SCS Sketch Challenge #191

Last night I stamped a bunch of birthday cards in preparation for our big family celebration of September birthdays tomorrow. I used the Splitcoaststampers Sketch Challenge #191 for this card for my nephew. He's turning 12 and I know he doesn't care about the card, but I tried to come up with something that would be a little appealing to him...and the Tangerine Tango happened to match the gift card inside perfectly!

Supplies: Classic Backgrounds stamp set, It's Your Birthday stamp set, Pacific Point ink & cardstock, Kiwi Kiss ink & cardstock, Tangerine Tango ink & cardstock, Whisper White cardstock, Small & Large Star Punches, Crafters' Tool Kit.

[The finished card measures 5-1/2" x 3-1/2".]

Celebrate Butterfly Card

Last week, while looking for inspiration for my card class, I came across a card made by Becky Carafa. It was clean and simple, and just my style. I love her work! I CASEd this card from her, but changed the colors and used DSP instead of stamping the background.

We made this card in my All Occasions class here in Champaign and will do it again for the class on September 9th in Springfield (email me to sign up now if you can come!). See my Calendar of Events for details.

Supplies: Flight of the Butterfly, Fundamental Phrases, Junior Varisty DSP, Bashful Blue cardstock, Rose Red ink & cardstock, So Saffron ink & cardstock, silver brads, Crafters' Tool Kit

Happy Day Scrapbook Page

I put this 8-1/2" x 8-1/2" scrapbook page together for Jay & Jilyan's party on Wednesday (thanks again for hosting, ladies!). These pictures of Claire are from Tuesday afternoon while we were waiting for Thomas to get home from his first day at pre-school! (Watch for that scrapbook page coming soon!) I started with a 6"x6" page (the Regal Rose square in the upper left corner) and then added it on to the 8-1/2" x 8-1/2" (which we now have a new chipboard album to accommodate!)

I just love the colors of the Georgia Peach DSP. I started with the strip of squares and added squares of color to the 8-1/2" x 8-1/2" page. A couple of them are squares of Georgia Peach DSP and a couple of them were stamped using the "Flight of the Butterfly" stamp set. One note: I used my marker to color only part of the greeting "hope your day is as happy as happy gets" and shortened it to "as happy as happy gets" which worked out better size-wise for my page and made more sense on the scrapbook page. I used the Love & Happiness rub-ons (from Sale-a-bration 2008) on the photo.

Supplies: Flight of the Butterfly stamp set, Georgia Peach DSP, Regal Rose ink/marker/cardstock, Old Olive ink & cardstock, So Saffron ink & cardstock, Regal Rose 5/8" Grosgrain Ribbon, Love & Happiness Rub-ons

KWerner's Color Challenge #20

Another great Color Challenge from Kristina Werner. This week's colors: Chocolate Chip, Regal Rose, Pink Pirouette, Certainly Celery, and Very Vanilla. The chocolate and pinks reminded me of the new Sweet Always DSP. I pulled out a piece from that series and some from the Chocolate Chip and Certainly Celery Patterns DSP.

Supplies: Always stamp set, Sweet Always DSP, Chocolate Chip & Certainly Celery Patterns DSP, Chocolate Chip ink/cardstock, Regal Rose marker/ink/cardstock, Certainly Celery marker, Very Vanilla cardstock, 1-3/8" & 1-1/4" Circle Punches, Build-a-brad (plastic disc only)

Diorama/Shadow Box Card

I hope you're not sick of the owl yet, because here's another card using my favorite feathered friend. I have seen many versions of this card and certainly did not come up with this on my own. I've seen it called both a "diorama card" and a "shadow box card" -- so take your pick of names. The best part is that it folds flat to mail it a regular envelope!

