Fish in the Aquarium - Stampin' Up! Seaside Shore - Fab Friday 94

Here we are again back on a Friday with a fantastic Fab Friday challenge!  Like I say just about every other Friday....what a great way to start the weekend off!

    We're doing the new In Colors this time around!  Grab your inks and papers and get started.  I couldn't get all 5 to look right on this card so I went with 3 of them...Peekaboo Peach, Emerald Envy, and Dapper Denim.  To see an example I made earlier this summer using all 5 colors check out In Color Color Block Jar card.

  After I got to stamping with them I kept thinking that it looked like those rooms at an aquarium where it's all dark with lights along the floor and all the blues and greens are shimmering in the large tanks with the beautiful colors of fish.  I don't know if you can see that or maybe I'm just a wacko but these fish are fun to create scenes with!

  I used the new Seaside embossed folder on the Dapper Denim panel and that set a nice backdrop for my fish and seaweed.  The bubble are stamped off once to make them a bit lighter so as not to compete with the darker fish.

  The Peekaboo Peach fish is stamped on scrap Very Vanilla and cut out and then popped with a dimensional on the edge of the panel.

  I stamped off the seaweed once and added the starfish over the top then punched it out and layered it with a Peekaboo Peach circle.

  The Emerald Envy ruched ribbon goes across the card front and is tied on the edge with a bit of Very Vanilla thick bakers twine to add a bit of nautical flair.

  Head over to the Fab Friday challenge and see what the rest of the Design Team came up with for these colors.  They are all super clever and creative so I bet you'll see lots of way to use all 5 on one card!  I can't wait to see what you create!

  Thanks for looking!  Did you stamp today?

Stamps: Seaside Shore

Ink: Peekaboo Peach, Emerald Envy, Dapper Denim

Paper: Peekaboo Peach, Dapper Denim, Very Vanilla

Accessories: Seaside embossing folder, dimensionals, circle punch, ruched ribbon, thick baker's twine

  

Swirly Birds on a Wire - Stampin' Up! Swirly Bird

  A few weekends ago I had the house to myself while the guys were out of town and I stayed home to nurse a sick pup.  While Josie was sleeping and trying to feel better I got some time in the stamp room and used some color combinations that I had seen and written down for future use.  I tend to not grab my brights as often as I should so I picked a color combo that would really stretch me.

 

  This is Emerald Envy, Tempting Turquoise and Tangerine Tango. Bright but balanced and kind of fun right?  I think these are great summer colors.

  No fancy techniques or dies here.  The card base is Emerald Envy, then a narrow strip of Tangerine Tango.  The wires and bird feet are stamped in Basic Black and the colored birds added on top.  I don't know what they are all looking at but they make me think of the bluebirds sitting waiting for a bug to make a mistake down in the grass!

  The banner is a strip of Tempting Turquoise stamped with Happy Birthday from Sunshine Sayings in black with a black baker's twine bow.  I flagged the end and then popped it up with dimensionals.

  Thanks for looking!  Did you stamp today?

Stamps: Swirly Bird, Sunshine Sayings

Ink: Basic Black, Tangerine Tango, Emerald Envy, Tempting Turquoise

Paper: Tangerine Tango, Emerald Envy, Tempting Turquoise, Whisper White

Accessories: dimensionals, black baker's twine

Pretty Plum Fish - Stampin' Up! Seaside Shore

 I'm enjoying stamping with the new Seaside Shore stamp set and coordinating By the Shore DSP.  The weather is so hot and humid all I'm thinking about are cool ocean breezes and floating in the pool!  To keep thing simple I just used some ink and cardstock for this card.  Nothing fancy here but still a cute card!

  The little line of circles makes for a fun background to create an ocean scene.  I used Sweet Sugarplum and stamped it twice so I got a light and a dark line.  In the center is a line of Blushing Bride circles and then I did the Sweet Sugarplum again because odd numbers look more balanced.

  On top of the lines I stamped a few Blushing Bride Shells, Early Espresso seaweed and some gold bubbles.  The celebrate from Thoughtful Banners is stamped in Early Espresso.

  For the fish I stamped one in Early Espresso onto Blushing Bride cardstock and then cut it out.  I highlighted it with gold Wink of Stella and adhered it to the card front.  The other fish was stamped in Early Espresso on Very Vanilla cardstock.  I cut it out and colored in the stripes with my Sweet Sugarplum marker.  This guy is popped up on the card front with a dimensional.

