LAND THAT I LOVE .... INDEPENDENCE DAY CARDS

HEY BLOGGIES,

Are you getting ready for some baseball, picnics, fireworks and fun with friends and family??  So am I!!

I wanted to share a card I made with my friend and downline, Tammy M.  We used WORK OF ART stamp set and a few special surprises as well:

 We used real red and Night of Navy card stock, also whisper white.  We did something a little bit lagnappe or "unexpected" - we used a star stencil and some moon pearl embossing powder BEFORE we stamped with the navy ink for the star part of the flag.  Isn't it awesome??!!  I LOVE how it turned out.

 If you decide to make one of these cards, make sure you make both a stencil and a mask for the blue part because first you use the stencil part so you just emboss that area, then you stamp it with the navy inked stamp.  then you use the mask part to cover up the navy part so the red won't get there when you stamp the stripes.  I hope I have said that clearly so you can make one of these FUN cards too!!

See anything else that fits LAGNAPPE or "unexpected"?  YES, that is a silver eagle head charm on the sentiment.  AND YES those are mini star sequins on the left of the sentiment.  Just too little special somethings to make you do a double take.  Speaking of a double take, see the boo-boo I did right below the blue stars field?  I tapped my stripe stamp a second time into the wrong ink pad.  I thought I thumped it into the real red but NOOOO, it was the navy pad by mistake.

Well, things happen and life goes on.  But this wonderful country is LAND OF THE FREE AND HOME OF THE BRAVE.  Thanks to all those who serve us by helping to keep our beautiful America FOREVER FREE.

Stamp set:  Work of Art, alphabet set
Ink:  Real Red, Night of Navy
Card stock:  Real Red, Night of Navy
Other:  mini star sequins, silver eagle charm

I would love to hear your comments on our fun and patriotic card.  Won't you take just a moment and leave a comment for me?

Have a wonderful holiday weekend.

ANOTHER VALENTINE - THIS ONE FOR FRIDAY MASHUP #44

I LOVE this card.  The colors, the shape, the shine on the hearts...everything about it.

Red and Rose or pink - they are so pretty together for Valentine's Day, aren't they? I especially like the green as the accent color.  I chose the polka dot ribbon to go with the polka dot DSP.

What do you think of this card?  It is last year's stamp set but I just love this set and can't part with it.

Thanks for looking.  See other cards for Friday Mashup @44 HERE.

Here's to inky fingers y'all

LAST MINUTE LITTLE CANDY HOLDERS

HEY Y'ALL,  Today I want to show you the CUTEST EVER candy holders I made.  I saw this idea from Angie Juda - Hey Angie!!  It is with a piece of card stock 6" x 3" and looks like a little purse.  But the cutest part of it is the goofy reindeer on the front.  Here it is:

 Isn't the little reindeer so goofy it is CUTE??  He is the owl punch with the feet cut off.  Then the antlers are two parts of a punched snowflake.  LOVE IT!!

I embossed the riding hood red card stock with the Petals-a-Plenty embossing folder.  The scored to fold up to look like a purse.  It is glued shut and the nuggest or little candy bar goes inside.  I put a pack of lifesavers and it just poked out a bit on each end and still looks cute.  Just make sure you put glue on the bottom of the candy papers so they don't fall out.  On these in the photos, I used the 1/8" taffeta red ribbon for the purse handle.  You can also use the gold cord for the handle of the purse or anything else you choose.  You draw on his funny mouth with a marker any way you want.

Sorry for the bad photos.  I used my cell phone because my camera's batteries are dead.  Enjoy making these quick and fun candy holders for little "thinking of you" gifts for friends and neighbors.

Merry Christmas to everyone.

SPECIAL CHRISTMAS BOX - click on images to enlarge

I forgot to post my completed special Christmas Box that I received as a special kit from SU! for recruiting during a promotion this summer.  Both me and my new recruit got this kit to make this over the top decorated Christmas box.

I have to admit I had a bit of trouble following the directions (I always seem to) so I branched out and did my own thing on it.  I think it personalizes it to be my very own!!