Here's a view from the top when the card is open:

Supplies: Owl Together Now, Classic Backgrounds (small stars stamp), Dots are Hot (large circle/moon), So Saffron Classic & Craft ink pads, So Saffron cardstock, Night of Navy cardstock, Whisper White cardstock, Earth Elements markers, Small Star Punch, Coluzzle, Paper Cutter with scoring blade

Instructions:

1. Start with (2) 4-1/4" x 5-1/2" pieces of cardstock. (I used Whisper White for the base and Night of Navy for the top piece.) Score each piece of cardstock at 1/2" and 1" from both ends.
2. Use the Coluzzle to cut a circle in the center of the top piece of cardstock. I centered the template and then cut the fourth circle in. (one track in from the 1" score line.)
3. Line up the Top piece over the base of the card and stamp your focal image. (I stamped the large circle from "Dots Are Hot" as my moon, then moved the top piece and stamped the owl in Basic Black.
4. Fold on all score lines to create the open shape of the top and base pieces of cardstock. (See photo below.) Put sticky strip on the edges of the base cardstock and adhere the two pieces together. (I think it's easier to actually adhere them together while the cardstock is flat, but fold on the score lines first so that it's easier to fold/open the card after you have adhered it together.)
5. Add additional embellishments as desired to the front of the of the card.

Best Yet Birthday Card

I made this card for my friend Missy, who celebrated her 30th birthday last week. I choose the sentiment "The Best is Yet to Come" from the new Level 1 Hostess set "Best Yet". [This WILL be a great year, Missy!]

I couldn't keep away from that frog! He's just so cute! (He comes from the "Flowers for All Seasons" stamp set on page 87.) Note: This is a 3"x5" notecard from the Small Notecards & Envelopes set -- and it is mailable with are regular first class stamp.

Red, White, & Blue Birthday Card

In June, I way over-cut cardstock for a workshop make and take . The card was a kind of 4th of July card using Enjoy Every Moment and the Classic Stars wheel. In an effort to use what I already had cut, I used the same pieces and created a new card to swap at our last demonstrator meeting. I broke out my new "Starring You" stamp set that was given as one of the award stamp sets at Convention. (As a side note, this stamp set has great Simply Sent Card Elements kit that coordinates with it!) Anyway, here's my card -- a bit of a patriotic birthday card. You could easily change the colors and get an entirely different look.

Supplies: Starring You stamp set, Classic Stars Jumbo Wheel, Whisper White craft ink & cardstock, Real Red ink & cardstock, Brilliant Blue ink & cardstock, Real Red Striped Grosgrain Ribbon, Scallop Circle Punch, 1" Circle Punch

Soft Silhouette Card

I just got the Pocket Silhouettes stamp set this week. (It's one of the stamp sets on sale for 15% off this month and next month.) While working on a project for my open house, I came up with this quick card.

Supplies: Pocket Silhouettes stamp set, Junior Varsity DSP, So Saffron cardstock, Bashful Blue marker & cardstock, Old Olive marker, Chocolate Chip marker, Curly Label Punch

[The finished card measures 3-1/2" x 4-1/4".]

Poppin' Pastels Nature Card

We made this card in Stamp Club this month. We did the Poppin' Pastels technique, kind of a back-to-basics technique that I think gets forgotten about a lot. It's so easy and perfect for the Inspired by Nature stamp set. (The picture looks a little washed out...sorry about that!)

Supplies: Inspired by Nature, Versamark Ink Pad, Stampin' Pastels, More Mustard cardstock, Very Vanilla cardstock, Close to Close ink pad

For the flowers, we stamped in Versamark ink on Very Vanilla cardstock. Then we used Q-tips or sponge daubers to apply the Stampin' Pastels chalk. It sticks right to the ink! We were able to color each part of the flower a different color. We also used the Versamark pad to stamp the grass on the More Mustard cardstock base. It's more subtle than if we had stamped the grass in More Mustard ink.

KWerner's Color Challenge #19

It's been a long night, but I so desperately wanted to play with my new stuff and do Kristina Werner's Color Challenge, so here I am, way past bedtime to share another card with you. I started out using some new stamps, but ended up using the owl again (which IS a new stamp set, but I've had it for months). I just thought he worked well with the inspiration colors (Basic Black, Basic Gray, Whisper White, and Color Choice). My "choose your own color" is Brocade Blue. There was a little bit in the Prestwick paper, so I brought it in to the stamped image with the balloon. I guess I cheated, because I also used just an itsy bitsy bit of Pumpkin Pie for his nose and feet.

