Anytime Love / NAC #95

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Hey y'all. Happy Tuesday! I hope you're having a great week so far and enjoying some fabulous summer weather.  The Nacho's have a sketch challenge for you this week. I don't know about you, but sometimes I start with one idea and then end up with something totally different. I had a different stamp set, different paper, different colors, everything when I started this card and hard to believe this is what I came up with.  I'm pretty happy with the end result though. Hope you like it too-

Every once in a while you just need to have a little Love-Note on hand. They're not just for Valentines day. I used the "Love" stamp out of the Everyday Occasions card kit.

Here's the week's sketch-

I have to admit the two little flags threw me off a little. So I stacked them and put them under my shaped piece.  Not quite the same, but close. What will you create with this week's sketch? I can't wait to see your fabulous creations! 

Thanks so much for taking time out of your busy day to stop by my little corner of the world. You are very appreciated. Till Next Time-

Remember- Life is often more about the storms than the peace they seek to overwhelm. It's not about Waiting for the storms to pass, but learning to Dance in the rain.

Be Safe-

Shan

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End of the Week Technique #40 Nestled Layers - SSC #263

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Hey y'all. I hope you're having a great day! We've finally broken our All-Time Heat Wave here in the DMV and how happy are we!?! Soooo Happy. :) I'm doing this week's EWT a little early this week since it's a challenge card and I'd like to go ahead and post my card. Hope you don't mind. You don't? That's why you're the B.E.S.T.!

I've seen a couple of this type of card before done with the Labels Framelets, but I haven't seen any done with the Hearts. Yeah, yeah, this Scaredy Cat's a trailblazer all right! HAHAHAHAHA. I don't recall anyone ever really giving it a name so I'm calling it "Nested Layers" since the two layers are kind nested together. If you think of a better name let me know, kay? Kay. I'd been wanting to do this with the Labels Framelets, in fact that had been my plan for this week's EWT. Then I saw this weeks sketch over at 411 and decided to change it up just a wee bit.

Here's today's card, the tutorial will follow-

Nestled Layers Card featuring
Hearts Framelets, Bordering on Romance and Twitterpated DSP

Can you see how it's nestled? Here, let me show you-

How cool is that! Why yes, I did do the *Happy Dance* when I tried it and it worked. So exciting when that happens. Yea Shan!

Here's the sketch it was based on-

Another great sketch by the Stamping 411 ladies! I stuck pretty close to the sketch just making it a "gate-fold" card instead of a standard "flat-front" card so I could do my technique. I stepped a little out of my zone for this one. Luckily, that's coming a little easier nowadays than it used to. Gee, I guess challenging myself to a  challenge a week is paying off! : D For those of you that are new here, I'm a pretty visual person, but I'm also a pretty literal person. When I see a sketch, it really is a little hard for me to change shapes. There was a day when I would have seen this sketch and not done it because I didn't have a big "floral"/circular centerpiece. I don't have too many issues with changing the orientation, but I mostly keep all the elements of the sketch on my card, usually in pretty much the same layout. However, when I saw this sketch I thought of a big heart instead of flowers and just went with it.

I used Blushing Bride as my cardstock but only because I still had so much left and it matched the DSP I was planning on using. I began with Blushing Bride for my base and my large heart and added pieces of Twitterpated DSP to the front panels. The smaller heart is cut from Whisper White c/s. I stamped my image from Bordering on Romance twice in Black Staz-On so it wouldn't bleed when I colored it in. Surprise, Surprise, I got this right the first time. After stamping I centered my images in the heart framelet, cut it out and colored the images with Pretty in Pink, Regal Rose, Melon Mambo, Certainly Celery and Wild Wasabi Stampin Write Markers and my blender pens. I sponged the edges of both hearts, inside and outside edges, with Blushing Bride Classic Ink. I carefully adhered the outer half of the larger heart to the left panel and the outer edge of the smaller heart to the right panel with Dimensionals. Getting the inner heart positioned just right was the hardest part of the whole card and even that wasn't too bad.

