Still more swap cards to show!

This beautiful card was made by Tracy M for the swap I was in. The background is clear embossed, and the dress is covered with microbeads! I wish you could see it in person!

Thanks, Michelle!

Yesterday I got to stamp!!! I made a thank-you card for my cousin Michelle. When Alyssa and I visited her shop, we wanted to buy some of her gorgeous merchandise, and she refused to let us pay.
I started with a Fresh Cut Note card (remember those?). I stamped the front with Floral background in Bravo Burgundy then I tore off the edge, removed the laser cut petals and sponged all around with Burgundy. I embossed a clear button with Irridescent Ice EP and put a pink rhinestone brad through it. I put a felt flower behind the open flower and used the button and brad to hold it in place. I backed it with a piece of Parisian Summer DSP and used dimensionals to adhere it to the inside of the card. The finishing touch is some pink taffeta ribbon.

Here is the inside of the card. Now you can see why I rarely stamp a sentiment in a card; I stamped it crooked AND didn't get the whole thing inked properly. At least that proves that it's handmade!

Supplies (all SU): Stamps: Floral, In My Thoughts (retired); Paper: Fresh Cut Notes, Parisian Summer DSP; Ink: Bravo Burgundy, Old Olive, VersaMark; Accessories: Fire Circles brads, Flower Fusion, clear buttons, Irridescent Ice EP, Pretty in Pink taffeta ribbon

Happy birthday, Mama!

Saturday is my mom's birthday. I made her this card, but I forgot to bring it with me to Florida to mail it. (Duh!) So I got a card for her at my cousin's shop, and guess what? I forgot to mail that one too! So I sent her an e-card, and I will mail both of the other cards to her.
I didn't clean up the photo before I left home, so it's a little dark. Sorry about that! The medallion starts off with 2 round tab punches adhered together to form a circle. The next 2 layers are felt flowers. Everything is held together with a rhinestone brad put through a Riding Hood Red button. Hope you like the card Mama!
Supplies (all SU): Stamps: Heard from the Heart; Paper: Riding Hood Red, Chocolate Chip, Muirfield DSP; Ink: Chocolate Chip; Accessories: Button Bouquet, Flower Fusion Too, round tab punch, Pretties kit, So Saffron poly twill ribbon, scallop edge punch, linen thread
Happy stamping!

Christmas card in progress

This card may look slightly familiar. I made one that is similar a few weeks ago. It still isn't exactly what I've been picturing, but I think I'm getting closer. What do you think I need to add or change?
I used the scallop border punch on the bottom of the card to show the wheeled image on the inside. I added the rub-on sentiment in the lower right corner.
For the card front, I started by stamping the tree from Scandinavian Season in Always Artichoke craft ink. I poured on the Irridescent Ice EP and masked off the tree with an oval (cut with the Coluzzle) to stamp the snowflakes in Whisper White craft ink. Then I heat set the whole thing. Why did I do it that way? I find that the white craft ink doesn't really dry on its own, so I wanted to heat set it and heat the EP at the same time. I added some sponging in white to define the oval. The ribbon is the finishing touch.
Supplies (all SU): Stamps: Scandinavian Season, Scandinavian wheel; Paper: Kraft; Ink: Real Red, Whisper White craft, Always Artichoke craft; Accessories: coluzzle, scallop border punch, Chit Chat rub-ons, Riding Hood Red taffeta ribbon
Happy stamping!

Camping swap card

I think this card by Sue Jensen is just adorable! Did you notice thtat the bushes are scallop circles?
Happy stamping!

Look at the card I got!

Remember those swap cards I made? Now I'm going to start showing you some of the cards I got back! I can honestly say that every card I got was very high quality; Crystal does a great job of attracting great swappers.
Today's card is by Sue Begger. I love all of the Sizzix dies that she used; I'm so jealous of the folks who have one. I especially love the Top Note die. I also like the chalkboard technique combined with the Upsy Daisy stamp set, and the colors she used are so pretty!
I am leaving on Sunday for Florida to train a class for work. I will be gone for 3 weeks, and I get to come home for a weekend after 2 weeks. That means I won't be doing much stamping, but I will keep my regular posting schedule. I have a few things I've made but haven't shown you yet, and I have more swap cards too. I'll still be checking my e-mail too.
Happy stamping!

