For a Friend

Today's card is the third in my One-Sheet-Wonder collection.  Just a reminder that the date for this class has changed from Sunday, January 15th to Friday, January 20th...if you haven't already done so please register by Monday, January 16th so I can be sure to have enough supplies on hand.  Now...on to the card!  Check it out:

One-Sheet-Wonder card #3 using a the Fresh Vintage SAB set and sentiment from the Occasions Alphabet set

Once again, I'm not going to tell you too much about how I put this together because I'll be teaching it in my class, but you can likely figure it out!  The DSP and brad are both Sale-a-bration items.  I used crumb cake seam binding ribbon for the bow.  The sentiment is stamped in poppy parade and is from the Occasions Alphabet set.
That's it for now...I'll be back tomorrow with another OSW card and another I made for a friend's birthday...till then, happy stamping!

Sunflowers for a colleague and MU11

Last week I was asked to create a retirement card for a colleague.  She is leaving teaching to go on to bigger (and better!) things...can't say I'm not envious!!  Anyhow, she loves sunflowers and I was asked to do something with them for her card.  I SOOOOO wish I could order the one of the new background stamps from the new catty in time...when you see the new catty you'll know which one I'm talking about!  But since I can't order it until July 1st and the lady's retirement party is June 28th, I had to improvise.  I got out my Build-A-Blossom stamp set and punch and went to town.  Conveniently, sunflowers are also one of my favourite things about summer which means this card also works for this week's Friday Mash-up challenge, which is to create a summer-themed project with polka dots.  So...here is my card:

Sunflower card for a colleague and for MU11 using the Build-A-Blossom stamp set with sentiment from the Word Play set.

Inside of card using Love and Care and Occasional Quotes hostess sets.

 So this card is BIG...it had to be to allow enough room for everyone on our staff of 60 to sign it.  I also made it so that the inside opens up to reveal a full 8 1/2" x 11" area for signatures.  The sunflowers on the front were made by stamping the solid petal image in more mustard ink on daffodil delight cardstock.  I then stamped the shaded petal over top using peach parfait ink.  The result are petals with lots of depth without the extra effort of sponging each individual one.  I punch each petal out using the build-a-blossom punch and then textured them using my stylus and the foam from my mat pack.  It makes them curl a little and gives them dimension that makes them look almost real.  The centres of the flowers are punched from chocolate chip cardstock, sponged and then covered with Crystal Effects and clear micro beads (retired), again to give them texture and depth.  The leaves are also made using the Build-A-Blossom set but this time I stamped the largest solid petal image in wild wasabi ink on cardstock of the same colour.  I then stamped the shaded petal of the same size over top in garden green ink.  To make them look like leaves, rather than petals, I just turned them around so the narrow end was showing.  I again textured them using my stylus and mat pack.  The rest of the card is pretty simple and straightforward.  It had to be with those big flowers on the front!  I really hope my colleague likes this card...it took me quite a while to make!!

A Bridal Card for PPA93

Ok...I went a little over-the-top for with my card for this weeks Pals Paper Arts Challenge!  I just couldn't resist!  Check out this inspiration photo:

Is that not GORGEOUS?!?  I love the soft, muted colours and the lace, so...here is my way-out-of-my-comfort-zone card:

Wedding card for PPA 93 using the Occasional Quotes hostess level 3 set and a whole lotta petals from my build-a-blossom punch (not to mention a pearl or two!)

Close up of the flower...this took a while to make!!

The leaves are ornament punches in sahara sand and then sponged with always artichoke

So...whaddaya think?  Over the top, right?  I just couldn't resist going above and beyond with this beautiful inspiration photo.  I drew my colours from the photo:  sahara sand, blushing bride and always artichoke (and whisper white, of course!)  Here is how I put this together...I'm sure it will be faster to explain than to make!

Starting with a 4 5/8" square piece of Bride specialty paper (retired), I sponged the edges in blushing bride ink and then lightly in sahara sand.  I layered that on a 4 3/4" square piece of blushing bride cardstock and then adhered both pieces to a 5" square card base in textured sahara sand cardstock.  Setting that aside, I turned to making the flower.  Using my build-a-blosom punch, I punched several of the largest petal and the smaller, same-shaped petal from whisper white cardstock.  I then ran them all through my crimper several times and crumpled them until they started to separate.  I carefully pulled them apart, creating felted-paper petals.  I then sponged each petal lightly with sahara sand and blushing bride inks.  Using one of the big designer buttons in river rock (the closest I had to sahara sand), I began gluing the petals to the backside of the button, beginning with the smaller-sized ones and then moving to the larger ones.  Once I had all my petals glued on, I crumpled the flower in my hand to give it more shape and dimenion.  I then punched  several ornaments in sahara sand, distressed and pulled them apart as I did  my petals, and sponged them lightly with always artichoke ink.  I shaped them into petals and glued them to my flower using Tombow liquid glue.  I then cut several short lengths of Victoria lace trim, looped them and glued them to the back of my flower using glue dots.  The final touch was the pearls...lots of 'em...stuck to the button so that it was completely covered.  I also layered some underneath the button to give the centre of the flower a more 3-D effect.  Some of them are adhered with Crystal Effects to ensure they don't fall off!  I adhered the flower to my card using Tombow liquid glue.  I stamped the sentiment from the Occasional Quotes set in Versamark and then heat embossed it using gold glory (retired) embossing powder. I punched it out using my decorative label punch and then layered it on a second decorative label in blushing bride.  I trimmed the top portion off and then adhered it to my card.