  This is a great card for those summer birthdays or and warm weather celebration!

  Thanks for looking!  Did you stamp today?

Stamps: Seaside Shore, Thoughtful Banners

Ink: Early Espresso, Sweet Sugarplum, Blushing Bride

Paper: Early Espresso, Very Vanilla, Blushing Bride

Accessories: gold Wink of Stella, dimensionals

Paper Skunks are Sweet - Stampin' Up! Fox Builder Punch

Paper skunks are sweet but real ones are not!  They are even sweeter when they are attached to some candy.  I made these little tags to stick in my stamping ladies order bags after my last class.  They are all a joy to have at class and I enjoy our monthly get togethers and when I have the time I like to make a little something to say thanks.

 

  You can see the edge of the York Peppermint Pattie peeking out from the side.  The Foxy Friends and Fox Builder punch are a really fun combo!  There are so many great ideas for different animals using the 2 products together.  I saw this cute skunk all over Pinterest and fell in love with the sweet face and cute flower on her head and had to make her....or 20+ of her!

  The Layering Circles framelits made quick work of the tag base.  I used the arched branch stamp and curved it a bit more to fit the shape of the scalloped circle (love that you can do that with photopolymer stamps) and stamped it twice in Mint Macaron.  The hello is from Thoughtful Banners and is stamped in black.

  The skunk is punched in Basic Black and Whisper White.  The white part of her chest is the end of the tail trimmed off and the tail strip is just a punched tail trimmed down.  The Melon Mambo flower is punched from the Tree Builder punch.  I added a little rhinestone to the flower.  The ribbon is the new Mint Macaron sheer linen ribbon and is tied off with the retired Melon Mambo and black baker's twine.

  Thanks for looking!  Did you stamp today?

Stamps: Foxy Friends, Thoughtful Banners

Ink: Mint Macaron, Black

Paper: Melon Mambo, Whisper White, Basic Black

Accessories: Layering Circle framelits, Fox Builder punch, Owl Builder punch, Mint Macron sheer linen ribbon, rhinestone, dimensionals, Melon Mambo and black baker's twine (retired)

All Occasion Jar of Flowers - Stampin' Up! Jar of Love

One of the reasons why I think the Jar of Love stamp set has been so popular is that you can make so many different kinds of cards with it.  The different sizes of jars as well as the variety of flowers and all the accents makes it easy to make a card for any occasion.

  I needed to have a few blank cards on hand to be able to pop in the mail quickly so I grabbed the Jar of Love set and started stamping.

  The card base is Soft Sky and then a narrow strip of A Little Foxy DSP in nice soft Smoky Slate.

  I stamped the water stamp in Soft Sky on Whisper White and then added the greenery stems in Pear Pizzazz.  The jar is stamped in Basic Gray onto vellum for that transparent glass jar look.  The lid was also stamped in Basic Gray.  The flowers are Flirty Flamingo with Watermelon Wonder centers.  I cut all the shapes  with the coordinating Everyday Jars framelits.

  The jar is adhered over the water and stems by just a small bit of adhesive where the flowers and lid overlap it so you can't see it through the vellum.  The flower are popped up on dimensionals.

  I'll add a sentiment when I need to mail the card so I can use it for anything!

  Thanks for looking!  Did you stamp today?

Stamps: Jar of Love

Ink: Soft Sky, Pear Pizzazz, Basic Gray, Flirty Flamingo, Watermelon Wonder

Paper: Soft Sky, Whisper White, A Little Foxy DSP, vellum

Accessories: Everyday Jars framelits, dimensionals

His & Hers 13th Anniversary Cards - Stampin' Up! Seaside Shore & Foxy Friends

  Back in the beginning of July my husband and I celebrated our 13th wedding anniversary.  We tend to be pretty low key when marking the occasion but there are always cards of course!

  I had just gotten a few more items from the annual catalog and I wanted to try them out.  The Seaside Shore is a great set with of course fish but the other images in the set give you a lot options to create fun underwater scenes.

  The card base is Very Vanilla and I used Dapper Denim as a mat for a piece of By the Shore DSP.  I used just the anchor image and embossed it in the new copper embossing powder.  I cut it and a larger layer in Dapper Denim with the Layering Circles framelits.

  The sentiment is from Sunshine Sayings and I used the Stamp-a-ma-jig to line it up and stamped it in Dapper Denim ink.  Have I said how much I like this new In Color??

