I'm back!!!!

Did you miss me?  I've been taking an unplanned break from blogging because my family needed some extra TLC.  My husband managed to break his right leg and ankle pretty seriously while skimboarding on September 11th . . . he ended up having emergency surgery to patch everything back together, and has been home recovering ever since . . . and will be for a while!  He's doing all right -- each day seems a bit better, and slowly but surely we are getting back to a more normal routine.   And, that means I've actually found a few minutes today to pop in here and share some of my creations with you again. 

But, before we get to the card I want to show you today, a little unfinished business . . . I still have an unclaimed kusudama ball, and while I don't mind having it around, I really intended it to brighten someone else's day, so I've decided to have random.org give me another random number, and we'll try again!  So, drumroll please . . . the random number selected is 6, which if I am counting right means Robin will be receiving the kusudama ball soon! 

Now, on to a card . . . or actually two versions of a card! 

These are both made using Stampin' Up!'s Note Cards as a base.  (The Note Cards are 5 x 3.5" -- a really nice size for a quick thank you note or some birthday wishes!)  I layered some Basic Black on the card base, and then a piece of Whisper White, which I embossed using the new Houndstooth Textured Impressions Embossing Folder and the Big Shot. 

After embossing, I brayered over the raised area with Basic Black Craft Ink.  When you emboss with the Houndstooth folder, there are different raised areas on each side of the paper -- so depending which side you choose to brayer over, you'll get a different look.  That's why the pattern looks different on my two note cards.

I then added some Basic Black 5/8" Satin Ribbon and the greeting/focal piece.  To create the focal piece, I inked up a letter from the new Letter It alphabet with Rich Razzleberry, stamped off once on scratch paper, then stamped on to a piece of Whisper White.  I stamped a word from the Fabulous Phrases stamp set over the letter.  Next, I punched out the letter with the 1-1/4" Circle Punch.  I layered that piece on a piece of Rich Razzleberry card stock, punched out with the 1-3/8" Circle Punch.  Then, that was layered on a piece of Basic Black that had been punched out with the Decorative Label Punch. 

For the finishing touch, I added a flower from the Itty Bitty Bits stamp set, stamped in Rich Razzleberry on Whisper White and punched out with the coordinating punch from the Itty Bitty Shapes Punch Pack.  There is a black rhinestone in the center, which is from a retired rhinestone package from last year's Holiday Mini, but could be re-created using a Basic Rhinestone Jewel, colored with a black permanent marker.

Hope you like the cards!  Thanks for stopping by! 

- Michelle