Hey, Today is ABC day

Today is our VC Blog Hop and I am stop #13 .... lucky thirteen out of a total of 35 stops plus one post on our home page, so be sure to visit there on your hop!!  Our theme this month is ABC - Anything But a Card, so the field is wide open and I know the gals have some terrific samples to show you! And I think everyone keeps their Blog Hop up for Saturday and Sunday, so you don't have to do it all in one day - and after Sunday, you can always find today's date for their hop post!

Now, you may have arrived here at my blog from the multi-talented Sharon Field's blog at http://createdbyu.blogspot.com - or maybe you are one of my friends who likes to check in to see if I have posted anything lately - and if I haven't, you hassle me a bit!  All in good fun, of course, because I am always slacking off on my posting here.  At any time during your hopping from blog to blog, you can go to our VC Rocks home page at http://vcrocks.blogspot.com/  and get a complete listing of all the bloggers this month. 

Just a personal note:  if you haven't seen Friday's post from me, check it out - I really would love to hear what you think of this technique. 

 The first thing I will post today are candles - I had a few of these candles left after an event I decorated for, and have been wondering what to do with them.  I remembered doing this several years ago so thought I would try it again.  PLEASE DO NOT BURN THESE CANDLES if you decide to do this yourself.

First you stamp on tissue paper, tearing it around the image works better than straight cutting lines, place on candle and holding in place, apply heat with your Heating Tool just enough to melt the wax to hold the tissue paper in all areas, but not so much that the wax runs down the candle ... tricky sometimes.  I used my Stampin' Up! Upsy Daisy stamp set and markers.  The only difficult one was the dark candle - I tried 3 times before I finally got it right, or as right as it is going to be.  I lightly inked it in pink, stamped on the tissue paper then filled in the flower images with White Gel Pen.  Looks like I wanted it to, but the white never has dried and I made these weeks ago.  lol   Oh well, it looks good on the shelf along with the other two!

Supply List:  Upsy Daisy stamp set; markers: Always Artichoke, Rich Razzleberry, Rose Red; Signo Gel Pen; tissue paper, Heat Tool

The next project is a new one to me that I made with a group, but I thought it is so cute so I am sharing with you.  It is a really different small Scrapbook idea and should really be embellished inside with flat objects and not bumpy ones - you'll see why in a later pix.  This is a great way to use up some retired cardstock and designer papers!   

Opened up this way, it looks quite 'normal' ... but wait until the next pix .....

Now you see the difference, huh!  I used a 12x12 sheet of cardstock, scored at 3 inches on all sides.  Then on one side only, cut thru 3 squares, leaving the 4th square attached.  The next block of squares, turn it around and cut thru the 3 blocks, leaving the end one attached, and then flip it around again and cut thru 3 blocks of squares.  Hope that makes sense, but I am attaching a pix of the pattern.  Before you attach the cardstock on the back, add a length of ribbon to the last folded square - I used a piece about 18-20 inches long - so you can tie it up.  When unfolded, you have 16 squares on each side! Then after you add pix, writings or whatever, it all folds back together, tie it up and give it or keep it for yourself.  If you have a lot of grandchildren like I do, it is great in your purse with all the pictures of those precious little (and big) ones!!

As always, cut on the solid lines, score on the dotted ...... let me know if this is not clear as mud!

 Supply List:  papers and colors of your choice, I used Confetti White, Rose Red, retired Apricot Appeal and Soft Sky; misc retired designer papers; White and Apricot Grosgrain ribbons; misc stamp sets for words, Paper Cutter for measuring, scoring and cutting


Tune in Monday for another Anything But a Card idea from me, but for now ... I have noticed that Angela's blog is not updated as of now, so your next stop is Veronica Miller's blog at http://bluegrassstamperstudio.blogspot.com   And remember, if you get lost on our blog hop, just go back to our VC home page  (http://vcrocks.blogspot.com/) and find your next stop!  Sometimes we have our post ready and set it to automatically post at a certain time and day and guess what, it doesn't happen!  So that is why you may find a blog not ready for this hop on that day.

 Take care, check back and keep me on my toes about posting here much more regularly (hey, it's not like I don't stamp something most days and have boxes and boxes of samples I could post!!!) and have loads of fun on the rest of your hopping fun!!  God Bless, Shirley

Black Beauty

Greetings on a Friday - hurray for the weekend!!  This has been a busy week (aren't they all - for all of us??!!) so this will be quick.  Don't forget to come back tomorrow for our VC Blog Hop where you can visit a whole bunch of blogs and see what we have been up to.

Here's a card I love to make - can be a bit messy (or is that just me??), but such beautiful results can happen with different colors. Let me know which you prefer and I will send one of you that card along with a blank one for you to finish as you like. 

