Stamp on This

Sunrise color combination

2012-01-27T10:00:00.000-06:00

I got this color combination from Patti Chesky's blog. She called it Tequila Sunrise. It's Calypso Coral and Poppy Parade. The sketch is from last week's sketch challenge on SCS.

The cardbase and lace ribbon border are Poppy Parade. I threaded Calypso Coral narrow organdy through the border. The DSP is from Everyday Enchantment. The flower is from Mixed Bunch, punched with the blossom punch. The sentiment is from a retired hostess set. The ribbon, DSP and brad are all from the Sale-a-bration catalog.

Happy stamping!

Workshop valentine

2012-01-25T10:00:00.000-06:00

I had a workshop last night. It was so much fun! I met 3 new people, and I got to share my love of the Big Shot!

We made this valentine using the Big Shot. I CASEd this card from Tiffany Bauer. I added the back layer and changed the bow. Both hearts were cut with the same framelit. I think the edge is what makes it special!

Happy stamping!

My own inspiration challenge

2012-01-18T10:00:00.000-06:00

I have a t-shirt (shown in the photo above) that I sleep in, and the color is Pool Party. Ever since we got that color, I've been wanting to make my version of this as a card. I finally did it!

Here's the anniversary card that I made for Ray for our 1st anniversary coming up on January 28th. The card is 3X6. I stamped the heart image from Take It to Heart in white craft ink and embossed it with white EP, then I cut it out with a hearts framelit. The birds are punched from Basic Gray cardstock using the bird punch. I sponged white craft ink and black Stazon ink onto them. I wanted a little bit of background on the card, so I stamped Teahouse in Pool Party. The banner stamp is also from Take It to Heart, and the sentiment is from Teeny Tiny Wishes. The bow on the heart is Cherry Cobbler/white baker's twine.

Happy stamping!

Combining the new and the old

2012-01-16T09:58:00.000-06:00

Today's card combines two challenges, and it also combines the new with the old. The challenges are from Splitcoaststampers (SCS for short); they are a sketch challenge (SC367) and a color challenge (CC357: Baja Breeze, Blushing Bride and Riding Hood Red).

The old is the stamp set, Awash with Flowers, as well as the Riding Hood Red taffeta ribbon (a great find from the clearance rack). The new is Twitterpated DSP, hearts embosslit on the edge of the card, and the scalloped edgelit on the Baja Breeze layer.

Happy stamping!

Masculine birthday card

2012-01-13T10:00:00.000-06:00

This card features an image from Not So Seriously. The stamp inside says "Happy Birthday from the whole muttley crew!" Spice Cake DSP set the color palette. The cardbase is More Mustard embossed with the square lattice folder. I stamped with Black StazOn on watercolor paper. The ribbon is twill tape topped with Early Espresso narrow taffeta.

Happy stamping!

Pink pirate card

2012-01-11T06:24:00.002-06:00

One of my co-workers likes pirates too, so I made her a sparkly pink pirate card for her birthday. I used SCS sketch challenge 366. The DSP is a retired Valentine paper from a year or two ago. I stamped the skull and crossbones in Pretty in Pink craft ink and embossed it with Irridescent Ice EP. The bow is a forkbow but made using a potato masher instead. I'll post a new tutorial for that next week.

Happy stamping!

Creative Crew sketch and color challenge

2012-01-09T10:00:00.000-06:00

One of the Creative Crew challenges this month was to follow a sketch and use a color combination that was new to us. My version of the sketch is not exact, mostly because my focal image is bigger than on the sketch. The color combo I chose is last week's color combo from SCS: Lucky Limeade, Island Indigo, and Basic Gray. The DSP is Twitterpated from the Occasions Mini. The image is from Uncharted Territory. It's stamped in white craft ink and embossed with white EP.

Happy stamping.

Quick purple card

2012-01-05T10:00:00.000-06:00

I really really wanted to stamp last night, and it needed to be quick. So I didn't even break out any of my new stuff. I went to my favorited cards in Google Reader and got inspired by this card by Diana Gibbs.

(If you aren't using Google Reader yet, why not? You enter in the blogs you love, and when you go to Google Reader, it shows you all of the new posts for those blogs. Plus, you can favorite posts so you can go back to them later! www. google.com/reader--do it!)

As you can see if you look at Diana's card, I changed a few things. My main image is 2 3/4 X 3 Concord Crush (stamped with Fine Flourish in white craft ink and embossed with white EP), so everything is based off that. The white mat is 3 X 3 1/4, and the Wisteria Wonder embossed mat is 3 3/4 X 4. The card base is 4 X 10 1/2, scored at 5 1/4. I cut off the end of the front piece at 4 1/4. The cardbase is attached to Concord Crush base 4 1/4 X 5 1/2. I tied on some Wisteria Wonder ribbon then added two pieces of Concord Crush ribbon.

Happy stamping!

Creative Crew valentine

2012-01-03T10:00:00.000-06:00

I finally got to stamp! Yay! This card fulfills two January Creative Crew challenges: use your newest stamp set, and do something new with hearts.

I CASEd this card from my friend Amy (zipperc98) on SCS. The Crumb Cake piece is actually the card that opens. The layer behind it is Everyday Enchantment DSP (from Sale-a-bration) attached to Poppy Parade cardstock. I cut it out with the largest heart framelit (from the Occasions Mini) and sponged the edges with Crumb Cake ink. This heart is about 5 1/4" wide by about 5" tall.

The cardbase is a heart about 3 1/4" wide. I took a 7" piece of Crumb Cake cardstock and scored it at 3 1/2". I stamped the image in white craft ink close to the fold so that when I cut the card with the heart framelit, it would leave a little hinge. I embossed the image with white EP and colored it with pastels. The bird's eye is a pearl colored with a black Sharpie.

The finishing touch is a Poppy Parade bow and an antique brad. (The ribbon is held together by the brad following Mary Brown's tutorial.)

Happy stamping!

Double dutch card

2011-12-30T10:05:00.002-06:00

This card is a double dutch card. The tutorial was posted on Splitcoaststampers by my good friend Patty Bombyk. The top of the card opens up, and the bottom opens like doors. Patty's card has a 3 1/2" top and 2" doors. I modified the measurements a bit for my card. Mine has a 2 1/2" top and 3" doors. The sentiment inside says "You mean the world to me."

I used the colors from this week's color combo challenge (CC355): Night of Navy, Bashful Blue and Whisper White. The stamp set is The Open Sea. I've hardly used this set at all, so I'm glad Stampin' Up is carrying it over!

Happy stamping!

Starburst ornament

2011-12-23T10:00:00.000-06:00

Here's a quick little ornament I made tonight. I haven't made one of these in a long time, so I was surprised at how fast it went! This is the tag punch starburst that I made way back in 2007.

Happy stamping!

Occasions/SAB sneak peek

2011-12-19T10:00:00.000-06:00

I finally finished my Christmas cards this weekend and got them in the mail! Whoohoo! I don't know about you, but I'm tired of Christmas stuff.

I got my new Occasions and SAB preorder about a week and a half ago, but I wasn't able to play until last night. Here's the quick card I came up with. The flower stamp and punch are in the Occasions Mini; there are 3 completely different flowers that go with the punch! The fancy cut edge and matching embossed edge are also made with new products in the Occasions Mini. I can't wait to use them some more and get the coordinating stamp set! There are also Framelits that cut out heart and label shapes, and they have coordinating stamp sets too!

The paper, brad and ribbon are from the Sale-A-Bration catalog. The DSP is one free item, and the ribbon and brads come together as one free item. The other ribbon that comes with it is Calypso Coral. The ribbon and brads coordinate with the DSP.

Look for your Occasions Mini and SAB catalogs to arrive in the mail soon! Happy stamping!

