March 16, 2012

Hi everyone!  Splitcoast stampers has a 'Queen of the day' challenge every Friday.  I really didn't know much about this challenge until yesterday my friend Melina was chosen.  Here is the link to this week's Queen for the day challenge.  Here is the card from Melina's gallery that I chose.

I also made this card for the current challenge on the Creative Belli Blog.  The challenge found here was to make a clean & simple card, which are my very favorite cards so I just had to play along.  Plus I'm entering my card for this week's challenge from the CAS-ual Friday blog which was to create a clean & simple card using:  a pattern, an image, and a sentiment.  My pattern is my scored background, my image is my flower, and of course I have my sentiment stamped along the bottom of my card.  Whew!  That must be a first for me...LOL  I never end up making a card for more than 1 or 2 challengs.

The reason I loved Melina's card so much was because of the colors she used and so I decided to make my card with those same colors.  I stamped the flower and punched it out using my blossom punch.  Then for the next two smaller layers on top of my flower I just used circle punches. 

My certainly celery card stock layer was created by using the adorning accents edgelit die (from the current mini catalog) and my big shot.  My very vanilla background is dry embossed and I did this using a technique called faux tile.  If you aren't sure what the faux tile technique is you will find the splitcoast stampers tutorial here

When I created my background, I scored my card stock using my simply scoring tool and I made a pattern of small squares.  When I was finished with my scoring I lightly sponged over top of my raised embossed areas using pretty in pink in and a sponge wedge.  You will only want to lightly sponge over the raised areas.

Thanks for visiting!  I hope you have a wonderful weekend!

Stamps: Mixed Bunch, Thoughts & Prayers- for the sentiment
Card Stock: Very Vanilla, Pretty in Pink, Certainly Celery
Ink: Pretty in Pink, Certainly Celery, Crumb Cake
Supplies: Big Shot, Adorning Accents Edgelits Die, Ribbon, Button, Twine, Blossom Punch, 1 3/8" Circle Punch, 1" Circle Punch, Simply Scored Scoring Tool, Spong, Dimensionals, Glue Dots, Stamp-a-ma-jig
Technique: Dry Embossing, Sponging, Faux Tile

Contact me today if you would like to place an order or to be added onto my mailing list!
To place your Stampin' Up! order- http://www.stampinup.com/ECWeb/default.aspx
My email address- pebbles4@ptd.net
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March 15, 2012

Hi everyone!  I'm up late tonight.  I just couldn't get to sleep so I decided to make a card for today's ways to use it challenge on splitcoast stampers which was to create a card with a dog on it.  I also made this card for this week's Mojo Monday sketch found here.

I only have 2 dog stamp sets so I decided to use my D is for dog set since I have never used it before.  I love these challenges, it's a great way to make us ink up those unloved stamps, right?

I really didn't use any sort of fancy technique to make my card.  It was just a matter of stamping and cutting.  I stamped the dog image twice and one image I cut out and placed it over top (and just a hair to the right) of my first image.  I wanted to make the dog look like he was moving.   Then I stamped and cut out a bone, I added a few Rhinestone Jewels for the dog collar and I decided I needed some grass. 

To make the grass I used my word window punch and I punched some old olive card stock.  Then using my scissors I cut it to look like grass and then I even went a step further and I ran it through my paper crimper.  It looks pretty neat in person so I wanted to try and take a close up photo so you could see it better.
My sentiment is stamped and layered using my circle punches and underneath that I punched a chocolate chip layer using my designer label punch.  I placed my sentiment (using dimensionals) on top of the knot from where I tied my twine.

That's about it for my card today, I hope you liked it!  Thanks for taking the time to drop by!  Have a great day!  See you tomorrow!  I'm going to see if I can get some sleep now.

Stamps:  D is for Dog
Card Stock: White, Chocolate Chip, Old Olive, Tempting Turquoise, Retired DSP
Ink: Chocolate Chip, Tempting Turquoise, So Saffron
Supplies: Twine, 1 1/4" Circle Punch, 1 3/8" Circle Punch, Designer Label Punch, Word Window Punch, Photo Corners Punch, Rhinestone Jewels, Glue Dots, Dimensionals, Crimper, Scissors- for cutting grass, dog, and bone

Contact me today if you would like to place an order or to be added onto my mailing list!
To place your Stampin' Up! order- http://www.stampinup.com/ECWeb/default.aspx
My email address- pebbles4@ptd.net
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Twisted Tuesday Challenges DT Call


Hi everyone!  There's a new challenge blog just starting up called Twisted Tuesday Challenges and they are having their first design team call found here and this blog post is my entry.  Wish me luck!

