You Mean the World to Me - Stampin' Up! Going Global

  There's not much time to get your cards made for Valentine's day so here's another idea.  We made this card at my stamp club last week.  It's a good guy card, not all pink and frilly with lace and doilies!  Not that that's really my style anyway but it's nice to have a masculine card ready to go for your sweetie or Dad or son or brother.

  The card base is Crumb Cake with a layer of Typeset Specialty paper and a panel of Lost Lagoon embossed with the World Traveler embossing folder.  We used a sponge and some Crumb Cake ink to highlight the raised parts.

  A small strip of the the chevron ribbon goes across the card front.  The world is stamped with Mossy Meadow ink onto the Sale-a-Bration (SAB) Perfectly Artistic DSP.  It looks so cool as the swirls in the paper look like weather or clouds over the "ocean" parts.  Remember that this pack of paper is a limited time only Sale-a-Bration offering so you only have until Feb. 15 to earn it with a qualifying order.  Next, We hand cut the world as I didn't have a punch or framelit that fit just right.

  For the sentiment we stamped it in Mossy Meadow and punched it out with an oval punch.  And here is my favorite heart from the Owl punch using the gold foil paper.  The world and sentiment are popped up with dimensionals and the heart is attached using a drop of glue.

  Thanks for looking! Did you stamp today?

Stamps: Going Global

Ink: Mossy Meadow, Crumb Cake

Paper: Crumb Cake, Typeset Specialty DSP, Lost Lagoon, Very Vanilla, Perfectly Artistic DSP (SAB), Red Foil paper

Accessories: World Traveler e.f., dimensional, Owl Punch, oval punch, chevron ribbon

Clean and Simple Valentine - Fab Friday 80

  We are back at Fab Friday after a break since Christmas.  It's good to have a few weeks off to recharge and then jump back into the new challenges for 2016.  We are starting off with a color challenge this time!  Real Red, Watermelon Wonder and Blushing Bride.  

 
  I'll bet some of you will get super creative with these colors and just knock our socks off with a great use that I never would have thought of.  For me though, my mind went straight to Valentine's Day and as I was pressed for time making this card I couldn't dawdle and mess around with some other ideas so break out the hearts and love for this one!

 

  My card is a great way to use up some scraps that have been accumulating!  I simply dug out some narrow strips of cardstock in our challenge colors and adhered them right to the front of my card which is thick Whisper White cardstock.  The strips of cardstock are all different widths so it didn't come out too matchy matchy.

  I used the retired hearts framelits to cut a larger heart and then a smaller one out of another piece of Whisper White cardstock.  I then popped both up on dimensionals.

  Next, I pulled out the Paper Pumpkin kit stamps from last year's Valentine treat kit and stamped the sentiment on another scrap of Whisper White and then flagged the ends.

  My silver embellishments have been neglected lately so I added a strip of silver sequin trim as well as some silver thread behind the banner.  I used a few more dimensionals to pop the banner up on the small heart.

  And I seem to not be able to say no to the Blushing Bride Glimmer paper this Valentine's Day card season so I added a tiny punched heart to the side of the banner.  Done and done!  Pop that baby in the mail!

  I hope you'll join us over at Fab Friday to see the rest of the Design Team samples and then play along with your own creation.    Remember you have almost 2 weeks to enter our challenge so there's no excuse!

  Thanks for looking!  Did you stamp today?

Stamps: My Paper Pumpkin January 2015

Ink: Basic Black

Paper: Whisper White thick, Real Red, Watermelon Wonder, Blushing Bride, Blushing Bride Glimmer paper

Accessories: silver sequin trim, silver thread, dimensionals, Owl punch, Hearts framelits (retired)

  

Birthday Balloon - Stampin' Up! Balloon Celebration

  I am just loving these balloons from the Occasions catalog!  The matching punch makes them even better wouldn't you say?  I've used just a single balloon from the Balloon Celebration set a lot lately.  I think it compliments so many other sets in the Occasions catalog so its uses just expands so much!

  I've been trying to be better about digging through my scrap folders before cutting into a larger piece of cardstock.  My file drawers are starting to bulge with all the scraps so I'm trying to take a moment or two to see if I've already got a piece of cardstock that would work instead of just jumping right to the cutting table.  I found this already embossed piece of Whisper White cardstock in the scrap folder and I thought it would work for this birthday card.

  As with a lot of my cards lately this one was for a sketch challenge that is long since closed.  I don't even know which one any more.  I seem to have some trouble getting a card made, photographed, edited and posted in the week that most of the challenges are open for.  Better to share late than not at all right?

