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

February Christmas Card Challenge

  Since this is the last day of February I wanted to post my card for the Christmas Card Challenge over on Splitcoaststampers.  I bet you're relieved that it's not another birthday card!  Well I do have a few more of those to show!  I made 10 of these Christmas cards using up some small scraps of Elegant Soiree DSP and Baja Breeze cardstock.  I didn't have enough left to use for one of my classed but enough for 10 cards. If I can keep this up every month it will be some awesome not to be rushing at Christmas to get them all made as well as using up some odds and ends I've got sitting around.  Now I've got to work on what I'm going to make for March!

   The base of this one is Very Vanilla with a layer of Crumb Cake that I used the Northern Flurry embossing folder on.  I lightly drug my white craft ink pad over the raised snowflakes to make them stand out a little more.  Be careful not to press down too hard or you'll get ink in between the snowflakes.  I took some narrow scraps of Baja Breeze and paper pierced the edge and then adhered it to my strip of Elegant Soiree DSP.

  I stamped Peace on Earth with Crumb Cake ink and then used my paper snips to make the banner ends.  I sponged Baja Breeze ink around the edges and added rhinestones to both ends.  The banner is popped up on dimensionals.

  Thanks for looking!  Did you stamp today?


Stamps: Four the Holidays

Ink: Baja Breeze. Crumb Cake, white craft

Paper: Very Vanilla, Baja Breeze, Crumb Cake, Elegant Soiree DSP


Accessories: Northern Flurry embossing folder, paper piercer, rhinestones, dimensionals

One Layer Birthday Flowers

  Here is another installment for the month of constant birthdays a.k.a February.  I made this one for my husband's stepmother.  I saw a similar card somewhere online; you know you go to one online gallery and then click on a blog and then poke around and see a link for a tutorial somewhere and then click around some more and then you can't even remember where you started??  Well, that happens to me a lot so I apologize for not knowing exactly where this idea came from. 

 
  The base of the card is Sahara Sand and I ran the front through the Big Shot using the new Framed Tulips embossing folder.  It's the perfect size for card fronts.  To make the flower bouquet I punched out 2 of the branches from the 2 Step Bird punch and trimmed the end of one so they wouldn't be exactly alike.  I adhered them with a little bit of Tombow Multi glue.  The flowers are "buttons" made with the Sweet Buttons embosslit and a scrap of Elegant Soiree DSP & a few scraps of Sweet Stitches DSP.  The pink flower has one of the smaller button designs layers on top to give it some dimension.  The embosslit buttons have some nice raised details that look super cute in person.  I "tied" the flowers together with a 1/8" taffeta ribbon bow adhered with a flue dot.

  The only true stamping that I did on this card was the sentiment from Bring on the Cake (I know I sounds like a broken record but I love this set!).  I stamped it using Whisper White Craft ink. 

  A sweet little card that makes me wish for spring!  And uses up some scraps that you have laying around...always a good thing in my book!

  Thanks for looking!  Did you stamp today?


Stamps: Bring on the Cake


Ink: Whisper White Craft

Paper: Sahara Sand, Old Olive, Elegant Soiree DSP, Sweet Stitches DSP


Accessories: Sweet Buttons embosslit, 2 Step Bird punch, 1/8" Whisper White taffeta ribbon, glue dot, Framed Tulips embossing folder

Happy Birthday Challenge Card

 Yes folks, here is another birthday card!  Our family has a lot of birthdays in February so you can expect several more after this one!  I made it a few weeks ago to be ready to send out to my brother who's birthday is on Valentine's day.  He's lucky, he got this card, some artwork from the kids and one of Ryan's V-day cards along with a gift--quite a haul don't you think??

 

 How yummy is this color combination??  This is from a color challenge over on Splitcoaststampers.  There is a special Stampin' Up Demo Only forum over there and a group of demonstrators have started to post challenges every month (Creative Crew Challenges).  This month the color challenge is Early Espresso, Cherry Cobbler and Daffodil Delight.  If you make a card for this challenge upload it with the keywords CCREW02111DF to Splitcoaststampers.  Click HERE and you'll see all the awesome creations for this challenge.

  I also used Sketch Challenge 318 for my layout.  It worked perfectly for this stamp from the Bring on the Cake set in the Occasions mini catalog.   This set is great since it is a bunch of birthday sentiments but some of them are totally suited to be used as a main image or a sentiment.  This versatility is great when you send a TON of birthday cards like I do.  