Supplies: Owl Together Now, Basic Gray ink pad & cardstock, Basic Black ink pad & cardstock, Whisper White cardstock, Prestwick DSP, Brocade Blue ink pad, Pumpkin Pie ink pad, Blender Pen, Stampin' Dimensionals

Hoot-Hoot Hooray 3"x3" card

I really like this Owl Together Now stamp set. I don't think I would have bought it on my own, so I'm so glad I got it as a free set on the Bermuda cruise. Here is one of the make and take projects Stampin' Up! had for us on the cruise.


It's kind of hard to tell in the photo, but the piece on the left is the dressed up envelope for the 3"x3" card.

Supplies: Owl Together Now stamp set, Windsor Knot DSP, Old Olive cardstock (3" x 6"), Watercolor Paper (2-3/4" x 2-3/4"), Jet Black Staz-On ink pad, Chocolate Chip marker, Old Olive marker, Bashful Blue marker, Pumpkin Pie marker, Close to Cocoa marker, Creamy Caramel marker, Aquapainter, 5/8" Chocolate Grosgrain ribbon, Very Vanilla mini envelopes

Accordion Fold Card

I'm not sure what to call this card...it kind of has an accordion fold, so I'll go with that. I was trying to remake a card I made with the Just Like You stamp set, which is now retired. I didn't want to forget the layout before I sent that other card off, so I used the new Bella Rose paper and Flight of the Butterfly stamp set to come up with a new version. I'm not totally satisfied with this and I still like the original better. I guess I'll have to try this again with other paper and stamps when my new catalog order comes tomorrow.

The card base (Whisper White cardstock on this card) is 4-1/4" x 10-1/2". I scored at 5-1/2" and 8-1/2". (Basically, I folded the card in half and then folded the front flap back half way.)

The back inside of the card is covered with a 4" x 5-1/4" piece of the Bella Rose paper. I stamped the small butterfly and greeting from the Flight of the Butterfly stamp set in Pink Pirouette and Riding Hood Red on Whisper White cardstock (3-3/4" x 1-1/2") . I adhered that to Pink Pirouette cardstock (4" x 1-3/4") and then on to the flap of the card. To pick up the red, I added a torn strip of Riding Hood Red cardstock to the back of the flap.

Here's a picture of then card open. I would write the message on the white cardstock that does not show when the card is closed.

Supplies: Flight of the Butterfly stamp set, Bella Rose paper, Whisper White cardstock, Pink Pirouette ink & cardstock, Riding Hood Red ink & cardstock

Frog & Flowers Card

Here's another card using the Flowers for All Seasons stamp set that I got at Convention. I promised a card with this little frog...isn't he cute!?


The Prints paper is retired, but there is a series with brand new Patterns in the new catalog that replaces it. I am so anxious to get my hands on some NEW paper! My order comes Wednesday!

Supplies: Flowers for All Seasons, Wow Flowers (greeting), Whisper White cardstock, So Saffron Prints paper & marker, Certainly Celery marker & cardstock, Bashful Blue marker & cardstock, Going Gray marker, Aquapainter, white grosgrain ribbon, 2-way glue pen, Dazzling Diamonds glitter, 1-3/8" Square Punch, Stampin' Dimensionals

Inspired by Nature Thank You Card

One of my favorite new stamp sets is Inspired by Nature (the large silhouettes of grass & flowers). I was thrilled to find this set in my convention bag on check-in day! Here's a quick card I made using the markers to color directly on the rubber. I used Always Artichoke, More Mustard, and Close to Cocoa markers. Then I took my sponge dauber and sponged the area between the Close to Cocoa and More Mustard to mute the hard marker line. I also used it to add some Really Rust ink along the bottom edges of the flower.

