Corrosive Challenge is a cartoon character. I'm not sure Tinkerbell will qualify, but she is pretty cute! :-) The challenge this week over at Stamptacular Sunday Challenge is ice cream--those polka dots remind me of Baskin Robbins, for some reason! And the pink--rasberry sherbet! My favorite Sundae is actually marshmallow, which is pretty white! But. . .if you put those multi colored jimmies on there, you'd have the colors of my cards, right?! :-) And finally, the Papertake Weekly challenge is for a Cutie Patootie! Seems a perfect fit?!

Thanks for the inspiration, and they will go to a great cause. Read more about how you can make cards for Operation Write Home, here

Thanks for looking and happy stampin'! Lisa :-)

My Card for the Whiff of Joy Challenge


Hello everyone! I've made a card for this fortnight's Whiff of Joy Challenge. It was one that started out really great, but got lost on the embellishment step. I finally decided to just stop sticking stuff on it and call it done--it wasn't getting any better! :-) And my pictures aren't too great either, my apologies. But there are some good things. I got to use my new oval Nesties--I bought the petite ones--all four sets, small/large, scalloped and plain. Just thought I'd go for it! Also, I do like using the vellum, and I stamped on it too, which worked out really well. I even put a bit on the inside of the card behind the sentiment.



I really like the papers--I bought them at Michael's the last time I was in Little Rock. And of course, I used my favorite Christmas Swirls and 1001 Nights stamps from Whiff of Joy--always fun to use those! I really liked the sketch, too. So, thanks for the inspiration, ladies! :-)

Challenges Entered:

Thanks for looking and happy stampin'! Lisa




Wednesday, July 14, 2010

Wishes for Bella Blog Hop Week Four


Good morning everyone! Don't forget to hop through the Wishes for Bella Blog Hop Week Four this week, and send her a card, too! You can start the hop at Denise's blog and learn more. Have a great day! Lisa :-)

Tuesday, July 13, 2010

Digi Dog Days of Summer!





Hello everyone! I'm doing a big happy dance today because Sandy of Operation Write Home drew a digi stamp of Toonie, my dog. MY DOG IS A DIGI!! Isn't he beautiful? 




DD 6YO Sophie and I have already been to good ole Hobby Lobby and she found some really great "woof" ribbon and I found some fun doggy dp, so we've been playing Toonie-cards all morning! Here are two Sophie designed herself.



Okay, I know, you just HAVE to get your hands on this precious digi of my dog, right? Hop on over to Sandy's blog--she has a post about him. While you're at it, leave her a comment telling her how cool she is, AND make a card for Operation Write Home. They even have a challenge blog that has this great sketch that I used for my card. A comment and a card from you would all make Sandy's day, and mine! (And Toonie would be happy, too. As long as we feed him, he's happy about everything. . .)

Challenges entered:

Have a great one, everybody! Lisa :-)

Monday, July 12, 2010

Big Giveaway at Simon Says Stamp!


Hello! Simon Says Stamp Blog is giving away tons of Christmas Candy! Get in on the fun here:


Lisa :-)

Sunday, July 11, 2010

Easy Easel Card--A Tutorial

Hello! Thank you for visiting my tutorial for and Easy Easel Card. There are no shortages of easel card tutorials out there. I've looked at quite a few of them. And many of them are easy. But hey, I thought we needed another one, so here is my take on an easel card! :-)

Here's my sample--what I wound up with:



Here are the steps I took to make it. Hope you can follow along. If something isn't clear, please just send me an email (address is in my right side bar,) I'd love to hear from you.

Step One--The Measuring (don't be spooked, it is easy!)

Decide how large square you'd like your card to be. I wanted mine 6" x 6". So I'll work with those measurements, then I'll tell you how to measure to make one any size you'd like.

We'll cut just the framework of your card for now.
First you'll need a piece of card stock, 6" x 12" for your base of your easel portion of your card.
Then another piece of card stock for the base of the front of your card, 6" x 6" (in my sample, this base is where the flowers and and image are.)
And one more piece around 2" or 2.5" inches (up to you really) by 6". This is for the panel that will hold your easel face of your card up and show when the card is in the easel position. (On my sample it is the pink piece that has the bow on it.)



Set aside the smaller pieces for now, and let's talk about scoring the easel base portion. Here comes the tiniest bit of math, but if you know it, you can make an easel card any size you'd like. You could even use your knowledge to make a card in a shape other than a square, like a rectangle, or even a circle!