Our DT submission was to create a square card using pastel and spring colors while incorporating black somewhere on our project.  The card I made is a 5" square card.

I began making my card by stamping my image and coloring it using my Stampin' Up! markers.  Then I cut it out using the labels collection framelits.  It's also layered using the larger size framelit and that blue layer I dry embossed to give it a little more texture.  It was embossed using the final press embossing folder.

The white background part of my card was also embossed using the final press embossing folder and the rest of my card was just a matter of assembling it.  For the black on my card I decided to add a small strip of black card stock that I punched using the scallop trim border punch.

I decided to use some pleated ribbon, buttons with twine tied through the centers, and a small rhinestone jewel for my embellishments.  My image panel was placed onto my blue layer using dimensionals and I also have dimensionals beneath the blue layer.

Well, I hope you like my card; I'm ready for spring now!  Thanks for stopping by!  Have a great day!

Stamps:  Up in the Air
Card Stock: White, Black, Twitterpated Designer Series Paper
Ink: Black Stazon
Supplies: SU Markers, Pleated Satin Ribbon, Scallop Trim Border Punch, Twitterpated Buttons, Twine, Big Shot, Labels Collection Framelits Die, Final Press Embossing Folder, Rhinestone Jewel, Glue Dots, Dimensionals, Sticky Strip Tape
Technique: Dry Embossing

Contact me today if you would like to place an order or to be added onto my mailing list!
To place your Stampin' Up! order- http://www.stampinup.com/ECWeb/default.aspx
My email address- pebbles4@ptd.net
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March 13, 2012

Today I made a card for the Stampin' Up! only blog challenge.  For this week's challenge found here we were to create a card using green as our main focal point.  It didn't have to be St. Patty's Day; it could be spring themed as well since the season of spring is sure to be green. 

Well, for this green challenge I decided to create a butterfly card using the blossom punch.  I stamped and punched out the flower image and then I cut the 2 sections of the flower (the top and bottom) so that I would have my butterfly.  The 2 sections that I cut out I ended up using for another layer on top of my butterfly.  Each flower petal is layered using another punched out flower of certainly celery card stock.  Next, I added a button with some twine tied through it in the center of my butterfly.  I used glue dots to adhere my button and my butterfly in place.

I used my simply score tool to create my scored background.  I scored each line going in one direction and then I turned my card stock around and I began scoring in the other direction.

The grassy area along the bottom of my card was cut out using the Adoring Accents Edgelits Die (found in the current occasions mini catalog) and my big shot.  When you make a cut using the edgelits dies you will end up with two different designs from one cut.  One will be above your cut and another below your cut.  I ended up running this edgelit die through my big shot twice and I played around with the pieces I had until I came up with a grassy hill that I was happy with.  Once I knew which pieces of certainly celery card stock I was going to use for my hill I stamped them with the grass image from the Stampin' Up! Inspired By Nature stamp set.  Then I decided to add a few white highlights using a white gel pen.

Lastly, I added my sentiment.  I decided this would make a cute Mother's Day card.  I stamped the sentiment and punched it out using my word window punch and it is layered using the modern label punch.  I added a silver brads along both sides and my sentiment and I placed it onto my card using dimensionals.

I posted a close up photo of the butterfly I made.  It's hard to see in the photo I have posted above and I wanted to show how the petals are layered using certainly celery card stock and the petals are slightly curled up like the wings of a butterfly would be.
Well, I hope you liked my butterfly card.  Thanks so much for stopping by and thanks for visiting!