Supplies: Inspired by Nature, Wonderful Words, Always Artichoke marker & cardstock, More Mustard marker, Really Rust ink & cardstock, Close to Cocoa marker & ink pad, Whisper White cardstock, Linen Thread, sponge dauber

Eastern Blooms "hi" Card

I feel like I've been slacking on some things lately...like all of these last-minute blog posts. I've been napping most afternoons while the kids nap and falling asleep watching the Olympics on the couch at night. It started in Salt Lake City and I feel like I just can't catch up. I'm wiped out! Only 7 weeks to go until baby arrives. I guess this is just my body's way of getting me ready for the sleep deprivation that comes with caring for a newborn.

I was determined to post something new tonight, so here you go:

I based this card off off KWerner's Sketch Challenge. I struggled with finding the right card size to pull this off and ended up with an odd size: 3-1/2" x 7". I messed around with the colors for awhile, but am ultimately satisfied with the final result.

Supplies: Eastern Blooms stamp set, Loads of Letters chipboard, Pacific Point ink & cardstock, Riding Hood Red cardstock, Baja Breeze ink & cardstock, Button Bouquet, Twill Tape

Happy Blog-o-versary to Tara!

One of my downline, Tara, is celebrating her "blog-o-versary" today! She has been blogging for one year. To be honest, it was Tara's blog that inspired me to get my own blog going. Tara is a very talented stamper and always has fantastic projects to share. Show Tara some love and click over to check out her blog. She's even giving away some blog candy for her blog-0-versary! In honor of her special day, I made this card:

Supplies: Starring You stamp set, Classic Stars jumbo wheel, Elegant Eggplant marker & cardstock, Taken with Teal marker & cardstock, Kiwi Kiss ink pad & cardstock, Scallop Circle Punch, 1-3/8" Circle Punch, Stapler

[This card measures 3" x 5-1/2".]

A Flower for Fall Card

I came home from Convention with SEVEN new stamp sets!! Woo hoo! I love new stamps! One of them, A Flower for All Seasons, I received for having over $20K in sales last year. The set has four stamps, each featuring a different flower typical for the season. My favorite is the daisies with the frog. I'll have to work on a card with that one next. Here's a card using the "fall" flower.

We now have a 1-3/4" Circle Punch, but I don't have it (yet!) so I used the Round Tab Punch and combined two punched pieces to create a circle behind the Scallop Circle. The circle it creates is a little bigger than 1-3/4". I think it's more like 2". I actually like this better because it shows more color...more of a border behind the scallop circle.

The greeting stamp set, Heard from the Heart, is on sale for 15% off until the end of September! Click here for more information about the sale.

Supplies: A Flower for All Seasons, Heard from the Heart, Bella Rose DSP, Really Rust ink (used with blender pen) & cardstock, Chocolate Chip marker/ink & cardstock, Old Olive marker, Summer Sun marker, Real Red marker, Whisper White cardstock, 3/4" Circle Punch, 1-3/8" Circle Punch, Scallop Circle Punch, Round Tab Punch, 2-way Glue, Dazzling Diamonds glitter

Summer Vacation Mini Lunch Box Album

Today is the very last day to order from the Spring/Summer 2008 Collection, so I had to post just one last project using a retiring stamp set. I used the Ronald McDonald House Charities stamp set, Just Like You, to stamp the cover of this mini lunch box album.

I bought the mini lunch box at Target (in the Dollar Spot) a couple years ago. (Edited, 8-11-08: I hear that similar boxes are now on sale/clearance in the Target Dollar Spot, so check it out!) It had candy inside, so the outside had candy logos everywhere. (I think this one was originally Smarties.) The 5/8" Red Grosgrain Ribbon fit perfectly around the middle of the lunch box to over up the logo there. (I used sticky strip to adhere it in place.) I covered the front and back with cardstock, adhered with SNAIL adhesive. Inside the lunch box, is accordion-folded cardstock attached to the bottom of the box with a piece of sticky strip.


The pictures are from our summer vacation to St. Louis last year...exactly one year ago this week. It was our first real vacation with the kids and we spoiled them silly with attention and fun things to do. They didn't want to come home! I wish we had time to go again this year, but unfortunately, my hubby is running out of vacation days to use up. He's saving a few for when the baby comes! Maybe next summer...