Merry and Bright

This Christmas ornament is definitely Merry and Bright! I used Beate's sketch from last weekend to create this card. For the ornament, I started with a piece of chipboard from the Country Living Holiday Collection. I covered it with VersaMark and poured on the gold EP. It didn't look smooth enough, so I repeated those steps. I cut a bigger circle out of Riding Hood Red textured cardstock with my Coluzzle and adhered the chipboard to it. Some DSP, Alpine ribbon, snowflakes and a rub-on sentiment complete the card. I adhered the ornament to the card with Dotto so it can be easily removed to hang on the tree.
Supplies (all SU): Stamps: Scandinavian Season; Paper: Kraft, Junior Varsity DSP, Riding Hood Red textured; Ink: White StazOn, VersaMark; Accessories: gold EP, heat tool, gold elastic cord, 1/16" hole punch, Alpine Ribbon Originals, Chit Chat rub-ons, Country Living Holiday Collection chipboard
Happy stamping!

A Quick Christmas Card

Last week's demonstratable card challenge was to use masking or reverse masking. We were also supposed to use scraps and a bonus was to use rub-ons. I already had an oval cut to use for reverse masking, so I think that qualifies as a scrap! I decided to make a Christmas card and take the colors from the Alpine Ribbon Originals from the Holiday Mini. The colors in the ribbon are Very Vanilla, Kraft, Real Red, Old Olive and Chocolate Chip.
I stamped the tree from Scandinavian Season in VersaMark and embossed it in gold. Then I put the cut-out oval opening over it and sponged on Old Olive. I used the scallop border punch on the bottom of the card and then used the Scandinavian wheel in Real Red across the inside of the card. I sponged Chocolate Chip around all of the card's edges and added the rub-on sentiment. The last thing to do was tie on the ribbon. I'm not totally pleased with the result, but I think it has promise. I'm going to fiddle around with it some more and see if I can come up with my card for this year. I have to decide by Saturday so I can take all of the stuff with me to Florida.
Supplies (all SU): Stamps: Scandinavian Season, Scandinavian wheel; Paper: Kraft; Ink: VersaMark, Old Olive, Chocolate Chip, Real Red; Accessories: Chit Chat rub-ons, Alpine Ribbon Originals, Coluzzle, gold EP, scallop border punch, sponge
Happy stamping!

A short post

This is a short post because I'm at my mom's and she has dial-up internet. I wasn't able to get this one posted before I left, and I'm flying back on Wednesday when this will post.

This card was for today's Workshop Wow. The challenge is to make a card without using any punches and also to use rub-ons. I used my newest set and paper pieced the cupcake. I added some glitter for the sprinkles. I will add some details after I get back home, and on Friday I'll post a couple of photos of my mom and her friends at our all-day stampfest!

Supplies (all SU): Stamps: Crazy for Cupcakes; Paper: Whisper White, Bashful Blue, Old Olive, Junior Varsity DSP; Ink: Chocolate Chip; Accessories: aquapainter, watercolor wonder crayons, Chit Chat rub-ons, Bashful Blue taffeta ribbon, fine cosmo glitter

Last but not least!

Here is my last swap card. Isn't it gorgeous? It's not often that I'm as happy with a project as I am with this one.
I used my favorite new stamp set, Inspired by Nature. I stamped the grass image onto Always Artichoke with bleach. I was expecting to get a pale yellow, but I got a beautiful pale plum instead! On top of that, I stamped the flowers with Chocolate Chip craft ink and embossed it with clear EP. I kept the card simple because I wanted the image to be the star.
Supplies (all SU): Stamps: Inspired by Nature; Paper: Pale Plum, Always Artichoke, Chocolate Chip; Ink: Chocolate Chip craft; Accessories: bleach, ticket corner punch, key tag punch, clear EP, Chocolate Chip narrow grosgrain ribbon, Rich Regals brads
Happy stamping!

Third swap card

This card has Jana written all over it; I used 2, yes 2, shades of purple on this card! I got the color combo from the color wheel and SU's In Color combo chart.
If this were a full card, I would start with a Lovely Lilac card base and stamp the front with Canvas using Elegant Eggplant ink. Then I would take a 4 1/4 X 2 3/4 piece of Elegant Eggplant cardstock and emboss one end with the little flowers from the Flower Frenzy brass template. (Bonus: the template fits EXACTLY on the 4 1/4 end of a card!) I covered the seam with the new So Saffron polytwill ribbon. Since part of it is covered by the focal image, I cut just enough that the ends would meet in the front.
I used the oval template of the Coluzzle to cut out the white and kiwi layers. I stamped the branch image and then lined up the brass template over the image. The Empressor makes it easy to emboss without a light table! I adhered the ovals with dimensionals.
Supplies (all SU): Stamps: Eastern Blooms, Canvas; Paper: Whisper White, Kiwi Kiss, Lovely Lilac, Elegant Eggplant; Ink: Kiwi Kiss, Lovely Lilac, Elegant Eggplant; Accessories: Coluzzle, Empressor, Flower Frenzy CBT, So Saffron polytwill ribbon
I am flying out today to visit my mama for a week. I'm super excited to have an all-day workshop with Mama, Norma and Beth; even though they have been my customers for a long time, I have never done a workshop for them in person since I live in Minnesota and they live in Georgia. I am going to show them lots of fun stuff! Hopefully I will remember to take pictures to post when I get back. I have posts scheduled for you while I'm gone, so don't feel neglected!
Happy stamping!