First, you have to find the center of your long side of your base of your easel. In my case, my card stock is 12" long, so the center point is at 6" So, score it at 6".

Since I scored at 6", I have to the left of my score a 6" by 6" square. To the right of my score at the 6" mark, I also have a 6" x 6" square, don't I? I need to score that part to the right of my 6" score at it's halfway mark, in order to make the easel for my card to display on. So, that's one half of 6", which is 3". So I scored three inches over from my midpoint score. Here's a photo to make it a bit clearer.


(As a side note, here's the secret to make any size square card. Cut your easel base twice as long as the width. Then, when you score, put one score in the in the half way point. And another at the half way point of that right hand square you just made with your first score. So a 5" square card would be a 10" x 5" easel base, for example. And you'd score at 5" and then again 2.5" to the right of that first score.)

Breathe easy, the measuring is over, ha! :-)


Now to fold the easel base.

Fold the card on each fold line.





Now you have your base of your easel card ready to decorate. I decorated the inside first. Just as I would in a typical card, I used a 5.5" x 5.5" piece of white cardstock for writing, and matted it with a 5.75" x 5.75" piece of contrasting cardstock. Then, I placed the 2.5 " x 6" piece that I cut of the pink cardstock at the bottom half of the inside of the card. This leaves a bit of room to write, but allows for room to decorate the pink cardstock with whatever you choose. Here's the way it looks before decorating.



Here's what it looks like decorated.



You'll want to also find some way to make a stopper for your easel. In this case, I used a large green brad, as you can see in the photo above. I've seen folks use buttons, a row of small brads, and a number of other things. You may have to play around with the placement of your stopper so that your card stands up at a good angle.



Now for decorating your card front. In my case I used a 6" x 6" piece of orange cardstock. You can use your favorite sketch, images and embellishments. When you are done, adhere your card front along the bottom of your short fold, pictured here. Be sure to line up the bottom edge of the base and the bottom edge of your card front. If you don't, your card won't be square all the way around when you close the card and won't fit into the envelope. (Ask me how I know this. . .No wait, don't ask me how I know this.) 



Here's a photo of how mine went on.


I placed a piece of designer paper on the back of my card front where the back was showing above the easel fold. 


And here's the finished product again:



And there you have it! If you read through and I've left something out or you have questions, please send me an email (a link to my address is in my sidebar.) Thanks for looking and happy stampin'! Lisa :-)

Saturday, July 10, 2010

My Card for Friday Sketchers, Just Magnolia and Almost Totally Tilda


Hello! I hope everyone is having a good Saturday! I made this card for a few challenges, even a fun new one called Totally Tilda--their theme was "chocolate" this week. Well, I started out with that chocolate challenge in mind, but Princess Tilda asked me if I could please pretty please color her dress pink. I said "sure." Then, she asked me please pretty please could I use that lovely brown paper with pink sparkly flowers on it and pink ribbon and then some pink flowers on to go with her pretty pink dress. I said, "okay," and now it really isn't a chocolate card anymore! Unless you like strawberries with your chocolate. And who doesn't like strawberries with their chocolate?! 

Anyway, I thought I would share my "nearly-chocolate-card-but-I-listened-to-Tilda-instead" card with you this morning, even though this one probably doesn't qualify for Totally Tilda. Tell me, do your stamps talk to you?! :-)

Challenges entered:
Just Magnolia--a recipe
Totally Tilda--I know I don't qualify, but Tilda and I had so much fun with it, I had to share it with you! :-)

Thanks for looking and happy stampin'! Lisa :-)

Thursday, July 8, 2010

My Card for Michelle


Hello again everyone! I have made a card for Michelle, who has had an accident leaving her with having to have an artificial eye. I believe she was taking care of her donkeys when the accident happened. The Spoonful of Sugar Challenge blog is having a card drive for her. You can read all about it on their blog. Whimsy stamps drew this sweet donkey image for Michelle and is free on the Spoonful of Sugar blog also. I noticed that Michelle lives in Texas, my native state. So, I went with a bluebonnet and yellow roses for the embellies. I'm glad to have an opportunity to send thoughts Michelle's way! 

Challenges entered:
Sketch Saturday
Cooking It Up With Katie--sketch from another challenge and add some yellow (I notice Katie lives in Texas too! 
Spoonful of Sugar Challenge--make a card and send it to Michelle (already on the box for tomorrow!)

