Sahara and Plum Smile

 Happy Monday morning everyone!  Did you have a good weekend?  I did!  I didn't get much stamping done but did cut all the paper for my stamp club on Tuesday.  Now just to clean the house...yuck!

  The card I'm sharing today was inspired (again) by a bedspread from The Company Store.  I tore the picture out of the catalog because I like the soft purple against the sand color.  The image from their website does not copy very clearly so here's the link to see it if you'd like Greenbriar Comfort Wash Comforter Cover.  The flower images remind me of the Summer Silhouettes stamp set.  I don't have that one so I decided to use the Reason to Smile set that is the special promotion this month....only $5 with an order of $50 or more!  Great deal and a great set!

  I used last weeks sketch from Freshly Made Sketches paired with the colors from the bedspread.  The base is Sahara Sand and the next layer is also Sahara Sand trimmed down slightly.  The background was a labor of love that's for sure.  I stamped the larger flower randomly around in Sahara Sand ink.  Then I filled in the spaces with the small flower in Perfect Plum.  Now the labor part!  I used the Stamp-a-ma-jig to stamp the outline stamp around all the little flowers.  I used Early Espresso for this part.  It took a while to line up all petals but I really like how it turned out.

  I had a Whisper White circle in my scraps so I stamped the big flower in Perfect Plum and then the outline stamp in Early Espresso using the Stamp-a-ma-jig again.  Next I layered a smaller Perfect plum circle behind it. 

  In an effort to keep my ribbon scraps at bay I pulled out a strip of the retired 5/8" satin ribbon and then a faceted button with a rhinestone in the center.  I think I'm addicted to that little embellishment!

  Have a great start to the week!  Local ladies: Reminder that stamp club is tomorrow at either 9:30am or 7pm!

  Thanks for looking!  Did you stamp today?

Stamps: Reason to Smile

Ink: Sahara Sand, Early Espresso, Perfect Plum

Paper: Sahara Sand, Whisper White, Perfect Plum

Accessories: Circles #2 die, Stamp-a-ma-jig, 5/8" satin ribbon, faceted button, rhinestone

Trendy Wedding Card

  Last week I set out to make a few cards using the new catalog as an inspiration.  There were several samples that caught my eye as soon as I saw the new catalog in person.  One was the wedding card on page 39.  The blocks of silver and Daffodil Delight caught my eye as well as the embossed cake.  We haven't needed many wedding cards the last few years but my husband's former manager got married recently and my husband was going to be seeing him so I wanted to make sure we recognized the big event.

  I don't have the Love & Laughter stamp set so I went with what I had; Make a Cake.

  
  You might notice that I didn't emboss my cake directly onto the card base like in the sample....well I gave it the old college try that's for sure!  I tried to emboss it several times but it just never came out quite right....the top layer was a little crooked to left, then to the right, then the embossing smeared because I rubbed the side of my hand on the image by accident.  So yes, finally this stamper gave up on the embossing!  I know that some people seem to think that every card a Stampin' Up! demonstrator makes comes out on the first try and gets finished in 10 minutes....Not so!  =)  I futzed with this card for quite a while and over several days before I was finally happy enough to adhere all the elements together.

  Since the embossing wasn't in the stars I stamped the cake in Basic Gray and punched it out with the oval punch.  I did a bit of paper piecing on the top layer to bring some of the Daffodil Delight to that part of the card.  Isn't this pattern fun?  It's from the Floral District DSP.  Some of the larger patterns might catch your eye right off but this smaller print is great for little elements on a card.  The punched oval is popped with dimensionals.

  I stamped the Congratulations from Sweet Essentials (my new favorite sentiment set!).  I used the Basic Gray ink again but stamped it onto a strip of vellum.  I added a little rhinestone to the corner for some sparkle over there.

  The other 2 blocks on the top panel are Brushed Silver also with rounded corners.  The final touch pulled from the inspiration sample in the catalog are the Silver Glimmer paper punched hearts that frame the cake on the left side. They are popped up on tiny bits of dimensionals.