  I used a Whisper White thick card base and then used a layer of the It's My Party DSP stack in the Occasions catalog (see what I was saying about the Balloon Celebration set being so versatile, it even goes with this DSP design!).  I stamped the balloon string in black and then I hand cut the embossed piece and gave it a little bit of a curve to go with the curve of the balloons.

  I stamped the balloon outline in black, filled it in with the solid stamp which was inked in Melon Mambo and stamped off once.  Next I added the darker highlight stamp in full strength Melon Mambo ink.  The coordinating balloon punch made quick work of cutting it out.  I used the Wink of Stella pen to give the balloon a quick shimmer before popping it up with a dimensional.

  The sentiment was stamped on the DSP after I popped the Whisper White embossed layers up with more dimensionals.

    This would be a great card to make a stack of to give as a gift or if you have a very busy birthday month coming up and want to start prepared to get those cards in the mail on time!  Lofty goals but they can be done!

  Thanks for looking!  Did you stamp today?

Stamps: Balloon Celebration

Ink: Melon Mambo, black

Paper: Whisper White thick, Whisper White, It's My Party DSP

Accessories: Wink of Stella pen, Balloon Bouquet punch, Softly Falling embossing folder, dimensionals

  

Hogs & Kisses - Stampin' Up! Barnyard Babies

  I better get my Valentine's Day ideas posted before I run out of time!  The days seem to be flying by lately!

  You can't beat a good pun and cute little pig can you?

  The polka dot DSP is from the Sale-a-Bration Wildflower Fields DSP pack and I cut it on an angle and added a strip of Pink Pirouette.  I used the Little Letters thinlets to cut some black X's and O's to add to the band across the card.

  The pig was stamped on Pink Pirouette and I colored in his ears and nose with the Pink Pirouette marker and then cut him out.  He's mounted on a Soft Sky panel with a Whisper White frame.  I can't get enough of these little Blushing Bride Glimmer Paper hearts so I added a few.  They are just the right size for the pig aren't they?

  The final thing is the sentiment "hogs & kisses" stamped in Basic Black.

  Thanks for looking!  Did you stamp today?

Stamps: Barnyard Babies

Ink: Basic Black  Marker: Pink Pirouette

Paper: Wildflower Fields DSP, Whisper White, Soft Sky, Pink Pirouette, Blushing Bride Glimmer paper

Accessories: Square framelits, Owl punch, Little Letters framelits, dimensional

Sweet Citrus - Stampin' Up! Apple of My Eye

  Happy Friday that feels like a Tuesday!  The kids are finally back at school for a full day!  Yesterday was the Thursday that felt like a Monday and was a delayed start for school.  Now we're all messed up going into the weekend!  Well it's time to buckle down and get to some stamping business so I can carry on with the Tuesday I mean Friday to do list!

  I made this card a few weeks back and I'm pretty sure the colors if not the layout were challenges.  I can't tell you which ones though so for today it's just a card.  The orange makes me think of Florida and warmer weather!  Now I love winter and the change of seasons here in Virginia but I won't tell you that sometimes thoughts of warmer weather and the beach don't creep up on me.  Like after I ate it on some icy snow this morning on my walk.  Then I think of the beach for sure!

  Since getting all my new DSP from the Occasions catalog and Sale-a-Bration some of my Annual Catalog papers have been getting ignored but this striped stitched pattern in Cucumber Crush was just thing for this card.  It can be found in the Cherry on Top DSP stack...lots of fun celebratory patterns in this set!

  I lightly stamped the Hardwood background onto Whisper White cardstock with Smoky Slate ink.  I added the sentiment in the corner in Basic Gray ink.

  For my orange I inked the stamp up with Pumpkin Pie and then used the small splatter stamp from Gorgeous Grunge to pull some ink off by just pressing the un-inked stamp to the inked one.  I thought it gave the orange a nice little texture like a real orange peel. Both oranges are popped on dimensionals.

  The stem and leaf are stamped in Cucumber Crush and the leaf is hand cut.  I added a little bit of baker's twine and a few Daffodil Delight candy dots for the final embellishments.

  I hope your weekend has lots of fun plans in it!  Especially some stamping!

  Thanks for looking!  Did you stamp today?

Stamps: Apple of My Eye, Gorgeous Grunge, Hardwood

Ink: Pumpkin Pie, Basic Gray, Smoky Slate, Cucumber Crush

Paper: Smoky Slate, Cherry on Top DSP, Whisper White, Daffodil Delight

Accessories: candy dots, baker's twine

Just for You - Stampin' Up! Botanicals for You

  The snow has really thrown off our schedules here and today is the first day in a week that the boys will be back in school!  Phew!  We made it!  I love the snow and snow days but once people can get out and about I'm ready to get back to business.  And also if the snow is so melted that everything is getting muddy and the snow is dirty well what's the point right?