Creative Crew sketch #2

2011-12-10T07:36:00.001-06:00

Here's my "everyday" card using the same sketch and the Holly Berry Bouquet DSP. You'd never know it was meant to be Christmas paper! That's a big help to me in my annual quest to use up all of my holiday DSP throughout the year.

I got my Occasions Mini and Sale-a-Bration preorder box this week, so I'm hoping to play this weekend and post some sneak peeks next week!

Happy stamping!

Creative Crew sketch card #1

2011-12-05T10:00:00.000-06:00

For this month's Creative Crew challenges, we had sort of a bonus challenge: all of our projects for the month have to use the same color combo. Each of us picked a color combo. Mine is the colors of Holly Berry Bouquet DSP. Patty also gave us a sketch. I decided to do 2 versions of the sketch, both using the DSP. Today I'm posting my Christmas card, and my next post will be a birthday card. I love that this DSP is so versatile!

Happy stamping!

Scrapbook page for Steph

2011-12-02T21:34:00.000-06:00

My stepdaughter is a college sophomore. This fall, she volunteered at their Weekend of Welcome for incoming freshmen. As part of that, she was in a cardboard boat race. The whole boat was made of cardboard and duct tape! To remember that fun day, I made her a scrapbook page that I framed for her. To make the letters, I borrowed my friend Rhonda's Cricut.

Here's a close-up of the "filmstrip". I took a series of pictures of their journey in the water, and I thought this was the perfect way to show them! I used the retired spiral punch to create the filmstrip effect.

Happy stamping!

Another Christmas card

2011-11-30T10:00:00.000-06:00

Here's a Christmas card I made using leftovers. When I made my previous batch of cards, I cut one layer the wrong size, and I cut 5 of them before I realized it! I challenged myself to create a card using the piece of DSP without trimming it. My solution was to cut it into 4 equal parts. I flipped 2 of them to show the other side of the paper. I adhered those to a layer of Early Espresso and wrapped vanilla velvet ribbon around the middle. This is attached to a Wild Wasabi cardbase. The medallion is silver glimmer paper with a sentiment from Perfect Punches.

Happy stamping!

Non-traditional baby card

2011-11-28T10:00:00.000-06:00

I made this card for a co-worker who's having a baby boy. A girl card would have been easy, but I rarely if ever use Bashful Blue. I saw this sketch online and thought it would be fun. It's from Create with Connie and Mary (CCMC176). It was really hard for me to find DSP that would work. I think this is stretching it a bit for a baby card, but I like how it turned out. The DSP is Greenhouse Gala (retired), and the stamp set is called So Many Scallops. It's a long-retired SAB set. I used markers to color it.

Happy stamping!

Mama's birthday card

2011-11-19T10:42:00.001-06:00

One of the Creative Crew challenges this month is to make an easel card. I've never made one before, so I was surprised at how easy it was! SCS has a great tutorial. I used Baja Breeze on this card because it's Mama's birthday card, and that's her favorite color. The base is Blushing Bride. I stamped the Medallion in Baja Breeze and added Baja Breeze seam binding ribbon. I put silver glimmer paper on the bottom of the inside of the card and punched the eyelet border punch on the card front so you can see the glimmer paper when the card is closed. The sentiment from Perfect Punches is popped up, and it holds the card open for display.

Here's a close-up of the star of the card! It's a rosette; pretty fancy, right? This was featured in the December Stampin' Success magazine, and I had to try it right away! You won't believe how easy it is. I started with a 2 X 8 1/2 piece of Shimmery White cardstock. I scored it every 1/4" (super easy with Simply Scored). Next, I punched it with the lace ribbon punch. After punching, I folded it, alternating the folds (mountain, valley, mountain, valley). I adhered the 2 ends together then opened it to lay "flat". I scrunched it into position and adhered it to a small circle of cardstock then added an antique brad.

P.S. It took 3 stamps to mail this to Mama, and I also added a piece of cardboard to the envelope to protect it. I hope it worked!

Happy stamping!

Workshop projects

2011-11-09T11:06:00.001-06:00

Here are the 2 projects we made at Rhonda's workshop Monday night. They are so fun!

On the left is a punch art Santa that I saw on Dawn Olchefske's blog. She even posted a picture of all of the pieces! I love that it uses 6 different punches so I get lots of use out of those things I already have. We put M&Ms or Smarties into the cello bags. I folded a punched circle over the top of the bag and stapled it to make sure my candy didn't come out and also to have something to adhere Santa to.

On the right is a nugget purse. This is from Angie Juda's blog. Inside is a Hershey's nugget. We used It's a Wrap Holidays to stamp and wrap an address label around the nugget to dress it up. The nugget purse measures 5 X 1 1/2, and is scored at 1 1/2, 2 1/2 and 4. It's a great way to use up scraps, and the Simply Scored board makes it a snap to whip out a bunch of these!

Happy stamping!

One of my Christmas cards this year

2011-11-05T13:31:00.002-05:00

Here's one of the Christmas cards I'll be sending this year. It's mostly based on a card I made previously for a Creative Crew sketch challenge. I just changed the tag to a layered image. The stamps used are Contempo Christmas and Perfect Punches.

The card base is Very Vanilla with a Real Red base behind it. The Holly Berry Bouquet DSP is layered onto Wild Wasabi. I love the pop of silver glimmer paper behind the sentiment! The star on the tree is colored with So Saffron and has Dazzling Details on it.

Happy stamping!

Non-traditional Christmas card

2011-11-02T10:00:00.000-05:00

Here's my non-traditional Christmas card. Can you guess why I love it? First of all I love the colors; no surprise there! Second, I LOVE the silver glimmer paper. Can I use it on every card? I hope so! Third, I love that it's a simple card but has a few details that add a lot: ticket corner punch, scallop border, embossing on the card front, and Frost White shimmer paint.

The color combo is a dynamic duo: Wisteria Wonder and Elegant Eggplant. The card base is 4 1/4 X 11, scored at 5 1/2. I ran the card front through the Snowburst embossing folder. It shortened the front of the card, so I used the scallop border punch on that as well as the Elegant Eggplant layer behind the silver shimmer paper.

I stamped the pine tree in Elegant Eggplant ink onto Wisteria Wonder, then I stamped again with Frost White shimmer paint.

Happy stamping!

CAS sketch card

2011-10-26T10:00:00.000-05:00

This week's CAS (clean and simple) challenge was a sketch. I like sketches because they get me to try new things!

The original card had stripes, so I used Spice Cake DSP for those. Along with the sentiment, I added 3 little flower. The tag is covered with images from Printed Petals. I added some Pool Party ribbon with a chocolate brad.

Happy stamping!

CAS color combo card

2011-10-24T10:00:00.000-05:00

Wow, I can't believe how fast fall is flying by! Life has been so busy that I haven't even stamped for a while. I'm going to try to schedule weekly stamping time now, so hopefully that will work. I feel much better when I stamp on a regular basis!

I decided to make a quick card to try to get my stamping mojo back. I'd written down a color combo: Calypso Coral, Riding Hood Red and Basic Gray. I used Inspired by Nature much like I have in the past to create a sunset-type card. I wanted to add a little something to it though. I had a paper butterfly lying on my desk and decided that would look great with the flowers. I used vellum so I wouldn't have to figure out what color the butterfly should be, LOL. I also added a vellum tag for the sentiment with a Basic Gray ribbon bow.

Happy stamping!

Quick and easy stocking stuffer

2011-10-16T20:57:00.002-05:00

One of this month's Creative Crew challenges is to create a holiday decoration or gift. Mine is so quick and easy! It's a little tin that holds 2 chocolate nuggets.

The tin is an Altoids Smalls tin. The tin is already red, so that saves a lot of work! I traced the tin lid onto Holly Berry Bouquet DSP. I chose the glittery red striped sheet, and I put the pattern on an angle because it reminded me of a candy cane that way.