  While this card didn't come together easily I am happy with how it eventually turned out!

  Thanks for looking!  Did you stamp today?

Stamps: Make a Cake, Sweet Essentials

Ink: Basic Gray


Paper: Basic Gray, Whisper White, Brushed Silver, Floral District DSP, vellum, Silver Glimmer paper

Accessories: corner rounder punch, rhinestone, small heart punch, large oval punch, dimensionals

Reason to Smile Thank You

  Do you ever see a cool color combination in a catalog or in a store or even on someone's clothes at church and then you want to try to make a card with it??  Please tell me I'm not the only one!  I was browsing through our latest Company Store catalog (we seem to get one a week!) and I saw this cool bedspread and even though it's totally not my style the colors seemed great together.  I had to try to make a card with it. Here's the bedspread:

Novella Wrinkle Free Duvet from The Company Store

 This photo is a little blurry but I think you can see the colors well enough.  I interpreted them in Stampin' Up! language...please tell me I'm not the only one who calls all colors by their Stampin' Up! equivalent.  It's not lime green it's Lucky Limeade in Stampin' Up! language or it's not red it's Real Red!  Anyway, I thought these looked like Soft Suede, Cajun Craze and the new Summer Starfruit.

  Here's the card I came up with using these colors:

  I think the secret to this color combination is to use restraint with the Summer Starfruit and Cajun Craze.  I tried a bunch of different combinations for the main flower panel and this is what worked for me!

  The base is Soft Suede with the flower stamped in Soft Suede (not just brown!).  I stamped some more Soft Suede flowers onto a strip of First Edition Specialty DSP.

  For the main flower I found I really had to use the Stamp-a-ma-jig to get my 2 step stamping to line up just right.  I stamped the first flower/stem with Summer Starfruit and then used Soft Suede for the outline part.  That panel is adhered to a panel of Cajun Craze. 

  I added a new Naturals Designer button which work wonderfully on nature inspired or masculine cards.  I threaded a few lengths of linen thread through the button holes and a piece of Summer Starfruit Stitched ribbon before I tied the final knot.  The sentiment from Petite Pairs and some dimensionals finish off the focal panel.
 
  Remember that the Reason to Smile stamp set is only available until the end of July!  It's only $5 with a $50 purchase (before tax/shipping).  If you'd like to place an online order head over to my Stampin' Up! Online Store to get started!

  Thanks for looking!  Did you stamp today?

Stamps: Reason to Smile, Petite Pairs

Ink: Soft Suede, Summer Starfruit

Paper: Soft Suede, Cajun Craze, Whisper White, First Ed. Specialty DSP

Accessories: Naturals button, linen thread, dimensionals, Summer Starfruit stitched ribbon

Halloween Spiders

  I know we're still sweating through summer and Halloween seems far off into the future but I just had to make this card yesterday.  I got a little inspiration after seeing the challenge over at the Paper Players this week.  It's a sketch with soooo many possibilities and I wanted to use one of my new sets from the Holiday catalog pre-order (awesome perk of being a Stampin' Up! demonstrator....ordering early!!).

 

  I embossed the spiders on Tangerine Tango cardstock with black embossing powder and then added some webs with white baker's twine so they look as if they are dropping down the card.  I also used some baker's twine wrapped around the new (!) Howlstooth & Scaringbone DSP to make more webs in the background.

  

  Next, I embossed the sentiment in black and punched it out with the oval punch and then layered it with a scalloped oval punch.  I put it all together with 3 black Glimmer brads and popped up the embossed panels.  Once I made the card I was going to add some of the new Googlie eyes to the spiders but realized that I forgot to order them!  They are on the list for my next order that's for sure!

  Go ahead and see what you can come up with for this cool sketch challenge!

   Thanks for looking!  Did you stamp today?

