Celebrate in Pink

Can you believe it's the last day of July already???  Where did the month go?  My holidays are passing way too quickly!  August means I have to start on school work again to prepare for classes to start in September.  Let the Back-to-School dreams (nightmares!) begin!  Today I decided to try this week's challenge over at Sunday Stamps.  It is all about the pink!

I am not generally a big fan of girlie pink, but I AM happy with the way this card turned out.  I based my design on an old sketch challenge from CAS(E) this Sketch...

Birthday card featuring the masking technique and sentiment from And Many More (134276)

To create the different circles, I began by punching sticky notes with various sizes of circle punches ranging from 1-1/4" down to 1/2".  Then I stuck one at a time on my card stock and, using sponge daubers, sponged on Blushing Bride and then Strawberry Slush ink.  I didn't cover the entire area with the Strawberry Slush so that I got a cool shadow effect.  Once I finished all of the circles I ran the card stock through the Big Shot using the Decorative Dots TIEF to add some texture.  I matted it on Strawberry Slush card stock and adhered it to a Ver Vanilla card base.

The sentiment, from the And Many More set, is stamped in Strawberry Slush and then trimmed with the Banner punch.  I embellished it with a bit of Strawberry Slush thick Baker's Twine, a glimmer star and a Vintage Faceted button before adhering it to the card with dimensionals.

Inside view with another sentiment from the Any Many More set.

On the inside I sponged a few more circles, stamped the sentiment in Strawberry Slush and added a few more rhinestone.
The ONLY thing that is saving me from utter dispair over the end of my month of total freedom is the fact that August brings the Holiday Catty pre-order for demonstrators!!  I am so in love with just about everything in this new catalogue that I simply cannot wait to get my order in.  I'll be up at the crack of dawn tomorrow placing my order in the hope that it ships out by the weekend.  That means I'll have my goodies by next weekend...woohoo!  So many fun new products to play with!!

Bloom With Hope Meets Blendabilities

Yesterday I promised you a project using the Bloom With Hope hostess set and Blendabilities.  Here you go...

CAS Birthday card featuring the Bloom With Hope and Papillon Potpourri stamp sets.

Isn't that flower yummy??  I coloured it using the Calypso Coral and Smokey Slate Blenda colour sets.  both of those sets will be available for order starting Friday...be sure to add them to your wishlist.  They are stunning!  This flower reminds me of the beautiful poppies I have growing in my backyard in the spring.
I kept the design for this one really CAS, adding just the wee vellum butterfly and some rhinestones for embellishment.

The background is embossed using the Honeycomb TIEF and the whole thing is on a Basic Black card base.

On the inside I reversed the colour scheme a bit, leaving the flower in black and white and the butterly in Calypso Coral.  The sentiment is also from the Bloom With Hope set.

In case you missed it, I have posted a photo of the projects we'll be making at my Fabulous Flower Patch class coming up at the end of August.  Click HERE for more information.

Now yesterday I forgot to show this week's Weekly Deals!  There are some awesome projects on sale this week!

1/2" Circle Punch Price: $7.95   Sale: $5.96	Brights Designer Buttons Price: $10.95   Sale: $8.21	Clear Oval Accent Bigz Die Price: $26.95   Sale: $20.21	Cupcake Builder Punch Price: $22.95   Sale: $17.21
Delight In The Day Photobook Template - Digital Download Price: $21.95   Sale: $13.17	Gift Bow Bigz L Die Price: $40.95   Sale: $30.71	Little Book Of Coupons Designer Swatchbook Template - Digital Download Price: $13.95   Sale: $8.35	Pool Party Stampin' Emboss Powder Price: $6.25   Sale: $4.69

 
  Watercolor Wonder Designer Washi Tape  
Price: $6.50  
Sale: $4.88

Blooming Christmas

Well, it's about time I started Christmas cards, don't you think??  Last week I was playing with the Bloom With Hope hostess set, colouring it with both Blendabilities and watercolouring, just to see what different looks I could get with it.  I didn't set out to create a Christmas Card but it sort of morphed into one. 

Christmas card featuring the Bloom With Hope stamp set with sentiment from Many Merry Messages (retired).

Now it just so happens that this week's challenge over at Just Add Ink is all about Christmas in July...

...so I decided to enter this card.  We'll see what happens!

To create this look I stamped the images in black Staz On and then started with a watercolour wash in Crumb Cake all over the background of the watercolour paper.  I coloured the flower using an aquapainter and Cherry Cobbler and Daffodil Delight ink pads.  The leaves were done with Mossy Meadow ink and an aquapainter.  Once the images had dried I stamped over the whole thing using one of the spatter images from the Gorgeous Grunge stamp set and gold Metallic ink.  I matted the whole thing on a piece of Mossy Meadow card stock.

For the card base I used some of the new Kraft card stock and then stamped the leaf image repeatedly all over it using Crumb Cake ink.  I also stamped the same spatter image in metallic gold to give it some shimmer.  The sentiment is heat embossed in gold, die cut using the Chalk Talk framelits and adhered with dinmensionals.  I added a wee bit of Cherry Cobbler seam binding ribbon and an Antique Brad by way of embellishment.