 This is the box completed.  I put it on real red paper to photograph it and maybe that is confusing.  The solid red behind it is just a backdrop of paper to take the photo.  The box is a sturdy white box with this wonderful "lip" at the bottom to hold while you open it.  Reminds me of those old fashioned candy boxes.

This is the left side where the bows and flowers are.  The striped bow is the 1 1/4 striped ribbon and then it has a pop of "wow" with another ribbon solid red tied as a knot on top of it.  I love the detail of the forked ends of the red ribbon.  I added a large pearl from our sticky pearls sheet right on top of the knot.

Along the edge of the ribbon there are 3 flowers:  one is scallop punches of first edition dsp crumbled and made into a flower, the first one you see is 1" of torn fabric rolled and wrapped into a rose (MY FAV) with a button on top, and the top one is lace gathered on one edge and pulled into a rosette.  They are awesome and I love these details.

This is the right side of the box.  A very large button (Holiday Mini from the spice cake collection) sits on top of the large striped ribbon.  I used cherry cobbler striped baker's twine to tie it and then a pearl in the middle. As you can see, there is glitter all over the box for extra BLING.  The polka dotted paper is Letters to Santa dsp and has some dimension to it with glitter on the red dots.  Love this paper!!  Underneath the wide ribbon is more early edition dsp.

This is the middle of the box with the focal images being the stamped images from the Pines and Boughs stamp set (Holiday mini).  I used glimmer mist on the red tag underneath the "Christmas" image.  The pinecones are inked up with markers to get all the color details and I stamped them on a scallop circle and sponged the edges red.  Behind that peeping out is another scallop circle in red.  Attached to the bottom red tag is a ribbon like banner made from the Early Edition dsp and then glittered along the edges.  Another large pearl is on the top of this ribbon banner.

One last photo of the whole box now that you know what all the elements are.  You can just see on the right side of the box the edging that goes all the way around the box.  It is the scallop edge border punch in green, red and Early Edition dsp, along with pearls along the entire edge.  Some spray glimmer mist makes it complete.

I had so much fun making this kit from SU!  FREE is something I LOVE, and I got it free for recruiting during the special promotion.  Stampin' Up! is always doing fun promotions for us demonstrators to earn free things like stamps, supplies and special things like this kit.  YOU can earn these free things while doing something YOU love too!  Contact me and let's talk about how YOU can get big discounts on supplies, as well as earn lots of fun free things.

Thanks for stopping by.  Here's to inky fingers y'all!                                      

HAPPY INDEPENDENCE DAY WEEKEND - THANKFUL FOR OUR COUNTRY

I LOVE ALL THE PATRIOTIC DECORATIONS EVERYWHERE THIS WEEKEND.  WE ARE SO BLESSED TO BE LIVING IN THIS SPECIAL COUNTRY WITH SO MANY WONDERFUL FREEDOMS. 

I CREATED A CUTE STAR SHAPED BUD VASE HOLDER (SAW THE IDEA ON A BLOG LAST WEEK AND DIDN'T WRITE DOWN WHOSE IT WAS.  PLEASE LET ME KNOW IF YOU ARE THE ONE WHOSE BLOG HAD THIS SO I CAN GIVE THE PROPER CREDIT)

I CHANGED IT A BIT BECAUSE I DIDN'T HAVE DECORATIVE PAPER IN STARS OR STRIPES.  I USED SMALL RED STRIPES OF CARD STOCK, AND A SMALL STAR STAMP IN PACIFIC POINT FOR THE STARS AT THE TOP.  WHAT DO YOU THINK??

YOU CAN SEE THE PATRIOTIC CARD I ALSO MADE AT THE BOTTOM OF THIS PHOTO.

I CRIMPED SOME BLUE AND RED CARD STOCK AND CUT IT VERY THIN FOR THE LOOK OF SPARKLERS COMING OUT OF THE TOP.  I AM GOING TO GET SOME RED, WHITE AND BLUE FLOWERS TOMORROW TO HAVE THEM FOR THIS WEEKEND CELEBRATION. STAMP SET: land of the free single stamp
CARD STOCK AND INK: pacific point, real red, whisper white, (and daffodil delight for the tag)
OTHER:  very slim bud vase from Dollar Store

UNTIL NEXT TIME, INKY FINGERS Y'ALL.