  The last detail is some cotton twine that I tied into a sailors knot to keep with the theme of the card.  The main panel as well as the anchor are both popped on dimensionals.


  And now to for the card my husband made me!  He's so cute; he asks if he can use the stamp room and he heads in there and always comes up with a super cute card!  He had fun with Foxy Friends this year and even used the retired Color Coach to pick his colors.  And he knows how to clean the stamps and puts them back where they belong...I can't even tell what he's used when I go back it so the card is always a surprise!  It's the little things right?

DH's Anniversary Card to me

  What a good stamper huh?  He must have had a good teacher!  

  Thanks for looking!  Did you stamp today?

My Card-

Stamps: Seaside Shore, Sunshine Sayings

Paper: Very Vanilla, Dapper Denim, By the Shore DSP

Ink: Dapper Denim, Versamark

Accessories: Layering Circles framelits, cotton twine, copper embossing powder, dimensionals

My husband's card-

Stamps: Foxy Friends, Thoughtful Banners

Ink: Real Red, Tempting Turquoise, Early Espresso

Paper: Real Red, Very Vanilla

  

Swirled Masked Background - Stampin' Up! Swirly Birds

  I know I'm not the only stamper who gets inspiration while I'm out and about shopping.  But I love it when the inspiration comes right to me in my mailbox.  I find some great color combinations in bedding catalogs all the time.  The inspiration for today's card is actually from a real card that my son received as a thank you from his teacher.  It's a neat color combination but also reminded me of a technique that I hadn't used in a while...masking.

  Here's the inspiration card:

  And here is the card that I designed:

   I really liked how the background was filled in with the large overlapping flowers but I didn't have a floral stamp set that had the right look so I pulled out Swirly Bird and figured that the swirls were a good substitute.  I stamped the larger Mint Macaron flowers onto a 4 inch square piece of Very Vanilla.  I stamped about 6 more swirls onto scrap paper and cut them out to use as masks with some repositionable adhesive.  You can use sticky notes for the masks as well so you already have the adhesive to keep them in place but I find that they tend to curl up after being used a few times and as I was using this design as a class project I wanted a bit more use out of each mask. 

  Once the masks were in place I stamped the smaller solid circle in Soft Sky and then stamped the swirl over the top in Dapper Denim (I love this In Color blue!). After removing the masks I used the paper trimmer to cut the panel roughly in half.  I didn't measure or line anything up; I just put it on an angle and cut.  I adhered the 2 pieces to the Mint Macaron card base.

  Next comes the butterfly detail.  I wanted to put a sentiment on the front and the center of the butterfly is just the right size for some of the smaller phrases from Sunshine Sayings.  In class we stamped and embossed with the new Copper embossing powder before cutting the butterfly to make it easier to line up the die.  Just make sure you give the embossing a chance to cool off before running it through the Big Shot so it doesn't smear.  We then cut a second butterfly in Very Vanilla and adhered it behind the Dapper Denim one with dimensionals to give the butterfly a bit more weight and depth.  The Dapper Denim ruched ribbon tail was added using tear tape.

  Definitely keep your eyes open to all the inspiration that comes your way each day and turn it into a card!

  Thanks for looking!  Did you stamp today?

Stamps: Swirly Bird, Sunshine Sayings

Ink: Mint Macaron, Soft Sky, Dapper Denim, Versamark

Paper: Mint Macaron, Very Vanilla, Dapper Denim

Accessories: Bold Butterfly framelits, ruched ribbon, copper embossing powder, dimensionals

  

Sweet Little Elves - Stampin' Up! Jolly Friends

  My Holiday catalog preorder has arrived!  I was able to squeeze in a bit of stamping time before dinner and the Olympic opening ceremony yesterday.  I always order way to many Christmas sets and then feel bad that I didn't give each of them enough love so I'm going to try to remedy that this year.  I will begin showing some Christmas designs now in the hopes that you can make the most of your stamps too by getting some early inspiration!

  The Jolly Friends bundle is a sweet stamp set with coordinating hat punch (which I can't wait to see what the really creative stampers make with it).  You get an elf, Santa, fox and moose and then there are mix and match hats and scarves and glasses so you can come up with any number of combinations.

