Putt Putt Birthday Cars

This is a fun and quick guy card I made for a friend's 30th birthday. I really like this set and wish it wasn't on the dormant list. Even though it is still available for purchase it isn't in the catalog and sadly "out of sight, out of mind" when it comes to people ordering it. If you have this set I challenge you to get it out and add some great cards to the Splitcoaststampers Putt Putt gallery. Let's give those little stamps some love!

I had been kicking around this color combination in my head for a while as I think it might work well for my youngest son's room when he gets too old for the baby yellow that it is now. Now I just have to convince my husband that Tempting Turquoise is not a girl color and that yes, some Pumpkin Pie accents would look very cool.... Anyway, back to stamping... I also used last week's Limited Supplies Challenge on Splitcoaststampers for a starting place. The challenge was to use something with an engine on your card and limit your layers and embellishments.

I stamped the cars using black stazon and used my stamp-a-ma-jig to line them up. I watercolored them using my aquapainter and picking up ink from the inside of my inkpads. The sentiment is from Party Hearty and I used my small and large tag punches and a scrap of ribbon to finish it off.

Stamps: Putt Putt, Party Hearty

Ink: Tempting Turquoise, Pumpkin Pie, Night of Navy, black stazon

Paper: white, Tempting Turquoise, Pumpkin Pie

Accessories: small and large tag punches, aquapainter, grosgrain ribbon

In Color Owl

I know, I know....enough with this owl right? I promise this is my last card with this little guy for a while! I made this one last week and just haven't had a chance to post it until today. I was inspired by this card on Splitcoaststampers. I like the simple layout of it.

I stamped the owl in Crushed Curry and then using my stamp-a-ma-jig I stamped on top of it with Versamark and then embossed with clear embossing powder. I then cut it out and popped it up on the Rich Razzleberry scallop square. The owl has a nice bit of shine and dimension that doesn't really come through on the photo.

I used the mat pack paper piercing guide to get my jeweled brads all lined up evenly. The background is a large circle from Circle Circus and the greeting is from an old Sale-A-Bration set called Birthday Whimsy

Stamps: Animal Stories, Circle Circus, Birthday Whimsy

Ink: Rich Razzleberry, Crushed Curry, Bermuda Bay, versamark

Paper: Rich Razzleberry, Crushed Curry, Bermuda Bay, white

Accessories: clear embossing powder, stamp-a-ma-jig, scallop square punch, dimensionals, jeweled brads

Simple Summer Thank You

I am always inspired by the Clean & Simple challenge on Splitcoaststampers. Here is yesterday's challenge which was to use orange, yellow & turquoise in your card. I don't think you can go wrong with these colors for a nice summery card. I used my markers to color each flower from the Eastern Blooms set, huffed on them to remoisten and then stamped. I used snail adhesive to adhere the pumpkin pie rickrack and then a quick punch with my large oval and scalloped oval punches and a few So Saffron brads to finish it up.

Stamps: Eastern Blooms, Fundamental Phrases

Ink: So Saffron, Tempting Turquoise, Pumpkin Pie

Paper: Tempting Turquoise, white

Accessories: Pigtails rickrack, brads, large oval punch, scalloped oval punch, markers

Owl Line Up

So continues my love affair with the cute little owl from Animal Stories! I wanted to send a thank you card to the woman at my church who coordinates many of the programs, most recently vacation bible school. My 3 year old attended for the first time 2 weeks ago and he had a blast and I wanted her to know. He listens to the CD of the music at least twice a day and says all kinds of cute things that he learned there. The theme for the program was "Discovery Canyon" and each day there was a new animal who helped convey the days message. One of the animals just happened to have been an owl. Perfect! I didn't have any other canton themed stamps so the owl it was!

For the colors I was inspired by a photo in a kids clothing catalog I received the other day. There was a raincoat that had all of these colors. The layout was today's Sketch Challenge on Splitcoaststampers. The owls are stamped and cut out and popped on dimensionals and the bit was twine was some scrap that I had saved. The background is one of the cool circles from the new Circle Circus set.

Stamps: Animal Stories, Circle Circus

Ink: Soft Suede, Dusty Durango, Bermuda Bay

Paper: Soft Suede, Bermuda Bay, Regal Rose, white

Accessories: scallop square punch, dimensionals, twine

Spotted Owls First Birthday

Our nephew is turning one this week and this is the card I came up with. I totally took the layout & colors from the birthday party invitation! I thought the design was so cute and a perfect opportunity to try out the tone on tone look of textured cardstock circles that is everywhere. And I can't resist that owl from Animal Stories either (as you'll see in my next few posts!). The branch is from the retired set Just Vine- I didn't have anything else current that would work for a little perch my my guys and my drawing is atrocious hence my love of stamping! Both owls are stamped on the base and then stamped again and cut out and popped on dimensionals.

Stamps: Animal Stories, Just Vine, non-SU number stamp

Ink: Old Olive, Certainly Celery, Bashful Blue

Paper: Old Olive textured cardstock, Certainly Celery, Bashful Blue, white

Accessories: 1 3/8", 1 1/4" & 3/4" circle punches, dimensionals

Non-Traditional Baby Card

It felt great to get in my stamp room this weekend and get a few cards made for some upcoming occasions as well as get caught up on some cards that I should have had made before we went on vacation and just didn't get to. All of the boys birthday thank yous went out in todays mail so I am free from that now and ready to play! The more I play with the new In Colors the more I like them. I also keep seeing them in all the stores too (I couldn't resist the Rich Razzleberry tanktop!).