Because you know I love the inside of the card to be as pretty as the outside, here it is-

Card Inside featuring
Bordering on Romance and Friendly Phrases

The sentiment is from Friendly Phrases and is stamped in Blushing Bride. I stamped a couple of the images from the Bordering on Romance set in Black Staz-On and colored them in with the same colors listed above. I then let Tink have her way  to sparkle it up a little. So pretty in real life. You can actually see a little of the sparkle here. What do you think? I'm so happy with how this card turned out. 

So for today's EWT- Here's what you're going to need-

A framelet set of your choice. I used hearts and I know it works great with the labels too. Will have to try it out with some of the newer sets once I get them home.

Dimensionals

Stamp set of your choice
Accessories as desired to decorate the rest of your card

This is a super simple technique, one I'm sure you're going to want to play with. Here's what you do-

1- Pick two adjoining framelet sizes. I think mine were #'s 3 and 4. Lay them on your piece of c/s and secure it down with either a post-it note or some painters tape so they won't move around.

Run it through your Big Shot. This will give you one thin heart piece (the Blushing Bride one on my card) and a smaller heart. Don't get rid of the inner heart you can use it in another project. (Sorry I just realized I should have taken a picture after I ran it through) :(

2- Stamp your image/s and center it within the smaller heart framelet. Run it through the Big Shot and color, decorate it however you wish.

Ok...So while I remembered to stamp with Staz-On the first time instead of classic ink, I however did not remember to stamp my images before I ran the above piece of c/s through my Big Shot. *headdesk* I now have a nice white heart though, begging to be used in some project. Hey, you know I tell and show the good as well as the bad.


3- Place Dimensionals on the outer halves of your cut pieces. I adhered my bigger heart first. However, I think it would probably be easier to mount the smaller one first and then the larger one. As you can see in the second picture below, I used the edge of the c/s to center my layers. The center point of each heart is aligned with the panel's edge. When the card is closed they will lay one inside the other and keep the card closed-

4- When you go to open the card they will separate from each other-

5- Smile when you see your finished card and smile even bigger when you think of the joy it will bring someone. Wouldn't you love getting a card like this and knowing someone took the time to make this special card for you? I know I would.


Well, that's all I have for you today. I hope you liked today's card and this week's EWT. Hopefully it will inspire you to try something new today and to make a special gift for someone who would be thrilled by a little hand-stamped love. As always, if you use this technique to create a card/project, I'd love to see it and post it for others to see as well. I love hearing from you and read all my comments and try to respond to them all as well. If you liked today's card and have a moment to drop me a line, it would totally make my day. If you'd like to +1 or Pin it, I've put the buttons here on my blog for your convenience. Friends and Followers are always welcome too! :)


Thanks so much for taking the time out of your busy day to stop by. I hope you'll come back soon. I have another challenge card for you tomorrow. Wow! 3 in one week. Lol! I also have a new Scrapbook page for you still to come this week. 


Till next time-


Remember- Life is often more about the storms than the peace they seek to overwhelm. It's not about Waiting for the storms to pass, but Learning to Dance in the rain.


Be Safe,
Shan

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Just a Little Love Note

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Hey y'all. Happy Friday. I hope you have had a great day.

I woke up today with energy for the first time in over 2 weeks. :) I think the new antibiotics are finally taking care of my pneumonia. Thanks to everyone who has sent love and prayers over the past few days. You are appreciated more than you know! Today's the first time I've had the energy to stamp or craft this week and I just wanted to share with you.

Just a quick post and a little love for you today.

Sometimes I think we, society as a whole, (and my fellow stampers as well as myself) forget about the really small things. I know myself, I rarely think about 3 x 3 cards. Look at most of the blogs out there and you rarely see 3 x 3's. When I do see them, they're usually in the form of a thank-you note we might send our customers.

But what about just a quick note to say how much we love or appreciate those that mean the most to us personally. Our lives are so hectic, we often forget to tell those we love just how much they mean to us. Worse, we forget to show them. Sometimes, we find the time to slip a quick handwritten note in our kids lunches, or send a quick text, but how about a quick card....Just Because.

