Creative Crew color combo card

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!

Workshop projects

Here are the 2 projects we made at the workshop on Wednesday. Pauline, Deb and I had such a good time!
This first card is a variation of the Japanese bookbinding card. I did make a couple of changes at the workshop. First, we sprayed the DSP and the flower with Vanilla Smooch Spritz. Loved it! Second, we used the ticket corner punch on the white layer as well as the DSP.
Supplies: Stamps: Eastern Blooms, Heard from the Heart; Paper: Whisper White, Pear Pizzazz, Daffodil Delight, Sunny Garden DSP; Ink: Peach Parfait, Poppy Parade; Accessories: five petal flower punch, pearl

This card is similar to one I already made, but I love the colors so much more! The image was stenciled in More Mustard with a sponge. Then I added Cherry Cobbler with a sponge dauber (for more control). The card base is Very Vanilla, and it's attached to a piece of More Mustard. Cherry Cobbler seam binding (from the upcoming Holiday Mini) adds the finishing touch.
Supplies: Stamps: none; Paper: Very Vanilla, More Mustard; Ink: Cherry Cobbler, More Mustard; Accessories: Holiday Trio stencil, Cherry Cobbler seam binding
Happy stamping!

Japanese bookbinding

Last week's 3D demo challenge was to make a little book using Japanese bookbinding. I decided to use it on a card instead. I was hoping to do this in a small workshop, but that's not gonna happen! I think I needed bigger holes; I used the paper piercing tool. I pushed so hard on that needle that I got a little blister on my finger! I do love the look though. The paper is the new Sunny Garden DSP, and the flower is from Eastern Blooms. I love that set and don't use it often enough!
Supplies: Stamps: Eastern Blooms, Teeny Tiny Wishes; Paper: Sunny Garden DSP, Daffodil Delight, Whisper White, Peach Parfait, Poppy Parade; Ink: Peach Parfait, Pear Pizzazz; Accessories: pearl, paper piercing tool, Daffodil Delight 1/8" taffeta ribbon, modern label punch, five petal flower punch
I'm having a workshop tonight, and I'll post our 2 projects on Friday.
Happy stamping!

Milwaukee swap # 1

I'm making 3 swap cards to take to Milwaukee for a really small SCS swap (only 6 people).  The nice thing about only making 6 is that I can put a little more effort into them and use stuff I couldn't use on a larger number of cards.

This card started out totally different and evolved as I worked on it.  The one thing that stayed the same was the color combo.  I wanted to use the eggplant rickrack again, and my friend Sarah suggested Sage Shadow and Elegant Eggplant.  The card base is Sage Shadow stamped with Sanded in the same color.  I tied on Whisper White satin ribbon with the rickrack.  The focal image is from Eastern Blooms.  I used watercolor crayons with the direct-to-stamp method.  I colored directly on the stamp then misted it with water before stamping.  (The Whisper White piece is 2 1/2 X 3 1/2.)

You may be wondering what that layer is underneath the focal image.  It's a 3 X 4 piece of Bride specialty paper sponged with Elegant Eggplant ink.  The shiny pattern resists the ink!  Isn't that cool?  You can brayer it too, but I like how the sponging turned out.  I did it a couple of times to get the amount of color I wanted.

FYI:  There is a new set of specialty paper in the Summer Mini (starts May 1) that works just like the Bride paper.  I can't wait to get it!

Happy stamping and Happy Easter!

It's hip to be square

I'm handling the demonstratable card challenge on SCS for the next couple of weeks. This week, we're using squares. I've been seeing squares everywhere on cards lately, and I really wanted to use my poor, neglected square punches. I was inspired by a card on Mary Jo Albright's blog where she made a card with 6 circles.
My color combo is Cameo Coral, Certainly Celery, Bermuda Bay and Soft Suede. I just love it! I saw it somewhere and wrote it down to try. I pulled out my Eastern Blooms set and stamped the 3 flowers. Then I dry embossed them. Love how that makes the flowers pop! I punched them out and layered them on scallop squares.
Supplies (all SU): Stamps: Eastern Blooms, Sanded; Paper: Whisper White, Cameo Coral, Soft Suede; Ink: Cameo Coral, Certainly Celery, Bermuda Bay, Soft Suede; Accessories: scallop square punch, 1 1/4" square punch, Bermuda Bay grosgrain ribbon, Empressor, Floral Frenzy classy brass template
Happy stamping!

Dawn Griffith's window card

Have you ever visited Dawn Griffith's blog? She is awesome! She is very creative and posts great videos of her projects. Last week, I saw this beautiful window card that she made for her convention swap, and I asked her if I could use it for this week's workshop wow. She was kind enough to say yes! It is so cool-looking and so easy to make! Let me know if you want me to do a photo tutorial; if a few people ask, I'll do one. I know some have trouble watching videos online.
Supplies (all SU): Stamps: Eastern Blooms, Heard from the Heart; Paper: Confetti White, Razzleberry Lemonade DSP; Ink: Melon Mambo, Rich Razzleberry; Accessories: window sheets, 2 way glue pen, Dazzling Diamonds, Crushed Curry dotted grosgrain ribbon
Happy stamping!

