Cantaloupe Christmas

  So much for my "every other day" posting goal!  We've had a busy last few days but I did get some stamping time on Friday and after some photography woes I think I have a decent enough photo to share.

  When I sat down to stamp I had a few challenges that I was looking to join and the one at CAS(E) this Sketch caught my eye.   I thought the 3 shapes could be fun to work with so I pulled out a color combination that I had seen a while ago on Pinterest and decided a non-traditional color Christmas card would be cool.  Here's the sketch:

  I had some fun with my Ornament Framelits and first cut out the larger ornament from the middle of a piece of Whisper White.  Then I backed the opening with a piece of Crisp Cantaloupe embossed with the Chevron embossing folder.

 I stamped the small ornament in Crisp Cantaloupe ink.  I cut it and another small ornament out of the Winter Frost DSP.  Doesn't that Smoky Slate look great with the Crisp Cantaloupe and Black?

  I popped the small ornaments up with dimensionals; the Smoky Slate using one dimensionals and the CC one with 2 stacked up so it would sit a bit higher thank the other one.

  I embellished the large ornament with a black taffeta knot, the CC one with a black Glimmer brad and the SS ornament with a silver punched star and a black candy Dot.

  The sentiment is stamped in black and then I added a few rhinestones to sides.

  Thanks for looking!  Did you stamp today?

Stamps: Keepsake Ornaments, Sweet Essentials

Ink: Black, Crisp Cantaloupe

Paper: Basic Black, Whisper White, Crisp Cantaloupe, Winter Frost Specialty DSP, Silver Glimmer

Accessories: Ornament framelits, black taffeta ribbon (retired), glimmer brad, candy dot, star punch, rhinestones, dimensionals

Sweater Weather Thank You

  I'm just in under the wire here to try to keep up with my every other day blogging plan!  I better type fast right?  =)

  Here is another card that we did last month at Stamp Club.  I wanted to show off more of the Sweater Weather DSP and since I couldn't decide on just one pattern for the card I used 3!

  The base is Sahara Sand with another Sahara Sand layer embossed with the the Woodgrain folder.  Then the 3 panels of Sweater Weather DSP. 

  The leaves were cut with the Autumn Accents die.  The orange leaf is another Sweater Weather DSP pattern!  The oak leaf is from the Wonderfall set and inked up in Sahara Sand.  Quick tip for stamping on the Autumn Accents die cuts…ink up your stamp and turn it so the rubber is facing up.  Line up the leaf shape with the stamp and lay your cardstock onto the stamp and press lightly to transfer the ink.  This way is so much easier thank trying to line it up the other way.  Both leaves are sponged with a bit of Chocolate Chip ink.

  The sentiment is from Lots of Thanks inked with Chocolate Chip and punched out with the scalloped circle punch.  It is layered on a Crushed Curry punched circle and both are sponged as well.  A linen thread bow is adhered with a glue dot.

  Don't forget to check out my Stampin' Up! online store for the fun new Weekly Deals every week.  Great products at great prices for just a week at a time.  Every Tuesday there will be a new batch of items.  If I didn't already have most of those items I would be putting in an order myself!

  Also, for the month of October Stampin' Up! will have a Thank You Thursday discounted item announced on the Stampin' Up! blog.  The item will only be available for one day and while supplies last.  Check it out on Thursday!  

  And last but not least... Have you ever wanted to get some of the great perks of being a Stampin' Up! demonstrator?  Do you like the idea of a 20% discount on your favorite products? How about a chance to earn extra cash, along with tons of exclusive creative ideas at your fingertips? For two weeks only, you can join the Stampin' Up! family for just $25 and experience all this and more.  To celebrate Stampin' Up!'s 25th anniversary a special Starter Kit is available until Oct. 21.  For just $25 get $26.95 worth of product of your choice and all the business supplies you need to get started.  And you get to use your demonstrator discount to order more of your wish list!  Contact me if you want all the details!

  Thanks for looking!  Did you stamp today?

Stamps: Wonderfall, Lots of Thanks

Ink: Sahara Sand, Chocolate Chip

Paper: Sweater Weather DSP, Sahara Sand, Very Vanilla, Crushed Curry

Accessories: Woodgrain e.f., Autumn Accents die, linen thread, scalloped circle punch, circle punch

Color Block Birds

  I hope everyone has had a great weekend so far!  We've been busy but without a lot to show for it.  Our backyard camping didn't happen on Friday night much to the boys' dismay.  We live in a subdivision and some of our neighbors backyard spotlights were never turned off and then another neighbor sat on his deck smoking cigars well into the night…yuck!  So with the brightness of daylight and the stink of cigars in the tent it just wasn't going to work out.  I guess I'm just picky or something with my sleeping conditions!  =)  Luckily we have a camping trip planned with Cub Scouts soon.

