P.S. It's Your Birthday - Stampin' Up! P.S. You're the Best - Fab Friday 160

Cheers for Friday!  Cheers for the start of spring break!  Cheers for a new Fab Friday challenge!

We have a fantastic set of vibrant spring colors this time around at Fab Friday.  I can't wait to see the awesome gallery once you all upload your cards!

  These are great aren't they?  It didn't take me long to decide that my project needed to have some flowers on it.  Granted they are small but I think I still have the spring vibe here!

 It has been a hot minute since I used the P.S. You're the Best stamp set so I thought I would pair it up with these fun colors for a birthday card.  And since we're winding down Sale-a-Bration 2019 I wanted to bring a bit of the Botanical Butterfly DSP in one more time before SAB is over.

  Nothing crazy going on on this card but it's a nice cheerful card that has a bit of an old timey vibe with the typewriter and botanical print.

  I hope you'll love this color combo as much as I do and will make a project to share in the Fab Friday gallery! 

  Thanks for looking!  Did you stamp today?

Stamps: P.S. You're the Best

Ink: Highland Heather, Bermuda Bay, Basic Gray

Stampin' Write Markers: Lemon Lime Twist, Highland Heather, Flirty Flamingo

Paper: Highland Heather, Botanical Butterfly DSP, Flirty Flamingo, Bermuda Bay, Whisper White

Accessories: Layering Circles framelits, Polka Dot Tulle ribbon, dimensionals, adhesive sequins

Bright Spotlight - Stampin' Up! All That You Are

 It's been a busy week for me with preparing for Stamp Club so blogging has been pushed to the back burner but now I'm back to share one of my class projects.

  The All That You Are large flower image is beautiful but too big for a large group to color all the way in so I had them use it with the spotlight technique so they could color some but not have to do the whole thing.  I pulled my inspiration from this card from a while back and used some fun bright colors.  The colors come from the now closed Global Design Project challenge.

  Lemon Lime Twist, Grapefruit Grove and Daffodil Delight are fantastic against black accents. I think this color combo spoke to me on a gray rainy day when I was wishing for spring colors instead of the blah gray that we've been seeing a lot of.

 

  The spotlight panels are colored using reinkers and Blender pens.  And pro tip here for you: if you've had your blender pens for a while and the tips are a bit frayed and soft it might be time to replace them.  They will last a long time but will eventually dry out and the tips will break down.

  Thanks for looking!  Did you stamp today? 

Stamps: All That You Are

Ink: Memento black, Lemon Lime Twist, Grapefruit Grove, Daffodil Delight

Paper: Lemon Lime Twist, Basic Black, Whisper White

Accessories: Stitched Rectangle framelits, circle punches, dimensionals, 1/8" Grapefruit Grove grosgrain ribbon

  

Sweet Friend Sympathy - Stampin' Up! Happy Tails

 I'm late to the party with the dog builder punch and the Happy Tails stamp set but I kept seeing such cute projects made using them and then I looked at my supplies and I didn't really have anything like them so I went ahead and got them.  I can't wait to play some more but this card came about using some card parts that I had after playing around with the stamp set but not really trying to design a card.  I had been playing around with coloring the dog different ways so I didn't want to waste any pieces because this pup is just too cute.

 
  I decided to use the sympathy sentiment because it's always a good idea to have a few on hand just in case.  Losing a dear pet is a hard thing as our family knows from experience.  We had to say goodbye to our 15 year old Josie in November and you truly do feel a hole in the family.  We have no pets at the moment and the house does feel different especially coming home.

  The card base is Whisper White thick then a layer of Crumb Cake embossed with the Corrugated embossing folder.  Back in the day when the crimper was all the rage (remember that blue and orange contraption??) I struggled every. single. time. with it.  I could never get any of my cardstock to crimp straight.  Every piece veered off on an angle.  This embossing folder pretty much makes that problem go away as long as you put the paper in straight!

  Next is a layer of Pineapple Punch embossed with white embossing powder with the bone and paw print stamp.  The dog house is stamped in Blueberry Bushel and black, fussy cut then and layered behind the sentiment.