You're a Hoot Swap Card

I made this card with the new Owl Together Now stamp set for a group swap. I wanted to incorporate a new In Color, so I used the Kiwi Kiss pattern from the Bella Rose paper and dyed some white grosgrain using the Kiwi Kiss reinker and a little bit of water in a small dish.

Supplies: Owl Together Now, Bella Rose paper, Chocolate Chip marker/ink/cardstock, Creamy Caramel marker/cardstock, Whisper White cardstock/Craft ink pad, Basic Black ink pad, Pumpkin Pie marker, Kiwi Kiss reinker, Blender Pen, white grosgrain ribbon, stapler

Eastern Blooms Make & Take

As this post is going live, I am at the ImPeckable Stampers group meeting, led by my fabulous upline Kim. I really enjoy designing the make and takes for these meetings. Kim and I collaborated on this month's project because we wanted to incorporate the Sizzix Big Shot (which Stampin' Up! is releasing this fall with exclusive dies!!) and I haven't gotten it yet. (I'm waiting to pre-order it on Monday and get brand new hostess sets when the new catalog is released!)

We used the Top Note die, an exclusive Stampin' Up! die, for this card. And the stamp set, Eastern Blooms, will be 15% off starting Monday, August 11 until the end of September. You may see this card again if you attend a stamping event with me between now and then, so act surprised! (wink!)

Supplies: Eastern Blooms stamp set, Inspired by Nature (greeting), Pacific Point ink pad & cardstock, Kiwi Kiss ink pad & cardstock, Chocolate Chip marker, Baja Breeze cardstock, Blender Pen, Whisper White cardstock, Big Shot & Top Note Die, Trio Flower Punch, Silver Brads, 1/16" Hole Punch, Stampin' Dimensionals

KWerner Color Challenge #18

This week's KWernerDesign.com Color Challenge was, well, challenging. There was a lot of white in the inspiration image, but since Kristina didn't include it as one of the colors to use, I tried by best to use no white. The inspiration challenge colors were Basic Black, Pumpkin Pie, Rose Red, and either Summer Sun OR Green Galore. I didn't like the first card I made (the second one posted here), so I gave it another go.

Supplies (card above): Perfect Day Rub-Ons, Rose Red cardstock, Pumpkin Pie cardstock, Kiwi Kiss cardstock (I substituted this for the Summer Sun/Green Galore because I thought it was a nice in-between color), Basic Black ink & grosgrain ribbon, ticket corner punch, 5-Petal Flower Punch, Stampin' Dimensionals

Supplies (card above): Eastern Blooms stamp set, Love & Happiness Rub-ons, Rose Red ink & cardstock, Pumpkin Pie ink & cardstock, Summer Sun ink & cardstock, Scallop Edge Punch, Black gingham ribbon. [Card is 3" x 6".]

Convention Make & Take #3

Here is another make and take project from Convention using the Flight of the Butterfly stamp set. My favorite part of this scrapbook page is the size: 8-1/2" x 8-1/2". There is a new chipboard album in the catalog this size!! I've been wanting another option for scrapbooking, so I'm thrilled to have an album like this that will be so easy to decorate and personalize to suit the album theme.

Sorry I didn't get a chance to put a picture on it yet. New products on this page include: Scallop Edge Punch, Flower Fusion Too (Felt Flowers in Baja Breeze, Pink Pirouette, and Chocolate Chip), Button Bouquet, Rose Red grosgrain (a new color for this ribbon size), and Loads of Letters chipboard (sponged with White Craft ink for this project).

Convention Make & Take #2

Here's another make and take from Convention, using the new Flight of the Butterfly stamp set.

I know, you're thinking "where's the butterfly?", right? It's a two-step stamp set with solid wings and then several designs that you can stamp over it. We used the one with little flowers to stamp on the bottom circle (both cut with the Coluzzle). It's hard to see the Scallop Edge Punch at the bottom of the card...and the other flowers stamped in a row of three (right above my watermark). The card base is Baja Breeze. I wasn't sure about the In Colors at first, but as I suspected, the more I play with them and use them, the more I like them. Also used on this card: new ribbon (double-stitched Chocolate available in a roll!), Vanilla Hodge Podge Hardware (the brad) which matches the Silver from the Occasions Mini Catalog, and new chipboard (Loads of Letters).