  Today I'm sharing a card that my club ladies made last month.  This is a quick card that looks like it takes more time than it does.  And it's a good way to use up some paper scraps that you have laying around and that's always a bonus!

 First, we layered some of our colored cardstock strips across a panel of Whisper White.  The overhanging edges were trimmed off to match the Whisper White panel.  Next, using one of the Chalk Talk framelits we cut out where we were going to stamp.  Without adhering the color block layer we lined it up on the Whisper White base and then stamped right through the opening.  That way if you mess up the image or the coloring you don't have to start fresh by making a new color block panel or try to rip it off to re-use it.

  The image was stamped in Stazon (aren't those birds sweet?).  We used ink pads and blender pens to color in the birds and heart.  Isn't this a great combination of 4 of the 5 newest set of In Colors?

  Once we were finished coloring we added dimensionals to the back of the color block panel and adhered it to the base lining up the birds in the center of the cut out.  A Whisper White stitched bow is the final touch for this card.

 Thanks for looking!  Did you stamp today?

Stamps: For the Birds

Ink: Stazon, Pistachio Pudding, Coastal Cabana, Baked Brown Sugar, Strawberry Slush

Paper: Whisper White, Pistachio Pudding, Coastal Cabana, Baked Brown Sugar

Accessories: Chalk Talk framelits, stitched grosgrain ribbon, dimensionals, blender pen

Spooky Spider

  This is going to be a quick one for today.  I have a busy Friday ahead of me…first a private stamping lesson, then some volunteering at the boys school, then getting geared up for some weekend fun.  Matt and the boys want to "camp" in the backyard tomorrow night…and as I was told by Alex, "Mommy you can sleep in the tent with us now since we got you a sleeping bag last Christmas!".  Oh joy!  =)  At least I think I can sneak inside to my own bed once they are all asleep since they are all quite heavy sleepers!

  To start the day off right we have another great challenge at Fab Friday!  Check out these colors!  Are they Halloween or what?  I'm actually curious to see what kind of non-Halloween cards you all come up with.  Halloween was all I could see when I pulled the colors out to start my card and I just couldn't get away from that idea!

  I didn't get a new Halloween stamp set this year since I've finally come to terms with the fact that besides maybe one project for stamp club I don't really make Halloween projects.  So when lacking in the themed stamp set department I turn to punch art.  Check out this creepy crawly!

  I played around with the color combos a lot for this one and I'm still not perfectly happy but it is what it is.  I do like how the spider came out though.  Do you recognize his legs?  Hello hexagon punch!  Isn't that just another fun use for that punch?

 I did cheat a little and there is some Basic Gray in the DSP but it was the only DSP that I had that would work for a spider body and I didn't want to make him too life-like with a black body!  Ew!

  I hope you will go check out the all star design team creations at Fab Friday and then play along!  Will you go Halloween or not with these colors?

  Thanks for looking!  Did you stamp today?

Stamps: Designer Typeset (photopolymer)

Ink: Versamark

Paper: Basic Black, Rich Razzleberry, Old Olive, Howlstooth & Scarringbone DSP (retired), Whisper White

Accessories: 1 3/8" circle punch (body), 1" circle punch (head), Owl punch (eyes), Hexagon punch (legs), candy dots, white embossing powder, edgelit, Pefect Polka Dot e.f., stitched ribbon, baker's twine, dimensionals

Retro Birthday Cake

  Here is a card that came together quickly using the Color Coach and a sketch challenge for inspiration.

  I thought the current challenge at Hand Stamped Sentiments was a fun layout and that circle panel was just right for a cake.  Once I decided on my stamp set I wanted to find a color combination that worked for this sweet treat.  Hello Color Coach!  Always a great combination to be found in it!

  I stamped the cake and then cut out and popped up the layers on the circles.  I added the fun ruffled stretch ribbon on the backside and then layered 2 pieces of ribbon underneath.  I adhered the whole thing on 2 panels of Winter Frost Specialty DSP.  Calypso Coral candy dots finish off the corners.

  Thanks for looking!  Did you stamp today?