Stamps: Googly Ghouls

Ink: Versamark

Paper: Basic Gray, Howlstooth & Scaringbone DSP, Basic Black, Tangerine Tango

Accessories: Black embossing powder, Glimmer brads, baker's twine

Sponged Sky Silhouette

   I hope everyone is having a great weekend.  I've been having fun so far doing lots of stamping since it was rainy and gray today.  I think I've figured out what my stamping ladies will be doing this month at stamp club....shhhhh it's a surprise!  Join me on the 31st to find out!  =)

  I made this card to send to my downline Jen who is having her one year anniversary as a Stampin' Up! demonstrator this coming week.  Jen has done a fantastic job in her first year and has a great group of her own stamping ladies.  I love her enthusiasm!   Check out Jen's fun projects on her blog inspired [ink]lings.  Happy Anniversary Jen!

  I had a lot of fun sponging up a storm on this card.  I first sponged Chocolate Chip onto some of the new Natural Composition DSP.  It has a cool glossy image on Crumb Cake colored cardstock that the sponged ink doesn't stick to so you can make the clear images pop.  Next, I sponged a piece of Whisper White cardstock with Pear Pizzazz, Daffodil Delight, and More Mustard to create the background on which to stamp my flowers from Serene Silhouettes.  Some linen thread and a wooden button finish it off.

  Thanks for looking!  Did you stamp today?


Stamps: Serene Silhouettes

Ink: Chocolate Chip, Pear Pizzazz, Daffodil Delight, More Mustard

Paper: More Mustard, Whisper White, Natural Composition DSP

Accessories: linen thread, wooden button

Lego Birthday Card

  We have been jam packed with birthday activities since last Wednesday.  We finished up the birthday extravaganza on Sunday by celebrating Ryan's 6th birthday.  Yup, the boys have birthdays 4 days apart.....makes for a very busy week at our house every July!  Ryan has been very excited to turn 6 and the day finally arrived on Sunday.

The boy LOVES paper airplanes!

6 years ago!

  And now for the very important 6th birthday card!  Ryan and Alex have both been into Legos this summer.  We have all sorts of creations built and demolished every day.  I think they are great except when I step on one barefoot!  So I decided to do a Lego themed card for Ryan's birthday.  Aren't these colors great together?

  It took a little bit of fussing (and some extra trimming) to get everything lined up but I'm pleased with how this card came out.  I used the small circle on the Owl Punch to make the bumps on my "Legos".  It was a great way to use up some small snips of scraps that I had left from cutting the blocks.

  The "6" was die cut from the new Typeset Alphabet dies.  You get all the letters, 10 numbers and the ampersand.  I really like the size of these letters since they are a great size for A2 cards.  With some alphabet dies you have a hard time getting more than one letter on a card front if you'd like to spell something.  I also used a new kind of paper for the "6".   It is coming out in the Holiday catalog August 1 and is called Core'dinations cardstock.  It's sooooo cool!  It has a texture like the retired textured cardstock but even better because it has a lighter core which means if you sand it down a bit you get an awesome worn look with the lighter color coming through!  Here's a close up....

  It's really cool up close and also if you emboss it then just sand the raised pattern it looks even better! Or tearing so the rough edge has a lighter look....so many options with the new Core'dinations cardstock!  The colors that it comes in are Gumbal Green (which I used here), Early Espresso and Cherry Cobbler.  Perfect colors to get ready for Christmas!

  Hope you have a great day and stay cool!

  Thanks for looking!  Did you stamp today?

Stamps: none

Ink: none

Paper: Gumball Green, Midnight Muse, Summer Starfruit, Whisper White, Gumball Green Core'dinations

Accessories: Circles #2 die,  Paper Piercing Templates, Typeset Alphabet die, Owl Punch

Nugget Thank You

  Just a quick project to share today!  Lots of things on my "to do" list that need to be checked off!  One of which is to get a few photos of projects off the camera and edited so I can share them. 

  I made these last week to tuck into my customer order bags.  I have such a great group of ladies that come out to my classes and support my little business that I love to make a little something to put in their bags to show my appreciation.  These were so easy to make and can be changed to match any occasion or season!  I whipped these up while Matt and I were watching tv.  The Simply Scored really made this go quickly!

