Clean & Simple Valentine - Stampin' Up!

  The boys are off from school today and I have stamp club tomorrow...clearly no one asked me my opinion when they planned the school calendar!  Hopefully, we can get our 'to do' lists finished early today and head out to find something fun to do.  Ryan has to finish a book report and I must say it will probably take longer than any of us anticipate.  And we have to register him for middle school classes today...yikes!  The choices for middle school these days seems a lot more complex than back in the day!  Hopefully we will survive the day!

  Valentine's day will be here before we know it so I want to make sure I get all my Valentine's Day themed cards shared before it's too late!  This one is so simple and sweet.  I used up some scraps to cut the envelopes and with the Whisper White base you can't get more clean & simple!

   Thanks for looking!  Did you stamp today?

Stamps: Sealed with Love

Ink: Real Red, Black

Paper: Whisper White, Crumb Cake, Real Red

Accessories: Love Notes framelits, paper doily

Simple Watercolor Blossom - Stampin' Up! Special Reason

  I think you'll be seeing a lot of the Special Reason stamp set and Stylish Stems framelits over the coming months.  This suite makes such pretty cards every time!  You can layer the stamps and dies to make a very detailed card or you can go really clean and simple.  A versatile flower set with a coordinating die set is really a must have in any stampers collection.  You can make birthday, thinking of you, sympathy, hello and get well with just a change of sentiment and colors.

 

  You can't really get any more clean and simple than this card!  The base is Sahara Sand (a fantastic crisp neutral) and then a layer of Basic Black.  The top layer of Whisper White is die cut with the detailed flower die from Stylish Stems.  

  The soft color wash behind the flower cut out is made with a piece of Shimmery White cardstock colored with watercolor pencils.  Just scribble in random patches covering all the white and slightly overlapping the colors.  I used Daffodil Delight, Calypso Coral, and Melon Mambo.  Using an Aquapainter blend the colors together across the panel.  Adhere it to the back of the die cut panel after drying it with a heat tool (if you can't wait for it to dry on its own!).  This is a fun technique because each panel will be different depending on how heavy you applied the color and how much water is used to blend.

  This card is finished off with a black baker's twine bow, a small happy birthday sentiment in black and a small rhinestone.

  I'm going to enter this card in the Paper Players challenge to make a Clean and Simple flower card.  Always a fun challenge!

  Thanks for looking!  Did you stamp today?

Stamps: Special Reason

Ink: Basic Black

Paper: Sahara Sand, Basic Black, Whisper White, Shimmery White

Accessories: watercolor pencils, Stylish Stems framelits, baker's twine, rhinestone

Birthday Envelope - Stampin' Up! Balloon Adventures

It's always fun when you can take 2 completely different suites and mix and match them into a really cute card.  I had fun putting the Balloon Adventures stamp set and Party Animal DSP with the Love Notes framelits.

  There really isn't anything fancy with this card but the colors and the sweet images just make me smile.

  The Happy Birthday and the Balloon are both embossed with white.  And my favorite part is the little envelope with the teeny tiny envelope liner.  It's so cute!

  If you're in need of some guy or boy birthday cards using the Party Animal DSP will get you started...lots of fun images and great colors!

  Thanks for looking!  Did you stamp today?

Stamps: Balloon Adventures

Ink: Versamark

Paper: Emerald Envy, Tangerine Tango, Pacific Point, Party Animal DSP, Whisper White

Accessories: white embossing powder, enamel shapes, Love Notes framelits, white baker's twine, dimensionals, balloon punch

Clean & Simple Stylish Stem - Stampin' Up! Stylish Stem Framelits

  It sure has been stamping weather here in Central VA the past few days.  While it hasn't been that cold (around 50) it's been rainy and damp.  I miss getting my daily walk in on days like this but it sure feels nice to stay inside where it's warm and toasty.

  There are so many great new stamp sets in the Occasions catalog and so many make me think of nicer weather....flowers, plants, beaches, ice cream etc.  All that warm weather seems a long way off but it will be here before we know it.  In the meantime, I've been getting a lot of use out of the Stylish Stems framelit set and the coordinating stamp set Special Reason.

   While it's fun to layer the stamp set with the dies and make detailed cards, the beautiful flower die cut stands well on its own.  On this card, I used a piece of thick Whisper White for the base and I added a piece of Floral Boutique DSP.

