Best of intentions....

Remember how I said I have some catching up to do??? Well, I went down to my stamp room, sat down, stared at all my stuff and said, "Hmmmmmm..." Well, not even 3 seconds later, the phone rings and a friend of mine says she wants to stop by. If you saw my house you would shreak. Definitely not fit for company. Before the dust started to fly and windex sprayed like a fire hose, I did find this cute card I made recently to share. It's cool because it's actually styled like a little notebook. It has three pages that are all different lengths with fun stuff stamped at the bottom. The top was scored 1/2" down for ease of opening. I think this could be improved upon - but you get my drift!



Here's a look at how the inside works....




Happy Thursday! I might just get down to my stamp room yet!

Hello Again..

Well, It has been a long, long time. You know when you wake up one morning and you say to yourself, 'What just happened?' Well, that was a bit of my last month. Work. Kids. Things that come up that you don't expect. Sadly, part of my month was crazy because my 15-year-old cat went into liver failure and died last week. Because there were other health issues, this last month has been full of trips back and forth to the vet, worries, etc. It's funny how such a little creature can become so much a part of your life. Anyway, the vet and staff were wonderful. So much so, I decided to jump back into stamping with a thank you card for their kindness.

I love this stamp from Stampendous. The saying is from a clear set of sentiments from Impression Obsession. I just watercolored, matted, added ribbon and a saying and I was done! Off for now, I have a lot of stamping to catch up on!

Stick It To 'Em

Close to two years ago, Phyllis, a stamping friend introduced me to the world of stickers with some fun Christmas creations using Penny Black stickers. I guess before that, I was kind of a snob. Stickers? No. I am a rubber stamper. I don't need to use stickers. Well, she showed me how elegant it could be. I made 40 that year for Christmas cards and haven't stopped making cards here and there since! This set was from one of the more recent Penny Black sets.

This is how the sticker sheet came.... and below are all the cards I got out of that one sheet!


The stickers & cards...

For The Love Of A Ladybug...

How can you know someone for several years and just find out they adore ladybugs?? They search for and collect ladybug paper and love to add ladybugs to their rubber stamp collection! Well, this is my friend, Karen. We took classes together for years... then, she decided to up and leave the Billings area to be closer to family in Sheridan, WY. Needless to say, I miss her! So, Karen, this one is for you!

FYI, Karen is just launching her own blog called onladybugwings.blogspot.com. (You can actually just click on Karen Lindsay on my list of inspirational websites and blogs!) No posts yet--she's in the middle of another move! But trust me, it will be worth the wait. She is a very creative woman!

Off for now!

Been A Long Time...

Well, I looked at my blog and said, "This is pretty sad." No posts. No new cards. No Nothing. So, I went down to my craft room and said I was sorry to the stamps I have neglected! :-) Actually, work has been taking over and I have been lacking in the creativity department. Grabbed a cup of coffee and made a couple cards. It was kind of a gray day, so I let black and white dictate. This card was made with Leigh Hannon's Flourishes in Impression Obsession's Clear Stamp line. THIS SET IS NOW AVAILABLE! Isn't it great when all the cool things unveiled at CHA are ripe for the buying. Love it. The saying is just part of a clear set called Greetings Galore. The set is awesome because it has "Happy Easter," "Thinking Of You," plus holidays etc. etc. etc!

Well, gotta run. I think I have a few cards left in me!!

Fun & Festive

Happy Saturday!
This card was kind of an experiment. I used the Block Elements from Impression Obsession and wanted to create kind of a patchwork of colorful boxes that I could "dress up" differently. I love ribbon. I love rhinestones. I love flowers. Well, I could do it all on this card! I have to admit, someone might need sunglasses to recieve this card but, Oh well! Everyone needs a little fun in an envelope every now and then!

Hope you are enjoying a weekend of fun!

All Boxed In...

TGIF!! Can you tell I am excited about a weekend? Work and home projects (we just moved recently and I still have boxes etc!)have taken over my life this week, so, time for a breather! I haven't even really had time to stamp!

This card was one I made last week and didn't post. I wanted to try something monochromatic and had the background paper as my starting point. I used the Impression Obsession word frames, a flower punch and some Pearl Ex. I stamped the frames on two shades of pink, cut the inside out of the frame on the light pink and then stamped the words on each cut out box. The color of ink I used to stamp the boxes and words was a tad bit too dark, so while the pigment ink was still a tad wet, I brushed on some Micro Pearl Pearl Ex and it toned the whole thing down and actually matched my paper quite well!

Hate to say this, it's back to the daily grind for me! Hope you are sailing into Saturday, enjoying today!