The nuggets are wrapped with adhesive address labels (Avery 8160). I sponged 2 of them with red ink. I stamped them with the verry merry image from It's a Wrap Holidays in VersaMark. I embossed them with Pewter EP. I stamped the same image onto red cardstock and embossed it to create the sentiment on the tin.

Happy stamping!

Faux Mother of Pearl Creative Crew card

2011-10-08T10:00:00.001-05:00

Mama was kind enough to share some of her mica flakes with me. (It's a HUGE container, and I did give her some ribbon in return.) I wasn't sure how to use them, and then I found this faux mother of pearl technique by Sharon Fields. I used gold cardstock as I didn't have silver. I tried shimmery white, and it just doesn't look as good. I don't think mine looks as nice as hers, but I like how it came out!

One of this month's Creative Crew challenges is to use glitter or something glittery. I think mica flakes fit the bill! As usual, I kept the rest of the card pretty simple. The base is Soft Suede, and I used the houndstooth embossing folder on it. Always Artichoke seam binding ribbon covers the area where the 2 textures meet. Lovely as a Tree is stamped in Always Artichoke. I added some Dazzling Details in the trees and on the grass. (TIP: Dazzling Details is liquid glitter glue, so it can make regular ink smear. Dot lightly or work it into your design like I did with the grass.) I roughed up the edges with the cutter kit and added Always Artichoke and Soft Suede ink.

Happy stamping!

Fall leaves

2011-09-26T10:00:00.000-05:00

This week's CAS challenge on SCS was to use leaves. I just got French Foliage, so that was perfect timing! At first I was thinking about doing a collage type card or doing clear block stamping, but neither of those ideas came together for me. (I'm a make-the-card-in-my-head-first stamper. I'd love to be able to fly by the seat of my pants, but that just never works out for me!)

Finally, I thought of stamping the leaves across the bottom of the card in a border. Then I decided to emboss them in gold and cut around them on the bottom. I'm so pleased with how it came out! (I was going to bleach inside them and color with markers but decided to leave well enough alone.)

I added some water drops in Versamark, Cherry Cobbler seam binding ribbon and a sentiment from Happy Greetings. I punched it out with the decorative label punch then pushed the edges into the Versamark pad and embossed with gold EP.

Happy stamping!

Birthday card for Shelli

2011-09-21T19:01:00.001-05:00

This birthday card is for my friend Shelli. I used the color combo challenge from last week on SCS: Peach Parfait, Poppy Parade and Pool Party. I used the Fine Flourish stamp in black on each color, punched it out with the scallop circle punch, then cut petals. The card base is 3 1/4 X 6 1/2 Peach Parfait. The Pool Party DSP is from Spice Cake. I added brads in each of the colors and a sentiment punched out with the modern label punch.

Happy stamping!

September Creative Crew sketch

2011-09-14T10:00:00.000-05:00

Today's card is for the September Creative Crew sketch. I really like this sketch and card! I used Contempo Christmas and Perfect Punches here. The Christmas tree is embossed with the new Pewter EP from the Holiday Mini. I used a jingle bell for the star. The card base is Real Red with the DSP layered onto Early Espresso and popped up with dimensionals. The tag and sentiment are also on dimensionals. I used both the vanilla velvet ribbon and Early Espresso quilted satin ribbon from the Holiday Mini as accents.

Happy stamping!

CAS color challenge card

2011-09-12T10:00:00.000-05:00

I decided to try a challenge last week. The color challenge was Always Artichoke, So Saffron, Cajun Craze. Perfect for fall!

The card base is So Saffron. First, I created the sun. I punched a 1 1/4" circle out of a Post-It note. I put the Post-It on the card base and sponged So Saffron. Then I covered that circle with the punched-out piece and sponged Cajun Craze around the edge of it. I inked up the trees stamp with Always Artichoke. It was hard to tell what the color was, so I used an aquapainter and some extra ink to add color and dimension to the hills. I added the sentiment, a base layer of Cajun Craze and Always Artichoke seam binding ribbon to complete the card.

Happy stamping!

Fun Stampin' Mist technique

2011-09-10T11:43:00.000-05:00

This is the other project from my last workshop. I learned this technique when I was at Dawn Olchefske's demonstrator meeting a few months ago.

First, sponge ink all over your cardstock. Here I sponged Early Espresso onto Very Vanilla. Second, spray your stamp generously with Stampin' Mist. I used Medallion. Third, press your stamp firmly onto your inked cardstock. I pressed for a few seconds to really make an impression on the paper. Fourth, heat the paper until it's dry. I found that heating both sides of the paper helped cut down on the paper warping. (My mom didn't heat set hers, and she said it didn't work too well.)

There's something in the Stampin' Mist that seems to bleach the ink, and pressing the stamp gives the image a dry embossed effect. It's very cool!

I kept the card really simple to focus on the technique plus I wanted it to be masculine.When I initially added the twill tape, there was too much contrast with the rest of the card. Ray asked if I had any twill tape the color of the cardbase, so that gave me the idea to sponge Crumb Cake ink onto it. He was really happy to have helped me, but now he's afraid I'm going to try to make him start stamping, LOL!

Happy stamping!

Sour cream container

2011-09-07T10:00:00.001-05:00

If you're of a "certain age," you may recall a time when you ordered a baked potato and sour cream came in these little rectangular containers. These were all the rage a few years ago, and I decided to demonstrate them again this month. The container shown above started life as a 4 X 6 piece of Paisley Petals DSP, but it would be easy to change the size of the container by changing the size of the DSP. I chose 4 X 6 because you can get SIX from one sheet of DSP! If you'd like to know how to make the sour cream container, keep reading!

First, choose which side of the DSP you want to show on the outside. Put a piece of sticky strip along the short edge of the side you want to show. Pull off the red liner and adhere the other short edge, forming a tube. Second, flatten one end of the tube. Seal it with sticky strip. Third, flatten the other end of the tube at a 90-degree angle to the first end. **Don't seal it until after you fill it with goodies! (Carol Duvall would say to use $50 gold pieces, LOL!) Believe it or not, this container holds 8 Starburst. Fourth, seal the second end after filling the container. Fifth, crimp both ends. Two clicks of the crimper handle does the trick. Optional: Add an adorable tag using Pretty Postage and the postage and extra-large tag punches.

Happy stamping!

Daniel's birthday card

2011-09-05T08:28:00.000-05:00

One of this month's Creative Crew challenges is to use Timeless Portrait DSP or its colors: Very Vanilla, River Rock, Island Indigo, Cherry Cobbler and Basic Black. I don't have the DSP, but I thought the colors would be perfect for a birthday card for Daniel. He will be 22 tomorrow. Wow, that's hard to believe! Obviously, my card doesn't look anything like the DSP, but I really like it!

I used Extreme Elements and all of the colors to create my own background. I used the new pewter embossing powder from the Holiday Mini for the pirate. I thought about adding some ribbon but decided that I liked it just the way it is!

Happy stamping!

Pauline's card

2011-09-02T07:28:00.000-05:00

Pauline made this gorgeous card on Saturday. Actually, she made 4 of this card! She almost always does that. What a great idea!

This card uses the Artistic Etchings stamp set and retired DSP. The colors are Very Vanilla, Riding Hood Red and Basic Black. Another great tip from Pauline: She writes the colors in the DSP on the back of the package!

The finishing touches to this card are Basic Black satin ribbon and the new Pewter embossing powder. So elegant!

Happy stamping!

Flip flop card

2011-08-31T10:00:00.001-05:00

This is a card I had left over from my stamping fun with Dawn Olchefske. There was one set of cards I didn't get to complete that day because I ran out of time. Did I finish them when I got home? No! This was 4 months ago; how embarrassing! So I decided to finish them while I was at Rhonda's on Saturday.