Thinking Pink

October is Breast Cancer Awareness Month. This week's demo challenge was two-fold: 1. Use pink on your project. 2. Make a card using something that wowed you in the past but you had forgotten all about. We've all done that, right? I chose Cracked Glass. You can find the instructions in Beate's great tutorial.
For this card, I used Beate's sketch from the previous week; I just love that 3-panel layout! The stamp set I used is Flores Suaves; it's from SU's new Spanish catalog, and it's gorgeous! I chose the tulip image and inked the stem with Basic Gray then stamped off once before inking the flower with Pink Pirouette. I stamped the bee with Basic Gray and then colored the wings with Pink Pirouette using an aquapainter.
SCS has a new monthly challenge called Cards for a Cause. Each month, they choose an organization that would love to receive your hand-crafted cards. SCS collects the cards and sends them to the organization. This month's recipient is Chemo Angels. You can learn more about how you can help in this thread.
Supplies (all SU): Stamps: Flores Suaves; Paper: Very Vanilla, Pink Pirouette, Basic Gray, Parisian Summer DSP; Ink: Pink Pirouette, Basic Gray, VersaMark; Accessories: aquapainter, Glassy Glaze EP, Basic Gray taffeta ribbon, Pink Pirouette striped grosgrain ribbon
Happy stamping!

A quick card

Here is just a quick card using Inspired by Nature; I'm pretty sure this is my favorite set! I actually CASEd myself on this card, but you haven't seen the original yet (unless you are Debbie or Pauline). I used last week's color combo from SCS: Baja Breeze, Really Rust and Chocolate Chip. Since the images are so pretty, I kept the rest of the card simple.
Supplies (all SU): Stamps: Inspired by Nature, Fundamental Phrases; Paper: Baja Breeze, Chocolate Chip, Really Rust; Ink: Really Rust, Chocolate Chip craft; Accessories: ticket corner punch, double rectangle punch, word window punch, Chocolate Chip narrow grosgrain ribbon
Happy stamping!

Another swap card

Here is my second swap card for Crystal's new catalog swaps. This may look a little familiar since I made a pinwheel card a long time ago. It's fun to try different things with your punches! What have you done with your punches lately?
Supplies (all SU): Stamps: Heard from the Heart, Sanded; Paper: Whisper White, Bashful Blue, Old Olive, Junior Varsity DSP; Ink: Rose Red, Old Olive; Accessories: ticket corner punch, small tag punch, Rich Regals brads, Flower Fusion
Happy stamping!

Sock Monkey swap card

I signed up for a new catalog swap hosted by Crystal. I try to do her new catty swap every year because the quality is so good. This year she did smaller groups so I signed up for 4. Since I only had to make 6 of each one, I was able to do what I felt were really good cards. I haven't gotten my swaps back yet, so I've been waiting to post. But the wait is over!
You all know I love the Sock Monkey, so I was happy to make a card with him on it. He is so versatile! It would be easy to make this a birthday card by swapping out the cupcake for the hearts. In fact, this is very similar to the Sock Monkey spring card that I made for Daniel's birthday.
Supplies (all SU): Stamps: Sock Monkey, Whimsy jumbo wheel; Paper: Whisper White, Kraft, Tempting Turquoise, Real Red; Ink: Creamy Caramel, Black StazOn; Accessories: scallop border punch, round tab punch, Real Red narrow grosgrain ribbon, watercolor wonder crayons
Happy stamping!

