JustRite Wedding Day

**Edited** Tomorrow is the last day for FREE shipping at The Stamp Castle. When checking out you need to enter the code DENISE for free shipping. This is applied to continental US orders only.

Here is another Wedding Day set I have created with my Large JustRite Monogram Stamper. I didn't have a punch that worked well with the large monogramer so I opted to put it on a square {got the idea from Sharon Johnson's awesome card set}.

Anyway, I am now the proud owner of the Nestabilities circle and scallop set which fit perfectly. I just have to take the time to learn the Big Shot sandwiching secret and I am all set.

**Stampin Stuff** The card on the right is inspired by Jen Del Muro's sketch challenge it is also CASED from Ivy's card found here. I love Jen's sketches and hope to play more often. I wrapped the candle with coordinating papers and ribbon and attached a matching monogram as well.

The card and candle monogram were created using the letters and borders from the Special Occasions set. The small place card was created using the number and border from the Damask set.

Have a wondeful day and tomorrow I will come back with something that isn't monogrammed! Promise....I have a purple card to show you and it has a tulip too {Shhhh...don't tell Jacki}.

Good grief....could I have anymore links in this post? OK one more....love this blog

See you on the blog!

You Light Up My Life

Hope you are having a wonderful weekend. I have been busy organizing, stamping, re-organizing, stamping and and re-organizing again. Oh and throw in a snotty teenager, several loads of laundry, some yard work and a big fat head ache and then you have a view of my real life. Fun.

I am still playing around with my Photo Studio in a Box. Today I tried it with the black background. Not sure if I like it....kind of makes my card look like it's floating in mid-air.

**Stampin Stuff** The card base is SU Vanilla and the sentiment is one that I made myself {yes I made the sentiment stamp with my JustRite Imagebox Professional System <--------click here to watch a step by step tutorial}. Anyway, I made the sentiment to go with this chandelier Sizzix die that I have had but don't use enough because I didn't have a coordinating sentiment... but I do now. The black organdy ribbon is from SU and the beautiful charm is from a broken Pottery Barn candle holder. I salvaged the crystals as I thought they would make great card charms and they are perfect with my die cut and sentiment.

**Random Blogging** I got my very first Paper Trey Ink order this week. I got the entire circle Nestabilities set....including scallops. Now I just have to figure out how to make them work in my Big Shot. I also bought the new release Pond Life..I am in love with that cute turtle.

Oh geeeshhh....I hate animal stamps...I forgot. LOL Well actually let me clarify that statement, I hate animal stamps that have animals doing human behaviors...such as riding a bike, drinking coffee, watching TV and etc...you get the idea.

I also got Out on a Limb and Wedding Favors. I adore the cards I have seen with Out on a Limb and the Wedding Favors set I need for JustRite card samples I am making for the Stationary Show next month. We have a wedding theme going and I thought these little sentiment would work well with the monogram stampers.

Ok...off to visit Jen's mom. She is recovering well and is finally off the ventilator. Yeah! Thanks for all your thoughts and prayers...it has been very scarey the last three weeks.

See ya on the blog!

Happy Mother's Day

Here is another card using my Small JustRite Monogram Stamper. I really like these soft spring colors together. All of these papers are from a SU Simply Scrappin kit.

Again, I used some of a SU Simply Scrappin Kit and some of the stickers to make this card. I used the green pattern paper layered on the card base and a pink scalloped sticker with three silver brads for accent. The top yellow layer has a SU sentiment stamped in Versafine Sephia ink and accented with white sheer polka dot ribbon from May Arts.

I punched the wasabi paper with a round scallop punch and layered my monogram "M" that was stamped in close to cocoa ink.

Just thought you might like to know that the JustRite Stampers new and improved WEB site is up and running. Please be kind and know that it is still a work in progress and there are kinks to work out as it is with any new WEB site. We hope that you will come back often for a visit as we will be conitnually adding projects to the gallery, providing educational materials and a new blog.

Speaking of the JustRite Design Gallery , I have three of my cards in the gallery and I am soooooo very lucky to be in such great company with Debbie Olson and Sharon Johnson who have also provided BEAUTIFUL samples for our gallery. More will be added next week.