  They are sooooo cute!  They hold one of the Hershey Nuggets perfectly!  And it's a great way to use up any Designer Series Paper scraps you have.

  I got the instructions from Beth Rush over at Beth's Paper Cuts.  She has a great tutorial with measurements and lots of photos.  Definitely check it out and leave her some love.  Thanks for sharing Beth!

  Thanks for looking!  Did you stamp today?

Stamps: Itty Bitty Banners

Ink: Tangerine Tango


Paper: Rose Red, Tangerine Tango, Whisper White, Floral District DSP

Accessories: Simply Scored, Fancy Flower punch, Itty Bitty punch pack, Crop-a-dile (retired - used for small flower center)

My Baby Boy Turned 4 Yesterday!

Ack!  How did my youngest get to be 4 years old already??  We celebrated Alex's birthday yesterday starting before 6:30am which is early for the boys.  Alex said he couldn't sleep any longer since he was so excited for his birthday!  The kid has been telling people for 6 months that he's almost 4!  We had pancakes for breakfast, opened gifts and invited some friends to the park to have a birthday celebration. We took a break in the afternoon and just hung out with my parents and played with the new gifts.

 Birthday boy opening his gifts...love the jammies, party hat and lei don't you!?

4 years ago when Alex was brand new!  He still has the chubby cheeks!

  Here is the card that I made for him.  I know it's a super old set and I bought it ages ago after it was retired but the little vehicles in By Land still make me smile.  I Dig You is a current set that has a similar look if you wanted to make a vehicle card.

  The layout is from the Create with Connie and Mary Challenge from last week.  I used the Color Coach to get a nice fun boy color combination to use.

  The base is Tempting Turquoise embossed with the Striped embossing folder.  The little banner is from the Summer Smooches DSP pack.  I colored the car with my markers and then stamped onto Whisper White.  I added Old Olive brads to the wheels.

  The sentiment is from Up, Up and Away and is stamped in black and punched out.  I added a Tempting Turquoise button tied with baker's twine.

  A sweet card for my sweet (not so) baby boy!

  Thanks for looking!  Did you stamp today?


Stamps: By Land (retired), Up, Up and Away

Ink: Black, Tangerine Tango - markers

Paper: Tempting Turquoise, Old Olive, Whisper White, Summer Smooches DSP

Accessories: Stripes e.f., brads, button, baker's twine, circle punches

Masculine Welcome Neighbor

The heat seems to have taken a bit of a break the last 2 days here in Central Virginia.  Yesterday it was only in the mid-80s but the humidity was still pretty high.   We managed to get outside and play as it feels like we been stuck inside way too much lately!

  My card today is one I made last week to welcome a new neighbor into the neighborhood.  As my local stamping ladies know they are building a lot of new houses all around me.  It's been a mess of worker guys, large, loud trucks at all hours and just a general disruption of the neighborhood.  We knew houses were going to be built someday and we honestly expected it to happen 5 years ago when we first moved in but the lots remained empty for years due to the downturn in the housing market.  Now they've built/are building 9 houses!  That's a lot of new neighbors!  A few houses have been completed and moved into so I've been slowly getting my butt in gear to make a card and a little something to bring to the new neighbors.

  One new neighbor is a single guy in his 30s (I think) so my standard jar candle wrapped in DSP with a matching card probably isn't going to make a huge impression on him.  Instead, I decided to make some chocolate chip cookies and a card to take over.  We tried to deliver the cookies over the weekend in the blazing heat (I think the cookies baked a little more on the walk over!).  But the new neighbor wasn't home and hasn't been home since.  I guess he's on vacation.  My boys are only too happy to take care of the cookies before they go stale!  I'll make another batch of cookies but at least the card is finished!

 The new products that I used for this card are the Chevron embossing folder on the Gumball Green panel.  I also used another new In Color Midnight Muse.  I used the new paper piercing essentials pack to detail the strip of Midnight Muse.  Pairing new accessories with older or retired stamp sets brings a fresh look to some old favorites. 

  So what do you think?  OK for a new neighbor?

