Thoughts and Prayers

Bloggers Challenge – Birthday theme!

March 12, 2010 By Connie | 23 Comments

HAPPY BIRTHDAY, Lisa! Our Bloggers' Challenge "mom" Lisa is the one who sets up our themes for each week. It is her birthday on Monday, March 15th! This week's card is virtually dedicated to her!

Again, my inspiration comes from others. I think Mary Brown's card is the one that inspired me the most, although I've seen this basic format done a few times. I love using the ornament punch as a vase! I made up a bunch of these at the stamping retreat last weekend.

I punched the vase from the Soft Suede pattern out of Thoroughly Modern Designer Paper. I inked up the floral branch from Stampin' Up!'s Thoughts and Prayers stamp set with Rose Red and Soft Suede Stampin' Write Markers, then placed it so that it looks like it is coming out of the punched ornament vase. I tied a bow from 1/4 Rose Red grosgrain ribbon and placed it on the front of the vase. I stamped "the more candles the bigger the wish!" from Well Scripted on the Whisper White layer, too, in Rose Red Classic Ink. The Whisper White was layered onto Rose Red cardstock, then a base of Soft Suede. The inside is finished off with a strip of the same Designer Paper and another greeting.

I can't believe it is Friday already. I haven't been in my stamp room since I got back! I'm definitely feeling withdrawal! I need to get stuff put away from last weekend…it is all still laying on my tables! (No one else does that, right?) Anyway…I did get my new bedroom put together. I need to go buy a couple pictures for the walls, but the curtains are up and the bed made. Hmmm, I'll take a picture and show you when it is done! Have a great weekend!

The next batch of Satin Ribbon Shares are going out today! I'm SO happy that Stampin' Up! put the Satin Ribbon in the Summer Mini, too, so I can continue doing the shares! You can find out more information HERE!

Thoughts and Prayers

March 11, 2010 By Connie | 1 Comment

Stampin' Up!'s Thoughts and Prayers stamp set is really my go-to stamp set when I need sympathy cards. My mother-in-law placed an "order" for some, so I made up a dozen while I was at the stamping retreat last weekend.

I picked the Nouveau Chic designer paper to use because it uses Basic Gray. I thought the Sage Shadow was toned down enough to really compliment this stamp set, too. It really is the perfect designer paper for Sympathy cards!

I started with a base card of Sage Shadow and layered on Basic Gray cardstock. I added a strip of Nouveau Chic Designer Paper. I inked up the tree with my Stampin' Write Markers in Going Gray and Sage Shadow and stamped on Whisper White. I added Sharing in Your Sorrow with Basic Gray Classic Ink. I layered the Whisper White on Sage Shadow cardstock and placed it on the front of the card. Pretty basic and simple, but I think it has a lot of impact for a Sympathy card! Hope she likes them!

I'm so excited. We just purchased a bedroom set for the empty bedroom. Our youngest took his bedroom set with him to college and the room had a spare sofa bed in it for a couple years. Last year when he moved to his new apartment, he took the sofa bed with him and the room has been empty. They delivered it yesterday and I went shopping yesterday for a new comforter and sheets. I found a really bright and pretty comforter, but now I need new sheets (expensive!) and some pictures, etc. Isn't it funny how one new thing can spark a whole new bunch of shopping? lol!

Thoughts and Prayers

July 22, 2009 By Connie | 4 Comments

Wow…a LOT of you enjoyed the Tour de Freaks Blog Tour over the past couple days! Thank you for stopping by! Stay tuned…the next one is August 20th from your favorite Control Freak Swappers!

Over on Late Night Stampers, the challenge this week is using Pink and Black on your cards! Personally…one of my favorite color combinations! I decided to pull out one of my favorite sets, Thoughts & Prayers, and a fun technique, Pierced Spotlighting! I added a twist to the spotlighting, though.

First I stamped the branch image in Basic Black on Whisper White and layered it on Melon Mambo…one of the new In Colors! Then I used my Pick A Petal Brass Stencil and Piercing Tool to pierce around an area highlighting the flowers. I punched a 1 1/4 circle on a post it note, placed it over the pierced circle area and sponged a little Pretty in Pink ink with my Sponge Dauber just in that area (the twist!) I used the Melon Mambo marker to color the small flowers. Adding that sponging made the spotlighted area pop even more! I added Thinking of You with Melon Mambo ink.

