Glittery Candles

  Here's a quick, fun birthday card that you can make using all those narrow scraps of DSP that you save...come on, you know you save them too!  Us papercrafters will find a use for any size piece of paper!!  It makes me think of the line from Horton Hears a Who...."a person's a person no matter how small".  I could make a sign for my stamp room that says "paper is paper no matter how small"!  Anyway back to the task at hand...

The base of this one is Crumb Cake with a slightly smaller layer of Soft Suede.  The candles are made from leftover strips of Elegant Soiree DSP.  I cut them all at slightly different lengths just so they wouldn't be too matchy matchy.  The "flames" are made from the wing from the Bird punch.  I used So Saffron cardstock and covered it with 2 way glue and then used a healthy coating of Dazzling Diamonds.  After the flames dried I adhered them with dimensionals.

  The sentiment is from my favorite birthday set "Bring on the Cake" which is colored with my Crumb Cake and Soft Suede markers.  I used the Soft Suede marker just on the word "candles" as if someone who received this card wouldn't know what what those crazy sparkly things were and needed a bit of a hint.  Then again, with the amount of Dazzling Diamonds on those flames they might not be able to see anything at all as we all know that DD gets everywhere and it might end up in the recipients eyes.  Might have to re-think sending this one, it could be considered a weapon or something!   But anyway...I punched the sentiment out with the Decorative Label punch.

  Even though the Elegant Soiree DSP doesn't have Night of Navy in it I think in this particular pattern the Basic Gray has a blue tinge to it so I used some Night of Navy 1/8" taffeta ribbon to wrap around the candle panel.  The sentiment is popped up on dimensionals.  And to not neglect the top part of the card I added some brads.

  Thanks for looking!  Did you stamp today?


Stamps: Bring on the Cake

Ink: Crumb Cake & Soft Suede markers

Paper: Crumb Cake, Soft Suede, So Saffron, Elegant Soiree DSP, Very Vanilla


Accessories: Dazzling Diamonds, 2 Way Glue Pen, XL Bird punch, Decorative Label punch, dimensionals, 1/8" taffeta ribbon, brads

Bright Bird Thanks

  I hope everyone had an enjoyable weekend!  I took my boys to CT for the weekend to visit my parents and in-laws.  It's always an adventure taking a 7 hour car trip with 2 preschoolers by yourself.  We managed, though my normally awesome-in-the-car kids were less than stellar this time; not surprising as they've been quite the challenge lately.  We arrived in CT on Friday to 65+ degree weather; totally warm for there this time of year.  When we left on Monday morning it was 34 degrees and snowing!  We got to experience weather of all kinds in 4 days!  Anyway, I didn't get any stamping done over the weekend so here is the other project I did with my downline last weekend at the other in-laws house.

  I saw this adorable card on Splitcoaststampers a few weeks ago and thought the way she did the scalloped rectangle layer was just genius so I wanted to try my hand at it.  But let's start at the beginning shall we?  My birthday was 2 weeks ago so I needed some thank you cards to send out so I decided to design a thank you card to show my downline and then I could just cut some extra paper and make a few more to send out.

  The base layer is Melon Mambo, then a layer of Old Olive and then a Whisper White panel that was run through the Big Shot using the Perfect Polka Dots embossing folder.  To make the scalloped rectangle all I did was punch out 2 scalloped squares and just lined them up so they would fit behind the image panel.  Too cool!  You can't even tell that it's 2 separate pieces.  To adjust the size of the scallop rectangle just overlap the 2 squares and it gives you different sizes.  What a great way to get more mileage out of a punch huh?  The birdcage was then stamped in Melon Mambo and a little Old Olive bird inside the cage.  I've done a lot of bird projects lately haven't I?  Please don't think I'm obsessed or anything!

  I stamped the "thanks" from the So Happy for You set in Old Olive and then punched it out with oval punch.  To jazz it up a bit I added one of the Ice Cream Parlor Sale-A-Bration buttons with a glue dot and then used the Ice Cream Parlor Sale-A-Bration ribbon and made a knot and added that to the button with a glue dot. 

  Don't forget there are only 9 days left in Sale-A-Bration so don't wait to place your $50 order to get some of these great freebies!

