Category Archives: Uncategorized

Thank You Bus Driver

The end of the school year is so hectic that I always forget to give our bus driver a thank you card or just run out of time.  So this year, I decided to make one in the beginning of the year for Mr. John!  Once school starts next week, things will be crazy again and time will fly by.  Which reminds me, I must get started on Christmas cardsLaughing.  I see so many people make such cute cards with different shapes, so I tried to do that with this card.  It sorta looks like a bus, right?  I used More Mustard Card Stock (100946) and ink (103162) for the card base, sponging the  ink around the edges.  For the windows and wheels I used Basic Gray (121044).  Circle punches are my friends – the 1-1/4″ (119861) and 1/2″ (119869) for the wheels in Basic Gray with the 3/4″ (119873) in Whisper White (100730) behind the wheels. The splash of Whisper White on the wheels and under the text really brightens up the overall card.  I used a corner rounder in various places to soften the corners.  The Real Red (102482) letters where cut with the Many Thanks Sizzlet  (115972) and my Big Shot – so easy.  It still looks a bit plain – I suppose I could add more details.  But at this point, I’m happy to have a card ready to go.  If I think of anything else to add, I still have a bit of time to do so.  And if I do add more detail, I’ll be sure to post an updated photo.  

 

A Grateful Heart

Sorry, no Thank You card for today.  Getting ready to head to the beach this week.  But that does not mean I’m not grateful today!  One of my favorite movies I watch with my kids is Veggie Tales’s Madame Blueberry.  In the movie, the phrase “A Grateful Heart is a Happy Heart” always sticks with me.  I’m not sure that message had gotten through to my kids, but it most certainly means a lot to me.  Every day my prayers include gratitude.  I often am grateful for the same things (usually my children, my husband, home, food on the table, etc.).  Several months ago, the leader of my Bible Study recommended keeping a Gratitude Journal for two weeks, writing down at least 3 different items of gratitude each day, without any repeats.  I certainly have enough blessings to do that!  So I kept the journal for those two weeks.  My kids even joined in, although they did have some repeats.  Writing them down indeed made me smile!  So the phrase “A Grateful Heart is a Happy Heart” was proven to me!  So yes, please do continue to make Thank You cards to show your appreciation to the kind people in your life, but also take time to Thank GOD with ALL of your heart – you’ll be so happy you did!  Next on my to do list – decorate a Gratitude Journal that I can continue to list my blessings.  So look for that project in the next month or so.  Now is a great time to get composition books at a great price, with Back to School sales!

Amazing August Promotion

During the month of August, buy 3 packages of Designer Series Paper and get 1 FREE!  With so many new papers to choose from in the new Idea Book & Catalog, this is a great way to stock up for your holiday projects while saving some money for your holiday stamp purchases Laughing.

• Download the promotional flyer.

• There is no limit to the number of free packages of Designer Series Paper you can earn.

• Specialty Designer Series Paper, Hostess Designer Series Paper, and 2011 Holiday Mini Designer Series Paper are not part of this promotion and cannot be redeemed through this offer.

Don’t miss out on this great opportunity to get your hands on the beautiful new Designer Series paper while earning some for FREE!

Happy Birthday with daisy

You knew you would see another daisy, didn’t you?  I do LOVE this die!  I see many many daisies in my future (haha).   Anyway, as usual, I waited until the last minute to make a birthday card that I needed to get in the mail pronto.  What to do?  Get out my Big Shot, of course!  It’s the best tool for procrastinators like myself!  It helps me every time to make a quick card.

daisy card

bright cheery birthday card

I started with a whisper white card, embossed it with the Perfect Polka Dots embossing folder (117335).  I then added some Certainly Celery satin ribbon (117288), tying a simple knot.  I made the flower using the Flowers, Daisies #2 die (114520) with Melon Mambo (115320) card stock for the larger 3 layers and Chocolate Chip (102128) for the 3 smallest flower layers.  You see I used another favorite embellishment, the Antique Brads (117273) for the very center.  Since the flowers from the die have a rather large opening in the center, I used a hot glue gun to keep the brad in the center of the flower.  I used my bone folder to gently bend the petals of each flower layer to give some added dimension.  I attached the flower and the sentiment banner to the card with Dimensionals (104439).  The sentiment is from a stamp set I earned for free during Sale-a-bration last year.   Be sure to return to my blog to know when you can earn free stamps like this set!  The sentiment was stamped in Certainly Celery (105217) to match the ribbon.  One of the BEST advantages of using Stampin’ Up! products is the matching or coordinating items within their lines.

Thank You Tuesday – a Simple, Kind Thanks

In general, I like very simple things.  I wear very simple jewelry and clothes, drive a simple yet practical car, prepare very simple meals for my family – you get the gist.  So, often, my cards are quite simple and I gravitate toward simple designs.  That’s also partly because I can be a bit lazy, tooEmbarassed.  This Thank You card is a perfect example of that:

simple thank you cardOf course I used my favorite tool – my Big Shot – and the perfect polka dots embossing folder (117335).  These folders are so awesome because they are rather inexpensive at just $7.95 each, but make such an impact on a project.  And you can emboss selective areas – did you notice how I left a blank section for my stamped greeting and flower embellishments?  If you’d like to learn how to do that, please just contact me to set up a workshop!

The stamp is from Thank You Kindly (111700) which is my go-to set for “thank you” sentiments these days and I stamped it in Pear Pizzazz (119784) classic ink on Whisper White card stock (100730).  The punched flowers are from retired card stock and punch, but you could use whatever color appeals to you along with flowers from the Boho Blossoms punch (119858) or Itty Bitty Shapes Punch Pack (118309).   You could also use our adorable flower buttons in the Designer Buttons packs found on page 197 of the 2011-2012 Idea Book & Catalog.  Or maybe you have some prima flowers or other embellishments you’ve been meaning to use?  The power of three rules here – just add three embellishments of your choosing.

I hope you are enjoying my project samples.  I certainly enjoying creating and showing them to you!  Would you like to see something in particular?  If so, just leave me a comment with your request and I’ll see what I can whip up for you!