  The base of the card is Early Espresso and then a layer of Cherry Cobbler colored DSP from Jolly Holiday DSP collection.  I punched the corners with the ticket corner punch for some added detail.  For the focal panel I stamped the numbers stamp in Early Espresso and then colored in the right numbers for how old my brother was going to be (35) using my Cherry Cobbler marker.  It looks kind of backwards if you read left to right but you get the idea.  I circled the "th" down on the righthand side for "35th". The remaining numbers were colored in with the Daffodil Delight marker.  I love how the Cherry Cobbler numbers pop off the cardstock when paired with the Daffodil Delight.  This layer was also punched with the ticket corner punch.

  I wrapped some Daffodil Delight 1/8" taffeta ribbon around the focal panel and tied a knot.  I used a Build-A-Brad and a small punched circle of the Jolly Holiday paper.  The circle in this design is the perfect size for the Build-A-Brad.  I poked the BAB through the panel right where the knot was so it looks like it's holding down the ribbon.  The top panel is also popped up with dimensionals.

  Thanks for looking!  Did you stamp today?

Stamps: Bring on the Cake

Ink: Early Espresso, Cherry Cobbler & Daffodil Delight (markers)


Paper: Early Espresso, Jolly Holiday DSP, Very Vanilla


Accessories: ticket corner punch, dimensionals, 1/8" taffeta ribbon, Build-A-Brad, markers

Ryan's Valentine Projects

  Yesterday I said I would share with you what my 4 1/2 year old made for our family as well as for his classmates for Valentine's day.  First is the card that we made together to send to the 4 sets of grandparents and 2 uncles.  Ryan did all the punching, folding, taping, stamping and writing for each card.  He did a fabulous job with only minimal (read- keeping the ink on the cardstock and taping the layers on straight!) help from me.

 

  On the front he used the Heart to Heart punch twice and then layered some scrap DSP behind the cut outs.  Then he stamped "Love" from Filled With Love in Real Red.  And of course I suggested we add a punched heart using the Glimmer paper and he was all for that!

  For the back he stamped "Hand Stamped" and then wrote his name.  How funny is it that the letters get bigger as he goes??!!  I had to keep reminding him when he was doing the inside that he had to make his letters a bit smaller or "Love, Ryan & Alex" wasn't going to fit.  We couldn't have poor little brother Alex's name getting chopped off! And there had to be room for the photo of the 2 of them somewhere.

And here he is, proud artist, with all 6 cards!  He even stamped the envelopes...he knows you can't send a naked envelope!  Don't mind the disaster area of a playroom in the background....I've given up in there...more time for stamping!

  Here are the Valentine bookmarks we made together for his classmates.  They are very similar to ones I made for my stamp club last fall--why mess with a good design right?  We worked on these a little at a time for about a week.  Ryan is a HUGE fan of the Big Shot (who isn't right?) and did all the cranking for these.  It was so funny, they sent a list home so you would have everyone's name and Ryan counted up how many boys (11) and how many girls (4 + 2 teachers) and could read each classmate's name which surprised me.  We die cut the letters using the Alphabet Simple Letters die and some DSP and he read each name and told me what letter we were going to be making next and found it on the right die.  It was a good numbers & letters project I think!  We made pink & purple ones for the girls and blue & orange for the boys.

  Again, Ryan did all the punching, stamping and adhering himself.  I did do the gluing for the DSP letters just because I didn't want it all to end up a sticky colorful mess (and the stamp room carpet thanks for me that I think).  I think he loves the Glimmer paper as much as I do.  Are you all sick of seeing projects using it??

  I was so glad that he was excited to make this with me and we had a lot of fun putting them all together and hanging out in my stamp room.  He wanted to know what our next project was going to be!  How many weeks until Easter???

  Stamps: Filled With Love

  Ink: Tempting Turquoise, Rich Razzleberry

  Paper: Whisper White, Melon Mambo, Pumpkin Pie, Glimmer Paper, Sweet Pea DSP (retired), Welcome Neighbor DSP (retired)

Acessories: 2 Tags Die, Big Shot, Full Heart punch, 2 3/8" Scallop Circle punch, Simple Letters Alphabet dies, grosgrain ribbon, polka dot grosgrain ribbon, handheld punch,

Thanks for looking!  Did you stamp (with your kids) today?