Stamps: Mixed Bunch, Teeny Tiny Wishes, Inspired By Nature- for the grass
Card Stock:  White, Certainly Celery
Ink: Certainly Celery, Black Stazon
Supplies: Big Shot, Adoring Accents Edgelits Die, Blossom Punch, Twine, Button, Simply Scoring Tool, Modern Label Punch, Word Window Punch, White Gel Pen, Brads, Hole Punch- for brads, Glue Dots, Dimensionals
Technique: Dry Embossing, Punch Art

Contact me today if you would like to place an order or to be added onto my mailing list!
To place your Stampin' Up! order- http://www.stampinup.com/ECWeb/default.aspx
My email address- pebbles4@ptd.net
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March 12, 2012

Hi everyone!  I made this card for today's clean & simple challenge on splitcoast stampers.  The challenge this week was to create a card using white with different shades of blue.  As soon as I saw the challenge today I knew exactly what I wanted to do.  Believe it or not after stamping all these years I've never dry embossed over my stamping and so today I gave it a try.  What do you think?

I used a retired stamp set called garden silhouettes.  I love this stamp set and it's one that I would never want to part with.  I think it's one of my retired sets that I use the most!

I began by first stamping my images and then I embossed my card stock.  If you try this technique you will want to be sure and stamp first and emboss second.  The stamping part was easy; I didn't even use my stamp-a-ma-jig.  I used bashful blue and marina mist for my stamping. 

I used my scallop trim border punch along the bottom of my marina mist card stock layer and I did two rows of paper piercing along the bottom of my bashful blue card stock.  The rest of my card was just a matter of assembling it.  I've been trying to use up some of my hardware that I have lying around.

Thanks for stopping by!  And I wanted to say a special thank you to all of my followers; you are the ones who make blogging so enjoyable for me.  Have a great day!

Stamps: Garden Silhouettes, Teeny Tiny Wishes
Card Stock: White, Bashful Blue, Marina Mist, SU retired dsp
Ink: Bashful Blue, Marina Mist
Supplies:  Ribbon, Big Shot, Square Lattice Embossing Folder, Hodge Podge Hardware, Crop-a-dial, SU Mat Pack, Paper Piercing Tool, Scallop Trim Border Punch, Scallop Oval Punch, Large Oval Punch, Small Oval Punch, Dimensionals, Glue Dots
Technique: Dry Embossing, Paper Piercing

Contact me today if you would like to place an order or to be added onto my mailing list!
To place your Stampin' Up! order- http://www.stampinup.com/ECWeb/default.aspx
My email address- pebbles4@ptd.net
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March 10, 2012

Hi there! Hubby is outside playing football with our son and while dinner is in the oven I thought I would take a few minutes to post the baby card I made last week. I found some designer paper scraps large enough to use to make a card and that was the inspiration for the colors I chose.

I began by stamping my images and punching them out. The card stock layers behind my images were not punched out; I just cut them using my paper trimmer.

The designer series paper I used on my card is double sided paper so I used the front and back of the same piece of paper. My hello baby sentiment is from the stamp set Teeny Tiny Wishes and it was stamped and punched out using my word window punch and it's layered onto chocolate chip card stock using the modern label punch. Then I punched a small hole along the upper end and I tied it onto my pink ribbon treatment using some twine.

To make my ruffled ribbon I placed a piece of sticky strip tape from the top of my card to the bottom and then I began scrunching my ribbon and placing it on top of the sticky tape (I use my paper piercing tool to help me ruffle up the ribbon and it works great). Sticky tape is the perfect adhesive for making your ribbon look ruffled and it's a great alternative if you do not have any pleated ribbon.

Thanks so much for stopping on by! Have a great rest of the weekend!

Stamps: Fox & Friends, Teeny Tiny Wishes
Card Stock:  White, Chocolate Chip, Pretty in Pink, Tempting Turquoise
Ink: Chocolate Chip, Pretty in Pink, Tempting Turquoise
Supplies: Ribbon, Twine, 1 3/8" Square Punch, Window Punch, Modern Label Punch, Hole Punch- for twine, Dimensionals, Sticky Tape

Contact me today if you would like to place an order or to be added onto my mailing list!
To place your Stampin' Up! order- http://www.stampinup.com/ECWeb/default.aspx
My email address- pebbles4@ptd.net
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March 6, 2012

Hi everyone!  I made this card for this week's clean & simple stamping blog sketch challenge found here.  I was digging through my paper scraps and I came across some left over die cuts from a Stampin' Up! simply scrappin' kit that I had.  