I don't know if I will actually ever give this to someone because I don't think it would fit in an envelope...but I sure had fun making it!

Another Stamp-A-Stack Preview

As promised, and to help promote my upcoming Spring Stamp-A-Stack, today's post is the second of five designs we'll be creating on April 30th.  All the details about this fabulous event are posted on my Upcoming Events page (see the tab at the top of this page).
I designed this card as a wedding card (we are, after all heading into wedding season!), but it could easily be turned into an anniversary or even birthday card.  You'll be able to customize your cards to suit your spring family calendar, so email to reserve your spot today as seating is limited!  Now for the card...

SAS design #2 - Black and White Wedding

Inside of card...just as pretty as the outside!

You like?  I hope so!  I can't wait to show the next card tomorrow  See you then!!

Colour Coach Combo...Not too sure About This One!

When Stampin' Up! Came out with the new colour coach last summer I was thrilled.  It is a great tool for help creating a colour palette for projects and I use it frequently.  A couple of days ago I sat down to stamp,  determined to create a card using both my Framed Tulips embossing folder and the Silhouette Sentiments level one hostess set.  The former because I have had it for over a month and hadn't used it (gasp!) and the latter because I have often heard hostesses tell me they like the images in the Silhouette Sentiments set but think they are too small to make cards with.  So, as I often do, I pulled out my colour coach and flipped to the perfect plum page.  One of the combos there is perfect plum, marina mist and rose red.  I wasn't sure about this combination at the time, but thought I'd give it a go.  I have to say that I'm still not sure about it, but figured I'd post the card and let you all decide for yourselves.  See what you think...

Card colour palette from the Colour Coach, stamp sets used Silhouette Sentiments (Lvl. 1 Hostess) and You're a Gem

Inside of card.  Sentiments from Occasional Quotes (Lvl. 3 Hostess) set.

This card came together quite easily.  I started by embossing my cardfront with the framed tulips embossing folder.  So easy and quick with the Big Shot!  I then stamped the two floral image, one in marina mist and one in perfect plum, three times each on a piece of scrap whisper white cardstock.  I punched out the flowers using my 1 1/4" square punch and sponged the edges in marina mist.  I then punched three 1 3/8" squares in perfect plum and three scallop squares in marina mist.  I layered the stamped squares on the plum and marina mist ones and adhered them.  I then wrapped a piece of rose red seam binding ribbon around the cardfront, securing it with glue dots.  I gathered the ribbon at one side of the card using a bit of linen thread.   I tied another piece of the same ribbon in a bow, adding a rose red glimmer brad at the centre.  I adhered the bow to the card with glue dots, covering the spot where I had gathered the strip of ribbon with the thread.  The result looks like the ribbon is all one piece.  I then arranged the stamped and matted squares, adhering the outside ones with SNAIL and the centre one with dimensionals.  The sentiment, from the You're A Gem set, was stamped on a scrap of whisper white cardstock in perfect plum, punched out with my word window punch and adhered with dimensionals.  The final touch on the front of the card was the little rhinestone gems for the centres of the flowers and to highlight the sentiment.
For the inside, I stamped the sentiment from the Occasional Quotes set, inking it with my rose red and perfect plum markers.  I punched it out with my decorative label punch and layered it on a second decorative label in marina mist.  I used the ribbon to highlight my sentiment by centering the label on the ribbon and adhering it with dimensionals.  The shorter sentiment was stamped in perfect plum and punched out with the wide oval punch and then layered on a decorative label in marina mist.  I added some more rhinestones because...well...I like bling!  The final touch was to stamp the floral images from the front of the card inside using perfect plum ink.

So...what do you think of this colour combo?  Leave me a comment and tell me..I'd love to hear your thoughts!

I'm going to be an Auntie!!