Beate's Weekend Sketch Challenge

I made this card for Beate's Weekend Sketch Challenge. I saw someone else's card where they cut the image into 3 pieces, and I love it! I decided to try to make a card that would work well for either a man or a woman. How did I do?
Supplies (all SU): Stamps: Inspired by Nature, Fundamental Phrases; Paper: Baja Breeze, Pacific Point, Kiwi Kiss, Muirfield DSP; Ink: Kiwi Kiss, Pacific Point; Accessories: sponge, Baja Breeze striped grosgrain ribbon, designer label punch, 1 3/8" circle punch

Back to basics

This week's demonstratable card challenge was to go back to basics. It was a very limited challenge: 1 stamp set, 3 colors (no In Colors) plus neutrals, no embellishments, no tools (except very basic ones like scissors). Wow! I decided to go WAY back to when I first started stamping. Bold Brights was my first and favorite color family, and now I hardly use them. I knew I wanted to use Simply Said, and I wanted to color in the flowers. Well, Bold Brights are the only markers I have, so that helped narrow down my colors! I colored the flowers Pixie Pink and added some Lovely Lilac in the centers. The stems are Gable Green. My card base is Pixie Pink with flowers stamped in Pixie Pink and Lovely Lilac. I used a strip of Gable Green instead of ribbon, and I matted the focal image in Lovely Lilac. This card took me about 15 minutes, and that's because I had to restamp the focal image 3 times.
Supplies (all SU): Stamps: Simply Said; Paper: Whisper White, Gable Green, Lovely Lilac, Pixie Pink; Ink: Bold Brights markers, Black StazOn; Accessories: NONE
Happy stamping!

Holiday Mini sneak peek

You got a little peek at the upcoming mini last time with the Scandinavian wheel. Well, here is a look at the coordinating stamp set, Scandinavian Season. This set caught my eye right away because it looks like rosemaling. Rosemaling is a style of painting; I think it's from Norway, but I'm not Scandinavian! I have seen a lot of it up here in Minnesota, though. Yah, you betcha!
For my first card with this set, I wanted it to really look like rosemaling. I think I got the colors right anyway; the picture is a little off so don't be too judgemental!
This was a pretty quick card. I stamped the tree image in Chocolate Chip craft ink and embossed it with clear EP. I colored in the image with ink and an aquapainter because I wanted nice deep color; I used Close to Cocoa, More Mustard, Not Quite Navy, Real Red and Garden Green. The ribbon is also from the Holiday Mini. You get 2 ribbons together: this cool felt ribbon, and a striped ribbon!
Supplies (all SU): Stamps: Scandinavian Season, Scandinavian wheel; Paper: Confetti White, Real Red, More Mustard; Ink: Chocolate Chip craft, Real Red, Close to Cocoa, More Mustard, Not Quite Navy, Garden Green; Accessories: clear EP, Fire Circles rhinestone brads, aquapainter, Alpine Ribbon Originals
Happy stamping!

Rhonda's beautiful box and cards

Here is my downline and friend Rhonda's latest project. She gave me permission to share it with you! She decorated this box and made 8 coordinating cards to go in it (2 of each design). I don't know where she got the box; I'm guessing Archiver's.
She covered the box and chipboard with Bella Rose DSP. I love the way she inked the edges of the chipboard; it really pops! The handle is Kiwi Kiss striped grosgrain ribbon with Riding Hood Red taffeta layered on top. I've done that too, and it's a great way to dress up the grosgrain!

All 4 of the cards use the same DSP. They are just gorgeous! Thanks so much for letting me share these, Rhonda!

Happy stamping!

Ghosting again

This week's workshop wow is to make a Halloween card. What, you don't think my card looks like Halloween? My technique is ghosting! I don't really make Halloween cards, so I decided to go in a totally different direction. What makes my card a wow is the focal flower. Here's how I did it.
I stamped the big flower image in Pacific Point and used my five petal flower punch to punch it out. I love how it makes this flower look totally different! I used a sponge dauber to sponge the points and edges. Then I made the flower center. I inked the stamp with Creamy Caramel and used a sponge dauber to apply Riding Hood Red around the edges. Then I used the Flower Frenzy classy brass template to dry emboss it. Here is what it looks like after I'm done embossing. I don't use a light table; I just use an Empressor stylus. Once I know where to start, I use the Empressor to find the next area to emboss. Since it has a rounded ball, it doesn't crush the cardstock like a regular stylus would.
Here is what it looks like from the right side. Pretty cool, huh? I cut it out and used a mini glue dot to adhere it to the big flower.
Supplies (all SU): Stamps: Eastern Blooms, Heard from the Heart; Paper: Whisper White, glossy white, Creamy Caramel, Pacific Point, Riding Hood Red; Ink: VersaMark, Pacific Point, Creamy Caramel, Riding Hood Red; Accessories: brayer, Riding Hood Red taffeta ribbon, photo corner punch, Flower Frenzy classy brass template, Empressor, five petal flower punch, sponge daubers
Happy stamping!