Butterfly Sympathy - Stampin' Up! Watercolor Wings

 Sharing quickly this morning.  Time is already getting away from me and a slow as molasses computer isn't helping matters any!

  I had to send a friend and downline a sympathy card last week.  These are never fun cards to make but I wanted to make sure she knew I was thinking of and praying for her and her family.

  I thought a simple butterfly card was the way to go.

 

  My card base is Smoky Slate and I topped that with a piece of Whisper White and a slightly smaller piece of the retired Adventure Bound DSP.

  The sentiment strip is stamped with a stamp from Rose Wonder in the Occasions catalog.  This is a great set not only for the image stamps but it has a great mix of sentiments.  The sentiment here is stamped in Basic Gray.

  The butterfly from Watercolor Wonder is stamped in Smoky Slate and Daffodil Delight.  The body is Basic Gray.  I hand cut and then popped the butterfly up onto a circle cut from the Botanical Gardens printed vellum (Sale-a-Bration).

   Thanks for looking!  Did you stamp today?

Stamps: Watercolor Wings, Rose Wonder

Ink: Daffodil Delight, Basic Gray, Smoky Slate

Paper: Smoky Slate, Whisper White, Botanical Gardens printed vellum, Adventure Bound DSP (retired)

Accessories: Starburst framelit (retired), dimensionals

Blue Birthday Balloons - Stampin' Up! Balloon Celebrations

  I have good news and bad news!  The good news is that I got a new camera yesterday for my birthday!  It's a cool DSLR one with all the bells and whistles and I can't wait to learn how to use it especially to take pics of my cards!  The bad news is I got a new camera!  Ha!  Seriously this things has so many buttons and settings it's not even funny.  I think it might take me a while to figure it all out so my card photos might stink for a while longer!  If anyone has any good tips or websites I'd be happy to take any and all suggestions!

  So for now you'll have to suffer through some more poor quality pics but I think you'll still get the idea!

  We made this card at my last stamp club.  We did 3 cards as usual and I had one birthday card geared towards guys and one birthday card that was more girlie to help get the #imbringingbirthdaysback campaign to spread to my stamping ladies.  Sometimes it's hard to do guy cards and I think a great place to start is to pick colors from a DSP pattern and go from there.

 

  I bought the Schoolhouse DSP in my first order when this annual catalog came out last summer.  I've used it in bits and pieces here and there but the colors are perfect for guy cards as they are yellows, blues, oranges and greens.  I started with the small checked pattern and pulled my colors from there.

  The card base is Daffodil Delight with a narrow strip of Tangerine Tango (great way to use up small scraps!)  On the other end is a strip of our patterned paper.  

  We stamped the stars, Happy Birthday sentiment and balloon strings onto a piece of Whisper White in Basic Gray ink.  I hope you aren't sick of seeing cards made with Balloon Celebrations because I'm not tired of making them.  I have a few more up my sleeve to share in the coming days!

  

  Next, the balloon outlines are stamped in Basic Gray and then filled in with Pacific Point ink.  We got the 2 different shades of Pacific Point by inking up the solid balloon shapes just once.  Stamped one set of balloons and then without reinking stamp the second set.  Then add some stars to a few of your balloons.  Finally punch them out and arrange them on the card over the strings.  We used several layers of dimensionals so the smallest balloon is higher than the others.

  The final details for this card are to add a bit of gold.  We tied a small bow with gold cording and adhering it with a glue dot.  Then some of the stars were colored in using the gold Wink of Stella.  The Wink of Stella brush pens make it so easy to add hints of shimmer!

   Thanks for looking!  Did you stamp today?

Stamps: Balloon Celebrations

Ink: Basic Gray, Pacific Point

Paper: Daffodil Delight, Tangerine Tango, Schoolhouse DSP, Whisper White

Accessories: Balloon Bouquet punch, gold cord, Wink of Stella gold, dimensionals

Easter Sunrise - Stampin' Up! Sunburst Thinlet

 For the last 4 or 5 years I've been helping with the 2 year olds Sunday School class at my church.  The head teacher is a beloved figure at our church and has been a member since the start of the church.  She has always been involved in teaching Sunday school and has as much fun if not more than the kids.  And while she is in her 80s she still hosts an Easter (and Christmas) party every year at her house for her Sunday school class.  It's a great time and I'm blessed to be involved in it all.

  Of course if there's a party we need invitations.  It's fun to come up with an Easter invitation for this party each year.  This year I didn't really have an Easter stamp to use so I came up with this little scene.

  The card base is Soft Sky and then I cut out the sun with the Sunburst thinlet in So Saffron.  I sponged all around the edges with So Saffron and then also sponged the punched circle.  The circle is popped up on dimesionals.