 Thanks for looking!  Did you stamp today?


Stamps: Aviary, So Happy for You (SAB)


Ink: Melon Mambo, Old Olive


Paper: Melon Mambo, Old Olive, Whisper White


Accessories: Perfect Polka Dots embossing folder, scallop square punch, oval punch, Ice Cream Parlor Ribbon & Button pack (SAB), glue dots

Easter Wishes Butterfly

  Here is a Clean and Simple card I designed for a quick one-on-one stamping session with my downline member over this past weekend.  She's also my brother-in-law's girlfriend so it's a family affair!  She's still a new stamper and we were tight on time so I wanted to show her a few projects using the Big Shot but didn't have a ton of steps.  I saw this card by LauriBColeman on Splitcoaststampers and really liked the layout and use of the Top Note die. 

 

 The base of the card is Sahara Sand.  The Top Note was cut from Whisper White.  We used the long vine stamp from Vintage Vogue and stamped it in Always Artichoke.  It fits perfectly across the Top Note.  We used the Beautiful Wings embosslit with some Baja Breeze and Pink Pirouette cardstock.  We adhered the 2 butterflies together with SNAIL and then added an adhesive pearl.  We landed our butterfly on the edge of the vine and used dimensionals to adhere it.

  Some Baja Breeze seam binding across the middle and the Easter Wishes sentiment in Sahara Sand finish this one off.  I just noticed that my seam binding knot is totally lopsided...I'll have to remember to fix that before I pop it in the mail....don't want anyone to think I was drinking & stamping!  Oh wait, I was having a glass of wine while making this card!!  You cannot get away without a drink at my in-laws....it's like a family tradition...4pm is cocktail hour!

  Thanks for looking!  Did you stamp today?

Stamps: Something to Celebrate (hostess set)

Ink: Always Artichoke, Sahara Sand

Paper: Sahara Sand, Whisper White, Baja Breeze, Pink Pirouette

Accessories: Top Note die, Beautiful Wings embosslit, adhesive pearl, dimensionals, Baja Breeze seam binding

Shimmery Bird - March Christmas Card

  Wow!!  I'm kind of proud of myself! I finished my 10 Christmas cards early this month!!  This challenge is really getting my butt in gear and it so fun to be able to make a design that is a bit more time consuming.  I would never ever in a million years try to make 80+ of this design since there are a lot of steps but for 10 it was no problem.  I designed it one day and then I stamped all the birds (for the card front, inside and envelopes) since I had the shimmer ink mixed up and it would dry up if I didn't use it.  The next day I cut the rest of the paper that I needed for the Top Note.  Then over the course of a few days (mostly while watching TV) I did the sponging and then adhered the strips to Whisper White cardstock so I could run it through the Big Shot.

  I put the finishing touches on the cards on Sunday night.  I am pleased with how this design turned out.  I had some retired supplies that really needed to be used up and this is a perfect project for those bits of DSP that you're saving.  It would be so easy to just change the color scheme and end up with a birthday card; work with what you have!  The stamp set that I used is the retired Berry Christmas from last year's Holiday Mini but any set with a small image would work.  I didn't get to use this set nearly enough when it came out and I was hoping it would make the jump into the new Idea Book & Catalog over the summer but I was disappointed.  It's still a super cute little bird even if he is retired!  The other retired items are the red patterned DSP & the shimmery snowflake DSP which is from the Christmas Cocoa Specialty DSP as well as the ribbon.

  The base of the card is Soft Suede.  The next layer is Whisper White embossed with the Perfect Polka Dots embossing folder.  I rounded the edges and sponged with Soft Suede.  I added some Soft Suede, textured Real Red cardstock that was punched with the scallop border punch and embossed Whispered White strips to the DSP for my Top Note background.  That part is easy just adhere your strips to Whisper White and run it through the Big Shot with the Top Note die like you would normally.  Ta-Dah!

  To make the shimmer ink just mix a few drops of Frost White Shimmer Paint with a few drops of Real Red re-inker.  I used the lid of an empty brad container (I knew there was a reason I save these!) and mixed with a little craft popsicle stick.  You can make any color you want and it looks awesome!  Just apply a tiny bit of the shimmer ink to your stamp using a sponge dauber and then stamp.  Easy!