I finished the card by layering the focal element on Basic Black. I used a base of Pretty in Pink cardstock and layered some Raspberry Lemonade Designer Paper along the left side and added the Pretty in Pink striped ribbon. The focal element was placed on the front with Dimensionals.

Pretty simple card…easy to put together and mass produce. I like those!

Hope you have a great day! A little cloudy and rainy today, but we needed it!

Happy birthday to my upline, Candy!!!!

INKspired Treasures

Last Chance – July Card Kit

July 16, 2009 By Connie | Leave a Comment

CARD KIT OF THE MONTH- JULY 2009

Featured Set: Thoughts & Prayers

Featured Accessory: The Pretties Kit

It’s card kit time again!

You will LOVE this stamp set and these cards!

In this kit, you’ll receive the cardstock and ribbon supplies to create SIX of EACH design shown above – so you will receive all of the consumable supplies that you need to create 12 cards total. (Pretties Kit items available separately.)

You will also receive 2 additional full color samples of "alternative" cards that you can make with the combined contents of the kit, as well as step by step instructions on how to complete each of the 4 designs.

Card Kit Price is just $20–that’s 12 cards, plus envelopes for just $20!

Each month, the card kit also features both a Stamp Set of the Month and an Accessory of the Month. If you purchase the card kit, you may also purchase these items at 20% off!

May Featured Products:

Thoughts & Prayers Stamp Set ~~($25.95)~~ $20.76 with the purchase of the Card Kit (plus tax and shipping)
Pretties Kit ~~($29.95)~~ $23.96 with the purchase of the Card Kit (plus tax and shipping)

What else will you need? See the list below for items that were used to create the cards in this kit. If you already have everything–just buy the card kit and you are ready to create!

If you don’t have everything–place a product order with your kit (don’t forget about the discount on the "featured products!")

Or–you can use the card kit to create your own designs using other stamps and inks that you already have–the choice is yours!

Orders for the Card Kits must be received by July 21st. You will receive your kits by the end of the month.

Call or email me today to order:

Connie R. Babbert

614-792-7999

Please Note: I am glad to ship kits directly to you! If the kit needs to be shipped, there will be an extra $3 shipping charge.

Products you will need to complete cards as shown (tax and shipping is extra):

Close to Cocoa Classic Ink Pad ($5.95)
Pretty in Pink Classic Ink Pad ($5.95)
Close to Cocoa Stampin’ Write Marker ($3.25)
Old Olive Stampin’ Write Marker ($3.25)
Perfect Plum Stampin’ Write Marker ($3.25)
Large Oval Punch ($15.95)
½” Circle Punch ($5.95)
Crop-A-Dile ($29.95)
Stampin’ Sponges ($3.50)
Mini Glue Dots ($4.95)
Aqua Painters ($16.95)
Stampin’ Dimensionals ($3.95)
SNAIL Adhesive ($6.95)
Bone Folder ($6.95)
Thoughts & Prayers Stamp Set ~~($25.95)~~ $20.76 with the purchase of the Card Kit
Pretties Kit ~~($29.95)~~ $23.96 with the purchase of the Card Kit

Thoughts and Prayers

May 26, 2009 By Connie | 1 Comment

Well, you know you’ve been gone a LONG time when you struggle to figure out how to start stamping! I took a completely relaxing, much needed break, but now I’m back! Hope you enjoyed the entries I preposted before I left.

Now, it seems we are heading into the busy months of summer. Hard to believe graduations are happening and school will be out next week. Our family has a TON of birthdays in June (mine included!) and Father’s Day…plus my son’s graduation from Ohio State University!

A friend of mine had surgery last week. I hear she is doing well. Since I was gone, I didn’t get a card out to her last week, but am sending this one out in the mail to her today. (Hope she doesn’t peek!)

I started with a base of Pumpkin Pie and used the background stamp, Bella Toile, with Pumpkin Pie ink over the front. My poor background stamps have been pretty neglected since the Big Shot came around! I used a scrap piece of Sweet Always Designer Paper I had on my desk and layered it onto Chocolate Chip. I ran Regal Rose and Whisper White cardstock (at the same time!) thru the Big Shot with the Scallop Oval Frame die…so I got two ovals and two scallop frames. I took the Regal Rose scallop frame and cut it in half and tucked it behind the Sweet Always DSP layer. Then I stamped the tree from Thoughts & Prayers on Whisper White…I used Chocolate Chip and Regal Rose markers to ink it up. I think the pink flowers look like the flowering crab trees we had about a month ago! Get Well Soon from Thoughts & Prayers is stamped in Pumpkin Pie on the Whisper White, also. I wasn’t going to use anything else on the card, but a cut out butterfly "landed" on my card when I was flipping thru my messy desk for my Paper Snips…I thought it looked pretty cool there, so I stamped the butterfly from Great Friends in Pumpkin Pie and cut it out. It is popped up with a dimensional.