I don't know about you, but when I sit down to think about a card it's rarely with the idea for a really Quick and Easy or Clean and Simple card. Look at most of the sketch challenges even, layer after layer and almost always full sized. This usually involves a commitment of 30 minutes to an hour or more unless I'm blessed with one of those moments of instant clarity when I see the sketch. What about just a quick card to tuck into a jacket pocket, a briefcase, or on the pillow?

This card has a few elements, but it came together in a flash and you could make quite a few in one sitting and have them ready for anytime. Here's a Little Love for you-

How nice would it be to find something like this on your pillow, or tucked in your wallet or commuter bag? Heck, your male significant others could be left alone with a few supplies for an hour or so, make some of these and feel like the Man of the Month!

It's a 6 x 3 piece of Basic Black scored at 3 to make a 3 x 3 card. A square of Whisper White at 2 3/4 x 2 3/4 holds a black heart that I cut out using my Heart Framelets. I used my Hearts Adorning Accents Edgelet Folder to emboss it. I then cut out a Real Red Heart with my Scalloped Heart Embosslet and layered it on top. A little Real Red heart, from the Beautiful Hearts Embosslet was added to the bottom.

The Sentiment is from the P.S. I Love You stamp set. I inked the p. s. with my Basic Black Stampin Write Marker.

Here's the inside-

I colored the rest of the sentiment from the front with my Basic Black and Real Red Stampin Write Markers and stamped it on a piece of Whisper White c/s. The little red heart was cut and embossed with the Beautiful Hearts Embosslet. I added a little Two-Way Glue Pen and Dazzling Diamonds to make it shine. I really wish it picked up better in the picture, it's so sweet! The nice thing about the embosslet is you get 5 different embossed and cut out hearts at one time. Extras for later, and you can use either the embossed or debossed area.

I also love that the "I" is dotted with a little heart. So Sweet!

Well, that's all I have for you today. It's just now 8 pm and I am getting ready to crawl back into bed. I can't wait to be over this whole pneumonia stuff. So Not A Fan!

I hope you liked today's card and I hope it reminds you as it reminded me, that sometimes it really is just the small things that can make a big difference. I hope it inspires you to try something small. It doesn't need to have a lot of elements, to be special. Remember the goal of this blog- Just Try!

I hope you have a great day and a great weekend filled with time to spend with family and friends and of course lots of creative time. I am looking forward to some creative time myself and hopefully the opportunity to guest blog and help out a hopefully new blogging friend. Will let you know how that turns out.

If you liked today's card, I would love it if you left me a comment. It's great when I get to hear from you! Also, if you liked today's card, please feel free to +1 or Pin it. I've added the buttons to my side-bar for your convenience. Friends and Followers are also welcome. :)
Till next time-

Remember- Life is not about Waiting for the storm to pass, It's about learning to Dance in the rain.

Be Safe,
Shan Pin It

Scalloped Heart Framelet Valentine

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Hey y'all. I'm baaaaack!  Ha. How many of you just flashed back to little Carol Ann and Poltergeist? Well, I have something much happier for you now. My second card of the day.

This is a card we're doing this weekend in my Valentine's Day Stampcamp. The weather is supposed to be nice. No snow or ice storms forecast for our region so it should be a go. (: I mostly had fun making this card.

Mostly. You'll see why.


*Edited*
*Spoiler Alert*
I have to tell you - we did this project this weekend for stampcamp and I can not tell you how SIMPLE this card was for my ladies to put together! The hardest part on it is ruffling the ribbon. If you're looking for a project with a lot of "WOW" read on, your clients and your card recipients will thank you!


But for now, here it is-

Sorry about the lines. I really do need to get a real camera instead of my darn BB. For some reason it occasionally gives me those wavy lines when I photograph with my OTT light. Seriously, anyone that knows how to take care of this, please leave me a comment. I would hate to actually buy a camera and have it still happen!