  The sentiment is stamped with Soft Suede and the whole thing is punched out with the Decorative Label punch and more sponging around the edges.  I added a rhinestone to one side for extra sparkle!  I popped it up on dimensionals as well.  The Top Note end points are highlighted with silver brads.  And the finishing touch is some retired organza ribbon tied around the Top Note.

  30 Christmas cards down maybe 60 to go!!

  Thanks for looking!  Did you stamp today?


Stamps: Berry Christmas (retired)

Ink: Soft Suede, Real Red reinker, Frost White Shimmer Paint

Paper: Soft Suede, Whisper White, Real Red textured, Christmas Cocoa Specialty DSP (retired)

Accessories:  Top Note die, Big Shot, Perfect Polka Dots embossing folder, brads, rhinestones, organza ribbon (retired), Decorative label punch, scallop border punch, dimensionals

3x3 RAK Owl

  Last week while browsing the online forums on Splitcoaststampers I came across a thread about what stamping supplies you hoard and which ones you use a lot of without any thought as to if you can buy more in the future.  One of the ladies replied that Stampin' Up Copper embossing powder was something she used sparingly since it is a retired item and she can't order anymore.  Well after re-organizing my stamping room after Christmas I came across a full jar of the Copper embossing powder that I knew I wouldn't use as I sold the last of the retired matching paper over the summer at my stamping tag sale (no idea how I missed the powder!).  I sent the lady a message asking if she would want my jar of embossing powder and if she did to send me her address and I would pop it in the mail.  She responded that she would love it!  Of course I couldn't send a little stamping gift without a card!  I got to work making a little 3x3 card to tuck into the mailing envelope.

 

  How cute is this little guy??  I used the Color Coach to get the combination of Basic Gray, Old Olive and Melon Mambo.  The base is Melon Mambo and measures 3x3...perfect size for a card to go with a gift or just a little something to tuck into a kid's lunch or husband's briefcase.  I rounded the corners of the Whisper White panel.  The 2 different patterns of Designer Series Paper are from last years Sale-A-Bration stack Welcome Neighbor and I thought the Old Olive pattern kind of looked like feathers across his tummy.  

  I perched the owl on the sentiment which I colored with my markers alternating my colors and then punched out with the Word Window punch and layered onto a small punched DSP oval.  To balance the owl I added an Old Olive button with a linen thread bow tied through it.

Stamps: So Many Sayings (retired)

Ink: Markers- Basic Gray, Melon Mambo, Old Olive

Paper: Melon Mambo, Whisper White, Basic Gray, Welcome Neighbor DSP (retired)

Accessories: corner rounder, 2 Step Owl punch, oval punch, button, linen thread, Word Window punch

Button Card & 2 Challenges

  Happy Thursday everyone!  I made this card the other night and combined 2 challenges from over on Splitcoaststampers.  Sometimes I just need some where to start; after being home with 2 little boys all day I find that if I try to stamp after they go to bed it's usually a mess unless I have some sort of focus.  The creative mojo gets lost among all the mommy duties I guess!  I used Sketch Challenge 322 and Color Challenge 312 and went to work (and we all know playing with stamps & ink isn't really work!).

  I decided to change up my standard A2 size card and go for a square look with a 4 1/4" x 4 1/4" card.  This is a great size because it still fits into a regular A2 envelope so you don't have to pay extra postage on a square envelope.

  The base of the card is Marina Mist, then a layer of Very Vanilla and the top is a piece of the Sweet Stitches DSP.  I love how the little flower details on this piece look like hand stitched embroidery and thought it would work well on this card. 

  The next layer is a scrap strip of Very Vanilla that I stamped the measuring tape on in Certainly Celery ink.  The little metal grommet piece is one of the small Vintage Trinket brads that looks like a mini button.  I think these embellishments are my new favorite lately since I used them for my last card too.  I rounded the edges of all the top panels with my corner rounder as well.