See you on the blog!

Simple Elegance for Mom

Here is a Mother's Day card I made for the JustRite Gallery. This is such a simple and elegant card....I like those kind of cards. Simple is always a good thing.

**Stampin Stuff** The black card base is cut for a vertical layout. I added a layer of striped SU patter paper that is soooooo old. I remember being pregnant with Bailey when I bought it after the Las Vegas convention...um Bailey is almost 7 now. {Yes, I hoard paper too.}

Then I added a layer of floral toile paper that was scalloped on the edge. I adhered some black velvet May Arts ribbon around the card base. The monogram was stamped with my small JustRite monogram stamper. I used my SU circle punches and mounted it with a pop dot.

Elegant and easy....oh and simple too.

Thanks for stopping by and visiting me!

See ya on the blog.

Smile

Thanks for your kind comments on my home made stamps. I don't have anything to show you today with my stamps. Actually, today's cards is a non-stamping card.

I have been dying to do this layout challenge for Jen Del Muro's Sketch For You To Try. I have seen so many cute cards with this layout so I have been thinking of ways to use it.

I found these kit papers from Stampin Up in one of my many piles. Every embellishment on the card is a sticker. Pretty cool for a quick and easy card. I think it literally took less than five minutes. Can't get much easier with an awesome layout and pretty stickers.

I mounted the yellow flower with a pop dot and accented the blue flower with a pink flower sticker. Think I might go back and add some stickles to the center of the flowers for some sparkle.

Now I have to get organized so I can finish my projects for work and crank out First Communion invitations.

See ya on the blog!

Stef's Challenge and a Coupon

First off...sorry my pics look so whited out. I am still learning how to operate the Photo Studio in a Box. You would think it would be simple...and it is...I just have to get my lights properly adjusted to my liking. This was actually one of the first pics I took...not bad but it is so bright that I lost the detail on the cards. You can barely see that I used a Cuttlebug folder on this card.

So a few weeks back Stefanie from the blog Ingenious Inkling participated in my Spring Fever Challenge. On the last day the participants got to challenge me. Here are Stefanie's challenge rules: my challenge to you is to make a purple card set using your Just Rite Stampers.

As you can see this is more than a set of cards because this is part of a wedding sample I am doing for a Stationary Show coming up in May. There is a card monogramed with the couple's initial. Then I made a book to go at each table so guests can write love notes or marital advice. Then I made a place card with the #8 and finally I made a mini favor tin with the couple's initial.

**Stampin Stuff** The card base is eggplant with a layer of purple pattern paper (sorry no name). The white strip of paper was embossed using the Cuttlebug Textile folder. The monogram was stamped using the small JustRite Monogram stamper (currently called c-30 DIY Monogram stamper). This size monogramer fits perfectly with the SU circle punches and scallop punch. I should receive my Nestabilities order tomorrow from Paper Trey and I hear that the circles fit the small and large monogramers perfectly....I can't wait to try it out.

The mini book was made from coasters that I covered with the pattern paper. I added white pages inside and again the monogram on the outside. I made this book with the Bind It All and I just have to say that I love that thing! Soooooo flippin cool and I am not sure Jen will ever get it back from me. Anyway, I am going to try Dawn's Beaded Pen Tutorial and make a matching pen to go with the book.


**FREE Shipping Code** My friend JoAnne at The Stamp Castle carries all of the JustRite products that I use and talk about here. She is offering FREE shipping to anyone in the continental United States for the rest of April. When you are checking out and want to get free shipping you have to enter the code DENISE in the Promotional Code Box. Feel free to share this shipping code with your friends.

See ya on the blog!

Home Made Stamps Part 2

As you may know, I recently took a job with JustRite Stampers. They make an awesome Monogram Stamper that allows you to change out the letters and customize your monograms. What you might not know is that they make other great products.

Yesterday I showed you some stamps I made with the Imagebox Professional System which currently sells for $399. The professional system allows you to mass produce sheets of stamps for personal use or to sell at stores, craft fairs or Etsy...it's up to you.

