Hello :o)

I can't believe how long it's been since I've posted.

In a nutshell, here's what went on between then and now. Last spring got incredibly busy with work and I had little stamping time and even less to post. In June my husband of 18 years passed away. I am amazed at the toll his passing has taken on me, given that I saw it coming and thought I had tried to prepare myself. It was his second cardiac arrest in 7 years, and he died at just 48 years old. Two words of advice: quit smoking. I haven't been able to stamp since, along with a huge amount of other things until just recently, so hopefully that will come back at some point too.

But God has blessed me beyond belief with friends and family who have cared for me and about me. And included in that is the overwhelmingly beautiful support you have shared with me in the form of cards in my mailbox. I've finally managed to scan them and have posted them below so you can share them with me. The personal notes inside brought tears to my eyes many times, and I can't thank you all enough.

Love Nancy

Sympathy cards received from fellow online stampers - artist names are below each card...


Vicky S.

Vada S.

Trudy P.

Trudy P.

Trish G.

Suzanne K.

Susan K.

Stephanie C.

Sharon C.

Sharon B.

Rose A.

Pat M.

Pat H.

Pat

Nancy Y.

Nancy S.

Manna C.

Manna C.

Lynn K.

Lisa S.

Linda C.

LaVerne W.

Kristy C.

Kristen O. and Tammy

Kristen O.

Katie M.

Kathy R.

Kathie M.

Gerrie J.

Germana

Fareeda M.

Faith E.

Evelyn S.

Evelyn S.

Estelle H.

Edie L.

Debi W.

Chris C.

Cheri B.

Cathy Y.

Beth U.

Beth B.

Barb H.

Barbara R.

Barb I.

Paper Souffle Peony

Helllllooooooooo...? Anyone still there? LOL It feels like SO LONG since I've posted. I've been able to make just three cards ALL MONTH (the I Brake for Stamps with the little girl, a simple one for the monthly card-club I go to when I can, and this thank you card I made for my parents last night that I wanted to share with you). After not stamping much I worried that I wouldn't be able to stamp at all but it's always easier for me when I have someone special in mind as I put a card together. I saw the current Somerset Studio magazine while looking for something else yesterday, paged thru it, and had to have it just for two wonderful paper manipulating articles in it. One is an article on page 80 called Souffle` Papier d' Art by the ever-amazing Sandra Evertson Using her technique you can use any print or photo and a pin to prick paper with a needle and get the effect below. So quick and easy I had a decent result as soon as I sat down late last night to try it for the first time.

Click on photo for a close-up...

Card measures 5 1/2" x 4 1/4"

STAMPS: peony - Judi-kins, phrase - Hero Arts, background - 'Floral', Stampin' Up! INKS: Versamark, Distress Tattered Rose and Brushed Corduroy, SU Always Artichoke SUPPLIES: flower punch, miniature flat-backed pearls, floral ribbon, striped ribbon, pearl-head straight pin, pink crochet thread, sewing needle, textured paper, distressing tool NOTES: for the corners I stamped the background in Tattered Rose, cut it into four triangles, edged them with Brushed Corduroy, and applied them with a glue pen. I swiped Tattered Rose on cream cardstock and punched the flowers. I used an embossing stylus and the palm of my hand to round them before attaching the back centers with glue to the corner triangles, then I just applied the gem pearls to the centers. ~ The wide ribbon was preprinted and I tied it in a simple knot, inserting the green striped ribbon before tightening the knot. I tied some pink crochet floss on a pearl-head sewing pin and put it thru the knot ~ The cream colored paper and the pale pink cardfront are lightly textured.

Thanks for checking in - hope your month was great! Stay tuned - I have a little blog giveaway coming up in the next week :o)

A Special Sale Announcement!!

from Della at I BRAKE FOR STAMPS !!!

Anniversary Sale!!!

To celebrate the IBFS 5 year anniversary, we are offering 15% off of our entire website.

Please use coupon code ANNIVERSARY during checkout to receive the discount. Code expires on 5/18.

BONUS: Every customer who uses the coupon code will be entered into a drawing. One lucky winner will be drawn on 5/19 and will win a grab bag of 100 stamps!!

Be sure to check out the new releases. There is a new Father's Day half sheet release that includes vintage cars, a golfer, hammock and phrases. Also some brand new Stampinback stamps. There are Backgrounds, Mona Lisa, Pose, Words and more! Be sure to click on the thumbnails to see some great card samples. You can view all of the new stamps here: http://tinyurl.com/54p8s8

Shipping will be a flat fee of $4.85 for all purchases for U.S. residents. International orders are welcome, but please contact IBFS for shipping rates.
Please use the secure shopping cart to place your orders. Visa, MasterCard and Paypal accepted.

The Sweetest Pair

Oh how I love little kittens (and big cats LOL) Isn't this one of the sweetest images ever? She looks so proud and she's being so gentle with the little kitty. If you love animals too, don't forget the two links on my sidebar - you can play a daily trivia and contribute kibble to dog and cat shelters free to you whether you get the correct answer or not - it's a win-win!!