  I was supposed to have stamp club this week but rescheduled because of the snow.  I wanted to have several samples from each of my new stamp sets to show off to my ladies and Botanical for You was one that hadn't seen ink yet.  It's a neat set as it coordinates well with one of the new Occasions sets Botanical Blooms.

  

  Nothing fancy to this card but just using colors pulled from the Botanical Gardens DSP as well as some of the paper itself for the flower and under the sentiment.

  I cut out one of the little flowers as well as a fern leaf with the Botanical Builder framelit set.  I popped the flower up with a dimensional and tucked the fern behind it.

  The great thing about the Botanical Gardens suite is you can get them in a bundle!  Botanical Blooms stamp set, Botanical Gardens DSP and Botanical Builder framelits all come together and you save 15%!  The cost of the bundle is $51.75 and that brings your right to getting a free Sale-a-Bration items.....You can get any of the items in the brochure but the Botanicals for You set is a great choice since it already coordinates and gives you some fun sentiments to use with the Botanical Blooms set! Thanks for making it so easy Stampin' Up!

  I hope to get my wreck of a house cleaned up while the boys are at school and then pop into the stamp room to get some more cards made with this set. 

  Thanks for looking!  Did you stamp today?

Stamps: Botanicals for You

Ink: Mint Macaron

Paper: Hello Honey, Mossy Meadow, Whisper White, Old Olive, Botanical Gardens DSP

Accessories: Botanical Builder framelits

Valentine Flowers - Stampin' Up! Sheltering Tree

  I don't usually buy Valentine's stamp set as I have found that I really don't make that many Valentine's Day cards.  One for Matt and two for the boys and then maybe a few to send to family.  I really prefer to use sets that I have and make them fit this one day.

  I wanted to do a clean and simple Valentine so I thought the flowers from the Sheltering Tree would work for a bit of bold color against a white background.

  I stamped off the grass once, it's Pear Pizzazz, and then did the flower stems in full strength of the same color.  

  I sprinkled flowers in Real Red and Blushing Bride across the stems and then added some punched glimmer paper hearts also in Real Red and Blushing Bride.

  The final thing is the sentiment stamped in black.

  You could make a whole bunch of these in no time at all!

  Thanks for looking!  Did you stamp today?

Stamps: Sheltering Tree, Good Greetings (retired hostess)

Ink: Pear Pizzazz, Real Red, Blushing Bride, black

Paper: Whisper White thick, Real Red Glimmer paper, Blushing Bride Glimmer paper

Accessories: Owl Punch

Hello Love - Stampin' Up! Hello

  With a house full of boys my Valentine's Day creations can't be too girlie or I'll get some eye rolls.  I was poking around on Pinterest and came across a card with this layout and I thought it was a neat angle with the DSP.  I went with some masculine colors except for the bit of Blushing Bride.  Hopefully my guys will forgive me the bit of pink on this one!

  And I would love to give proper credit for the inspiration for this card but I could not for the life of me find it on Pinterest again....Do you know how many projects come up when you search "Valentine's Day card"??  And if you search twice you don't even get the same cards again.  So if you recognize this card please point me in the right direction and I can edit my post to show the original!

 It's hard to see in the pic but the DSP has little arrows on it!  Fitting for the theme right?  The Going Place DSP is fast becoming a favorite of mine.  I feel like it works for so many cards travel themed or not!

  The Hello Love is embossed in black embossing powder and I mixed the words from 2 different sets to get the saying that I wanted.  "Hello" is from the awesome Sale-a-Bration (SAB) set Hello.  And the "Love" is from Enjoy the Little Things set in the Occasions catalog.  The stamp actually says Love this Life but it was easy enough to just ink up the love with Versamark.

  

  The heart is punched with a retired small heart punch out of Blushing Bride Glimmer paper.  The baker's twine is a bit leftover from last years Valentine themed Paper Pumpkin kit.  

  Thanks for looking!  Did you stamp today?

Stamps: Hello (SAB), Enjoy the Little Things (Occasions)

Ink: Versamark

Paper: Sahara Sand, Blushing Bride Glimmer paper, Going Places DSP (Occasions)

Accessories: black embossing powder, small heart punch (retired), Blushing Bride baker's twine (Paper Pumpkin)