  The next layer is the dress form which I stamped on Very Vanilla in Marina Mist ink and then stamped again on another piece of the Sweet Stitches DSP and cut out and paper pieced onto the first image.  I should have had it peek out a bit more as it's kind of hidden in the middle there...oh well.  It's still cute though isn't it?

  The top layer is the little button card with cardstock buttons attached to it.  I used the Sweet Buttons embosslit and the Big Shot to make a few buttons in Certainly Celery and Rose Red to attach to the card.  The embosslits are great ways to use up some scraps since it takes just a very small piece of cardstock and the price is right at $11.95.  I also like the Sweet Buttons embosslit because you can add a button to any card and not add any bulk for mailing.  Sometimes having buttons on a card might make it tricky for mailing and the embosslit solves that!  But that of course didn't stop me from adding that final touch with a real button on this card!  I just couldn't help myself! I used one of my leftover embosslit buttons in Rose Red and the layered it with a Very Vanilla button adhered with a glue dot.  On top of the real button I used another glue dot to adhere the Marina Mist taffeta ribbon knot with a safety pin from the Vintage Trinkets pinned through the center.

  I think my grandma who is a great sewer would like this one...though I think I'll have to pad a larger envelope with some of the boys "artwork" to make sure the real button doesn't come to any damage going from Virginia to Illinois!

  Thanks for looking!  Did you stamp today?

Stamps: Sew Suite

Ink: Marina Mist, Certainly Celery

Paper: Marina Mist, Certainly Celery, Very Vanilla, Sweet Stitches DSP


Accessories: Vintage Trinkets, corner rounder, Sweet Buttons Embosslit, Big Shot, Very Vanilla button, Marina Mist taffeta ribbon, glue dots

Thank You Chair & Going Too Far!

  Well I did get some stamping done over the weekend but it was mostly working on my March Christmas card for the Christmas Card Challenge so they aren't finished yet but I'll be sure to show the design once once I've got everything put together.  I did get to some stamping last night while DH was out playing hockey.  I started with the Mojo Monday sketch challenge.  It took me a while to get through this one and I think I went one step too far but it was too late to do anything about it (more about that later!).  Overall, I like the design and it's fun to keep adding to a card and trying things out without having to think, "do I have enough of this or that to use in a class?" or "there are just way too many steps for 15 stamping ladies to do!" or if something is retired. 

  I just got Have a Seat last month and it hadn't seen any ink yet so I grabbed that one after my first attempt with another set failed---we won't even go into that.  I stamped the chair with Early Espresso and then punched it out with the 1 3/4" circle punch.  I layered that onto a 2 3/8" Soft Suede scallop circle.  And here is where I went a little nuts with the embellishments.  I put little pearls on each scallop and then made a quick little flower embellishment.  The Rose Red flower is actually one of the retired felt pieces from a year or 2 ago (I think they are called Flower Fusion but don't hold me to it, all I know for sure is that I have a whole bunch left in an adorable tin).  Then I punched out a little flower in Crumb Cake with the Itty Bitty Punch shapes and layered that on top.  The final touch to my little flower is a pearl studded Vintage Trinket brad.  Where in the Stampin' Up Idea Book & Catalog would one find a pearl studded Vintage Trinket brad you might be asking?  Well, it's actually a medium sized adhesive Basic Pearl on the little button brad from the Vintage Trinket collection!!  Super cool huh?  I also did the same thing on the ends of the banner.  The banner by the way was made with the Petal Cone die in the Occasions Mini catalog; it has a cute little banner as part of the die.

  All the layers of Very Vanilla are sponged lightly with Crumb Cake ink.  The banner and the chair are both popped on dimensonals.

  Now onto the "she just didn't know when to stop" and "too much of a good thing" part of my card.  So when you look at the sketch on the Mojo Monday blog (see link above) you'll see that little flourish peeking out from under the focal panel.  Well I had everything on my card but my chair and decided that I wasn't following the sketch just right if I left off that feature.  So I dug around in my stamps and the only thing that would remotely work as a flourish was the big swirl from Baroque Motifs.  Generally I LOVE this stamp so I thought it would work o.k. even though it seemed a bit too organic (if that's the right word) for a card featuring a chair.   Well, I was determined to have a flourish so I inked up part of the stamp using my Versamarker since I didn't need the whole thing just a little piece.  I stamped it on my card and embossed with clear embossing powder since I just wanted a hint of flourish....well as you can see it totally doesn't work, I stamped it partway on the Rose Red panel (should have used the Stamp-a-ma-jig!),  it's too light... basically a mess.  But everything was already put together and it was late and I wasn't about to cut new paper and start again so.....it is what it is. 