  Thanks for looking!  Did you stamp today?

Stamps: Good Neighbor (retired), Something to Celebrate (retired)

Ink: Crumb Cake, Midnight Muse, Gumball Green

Paper: Crumb Cake, Midnight Muse, Gumball Green

Accessories: Chevron e.f., Paper Piercing Essentials pack, scallop circle punch, large circle punch, dimensionals, brads

Happy 9th Anniverary...to Me!

  Yesterday my husband and I celebrated our 9th wedding anniversary.  We marked the occasion by doing......nothing!  Our babysitter is out of town on vacation so we just decided to postpone the hoopla until next week when my parents are in town visiting so we have free babysitting (and spend more on going out!).  We didn't even exchange gifts since neither of them shipped in time.  We did exchange cards though.

  Here is the card I made from my sweet husband.  I got the layout from Create with Connie and Mary and the colors from the Clean and Simple Challenge (CAS) at Splitcoaststampers this week which was to use navy, Olive and white.  Perfect for a masculine card.

 I used a Night of Navy base.  Then on a layer of Whisper White I made 3 banners using the Houndstooth, Square Lattice and Chevon embossing folders.  I stamped the sentiment in the corner after using my markers to get the 2 different ink colors.

 Next I added a length of 1/8" Night of Navy taffeta ribbon (retired) to ground the top.  I used the markers again to ink up the balloon from Up, Up and Away and stamped it and cut it out.  It's popped up on dimensionals on the circle and I added a punched heart with a Night of Navy brad.

  Stamps: Up, Up and Away

  Ink: Night of Navy & Old Olive markers

  Paper: Night of Navy, Whisper White

  Accessories: Houndstooth, Square Lattice and Chevon embossing folders, Circles #2 die (retired), brad, dimensionals, 1/8" taffeta ribbon, Heart Trio punch (retired)

  But wait....There's more!

  My husband being the sweetie that he is stamped me an anniversary card all by himself.  He's no stranger to my stamp room seeing that he built most of the furniture in it and he has been known to stamp a card or 2.  He asked on Wednesday if he could book some time in the stamp room and who am I to say no to stamping genius right?

  Pretty good huh?  He even used the Color Coach!  I'm a lucky girl!

  Have a great weekend.  It will be super hot here in Central Virginia again so I think it would be a good weekend to stay inside and stamp away!

  Thanks for looking! Did you stamp today?

Razzleberry Bird Outlined

  Just a quick post today to show the final card that my ladies made last week at my New Catalog party.  I really like the fun bright colors in the Floral District DSP.  They are perfect for summer.

  Again, we used a lot of new items here!  The base is Lucky Limeade and then a layer of Whisper White which we stamped the leaf/branch and then the bird from Betsy's Blossoms stamp set in Rich Razzleberry.  After the bird was stamped the ladies used the new paper piercing template to outline the bird.  Then the wing was stamped again and cut out.  It is popped up on a dimensional.  Make sure you paper pierce before adding any embellishments....the template won't sit flat against your cardstock otherwise.

  Then a strip of Floral District DSP was added to the bottom of the Whisper White panel.  The finishing touches are the new stitched grosgrain ribbon ribbon and the faceted button on the leaf.  We added a rhinestone to the faceted button for even more sparkle.

  Thanks for looking!  Did you stamp today?

Stamps: Betsy's Blossoms

Ink: Rich Razzleberry, Lucky Limeade

Paper: Lucky Limeade, Whisper White, Floral District DSP

Accessories: Paper piercing template, Rich Razzleberry stitched grosgrain ribbon, faceted button, rhinestone, dimensionals

Serene Gumball Trees

   I am at loose ends this morning!  My husband decided to bring the boys into his office for a few hours this morning to show them where he works etc.  Apparently there is not much going on due to the 4th of July holiday.  I think he's nuts to bring both of them at the same time (they are good kids but they are boys after all!) but I'm not complaining about a summer morning to myself!  If only I had more warning I would have had some "me time" planned.  Of course I could always stamp right?  =)

  The card I'm showing today is another one that my group did last week at my new catalog party.  I'm really glad I got the Serene Silhouettes stamp set.  It really caught my eye in the catalog and I've seen a lot of great cards made with it.