  To make the cross I used some strips of Crumb Cake and stamped the Hardwood background stamp on them with Tip Top Taupe ink.  The edges are sponged and I added the nail holes with my Tip Top Taupe marker.

  The butterfly is from Garden in Bloom in the annual catalog.  I stamped the outline in Tip Top Taupe and the fill in stamp is Perfect Plum ink stamped off once to give a softer look.  It doesn't show up in the photo but the butterfly is colored with the clear Wink of Stella brush.  I hand cut it with my trusty paper snips.  

  The cross and butterfly are both popped up on dimensionals.

  Thanks for looking!  Did you stamp today?

Stamps: Hardwood, Garden in Bloom

Ink:  So Saffron, Tip Top Taupe, Perfect Plum

Paper: Soft Sky, So Saffron, Crumb Cake, Whisper White

Accessories: Sunburst Thinlet, dimensionals, Wink of Stella clear

Peek a Boo Birthday Balloon - Stampin' Up! Balloon Celebrations

  So have all of you stampers joined in on the #imbringingbirthdaysback campaign?  What?  You don't know about it?  Well super Stampin' Up! trainer Shannon West decided that she wanted to be better about sending out birthday cards and not just do the quick and easy Facebook greeting that has taken over.   She wanted to get hand stamped birthday greetings out to all who gave her their birthday and address.  She got thousands of responses!  Holy cow!  And not only that her #imbringingbirthdaysback has totally jump started other card makers to join in and do the same for their circles of friends, family, customers and even strangers!  There is even a Stampin' Up! stamp now to mark the cards that you send out!  To read more about this awesome movement check out this article.

  If you know about this movement have you joined in?  Why not?  Get stamping and and mailing out those cards!  They don't have to be hugely elaborate; make someone's birthday and send out a hand stamped card!  I always tell my stampers not to hoard the cards they make but to give them to people.  If you want to remember a design or color combination just snap a quick pic of it for future reference.  It's sad to see boxes and boxes of cards that are just sitting in a craft room not being used!

  Quick tip: check out the "Events" tab on Facebook to see your friends with upcoming birthdays so you can get those cards in the mail and surprise them!

  My card today is a super easy design that would work for birthdays for all ages....just change out the Designer Series Paper and stamp.  You could use a cupcake, birthday cake, little animal, flower....really anything works in the little peek a boo spot!

  Kind of like opening a present right?

  I used a piece of It's My Party DSP cut to the same size as the card front.  Before adhering it line it up and decide where you want the opening to be and use your paper snips to cut the flaps.  I stamped the balloon string in black at this point.  Then adhere the DSP to the card and using dimensionals adhere the flaps down.  Before cutting your flaps double check the pattern on the backside of the paper is facing the right way!  

  I stamped the sentiment from Party with Cake in black.  The Balloon Celebrations makes all these celebratory cards so easy!  And cute too!  The balloon outline is stamped in Sahara Sand and then filled in with Mint Macaron stamped off once.  I added some Sahara Sand stars and then punched the balloon out.  It's then popped up on the string with a dimensional.

  See totally easy!  Check out your DSP stash and see what you've got then get that card in the mail!

 Thanks for looking!  Did you stamp today?

Stamps: Balloon Celebrations, Party With Cake

Ink: Black, Sahara Sand, Mint Macaron

Paper: Sahara Sand, Whisper White, It's My Party DSP stack

Accessories: Balloon Bouquet punch, dimensionals

Dream Big Sunshine - Stampin' Up! Sunburst Thinlet

  Happy sunny Monday!  It looks like the snow on Friday was the the last of the winter weather Central Virginia will be seeing this year.  It will be in the 70s this week!  I would say that spring is here!

  My card for today is one that we made at my last stamp club.  We used the Sunburst Thinlet to make a stencil and did some sponging.  It is such a cheerful and bright card that just makes me smile.

  Using the stencil we sponged Daffodil Delight onto a piece of Whisper White.  Then just rotate the stencil slightly and sponge again.  We did that 3 times to get the different layers of the suns rays.

  The "Dream Big" from Enjoy the Little Things was stamped in black onto Daffodil Delight cardstock and punched with a circle punch.  The "enjoy the little things" stamp from this set also fits this circle perfectly so that was a second sentiment choice I gave to my stampers at class.

  We punched some vellum clouds using the Tree Builder punch and added some rhinestones and a cotton ribbon in Pool Party.

  Go ahead and make this card and send it out to brighten someones day!

  Thanks for looking!  Did you stamp today?