My brother and sister-in-law stopped by tonight to share the big news...they're expecting their first baby in September!  I am SO excited for them...and for me too!  A new little niece or nephew to spoil silly and someone to hand off all our baby gear to...double delight!  Coincidentally, I have a baby card to share with you tonight!  I made this on the weekend when I was playing around with the faux torn paper technique.  I am wanting to create samples I can show my customers that just use cardstock, ink and stamps without patterned paper.  While I love our patterned paper, not everyone can afford to purchase it; so I want to show everyone that you can still get the effect of patterned paper with just stamps and ink.  Here is a really simple baby card I made using the Sweet Summer SAB set.

Baby card made using faux torn paper technique and Sweet Summer stamp set.

Close up of sentiment detail from Something to Celebrate level 2 hostess set from the Occasions Mini.

Sentiment from the Occasional Quotes level three hostess set.

Inside sentiment also from Occasional Quotes set.

The more I play with the Sweet Summer set the more I love it!  The images are just so...well...sweet!  There is so much one can do with them!  For this card, I decided to try to create the look of DSP, so I started with a piece of whisper white cardstock.  I tore several repositionable notes and adhered them along the length of the cardstock about one third of the way down.  I then stamped the various images from the Sweet Summer set using the following ink colours:  pear pizzaz for the vine, rose red for the flower (which actually ended up being completely covered by the ribbon!), so saffron for the butterfly and marina mist for the bird.  I then coloured each image using my blender pen and the following ink colours:  certainly celery for the vine, pretty in pink for the flower, peach parfait for the butterfly and bashful blue for the flower.  I then sponged pink pirouette ink all over the stamped section, ensuring the edges and area along the mask were darkest.  I then removed the mask and repositioned it along the edge I had just inked, revealing the still-white top portion of the cardstock.  I stamped the tiny bumblebee in so saffron and then sponged the entire area using the same ink colour.  I then wrapped a piece of 1 1/2" grosgrain ribbon in pink pirouette (retired, from the Clearance Rack) around the cardfront, forming a bow by wrapping a short piece of pretty in pink gingham ribbon (retired) around the middle.  I then adhered the whole thing to a pear pizzazz card base.  The sentiment was stamped in pear pizzazz ink on a scrap of whisper white and then punched out using my modern label punch.  I lightly sponged the surface of the modern label with so saffron ink and the edges with rose red.  This was then layered on a wide oval in pink pirouette that had also been sponged in rose red.  Because I'm the layer queen ; ) I added a final decorative label layer in pear pizzazz before adhering it to the card.  The finishing touch on the sentiment was some little pearls.
For the inside of the card, I stamped the vine and bumble bee in pear pizzazz along the lower edge.  The sentiments, both of which are from the Occasional Quotes set, were stamped in pear pizzazz and pink pirouette on whisper white and then either punched out or cut out.  All edges were lightly sponged and all were adhered inside the card using dimensionals.
My brother and sis-in-law aren't going to find out the gender of the baby before it is born, so I'll have to wait to know if I will have a niece or nephew until the little bundle arrives in September; but that certainly won't stop me from designing shower invitations, birth announcements, thank you cards, mini scrapbooks etc, etc, etc.  You'll see lots of baby stuff over the next 6 months or so!

A Winter Wedding...

One of my colleagues at school is getting married tomorrow evening.  She is a wonderful teaching partner and friend and I am so excited and honoured to be attending her wedding.  I was also very honoured when she asked me to help her design her wedding invitations last spring.  She came over one afternoon and we played with some ideas until we came up with something she liked.  She then went off and made ALL of her invitations herself.  At the time she was a novice stamper but has certainly earned her stripes with this undertaking!  Check out this gorgeous invitation:

Winter wedding invitation using the Medallion background stamp.

Reverse side with reply cards and event information tucked neatly in.

Embossed snowflake from the retired Patterned Pines hostess set.

Didn't she do a terrific job on these?!?  I was so proud of her!  Her wedding colours are Soft Suede, Crumb Cake and Very Vanilla, so, knowing this, here is the card I made for her big day:

Wedding card using the Style Beautiful set

Close up of sentiment from Occasional Quotes Hostess set.

Close up of focal image and background.

Close up of vanilla rosettes and crumb cake seam binding ribbon (available Jan. 4th in the Occasions Mini!)

Inside of card

Close up of sentiment from a retired set I can't remember the name of right now!

