A Touch of Grace

The thing I like most about the JustRite products is the ability to personalize designs.  People feel special when you take the time to create a little work of art for them.  What a wonderful way to show how much you care for them.  I designed this ensemble as a thank you gift for a wonderful dinner shared with special friends.

I used the Damask Monogram Stamper (my personal favorite) for the center initial on this card.  The finished size is 5″ x 7″.

I designed a simple set of six customized note cards using the Small Letter Set. The note cards measure 4″ x 6″.

This purse is similar to the design I posted last month, I used a different designer paper and different colored cardstock.  I used gold pearls instead of gold brads.

I’m a big fan of Joan’s Gardens, supplies used in this project purchased from Joan are: Black Kaiser pearls, Zip Dry adhesive, Glue Glider Plus, Dimensionals, Nestibilities, Scor It

• Stamps:  JustRite Stampers
• Paper:  DCWV LaCreme; Basic Black, Prism (red and green papers)
• Ink:  Versafine Onyx Black
• Accessories:  Sewing Machine, black thread, Cuttlebug embossing folders, gold pearls, Coluzzle, black grosgrain ribbon, gold chain, BossKut Flourish die, glue dots, Therm O Web dimensionals, oval punches (SU and EK Success), corner punch, black Kaiser pearls, Scor It, EK Success border punch, Fiskars decorative corner punch, Mat Pack (SU), tweezers, tool kit (SU), stylus for embossing on purse, Glue Glider Plus, Circle Nestie, Marvy scalloped circle punch

Thank you all so much for stopping by.  I wish you a wonderful weekend with your family!

I’ve been so busy working on CHA samples, I haven’t had an opportunity to sit down and blog.  As soon as I return, I’m going to start posting what I’ve been working on and will start on the purse tutorial I promised.  Today I’d like to share a purse I designed several months ago.  My dear friend, Joan Ervin, created a fabulous design that I fell in love with.  After practically begging Joan (please, please, please, please), I know, I’m totally shameless, she graciously shared her stash of that wonderful leopard print DP with me.  I designed a set of matching luggage to go with it.  If you haven’t stopped by Joan’s blog, please do, she’s got this fabulous, totally gorgeous Valentine’s card posted with three insanely gorgeous roses on it, you can’t miss it, stop by and check it out.

I was so excited with the purse when I completed it, my favorite part is the handle, just love that!  I have it on my desk to make a template, I altered the design so many times from the original template that it was, for all intents and purposes, practically useless.  So, a new template will be forthcoming as well as a new design.  It is my plan to have it blogged some time in February following the purse tutorial.

No stamps were used on this design.

• Paper:  Ruby Red, Basic Black, Leopard DP
• Ink:  Ranger Old Linen Distress Ink, Versamark
• Accessories:  Coluzzle, black grosgrain ribbon, Making Memories gold brads, paper piercer, SU Mat Pack, EK Success oval punches, Fiskars embossing template, , stylus, heating tool, SU black marker, Elephant charm, gold chain, jump ring, large corner punch, medium corner punch, Anna Griffin alphabet embossing template, Ranger gold EP (for initial)

Hi Everyone!  Gee I feel like I’ve been missing in action!  Well, not so, I’m here, just incredibly busy. 

Today is day 11 of the Stamp Simply Celebration and I’m giving away blog candy to two lucky winners. One lucky winner will receive a Countdown to Christmas Bo Bunny scrapbook kit and a new, unmounted, Stampin’ Up! sentiments stamp set entitled:  ”Lots of Thoughts”.  Pictures of my completed album are shown below.  The kit consists of complete instructions, together with all materials, including a 6″ x 6″ linen and chipboard album.  A second lucky winner will receive four new, unmounted, Stampin’ Up! stamp sets entitled: “Blooming with Happiness”, “Friendship Blooms”, “Oh, So Lovely”, and “So Many Scallops”.

Okay ladies, here are the rules:  To win this blog candy comments will work like raffle tickets.  For every comment you leave on any Christmas design I’ve posted in my blog, you will be entered for a chance to win the prizes, your comment is your raffle ticket.  Leave only one comment per post please, duplicates will be deleted.  If you click on Christmas under Categories in the bar on the left side of my blog, or click here and all Christmas posts will appear.  Please comment only on the six posts that have designs that I’ve done, including this one.  You are NOT required to comment on all of them to qualify for the blog candy; however, the more Christmas posts that you leave comments on the better your chances of winning, i.e., you can have anywhere from 1 to 6 raffle tickets.  I will use Random.org to choose two names from each of the six posts.  Once I have the twelve names, I will then use Random.org to choose two names from the twelve finalists to determine the two lucky winners.   You have until December 17, 12:00 noon (Wednesday) to post your comments.  I will announce the lucky winners on the morning of December 18. 