  I cut out the flower in a Whisper White panel and then wrapped a Night of Navy baker's twine bow around it.  Sticking with the monochromatic theme I stamped the sentiment in Night of Navy ink.  Don't overlook the Suite Sentiments stamp set in the Occasions catalog.  It's way in the back on page 54 and has a stamp that coordinates with every suite in the Occasions catalog.  How cool is that?  I love having a sentiment set that covers a lot of occasions and holidays.

  I popped the Whisper White panel with dimensionals and added a small rhinestone.  This is a great design in that you can change out the DSP and sentiment for any number of different occasions.  

  Thanks for looking!  Did you stamp today?

Stamps: Suite Sentiments

Ink: Night of Navy

Paper: Whisper White thick, Floral Boutique DSP

Accessories: Stylish Stems framelits, Night of Navy baker's twine, rhinestone, dimensionals

S.W.A.K Valentine - Fab Friday 104

  We have a great color combination this week at the Fab Friday challenge!  I hope you've planned some time this weekend to sit down and play along with our challenge!

  I decided to continue with adding to my stash of Valentine's Day cards and used our challenge colors to get me started.

 

   I wanted to use the kissy lips along with the "sealed with a kiss" sentiment from the Sealed with Love stamp set.  I embossed the lips with white (close enough to the Vanilla in the challenge!) embossing powder on Sweet Sugarplum cardstock.  I edged that layer with a narrow strip of By the Shore DSP.

  Next using the Layering Circles framelits and a 2" circle punch I built up the sentiment panels.  I then cut out a mini envelope in Soft Sky using the Love Notes framelits.  I sealed it up with a Sweet Sugarplum heart embossed in white with "kiss".  I popped the envelope up on top of a twist of silver Natural Trim ribbon.

  Since our challenge colors go perfectly with the Fancy Frost sequins from the Holiday catalog I had to add a few of the Soft Sky ones.  There is a little pearl in the center of each to finish it off.

  I hope to see your creation in our Fab Friday challenge gallery!  

  Thanks for looking!  Did you stamp today?

Stamps: Sealed with Love

Ink: Versamark, Sweet Sugarplum

Paper: Very Vanilla, Sweet Sugarplum, Soft Sky, By the Shore DSP

Accessories: corner rounder, Layering Circles framelits, 2" circle punch, Love Notes framelits, dimensionals, pearls, Fancy Frost sequins (retired), white embossing powder, Natural Trim ribbon

Balloon Birthday - Stampin' Up! Balloon Adventures

  Today's installment is a masculine birthday card.  We all know that sometimes it isn't easy designing a good looking card for a guy.  We have so many cool embellishments and a lot of them just aren't terribly guy-like so sometimes we feel that a card just needs "something".  I try to keep my masculine cards clean and use things like DSP to add some interest.

 

  This is a great color combo that I saw as a challenge a while back.  Gray and Old Olive is a great guy card color combo!  I chose to do Smoky Slate as well as Basic Gray.  I used the striped DSP from the A Little Foxy paper stack and cut it at an angle.  The base is Basic Gray stamped with the confetti stamp set from Balloon Adventures.

  I used the wide stripes to stamp my sentiments in Basic Gray.  The balloons are all stamped in Old Olive and I used my gray watercolor pencil to color in the white spaces blending with a blender pen.  Then they were punched out with the Balloon Bouquet punch (I love that the punch works with this set as well as the Balloon Celebration set!).

  I tied some white bakers twine for the strings and then popped the balloons with dimensionals.  A few Old Olive enamel shapes finish off the details for this card.  

  Thanks for looking!  Did you stamp today?

  Stamps: Balloon Adventures

  Ink: Old Olive, Basic Gray

  Paper: Basic Gray, Whisper White, A Little Foxy DSP stack

  Accessories: white baker's twine, Balloon Bouquet punch, enamel shapes, dimensionals

Avant Garden Birthday - Stampin' Up! Avant Garden

 At the start of every new year I take a look at my birthday card box and see that it is woefully low.  The last 2 months of the year are so devoted to Christmas cards and Christmas projects that the birthday cards get kind of set aside.  I still send them out but I just don't make many new ones.  Come January it's slim pickings so I feel that I need to get in gear and design a large amount of birthday cards so that I feel I have plenty of choices again!

  Stampin' Up! always gives us a great floral set as one of the Sale-a-Bration (SAB) freebie choices.  The Avant Garden set is it this year.  It's a nice mix of sentiments, 2 larger flowers and several small accent stamps.

