Today, just for grins, I made a tall card with a finished size of 4 x 9 inches (i.e. 8 x 9" card stock folded in half).  If you like ample room to write a message inside a card—well, try  this card's dimension!  You will not be disappointed in the room to write inside or the ability to easily add a 3×5 picture!

A very dear friend of mine father has been gravely ill these past few months.  I made this card with my friend in mind in hopes to bring some sunshine in to her life.   That's why I chose SU!'s Greenhouse Gala DSP because I love its bright, cheerful colors and the paper designs.  The Friends Never Fade stamp set is a perfect match with the DSP too.   

A heavy sigh on my part…I have domestic chores waiting on me.  Rubber hugs 'til the next time!

Oh dear—I have either not felt like stamping (too hot) or have been busy with domestic chores such as housecleaning.  Sigh—after this post I am going to work on tidying the garage.  Oh, won't that be a thrill and a half?!

August 31st is the LAST DAY (oh my!) for SU!'s Summer mini-catalog.  Can you believe that summer is almost over???  Next up—SU!'s Winter mini-catalog!

Anyway, if you love the Island Oasis DSP used on this card then place your order now.  The Island Oasis DSP is just one of many wonderful stamping goodies that will no longer be available as of September 1st. 

Do you recognize the birdie from SU!'s Pun Fun stamp set?  I think he is such a cute an adorable birdie and so happy looking!  I had some fun too with my birdie by cutting out his wings, tail, and tummy from scrap pieces of Island Oasis DSP.   The birdie's body was colored in using a blender pen with Tempting Turquoise ink pulled from a marker pen. 

Rubber hugs,

Yesterday I played around making some birthday cards a friend who needed some.  The color scheme was driven by the fact I chose SU!'s retired Cottage Wall DSP for the cards.  The flower was stamped using RIch Razzleberry ink.

The stamped and cut-out flower (Orchid Opulence ink) is from the SU!'s Petal Pizzazz stamp set.  If you compare the flowers on each card you'll see I did some slight variations using my SU! 3/4" and 1" punches.  The Old Olive leaves were made using the Two-Step Bird Punch (117191).   A thought just occurred to me—I could have used the 'kissing technique' with the flower stamp to create more 'visual interest'.  Then again—maybe it would have been too much.  I am a great one for thinking of 'something else" that could have been done to the card after  it is finished.  Next time…

I still have oodles of retired SU! rub-ons and they worked out perfectly for adding a birthday sentiment to each card.  Here's a picture of the two cards side by side:

  Rubber hugs,

I am trying to use  some of my 'older' card making supplies every other day or so.  Just trying to be a little bit frugal and also gives me a mini-trip down memory lane.  What I typically find myself doing though while digging through my stash is chastising myself for not labeling DSP (i.e. coordinating colors in the package) and other such self mumblings.  Someday I will be a good stamping citizen and have everything labeled and in its place…that is when pigs are flying around in the skies!

The retired SU! DSP is from the Kiwi Kiss In-Color era.  The stamp set (K is for Kindness???) is from an old, and long since retired, SU! card making kit.   The flower punch used on this card is also retired…WOW…I just realized how much retired stuff I used in making today's card! 

Today I spent several hours doing summer cleaning of my closet and desk area.  It always feels good to weed out what is no longer used and toss whatever is no longer important or relevant.   Now I just need to get the courage to go through all the 'stuff' I have shoved underneath our bed. 

Here's a picture of me with a King Salmon I caught off of Admiralty Island, AK in the area known as Danger Point.  Kevin, the boat's captain, is standing on my left. 

Rubber hugs to all,

It may be several more days before my mind is willing to take on a card layout with complexities.  For now my brain just wants to do simple card layouts that do no tax the gray matter too much.   

The SU! DSP used on the card is retired and comes from the time period when Wild Wasabi was an "In-Color".   Fast forward a few years and Wild Wasabi is back as a core SU! color.   That  works out well for me because I have lots of Wild Wasabi paper on hand!

The stamped,  punched-out flower (using Scallop Circle punch) and decorated with non-SU! bling is from the Printed Petals stamp set.  The Printed Petal flower stamp was stamped using So Saffron ink on a scrap piece of Whisper White paper.  This is a SU! stamp set I want to play around with more because the flower stamps look so fun! 

The stamped sentiment is from SU!'s retired Vintage Labels stamp set.  What a bummer that is a retired stamp set.  I just love that stamp set!  Hmmmm, I cannot readily remember if the striped So Saffron ribbon is retired or not…  I also used my 3/4" (Soft Sky?) and 1" (Wild Wasabi) circle punches to create the flower's center piece.

Ready for another Alaskan venture picture?  Here's me with my catch that's called a Yellow Eye or Red Snapper fish.  Oh, these are yummy tasting fish!  We had some grilled Yellow Eye fish last night and it was de-li-ci-ous!

Rubber hugs,

It has taken me a few days to acclimate to being back on the Big Island instead of being in Alaska.   Maybe the slow acclimation is a sign that it was a good vacation?!

Today was the first day I truly had a chance to stamp and felt I had some brain cells to work with.  The card's layout was inspired by Clean & Simple card sketch 103 which was just the ticket to help me ease back in to stamping.  SU!'s Ornate Blossom stamp is the card's focal point and was stamped using Cajun Craze ink on vanilla paper.  SU!'s Perfect Details Texturz Plate was used on the Pear Pizzazz paper layer to give it visual interest.  Instead of using ribbon as an embellishment  I used my Dotted Scallop Ribbon Border Punch on Chocolate Chip paper and layered on top a 1/4" strip of Pear Pizzazz paper.