This must be a first for me since I do not have any stamping on my card.  Everything I used on my card came from the leftovers of my scrappin' kit.  The scrappin' kit is called Friends & Flowers and it is retired.  I believe it was a hostess item from a few years ago. 

The only thing I wanted to mention about the die cuts is that I only had 3 leaves left so I placed one on each of the flowers on the ends and I cut the last leaf I had in half and I placed those on the flower in the center.  The flower stems were actually a thicker border that I just cut with my scissors so that they would look like flower stems.

And here's a photo of some of the scraps I had from this kit.  See!  Another good reason to hang on to those scraps, right? 

Well, that's about it for today! Have a great rest of the day! I'm off to finish some more laundry. With the five of us here my laundry pile never seems to go away...LOL

Stamps: None
Card Stock: Friends & Flowers Simply Scrappin' Kit
Ink: None
Supplies: Scissors- for cutting the flower stems & to cut the one leaf in half
Technique: None

Contact me today if you would like to place an order or to be added onto my mailing list!
To place your Stampin' Up! order- http://www.stampinup.com/ECWeb/default.aspx
My email address- pebbles4@ptd.net
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March 5, 2012

Good morning!  The blog group that I belong to has monthly challenges and today is the day for our monthly challenge and I forgot all about it so I whipped up this card in no time.  This challenge this month was to create a card using:  different shades of green, a "blessings" or "thankfulness" sentiment, and to use a nature element somewhere on our cards such as a plant, sun, flower, grass, etc.

And so this is what I came up with.  I used the square flower stamp from the sale-bration stamp set Fresh Vintage.  I stamped it twice using old olive and once using certainly celery ink.  I punched them out and layered them on coordinating card stock.

The designer series paper that I used is from the current occasions mini catalog and it's called Twitterpated.  For my ribbon treatment I used retired hodge podge hardware and some ribbon.  By the way, you can still purchase Stampin' Up's! hodge podge hardware from the clearance rack.

I used a thank you sentiment and layered it using my word window and modern label punch and I did use one more punch on my card.  I used the eyelet border punch to punch out the white card stock towards the bottom of my card.  I totally forgot I had that punch until I found it in the back of my drawer. 

Thanks so much for stopping by.  If you have time be sure to check out the other cards from my blog group.  I'll post links to their blogs below.  Have a great day!

Lost in the Land of Stamping

Stamps:  Fresh Vintage, Teeny Tiny Wishes
Card Stock: White, Old Olive, Certainly Celery, Twitterpated DSP- from current occasions mini
Ink: Certainly Celery, Old Olive
Supplies: Ribbon, Hodge Podge Hardware, Brad, 1 3/8" Square Punch, 1 1/4" Square Punch, Modern Label Punch, Word Window Punch, Eyelet Border Punch, Crop-a-dial- for hole for brad

Contact me today if you would like to place an order or to be added onto my mailing list!
To place your Stampin' Up! order- http://www.stampinup.com/ECWeb/default.aspx
My email address- pebbles4@ptd.net
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March 2, 2012

Happy Friday or TGIF as my sister would say.  The weekend is here and today I have a card I made for this week's splitcoast stampers sketch challenge (posted below) and I also made this card for today's free for all splitcoast challenge in which we were to create a card with blue flowers on it.
I used a retired stamp set called Roses in Winter.  This is one of those stamp sets that I wouldn't ever part with.  I've used it a lot!  To create my background paper I stamped leaves using crumb cake and I stamped the flowers using Bashful Blue and Marina Mist.  It looks like I used 3 different color blues, but I just stamped off once using Marina Mist to achieve the medium blue color.  Once my background flowers were stamped I then stamped over everything using another retired background stamp called French Script.  After that I was able to cut my background into four sections like shown in the sketch.

Next, I worked on the oval portion of my card.  I wasn't quite sure what I was going to do, but then after I stamped my sentiment it sort of came to me to try and put ribbon all along the outside of my oval and wouldn't you know, it worked!  I used some sticky strip tape and I placed it all along the back side of my oval and I gathered the ribbon so that it looked like it was ruffled and I went all along my oval.

After that was finished I stamped my sentiment (which is from a current set called Thoughts & Prayers).  I decided to use my spritzer tool, which I hardly ever use...to spritz some blue on my oval.  I used a technique called reverse masking to cover up my sentiment area.  In other words, my oval layer was spritzed with bashful blue, while my sentiment area remained white- it looks really neat in person.  I used a 1 3/4" circle punch for my mask.

