WOYWW #217 - Fail

Today's WOYWW post is late! But it's still technically Wednesday in Missouri ....so here we go:
I had a rub-on fail...on the most beautiful paper in a 6x6 My Mind's Eye paper pad. I had seen a link about using an entire pad (will post it later) and have been working out how I would do it. I forgot that this pad has special Eiffel Tower paper...and the aqua exactly fit the rub-on frames I had been hoarding.
Well, I'm afraid I hoarded too long.
On my first attempt at applying the rub-on, pieces of it stuck to the backer and I was left with an incomplete transfer. Ruined the paper. (I may be able to salvage it...but at the time I was devastated).
But not devastated enough to throw that sheet of rub-ons away. Oh no. I diligently checked the transfer sheet and my stamps that would fit in a different frame and determined that one of the remaining rub-ons would peel off the backer more completely.
So I pull out the remaining ONE sheet of beauty paper...and set to work rubbing away with my popsicle stick.
Aside: Now, I am not new to rub-ons.  I have been rub-on certified since age 6, when I received my first set of Mary Poppins rub-ons. I know rub-ons. I know enough to cut my desired rub-on off the full sheet so I don't inadvertently stick down any other rub-on bits! AND, I know how to burnish them so they don't peel off. I have also repaired rub-on fails before by carefully picking up bits with an x-acto knife and placing them prior to burnishing. I'm talking serious rub-on pro here!
So...2nd and ONLY remaining sheet of Eiffel tower paper ---- FAIL!!!!
I can only conclude that the rub-ons are too old to be used. All of the rest of them also lifted off partly and in bits in the cover sheet, with the main parts, but not 100%, staying on the carrier sheet.
I will put this behind me and hope to show my 40 cards from a 6x6 stack next week!
Check out the other Workdesks at Julia's blog...

Wonderful Wedding at a Winery

Bride & Groom

We attended a friend's daughter's wedding this weekend, and, as it was about 2 hours away, took the opportunity to stay with the family at a nearby historic hotel. 

A beautiful water feature at the Winery

The weather was FANTABULOUS!  

In the upper 70's, which is highly unusual at the end of July in the Midwest! It was  a beautiful day to be married outdoors by a waterfall [manmade or not].

We have been fortunate to have spent loads of time with the bride's family and have been friends with them all over the years.  We have property adjacent to some of her family, and, funnily enough, live less than a mile away from them at home. 

Her aunt and grandmother & I make cards every so often, and we worked together with her mother to make their wedding invitations. We printed the 1 layer invitation and the response cards, then stamped & heat-embossed a very subdued champagne swirl in the corners. It was just an understated bit of elegance, which was PERFECT for the bride.  We thought they came out very nice.

Myself & DH -- in formal dress, no less.

So, DH and I traveled to the wedding and ended up having to stop at a florist on the way to pick up a replacement bouquet-toss throw bouquet, as it was omitted from their order. 

We arrived at the restored mineral springs hotel in time to get ready for the wedding and travel to the winery for the wedding. It was a beautiful evening!


Because we are near St. Louis, and the groom is die-hard Cardinals fan, his friends chipped in and had Fred Bird come to the wedding for entertainment.

He was a BIG hit!

We adjourned to the historic Original Springs Hotel and visited near the pool for a while, and today had a wonderful brunch at their restaurant before heading home.

It was a nice change of pace and fun celebrating with the newlyweds!

WOYWW #216 - Finishing Up

Just finishing up 4 cards for SIL -- she wanted a set of the sympathy card using the My Daily Bread Amazing Grace chalkboard stamp.   I spent last Saturday with a patient DH searching for the same paper, and/or stamps that would produce the same effect. 

I did not have any of the correctly colored flowers, so I added some Stamping Up Aqua ink refiller drops (7) to a mini-mister bottle and sprayed some white and beige paper flowers.  They seemed too blue, so I added Tsukineko Sheer Shimmer Spritz in gold.  Had to wait for those to dry. I also tried buttons, but that didn't look right.

I just need some leaf sprays in the bottom left corner of the last 2 cards, and I finished them while I was taking pix this morning!  After downloading, I see that every desk picture I took is way too blurry, but no time to re-take, gotta scoot to work! 

Have a lovely day!

See other workdesks via the links at Julia's Stamping Ground.

All Star Monkey Shower

I made this card before I started blogging, for my step-grandaughter's baby shower last year (G-grandson will be 1 on 1 August).  We worked together with her friend to make 40 of them!

She wanted Monkeys and then bought the baby's bedding that had Jungle Animals on the coverlet with a Sports theme. I actually copied the crib sheet on 11x17 paper at Kinko's then reduced it to a pleasing background size. I copied several sheets and cut them for the background paper.