My card is a little different from the original. On the original card, the flip flop was a card too, but I thought that was a little too much. And there was a tag hanging from the flip flop strap, but I neglected to stamp that image while I was there.
The flip flop is hand-cut from a template. The straps are just a couple of strips of DSP. The center piece was punched out with the word window punch. A punched flower and pearl add some more pizzazz.

Happy stamping!

CASEing Lydia

2011-08-29T10:00:00.000-05:00

Lydia Fiedler, AKA understandblue, is this week's featured stamper on SCS. Lydia runs SCS, and she's a very talented stamper too! The challenge was to CASE a card from Lydia's gallery, making at least 2 changes. I changed the stamp sets and colors used.

This was a 5-minute card! Just swipe 3 colors direct to paper (sorry spots won't work for this!) and add a stamped image and sentiment. I discovered that Whisper White works the best for this. I tried it with Confetti White, but it just didn't look right.

Stamps used were Lovely as a Tree and Sincere Salutations. Colors are Daffodil Delight, Crumb Cake and Cajun Craze.

Happy stamping!

Card for my hubby

2011-08-22T10:00:00.002-05:00

I made this card for Ray to thank him for putting up with me! I had a stressful week at work, and he's a big part of how I got through it. The stamped image is from the retired set Totally Tool. I've had it for a while, but this is the first time I've inked it up. It's perfect for Ray because he loves tools AND puns! I used my brand-new Spice Cake DSP and Early Espresso quilted satin ribbon from the upcoming Holiday Mini. I pulled the color combo right from the paper. The cardbase is Soft Suede with a Pool Party layer under the DSP. I stamped the image on watercolor paper. The tape measure is More Mustard with Pool Party for the background and a line of Soft Suede under the tape measure to add dimension. I used a silver gel pen (non-SU) to color in the tape measure case. My favorite ticket corner punch is used on all of the layers.

Happy stamping!

Birthday card for Steph

2011-08-17T10:00:00.001-05:00

Stephanie's birthday is September 1st. I wanted a bright and fun card for her. How did I do? The color combo is Lucky Limeade, Pool Party and Wisteria Wonder. The stamped images are from Pretty Postage (punched with postage stamp punch) and Language of Friendship (punched with 1" circle punch). They are on a mat of DSP from the Flirtatious Specialty DSP. The card base is Lucky Limeade. I cut off a strip and punched with the scallop border punch. Then I added 2 more layers of scallops and ran the entire front through the Big Shot with my new Snow Burst embossing folder from the Holiday Mini. Wisteria Wonder ruffled ribbon is the finishing touch, and it covers the cardstock seam from the scalloped layers.

Happy stamping!

Color inspiration from home decor

2011-08-15T20:14:00.000-05:00

Do you see the world in Stampin' Up colors? I have noticed Lucky Limeade all over the place lately! In fact, my new quilt is that color. I also have new sheets that are Cajun Craze, so I decided to use those 2 colors in a card. The 3rd color, Early Espresso, came from my yummy new quilted ribbon (coming soon in the Holiday Mini)!

My card base is Lucky Limeade, and I embossed the bottom of the cardfront with the Square Lattice embossing folder. I inked up the pine tree image from Lovely as a Tree with Lucky Limeade then "thumped" it with a Cajun Craze marker. The tree base is Early Espresso. The sentiment is from Oval All which hasn't seen ink in my craft room for quite a while!

Happy stamping!

Double challenge card with new stuff!

2011-08-08T07:39:00.000-05:00

I made this card for 2 challenges: a Creative Crew challenge to include paper piercing on your card and a Dare to Get Dirty challenge to use kraft (Crumb Cake) cardstock. Except for the cardstock, butterfly and paper piercer, everything on this card is new!

The stamp set I was most excited about in the new catalog is Language of Friendship. It has stamped images for 2 of our punches: Boho Blossoms and the Bird! My other new items are Marina Mist scalloped ribbon, Paisley Petals DSP and Designer Frames embossing folder.

The frame is embossed right onto the card. I cut a piece of DSP to simulate the view through the "window". I used an Early Espresso marker to color the frame; I found that sponging and daubers didn't work. I held the marker parallel to the card and just dragged the tip along the embossed area. (I made one little booboo, so I covered it up with the butterfly.)

I'm not a very good watercolorer, so I decided to try Julie Buhler's technique of coloring with markers on watercolor paper and using an aquapainter to do shading. I'm happy with the result! The watercolor paper is pretty thick, so it was a little tougher to punch.

The finishing touch on my card is paper piercing to echo the dots on the ribbon.

Happy stamping!

DTGD challenge card

2011-08-03T10:00:00.001-05:00

I made this card with leftover flowers from the card I posted last week. I added some gold Smooch Spritz to the flower. The cardbase and brad are Lucky Limeade. It's a little brighter than Old Olive. Mama let me use her lace ribbon border punch, and then I ran the narrow taffeta ribbon through the middle of it. Some embossed polka dots and the sentiment complete the card.

Happy stamping!

August Creative Crew challenge card #1

2011-08-01T18:57:00.000-05:00

Here's the card I made for Ray for our 6-month anniversary. It fulfills two of the August Creative Crew challenges: to use the paper-piercing tool and to use colors from Pocketful of Posies DSP. I chose Rich Razzleberry, Early Espresso, Baja Breeze and Pear Pizzazz.

I stamped the images from Inspired by Nature onto Baja Breeze cardstock then embossed it with the Square Lattice embossing folder. I used the ticket corner punch on that layer and the Early Espresso mat. I stamped the flowers again onto Baja Breeze, cut out the big flower and popped up the image over the embossed piece; I got this idea from Renee at Stamping for Sanity.

The sentiment is from a retired Mini set called In a Word. I used two different markers to highlight the word "us". For the ribbon, I cut a slit in the Razzleberry ribbon to feed through the other end then tied it off with Early Espresso narrow taffeta ribbon.

Happy stamping!

Card to cheer a friend

2011-07-25T10:00:00.001-05:00

It has been so hot here that I haven't been able to stamp much. My craft room is the hottest room in the house, UGH! But I was home on Wednesday morning, and it was cooler so I got busy!

The card base is Pear Pizzazz. The next layer is Daffodil Delight, and I ran it through the Big Shot on the Fancy Fan letterpress plate without any ink. It's a very subtle pattern! The DSP from the Flirtatious pack, and it's cut out with the Top Note die. The flower is made with the Fun Flowers die, and the base of it is a doily from the Flirtatious DSP. The doilies come in Pumpkin Pie and Melon Mambo, but the backs are white so you can make them any color you want!

Happy stamping!

Inlaid embossing bookmark

2011-07-19T10:00:00.001-05:00

We made this bookmark at last week's workshop. What a great way to use up scraps of DSP! I cut 5 pieces of DSP 1 X 2 and adhered them to a layer of Old Olive cardstock 5 1/4 X 2 1/4. I ran that whole piece through the Big Shot in the Square Lattice embossing folder. We adhered that to a piece of Cajun Craze 2 1/2 X 6. That left room at the top to punch a hole and add 6" of Marina Mist narrow taffeta ribbon. We added butterflies from the Beautiful Wings Sizzlit for some dimension. Punched flowers would look great too!

Happy stamping!

Strength and Hope card

2011-07-15T10:00:00.002-05:00

Here's a card we made at my workshop last night. It features the set Strength and Hope. I love the butterfly in this set, and SU is donating $2 to the Breast Cancer Research Foundation for each set sold!

The card also features the new Flirtatious Specialty DSP. That's where the doily came from! There are 2 sheets of doilies. You can use them as one big sheet in a scrapbook or cut them apart like I did. The card base is 8 X 5 1/4 Whisper White with a back mat of Melon Mambo. The DSP strip is 1 1/2 X 4 with the Dotted Scallop Ribbon border in Wisteria Wonder. Hope is stamped in Wisteria Wonder onto Pretty in Pink, and the sentiment is stamped in Pretty in Pink. The butterfly is Pretty in Pink edged with Wisteria Wonder. (It looks good in Melon Mambo too!)

