Olive You!

My hubby loves puns, so this stamp from Best of Love is perfect for a card for him!  The card base is, of courser, Old Olive.  I took a 5 1/4 X 4 piece of Real Red Coredinations cardstock and ran it through the Big Shot twice with the little border embossing folder.  Then I sanded it to show the hearts.  I stamped the image onto watercolor paper with Jet Black StazOn.  I colored the image with markers then mounted it onto Old Olive cardstock.  I used Very Vanilla taffeta ribbon in the center.

Happy stamping!

This and That

Stampin' Up has come out with a new product line called This and That.  I think of it as scrapbooking on the go.  This is a sneak peek from the new catalog, so I'm sure we'll see a lot more at the end of May!

I bought the bundle, which includes the book (journal sized), DSP, stickers, washi tape, and a date stamp.  I love the date stamp!  It's like the one the library used for your due date back in the day.

I've decided to use mine as an ongoing scrapbook.  We take lots of little trips, so I think this will be perfect!

As you can see from the photos, the book is spiral bound, and the pages are patterned.  There are 2 pocket pages and a couple of envelopes included as well. 

My first set of pages is from Brewfest, which we attended this Saturday.  While I was there I collected a couple of temporary tattoos, which I adhered to watercolor paper, and a bottlecap, which I flattened in the Big Shot.

 

As you can see, I used the washi tape to adhere the photos and the journaling block.  I had never used washi tape before.  It is patterned and slightly see-through.  I tore it very easily.

Happy stamping!

 

Designer Typeset card

I made today's card using the new Designer Typeset photopolymer set.  It's been a long time since I used a clear set, but I found it very user friendly!

I got the idea for this card from one of Stampin' Up's Artisan design team.  They posted a square card using the talk bubble.  Their sentiment was What's Up?, but I knew right away that I had to make a card that said I'm Just Sayin' because I say this ALL the time!

My card is standard size using Pool Party cardstock.  I cut a 4 X 5 1/4 piece of Sent with Love DSP, and I used the reverse side for the inside of the card.  The stamped piece is 3 1/2 X 4 3/4 because I wanted more of the DSP to show.

I stamped the talk bubble in rows using Island Indigo, Pool Party, Calypso Coral and Real Red.  It was very easy to stamp the rows because I could see through the stamp!  I did have to stamp the words one letter at a time, but it went really quickly.

For the inside of the card, I used the banner stamp.  The stamp is straight, but you can bend it because it's photopolymer.  It has 8 pennants, so it was perfect for my sentiment!  For the shorter one, I only inked up the part I needed.  Again, the clear stamp made it really easy to stamp exactly where I wanted it.

Happy stamping!

Using metal

There's a new set of challenges on SCS called Mix-ability.  They encourage use of mixed media.  That sounds complicated, but they make it easy!  This week's challenge was to use metal along with some other medium.  I remembered I had some copper, so I decided to see what I could do with that.  I ran it through the big shot with the houndstooth embossing folder.  Next, I sponged it with Early Espresso ink to tone down the brightness.  Then I mixed Baja Breeze with white craft ink and sponged that on to the metal to simulate the patina on weathered copper.  I discovered that I needed to heat set it because it took forever to dry.

I decided to use the sketch from the Fab Friday challenge blog.  The cardbase is Baja Breeze.  I stamped the Just Thinking image onto whisper white with VersaMark and Early Espresso ink, and then I embossed it with clear EP.  I watercolored part of the image with Baja Breeze.  I added a strip of Early Espresso cardstock and a bronze button.

Happy stamping!

Ode to retiring in colors

One of this month's Creative Crew challenges is to use the retiring in colors.  I have to say that this is my favorite set of in colors, and I will miss them!  (Stampin' Up is hinting that some of them might be staying!)

I decided to create a very CAS (clean and simple) card using just one stamp and all 5 of the colors.  I started with a note card and the love stamp from Best of Love.  I stamped the image randomly in all of the colors all over the card front.

Happy stamping!

Jessie's birthday card

I made this card for my friend and co-worker Jessie for her birthday.  I used two Creative Crew challenges as inspiration.  One of this month's challenges is to use one of the retiring in colors.  I chose my favorite, Wisteria Wonder.  The other challenge is to use paper piercing in a new way.  I pierced at the corners and used the holes to make the stitches with Wisteria Wonder bakers twine.

I also tried a new technique for me: chalkboard.  I started with a piece of black cardstock.  I used my embossing buddy to give it a chalky look.  Then I stamped all of my images (all from Best of Birthdays) in white craft ink so they would look like they were drawn with chalk.

Happy stamping!