  For my card I used the current CAS(e) This Sketch challenge for my layout and decided that the elf would be a good start.  I stamped 3 of them on Whisper White, colored the faces with alcohol markers.  I colored their hair with 3 different colors as well but you can't tell since most of the hair is covered by the hats.  I made sure to give the little guys nice rosy cheeks!  It's cold at the north pole!

  The hats are punched with Jolly Hat builder punch.  I used 3 different patterns from the This Christmas Specialty DSP (nice lightweight paper and you get 24 sheets!  Perfect for lots of Christmas crafting) that you can find in the annual catalog.  For the trim and little ball I used the Dazzling Diamond Glimmer paper.

  The sentiment is from another new Holiday catalog set Star of Light which I am really excited to design with.  I added a few little puff balls which can be stamped and punched out and used as an element for the hat but I think could be fun design elements as well.  The final detail is the new gold bakers twine which comes in a 3 pack with Cherry Cobbler and Garden Green.

  Thanks for looking!  Did you stamp today?

Stamps: Jolly Friends, Star of Light

Ink: Black, Cherry Cobbler, Garden Green

Paper: Cherry Cobbler, Whisper White, This Christmas Specialty DSP

Accessories: Jolly Hat builder punch, corner rounder, gold baker's twine, alcohol markers

How Many Days Until Christmas? - Fab Friday 93 - Stampin' Up! Oh, What Fun

I missed the last Fab Friday challenge so I am really happy to be back in the swing of things this time around!  We've got a fun sketch challenge for you.

  What's a Stampin' Up! demonstrator to do when she places her Holiday catalog preorder and then has to try to focus on creating a card for the Fab Friday challenge?  Naturally I headed right to my Christmas stamp sets because I had Christmas on the brain!  141 more days to get enough Christmas cards made for my very extensive list!  Generally I'm not a fan of holidays being thrust upon us months early (can we gag over back to school stuff on 4th of July or Halloween when we're sweating to death in August?) but Christmas does require some planning ahead so we can all make an exception here!

  I only had 2 Christmas sets carry over so my choices were limited but never fear as my preorder arrived last night so there will be lots new stamps to create with.  For this card I combined Oh, What Fun and Holly Jolly Greetings.

  I stamped the 2 little sprinkles stamps in Marina Mist and Pool Party and then embossed the snowflake in silver over the top.

  A scrap of the retired Adventure Bound DSP went on the left side along with a Cherry Cobbler baker's twine bow.

  The sentiment is stamped in Smoky Slate and a narrow flag in Cherry Cobbler backs the panel.  A small strip of Serene Scenery DSP is right underneath.

  To balance the snowflake I added a small grouping of bling; a large silver sequin topped with a Cherry Cobbler retired candy dot (I haven't gotten the enamel shapes in all the color collections yet), a small silver sequin topped with a rhinestone and then a silver enamel circle.  I stamped one of the  little hanging stars in Marina Mist and the other is embossed in silver.

  Check out the rest of the Fab Friday design team samples and then hop to making your own card!

  Thanks for looking!  Did you stamp today?

Stamps: Oh, What Fun, Holly Jolly Christmas

Ink: Pool Party, Marina Mist, Smoky Slate, Versamark

Paper: Whisper White, Cherry Cobbler, Serene Scenery DSP, Adventure Bound DSP (retired)

Accessories: sequins, candy dots, rhinestones, silver embossing powder, Cherry Cobbler baker's twine, dimensionals

  

Squirrel or Cat Thank You - Stampin' Up! Foxy Friends

  This card falls into the "eye of the beholder" category.  As I was going over the steps to make this card in my class last week I said something along the lines of "and then adhere the heart so the squirrel is holding it in his hands."  "Squirrel??"  a few of my ladies asked.  Well yeah, that's what I thought it was when I designed the card.  But they totally thought it was a cat!  So we had a good laugh over that one and began to call it a squat (long a sound like cat lol!) or a catirrel.  We decided that the recipient of the card could make their own decisions on what kind of animal it was and we wouldn't project our own preconceived notions on the poor little creature.

 What say you?  Squirrel or cat?  I think it's a sweet little guy no matter what you decide to go with.

  We paired the Foxy Friends set with the A Little Foxy DSP stack.  I really like all the Smoky Slate patterns in this pack, having a neutral color with so many patterns really opens the door for all kinds of cards and color combinations.  The new In Color Sweet Sugarplum looks great with the Smoky Slate and Pool Party here.