Happy stamping!

New colors!

2011-07-06T10:00:00.002-05:00

Today's card focuses on In Colors. Three of them are new: Wisteria Wonder, Lucky Limeade, and Pool Party. I added Blushing Bride, one of the 2010-2012 In Colors, and Basic Gray. I used the Fancy Fan letterpress plate again for the background. This time I used Basic Gray classic ink on it, and the effect is very subtle.

I inked the solid flower stamps first in VersaMark and then regular ink. This allowed me to add Irridescent Ice EP for some sparkle.

Supplies: Stamps: Awash with Flowers, Perfect Punches; Paper: Whisper White, Basic Gray, Wisteria Wonder; Ink: VersaMark, Basic Gray, Lucky Limeade, Blushing Bride, Wisteria Wonder; Accessories: Big Shot, Fancy Fan letterpress plate, Irridescent Ice EP, heat tool, Basic Gray taffeta ribbon, wide oval punch

Happy stamping!

Simple sailing card

2011-06-28T20:50:00.000-05:00

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

2011-06-20T10:00:00.002-05:00

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

2011-06-19T12:19:00.000-05:00

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

2011-06-19T10:00:00.001-05:00

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

2011-06-17T21:39:00.000-05:00

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

2011-06-13T10:00:00.001-05:00

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

2011-06-08T10:00:00.001-05:00

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!

2011-06-06T10:00:00.001-05:00

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

2011-06-03T20:54:00.000-05:00

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!

One more pirate

2011-05-30T10:00:00.001-05:00

This card was inspired by a VSN challenge although I didn't get it made in time to submit it. The challenge was to make a tough but girly card. I embossed the pirate image in black and sprinkled on Dazzling Diamonds while it was still warm. The card base is shimmery white with a back layer of Concord Crush. The front of the card has a layer of Basic Black topped with Bride DSP sponged with Concord Crush. I added Basic Black satin ribbon and the decorative label punch as well.

Happy stamping!

Embossed pirate

2011-05-27T10:00:00.000-05:00

The theme of VSN was pirates. I didn't make this card for VSN, but VSN did get me thinking about my much-loved, seldom-used Beware Pirates stamp set.

Sorry for the bad photo; I couldn't get the lighting right for you to see the embossing. The image is embossed with a mixture of silver and gold embossing powder! (I tried black and Irridescent Ice EP together too. Yuck!)

The image is stamped on black, matted on gold. The card base is Whisper White with a back mat of black. The DSP is long-retired and sprayed with gold Smooch Spritz.

Happy stamping!

New home thank-you cards

2011-05-25T10:00:00.000-05:00

Here are the thank-you notes I made last Friday night. All of them feature the Welcome Neighbors DSP pack (from last year's SAB), Crumb Cake cardstock, Pretty Postage stamp set, postage stamp punch and retired In Color polka dot grosgrain ribbon.

Happy stamping!

Baby thank-you cards

2011-05-23T10:00:00.001-05:00

My pastor's wife is having a baby soon, so I made her some thank you notes. We had craft night on Friday night, and I made 18 cards! Whoohoo! Ten were thank you cards for them moving into their new home (I'll show those on Wednesday). I made 6 of the card above and 2 of the card below.
Both cards feature Springtime Vintage DSP from the Occasions Mini, Hodgepodge Happiness stamp set, seam binding ribbon, and 2 punches: ticket corner and designer label.

Happy stamping!

Confirmation card

2011-05-21T13:50:00.000-05:00

Our youngest was confirmed a few weeks ago. We're finally celebrating, and here's the card I made for her. I used the color combo from Beate's VSN Pirate Party challenge: aqua, light green and kraft. My card is Baja Breeze, Pear Pizzazz and Crumb Cake.

I thought the compass and globe stamps from the Open Sea stamp set would work well with the sentiment I chose from Word Play. The card base is Crumb Cake topped with Presto Patterns DSP sponged with Baja Breeze. The sentiment is stamped in Baja Breeze and Pear Pizzazz on a 2 X 3 piece of Whisper White. The globe is stamped multiple times in Baja Breeze, Pear Pizzazz and Crumb Cake on a 2 1/2 X 3 3/4 piece of Whisper White, and I ran it through the Big Shot in the Square Lattice embossing folder. I used the ticket corner punch on all of the layers. The compass is stamped in Soft Suede on Crumb Cake and punched with the 1 1/4" circle. I added spinner hands after clipping off the round end.

Happy stamping!

Vintage distressed baby card

2011-05-16T10:00:00.001-05:00

My pastor's wife is having a baby soon, and her baby shower is Wednesday. This is the card I made. It's not babyish, but the card's really for the mom, right? She's having a girl, so I chose Blushing Bride as the main color. I kept the rest of the card neutral so I could use it for this month's Creative Crew color challenge: neutral with a splash of color.
I also wanted the card to be distressed and vintage-y. (Distressing is one of the other challenges this month, plus I just got the distressing kit and haven't used it yet.) A month or so ago, I used Diana Gibbs' tutorial to create the piece on the bottom half of the card. I think she called it Bisque Pottery. You ink the emobssing folder with Crumb Cake and then run it through the Big Shot with vanilla cardstock in it. Cool look isn't it? The top piece is a retired DSP. Sorry I don't remember the name. It was just black and white, so I sponged it with Blushing Bride and then Crumb Cake. Adding the Crumb Cake made all the difference! Each of those 2 pieces is 1 7/8 X 5. The black layer is 4 X 5 1/4, and the card base is Blushing Bride.
The black scalloped piece started out 1 1/2 X 5 1/2 before punching with the scallop border punch. Then I used one of the files in the distressing kit to distress all of the scalloped edges.
For the flower, I ran First Edition DSP and Blushing Bride cardstock through the Big Shot. Next, I sprayed each flower with water and crumpled them all up. I let them sit about 5 minutes, and then I opened them up and dried them with the heat gun. (Be careful! They can burn; one of my DSP flowers is scorched, which you can see if you look closely.) After they were dry, I used the solid stamp from the distressing kit to apply Blushing Bride ink to all of the flowers. By rubbing it straight across each flower, it only hit the high spots, highlighting the wrinkles. I layered them all together, adhering as I went so the flower would stay straight. I used the paper piercer to punch a hole through the whole flower for the antique brad. I used 2 pop up glue dots to adhere the flower to the card.
Below is a close-up of the flower that also has a good view of the bisque pottery technique.

Happy stamping!

2011-05-11T10:00:00.001-05:00

Here's my masculine card using the sketch from Monday. I just love it! I don't use Beware Pirates nearly as often as I should. I also used another piece of Jolly Holiday DSP, which is one of my goals for the SU catalog year. Whoohoo!

I used a Basic Black marker to color the pearls before I added them to the card, and I heat set the color.

Supplies: Stamps: Beware Pirates; Paper: Very Vanilla, Cherry Cobbler, Basic Black, Jolly Holiday DSP; Ink: Cherry Cobbler, Basic Black marker, black StazOn; Accessories: pearls

Happy stamping!

Feminine/masculine challenge part 1

2011-05-09T10:00:00.001-05:00

One of this month's Creative Crew challenges is to create both a feminine and a masculine card using the same sketch. I decided that I wanted my two cards to look completely different from each other (besides the sketch of course). For the sketch, I decided to CASE my feminine card from Julie Davison. I changed up the colors a little and used a punched border instead of a ripped border. The stamp set is Strength and Hope from the Summer Mini. For each stamp set sold, Stampin' Up! is donating $2 to the Breast Cancer Research Foundation!

Come back Wednesday to see my masculine card.