Every year I take a lot of pictures at Christmas and never seem to find the time to scrapbook them.  I’m very challenged at scrapbooking and that’s why I absolutely love the Bo Bunny kits.  I adore the Countdown to Christmas kit, it was super fast and easy to put together.  I’ve made one and embellished it a bit more than what is in the kit.  I’m showing the entire scrapbook album and the pages so that you can see my “more is more” version.  I’m all set to go, I’ll fill it with my Christmas photos the week following Christmas when everyone is busy playing with their new “toys”. 

Album cover and back.  The zig zag stitching is Kaiser rub ons.

Inside covers, front and back and the front page of the album.  I’ve added brads, the little Christmas tree and some brass hardware.  Each page will be filled with pictures of the 10 things I love about Christmas.

Pages 1 and 2:  I have changed the designs a bit from what is in the kit and have added brass hardware.

Pages 3 and 4 are so adorable!  I used a quickie glue pen to draw on the holly leaves, ornament, and gingerbread man and added glitter.  I used SU’s mat pack to create the faux stitching on the large circle and photo corner on page 4.

I added a lot of extras to pages 5 and 6.  I love the stars, I entwined gold cord around the largest one and added glitter to the embellishments. 

I added the oranments, ribbons, stars, and a boot to pages 7 and 8.  Again, I didn’t exactly follow the instructions that came with the kit, most of the layouts have been altered.  I added faux stitching and glitter.  I like to take these kits and do a “more is more” version.

Pages 9 and 10 were fun to make, I can’t wait to fill these pages with photos of my family.

The final page wraps up the scrapbook. 

Other scrapbook samples can be seen by checking out:  Barb, Jennifer

AJ Otto - The Willow Garden - Are you wrapping gifts yet?  Probably!  I’ll bet you need some pretty tags to dress those packages up — well, be sure to check in on AJ’s Featured Project today to see all her gift tags.  And then play AJ’s challenge so you, too, can have some nice gift tags on hand!!!  Be sure to stop in at AJ’s today!

I love the idea of making gift tags.  Below are tags I designed for gifts for my girlfriends, showing both a close up and a group shot of them.

I was shopping the other day and came across a box of notecards that had a beautiful wreath on the cards.  I bought them, came home and cut the wreaths out using a circle nestibilities.  I used my JustRite stamper and embossed the monogram in gold using Gold Encore ink.  I used a refill bottle of Encor ink and placed it in the JustRite Small 1-Reversible Ink Pad.  I cut the gold and Rose Red scallops using the petite scalloped nestibilties.  I drew around the edge of the monogram and wreath with a pale gold Krylon pen.  I tied gold cord bows and adhered to the front of the tags.  A super simple project that didn’t take long at all.  It’s hard to see in the picture, one of the tags is adhered to a Gold Christmas tree filled with chocolates.  There’s a larger gold bow and red ornament at the top of the tree. 

You can see more tag samples by checking out the blogs of:  Heather, Janine, LeAnne, and Sharon.

Deb Saaranen of  Dream in Color is also offering Blog Candy for us today!

Thanks so much for stopping by!

Sometimes in life we receive unexpected blessings, meet people who are extraordinarily kind, and overall are just nice to be around.  I recently met some very kind and generous people when I attended CHA.  I designed this card to say thank you to a very kind and generous individual for a very special dinner and evening out with the “gang”.  I was blessed to meet artists, designers, internet friends, and individuals from all over the map that have enriched my life. 

I’m embarrassed over how long it has taken me to get to my thank you’s and I have many more to design.  Being busy is no excuse, but it truly is the only one I have.  Moving my son to Tennessee and all the preparations involved took far longer than I anticipated.  Since returning home I thought I would have my stamping room, my son’s room, and my busy schedule in order in a week or so.  NOT SO!!!  My stamping room is still utter chaos, oh my . . . that’s another story! 

The design of this card is very similar to another design I have in the July Fan Club gallery over at Splitcoast (my home away from home).  Note:  The link provided will work for Fan Club members only.  I changed a few aspects of the design and attached the sentiment directly onto the card.  I used Nestibilities to cut the circles.  The bottom circle is cut on a sheet of copper metal; the Nestibilities did a wonderful job in cutting through the metal like butter.   I flattened the copper brads using a hammer from SU’s tool kit, as I wanted a flat antique appearance.  The stitching was all done by hand.  I first pierced the paper using SU’s mat pack for placement of the holes, I then threaded a needle the old fashioned way and sat down and stitched away.  Now, you may be asking why I stitched this project by hand instead of using a sewing machine and the answer is very simple.  Do you see how small the corner pieces and the narrow strips of paper are?  Well  .   .   .   I was afraid that I might possibly sew through a finger while holding those small bits of paper on the sewing plate.  Now, don’t ask me if I’ve ever done that before and if it was quite painful, especially reversing the machine to get the needle back out of my finger .  .  . LOL! 

I used the JustRite Small Letter Set for the words around the outer perimeter of the tag and used the Damask Borders & Letter Kit for the initial and center design.  I used a small fern stamp from a tapestry stamp kit for the fern beside the words “Thank You.”   I added a little bit of Dazzling Diamonds for a hint of sparkle on the fern. 