  The squirrel/cat is stamped in Smoky Slate and the head is stamped again and punched with the Fox Builder punch and popped up.  The face, feet and sentiment are stamped in basic black. How cute are those little foot prints??  I lined up all 3 of the mushrooms on a clear block and stamped them along the bottom of the card front in Smoky Slate.

  The Thoughtful Banners set is becoming one of my go to sentiment sets.  The many different mix and match possibilities paired up with the coordinating punch makes this one perfect for my classes as everyone can choose a sentiment to fit what their needs are.

  The Sweet Sugarplum ruched ribbon and heart colored with clear Wink of Stella finish the details for this squirrel/cat card.

  Thanks for looking!  Did you stamp today?

Stamps: Foxy Friends, Thoughtful Banners

Ink: Smoky Slate, Sweet Sugar Plum, black

Paper: Smoky Slate, Whisper White, Pool Party, Basic Black, A Little Foxy DSP

Accessories: Duet Banner punch, Fox Builder punch, Wink of Stella, ruched ribbon, Owl punch (small heart), dimensionals

Pokemon Crazy Punch Art Birthday

 So I know that this card will seem like it's a bandwagon type of thing and I'm just getting into the game with all the Pokemon Go craziness that out there now.  But I have to say I made this card before Pokemon Go was even a thing!  My youngest son has been into Pokemon for the last 6 months or so.  He's got books, the cards, drawings etc.  His birthday was on July 11 so I thought I would make a Pokemon themed birthday card for him to go along with several Pokemon gifts.

  Lo and behold on the morning of the 11th after I came back from my very early walk before Alex was even awake I heard all this talk on the radio about this new app called Pokemon Go and how it was gaining in popularity each day.  So of course I downloaded it and figured it would be something fun to do in addition to the other birthday celebrations we had planned.  And we've had fun playing it and seeing how our local park is swarmed with people every evening playing.  But this card was made BEFORE all the madness!  :)

  I used the new Layering Circles framelits and a small circle punch to create this pokeball.  It's popped up with dimensionals.  The sentiment is from Party with Cake which I was excited to see carried over from the Occasions catalog.

  Since this card was made BEFORE I knew many of the names of the pokemon I made the only one I knew then... Pikachu!

  The ears are made using the Festive Flower punch.  Head is an oval punch.  Eyes and cheek spots are from the Owl Builder punch.  And the nose if from the new Fox Builder punch.  I hand drew the mouth and that's why it's a little crooked!

  I used another sentiment from Party with Cake and colored in the letters with my Real Red and Crushed Curry markers.

  Not a very hard card to make but it got a big smile from the new 8 year old and even the compliment that Pikachu looked good!  High praise I tell ya!

  Thanks for looking!  Did you stamp today?

Stamps: Party with Cake

Ink: Basic Black  Markers: Real Red, Crushed Curry

Paper: Crushed Curry, Real Red, Basic Black, Whisper White

Accessories: Layering Circles framelits, circle punch, Festive Flower punch, Owl builder punch, Fox builder punch

Floral Wedded Bliss - Stampin' Up!

  Well hello friends!  It's been quite some time since I've been in blog-land!  Summer days are just flying by and I haven't made much of a push to blog.  I think it's that there isn't much of routine around here this summer except for meals...a girls gotta eat and other people around here expect to get fed too!  I have been stamping just not getting around to photographing, editing and blogging.  But I had a stack of card building up since the beginning of July and I thought I better hop to it or it would be too late!

 

  This is one of the cards my stamping ladies made last week at class.  I'm really liking the Floral Boutique suite.  Pairing the stamp set with the fun thinlet dies makes for beautifully elegant cards.  

  Night of Navy, Calypso Coral and Whisper White is a nice crisp summer time color combination don't you think?  We stamped the large flower stamp on the card front and then layered the rest of the elements over the top.  The smaller of the Detail Floral thinlet dies was used to cut a piece of Whisper White.  Use the fine tip glue pen to adhere these die cuts.  

The Calypso Coral thick bakers twine is tied into a bow before adding the punched sentiment circle.  The long border stamp was stamped off twice and then the sentiment layered on top before punching. And don't forget those rounded corners; they echo the curves of the flowers for a nice cohesive look.

  Thanks for looking!  Did you stamp today?

Stamps: Floral Phrases

Ink: Night of Navy, Calypso Coral

Paper: Night of Navy, Whisper White

Accessories: Detailed Floral Thinlets, circle punches, corner rounder, thick baker's twine, dimensionals