  The sweet pup is stamped in Soft Suede and then colored in with the Crumb Cake Stampin' Blends.   After he was punched out I gave him a little Blueberry Bushel grosgrain ribbon bow for a collar.

  I have a few more cards designed with this sweetie and I look forward to sharing those in the coming days.

  Thanks for looking!  Did you stamp today?

Stamps: Happy Tails

Ink: Soft Suede, Blueberry Bushel, Versamark, black

Blends: Crumb Cake light & dark

Paper: Whisper White thick, Crumb Cake, Pineapple Punch, Whisper White

Accessories: Corrugated embossing folder, white embossing powder, Stitched Shapes framelits, Dog Builder punch, dimensionals, Blueberry Bushel 1/8" grosgrain ribbon

 

Masculine Wood Blocks - Stampin' Up! Itty Bitty Birthdays

I missed sharing a project the last 2 days as I've been working hard designing the projects for my next class and I didn't have any other cards to show.  The "cards to upload" folder was woefully empty.  It was a struggle designing for a bit as everything I tried out just was not right.  I got into a groove finally yesterday and designed the class projects as well as a few others that I liked a lot but just wouldn't be good for class.

  I was loving the Freshly Made Sketches challenge with all those little square elements.  I was trying to come up with a masculine birthday card for class and thought that a clean and simple card using small pieces of the Wood Textures DSP might be just right. 

  This design is a fantastic way to use up some little scraps of paper but probably not something you'd want to do with a group of 20+ in a class setting.  It was a bit fussy lining up the squares and I see room for improvement but I like how it turned out overall even if it isn't good for a class project.

  The card base is Early Espresso; it's been a hot minute since I used this color but it's perfect for a masculine card.  The next layer is Very Vanilla embossed with the Subtle embossing folder which I'm obsessed with lately.  It gives just the right amount of 'something' without being over the top.  I embossed the sentiment from Itty Bitty Birthdays in copper embossing powder.  With a quick change of sentiment it can be any type of card as well.

  Next for the focal square piece with another layer of Early Espresso then a Stitched Shape die cut Very Vanilla square which I layered all the bits of Wood Textures DSP.

  I wanted to add just a little something to the square panel so I stamped a leaf from Rooted in Nature and cut it out and layered it on the edge.  A bit of retired thick Very Vanilla twine is knotted around the stem.

  This was a fun sketch to play with and I may even have another card that I designed using it to share another day.  That one didn't make the class project cut either but I think it came out cute anyway.

  Have a great weekend!

  Thanks for looking!  Did you stamp today?

Stamps: Itty Bitty Birthdays, Rooted in Nature

Ink: Crumb Cake, Versamark

Paper: Early Espresso, Very Vanilla, Wood Textures DSP

Accessories: Subtle embossing folder, Stitched Shapes framelits, Nature's Roots framelits, dimensionals, copper embossing powder, thick Very Vanilla twine (retired)

All Those Flowers - Stampin' Up! All That You Are

  The longer days and a bit warmer temperatures have our family outside doing yardwork and enjoying the sunshine on our faces!  And of course thinking about spring flowers.  My daffodils are blooming and giving some much needed color to the yard.  We don't have any flowers as bright as the ones on today's card but we can dream!

  I don't make square cards very often and I'm thinking that this one was for a challenge a while back that I didn't post in time.  It's a nice size that still fits in a regular envelope.

  The black and white striped pattern is from the SAB paper Botanical Butterfly DSP and just has so many lovely black and white patterns along with a colored side that it makes it hard to choose sometimes!

  The flowers from All That You Are are embossed in gold onto water color paper and painted with inks and aquapainters.  I'm pretty sure the colors are Poppy Parade and Lovely Lipstick but don't make me swear to it...it's been a while since I made this card.

  The leaves are cut from watercolor paper as well and then just colored with Lucky Limeade ink and an aquapainter.

  All of those elements are popped up around the gold embossed sentiment panel.

  Thanks for looking!  Did you stamp today?