At this time we do not have the Imagebox Professional System on our WEB site because we are making a new WEB site and everything will be up in the next week or so. If you want more information on the Imagebox Professional System let me know and I can get some product information in the mail to you.

But what if you don't want to mass produce stamps and you just want to take your own hand drawn image and turn it into a stamp? What if you want to make your own sentiments on the computer and turn them into a stamp? It is possible and today I am going to talk about the Clear Stamp Making Kit (currently called the Home Stamp Kit) which retails for $149.

This stamp kit provides you with all the necessary software, tools and supplies to make clear stamps from your home studio {or basement, or kitchen, or spare bedroom}. I recently made this flower stamp with a negative image provided by JustRite. But you could use any of your own artwork including photographs to make your own stamps.

In this pic you can see that the stamp looks yellow and well....it is a tint of yellow. The yellowness comes from the type of polymer being used which allows you to make stamps with a 60 watt lightbulb in your desklamp. It does not affect the quality of your stamp nor does it mean you have a bad stamp. Also, I left the Versafine Sephia ink on the stamp for picture taking purposes so you could better see the image. I am sure that is also contributing to the yellowness or dirty looking stamp.

The entire stamp making process can be done in approximately 30 minutes and does not require a Chemistry major either. It is simple enough for me to do in my kitchen. If you would like to see the step by step process in action you can watch this Craft TV Weekly video.

I'll be back later with my monogram set that Stefanie challenged me to make during the Spring Fever Challenge.

See ya on the blog!

Home Made Stamps

Wow...have I been SUPER busy with work and life in general. I am very excited to show you my card today because I made the stamps used in this project. Yes you read that right...I literally made these clear stamps with my JustRite Imagebox Professional System. This is a stamp making system that provides you the option of mass producing stamps right from your home. You can sell these stamps at stores, craft fairs or on Etsy....your options are only limited by your imagination.

I created this particular sentiment on my computer using Photoshop Elements and the butterflies are from negatives that were provided to me by JustRite.

Have you ever wished you had a certain sentiment in a larger or smaller size? When I made this sentiment I made it in three sizes so that it would fit in the small SU circle and scallop punches, the Marvy scallop punches and the Nestabilities circle set.

**Stampin Stuff** The black card base measures 4.25 x 6. The butterflies were stamped with Versafine Black ink and watercolored with an aquapainter using SU Pumpkin Pie, Only Orange and Apricot inks and Tempting Turquois and Cool Carribean inks for the blue butterfly. I personally don't own any Copics but I bet they would be awesome for blending and shading the colorful butterflies.

I sponged the edges with Pumpkin Pie ink and matted it on Pumpkin Pie paper. I layered it over the turquois polka dot paper that was in my scrap pile...sorry no name. The sentiment is stamped on a copper tag and mounted with a pop dot.

As you can see in the close up pic I cut out and layered the butterflies so it looks like they are flying. The 3-D effect on this card is really cool if I do say so myself.

See ya on the blog!

Life Is Good @ 53

OMG! I have been trying to post to my blog for 3 days and could not get my pictures to upload. I was getting so frustrated because I have actually been working on lots of cool stuff to share with you. I do believe that is now Bloggers turn to have probs since Typepad had their round of troubles a few weeks ago. OK...hope this works.

Yesterday was my boss' 53rd birthday....I am quite sure he will appreciate me broadcasting that on the internet. Anyway, here is the card I made for him with my new stamp set...I love the new set Text and Texture and it is a double mount set....six stamps on three blocks.

**Stampin Stuff** The card base is white with a layer of wasabi that I stamped with the dot background and wasbi ink. {I need to stock up on wasabi stuff before it is retired. I love that color} I stamped the sentiment in wasabi ink onto white paper. It is matted on pumpkin pie where I added a strip of polka dot pattern paper.

I added three copper brads and the @ symbol is from my Cuttlebug Olivia alphabet die. It is on a copper tag and mounted with a pop dot. Inside I added the number 53 from my Cuttlebug Red Tag Sale alphabet die.

