Sorry it took me so long!

I thought that I was being so clever having posts ready before I left for vacation. If I had been really clever I would have had done them for at least the week I was gone and the week I got back.
I had a wonderful trip to Paris and between the jet lag and all of the little things that you have to catch up on when you are out of the country for a week it has taken me forever to get back to posting. I finally got a chance to stamps last night!
We received a gift from a couple that we met on the trip and I had to get a Thank you note out to them. I had a color challenge that I hadn't worked on from a friend so here is what I came up with:

All Supplies Stampin' Up!: Carte Postale and Much Appreciated stamp sets; Certainly Celery and Tempting Turquoise; Certainly Celery and Tempting Turquoise classic ink pads; 3/4" and 1" circle punches; Fresh Favorites I buttons.

Need an Envelope?

When you make a card that is not a standard size sometimes you have to make your own envelope. When you use the double sided designer series paper you get really cute envelopes that have that extra surprise when you open them up.
All Supplies Stampin' Up!: Carte Postale stamp set; Bashful Blue and whisper card stock; Old Olive classic ink pad; Old Olive Poly-Twill Ribbon; Summer Picnic DSP; Styled Silver Hodgepodge Hardware.

There is a simple formula to make an envelope - so if you are ready to use a little math...

To determine the size of paper you need for the envelope:
Take the height of the card times 2 1/2 and that will give you the height of the envelope paper. Take the width of the card and add 1 1/4" that gives you the width of the envelope paper.
For example a 3" x 4" card would need a pieces of paper cut to 7 1/2" (3" x 2 1/2=7 1/2") by 5 1/4" (4" + 1 1/4"=5 1/4")

To determine where to score the envelope:
Score 1/2" in along both long sides of the paper you have cut for the envelope.
Subtract 1 1/4" from the height, this is the first score line across the width of the paper. (using the 3" x 4" card example that would mean that you would subtract 1 1/4
from 3 and you would have a score mark at 1 3/4")
The second score line across the width of the paper is the height of the card plus the width to the first score line plus 1/4". ( for the 3" x 4" card that would mean 3"+1 3/4"+ 1/4" and you would put your second score at 5")

Once all of your score marks are done you can cut our the four corner rectangles and then I like to round the corners because I think that it makes the envelope look more finished. Here is a picture of what the "unfinished envelope would look like and the measurements for our 3" x 4" card example as well as placement of the sticky strip. This isn't pretty but it is what I store in my idea book so that I can remember the "formula" when I need to make an envelope.

Mon Amie

There was a color challenge on splitcoast a few weeks ago and I hadn't had a chance to try it. The combo was Basic Black, River Rock, and Very Vanilla. It is a really simple but really elegant color combo and I love the was it made a really elegant card.

All Supplies Stampin' Up!: Carte Postale stamp set; Basic Black, River Rock and Very Vanilla card stock; Basic Black and River Rock classic ink pad; 1/4" Black grosgrain; Slot punch.