These cards were done with the same color markers but using either   black or vanilla embossing powder - what a difference in the "pop" of the colors.After the marker colors dry a bit, you will see that the color on the embossed parts fades away, leaving the cardstock colored parts showing.  Hope that makes sense ... you will want to softly wipe with a tissue after they dry before you send them or your recipient may get other colors on their hands! 

For these cards, I used retired products - Lovely Lilac c/s and the markers are Lovely Lilac, Almost Amethyst (miss that color!!), Orchid Opulence, YoYo Yellow and (non-retired) Always Artichoke.  I used Mellow Moss for the Black but Always Artichoke for the Vanilla as the other colors were too dark or not dark enough, I thought. 

 For this card, I used current SU colors:  Rich Razzleberry c/s with these markers: Rich Razzleberry, Pink Pirouette, Perfect Plum, Daffodil Delight and I did use Always Artichoke for both cards.

 I added this pix so you can see the shine from the embossing powder as the other pix didn't show it.  I added retired Lovely Lilac Grosgrain and a sentiment using a couple SU Oval Punches.

Send me pix if you try this yourself (at stampershirley@gmail.com) - experiment with your colors and have fun!! This is my fave background stamp to use for this, but SU has and has had many stamps that would work - I still like to use Stipple Rose too.  And no, I am not a hoarder, just a pack rat!!  After all, if I would have gotten rid of all my retired In-Color ink pads, I would have had to purchase some of them again after they came back in the line-up!  See, I saved money ....

See you right back here tomorrow!!  Come prepared to get excited and enthused with all the creations!!

Hugs, and God Bless you all, Shirley

June Blog Hop is here!!

Welcome to my little corner of the world ... here we go again - it's time for our June VC_Rocks Blog Hop - I am so glad you stopped by to visit for a bit.  You probably came here from Angela Walters' blog "Life With a Weiner Dog" at www.lifewithaweinerdog.com   Our "VC Rocks Home Page" is http://vcrocks.blogspot.com so anytime you get lost or if a blog doesn't come up, you can go there and find the complete listing of 32 blogs.  Be sure to check them all out.


I do need to apologize - last month I offered Blog Candy of one of the cards I posted - I forgot to tell everyone who won:  it is Carolyn Sharkas - I will get her card in the mail early next week .... promise.  We had some family emergencies along with company and being gone from home a lot this past month so that's my excuse/reason but I am so sorry to not have taken care of this before.


Our theme this month is the Big Shot Madness ..... I thought I would not be able to join in the fun this month since I have resisted buying the Big Shot (so far, but I think I will be getting it soon ... all these projects on the blogs are great!!)  I am hosting a swap for the Big Shot - I know that will push me over the edge!!Anyway, my dear friend Shari embossed some cardstock for me so I could be a part of this blog hop - isn't she sweet?!!!  Thank you so much, Shari!!


My projects this month are quite simple due to the fact I didn't have much to work with, but I made these two cards using those embossed sheets.  Hope you enjoy them!  As always, supplies are all from Stampin' Up!

For this card, I used Rich Razzleberry (another of my fave colors!) and Whisper White cardstock.  The front piece was embossed with the Square Lattice Embossing Folder - this will certainly be on my first order when I get the Big Shot!  I used Upsy Daisy Stamp Set and stamped it in Versamark, then embossed with white Embossing Powder.  Then I stamped the same stamp, inked it up with Rich Razzleberry, stamped on Whisper White Cardstock, embossed with Clear Embossing Powder for some shine and cut out the top part, positioning that piece on top of the white embossed image with just a but of the white showing for a shadow effect.  I then used a sponge and Rich Razzleberry Ink Pad to color 2 Paper Daisies (oops, guess this shape is retired) and attached a flat back Pearl in the center. 

 This card uses the same colors but after stamping Upsy Daisy flowers in Rich Razzleberry on Whisper White cardstock and again embossing with Clear Embossing Powder, I used the Scallop Trim Border Punch on the bottom in both Rich Razzleberry and Whisper White.  I reached into my box of retired SU! Ribbons for the Polka Dot Rich Razzleberry Grosgrain.  I do love some of the retired (and soon to be retired) ribbons Stampin' Up! has had in the past.  I punched out 3 flowers from the Itty Bitty Punch Pack, added brads that were silver, I added several layers of versamark, Rich Razzleberry ink and Clear Embossing Powder to get some color on them (I don't have any Rich Razzleberry Brads left after making some swap cards).  I stamped the Hello from Tiny Tags Stamp Set and added a brad to it too. 



Again, I hope you have enjoyed your short stop at my Blog - it tends to be lonely as life gets hectic sometimes, so I am so glad to have these Blog Hops during the Summer, but I will try to be more regular about posting in the future.


Your next stop is Carolyn Sharkas' blog "Inking The Night Away" at www.inkingthenightaway.blogspot.com  - remember that you can always go to our "Home Page" at http://vcrocks.blogspot.com   to get the complete listing of blogs participating this month.


Hope to see you soon ... Hug your family .... God Bless, Stamper Shirley