I stamped and cut out a few more flowers and I placed them along the bottom portion of my oval.  It's hard to see in my photo, but I did add some dazzling diamonds glitter on my roses.  And to complete my card I decided to add a bow at the top of my oval.

This card is something a little different than I would normally have done, but I'm really happy with the results and so I hope you liked my card as well.  Thanks for stopping by.  I'll try to update my blog over the weekend because I have a baby card I made for another challenge.

Stamps:  Roses in Winter, Thoughts & Prayers, French Script
Card Stock: White, Crumb Cake,
Ink: Bashful Blue, Marina Mist, Crumb Cake
Supplies: Ribbon, Sticky Strip Tape, Spritzer Tool, Bashful Blue Marker, 2 Way Glue Pen, Dazzling Diamonds Glitter, 1 3/4" Circle Punch, Scissors for Cutting out flowers, Coluzzle Cutting system- for my oval
Technique:  2 Step Stampin', Reverse Masking

Contact me today if you would like to place an order or to be added onto my mailing list!
To place your Stampin' Up! order- http://www.stampinup.com/ECWeb/default.aspx
My email address- pebbles4@ptd.net
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March 1, 2012

Wow, can you believe it's March already?  Only 20 more days until spring and I'm so looking forward to it!  I was in a spring sort of mood this morning when I was making this card.  I followed this week's Belli sketch challenge found here.  Below is a picture of the sketch-


We are also to use our old and forgotten embellishments.  Well, as I was going through my scrap bin and looking for some designer paper scraps to use to on my card; I found a new roll of crumb cake ribbon.  I didn't even know I had that ribbon, so it sure was forgotten and the real red button I used was older.  I remember buying those buttons with one of my very first Stampin' Up! orders.

The stamp set I used on my card today is a current set available in the occasions mini catalog called 'Send Me Soaring'.  I began making my card by stamping the kites and cutting them out.  Then on my main image panel I stamped the kite tails and then I adhered the kites on my card (I like how the kites are up above the image panel it looks pretty neat).  My image panel is placed onto my card using dimensionals.

For the three embellishments above my image panel I decided to go with some clouds.  Again, I stamped them and then cut them out and then I decided to add a touch of glitter along the edges of my clouds using a 2 way glue pen and some dazzling diamonds glitter.  I love this glitter; it's so shimmery and a little goes a long way.

Well, that's about it for my card the rest of it was just a matter of assembling it following the Belli sketch,  which by the way I thought was a great sketch- so different and it was easy to work with.

In case you aren't able to read my sentiment it reads- hope everything looks up soon!

Have a great evening!  See you tomorrow!

StampsSend Me Soaring
Card Stock:  White, Real Red, Bashful Blue, Crumb Cake, Designer Series Paper Patterns Stack - Subtles Collection, Pawsitively Prints II Designer Series Paper
Ink:  Real Red, Bashful Blue, Crumb Cake
Supplies: Ribbon, Button, Twine, Dimensionals, Scallop Oval Punch, Large Oval Punch, Scissors- for cutting out the kites and clouds, 2 Way Glue Pen, Dazzling Diamonds Glitter
Technique: 2 Step Stampin'

Contact me today if you would like to place an order or to be added onto my mailing list!
To place your Stampin' Up! order- http://www.stampinup.com/ECWeb/default.aspx
My email address- pebbles4@ptd.net
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February 29, 2012

Hi everyone!  Happy Leap Year Day!  And with my extra day this year I decided to make a card- what else would I be doing....LOL.  I made this card for this week's Mojo Monday sktech challenge found here.  I also made this card for the weekly challenge for the blog group that I belong to.  The weekly challenge was to use a color combo that we have never used before.  Pacific point and daffodil delight color combo is a first for me!

Above is a photo of the Mojo Monday sketch we were to use.  Since I do not have any square envelopes I decided to make a regular A2 size card instead of a square card (I hope that was okay).