Stamps: All That You Are

Ink: Versamark, Lovely Lipstick, Poppy Parade, Lucky Limeade

Paper: Whisper White thick, Lovely Lipstick, Botanical Butterfly DSP, watercolor paper, Whisper White

Accessories: Frosted Bouquet framelits, gold embossing powder, dimensionals

Spring At Home - Stampin' Up! At Home With You

  I had some lovely inspiration from 2 different challenges to make today's card.  Spring time and pastels just seem to go together so I combined the theme of spring from Festive Friday and the inspiration photos from Hand Stamped Sentiments to make this sweet little spring theme.

  The door and all the porch accessories are fun to color in and make different with each new card.  I used Stampin' Blends and pulled all of my colors right from the color palette in the inspiration photos.

  The card base is So Saffron and then a smaller layer of the same embossed with the Pinewood Planks embossing folder.  To highlight the wood texture just a bit I lightly sponged some Whisper White craft ink across the card front.

  The images are all stamped in Basic Gray and then colored in.  The flower pots and wreath are all popped on dimensionals.  I had a little tiny linen thread bow in my card parts pile that I thought was just right to accent the wreath.

  I hope you're having some spring weather wherever you are this week!

  Thanks for looking!  Did you stamp today?

Stamps: At Home With You

Ink: Basic Gray, Whisper White craft

Blends: Crumb Cake light & dark, Pool Party light & dark, Smoky Slate light, Petal Pink light & dark, Flirty Flamingo light, Mint Macaron light & dark

Paper: So Saffron, Whisper White

Accessories: At Home framelits, dimensionals, linen thread, Pinewood Planks embossing folder

Bold Swirls - Stampin' Up! Swirly Bird - Fab Friday 159

 We made it to Friday people!  Give yourself a pat on the back and a reward of some stamping time so you can play along with the latest Fab Friday Challenge!  We have a great, basic sketch that can be used for so many cards!

  I had a lot of fun creating for this one because I had some great inspiration!  Some fabric again!  A dear friend gave me a birthday gift in the most gorgeous handmade fabric gift bag that just had to be made into a card!  Is it a gift or a curse to see stamping inspiration in so many places?

  So not the best photo but this is where my card colors came from.  I used the long neglected Swirly Bird stamp set which is still gorgeous and fun to stamp with.  The best part is this can be any kind of card with just a sentiment swap!

   Really nothing crazy on this card.  I just had fun with the colors and the embossed Tin Tile texture.  

  I hope you'll check out the rest of the Fab Friday Design Team and play along.  We love seeing all of your creations in our gallery!

  Thanks for looking!  Did you stamp today?

Stamps: Swirly Bird, Itty Bitty Greetings

Ink: Basic Gray, Poppy Parade, Flirty Flamingo

Paper: Smoky Slate, Basic Gray, Bermuda Bay, Granny Apple Green, Whisper White

Accessories: Tin Tile embossing folder, dimensionals

Tropical Thank You - Stampin' Up! Tropical Chic

I'm on a roll this week with challenges!  With an uptick in the weather and warmer temperatures I was inspired to make a card with a summery, tropical feel.  The current challenge at Global Design Project is a CASE the designer challenge so I pulled the colors from the sample to get busy with.

  The card base is Granny Apple Green, then a layer of Whisper White stamped with the various leaves from the Tropical Chic set in Granny Apple Green ink.  The smallest leaf is stamped off once for a lighter look.

  I inked and stamped various combinations of the flower using Lovely Lipstick and Mango Melody. I used a sponge dauber to add a bit of the Lovely Lipstick to the edges of a few of them.

 Once I had the flowers cut out I layered them over a strip of the SAB Lovely Lipstick foil paper and the sentiment stamped in black.  I had a little strip of the 1/8" grosgrain ribbon in Lovely Lipstick that  I added under the one flower.

  Who is longing for summer now?  Well maybe we should let spring have a bit of time first??

Thanks for looking!  Did you stamp today?

Stamps: Tropical Chic, Another Wonderful Year

Ink: Granny Apple Green, Lovely Lipstick, Mango Melody, Memento black

Paper: Granny Apple Green, Whisper White, Lovely Lipstick foil (SAB)

Accessories: Tropical Thinlets, 1/8" grosgrain ribbon, dimensionals