Color blocking

I made this card for last week's demonstratable card challenge. It's been a while since I've gotten to do a challenge other than my own, so I was excited! Cav's challenge this week was color blocking. Color blocking is hard for me because I like all of my layers to be precise and even, so it takes me forever! Plus I like things to be symmetrical so I have a hard time getting it to look good in my eyes. I was very happy with how it came out, but I do have several scrap pieces of gray on my desk now in various widths that didn't work out!
I originally wanted the card to be monochromatic, but when I decided on the flowering branch for my focal image, I thought it needed a little pop of color. When I colored the focal image, I inked the whole thing in Pink Pirouette and used markers to color the other colors right over the pink.
Supplies: Stamps: Eastern Blooms, A Beautiful Thing; Paper: Shimmery white, Pink Pirouette, Basic Black, Basic Gray, Going Gray textured; Ink: Basic Gray, Pink Pirouette, Going Gray, Basic Black; Accessories: Basic Gray taffeta ribbon, designer label punch, 1 3/8" circle punch
I know I'm a little crazy, but color blocking always makes me think of the Partridge Family bus! I couldn't help posting that in the challenge thread, so we had a nice discussion about how dreamy David Cassidy was back in the day. (I liked his half brother, Shaun, and Donny Osmond more though.)
While you're surfing the 'Net today, check out my friend Donna's blog. She's a super talented stamper who was the creator of the awesome tag punch starburst, and she introduced me to the dahlia fold as well. I sent her a card a few weeks ago after she was laid off from Stampin' Up ( a great loss!), and she kindly posted it to her blog. One of the things I love about her projects is that she is a wizard with the Big Shot. Since I don't have one, I can live vicariously through her!
Happy stamping!

December WICKED challenge card

First of all, I hope you all had a very merry Christmas! I certainly did, and that's why I'm so late posting today. I had planned to go visit family on Christmas eve and then come back on Christmas morning to take care of my dog. At the last minute, Daniel found someone who could take care of the dog for us, so I was able to stay until today.
I made this card using Vera's awesome sketch and color combo for the December WICKED demo challenge on SCS. It's a very unusual color combo: Basic Black, Always Artichoke, Bordering Blue and Tangerine Tango. I would have never thought of it myself, but I like the way it looks. The hardest part was finding some ribbon that I could use!
I used faux linen on the focal image: stamp your image on glossy cardstock, sand in 2 directions then lightly sponge on some color to emphasize the "threads" that you created by sanding. I cut out the image and mat with my Coluzzle. Please notice the dry embossing on the right side of the card! I just love the Floral Frenzy classy brass template, and the edge of it is the exact size of the short side of a standard card. Genius!
Supplies (all SU): Stamps: Eastern Blooms, Warm Words; Paper: glossy white, Basic Black, Bordering Blue; Ink: Always Artichoke, Tangerine Tango, Bordering Blue; Accessories: Coluzzle, black narrow grosgrain ribbon, sanding block, empressor, Floral Frenzy classy brass template
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!

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!

One layer card for fall

The Workshop Wow challenge I posted this week was to make a fall card without using Earth Elements. (For demos Down Under, it was make a spring card without using Soft Subtles.) I was called mean and evil! Hey, it's supposed to be a CHALLENGE, not something easy! LOL Someone jokingly said I should make a second card to give them some more inspiration. I took the challenge, and this is actually my second card. (I'll post the first one on Friday.) I don't really consider this a wow, but it was a fun card and only took about 15 minutes to make since I already had the oval shape cut for my mask.
I used reverse masking to create the oval shape. I took a piece of cardstock with an oval already cut out of it and used it like a stencil on the card. I sponged Sahara Sand around the edges of the opening onto the Kraft cardstock. Then I removed the mask and stamped the branch of flowers first in White StazOn and then in Always Artichoke and Bravo Burgundy. I used the Stampamajig to stamp slightly out of alignment. (This is called faux dry embossing. Even though I used StazOn, I would recommend using white craft ink as it will stand out more. I was just too lazy to heat emboss.) I used the same technique for the sentiment. I tied on the ribbon, tore off the edge of the cardfront and ran my Sahara Sand spot over the torn edge. I paper pierced a border, and the card was done!
Supplies (all SU): Stamps: Eastern Blooms, Wonderful Words; Paper: Kraft; Ink: White StazOn, Always Artichoke, Bravo Burgundy, Sahara Sand; Accessories: Coluzzle, Bravo Burgundy narrow grosgrain, crafters tool kit, Stampamajig

Got my new stuff!

My new stuff came today! Whoohoo!! I didn't have a lot of time, but I just had to make something. Thankfully, it only took about 5 minutes to mount my stamps since they are die cut. I wanted to use this branch from Eastern Blooms and my new Urban Garden paper, so I decided to make a Z fold card. I embellished the card with embossed flowers and a little ribbon knot.
Supplies (all SU): Stamps: Eastern Blooms; Paper: Whisper White, Baja Breeze, Basic Gray, Urban Garden DSP; Ink: Kiwi Kiss, Baja Breeze, Not Quite Navy; Accessories: ticket corner punch, double rectangle punch, Flower Frenzy classy brass template, Kiwi Kiss/Very Vanilla satin ribbon
It's Virtual Stamp Night at SCS this weekend, so check it out!
Happy stamping!