 This is another card that is loaded with new products!  First is the layer of Gumball Green (new In Color) that was embossed with the new Chevron embossing folder.  The next most obvious item is the new wood button tied on with linen thread (aka Man Ribbon). These buttons are great for nature inspired cards as well as masculine cards.  They add just the right touch without being over the top.

  For the image panel I made a frame with one of the new Apothecary Accents Framelits by cutting out the shape and then using the remaining opening and laid it over a piece of Very Vanilla and sponged some Crumb Cake ink.  Then the trees were stamped right over the top of the Framelit sponged shape in Gumball Green.  A little edge tearing on the Very Vanilla piece and a strip of Early Espresso and that part was finished.

  Adhere everything together on to a Crumb Cake base with a small strip of First Edition Specialty paper and we've got a card!

  Thanks for looking!  Did you stamp today?

  Stamps: Serene Silhouettes


  Ink: Gumball Green, Crumb Cake

  Paper: Crumb Cake, Gumball Green, Very Vanilla, First Ed. Specialty DSP, Early Espresso

  Accessories: line thread, wooden button, Chevron e.f., Apothecary Accents Framelits

Primrose Make A Cake

  Happy July everyone!  I hope you are all safe and sound (and with power) after this past week's storms!  We got a big one Monday afternoon and then again on Friday night.  We only lost power for a few hours during the night right as we were heading to bed on Friday so it wasn't a big deal for us but I know a lot of others in our area lost power as well as damage to trees and property.  Please stay safe!

  This past week I had my New Catalog Party & Retirement sale.  That was a lot to prepare for!  Pricing all the items, designing/prepping the projects, cleaning the house and refreshments.  Well, I cheated a bit with the refreshments since I didn't make any of it, just went to the store.  But I had a great turn out and the ladies all seemed to like the new products that I introduced and they enjoyed "shopping" my retired stash. 

I had well over 100 retired sets as well as a ton of miscellaneous items.  These photos were taken on Wednesday before the morning session started so a lot had already been taken the night before.  Too much stuff huh?  That's exactly what my bulging stamp room keeps telling me!

  If you're interested in seeing what is still available for purchase you can see my sale listing over on Splitcoaststampers HERE. 

  On to one of the projects my stamping ladies made for the new Catalog Party!

 New colors, new stamp sets, new ribbon, new Designer Series Paper, new Framelits....Oh my!

  The base is the new In Color Primrose Petals.  The stamp sets used were Make a Cake and for the greeting; Itty Bitty Banners.  The ribbon is the new style, 3/8" stitched satin ribbon,  that coordinates with the new In Colors.  We used Midnight Muse for this card.  The DSP is called Patio Party and is filled with fun banners, flags and great patterns.  After stamping the cake and flags (just mask off the cake when stamping the flags for a neat image) we use the new Apothecary Accents Framelits which has 4 great shapes included to cut out the cake.  A rhinestone was added for some sparkle and then the cake panel was popped on dimensionals.

  In other Stampin' Up! news, demonstrators were allowed to pre-order from the Holiday Catalog starting yesterday.  I think I went a little nuts so you may start seeing Christmas projects super early this year!  Now is a great time to join Stampin' Up!  The starter kit is totally customizable now!  You get any $125 worth of products for just $99.  And you get to see and order new products early (along with a ton of other great benefits!).  If you'd like to learn more just give me a shout!  I could talk stamping all day!

  Keep cool!  Thanks for looking!  Did you stamp today?

Stamps: Eat Cake, Itty Bitty Banners

Ink: Primrose Pink, markers- Summer Starfruit, Midnight Muse

Paper: Primrose Pink, Baja Breeze, Whisper White, Patio Party DSP


Accessories: 3/8" stitched satin ribbon, rhinestone, dimensionals, corner rounder, Apothecary Accents Framelits