  So the stamping moral of the story is; sketches are just starting points, they are to be tweaked and adjusted for your particular project and available supplies and sometimes it's just better to leave well enough alone and go to bed!

Thanks for looking!  Did you stamp today?

Stamps: Have a Seat, Baroque Motifs


Ink: Early Espresso, Crumb Cake

Paper: Very Vanilla, Elegant Soiree DSP, Soft Suede, Rose Red textured, Crumb Cake


Accessories: Petal Cone Die, 1 3/4" circle punch, 2 3/8" scallop circle punch, dimensionals, Vintage Trinkets, Basic Pearls, Flower Fusion felt flower, Itty Bitty Shapes punch, Versamarker, clear embossing powder, Scallop Edge punch

Spring Birds

  Here is the second card we made at my last Stamp-A-Stack.  I thought some spring colors would be nice and I used the Color Coach for some guidance.

  This is another simple layout designed for making multiples.  Nothing really fancy but I like the addition of the safety pin trinket on the ribbon.  The base is Crumb Cake and then a scallop border in Wild Wasabi.  The birdcage from Aviary is stamped in Chocolate Chip ink as is the sentiment from Bring on the Cake.  Our little feathered friends are in Wild Wasabi and Pretty in Pink.  Add a little bit of Pretty in Pink 3/8" taffeta ribbon and you're finished.

  Hopefully I'll get some time in the stamp room this weekend so I'll have some new projects to show you next week!

  Thanks for looking!  Did you stamp today?

Stamps: Aviary, Bring on the Cake

Ink: Chocolate Chip, Wile Wasabi, Pretty in Pink

Paper: Crumb Cake, Very Vanilla, Wild Wasabi


Accessories: Scallop edge punch, Vintage trinkets, taffeta ribbon

Bright Gender Neutral Birthday

  In honor of all our February birthdays in February my monthly event was a Stamp-A-Stack with 2 birthday card designs.  It's always good to have a stack of birthday cards on hand at the beginning of a year.  I designed this one to use bright colors and the Bring on the Cake stamp set and was inspired by a pair of my oldest sons pajamas believe it or not!  I think this design could be appropriate for kids as well as adults.  When using bright colors I tend to go for a Clean and Simple (CAS) style as I have a hard time balancing multiple bold colors.  I think a lot of white and texture help keep the brightness in check.

  The base of the card is Tangerine Tango.  A panel of Whisper White embossed with the Perfect Polka dots embossing folder is on top of that.  The texture keeps it from looking too flat or boring.

  For the top panel I stamped "Happy Birthday" in Night of Navy on Whisper White and I rounded opposite ends with the corner rounder punch.  I then colored in the letters with my markers alternating between, Real Red, Daffodil Delight and Tangerine Tango.  Please excuse my coloring skills here!  When I was making this sample I realized how well loved my Real Red marker was.  I had used it for so long and for so many projects that the brush tip was starting to fray so I couldn't keep in the lines very well!  Of course a new Real Red marker was on my order for supplies so my stamping ladies could get nice clean lines for their projects!

  To add some birthday sparkle we used the 2 way glue pen on the candle flame and then added a bit of Dazzling Diamonds.  I'm sure we were all totally sparkly that night...no matter how hard you try it just gets every where.  But I think it's worth it for most projects. 

  We mounted the sentiment panel on Real Red that also had opposite corners rounded.  A piece of 1/8" Night of Navy taffeta knotted around finishes off this Clean and Simple birthday design.

  Thanks for looking!  Did you stamp today?

Stamps: Bring on the Cake


Ink: Night of Navy


Paper: Tangerine Tango, Real Red, Whisper White


Accessories: markers, Perfect Polka Dot embossing folder, 1/8" taffeta ribbon, corner rounder, 2 way glue pen, Dazzling Diamonds