Convention Make & Take #1

I'm back!! Convention was fabulous!! I'm still catching up from being gone and there is just way too much to tell you about my trip. Lots of exciting news, fun project ideas -- oh, and the new catalog!!!!! It's fantastic! The new stamp sets, paper, ribbon, accessories...I love it all! I'm too tired to get into lots of detail right now, but I'll try to get bits and pieces in throughout my upcoming posts.

Here is a photo of one of our make and take projects -- a bookmark!


It's so cute! I love how it utilizes so much of our new product: The flower, stamped in Tangerine Tango, is from the Eastern Blooms stamp set, which is one of 9 stamp sets that will be 15% off starting August 11! (Stay tuned for details about that sale!). The Patterns Paper replaces the Prints paper with different patterns and is available in 14 different colors. This is the Old Olive one. The scallop chipboard frame is inked in Old Olive Craft ink. It's a bit larger than the new Scallop Square Punch. Of course, the beautiful new ribbon! This striped ribbon (Pacific Point) is available in all six of the new In Colors. So pretty! The finishing touch is our new silver designer brads (both sizes of the Filigree version are shown here in the center of the flower and at the end of the ribbon).

The book in the photo is my very favorite baby name book, The Baby Name Wizard. I meant to bring it with me to Salt Lake City, but I forgot. We need to start brainstorming baby names because it's just a two short months, baby #3 will be making his/her grand entrance into the world! It's hard to believe it's coming so fast!

Speaking of coming fast...only 6 more days until the new catalog is released!! This is your last chance to order retiring stamp sets and accessories, so be sure to send me your order ASAP if there is still stuff on your wish list!

Chocolate Nugget Tins

As part of the mini-survival kit/small gifts I gave my downline at Convention, I included this little tin with Hershey Nuggets. The tin is an empty Build-a-Brad container and perfectly fits 6 nuggets -- or 12 if you wanted to add a second layer. I wrapped each nugget with a 1" x 3" piece of Bella Rose paper. They almost look too pretty to eat! Almost! (wink!)


Supplies: Build-a-brad tin (empty), Bella Rose DSP, White Taffeta Ribbon, Dreams Du Jour stamp set, All Holidays stamp set, Riding Hood Red ink & cardstock, Pink Pirouette cardstock, Whisper White cardstock, 1-1/4" & 1-3/8" Circle Punches, Scallop Circle Punch, 1/8" Hole Punch

Today is the last day of Convention! I'll be traveling home tomorrow and can't wait to share new stuff with you! Stay tuned for my next post on Monday!

Christmas Card Candy

One of my favorite things about any Stampin' Up! demonstrator event is swapping! (Making a bunch of the same card or project and then trading with different people so you end up with a variety of samples using different stamp sets and techniques.)

This year, I managed to finish both card fronts and some 3-D items. For my 3-D swaps, I brought Christmas Card Candy.

It's called "Card Candy" because it is packaged up in a cello bag just like candy. Each package includes four stamped embellishments mounted with a pop-up glue dot on a piece of wax paper. The embellishments can be taken off the wax paper and used on a card, scrapbook page, or as a tag for a gift. Here's a couple quick cards that I made using the Christmas Card Candy. (One is 3" x 5" and the other is 3" x 3".)

Supplies: Deer Friend stamp set, Short Order Alphabet, Kraft & Whisper White cardstock, Tangerine Tango ink & cardstock, Pacific Point ink & cardstock, Riding Hood Red ink & cardstock, Kiwi Kiss ink & cardstock, 1-1-4/" & 1-3/8" Circle Punches, Scallop Circle Punch, Wax Paper, Pop-Up Glue Dots, Stapler, Write Me a Memory Font CD I; Cards also use Bella Rose DSP & White Grosgrain ribbon