**Prayer Update** Jen's mom is slowly improving and I wanted to say thank you so much for the prayers. I went to visit her last Sunday and I was so thrilled that she recognized me and smiled at me. She mouthed "I love you". It was good to see her smile and I could totally read her mind just by looking in her eyes. {She was saying get this F***** tube out of my throat.....LOL....at least when I said that is what I believed she was saying she vigorously nodded her head in agreement.}

Then the game of charades started and I totally lost my psychic connection with her because I thought she was saying boobs, then we gave her pen and paper and she attempted to write somethings that looked like bees, then we asked if it rhymed with boobs. She pointed to the chair so I told Jen to sit down...she wanted us to sit in the chair. The more we tried the worse it got.

After 30 minutes of guessing we finally figured out she was asking me to get Jen's brother a booster chair for his kids to ride in his car. So I said....why the hell didn't she say car seat? Ummmm.....she gave me the finger. LOL....she is on the road to recovery. Soooooo happy to be flipped off by Jen's mom. LOL

**FYI** For those that participated in my Spring Fever Challenge.....don't hate me.....I know.....I still have your prizes her. I have been so unbelievably crazy busy and I will get them in the mail next week. And......I know that I still have to finish posting the challenges you gave me. I did do them all...just have to post them amongst the millions of other things on my "To Do List".

See you on the blog!

Sunday PMS Check

It's Sunday....and I am sad that tomorrow is Monday...back to work. Not that I don't like work....I LOVE my job and the people I work with are wonderful. I actually enjoy going to work at the bank and I feel sorry for anyone that dreads going to work.

It's just that weekends are my time to catch up and I don't feel like I have caught up this weekend. Still have laundry to do and haven't made my dinner menu for the week. {That is my attempt at organized chaos around here...no one will starve.}

I am posting an old card because I haven't had time to take photos of my wedding set that I have been working on. I'll get to it later tonight...hopefully! I did get the Photo Studio In a Box today so I can take nice blogable pics for JustRite. Can't wait to test it out this week.

**Stampin Stuff** I love these colors. The coordinating papers are from Sandy Lion and I just bought some more this weekend cause I ran out. So springy and happy. This is such an easy card because it is a 4x4 white base with squares layered on top of some Bazzill Bling blue textured paper. The Marvy scallop circle punch is used to create my circle focal image. The image is the flower from In Full Bloom that I stamped with Versafine Black ink and colored with my watercolor crayons.

**Sunday PMS Check**

• Physical Well Being- For some reason, I started having Heart Palpatations this week. I haven't had any since January so I am guessing it the current stress in my life affecting me.
• Mental Well Being- My brain has been on overload but nothing that a good cry and Starbucks can't fix.
• Spiritual Well Being- Lots of prayers this week for Jen's mom. Live every day as if it was your last....what more can I say...she is critically ill and only God knows the plan. There is a reason, there is a lesson and we can only wait for His guidance and love to lead us through it.

I am off to the hospital for a visit and to keep Jen company. This is really hard for her and she is doing a great job not letting it show.

See ya on the blog!

Awards and Thank Yous

As I was going through my daily Google Reader favs I about fell out of my chair when Julie Buhler listed me on her blog for the "You Make My Day" award. Talk about flattering because Julie has been one of my stamping heros since she started blogging and she totally makes my day...every day. I love her style and she has a great blog called Paper Pleasing Ideas. Thanks Julie.

Also, Kelly over at Crafting Creatively sent me this award a week ago and I totally forgot to post it. {Sorry Kelly} It is really hard to do things like this because I read over 150 blogs due to the fact that they are soooooo talented. I have seen lots of people with this award so I am probably giving them an extra award...but it's ok...they still inspire me.

So I am going to combine my two awards and choose five people that Make My Day and deserve the Arte Y Pico Award.

There are 5 rules attached to this and they are:

1) You have to pick 5 blogs that you consider deserve this award for their creativity, design, interesting material, and also contributes to the blogging community, no matter what language.

2) Each award has to have the name of the author and also a link to his or her blog to be visited by everyone. Kelly's Blog can be found here.

3)Each award winner has to show the award and put the name and the link to the blog that has given her or him the award itself.

