Razzle Dazzle Bird Mojo/ Mojo Monday 193

Wow, it's almost June! For the last sketch of the month the folks over at Mojo Monday always have a Circle or Square challenge. I typically gravitate towards the square & this month was no exception. They did add an extra fun element with the background though. It's made up of a square cut on the diagonals to form four triangles. I then just flipped two pieces of my Blueberry Crisp designer paper before adhering them. Oh, and a tip, try adhering those to a square that's the same size as your original before gluing them down. Otherwise I found I had a hard time getting my spacing just right! The only stamp I used on this card was the one from Razzle Dazzle that matches the pattern on the designer paper. It adds a little something to my bird as well as my little Night of Navy square. Today's the day I start thinking about all my older sets & wondering which ones will appear on the Last Chance List tomorrow. Do you think Razzle Dazzle will be on there? We'll have to wait and see!

Moving Truck

I know it's Monday, but I'm not going to even look at the Mojo Monday sketch until tomorrow. There's lots to do on this Memorial Day & I already had this little number ready and waiting. First off, though, may I wish you a happy and safe Memorial Day. I hope we'll all take a moment to remember those for whom today was dedicated. On our European Adventure I was struck by how much more real their war memorials seemed...somehow less forgotten than ours. Let us remember vividly as well.

In addition to the solemn reason behind this long weekend, it's also the start of summer! We kicked it off with a House Warming Party yesterday for our friends. Great fun was had by all. I created this card for them yesterday during our theme class. I never tire of the little Loads of Love set & have such fun loading it up with different bits from the Accessories pack. Too much fun. The colors were also a great fun surprise combo: Cajun Craze, Pear Pizzazz, & Bashful Blue. Have fun out there today & I'll try for a late Mojo tomorrow. :)

It's Graduation Time!

It's that time of year again. It's time to celebrate the achievements of our graduates. This year, one of my dear friend's daughter is graduating high school. That's a bit of a shocker to me because we met when she was about seven! My how the time flies. :) A couple of years ago, another friend of mine gave me the great idea of using bits from the graduation invitation to create a card. They are such formal & lovely cards that it seems a waste to not use parts of them again. That, and I'll never have a stamp to match the crest of the school. So, there's no stamping on this one. I just punched out the school crest & created a backing layer for it. To make them stand out a bit more, I used my distressing tool around the edges of both layers. Then I cut out the year & punched a scallop backing for it from my Brushed Gold paper. All I had to do to finish up was run the card front through my Big Shot with the Vintage Wallpaper folder & add some gold Smooch Spritz. It's very simple (which is perfect for this busy time of year) but still looks elegant enough to fit the occasion. Now, if the rain will just hold off for the graduation on Saturday...

Crimper Flower Fest

While my mom was visiting, I discovered that she had never used a crimper. Well, I just had to fix that! So I took out three of my favorite greens: Always Artichoke, Pear Pizzazz, & Wild Wasabi. I adhered them together & cranked them through my crimper. Then, I wanted to try out something new to me as well. Out came my Antique Brads & my embossing stuff! I just dabbed the brad with Versamark & embossed in white. It needed a little extra bling, but my Basic Jewels rhinestones made that no problem at all. Once I had the brad, I decided it would make a great center to the large flower in my Flower Fest set. From there, the Blushing Bride 5 Petal Flowers were needed to offset the Concord Crush. An Elegant Lines background in Whisper White seemed to work perfectly with my floral pieces. The bottom bits were added last. First came the punched strip courtesy of my Dotted Scallop Ribbon Punch, then the sentiment, & finally the little butterfly. I debated on the butterfly for quite some time, but after a survey of my artistic advisers (hubby & mom), I decided to add him. The Flower Fest set makes it so easy since the images coordinate with my punches perfectly. And who doesn't like easy?

Elegant Bouquet Embossed Mojo

Happy Monday to all! This week, I'm celebrating a bit of a milestone. The Accidental Stamper reached over 10,000 all time page views last week! :) Thanks to all of you for visiting and taking a look at what I create. It's such fun to share with all of you.

Today, I took another shot at the Double Embossed Technique. Isn't it fun? I just inked up my Elegant Bouquet Folder using my brayer & Versamark ink, ran it through the Big Shot, & embossed with Silver Emboss Powder. Simple, but great! My mom wanted to see how this technique was done and she insists that you must see it in person. And if mom says so...

All of the stamped images for this one are from the Simply Said set--- one of my very favorites. Since it's Monday, the sketch comes from the excellent folks over at Mojo Monday. Must keep it short today, I need to take mom off to the airport. Happy Stamping!!

Color Throwdown 142/ Strength & Hope Wedding

It's been a while since I've participated in the Color Throwdown & I would like to get back in the habit. This week's colors include Basic Black, Basic Gray, & Lime Green. For my green selection, I picked Certainly Celery. I knew I wanted to use the elegant butterfly from Strength & Hope & then the rest of the card just sort of flowed. :) Remember that for every Strength & Hope set SU sells they will donate $2 to the Breast Cancer Research Foundation. Also, I'm going to enter everyone who buys one from me in May into a drawing for one of my unmounted stamp sets. It's really hard for me to create a wedding card, but the season is upon us! I wanted this one to be simple, but elegant. With fewer pearls, I think it could easily become a sympathy card as well. Odd, how those two can pair so well. I inked up my Texturz Plate with Basic Gray to form the background & sponged both the Certainly Celery pieces with Basic Gray after I embossed them. A little sticky strip let me play with my ribbon to create a fun layered look. I'm sure it wouldn't go through the mail well, but most of my wedding cards are put in packages or at least delivered by hand. Then I don't have to worry about mailing issues!

Double Emboss + Much More

Well, today's card is sort of the opposite of yesterday's. If Monday was a study in simplicity, this one sure has a lot going on! I've been itching to try out the Double Embossing technique ever since I read about it in my demonstrator magazine last week. It's so fun! You ink up one of your embossing folders using a brayer & Versamark. Run it through the Big Shot like normal & then add embossing powder to heat emboss too. For this card, I started with Melon Mambo cardstock, ran it through using the Vintage Wall Paper folder, & added Wild Wasabi embossing powder. Then, I went a little crazy with my new Blossom Bouquet Triple Layer Punch & an Occasions Mini catalog. This card showcases all the fun shapes you can make with just one punch! I think it would be fun to create at classes because each one would be so very different. What do you think?