On the inside I stamped the leaf image again, as well as the gold spatters and then added the sentiment, from the long-retired Many Merry Messages set, in Mossy Meadow ink.

Be sure to check back tomorrow to see this same flower image coloured with Blendabilities! 

Another Monday Man-card

I have to admit that I love making Man-cards.  I know many struggle with them, but I guess being the only female in my household has made it easier for me to design projects for the boys in my life.  Here is a retirement card I did recently using the new Traveller stamp set:

Maculine retirement card featuring the Traveller, Work of Art and Really Good Greetings stamp sets.

I started with a piece of Typeset specialty DSP which I mounted on a Basic Black mat and then adhered to a Lost Lagoon card base.  On some scrap Very Vanilla card stock I stamped one of the brush stroke images from the Work of Art stamp set three times in Lost Lagoon ink.  Then I stamped the globe, suitcase and camera images over top in black ink.  I punched each one with the 1-3/4" circle punch and then matted each one with a 2" black circle. 

The sentiment is stamped in black, cut into a pennant and embellished with some black twine from my stash as well as a silver button.  I adhered it to the card with dimensionals.

Inside view with sentiment from the And Many More stamp set.

On the inside I stamped the brush stroke image in Lost Lagoon and the sentiment from the Any Many More stamp set in black over top.  I thought it was the perfect sentiment for a retirement card!

A Quickie

I am just heading out the door with my family for an overnight getaway to Great Wolf Lodge in Niagara Falls but wanted to do a quick post to show you a fast and easy card...

Masculine birthday card featuring the Sassy Salutations stamp set

It doesn't get much easier than this one!  I started by laying down three strips of Washi tape.  The scalloped black pattern is from the Sweet Sadie pack, the Real Red diamond pattern is from the Beach House pack and the Bermuda Bay triangles is from the Everyday Adventrures Project Life Accessory Pack.  After applying the Washi tape I ran the card stock through the Big Shot with the Triangles TIEF and then adhered it to a Real Red mat before gluing it to a black card base.

The sentiment, from the Sassy Salutations set, is stamped in Bermuda Bay and trimmed into a pennant.  I added some Bermuda Bay baker's twine to a piece of Basic Black card stock and then adhered the sentiment strip with dimensionals.  I adhered the whole thing to the card using dimensionals as well.  I added some glimmer stars I had leftover from another project.

Inside view with images and sentiment from the Be The Star stamp set.

On the inside I stamped and die cut a star from the Be the Star stamp set and die cut it with the Stars Framelits.  I layered another glimmer star and then added the sentiment, also from the Be The Star set and matted in Bermuda Bay, to the centre.  Easy peasy and perfect for a young man celebrating a special day!

Endless Birthday Wishes Make-n-take

On Monday evening I did a card party for a fellow teacher and her family.  It was a fun girls' night where we did two projects and enjoyed being creative together.  Here is one of the projects we made:

Birthday card featuring the Endless Birthday Wishes Photopolymer stamp set and the Work of Art stamp set.

Now this is a CASE of a card I found on Pinterest by Chiaki Haverstick.  I kept most of the elements of her design but changed out the stamped images.  I love the combination of Hello Honey and Blackberry Bliss...such a rich duo! 

I also added a hint of gold by using the Gold Metallic Encore ink to stamp the confetti.  The DSP is from the Moonlight DSP stack and I used the Large Polka Dot TIEF for the backgound, leaving space at the bottom to stamp my sentiment.  The brushstroke image in the background is from the Work of Art stamp set and the cake and sentiments are from the Endless Birthday Wishes photopolymer set.  I added a bit of bling with rhinestones (coloured with the Daffodil Delight Blendabilities) as the flame on the candles.

On the inside I stamped the confetti in gold and the brushstroke in Hello Honey.  I stamped the sentiments in Blackberry Bliss.  This was a quick and easy card to put together and easily converted to a more masculine design by omitting the doily and rhinestones...gotta love versatility :)

Life's Adventure

Last week my new colours of Blendabilities arrived and among them was Melon Mambo.  I love that vibrant pink and couldn't wait to use it on a fun card.  I pulled out the new Life's Adventure hostess set and went to town...

Birthday card featuring the Life's Adventure hostess set.

Lots of vibrant colour and texture on this one!  My colour scheme was Melon Mambo, Daffodil Delight and Bermuda Bay.  I used the new Large Polka Dot and Zig Zag TIEFs on the background layers.  As I almost always do with stamps that feature both an image and a sentiment, I cut the sentiment off so I could easily use it separately from the image.  The best part is, because they are clearmount stamps, when I want both image and sentiment together I can just mount them together on a block.  Gotta love versatility!

I coloured the cake using Melon Mambo and Daffodil Delight Blenda's, with a little bit of the darkest Coastal Cabana marker for the plate (it's almost the same shade as Bermuda Bay!).