4) Award-winner and the one who has given the prize have to show the link of "Arte y Pico" blog , so everyone will know the origin of this award.

5) To show these rules.The 5 blogs that I choose are:

• Debbie Olson Thinking Inking
• Amy Tsuruta Tsuruta Designs
• Dawn Griffith Dawn's Stampin Thoughts
• Shannan Tuebner Pink Tulle with Feathers
• Ana Wohlfahrt Inkastamp

Have a wonderful day and I'll be back later with some Wedding inspirations. See ya on the blog!

JustRite Mom

Just a quick card before I run off to play volleyball. What fun...I'll take some pics of Beth serving it up for Team Mom!

**Stampin Stuff** Card base is brown Bazzil Bling paper. The mustard layer is textured DCWV paper. The jumbo flower is a Cuttlebug folder and I sanded the paper to show the white core and make the flower pop.

The center of the flower was monogramed with my JustRite Monogram Stamp using the Damask border. I loaded the ink pad up with SU Chocolate Chip ink. I punched it with my two SU circle punches.

The striped pattern paper is from a pack of DCWV. The tag was made with a Cuttlebug die and attached with some hardware and May Arts sheer brown polka dot ribbon.

See ya on the blog!

My Simple Pleasure

I can't wait for flip flop season to get here! I spend my days in heels and my feet yearn for kooshy flip flops. Really, I have over 10 pairs of flip flops in my closet just waiting for warmer weather. I am not calling for summer...I just want Spring to hurry up and get here.

**Stampin Stuff** The only thing stamped on this card is the A Muse sentiment. The pattern paper is from SU along with the Blush Blossom card base. The flip flopped feet are from a Cuttlebug die and I am not sure if you can see it but there is a tiny rhinestone on the strap of the flip flop.

**Prayers** Thanks to all of you that have left a comment or sent me an email about Jen's mom. I talked with Jen this morning and there was nothing new to report. I am sure she will have something to tell me tomorrow morning. Please keep her family in your prayers.


See you on the blog!

Prayers Needed

Sorry for my absence. Please take a moment to say a prayer for Jen's mom. She is really sick and has been in ICU since Friday. I don't want to go into all the details but she thought she had the flu and it was determined to be much worse than the flu.

I have a ton of cards but none photographed. I'll try to get something up here tomorrow. In the mean time, say a prayer and visit some of my blogger friends listed to the left in my blogroll.

See you on the blog!

Sunday PMS Check

It's Sunday and it's been a while since I did a PMS check. For those of you new to my blog, as a New Year's resolution I started doing a weekly check of my Physical well being, my Mental well being and my Spiritual well being {PMS} and it just kind of stuck. If you don't really care just skip past it and check out my card for today.

**PMS Check**

• Physical Well Being- Today's weather was so motivating to get moving! I am so ready to plug in my iPod and hit the pavement walking. Who knows how long it is going to take for me to build up to my hour walk and 12 flights of stairs but I'll do it. Just have to have plenty more snowless days.
• Mental Well Being- Last week was a busy and stressful week for me. Thanks to Amy and Beth for being my sounding boards and of course for their infinate wisdom. I'll quote Beth "People that think they know it all act that way because they don't know much of anything."
• Spiritaul Well Being- Lots of inner reflecting this past week. Lots of praying this past week. Lots of putting the Law of Attraction to work this past week. All is good and I am grateful for my blessings.

Today would have been my dad's 63rd birthday. It's hard to believe he passed away almost three years ago. I know this will sound creepy to some people but one of my favorite places to visit is the cemetery. My dad is buried right across the street from Lake Michigan in a very old cemetery that is going to be declared a historical marker. The old stones are huge and unbelievably beautiful. I like to just walk and look at the history there while soaking in the sun and listening to the waves hit the shore. It has to be one of the most beautiful and peaceful places on Earth and it's hard to remember that it is surrounded by the hustle and bustle of Chicago. I don't go there often as I should but when I do go I always leave with peace and tranquilty filling my soul. Love you Dad.