I die cut the little monkeys using the Cricut -- it was 2 pieces that had to be glued together. Then -- I discovered that the same cartridge had "All Star" and that just MADE the card!

I heat-embossed You're invited to a Shower - this is my prototype, and I used see-through red embossing power. I changed to an opaque red for the final cards and stamped straight - LOL!  Then it was time for mass assembly!

I didn't realize that I didn't post it.  It was one of my favorite cards! So I hope you enjoy!

Cricut Cartridge -- Life's A Party
K&Co paper -- Julianne
Background paper -- a copied and reduced crib sheet!

WOYWW#215 Amazing Sympathy#2

Today I realized I needed two sympathy cards for a recent family member's passing. So it rapidly became what was on my workdesk!


I had already stamped two Amazing Grace chalkboard pieces so I quickly selected coordinating paper.

I used a Die Cuts With a View matstack called Garden Party and selected a nicely raised, embossed, and glittered paper with butterflies and flowers.

I cut the mat for an ivory card and backed it with a Bazzill Basics Herbal Garden Medium green layer. I used the same green to layer the chalkboard stamp. This stamp was one of my MUST HAVE's at the Creating Keepsakes convention I attended in April with my stepmom & stepsister!

By fussy-cutting the flowers I was able to get some depth to the card in addition to the lace behind the chalkboard.  

A sheer bow on the bouquet and gems for the flower centers are the finishing touches. 


Below is a close-up of the fussy-cut flowers.

 
I can always use the other piece of the mat I used to cut the flowers as a layer on another card.




The gems are lovely green Michael's gems.










Now father and daughter will receive similar cards.

Amazing Sympathy #2

Thank you for looking today! And if you want to see more WOYWW blogs, start at Julia's Stamping Ground blog!

MOJO302 Sympathy

Today's Mojo Monday sketch is so clean and simple, I made 2 cards this morning!

This card I made with an Our Daily Bread stamp. I did not emboss it because I used a dye ink in Cocoa. I think I'd like to try another image with Versamark and heat emboss it. I've had the chalkboard stamp since April and haven't used yet and now I can't wait to try more designs with it. The stamp is by Our Daily Bread.  I bought it at the Creating Keepsakes Convention in April. :). My devotion verse today was appropriate, too. "My grace is sufficient for you" -- 2 Cor 12:9.

I immediately thought of this stamp as a sympathy card this week, because DH's ailing aunt passed away yesterday.

I did use CTMH Buzz & Bumble papers, and the My Stickease assortment for the embellishment, but I think it worked well with the gorgeous stamp.

The other card uses ALL Close to My Heart products and is highlighted on my Stamping Garden blog. I love that the sketch lent itself to two similar cards with different purposes.

I may be able to make several cards in this same design, it's so versatile.

Thank you, MojoMonday Team, for being such incredible inspiration! My cardmaking improves every week and I LOVE seeing what everyone does with the sketch!

Thanks for stopping by!

History-Grad Card

An historical card- Reviewing some of my cards is fun! 
I think as I keep posting them, you'll see that I have a large hoard of unsent cards! I would have to answer my survey at over 25 :)

This card is for a masculine graduation card...not using a cap and scroll.
The paper drove my design and is from the Basic Gray Cupcake Collection stack.
I used a Fiskars sentiment from the All Around Quotes stamp set. I stamped it in Versamark and heat-embossed it on a pre-cut scalloped square...die cut with Spellbinders and layered with one in a complementary color. The bicycle is a Tim Holtz stamp, from the Playful Journey set, which I embossed on a vellum strip. In lieu of ribbon, I used 2 coordinating paper strips to cover the edges of the vellum.

Thanks for looking!

MOJO300-Peachy

Today's Mojo sketch has so many elements - a circle, square, 2 pennants, an embellishment, and a background layer. I didn't really think outside the box, but I had fun!
I used CTMH Slate cardstock as the card base while the background layer is Avonlea Green, and added a layer of Avonlea patterned paper.
The pennant is in Avonlea Off White and a dry-embossing folder to add texture. The circle is 2-1/4, from another Avonlea pattern in the paper pack.
This design showcases one of the stamps in the July Stamp of the Month, Sweet Life! I heat-embossed it with Detailed Black embossing powder and used watercolor pencils to add color, then layered it on Avonlea Green.

The sentiment is in the For a Friend set, in Outdoor Denim Ink, layered on Avonlea Teal. A brown button tied with baker's twine adds a nice touch! Thank you for looking today and congrats to Mojo Mondays for hitting a milestone! Thanks for the fun!