Supplies: Stamps: Strength and Hope; Paper: Whisper White, Pretty in Pink, Concord Crush, Lap of Luxury DSP; Accessories: eyelet border punch, pearls

Happy stamping!

Fun stamping day!

2011-05-04T17:05:00.000-05:00

On Saturday, I got up at 5AM to drive down to the Cities and hang out with my stamping friends Laurie Zoellmer and Dawn Olchefske. Dawn was kind enough to let me attend her downline event, and it was amazing! We made 16 cards using Summer Mini stamp sets. (OK, I didn't finish 4 of them, but I will, I promise!)

Here is the card Laurie made for swaps. She gave me one even though I didn't swap! I'm sure you already visit their blogs, but here's where to find them in case you missed them somehow: Laurie's Stampin' Spot and DOstamping with Dawn.

Happy stamping!

Second workshop card

2011-04-29T10:00:00.000-05:00

Our second workshop card featured the faux peeling wallpaper technique. This one is perfect for the Springtime Vintage DSP, don't you think? The key here is distressing the heck out of the paper. Pauline did a great job once she got over having to wreck the paper, LOL!
I made the card base 4 X 5 1/4 with a Rose Red mat (4 1/4 X 5 1/2) attached to the back of the card. The beauty of this is that I was able to use 2 4X4 pieces of DSP for the wallpaper, so I don't end up with any waste!
This card also features the Four Frames and Hodgepodge Happiness stamp sets.
P.S. I would not recommend using a border punch like I did. Three layers of paper was too much! It's very raggedy.
Happy stamping!

Faux mother of pearl

2011-04-27T10:00:00.000-05:00

This card features faux mother of pearl. For this technique, I used scrunched plastic wrap to apply shimmer paint to white cardstock. (I used champagne although frost white is recommended. I also advise to apply it lightly.) After it dried, I sponged on Baja Breeze ink. I used the blossoms punch to punch out petals and then sponged Not Quite Navy ink around the edges of each petal. A Pear Pizzazz glimmer brad holds them all together.
The cardbase is Baja Breeze. The next layer is the sneak peek Paisley DSP. I ran it through the embossing folder and lightly sanded it to show the texture. To gather the ribbon, I applied sticky strip and just bunched up the ribbon and stuck it down as I went. Very technical, LOL!
Happy stamping!

Watercolored cupcakes

2011-04-25T10:00:00.000-05:00

One of the Creative Crew challenges this month is to watercolor. Confession #1: I am not very good at watercoloring. Confession # 2: I am the creator of the challenge! I really did for ponygirl40, one of the Creative Crew who is fab at watercoloring. She gave us some tips, but I think I'm beyond hope!
I CASEd this card from Tessa Wise, one of the SU Artisan Award winners. I love the layout! I changed the DSP, but most of the rest of it is the same.
In order to get the dimension I wanted in my cupcakes, I used a blender pen on the lines; I just couldn't get the aquapainter to do what I wanted. I also added Moonlight accent ink for the frosting.

Here's a little sneak peek of what we'll be making at my workshop tomorrow night. I'll show you more on Wednesday!

Happy stamping!

Punch preview from the Summer Mini

2011-04-20T10:00:00.000-05:00

I was very restrained in my Summer Mini pre-order, but I couldn't resist trying out the new triple punch that SU is offering! One punch has 3 different setting for 3 different sets of punched images. (The flowers on my card use (L-R) outside edge from either 2 or 3 with inside piece of 3, 1 and inside piece of 2, 1 and inside piece of 3. If you look at the punch images in the catalog, that should make sense.)
I think I got the color combo from Dawn Olchefske's blog: Melon Mambo, Rich Razzleberry and Pear Pizzazz. Definitely summery! And look at all of the rhinestones I added, not to mention the glimmer brad! If you receive this card, you can be sure that I like you a lot.
The background stamp is Teahouse, and the sentiment is from the Level 1 hostess set Afterthoughts.
Happy stamping!

Inspired by clothing

2011-04-13T10:00:00.000-05:00

At church on Sunday, one of the ladies in the choir was wearing a beautiful jacket that looked so spring-y! The colors were: Black, Baja Breeze, Poppy Parade and Daffodil Delight on a white background. It inspired me to make a card! I changed white to vanilla so I could use my First Edition DSP from the Occasions Mini. It's thinner, so it's perfect for layering! The card base is Daffodil Delight. The other DSP layer is from Greenhouse Gala and the level 1 hostess pack. I adhered them to Basic Black and ran them through the square lattice folder in the Big Shot. The stamp sets I used are Oval All (haven't used that in forever!) and Build a Blossom. The punches are: Blossom, large oval and scallop oval. I also used a Poppy Parade glimmer brad and Baja Breeze seam binding. I gathered it by pulling a thread from the center. Happy stamping!

Bendy fold card

2011-04-11T10:00:00.001-05:00

One of the Creative Crew challenges for April is to use Blueberry Crisp DSP or its colors: Very Vanilla, Sahara Sand, Pacific Point and Not Quite Navy. I decided to make one of Emma F's bendy fold cards. You can find her instructions here.

I stamped the grass in Pacific Point and then stamped the flowers in Not Quite Navy craft ink and embossed with Irridescent Ice EP. I also stamped the grass on the 2 front pieces. Crochet trim, a sentiment and rhinestones are the finishing touches.

Happy stamping!

Sock monkey!

2011-04-08T10:00:00.000-05:00

I just got More Sock Monkey Accessories. Isn't he adorable in the wagon? I stamped the wagon onto Very Vanilla cardstock and again on Cherry Cobbler. I watercolored the wheels and handle on the Very Vanilla and cut out the wagon from the Cherry Cobbler. I cut out my watercolored Sock Monkey (including cutting out his left arm to hang over the wagon) and adhered him to the Very Vanilla piece and then added the wagon on top. I also watercolored the cupcake and stamped the hat on Marina Mist and cut them out and added them to Sock Monkey.

The cardbase is Marina Mist with Jolly Holiday DSP layered on top. I ran the whole cardfront through the Big Shot in the Perfect Polka Dots embossing folder. I lightly sanded it to make the dots stand out more.

A knotted piece of twill tape (adhered with Mono Multi) completes the card.

Happy stamping!

Four Frames and Paisley Petals

2011-04-06T10:00:00.000-05:00

Isn't that stamp awesome??? I really love the new Four Frames stamp set. The card base is Crumb Cake, and the DSP is matted with Not Quite Navy. I used a piece of Sticky Strip to adhere the Baja Breeze seam binding ribbon. (You'd better order that ribbon now because it's not in the Summer Mini! SOB) I cut out the butterflies with the Big Shot and the Beautiful Wings Embosslit. Happy stamping!

In the style of ponygirl40

2011-04-04T10:00:00.000-05:00

One of our Creative Crew members is ponygirl40 (her real name is Lisa!). She has a beautiful vintage artsy style that I am so envious of! I created this card using a few of her signature moves: faux peeling wallpaper, watercoloring and pearls. I embossed the flower so that I could do a better job of watercoloring. I used Concord Crush ink and an aquapainter, and all the variation in tone came from that one ink! Supplies: Stamps: Fifth Avenue Floral; Paper: Very Vanilla, Basic Black, First Edition DSP, Lap of Luxury DSP; Ink: Whisper White, Black StazOn, Concord Crush, Crumb Cake, VersaMark; Accessories: black EP, heat gun, sponge, Basic Black satin ribbon, sticky strip, pearl, decorative label punch, aquapainter Happy stamping!

2011-12 Catalog Sneak Peek!

2011-04-02T12:06:00.004-05:00

During the month of April, you can purchase Paisley Petals DSP and the Four Frames stamp set from the upcoming 2011-12 Idea Book and Catalog. To purchase these items, simply place a $20 order during April! The stamp set coordinates with the decorative label punch, and the DSP is different from SU's usual style.