This card is a bit more work than I usually do on my cards, but it went quick and it was easy to do.  I began by making my flowers.  I cut them out using my big shot and my Daisies Flower #2 Bigz Die.  I cut 2 out of each one and I folded over the petals using my bone folder and then I and glued them together.  Next, I cut out the leaves using my big shot and the Little Leaves Sizzlits Die.  Then I used a small piece of daffodil delight card stock and I ran it through my big shot using my Perfect Polka Dots embossing folder and then I sponged over the card stock using a sponge and daffodil delight ink- this was for the centers of my daisies which I punched out using my circle punches. While I had my big shot out I also embossed my pacific point card stock using my square lattice embossing folder. 

Once I was finished using my big shot the rest of my card went together pretty quickly.  I punched the daffodil delight layer using my scallop border punch and then I placed that under my pacific point layer.  Then I added my ribbon (I always add ribbon onto my cards so that you do not see it from the inside) and I adhered that layer towards the bottom of my card. 

Next, I began working on my sentiment panel.  I layered white card stock onto a daffodil layer and then placed that on my card.  I added some doodling along the edges using a pacific point marker. 

My next step was to begin adding my flowers.  I arranged the flowers and the leaves on my card where I wanted them to be and then I adhered them using glue dots and dimensionals.  I stacked the dimensionals where I wanted the flowers to be raised up a bit more.

When I was almost finished with my card I was wishing that I had some blue twine and then it dawned on me to try and color some white twine with my pacific point marker and wouldn't you know, it worked!  Now it was a little messy so if you try this you will want to make sure that you do this on top of a scrap peice of card stock and let it dry.  If you get any marker on your hands be careful touching your card.  Once my twine was dry I threaded it through my button and I tied it in a bow and cut off the ends.  I used my hot glue gun to glue my button over the knot on my ribbon. 

And that was it!  Honest, it didn't take more than 20 minutes or so to complete my card.  Thanks for stopping by!  I hope you liked my card.  See you tomorrow!

Stamps:  Well Scripted
Card Stock: White, Daffodil Delight, Pacific Point, Certainly Celery
Ink: Black Stazon, Daffodil Delight
Supplies: Ribbon, Button, Twine, SU Pacific Point Marker, Scallop Border Punch, Big Shot, Perfect Polka Dots Embossing Folder, Square Lattice Embossing Folder, Little Leaves Sizzlits Die, Daisies Flower #2 Bigz Die, 3/4" Circle Punch, 1" Circle Punch, Dimensionals, Glue Dots, Glue Gun, Sponge, Tombow Glue, Bone Folder
Technique: Dry Embossing, Sponging

Contact me today if you would like to place an order or to be added onto my mailing list!
To place your Stampin' Up! order- http://www.stampinup.com/ECWeb/default.aspx
My email address- pebbles4@ptd.net
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February 28, 2012

Hi everyone!  Today I made a card for the sketch challenge on the Clean & Simple stamping blog found here.  For this challenge we were to create a one layer card using the following sketch-

I used the larger flower stamp from the Stampin' Up! stamp set called Just Believe.  This is the first time I'm using this set and I love how pretty this flower image is.  I colored my stamp using my SU markers and then I stamped it on the lower left hand corner of my card.   Next, I stamped my sentiment using basic gray and then I sponged my sun. 

I used a technique called reverse masking to make the sun.  Basically, you take a piece of scrap paper and punch out a circle.  Then place the scrap card stock with the open area where you would like the sun to be and sponge within that open/punched out area.

After my sun was finished I decided to sponge some clouds and I did a little bit of old olive sponging towards the bottom of my card.  I did this sponging because I didn't want my card to be all white.  I left my sentiment area white and so I didn't sponge over it.

For my embellishment I decided to add a row of three buttons with some white twine tied in the centers.  Well, that's about it for today!  Thanks so much for stopping by!  Have a great rest of the day!

Stamps:  Just Believe
Card Stock: White
Ink: Old Olive, Melon Mambo, Basic Gray, More Mustard, Bashful Blue
Supplies: Sponge, SU Old Olive & Melon Mambo Markers, 1 3/4" Circle Punch, Scallop Circle Punch, Buttons, Twine, Glue Dots
Technique:  Sponging, Reverse Masking

Contact me today if you would like to place an order or to be added onto my mailing list!
To place your Stampin' Up! order- http://www.stampinup.com/ECWeb/default.aspx
My email address- pebbles4@ptd.net
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