On the inside I stamped part of the cake image again and coloured it as on the front.  I used sentiments from the Something To Say set, which I thought we fun and perfect for the style of this card.

Now here are this week's Weekly Deals.  One of my favourite punches is one sale!  The Dotted Scallop Ribbon Border is one of my go-to tools...and it is a great price!  Remember that the sale prices are good until next Monday at Midnight, so be sure to order this week to take advantage of these great deals! 

Bitty Banners Big Shot Die Framelits Price: $18.95   Sale: $14.21	Calypso Coral Celebration Add-On Kit Price: $12.95   Sale: $9.71	Celebration Basics Kit Price: $18.95   Sale: $14.21	Crushed Curry 3/4" Chevron Ribbon Price: $12.50   Sale: $9.38
Curly Label Punch Price: $22.95   Sale: $17.21	Dotted Scallop Ribbon Border Punch Price: $20.95   Sale: $15.71	Pumpkin Pie 3/4" Chevron Ribbon Price: $12.50   Sale: $9.38	Summer Happiness Kit - Digital Download Price: $10.95   Sale: $6.57

Heroic Man-Card

Well it's Monday again...where did the weekend go?  I hope you enjoyed yours and had some time to stamp :)  Today I have a Man-card for you...perfect for the superman in your life...that I made with this week's challenge over at The Friday Mash-up in mind.  Here is the challenge:

And here is my project:

Birthday card featuring the Calling All Heroes photopolymer stamp set.

I knew I had a success on my hands when my DH came into my craft room, went right to this card and said "This is cool!  I really like this one."  That doesn't happen very often...actually almost never.  Anyhow, this one has the Manly "stamp" of approval (pardon the pun!).  The colours I used were Real Red, Tangelo Twist, Crushed Curry, Tempting Turquoise and Gumball Green, in addition to Basic Black, of course.

To get the 3D effect on the cityscape, I first stamped the buildings directly on the Gumball Green background using Basic Black ink.  Then, on a scrap of Whisper White, I stamped it again using Versamark and heat embossed it in black.  I fussy-cut it out and then adhered it to the original image with dimensionals, slightly off-setting it to allow the  other image to show behind it.

On the inside of the card I stamped the word "Super" using the letters from the Calling All Heroes set and "Hope it's" from the Endless Birthday Wishes set.

I love this fun set...so many possibilities...and not only for Man-cards...I know plenty of Superwomen who would love this set!  This one is available only while supplies last, so be sure to order before it's too late!

Calling All Heroes 138002  $31.95

Building Blocks for The Twist

So I think I am likely the last person on the planet to try making a building block card, but I finally took the plunge!  This week's challenge over at The Technique Twist is all about the building block card and, being the dutiful Design Team Member that I am, I not only learned how to make one of these funky cards, I also added my own little twist!  Check it out:

Building Block card featuring the Something For Baby, Good Greetings and Petite Pairs stamp sets.

Now I started out by reading Laura Lipe's wonderful tutorial over on Splitcoast Stampers.  Once I figured out how the measurements worked it was easy to add an extra inch and a quarter to the shorter dimension to give me enough space to add the extra block.  I really wanted enough room for the word SWEET, so the extra block was essential, thus my finished card measures 3-1/2"x 6-3/4" when closed.  Because of the odd size I had to make an envelope to fit it, which took less than a minute with my Envelope Punch Board.

On the front of my card I used some Gold Soiree Specialty DSP for the background.  I love that it doesn't scream baby.  I also used half a Tea Lace Doily, some Pool Party Baker's Twine, some little bitty glimmer hearts, punched with the Owl Builder punch, and some pearls I coloured with my Blendabilities.  The little onesie is from the new Something for Baby stamp set, is stamped in Calypso Coral, and is die cut using the Babies First framelits.  I wanted to girlie it up so I added some (retired) ruffled stretch ribbon in Crisp Cantaloupe around the bottom to look like a skirt. 

I also added a little glimmer flower, an In-colour sequin and a pearl as the little belt buckle.  I "hung" the whole thing from a (retired) Cute Clips hanger and adhered it to my card using a double layer of dimensionals (necessary because of all those ruffles).  The sentiment is from an upcoming Hostess promotion called Good Greetings...I LOVE this set!  The handwritten font is so trendy and fun!

On the inside, I used more of the same Gold Soiree paper on my blocks, matting each piece with Pool Party card stock.  I die cut the letters using the Little Letters Thinlits from Pool Party card stock.

The sentiments, from the Petite Pairs stamp set, are stamped in Pool Party, punched with the 1" circle and then layered on a 1-1/4" scalloped circle in Pool Party.

I added  a few more coloured pearls to highlight the sentiments...and because I love colouring them with my Blenda's ;)

So there you have it, my very first (but certainly not my last) building block card!  Whaddya think?  Wanna try one yourself?  Go ahead...it's the weekend...be adventurous!  Then be sure to link up over at The Technique Twist so we can all see your brilliance!