Paisley Petals DSP $9.95 Four Frames stamp set

Wood-mount: $20.95

Clear-mount: $15.95

I'll be posting a project using these items next week.

Happy stamping!

Clearance Rack with Grab Bags!

2011-04-02T11:36:00.003-05:00

Stampin' Up has added some great items to the Clearance Rack! They also have something new--grab bags! There are 3 different Grab Bags: $5 ($20 value), $10 ($40 value), $15 ($60 value). Each bag contains a variety of discontinued items such as ribbon, chipboard, Designer Series Paper but no stamps or tools. (Not all grab bags are unique, so if you order more than one, they might be the same.) Be sure to choose me as your demonstrator before ordering to get the preferred price! Happy stamping!

Gift from Lela

2011-03-30T10:00:00.000-05:00

My friend Lela, AKA serenity stamper on SCS, sent me this darling little gift. It's made from the baskets and blooms die. She decorated it with Springtime Vintage DSP.

Here are the cards that go inside. They are 3 X 3 cards. The front bottom edge is torn, and there's coordinating cardstock on the inside of the card. The flowers are from the Baby Blossoms stamp set.

Thanks Lela! Happy stamping!

Crafting in the car

2011-03-28T10:00:00.000-05:00

First of all, I just realized this pic is not that good; I'll use the flash next time. Second of all, yes, I really made this card in the car! OK, I added the glitter and sponging after I got home, but I did everything else in the car. I recently participated a few times in a swap on SCS where you swap stamped images. I have a bunch now from the Occasions Mini set, Eat Chocolate. I brought that with me along with Very Vanilla and Early Espresso cardstock, 2 sheets of Jolly Holiday DSP, Early Espresso narrow taffeta ribbon and a Cherry Cobbler marker. Obviously I had to go CAS here, but I like the result! It's hard to see in the photo, but there is Cherry Cobbler colored underneath the glitter. Happy stamping!

Decor Elements chalkboard

2011-03-25T10:00:00.000-05:00

Here is the chalkboard/magnet board I made using the Decor Elements chalkboard that I got FREE during SAB. The chalkboard piece is 8 X 16. You apply it much like contact paper. The Notes and swirl are separate so you don't have to use them at all or you can use just one part. You can apply it to a wall or cabinet or just about any semi-smooth surface. I decided that I wanted to have mine be a magnet board too, so I got a 12 X 24 sheet of metal at Home Depot for about $8. I applied the chalkboard then attached the ribbon with Crystal Effects to give it a little pizzazz. Yes, that's Pear Pizzazz and Concord Crush, LOL! I've made 2 magnets so far out of buttons and glimmer brads with magnets stuck on the back.
Happy stamping!

Birthday card from Mama

2011-03-21T10:00:00.000-05:00

I think the best part of birthdays is getting mail! (Note to self: mail some of those cards you make!) Although it wasn't mailed, I got a mushy, glittery purple card from my hubby. It's almost like he knows me or something, LOL! I got lots of other great cards, too, including this ome that Mama made for me. I recognize the swirl from Priceless and the corner punch. She also used the new blossom petals punch to make the flower. Isn't it pretty?
I got a couple of projects done this weekend. I have a 3-D item to post on Wednesday. I wish I could show you the beauteous card I made (even Ray said it was the best one I've shown him), but I'm saving it for the April Creative Crew.
Happy stamping!

The feminine side

2011-03-18T10:00:00.000-05:00

Here's the feminine version of Wednesday's card. I used the emboss resist technique here. I stamped Medallion using VersaMark ink onto the Paisley Petals DSP. Next, I sprinkled on clear EP and heated it. Finally, I brayered Early Espresso ink over the whole thing. After it dried a little, I rubbed the embossed image with a paper towel to get off the excess ink and then put it through the Big Shot.
I stamped Teahouse in Cajun Craze ink onto a Crumb Cake cardbase and added Crumb Cake seam binding ribbon. A pearl in the center of the medallion is the finishing touch.
Happy stamping!

Two sides of the same DSP

2011-03-16T10:00:00.000-05:00

I've been playing with some of my new stuff: the Big Shot and some new DSP. The DSP is a sneak peek from the July catalog, yes the big one! The DSP, called Paisley Petals, and a stamp set, Four Frames, will be available for purchase in April with a $20 order. I haven't shown you the stamp set, but you will love it! It coordinates with the decorative label punch!
So this DSP has a very subtle pattern on it. There's actually a large floral pattern on this sheet, but it's not on this particular section of the paper.
I wanted to make 2 cards that are 2 sides of the same coin, so to speak. I'm using the same stamp (Medallion), the same layout, and the same DSP. This is the masculine version. I'll show you the feminine one on Friday.
Supplies: Stamps: Medallion, Sanded; Paper: Cajun Craze, Paisley Petals DSP; Ink: Early Espresso, Cajun Craze; Accessories: Big Shot, Top Note die, neutrals button, linen thread
Happy stamping!

My first Big Shot card!

2011-03-14T20:51:00.002-05:00

OK, I know I've used a Big Shot before, but I'm finally the proud owner of my very own! I used the Simple Flower embosslit to make a quick card along with Springtime Vintage DSP, some pearls and Baja Breeze ribbon. The embossed edges of the flower are inked with Not Quite Navy.
Happy stamping!

A sketch with a new stamp set

2011-03-11T10:00:00.000-06:00

I made this card using the sketch from this month's Dirty Dozen challenges on SCS. I also inked up some new rubber! I just got a nice big order (yay for me!), and I love Uncharted Territory from the big catty. I think it will be great for men's cards! The cardbase is Crumb Cake, and the DSP is retired Travel Journey (still current in Australia I think!). I colored the image with ink and an aquapainter.
Happy stamping!

Owl punch rose

2011-03-09T19:20:00.003-06:00

One of this month's Creative Crew challenges was to recycle something. I turned an Altoids container into a gift card holder. This also continues my personal quest to use all of my Jolly Holiday DSP! You can find the tutorial for the owl punch rose on Valita's blog here.

Here's a better view of the container. The ribbon is vanilla grosgrain.

Happy stamping!

Picture frame for Alyssa

2011-03-07T10:00:00.000-06:00

My friend Alyssa was the maid of honor at my wedding. I wanted her to have a photo to remember the day, so I covered a frame that I got at the Target Dollar Spot. (I bought several when they had them for Father's Day a few years ago.) I used Lap of Luxury DSP to coordinate with the colors we were wearing. I used Pretty in Pink taffeta ribbon to create a forkbow. I added pearls and rhinestones to the ribbon on the opposite side.
Happy stamping!

Bright and crazy monkey

2011-03-04T10:00:00.001-06:00

One of the March Creative Crew challenges is to make a card using a stamp set from the Growing Up section of the catalog. I used 2: Sock Monkey and Extreme Elements. I chose a really bright and crazy color combo: Rich Razzleberry, Pacific Point and Daffodil Delight.
Happy stamping!

Irridescent Blossom

2011-03-02T10:00:00.000-06:00

Here's a card that I made for the March Creative Crew challenge on SCS. The challenge was to use Woodland Walk DSP or its colors: Very Vanilla, Crumb Cake, Chocolate Chip, Wild Wasabi and Garden Green.
I stamped two of the blossom petals with VersaMark and then embossed them with Irridescent Ice EP. For the smallest petal, I inked the stamp in VersaMark and Crumb Cake before embossing. For the leaves, I stamped Garden Green onto Wild Wasabi cardstock.
After I punched the flower petals out, I punched them all with a 1/16" hole punch then put a Chocolate Chip brad through and fanned the petals out to form the flower.
Happy stamping!