C is for Creativity....







I did these cards a few months back but, they continue to be some of my favorite cards! I was hoping that seeing these cards would make me want to take these stamps out again and go crazy! These cards were the results of a class at my LSS that I took to get my "girl time" fix. The class featured the Hero Arts clear alphabet sets and Paper Crate paper. I think the results were pretty darn cute! Thanks Gayle & Phyl for the creativity! Fun stuff worth sharing!!!

More Cards......

In A Jiffy!

Need a card in a hurry? This one is one of my faves. I took patterned paper, ran it through my die cut machine with two sizes of circles (Spellbinders, the Wizard with nesting circles), stamped a Hero Arts saying on the smaller circle, layered a ribbon and then attached a paper flower and crystal rhinestone. So easy! So bright! So cheery! The longest part of this card is running the paper through the die cut machine!

Happy Monday!

Here Comes The Sunflowers!

It's funny how you can find inspiration for cardmaking.... right in your own backyard. There is this open field, right behind our home that is full of sunflowers. They are so vibrant and pretty that one night on our "family walk," I decided to bring a camera along just to capture a few. When I came home, I dug through some stamps and found this one right one top... one I just received from Impression Obsession! I love the rich golds and vibrant greens that you can take straight from the mother herself- Mother Nature! On this card, I simply used Prismacolor Pencils in varying shades of yellow, brown and green. I started with the lighter colors, added shading and then blended the colors with the lighter shades to meld it together. I love the wax base in these pencils because they are just so blendable! I always put a workable fixative spray on when I am done to bring some sheen and luster to the work when I am done. This also helps prevent a white film from forming on the wax as the card "ages." It is called "wax bloom." Don't ask me how this happens! :-)

Happy Saturday!
Julie

Christmas... In July!

Well, I must be on a kick for Christmas because that's what I grabbed last night when I was trying to create. This is a new stamp from Impression Obsession that will be released at summer CHA and available July 23rd. I love it! I actually used two matching stamps - one is a background and the other is a trio of trees that I randomly stamped on the tag. I also antiqued the tag with Distress Ink. The saying is just one of the clear sets full of Christmas sayings that IO puts out. I colored these images using Prismacolor Pencils, with mineral spirits and a stump to blend. If you don't know the "Magic Colored Pencil" technique, google Debbie Gimmel or Magic Colored Pencil and a tutorial is sure to pop up. I had the pleasure of learning this technique from Debbie herself at a stamp show several years ago. She is a kick! This technique is really a fun way to blend and get a really unique look! Be careful, however, when you use mineral spirits. Make sure it is odorless and work in a well ventilated area!

Well, off to the pool I go! It's supposed to be 103 degrees here today!
Stay cool!
Julie

Happy Birthday!

Ok, it's no one's birthday- just an opportunity to stock up on some cards! I have to admit, I always feel guilty about "pre-making" birthday cards. I like to make each one specifically for the person as a kind of gift in and of itself. A friend of mine also taught me that when you give a card, write your note on a post-it note so that the person will have the card to give to someone else! I'll keep this one on hand as a "just in case" card! This one was made using one of the cut out cards by The Paper Cut. It had the three holes pre-punched at the bottom (or side - depending on how you make your card). I used the "Young At Heart" clear stamp set from Impression Obsession and stamped the gifts so that they would peek through. The cool thing about this set is the package body is one stamp and the outline and bow is another. I used a line and dot border stamp repeatedly to create the lines on teh card. The Happy Birthday saying is also part of the set. I stamped it on a strip of white and then matted it crooked on a black piece of paper. Add a loopy brad with a few pieces of ribbon and VOILA!

Happy Thursday!
Julie

Fly & Be Free

Happy Fourth everyone!

This is a card I cooked up last night burning the creative midnight oil. It's been a long time since I have used vellum! I love coloring the backside of it with colored pencils. It takes on such a light reflective quality that can, at times, look so realistic. On this card, I used an aqua and a royal and then blended them together with white. You can barely see in the photo, but I stamped the blue card mat all over with the butterfly stamp (Impression Obsession) in black ink. I wanted it to make the colored butterfly pop. I added a bit of sparkle with a silver gelly roll pen on the butterfly's wing dots. The brads were colored with a black Sharpie and then the blue piece was matted onto a dark blue Star Dream paper from Paper Cut. Pretty simple card! It's actually kind of "old school!" This is something I might have stamped 4 or 5 years ago! I guess it's always good to revisit and recreate!

Happy Fourth! Hope you are all relaxing and enjoying this day of independence!

Julie

To the Point - settia...