The "Oh My" from today's blog header was triggered by my wrestling match with our 'networked' printer that went AWOL (to long to go into as to why).  Have you ever had a situation where you made the problem worse than it was originally??  I had to give myself a 'time out' to collect my thoughts and wits as well as to stop griping at myself for really screwing things up.  The time out must have helped because the printer finally agreed it wanted to be part of the networked gang.   I did pull out a few tufts of hair in over that printer!

Ready for a couple Alaska pictures?  The two photos were taken in Chatham Straits west of Admiralty Islands (SE Alaska).  We had anchored to do some fishing for Halibut and yummy rockfish.  I love to jig for halibut which by the way is also a good workout.  Also, here's the link to the fishing lodge we stayed at:  Whalers Cove Lodge   (http://whalerscovelodge.com/)

Rubber hugs!

I brought along with me SU!'s Holiday mini-catalog that will be released September 1st.   Oh my—my 'wish list' is a mile long! 

Isn't the picture of my stamping assistant, Alice (Meow–the cat), just adorable?  She's taking a snooze in my flowerbed.  As for me—I am sleepless in Seattle due to my body is still on Hawaii time (3 hours difference).

Rubber hugs to y'all!

Wow, I just love SU!'s Cherry Cobbler paper!  This is my first time using this new color and it's definitely going to be a FAV of mine. 

Today's card is a mix of something old and something new.  The old being retired SU! rub-ons (sentiment, and floral strip).  The something new (at least for me) is the Elements of Style stamp set.  The flower stamp set was stamped with black ink on Whisper White.  The stamped flower was colored in using a SU! blender pen where I pulled the Baja Breeze and Pear Pizzazz ink from my stamping pads.  The flower centers were colored in with More Mustard SU! marker.  Spellbinder dies were used to create a scalloped-edge and smooth-edge More Mustard circles. 

I also like to use rub-ons to decorate the outside of my mailing envelope.  My mom, and her mail person, always can tell when it's a letter from me.  The mailing envelope is jazzed up some way.  Rub-ons are just another alternative (besides stamping) to accomplish that jazz goal.  

The book I am listening to, "The Return of the Dancing Master" (Henning Mankell), has its mystery wrapped around a killed man who loved to do the tango.  The continual reference to the "tango" influenced me to use Tangerine Tango in today's card.   How's that for an unusual influence in choosing a color?

The Sweet Stop Sketch challenge 66 provided today's card layout.  I pulled out my Spellbinder dies to cut a scallop-edge oval (Tangerine Tango) and smooth-edge scallop (white).  The flower from Friends Never Fade was inked with Tangerine Tango, So Saffron, and Old Olive SU! markers and stamped on the white oval.  I have to admit that flower looks so beautiful colored in!!  So Saffron ink was carefully sponged with a sponge dauber around the edge of the white oval.

The "Hello, You" (from SU!'s Hello, You stamp set) was stamped with Old Olive ink on Whisper White paper.  Bling (non-SU!) was added just below the sentiment.  Oh, before I forget!  The Hello, You sentiment is matted on retired So Saffron colored DSP.  I found a scrap of this DSP while scrounging around for something else and deemed it perfect for use in making today's card. 

SU!'s Apple Blossom (Hostess stamp set) is way too much fun!  Today's card features two stamps from this great set.  Do you see how I sneaked in the sentiment "just a little note"? 

The card base is Rich Razzleberry and I cut off about 3" from the card's front.  The card's edge was punched using a non-SU punch.  A 4 1/4 x 5 1/2" piece of vanilla paper was stamped with the leaf pattern stamp using Tempting Turquoise, Rich Razzleberry, and Pear Pizzazz ink.  A strip of SU!'s Pear Pizzazz ribbon was added to the card's front and secured with a simple knot.  The sentiment was stamped using black ink. 

I really like this bright and cheerful color combo which comes courtesy of SU!'s Color Coach.  It just makes your life soooooooooooooo much easier for choosing a color combo that will be perfect for your crafting project! 

Is it Monday again?!

The caffeine has not yet kicked in which means a simple long card for today's posting (6 x 6 1/2" scored at 3 1/4").  This card's layout is a basic one that can be dressed up with paper piercing, bling, or whatever sounds fun to you. 

The sentiment, from SU!'s "Hello, You", was stamped at the lower right-hand side of the card using Concord Crush ink.  Lap of Luxury DSP was used for matting purposes on the upper portion of the card.  I kind of cheated since my Basic Gray card stock supply is z-e-r-o.   The addition of Concord Crush ribbon (119266) and the card was done.  The new In-Color ribbon (1/2" Stitched-Poly Ribbon) has the yummiest texture!! Enjoy the weekend!

Here is a fun and simple card you can make using SU!'s Hostess Apple Blossoms stamp set.  The apple blossom flower was stamped on Whisper White paper twice each with Cajun Craze, Not Quite Navy, and Daffodil Delight ink. The flowers were cut out (whole and inner flower) and adhered to a Whisper White paper strip stamped with the series of circles stamp (using Pear Pizzazz ink).  The Scallop Trim Border Punch was used on one edge of Pear Pizzazz paper to add a little ooompfh to the matting paper.  The sentiment was stamped with Cajun Craze ink.  There you go!  A bright and cheerful card ready for mailing to just about anyone.

Have a great weekend!