Isn't it pretty? Simple, but striking. Probably the worst thing about it (that most people would say) is that it won't fit in a standard envelope. It would definitely be a hand delivered or leave on the pillow type valentine.

The first thing I did was to fold a piece of Island Indigo c/s and run it through my Big Shot with my new Hearts Framelets. I used the largest one. It has the beautiful scalloped edges. I laid it just inside the edge of the left side so there were 3 or 4 scallops that didn't cut. This way my card stayed together with a hinge in the middle. Once that was cut I set it to the side for a few minutes.  (This is unfortunately a paper heavy project. You will use most of a piece of 8.5 x 11 piece of c/s for each card. I used two. One in Island Indigo and then another in Whisper White since the Island Indigo was too dark to stamp and write on inside)

For the front panel I used Whisper White c/s that I ran through my Big Shot with my the same framelet, I used the whole framelet this time because I wanted the whole heart to be cutout for the front. I also cut out a second one for the inside to use later. I also ran a piece of the floral DSP from the Twitterpated collection (Love It!) through with this framelet as well. I then stamped Love You, from the PS I Love You Stamp Set in the new Occasions Catalog, in Island Indigo (one of my all time favorite colors) on a Whisper White scrap and punched it out with the Decorative Label Punch. Once I had all these pieces ready, I sponged all the edges with Island Indigo. I used Tombow to adhere the label behind the DSP and to  adhere it to the Whisper White c/s.

Then I went to work on the inside-

Here's what it looks like opened up

I decided to use the Bordering on Romance stamp set. I love all the cards I've seen with it, but I haven't used it yet. How in the world has that happened? So I inked up the largest floral image in Classic Black and stamped it along the bottom. I used my Blender Pens and Classic Ink Pads to color it in. I used Island Indigo, Blushing Bride, and Lucky Limeade. Here's a closer Picture. I also stamped the sentiment in Island Indigo from the P.S. I love you Stamp Set.

Before I Tombowed this layer onto the base I trimmed the 3 inner scallops where the hinged section was so it wouldn't lie in that fold and this portion was done.

Remember how I said I "Mostly had fun" making this card? Well, if you noticed earlier, we didn't complete the front.  I know we have that nice pleated ribbon where the pleats are all done for you and it's all perfect, but, I had to make a choice when I was purchasing my ribbons and I chose to get that in Blushing Bride and the beautiful, soft, flowy, Seam Binding in Baja Breeze. Now, I guess I could have just put a straight strip of Seam Binding across the card and maybe a bow and it might have worked but I kinda felt like it needed the ruffles so I had to just suck it up and go for it. If you know me personally, or have followed me on here for any length of time, you know I am more than a little OCD about my cardmaking/crafting. The fact that I was about to have to bunch up ribbon in uneven and quite likely an unstraight line was not a happy thought for me. But it was what the design was dictating to me, so I Snailed that card front and the edges of the back (let me tell you SNAIL works Amazingly well with Seam Binding!) and started scrunching and as you can tell, it is not in a straight line, but I have to say, overall, once it was done and I Tombowed the panel and stuck it to the cardbase and took a look at my card, I was glad I did it.

Here's a close up view of my torture, I ah mean my finished product-

Not perfect, but I think maybe it adds to it's charm.

Do you Pinterest? I saw something in one of my reader feeds that I pinned today-

I SOOOOO Wish I Had This! I need to remind my self of this...DAILY.

Well, that's all I have for you today. I hope you liked my card. It's a new style for me. As always if it inspires you to try something new I would love to see it. If you liked it, I would love it if you left me a comment. It's great when I get to hear from you! Also, if you liked today's card, please feel free to +1 or Pin it. I've added the buttons to my side-bar for your convenience. Friends and Followers are also welcome. :)

If you need supplies to recreate this card or to make others you can visit my Online Store 24/7.
Todays Supplies-
Card Stock- Island Indigo, Whisper White, Twitterpated DSP
Ink- Classic Black, Island Indigo, Blushing Bride, Lucky Limeade Classic Ink Pads
Stamp Sets- P.S. I Love You, Bordering on Romance
Big Shot- Hearts Framelets
Decorative Label Punch
Baja Breeze Seam Binding Ribbon
Accessories- Blender Pens, Tombow, Sponges

Don't forget Sale-A-Bration is going on through March 31. Free merchandise with every $50 in purchases and special Exclusive offers for Hostesses in addition to your regular benefits. Contact me to learn more.