VSN Sketch Challenge

2011-02-28T10:00:00.000-06:00

Last weekend, SCS had Virtual Stamp Night. This is such a fun event! I don't get to play along like I used to, but I did create one card. The theme this time was You Make My Heart Sing. This was a sketch with the 4 squares representing the chambers of the heart. In keeping with the theme, I made mine an anniversary card. This is also a sneak preview of one of the Creative Crew challenges for March! (Ssh, don't tell on me!)
The background was inspired by ponygirl40, a member of the Creative Crew. This faux peeling wallpaper technique is her specialty. It was a lot of fun to create. The cardbase is Crumb Cake stamped with Sanded (in Crumb Cake) and Woodgrain (in Chocolate Chip). The wallpaper is Very Vanilla cardstock with Teahouse stamped in Garden Green. I used a Wild Wasabi marker to color in part of the pattern. I tore off one corner, distressed the edges and sponged it all over with Crumb Cake before adhering it to the cardbase.
I can't believe how many stamps I used for this: 3 backgrounds plus 4 stamp sets!
Happy stamping!

Wedding Album

2011-02-27T12:26:00.001-06:00

Click here to view this photo book larger

Bright SAB card

2011-02-23T10:00:00.000-06:00

I really wanted to use that cute owl SAB stamp, and I'm trying to use my DSP a lot more. That's how I came up with this crazy card!
Card base is Daffodil Delight with the Teahouse BG stamped in the same color. For the DSP strip, I cut Peach Parfait cardstock to 4 1/4" X 2 1/4" then punched the scallop border on both sides. Then I measured the inner part and cut the Sunny Garden DSP strip to 1 3/4" wide. The owl is inked with Poppy Parade and punched out. His chest is another design from Sunny Garden. I adhered him to a Pear Parfait decorative label.
I gathered the Pear Parfait seam binding ribbon by pulling a thread from the center of the ribbon. I folded each end over and added a rhinestone brad (retired from the Pretties kit).
Happy stamping!

Quilt card

2011-02-21T10:00:00.001-06:00

Last week's technique on SCS was a quilt card. I wanted to create one using the February Creative Crew color challenge: Cherry Cobbler, Daffodil Delight and Early Espresso. I followed the pattern on SCS. The 2 DSPs I used are Greenhouse Gala and Jolly Holiday. After I adhered all of the pieces to a scrap of cardstock, I ran it through the Cuttlebug in the Finial Press embossing folder. That really gives it a quilted look in person. The tutorial can be found here.
Happy stamping!

Wedding card from Deb

2011-02-14T10:00:00.000-06:00

Here's the lovely card Ray and I got from Deb and Louise. It's so elegant! The embossing is such a nice touch.
Happy stamping!

Using my new stuff!

2011-02-11T10:00:00.000-06:00

Almost everything I used on this card is new! I just got the Build A Blossom stamp set and coordinating punch from the Occasions Mini. I already love it! TIP: To punch out multiples of the petal, stamp them in a row and punch them out left to right.
I got the color combination from a blog. It was so unusual that I had to try it: Peach Parfait, Riding Hood Red, Baja Breeze and Whisper White. I stamped the petal in Riding Hood Red ink on Peach Parfait cardstock. After I punched out the petals, I stacked them together and punched a little hole at the end. A Peach Parfait glimmer brad holds them together, and I just fanned them out. The DSP is Greenhouse Gala, and the background is called Teahouse (new to me). I stamped the sentiment onto a scrap of Whisper White, punched it out with the word window and then sponged Baja Breeze around the edge to make it stand out against the background of the card.
Happy stamping!

Wedding card from Mama

2011-02-09T10:00:00.000-06:00

Here's the card Mama sent to Ray and me for our wedding. I love the silver embossing with the burgundy! Very elegant!
Happy stamping!

Go, Pack, Go!

2011-02-06T21:32:00.002-06:00

The Packers are the Super Bowl champs! Whoohoo!!!!

Mama asked me to post cheesehead photos. Sorry that everyone else has to see these, LOL! I promise I'll be focusing on stamping from now on!

Creative Crew color combo card

2011-02-04T10:00:00.001-06:00

One of this month's Creative Crew challenges is a color combo: Cherry Cobbler, Daffodil Delight and Early Espresso. I love this combo! We also made this card at a workshop last week.
The card base is Very Vanilla 8 X 5 1/4, scored at 4". That is attached to a piece of Daffodil Delight 4 1/4 X 5 1/2. I sponged the edges of the Daffodil piece with Early Espresso to tone down the color a bit. Next I ran some Early Espresso cardstock and Jolly Holiday DSP through the Top Note die. The shape has a perforated border all around, and I trimmed that away on the Jolly Holiday piece so the Early Espresso piece would be a mat. I colored the flowering branch with markers and then stamped it onto Very Vanilla. Next I used the cutter kit to rough the edges and sponged on a little Early Espresso. The finishing touch is a bow made with Cherry Cobbler seam binding and an antique brad. I found the bow tutorial on Mary Brown's blog. It's so easy and so pretty!
P.S. That's 2 non-holiday projects using the Jolly Holiday DSP! I'm trying to use it up.
Happy stamping!

Origami napkin ring

2011-02-02T19:33:00.002-06:00

One of the Creative Crew challenges for February is to create items for a dinner party. I came up with the idea for a napkin ring using an origami flower called kusudama. I first saw this flower on a gorgeous wedding cake that Jodie Olver made. She is one this year's Artisan Award winners. I found the link to directions on her blog.
I'm trying to use my Jolly Holiday DSP for non-Christmas projects (don't want to waste it!), so that's what I used. When I glued the flower together, I inserted a loop of ribbon to run the longer ribbon through to tie around the napkin.

Here's a side view where you can see the ribbon loop.

Here's a close-up of the flower. I added a big pearl to the center to cover up the gap where the 5 petals came together.

Happy stamping!

Wedding Photos

2011-02-01T20:03:00.002-06:00

Mr. & Mrs. Ray O'Brien!

(L-R): Stephanie, Kristina, Ray, Jana, Daniel

Me with my maid of honor, Alyssa

Here's a close-up of the fabulous necklace I wore!

Inlaid embossing

2011-01-31T11:38:00.003-06:00

My friend Rhonda lent me her Cuttlebug and Big Shot dies and folders, so I have been playing a little. This technique is called inlaid embossing. It uses an embossing folder, some cardstock and punched or cut-out pieces. The Square Lattice embossing folder works especially well for this technique. You simply punch or cut out some images, adhere them to another piece of cardstock, and run them through the Big Shot in the embossing folder. It looks like an inlaid design!
My color combo is Pacific Point, Wild Wasabi, Melon Mambo and Daffodil Delight. I used a few different circle punches for my shapes. The finishing touches on my card are: scallop border, Pacific Point ribbon and Daffodil Delight ink spritzed onto the card base.
Supplies: Stamps: Teeny Tiny Words; Paper: Whisper White, Wild Wasabi, Pacific Point, Daffodil Delight, Melon Mambo; Ink: Daffodil Delight marker, Melon Mambo; Accessories: square lattice embossing folder, Pacific Point ribbon (retired), color spritzer tool, punches: 3/4", 1", 1 1/4", 1 3/8" circles; scallop border; modern label; word window
Happy stamping!

Bridal shower photos

2011-01-24T10:00:00.000-06:00

Me with the cake. In this one, you can't see that I stuck my thumb in it!

All of the amazing and thoughtful gifts bagged up and ready to go home with me.

Rhonda, Pauline and Diane (L-R with me second from the right) did a FABULOUS job! It was so much fun! Thank you ladies!

Chalkboard spinner card

2011-01-20T20:44:00.002-06:00

When I saw this stamp in the Take a Spin set, it reminded me of things you would say to a student which led me to the chalkboard technique. For this technique, you stamp on dark cardstock with white craft ink and then color over the ink with pastels/chalk. I tried to choose colors you would really see for chalk and came up with Certainly Celery, So Saffron, Bashful Blue, Rose Red and Perfect Plum. I can't believe I used so many colors on one card!
Happy stamping!