Thanks for looking and happy stampin'! Lisa :-)

My Card for Color Throwdown's 100th Challenge


Hello Blogland Friends! I hope you are having a good week. I took it easy today, since I am trying to get over a sinus infection, but I did finish this card for Operation Write Home. The image is a Tilda that I received from a card swap a short while ago. And of course I used my new European Rose Cuttlebug embossing folder (still love that thing!) I love the Color Throwdown's color combination this week, just right for a simple card like this one. They are having a big do over there--hop on over and check it out!




Thanks for looking and happy stampin'! Lisa :-)


Tuesday, July 6, 2010

Birthday Card for DD Sophie and Whiff of Joy Challenge


Hello everyone! I wanted to share this easel card I made for my DD Sophie's birthday tomorrow (6 years old!) I used the castle from the 1001 Nights set. I also discovered a tutorial on the Whiff of Joy Inspiration blog for the flowers. I thought they looked very Eastern done this way. I used some papers that I bought when Greta and I went to Little Rock awhile back. I do like how bright they are, but they are pretty loud in real life. :-) But that goes just right with Sophie's personality, so it's all good, right?!

I also used some new flourish dies from Quickutz and some Spellbinders dies, both of which I found on my last expedition to Hobby Lobby. :-)

I'd like to enter my card in this week's Whiff of Joy Challenge.

Here are a couple of close ups ( I always like when bloggers take close up photos of their work, so I thought I'd give it a try--not sure there's all that much to see, though!)


And of those adorable flowers



And here's the inside




Challenges Entered:
Whiff of Joy Challenge--sketch
Charisma Cardz -- something metal

I made a tutorial of how I made my easel cards. You can view it at the link below.


I hope everyone is having a great week! Thanks for looking and happy stampin'! Lisa :-)

Wishes for Bella Blog Hop Week Three

Good morning and welcome to the next stop on the Wishes for Bella Blog Hop (Week Three!) You should have hopped here from Janna's blog. If you've just happened on me, please start from the beginning, Denise's blog.

We are pooling our efforts to make "thinking of you" cards for Bella, little girl in New Hampshire who really needs our help. All of the details are on her web site, http://bellatucker.org/.


I've made an easel card for Bella today. I also made a tutorial for an Easel Card here.

I am thankful for the opportunity to help in some small way. Won't you join me in helping this family? You may make a card and send it to Bella at the following address



The Bella Tucker Fund
P.O. Box 199
Londonderry NH 03053 

or donate to Bella's foundation. All the details are on their web site, http://bellatucker.org/
If you do make a card and send it to Bella, be sure to post it here to be eligible for the grand prize drawing!

On to the next stop on the hop! From here, you will visit Stacy's Blog



Challenge Entered: Create4Fun


Thank you for visiting and have a wonderful day! Lisa :-)

Friday, July 2, 2010

Welcome to My Stop on the OWH Independence Day Blog Tour!



Hello everyone and Happy Independence Day! I've made a card with this super-cute digi that Sandy made. And on the inside, I used her sentiment that says, "Missing you on your Birthday." Thank you Sandy! It is tooooo sweet!

I hope everyone has a wonderful holiday, and since I just returned from Washington, DC where Greta and I saw the Declaration of Independence, and one of the copies of the Magna Carta (wow!) I'll leave you with a quip attributed Benjamin Franklin, as he signed the Declaration of Independence.


"We must, indeed, all hang together, or assuredly we shall all hang separately."


Aren't you glad they "hung together?" :-) Happy Independence Day! Lisa 


Go visit more blogs on the OWH Blog Hop Tour!
http://www.owhstarsandstamps.org/2010/07/independence-day-blog-tour-start-here.html


Fussy and Fancy Friday Challenge DT Christmas!


Good morning everyone! This week at Fussy and Fancy Friday Challenge, we have Christmas in July! I've used one of my favorite Christmas stamps from Whiff of Joy, and I paper-pieced Santa's coat, hat and pants. It is hard to see in the photo, but I used a lot of gold pigment ink also. This is my first card for the Fussy and Fancy Friday Challenge design team. It will be fun to be a part of such a talented group of ladies! Won't you hop over and join us this fortnight?

Card Recipe:
Colored with Copic markers
Punches: Martha Stewart Iron Gate edge punch, Martha Stewart Fern Leaf and Frond punches