 

  I've had this color combo saved and I think it's really kind of eye catching.  Night of Navy, Watermelon Wonder and Gold.  A bit of modern glam.  The base is Night of Navy and I layered up with a strip of Watermelon Wonder and a narrow strip of Gold Glimmer paper.

  The image panel is Whisper White and I started stamping the flower with Watermelon Wonder ink stamped off once and then I highlighted the center of the flower with the small leaf/petal stamp in full strength ink.  The stem, leaves and stamens are stamped in gold.

  I sprinkled some of the gold dots across the open white space and then added the sentiment in Night of Navy.  The final touch is the gold twine bow tied across the card.  

  I better wrap this up and get back to making more birthday cards!

  Thanks for looking!  Did you stamp today?

Stamps: Avant Garden (SAB)

Ink: Gold, Night of Navy, Watermelon Wonder

Paper: Night of Navy, Watermelon Wonder, Gold Shimmer, Whisper White

Accessories: gold twine

Envelope Filled with Love - Stampin' Up! Sealed with Love

  These little envelopes in the Sending Love suite are so cute I almost can't stand it... Almost but not quite because I keep using them!  By the time Valentine's Day comes around I will have a nice little stack of cards to send out to love ones.

  The Sending Love DSP stack has such a fun mix of patterns and I love how there are little mini hearts scattered throughout the designs.

  For this card I used a Crumb Cake base and then a slightly smaller layer of Crumb Cake stamped with the Hardwood background stamp and rounded the corners.  On the lower half is a piece of the Send Love DSP tied with some white baker's twine.

  I cut out a cute little scalloped circle with Layering Circles framelits in Whisper White.  I cut a Crumb Cake envelope with the Love Notes framelits, folded it up and then tucked a little stamped heart note card inside.  

  The little sentiment flag was stamped in black with a teeny tiny heart on the end and then tucked under the edge of the circle.

  If you didn't get out as many Christmas cards as you wanted to plan to send out Valentine's day cards this year.  A little bit of love sent through the mail this time of year is sure to be appreciated.  It's so dreary that a sweet card will be sure to brighten someone's day!

  Thanks for looking!  Did you stamp today?

Stamps: Sealed with Love

Ink: Crumb Cake, Real Red, Black

Paper: Crumb Cake, Whisper White, Sending Love DSP

Accessories: Layering Circles framelits, Love Notes framelits, baker's twine, dimensionals, corner rounder

Special Birthday - Stampin' Up! Special Reason

 I'm trying to get this one in under the wire for the Card Concept Challenge 64.  I've never played along before but my stamping friend Jennifer Timko is on the Design Team and I thought it would be fun to play along with these talented ladies!

  I love the pink, black and gold elements from the inspiration photo and the frilly flower so that's the direction I went with!  I need to replenish my birthday card stash so I went with that for the sentiment.

   I stuck with the Special Reason stamp set and coordinating Stylish Stems framelits for the die cuts and stamping.  I layered everything up from the Whisper White base, Whisper White cardstock embossed with the Softy Falling embossing folder.  A small square of the retired gold printed vellum brings a small pop of gold.

  Some black ribbon and black die cut leaves bring in the black from the inspiration photo and make the Flirty Flamingo pop.  The sentiment is also embossed in gold and was kind of small so I wanted to give it more weight so I added the black stamped frame die cut.

  Way back in the day Stampin'Up! sold a Versamarker.  It's basically a dual tipped marker that has Versamark ink in it.  It was a great tool for adding just a bit of embossing using freehand coloring.  We no longer have it in our catalog and I was surprised that it was still juicy when I was trying to figure out how to jazz up my large flower.  After inking the flower stamp up with Flirty Flamingo I used a sponge dauber to add a little bit of Watermelon Wonder to the edges.  After cutting it out with the matching framelit I thought it looked a bit bare.  First I thought about just pressing the edges of the petals into the Versamark pad to pick up the gold embossing powder but then I thought it would be kind of messy and uneven as well as get all over the nice even white edge of the die cut.  The Versamarker is the perfect solution.  I wish we still sold it!  I also used it to color in the center of the flower so I could have my gold there as well.

  

  Thanks to the Card Concept Challenge for the fun inspiration!

  Thanks for looking!  Did you stamp today?