I'm back and now, after a day of just being a kid with my kids, I am dreaming up new ideas to put to paper! I have Christmas on my mind right now. I know that is insane! Three years ago I started making all of my cards in July and, I mean to tell you, that is the only way they get to their destination! When November hits, shopping, family, parties, Thanksgiving etc. take over and I am - in a word - overwhelmed. So, when the temperature hits 100 plus, I am in my basement thinking snow, pointsettias, and Christmas scenes!

This card was made using the Impression Obsession solid Pointsettia. I colored it with red ink, cut it out and layered it with a second cut out flower, and then stamped it again in green for the leaves. The yellow buds at the center of the flower (I forget the true name of these) are now actually pink rhinestones. I used Versamark ink and a musical note background to add a little punch to my red paper card. The strip of gold letter paper is background paper from Penny Black Inc. The saying is also Impression Obsession and is a part of the company's clear stamp line.

Not much to this card! Other than cutting out the flower, it is pretty easy to reproduce in bulk!!

Hope you are enjoying the dog days of summer!

Going To The Extreme!

Well, I have to warn you. Cardmaking has not been on my mind this week! I was asked to help be a part of something really, really cool! Extreme Makeover: Home Edition came to my hometown of Billings and I am helping with the volunteer effort. It has been such a huge rush. I can't even believe what it takes to build a home in 6 days! Not to mention, it's cool to see a television show being filmed while this all happens! So.... needless to say, I am going to be away from the computer this week! Thought I'd share some photos!!! If you want to know a little bit about the project - click on www.jeffjunkert.com!
Take care!

Christmas... In June??

Well, even though the temperature is in the 90's today, I really couldn't resist this little snow couple that came in the mail from Impression Obsession recently. They are just precious! All I did was stamp, watercolor (watercolor pencil and blender pen) and then matted the cuties on a light blue paper that I stamped with a IO snowflake in light blue ink. The little circle is also a stamp that I then punched out with a 1-1/4" punch. Tie a bow and call it good!

As I am thinking Christmas in my stamp room, happy second day of summer!

Julie

Big Manilla Envelope....

Well the mail man brought a surprise today! It was a manilla envelope with the Rubber Stamper label on it! Turns out, the card I submitted for their 'Inspired By' column made it for their July/August issue! Fun stuff! It was a card inspired by the Sunday funnies. There's plenty of inspiration packed inside this issue - alcohol inks, stamping on tiles (BTW is very fun) and good ideas for summer cards. So, check your mailbox or pick one up at your LSS!

Running Circles Around Flowers

Ok, This card was a lesson in what looks good in your head isn't all that practical! I punched circles from the front of the card, masked, stamped with an Alesa Baker flower by Impression Obsession and then chalked through the circle, watercolored, and glitzed with Stickles. Well, after I painstakingly arranged this card to make sure the holes matched up, etc. (No, I was not smart enough to assemble it and then stamp) I realized, where would you write a sentiment or note???? I might go back to the drawing board on this one but I thought I would share so you can help me laugh at myself!!!

Have a happy Thursday!


Here's a peek at the inside of the card! See what I mean?????

Lets Polka!

Hello all!
I'm hoping today's card rubs off on me a bit-- It's sunny and fun. Pink. Polka Dots. Fun!

Anyway, This card was one of those that was fun to create because I just kept stamping circles from the Mod Flowers set by Impression Obsession. I used black ink and then filled in the space with the small flowers in the set. I also wanted to create some "movement" in the design, so I took a dotted line from the Borders set and bent it to reach from one circle to another. I honestly have never bent clear stamps before but it is neat. The possibilities are endless there.

I used a scalloped edge scissor to create the black edging and used a 1/8" hole punch to get the eyelet look. (I haven't let myself buy any of those fancy edging punches yet!) The scalloped circle is a punch. I added a pop of color to the center using one of the IO Accent Templates and a sponge. Stamped the sentiment, added a ribbon and done!

Off for now.... Happy Hump Day!

Inspire!

This card was a lot of fun to create because instead of sketching out an idea, I just kind of went with it. All stamps are from Impression Obsession. I measured out a center path, stamped one of the Solid Flowers down the center, used the line stamp from the Borders set to separate and then chose another stamp from the Solid Flower set down the other two sides. I antiqued the paper using Tim Holtz Distress Ink in Tea color. I just brushed it on with a duster. The rest is simple, I edged the black mat with gold leaf pen, stamped one of the Solid Flowers using markers and popped the stamen of the flower just by coloring it with a Permaletter pen. The rest is just matting... and DONE! I loved the way this turned out.