Quick and easy card that packs a little WOW, don’t you think?

I just got some exciting news that I get to share in a week or so! Woohoo!!! I’m such a tease! lol!

Hope you had a wonderful Memorial Day weekend and paused a moment to thank all our service men and women who keep (and kept) our country safe! God Bless America!

Don’t forget…the BUY 3, get 1 more FREE Designer Series Paper and Textured Cardstock SALE ends May 31st! Last Chance to get them since I’m sure most of them will retire on June 1st!

Urban Oasis Designer Paper

March 30, 2009 By Connie | 1 Comment

Hi everyone…hope you had a great weekend. Mine was filled with NOTHING! Yeah! I haven’t had a weekend like that in a LONG time…it felt good to not have a schedule to do anything.

This quick and simple card is one of a package I made up for my mother-in-law. She wanted some Sympathy, Thinking of You and Best Wishes cards. This pattern in the Urban Oasis DSP package is one of my favorites. On one end, the long stems look simply like stripes. On this end, you can see the tops of the Upsy Daisy flowers. I had used the bottom stripes for other projects and the top 4" of the paper remained in my scraps…so I grabbed them and made up a few of these cards. I simply wrapped some White Taffeta Ribbon around the center of the DSP, adhered it to the base card of Baja Breeze, then stamped the greeting with Basic Gray ink. There is a nice verse inside, too. Simple, easy, not much stamping…but a nice card to send. Sometimes those are the best, huh?

Well, I have a pretty free week and LOTS of ideas in my head of things I want to do and make. I’ll be working away in my studio! Yeah! I have some magazine calls I need to work on, too. For the past two nights, I’ve had something in my head that I want to make and I haven’t sat down to do it…today’s the day! Hope it comes out as I see it in my head…lol!

Set: Thoughts and Prayers
C/S: Baja Breeze, Urban Oasis DSP
Inks: Basic Gray
Other: White Taffeta Ribbon

Thoughts & Prayers

February 25, 2009 By Connie | 2 Comments

The Thoughts & Prayers stamp set has certainly been popular. Over the past weekend, Mary, Lisa and I did some cyber challenges and used this set a couple times. I’ll link to them when I see they have posted their cards.

We used Amy R’s sketch as a jumping off point and the requirement of using Thoughts & Prayers. Each of us used a different color scheme. Makes it so fun to see how each of us interpret the sketch differently.

I started by using some of the Sale-A-Bration designer paper, Delicate Dots, that you can get for FREE with a $50 order. I let the stripe paper determine my color scheme. I started with the base of So Saffron. I added a layer of Certainly Celery, first running it thru my Big Shot with the flower Textruz design (you can barely see it in the background in the photo.) I added the striped designer paper to the right side, and then the blue polka dot designer paper to the left. I rounded the corners of it first.

I used the floral branch for my stamped image and inked it with Certainly Celery, then removed the color from the flowers with my blender pen. This allowed me to add back the So Saffron color with my marker. I layered the Whisper White onto Sahara Sand. Then I pierced holes in each of the flowers for a little more definition. This piece went on top of the designer papers and I wrapped the So Saffron 5/8 grosgrain around the entire Certainly Celery piece and knotted. (This ribbon is part of the ribbon bundle you can also get only during Sale-A-Bration with a $50 order…it matches the designer paper perfectly!) My final step was to add the Thinking of You greeting, cut with my Sizzix Lots of Tags die. I added a small punched flower in So Saffron from the Trio Flower punch and placed a crystal mini brad from the Pretties Kit in the center. Cute!

I think I’m going to have to call my brother, the dentist, today. I’ve had a toothache for two days. Ouch! I don’t know what I’ve done. I was just in there last week for an emergency visit when my filling broke off. I bit down on something hard in my food…haven’t figured out what it was, but it did do some damage, obviously!