Stamps: Special Reason

Ink: Basic Black, Watermelon Wonder, Flirty Flamingo, Versamark

Paper: Whisper White, Flirty Flamingo, Basic Black, gold printed vellum (retired)

Accessories: Soft Falling e.f., Stylish Stems framelits, corner rounder punch, gold embossing powder, Versamarker, black stitched ribbon (retired), dimensionals, gold thread

Classic Valentine - Stampin' Up! Sealed with Love

  Well the kids are finally back at school after several "snow" days!  It's hard to be in a routine on snow days so I've got some catching up to do around the house.  I did have the boys do some extra chores for me so I think some of the time off was well spent!  I don't think they would agree... lol!

I'm calling this one a classic Valentine because it's a bit frilly and lacy and it reminds me of the old style Valentines we would make with paper doilies and cut out hearts.  It was fun to pair up some different stamp sets to make a little bit more girly card.

 I had pinned this color combination a while ago for future use and I thought the 2 blues and the pink worked well together.  The Sahara Sand is a nice crisp neutral background.

  First I stamped the lacey border down the from using the Delicate Details stamp set which is a free Sale-a-Bration reward.  It works perfectly for a Valentines Day card! A length of Pool Party Stitched Satin Ribbon is adhered right along side the stamped image.

  A delicate lace doily is a nice anchor for my 2 intertwined hearts that I stamped in Blushing Bride ink onto Blushing Bride cardstock with the Sealed with Love stamp set.  I cut the hearts out using the coordinating Love Notes Framelits.  Next, I cut a Night of Navy arrow and adhered it with a rhinestone.

  A scrap of Whisper White cardstock was stamped with the sentiment in Night of Navy ink and slipped under the hearts to finish this card off.

  Thanks for looking!  Did you stamp today?

Stamps: Sealed with Love, Delicate Details (SAB)

Ink: Night of Navy, Blushing Bride, Sahara Sand

Paper: Sahara Sand, Whisper White, Blushing Bride, Night of Navy

Accessories: Delicate Lace Doily, Love Notes Framelits, rhinestone, Stitched Satin ribbon

Baby Boy Onesie - Stampin' Up! Custom Tee

 This was the first card I made using the new Custom Tee stamp set from Stampin' Up! back in early December.  I was in need of baby card but none of my pre-order stamps were geared for babies and when you have new stuff you just want to use it no matter what!  What to do?  What to do? Turn the regular t-shirt shape into a baby onesie of course!

 First I cut out a t-shirt shape with the T-Shirt Builder framelits in Whisper White.  Then using a small circle punch (or a small circle framelit would work too!) I nipped off the bottom corners of the shirt to create the leg openings for the onesie shape.  I used the Custome Tee stamp for the necklines of the shirt to highlight the neck and leg holes in Pool Party ink.  I added some stripes to the sleeves also in Pool Party ink.

  The cute little hatching chick from the Sale-a-Bration set "Hey Chick" was stamped on the onesie in Dapper Demin ink and the Daffodil Delight watercolor pencil was used to color the legs.

  Once the onesie was complete I backed it with a Dapper Denim circle with faux stitching along the edge.  I added a little DSP flag and an old retired Pool Party button tied with baker's twine.  I added that all on top of a striped DSP square on a Whisper White cardstock base.

  The finishing touches are the congratulations from the SAB set Tasty Trucks stamped in Dapper Demin and some rounded corners at the bottom of the card.

  Thanks for looking!  Did you stamp today?

Stamps: Custom Tee, Hey Chick (SAB), Tasty Trucks (SAB)

Ink: Pool Party, Dapper Denim

Paper: Whisper White, Dapper Denim, A Little Foxy DSP, Cherry on Top DSP (retired)

Accessories: T-shirt builder framelits, baker's twine, watercolored pencils, dimensionals, circle punch, button

Food Truck Fun - Stampin' Up! Tasty Trucks

  Happy Monday stampers!  It's a Monday but still feels like the weekend here in Glen Allen.  We had a snow storm Saturday so school has been cancelled for today as the roads are still being cleared.  The super cold temps have kept the snow from melting so we're pretty much frozen in.  My husband said the side roads are still pretty icy but if you can make to to the main roads you're fine.  I'm ok with staying home and snuggling up with a good book....I've finished one already and am part way through with another.  Good thing I went to the library on Friday!