(Click on photo for detail)

Card measures 5 1/2" x 4 1/4"

STAMPS: I Brake For Stamps - Stampinbak line

INKS: Stampin' Up! So Saffron, More Mustard, Blush Blossom, Bravo Burgundy, Ruby Red, Close to Cocoa, Staz-On Timber Brown, Adirondack Slate, Versamark SUPPLIES: Dove blender pen, heat gun, Fiskars border punch, Cuttlebug, CB folder Tapestry, hardware - SU, ribbon - Michael's, Tim Holtz Distressing Tool, white gel pen, Post-It, stencil brush - tiny SPECIALTY PAPER: glossy TECHNIQUES: resist, TJ Torn Frames NOTES: okay, late last night when I was coloring the image with the blender pen and SU inks, the hair was actually dark brown and the dress was mustard but by the time I scanned it just now it had faded out to the colors shown - probably the only almost-grey three year old ever ROTFLMBO - that's artistic license for ya! ~ the bkgd behind the girl was made by stamping the scroll in Versamark on glossy, setting it with a heat gun, then sponging first yellow and then pinkish-red over the edges (got this color scheme from a beautiful card in one of the magazines currently out - sorry, I think it was the Catch Up issue, but I'm not positive... - but the designer was Barb H and the card has a geisha on it) ~ I got the idea for the gray surrounding the image from Ank de B on the IBFS Yahoo group. I don't do her form of artwork justice but I love the effect - makes the image come more alive. Oh, made this panel by stamping the girl in Staz-On, masking, then doing the above resist technique, which I was inspired to do by Kristy C, another fabulous contributing artist over at the IBFS group. Yikes, sounds like I don't have an original thought in my head today LOL but I get so little stamp time in the summer that I get inspiration wherever I can or my stamp gears would get totally rusty! ~ just a hint on the resist technique - my Versamark had a slight reaction where it touched the Staz-On so you may want to mask more thoroughly than I did... ~ bkgd paper was made more visually textural by lightly brayering both shades of yellow ink on white cs

Hope you enjoyed this card, and thanks for stopping in!

Hello loyal blog readers!

Just a quick note to say thanks so much for all your comments - they make my day! And to let you know this is a crazy-busy time of year work wise for me so if you don't see as many artwork posts know that I am dreaming of stamping something but unable to!! Hope this summer brings you lots of time to do all the things you love :o) ~Nancy

Faux Designer Paper in Brilliance Inks

Sorry about the poor photo quality - I could not capture the essence of this card adequately, but wanted to show the shimmer of the inks. If you click on the photo you will be able to see a bit of detail...

STAMPS: I purchased the face, muse and leaf branch stamps used as unmounted and don't know who made them. If you do please leave a comment and I'll give credit - thanks! viney flourish - PSX, corner floral - Rubber Monger, large bkgd - JRL 'Floral Tapestry' INKS: Brilliance Pearlescents - Orchid, Coral, Lavender and Purple, Versamark SUPPLIES: All Night Media border punch, clear embossing powder, craft iron, heat gun, glue pen, colored pencils TECHNIQUES: Technique Junkies Faux Designer Paper NOTES: the border was punched from the face panel and a white strip was applied behind it ~ hard to see, but I stamped 'Muse' over parts of the bkgd ~ the edges of the panels were sponged with color direct from the Brilliance pads

Thanks for looking, and PLEASE believe me when I say this looks so much better in person!! LOL

Faux Designer Paper

I love being able to take a blank sheet of white cardstock and turn it into something as colorful as this card! The Faux Designer Paper technique is perfect for this as it gives you some white highlights in the background and lots of color variation. This card is not this bright in real life, but the general idea is there LOL Click photo for more detail... Card measures 4 1/4" x 5 1/2"

STAMPS: face - Renaissance Art Stamps, corner flourish - G Studio, dream word - Inkadinkado, bkgd words - Stampers Anonymous, flowered medallion - Paper Parachute, border and bkgd pattern - Stampa Rosa INKS: Versamark, VersaColor Split Pea, Topaz, Paprika and Bark SUPPLIES: white gel pen, clear embossing powder, heat gun, iron, copy paper, pearlized beads, gold cord, vellum TECHNIQUES: Technique Junkies Faux Designer Paper, paper beads NOTES: I used the bkgd paper colors on a white scrap, then stamped the face, then highlighted areas with the white gel pen ~ for the paper beads I just swiped the bkgd colors on a white scrap, then overstamped this with the bkgd stamps. I cut skinny triangles, rolled these around a paper piercer starting with the wide end, and sealed the ends closed with double-sided tape. For the large one, I wrapped a scrap of coordinating paper around the middle.

Have a great rest of the weekend!! :o)

Day at the Beach

Click photo for more detail...

Card measures 5 1/2" x 4 1/4"

STAMPS: I Brake For Stamps - Time To Stamp sheet, and words from Inspirational half sheet

INKS: Stampin' Up! Taken With Teal and Lovely Lilac, Kaleidacolor Blue Breeze

TECHNIQUE: Technique Junkies Spectrum Roll from the Aug 05 newsletter

SUPPLIES: brayer, silver thread, paper piercer, water spritzer, glue pen, pop-dots

NOTES: to get a the mosaic frame I cut strips of four colors and then cut them into squares by angling the cuts randomly ~ for interest I stamped some images on four of the lighter 'tiles' ~ words are pop-dotted ~ cardfront was stamped with the mesh bkgd image

Hope your week is going well :o)