• Stamps: JustRite Stampers, Tapestry fern stamp, SU Paisley BG
• Paper:  Night of Navy,  Basic Black, K & Co. Blue Awning DP
• Inks:  Night of Navy, Creamy Caramel, Basic Black
• Accessories:  Copper metal sheet, copper brads, sewing needle  & thread, corner punches (sm. & med.), SU circle punch, Nestibilities, Dazzling Diamonds, Quickie Glue Pen, Scotch Wrinkle Free Glue stick, sponge, Coluzzle, SU mat pack, SU tool kit

I just can’t say enough about how much I love the monogrammed stampers from JustRite Stampers.  I’m looking forward to all the new sets they are coming out with for the holidays.  Well, there you go, what a perfect gift for a stamper friend (or yourself, go ahead . . . treat yourself . . . you deserve it!).  The possibilities are endless for all the different projects that you can make for family and friends during the holidays.   While at CHA I had an opporunity to get a peek at the new designs and let me tell you they’re not just for monogramming, there are several sets that are perfect for gift tags, not to mention cards and other items.  I know you are all going to be thrilled when you see the new toys!

Using the large round monogrammer I made this monogrammed gift set for a wonderful friend for her birthday.  I actually made the ensemble a couple of months ago.  It was an easy project and didn’t take too much time.  Stacey’s birthday is in July, a couple of weeks ago I got together with a group of friends at The Cheesecake Factory to celebrate the happy occasion.  Stacey was thrilled to receive the monogrammed gift set of cards (10 cards and envelopes) together with the box to store them in.

• Stamps:  JustRite Stampers Large Monogrammer
• Paper:  Very Vanilla, Basic Black, Basic Grey
• Ink:  Rose Red, Basic Black, Certainly Celery
• Accessories:  Taffeta and Grosgrain Ribbon, Pearl Adhesives, Nestibilities, Sewing Machine, Aged Copper Brads, Gold Cord, Double Sided Tape, Dimensionals, SU Markers, Hodgepodge Hardware 

I’m taking a few minutes away from the packing today to post this thank you card that I watercolored for a lovely person I recently met that has been very kind and generous to me.  I snuck in a little time a few days ago to make it and have been trying to get a good photo of it and finally the sunshine came out this morning and shared its glorious rays long enough for me to get this shot. 

Last month I designed a set of luggage and had so much fun in the design work that I decided to try it again.  I changed the colors, the handle, the monogram, and the clasp and came up with a slightly altered design.  I watercolored several tulips from the Thank You stamp simply tulip set by Flourishes using a combination of Yarka paints and Tombow markers.  Dimensionals were utilized to pop up the two larger tulips for added dimension.  I used the small monogrammer from JustRite Stampers for the initial “K”.  The decorative design and initial were colored with Stampin’ Up! markers direct to rubber and topped off with Dazzling Diamonds, although it’s a bit difficult to see the sparkle in the photo.  The faux stitching was done using a white gel pen from Sakura. 

• Stamps: Thank You (Flourishes), JustRite Stampers
• Paper:  Rose Red, Watercolor, Basic Grey (Perhaps)
• Ink:  Versamark, Rose Red
• Accessories:  Mat Pack, Sakura white gel pen, gold brad, dimensionals, paper piercer, Coluzzle, oval punch, corner punch, craft knife, Tombow markers, Yarka watercolor paints, watercolor brush, heating tool, Ranger gold embossing powder, Stampin’ Up! markers, Fiskars embossing plate, embossing stylus, nestibilities

Today Stephen and I start our official packing (packing boxes, affixing labels to the boxes, etc.).  Wish me luck and much patience!  I’m so not looking forward to this.  We leave this Thursday and I keep pushing that date to the back of my mind.

It’s hard to believe it’s been two months since Stephen asked me to make thank you cards for the high school graduation gifts he received.  The summer has just flown by so quickly.  He asked me to make something masculine with no ribbon, I interpreted that to mean no bows and he asked for masculine colors as well.  After a few prototype cards this design is the one he chose.  He asked me to keep it simple and I think I was able to accomplish that (no watercolors). Instead of using the typical masculine stamps that I have, I decided to monogram the cards.  I love the DIY monogram stamper from JustRite, it was perfect for this project, I used the Small Round Monogram Stamper for the monogram.  I chose Stampin’ Up!’s Chocoloate Chip ink for the monogram color, I simply used the re-inker to fill up the JustRite ink pad for the stamper. For the thank you sentiment I used a set of sentiment stamps from Flourishes.  I made seven cards of each design for a total of 28 cards.

• Stamps:  JustRite Small Round Stamper, Flourishes
• Paper:  Crate Paper, Close to Cocoa
• Ink:  Chocolate Chip, Vintage Photo
• Accessories:  Making Memories copper brads, SU Mat Pack, sewing machine, oval punches, nestibilities, dimensionals, grosgrain ribbon