Stamps: Enjoy the Little Things

Ink: Daffodil Delight, Black

Paper: Whisper White, Pool Party, Daffodil Delight, vellum

Accessories: Sunburst Thinlet, Tree Builder punch, cotton ribbon, rhinestones, dimensionals

Soft Flowers - Fab Friday 82 - Stampin' Up! Botanical Builder Framelits

   Happy happy Friday!  We've got a new Fab Friday challenge for you today.  Some great spring colors to get you in the mood for Easter and warmer weather.

  I don't usually gravitate to pastels as a general rule unless it's for a baby card but these colors are really nice together!  Isn't it nice to have a challenge get you out of your comfort zone?

    Funny thing is I had been trying to make a card using Blushing Bride and and 2 greens and I just couldn't get anything to look right.  I just needed to change my greens (or bluish-green)! 

  I kept my layout very simple and let the layered flowers do the talking.  I used heavy Whisper White for the flower bases.  The Botanical Builder framelits have such endless possibilities for mixing and matching flower and leaf parts.  I've done a lot in white but I need to get busy creating some bold colored flowers.  For the 2 largest flowers I sponged a bit of Blushing Bride in the centers before layering the center details on.

 

  The flowers are popped up on a Blushing Bride base with a panel of the Botanical Gardens vellum with the corners rounded.  This fun vellum can be earned as a Sale-a-bration reward.  Yes, SAB is still going strong!  Check your wish lists and order before March 31 to take advantage.  

  The sentiment is from the Sky is the Limit SAB set.  It was supposed to be for a limited time only but Stampin' Up! still has some left so if you didn't get this one and still want it then don't wait!  I embossed the sentiment in white onto Pool Party cardstock.  I flagged the end and then added a smaller flag underneath in Mint Macaroon.

  I know you have some great ideas on how to use our challenge colors so I hope you'll play along!  If you're stuck for ideas head over to the Fab Friday challenge page and get inspired by the Design Team samples!

  Thanks for looking!  Did you stamp today?

Stamps: Sky is the Limit (SAB)

Ink: Versamark

Paper: Blushing Bride, Mint Macaron, Pool Party, Whisper White, Botanical Gardens vellum (SAB)

Accessories: Botanical Builder framelits, corner rounder, white embossing powder, rhinestones, candy dot, dimensionals

Dream Big - Stampin' Up! Going Global

    Even though the calendar says it's only March and the weather can't decide if it's the dead of winter or mid spring soon enough it will be graduation season.  And with graduation season comes the need for graduation cards.  I made this one a while back but I think it would serve the purpose to congratulate someone going on to the next big thing in their life.

  The card base is Tip Top Taupe and then a slightly smaller panel of the same embossed with the World Traveler embossing folder.

  I used 2 patterns from the Schoolhouse DSP on the left side and added a twine bow.

  The world was stamped in Soft Sky and punched out.  I sponged the edge with Tip Top Taupe and then popped it up.

  On the inside I stamped the "Dream Big" sentiment from the Enjoy the Little Things stamp set.

  Off to try to catch up on my to do list as I took the day off yesterday since the boys didn't have school.  We headed out of town to explore a state park so not much got done around the house.

  Thanks for looking!  Did you stamp today?

Stamps: Going Global

Ink: Soft Sky, Tip Top Taupe

Paper: Tip Top Taupe, Whisper White, Schoolhouse DSP

Accessories: circle punch, World Traveler embossing folder, dimensionals, twine

Chess Club Thank You

  When you're one of the moms who organizes the school chess club you are also the mom who makes the thank you cards to give to volunteers who come every week to teach the kids.  We have some very dedicated volunteers who show up for 8 or 9 weeks and help the kids learn chess and encourage them to do their best each week.  We like to show our thanks at the end of club party with a small gift and of course a themed thank you card!

 

  Stampin' Up! doesn't have any chess stamps but I didn't let that stop me!  The card is larger (5 x 8) than I normally make as we had to have room for about 70 kids to sign.  Using Basic Black for the base I created a chess board with 1x1 Very Vanilla squares (great way to use up scraps!  I made 3 of these cards and it was so nice to use pieces that I had in my scrap bag!).

  The sentiment was printed out on the computer.  I found the "Keep Calm" free font and thought it was a fun saying to use on the card.

  The chess pieces were made by printing out some templates and tracing them onto Very Vanilla and then fussy cutting.  I sponged the edges a bit with Sahara Sand ink to give them some dimension.  I added the line details with the pen tip Sahara Sand marker.

  The sentiment panel and the pieces are popped up with dimensionals.

  These were fun cards to make and were a great ending to a fun year of chess club at the boys school.

  Thanks for looking!  Did you stamp today?

Stamps: none

Ink: Sahara Sand

Paper: Basic Black, Very Vanilla

Accessories: dimensionals