I hope to see you back here soon-

Till next time-

Remember- Life isn't about waiting out the storm. It's about learning to dance in the rain

Be Safe,
Shan

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Dual Sneak Peak - Framelets & Every Day Elegance

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Hey y'all. Hard to believe Wednesday's here already. Before you know it the week will be done and so will the year. Am I the only one that finds this hard to believe?

Well, with a new year comes a new Mini catalog and today's card showcases items from that as well as from our exciting Sale-A-Bration that starts January 24th. Normally I'm not a "Vintagey" person but I'm really loving the new Everyday Elegance DSP from SAB. Such a beautiful collection. Can't wait for you to see it and to get it for FREE! Yep, I said for FREE! For today's card though I went went with the "vintagey" feel for the whole card and kind of surprised myself. Here it is-

I started with a base of Peach Parfait. I like this color but often have trouble finding color combinations to use it with and luckily the Everyday Elegance DSP works beautifully with it! I also stood my card up tent style (not sure if that's what it's really called) and I almost never do that. In fact I don't think I have any cards here shown in that style. I ran the card front through the Big Shot with the Vintage Wallpaper Embossing Folder. I thought it kind of picked up on the design in the DSP. I sponged over it lightly with CrumbCake Classic Ink to make the images stand out a little more. The DSP is already antiqued around the edges so I had to sponge the other 2 edges (the cut edges) to make them appear equal and I used more CrumbCake for this.  I decided to use some  lace to cover the edge between the DSP and card base and actually antiqued it a little as well. Boy was my CrumbCake getting a workout on this card! I used SNAIL to adhere the lace to my DSP and then Tombow to adhere that to my card base. I also used my Corner Rounder Punch to round the bottom corners also something I don't normally do.

For the focal point I used the Fresh Vintage (an OxyMoron I think) stamp set from our upcoming Sale-A-Bration. I used my Blender Pens and In Color Ink Pads to color right on the the stamp in Peach Parfait and Pool Party and used my Old Olive Stampin Write Marker and then stamped on Very Vanilla c/s. I then used my new Heart Framelet to center and frame the image and cut it out and then while the frame was still in place I sponged with, what else, CrumbCake and then removed the framelet. If you look closely you can see a faint cream edge. I then took the next size up and used it to cut out another heart and then embossed that one with the same Vintage Wallpaper Embossing Folder I used earlier on the cardbase. This time however I flipped it over and showed the debossed side. I sponged it as well to enhance the embossing. I adhered the two together with Tombow and then used dimensionals to pop them up off the DSP layer.

WOW! A lot of antiquing for me! Can you believe it? LOL...

Here's a look at the inside-

The sentiment is from Sprinkled Expressions and it's stamped in Peach Parfait. The design in the bottom is once again colored in with my Blender pens and Classic ink pads. I stamped off once to decrease the intensity of the color and then sponged around the edge of the Very Vanilla c/s. A quick rounding of the edges before adhering it to the card base and all done. I kept the inside simple since the outside had so much going on, but I think it still keeps with my theory that the inside should still be pretty. What do you think?

Well, that's all I have for you today. I hope you like it and I hope you're getting excited about the new products that are coming next month! I know I am. If you liked it, I would love it if you left me a comment. It's great when I get to hear from you! Also, if you liked today's card, please feel free to +1 or Pin it. I've added the buttons to my side-bar for your convenience. Friends and Followers are also welcome. :)

I hope you have an Amazing day and you come back soon!

Till next time-

Be Safe,
Shan Pin It