I needed a baby card to go with a little gift for friends who just had their second child...a little girl. I also wanted to get some more ink on the new set Animal Stories. I know this isn't a traditional looking baby card but I love how rich these colors look together. Nothing really crazy on this card but I like how the large swirl from Baroque Motifs looks just on the corner of the card and it anchors the smaller sentiment from Fundamental Phrases. I used the stamp-a-ma-jig to get my elephants all in a row. And a quick strip of scallops "girls" it up just a bit more as I don't have the new In Color ribbons (yet!).

Stamps: Animal Stories, Baroque Motifs, Fundamental Phrases

Ink: Crushed Curry, Rich Razzleberry, Melon Mambo

Paper: white, Crushed Curry, Rich Razzleberry, Melon Mambo

Accessories: scallop edge punch, stamp-a-ma-jig

Choo Choo 1st Birthday Thank You

Our week of birthdays has passed (my boys were both born in July, one on the 11th and one on the 15th) and now it is time to tackle the "Great Thank You Project". I got ahead of the game this year and designed and made the thank you cards well before the birthdays. I wanted to coordinate with the 1st birthday invitation for my youngest (see my previous post) and still be able to use them for my oldest as well.

I love the Choo Choo set and how easy it is to make an eye catching design. I stuck with the same colors for the thank you but used my circle & square punches to highlight each train car. I was able to stamp and punch out all the elements before we left on vacation at the start of July and was able to do all the assembly while we were on vacation. I just alternated the colors of the background squares with the colors of the train cars. I used my mat pack to evenly space the holes for the brads on the large oval. I also used the matching train track wheel across the inside of the card so it wouldn't look so bare and white.

Stamps: Choo Choo, In the Spotlight (thank you sentiment)

Paper: Whispher White, Brilliant Blue, Tangerine Tango, Real Red, Green Galore

Ink: Brilliant Blue, Tangerine Tango, Real Red, Green Galore

Accessories: circle punch, square punch, oval punch, mat pack, brads

First Birthday Train Invitation

On Saturday my little baby (OK not so little if you saw him!) will be turning one. I can't believe how fast the last year has gone! I was determined to use the Choo Choo set that was in the Occasions mini and thankfully made it into the new Idea Book & Catalog. Being that the invitation was for a little boy I wanted some fun bright colors. I even got to use up some of the retired Tangerine Tango paper that was in my stash but any of the Stampin' Up oranges would work.

I used the Right on Track wheel for the tracks at the bottom. The smoke(cloud) stamp was inked once and stamped 3 times for the faded effect. I then punched them out with the small circle punch and popped them up with dimensionals that were cut into 4ths to fit. I did use the Stamp-a-ma-jig to get my train lined up. I printed the details of the party on the inside with my printed matching the Brilliant Blue ink. This was a pretty simple card and I was able to make about 16 in not much time at all.

Stamps: Choo Choo, Right on Track wheel, Fundamental Phrases

Ink: Real Red, Tangerine Tango, Green Galore, Brilliant Blue

Paper: white, Brilliant Blue, Tangerine Tango, Green Galore

Accessories: dimensionals, brads, oval punches, stamp-a-ma-jig, small circle punch

Together Wedding

I've been away since the 30th visiting family in Illinois. My cousin got married out there so my husband and I schlepped the boys 14 hours in the car to be at the wedding. Surprisingly, everyone returned home in one piece and relatively happy. The boys were way better than we thought they would be on such a long car trip. Thank heavens for the built in DVD player and Mickey Mouse Clubhouse dvds though!

Here is the card that I made for my cousin and his new wife. Their theme was kind of nature-y and relaxed. They were married outdoors at Starved Rock State Park in Utica, IL. It was a beautiful ceremony and reception. Their invitations were printed on paper that had wildflower seeds embedded in it so that you could plant it and have a little wildflower garden after- such a neat idea....now I just need to find a good spot in the yard and get planting! The paper was kind of similar to the Stampin' Up Naturals Ivory so that's what I went with for my base. The closest color I had to their accent color was Ballet Blue.

The flowers on the long strip were stamped using Sahara Sand ink and the centers were slightly colored in using a blender pen and Ballet Blue watercolor crayon. The 2 Ballet Blue flowers were cut out and popped on dimensionals and their centers were highlighted with Dazzling Diamonds. The blue organdy ribbon was a scrap that I had saved. My trusty oval punches were the perfect sizes to highlight the "Mr. & Mrs." from Fundamental Phrases.

It doesn't show up well in the photo but I inked up the "Tt" stamp from Defining Alphabet in Sahara Sand, stamped off once then onto the cardstock and then the "Together" stamp from Define Your Life over the top of it in Ballet Blue. Add a few brads and some distressing and I think I came pretty close to their look.

Stamps: Fifth Avenue Floral, Define Your Life, Defining Alphabet, Fundamental Phrases

Ink: Sahara Sand, Ballet Blue

Paper: Naturals Ivory, Ballet Blue

Accessories: organdy ribbon, brads, distressing tool, oval punches, linen thread, dimensionals, Dazzling Diamonds, blender pen, watercolor crayons