**Stampin Stuff** I totally CASED one of Ivy's cards from my Spring Fever Challenge. She did callenge me to case a card of her's and I will do it later probably this one again with her rules implemented. But for now this is is the card that I LOVE and felt the urge to CASE. I only wish I had some big wide satin ribbon for my card. Sarah calls this my Starbucks ribbon...hmmm what would make her think that? LOL

Yes, that is the coveted Swiss Dot Cuttlebug folder that I used on this card. Totally freaked out when I walked into Jo's and found all the new embossing folders. I also used multiple floral dies to create my side panel of flowers. The paper is Bazzil Bling which gives it that sheen. I added some crystals to the center of some of my flowers.

Inside the card I stamped this sentiment from Penny Black with Versafine Sephia ink. I love this sentiment....picked it up at Archiver's a few months back during a playdate with Jen.

Ok...I am off to bed early...which means before 2 am for me. I am trying to be a morning person. Yeah...wish me luck.

See ya on the blog!

Keri's Challenge Card

Hello...yes I am still alive. My goodness this was one crazy busy week and I am just now having a moment to get on the computer.

Lots of meetings all week and get to meet my other team member for JustRite. Lots of things in the works and I will be very busy getting my tasks taken care of....lots of fun.

Today was volleyball tournament day for Cody. Oh I love me some high school volleyball. It was so intense....esp with Cody being the tallest on the team. His jjob is to block and it kills me when something gets past him. He's 6'4" and that is not including when he has his arms up in the air.

Thanks to everyone that voted on my last challenge card. 95% of you said that I met the challenge. That's cool. I am still not overly fond of the colors I had to use but it worked for the challenge and I tried something different.

This card was Krafty Keri Lou's challenge for me. Here are her rules: My challenge for you is to do a card for a MAN using only dark green and brown colors! Have fun!

Well the challenge was finding some dark green paper in my stash. That's not a normal color that I keep in my stash. I only had a piece of avacado colored paper....it's hard to see but I matted the pattern paper band onto the green paper. The base of the card is brown craft and I layered some brown Bazzil Bling paper which is giving it that sheen. The pattern paper is from a pack of SU papers. The ribbon was in my scrap pile. I used more of the Bazzil Bling paper to punch out the letter for the word "Dad" using my Sizzix Circus alphabet dies. I actually pulled out my hodgepodge hardware and used an antique brass frame and stamped the sentiment in brown Versafine Sephia ink.

If you would like to vote on this challenge card you need to come directly to my blog to see the poll at the top of the page. I will try to post another card tomorrow night but right now I am working on a really cool scrapbook. If the weather is as awesome tomorrow as it was today I will probably finish up taking pics of the girls for my book.

See you on the blog!

Challenge from Karen

Thanks for voting on my last card. 63% said I met the challenge and loved my card but I still think I will do it over since the rules said no flowers and the birdie has flowers on it's body.

For those of you that are reading this through Google Reader you will have to click to my blog to see the voting poll at the top of the page. Feel free to be honest when you vote as I can't tell who is voting.

This next challenge is from Karen at Karen's Kreations. Here are her rules: My challenge for you is to create a card using your least favorite color family, a flower stamp, and no ribbon! That's right, no ribbon at all. But I want it to be a beautiful card. Let's see what you can do.

Do you see a common theme amongst these challenges? NO RIBBON!

Well Karen, besides the color orange my least favorite colors apparently are bravo burgundy and sage shadow. I say that because I have two full packs of these papers in my paper rack and I hardly ever use them. So then I was trying to figure out what papers I have to go with those colors and I came across this Daisy D's polka dot paper which perfectly matches.

I used the script background stamp and then stamped the flowers from Happy Harmony as my focal point. The sentiments on the card and in the layered circle are both from the Happy Harmony set as well. I have to say that this is one of my all time favorite Stampin Up sets. This card layout was definately inspired by this beautiful card Lisa Silver made at Silver Stamping.

**America Idol** OMG....Michael Johns is so flippin HOT! I loved his song tonight. Sadly, I think it is time for Ramiele to go home. I really like her but she just hasn't stepped up to the plate lately. So there is my AI two cents.

See you on the blog!