Teenage birthday card

I needed a birthday card for a girl who's turning 17 and loves horses. Wanted to the rescue! This layout is one of my favorites! It was the July WICKED sketch by Joanne Travis. It is awesome for using a square of DSP without having the DSP take over the whole card. This DSP is from Razzleberry Lemonade. The colors are Pumpkin Pie and Crushed Curry, and that helped set the color palette for the card. I started with a piece of Shimmery White so there would be just a hint of glitz on there. First, I stamped the horse in Soft Suede. I started at the right and then stamped multiple times, moving slightly to the left each time, to show the horse's movement. The sun is a 3/4" circle. I punched it from a Post-It note and used the hole to make the sun by sponging So Saffron (More Mustard would be a good choice too). Then I masked the sun with the punched piece and sponged Crushed Curry and Pumpkin Pie on the top half. The bottom half is sponged with Dusty Durango. (TIP: I use a sponge, but I swirl rather than stipple or pounce to get a softer look.) I added Soft Suede mats to the focal image as well as the Dusty Durango piece that the DSP is on; the Dusty Durango layer is stamped with Sanded in the same color. I distressed the edges of the DSP and sponged on Soft Suede. The card base is Crushed Curry stamped with Sanded in the same color. Soft Suede ribbon is the finishing touch.
Happy stamping!

More Holiday Mini stuff!

Here's a super quick card I made using 2 new Holiday Mini items. The balloon's basket is from a great new stamp set called Sweet Centers. Each of the stamps is made to go with a 1 3/4" circle: balloon, center of a flower, center of a heart, Christmas ornament or center of a Halloween image. I mixed it up a little by using a new punch from the Holiday Mini for the balloon. The punch is actually a Christmas ornament! (Look at it upside down, and you'll see it!) I love it with the balloon stamp for something different than the circle. I added the swirl from Priceless on the cardbase to simulate the wind (like I did on my kite card a few weeks ago).
Happy stamping!

A pirate's card for me

For this week's workshop wow challenge, I decided to do a sketch challenge. This sketch is based on the card on page 13 of the catalog. I used the new Night and Day DSP from the Holiday Mini; isn't it gorgeous? The stamped image is from my favorite new set, Beware Pirates. It's hard to tell in the photo, but the cardbase and stamped image are on Shimmery White cardstock.
Happy stamping!

Something new!

I know this isn't stamp related, but I am so excited that I have to share! I got a new car on Saturday!! Whoohoo! It's a Chevy Aveo. I traded in my wonderful Bravada because of Cash for Clunkers. The only reason I really have this car is because of my mom. She contributed a down payment so I could afford the monthly payments. Thanks, Mama! This is the first brand-new car I have ever owned!
Life has been really hectic, so I haven't stamped for a while. But I promise I will be stamping tonight, and later this week I will have BRAND NEW SNEAK PEEK items to show you from the upcoming Holiday Mini. You're going to love it!
Happy stamping!

Spotlight on spotlighting

Here is one more card I made for VSN. The challenge was to use a flower and a circle on your card. I love the spotlighting technique, so I decided to do that. I actually cheated a bit; I already had this card made except for the stamped panel and the ribbon. I had made another card where the focal image was so horrible that I couldn't bring myself to show it or send it to anyone. So I pulled that panel off, added the ribbon and stamped the flowers. I debated about where to put the spotlight. For balance, I would have liked it on the left, but I decided that the color needed to be on the right. I think it would have looked good the other way too.
Supplies (all SU): Stamps: Flores Suaves, Sanded; Paper: Confetti White, Crushed Curry, Melon Mambo, Rich Razzleberry textured, Razzleberry Lemonade DSP; Ink: Crushed Curry, Melon Mambo, Basic Gray; Accessories: aquapainter, 1 1/4 & 1 3/8 circle punches, Crushed Curry dotted grosgrain ribbon
Happy stamping!

Beware Pirates!

Last weekend, SCS had Virtual Stamp Night. During VSN, they present a challenge every hour. This month, the theme was food. I made this card for a challenge where you had to follow a recipe. The recipe I chose was for a Blue Bikini martini. The colors were Tempting Turquoise, Brilliant Blue and Cameo Coral. The accessories I chose (from a list) were acetate and brads. The garnish was rhinestones (in my brads).
I started by cutting a piece of window sheet and a piece of Tempting Turquoise cardstock down to the size of my stamp block. I stamped the ship onto the window sheet with White StazOn. To make my water scene, I punched a 3/4" circle into a Post-It and used that to sponge Cameo Coral craft ink for the sun. Then I heatset that to get the true ink color. Next I sponged Brilliant Blue ink all along the bottom and just around the other edges. I used Ice Circle rhinestone brads to attach the window sheet to the backdrop. The card base is Cameo Coral with Sanded stamped in Cameo Coral ink. I stamped the sentiment in turquoise ink and punched it out with the modern label punch. I backed that up with a designer label in Brilliant Blue.
Happy stamping!

Same Sketch Different Card

First of all, sorry that the photo is slightly blurry! Hope you had a great weekend! Mine was sticky and soggy, but I'm hopeful that this week will be better.
On Saturday, my friend Karen came over to stamp. She wanted me to show her how to make some of my projects using items that she has on hand. She really loved a card that we made during SAB, and she wanted to do that same card again. We grabbed the new In Colors and her Thoughts and Prayers stamp set. I showed her how to make her own patterned paper using one of the stamps. I think the card turned out great! The color combo (Crushed Curry, Bermuda Bay, Old Olive) is so pretty and works so well with the stamps we used.
Happy stamping!