  There is always time for stamping too when you're snowed in!  I finished up all the extra project packets I had left from my Sale-a-Bration (SAB) kick off event the other night and I'll show them soon but today I've got a really quick card I made with one of the FREE Sale-a-Bration rewards.  It's so cute!

 

  Not the best photo (the gray snowy weather isn't the best for natural lighting!) but you can totally see how cute this little truck is!  I made mine a little cupcake truck perfect for a happy birthday card.  

  The base is Bermuda Bay and then I stamped the cupcake stamp in Melon Mambo ink onto a Melon Mambo flag.  I stamped the truck in Basic Gray ink and then used the new watercolor pencils to color it in blending it with a blender pen.  I used Melon Mambo (truck and cupcakes), Pumpkin Pie (awning and cupcakes), Basic Black and Basic Gray (tires and chrome trim) and Bermuda Bay (windows).  

  After I had the truck colored I added some Wink of Stella to the cupcakes for a bit of bling.  The sentiment is stamped with Basic Gray.

  I think this is a great Sale-a-Bration choice as it has a nice mix of sentiments and foods and is just so cute!  

  If you want to earn your own sweet Tasty Truck stamp set head over to my online store and place your order of $50 or more (before tax/shipping).  For each $50 spent you can choose another Sale-a-Bration reward!  How sweet is that? If you want to make this exact card you can get all the supplies for just over $50 to earn the Tasty Trucks stamp set!

  Thanks for looking!  Did you stamp today?

Stamps: Tasty Trucks (SAB)

Ink: Melon Mambo, Basic Gray

Paper: Melon Mambo, Bermuda Bay, Whisper White (get the Brights assortment pack to coordinate with the watercolor pencils)

Accessories: blender pens, dimensionals, clear Wink of Stella, watercolor pencils

Let's Go Dukes!! - Stampin' Up! Custom Tee - Fab Friday 103

  Happy New Year stampers!!  Did you think I had fallen off the face of the earth?  I don't think I've ever taken this long of a break from blogging since I started many moons ago!  While I didn't fall off the face of the earth I did fall into that black hole called "Christmas Vacation"!  The boys got off of school a full week before Christmas, my husband took 2 weeks of vacation and we entertained 2 sets of parent for Christmas.  There just weren't enough hours in the day or energy left at the end of the day to add in another activity!

  Have no fear though; even if I didn't have time to blog I did manage to find a quiet moment or 2 to sneak into the stamp room and create a few things.  It's the first Fab Friday Challenge of 2017 so I had to be prepared.  We have a fun sketch challenge this time around!

  Kind of a fun layered look isn't it?  

  I decided to make a card to celebrate James Madison University (JMU) who is playing in the FCS Championship football game tomorrow!  Woo Hoo!  Go Dukes!  My husband graduated from JMU and we have season tickets and get to see most of the home games up in Harrisonburg.  The boys are beyond excited to watch them play on Saturday.  The game is at noon and I hope all you Virginians tune in to cheer them on.  

  JMU's colors are purple and gold so it was a fun card to put together.  I think I had every single gold card making item that I own out on my stamp desk to see what worked best.  The new Custom Tee stamp set from Stampin' Up! is perfect for making sports themed cards.  It's in the new Occasions catalog so definitely check it out!  You can use any team colors to customize them for the recipient.  The purple that I used is the retired Concord Crush.  Paired with the white and gold I think it looks pretty sharp.

  The background is embossed with the Stars embossing folder.  Next I layered Gold Shimmer paper, a square of Concord Crush, a piece of retired gold Fancy Foil vellum and then the shirts.

  One shirt is stamped in Concord Crush with the #1 embossed in gold and the other shirt is Concord Crush embossed with gold.  I used the Labeler Alphabet to stamp and emboss "JMU Dukes" and to just stamp the banner.  The little star is also a stamp in the Labeler Alphabet and goes perfectly with the background.

  I hope you'll join us in this Fab Friday challenge!  To get more inspiration check out the rest of the Design Team samples.  They always blow me away and I get tons more ideas from them!

  And don't forget:  Saturday at noon watch the game and cheer on JMU!

  Thanks for looking!  Did you stamp today?

Stamps: Custom Tee, Labeler Alphabet

Ink: Versamark, Concord Crush (retired)

Paper: Whisper White, Concord Crush (retired), Gold Glimmer, Fancy Foil vellum

Accessories: gold embossing powder, T-shirt Builder Framelits, gold twine, dimensionals