Simple sailing card

Hi all!  Sorry it's been so long since I last posted.  I flew home from CA last Tuesday; thanks to bad weather, it took forever for me to get home.  Then I had to get back into the swing of the home routine.  Somewhere along the way, I lost my stamping mojo!

This card is for my BIL, who had bypass surgery last week.  I stamped the sailing image from Uncharted Territory onto Baja Breeze cardstock using Chocolate Chip ink.  The cardbase is Baja Breeze.  The next layer is Chocolate Chip.  Notice the texture on it?  That's from a new letterpress plate from the new catalog!  It's called Fancy Fan.  I inked it up with Chocolate Chip craft ink.  It leaves a slight impression and inks up the paper with the design.  The ribbon is 2 layers: retired Baja Breeze ribbon topped with Chocolate Chip grosgrain.

Happy stamping!

Flower tutorial

Here's my tutorial on how to make a fun dimensional flower without any fancy tools.  (Click here to see the finished flower on a card.) I love my Big Shot, but I couldn't bring it with me on my business trip.  Here's how I made a flower with just DSP, a pen, scissors and a sponge.

Start by tracing circles onto the DSP or cardstock.  I made 3 different sizes of circles, using the top and bottom of a mug and the bottom of a glass.

To make the circles into flower shapes, I cut out the circles.  Then I cut slits in towards the center and rounded off the edges.  For the biggest circle, I cut 5 slits to make 5 petals.  The others have 4.  Don't worry about making them perfect because they're going to be all crumpled up and layered anyway.

Next, I wet my hand to get water onto the DSP without soaking it.  Then I crumpled each one into a ball.  I let them sit like that for about 5 minutes.

Next, I opened up each flower and shaped it into a cup shape.  I set them upside down on a piece of paper towel and let them dry.  If you have a heat gun, you can dry them that way.  Just be careful not to burn them!

The last step before assembly is to sponge each flower with ink to highlight the edges and wrinkles.  Here I used Peach Parfait.  To assemble, I just use monoadhesive to attach each layer.  A brad, button or pearls make great flower centers.  You could also scrunch up another circle for the center.

Happy stamping!

Big card with dimensional flower

I needed a big card for work so lots of people could sign it.  This card is 5 1/2 X 8 1/2, a full sheet of cardstock folded in half.  The DSP layer is 4 X 7, and the Poppy Parade layer is 4 1/2 X 7 1/2. I used the scallop corner punch on the corners of both layers as well as on the sentiment piece.  I tied Whisper White satin ribbon and Daffodil Delight narrow taffeta ribbon around that layer before attaching it to the card base.

Come back tomorrow for a tutorial on how to make the flower with no special tools!

Happy stamping!

CASEing myself

If this looks familiar to you, it's because I made a very similar card at Christmas.  I made this to send to my hubby to let him know how much I'm looking forward to seeing him after my 3-week business trip.  It's also one more project in my quest to use up all of my Jolly Holiday DSP.  Maybe I'm kidding myself, but this cared doesn't seem too Christmasy to me, just masculine.  I realized after I made it that the circles lined up between the 2 patterns.  That was total luck, LOL!  For the sentiment, I used Word Play and Four Frames (omitted the bird).

Happy stamping!

Sunny Garden Mojo Sketch

For this card, I used Mojo Monday sketch 190.  I love the bright colors, but I have to admit that I'm looking forward to using some different DSP when I get home.  Especially since I have some NEW DSP FROM THE NEW CATALOG just sitting waiting for me.  I think this will be a great birthday card for the soon-to-be 17-year-old in the family!

P.S.  I scheduled this for Wednesday, but it didn't post.  Sorry for the delay!

Happy stamping!

Sketch challenge for Father's Day

I wanted to make a Father's Day card for my FIL, Larry.  I knew that I wanted to use The Open Sea and make some waves from cardstock.  I saw a sketch on Dawn Olchefske's blog and decided to use it.  Thanks, Dawn!

The cardbase is Whisper White attached to a piece of Marina Mist cardstock.  The focal piece is Daffodil Delight.  On the left, I stamped some images from The Open Sea.  On the right, I sponged Peach Parfait and Cherry Cobbler to simulate a sunset.  I used the faux suede technique to create the waves.  I stamped the boat in Cherry Cobbler, cut it out and popped it up with dimensionals.  I cut a piece of Jolly Holiday DSP and wrapped baker's twine around it before adhering it to the card.

Happy stamping!

Another Sunny Garden card

This was not a quick card!  One of the Creative Crew challenges this month is to use Sunny Garden DSP.  I started with a piece that just has Daffodil Delight.  I used 2 other colors from the DSP (Pear Pizzazz and Peach Parfait) but added Marina Mist for a different look.

I wanted strips of cardstock and used the scallop corner punch to add an interesting shape to them.  At the top of that I tied Pear Pizzazz ribbon.  The sentiment is stamped in Pear Pizzazz backed by the decorative label punch cut in half.  I inked the butterfly in Daffodil Delight then added Peach Parfait around the edges.  (The sentiment and butterfly are from Strength and Hope in the Summer Mini.  SU is donating $2 to breast cancer research for each stamp set sold.)  Lots of pearls ala Ponygirl40 finish the look.

Happy stamping!

More Jolly Holiday DSP!

I brought some Jolly Holiday DSP with me so I can try to use most of it up before it retires at the end of June.  I found a sketch I'd saved on my computer from the last Dare to Get Dirty challenges on SCS, and I used that as inspiration.

The card base is Old Olive.  I cut some DSP to 4 X 5 1/4 and used the scallop corner punch on the corners.  The Cherry Cobbler dotted layer is 3 X 4, and the Old Olive dotted layer is 3 X 1 1/4.  I cut a piece of Very Vanilla to 2/12 X 3 and stamped the script from THe Open Sea in Old Olive.  I added the sentiment from Word Play in Cherry Cobbler as well as the compass from The Open Sea.  I stamped the compass separately on Very Vanilla, cut out the circle and popped it up on a dimensional.

Happy stamping!

Simple Sunny Garden card

I'm traveling for work again, and I finally have internet!  I brought some stamping supplies with me, but of course they're limited.  So you'll be seeing Clean and Simple projects for the next few weeks.  I did actually make a card last night, and here it is!  I started with Sunny Garden DSP.  I cut 2 3X3 squares and adhered them to a Poppy Parade cardbase.  I cut a 2 X 3 piece of Whisper White and stamped the sentiment from Word Play in Poppy Parade and Pear Pizzazz.  I used the scallop corner punch on all 4 corners and added some rhinestones.  Pear Pizzazz ribbon went around the center of the cardbase.

Happy stamping!