Stamps: Make a Wish

Ink: Coastal Cabana, Calypso Coral, Crushed Curry (marker for the candle flames)

Paper: Coastal Cabana, Whisper White, Winter Frost Specialty DSP

Accessories: circles framelits, chevron ribbon, ruffled stretch ribbon, ruffled ribbon (retired), candy dots, dimensionals

Glittery Birthday Gift

  It seems that even though the boys have been in school for almost a full month now I'm still having trouble getting organized enough to post projects regularly.  My house is clean, we have groceries, I've even done some organizing of drawers, closets and cabinets but the blogging just isn't happening as much as I'd like it too.  But I do have a card to share today so that's something right?   Maybe I'll keep my blogging clean and simple like the card??

  I made this card using the just ended Freshly Made Sketches challenge.  I am a few hours late getting it posted but it's a fun sketch nonetheless.

  The 4 background panels are embossed with the Stripes embossing folder.  I just turned the squares on an angle when I sent them through the Big Shot.  I thought it gave kind of cool look that echoes the stripes on the gift.

  Do you recognize this image?  It's from the Color Me Christmas set!  Not just for Christmas apparently.  I stamped it with Stazon on watercolor paper.  I colored it with markers and then used an Aquapainter and Sahara Sand ink pad to make a very light shadow around the gift.  I covered the bow/ribbon with Dazzling Details and then popped it up with dimensionals.  Rhinestones in the four corners finish off this birthday card.

  Thanks for looking!  Did you stamp today?

Stamps: Color Me Christmas

Ink: Stazon, Sahara Sand, Wisteria Wonder & Soft Sky (markers)

Paper: Sahara Sand, Wisteria Wonder, Soft Sky, watercolor paper

Accessories: Stripes e.f., rhinestones, Dazzling Details, dimensionals

Washi Grunge

Happy Wednesday!  I had a great day yesterday stamping with my stamping ladies.  I hope they had a good time too.  It's always fun to catch up and visit with everyone.  If you're in the Richmond, VA area and would like to join us sometime just give me a shout!

Here is one of the cards we made yesterday.  It's a really fun one and is perfect for those preteen/teen birthdays.  Several ladies commented last night that they needed a card for that age group!  The Gorgeous Grunge set makes quick cards with all the fun splatters and streaks. And if you get some ink smudges on it by accident it's totally OK….it blends right in!

The card base is Calypso Coral and then a layer of Basic Gray.  A piece of Whisper White is stamped with Basic Gray splatters and a Calypso Coral streak.  The Epic Day washi tape is just adhered to the cardstock.  Super easy to reposition too!

The "Happy Birthday" from the Blue Ribbon set is stamped in Basic Gray onto Calypso Coral and then punched out with the large oval punch.  To jazz it up we made chevrons using the hexagon punch!  A very cool different use for that punch!  I love it when you can use a tool for more than one purpose.  The chevrons are adhered to the oval and then a few rhinestones to bring the eye in.  All that is popped with dimensionals.

See…..Easy right?

  Thanks for looking!  Did you stamp today?

Stamps: Gorgeous Grunge, Blue Ribbon

Ink: Basic Gray, Calypso Coral

Paper: Whisper White, Basic Gray, Calypso Coral

Accessories: oval punch, hexagon punch (chevrons), rhinestones, Epic Day washi tape, dimensionals, rhinestones

Sweet Christmas Stocking

  I used the great sketch from Freshly Made Sketches this week to do up a quick Christmas card to continue to build my stash.  I used the colors from Hand Stamped Sentiments since they seemed perfect for Christmas!

  The base is Baked Brown Sugar and then a layer of Gumball Green Core'dinations embossed with the Snow Flurry embossing folder and lightly sanded.  The DSP is the retired Orchard Harvest pack from last fall.  Luckily I have just enough left to make a few more cards for my stash.  I embossed the "merry" in Early Espresso embossing powder.   

  I had some strips of watercolor paper leftover from a club project that are just the right size for the banner element of the sketch.  I stamped the stocking in Stazon and then used an Aquapainter and ink pads to watercolor.  I added Gumball Green ribbon and 2 retired metallic brads and then popped the banner up with dimensionals.

  The final touch for this card is the Dazzling Details on the white parts of the stocking design.  

  Thanks to both challenges for helping me get going on my Christmas cards!

  Thanks for looking!  Did you stamp today?

Stamps: Color Me Christmas, Pennant Parade (merry)

Ink: Stazon, Gumball Green, Raspberry Ripple, Baked Brown Sugar, Versamark

Paper: Baked Brown Sugar, Gumball Green Core'dinations, Orchard Harvest DSP (retired), watercolor paper

Accessories: Snow Flurry e.f., Dazzling Details, brads, stitched ribbon, Early Espresso e.p., aquapainter