So, I wanted this card to be as special as the recipients.  I started by creating the background for the focal image.  I basically followed the same technique as for the faux-mother-of-pearl technique in my previous post, but used champagne shimmer paint instead of white.  I sponged crumb cake and soft suede ink over the dry shimmer paint.  The result almost looks like marble, though the photo doesn't quite capture that!  I then stamped two of the images from the Style Beautiful set using timber brown Staz-On ink and layered it on a piece of brushed gold cardstock.  I added some pearls to give it that wedding-y elegance. I adhered that to a piece of very vanilla that I had embossed using my Big Shot and a texture plate from the Backgrounds #1 set and then lightly sponged with crumb cake ink.  Before adhering the whole thing to a textured soft suede card base, I wrapped some crumb cake seambinding ribbon and Chantilly Lace trim around opposite corners.  The sentiment is stamped in soft suede ink on very vanilla cardstock, punched out with the wide oval punch and then layered on a decorative label punch in brushed gold.  It is adhered using dimensionals and embellished with more pearls.  The final touch on the front of the card is the cluster of vanilla rosettes I embellished with still more pearls.  They are adhered using Tombow.
For the inside of the card, I used a piece of Elegant Soiree DSP and sponged the edges.  I then stamped one of the flourishes I used on the front of the card in soft suede.  The sentiment is stamped in soft suede on very vanilla cardstock and then punched out using the decorative label punch (can ya tell I REALLY like that punch?!?) and matted with two more decorative labels in brushed gold and soft suede.  Because I am addicted to embellishments, I had to add a few more pearls inside the card too.
I hope she likes this card and understands how much care went into it.  She will be a beautiful bride and I know it is going to be a great evening.  What a way to say good-bye to 2010!

Merry and Bright...

I appear to be on a Night of Navy kick this week.  Today's post (and tomorrow's too!) features that colour as a key component.  Today I used my colour coach to create a combo suitable for a frosty, wintry-type card...

Wintry Christmas card featuring the Serene Snowflakes stamp set.

Focal image with sentiment from the Bright Christmas set from the Holiday Mini.

Inside of card sentiment is from the Occasional Quotes hostess level 3 set.

I am really liking today's card (unlike yesterdays tinsel nightmare!).  I started by stamping the various snowflakes all over a piece of Whisper White cardstock  in both Marina Mist and Night of Navy ink.  I then sponged Frost White shimmer paint all over to give it a frosty shimmer (DUH!).  I tore the edge and then sponged Marina Mist and Night of Navy around the edges.  I adhered this piece to a piece of Marina Mist which I had also torn and sponged lightly with Night of Navy.  I wrapped a piece of Whisper White satin ribbon around the cardfront and then layered a piece of Marina Mist 1/8" ribbon over top and tied a little bow.  The sentiment was stamped in Night of Navy and then punched out using the 2 3/8" scalloped circle punch.  I notched the scallops and added a couple more snowflakes in Marina Mist.  I also sponged it with shimmer paint so that it would match the background.  I mounted the scalloped piece to a 2 1/2" circle of Night of Navy and added a large square Ice brad.  The inside is pretty easy to figure out from the photo...I have to run and tuck my son into bed!  See you tomorrow with more wintry navy-ness!

Not sure how I feel about this one...

Have you ever created something you weren't too sure you like all that much?  I have (all too often!) and today's post is a perfect example.  From the get-go I wasn't really sure where I was going with this card.  I knew I wanted to use the Welcome Christmas set (it just came on the UPS truck last week!) but other than that, I really had no direction.  When all was said and done, I still am not sure I like it, but here it is, none-the-less...

I love this stamp set...have since the new catty came out in July.  Just not too sure I like what I did with it...

Close up of the sentiment from Welcome Christmas.  I popped up the Season's Greetings with dimensionals.

I think its the tinsel that makes this card iffy for me.  I'm not really a tinsel kind of gal, but wanted to try to incorporate it in a project...not too sure I succeeded!

Inside sentiment from Occasional Quotes Level 3 Hostess set.

So, I showed this card to my husband and he liked it....didn't even notice the tinsel.  I, on the other hand, can't STOP noticing it.  I think I may have to redo this card and leave the tinsel off...not that I dislike tinsel in general...it just isn't my style.  Anyhow...enough second-guessing myself!  This card is pretty straight-forward.  I started with Very Vanilla cardstock and stamped the wreath image (in Old Olive) off the top edge to create a garland-like effect.  I then coloured the berries using my Cherry Cobbler marker.  Then I added that darned tinsel and the little bows using glue dots.  The focal image is stamped in Early espresso.  I added a little rhinestone jewel to the star to make it shine.  The sentiment was stamped once in Old Olive and once in Cherry Cobbler.  I cut the Season's Greetings out of the Cherry Cobbler and popped it up on the Old Olive image using dimensionals.  I layered the whole cardfront to an Old olive mat and then to a Cherry Cobbler card base.  The inside sentiment was stamped and punched out with the 1 3/4" circle punch.  I stamped the wreath image in the centre of the inside panel and then layered the sentiment over top using dimensionals.  We'll have to see if this one makes the Stamp-A-Stack line-up...

Swap Inspired Christmas Card

Last month I attended my first ever Stampin' Up! event.  It was the Hamilton Regional seminar and I had a great time.  One of the best things about getting together with other demonstrators is the swapping!!  I am always thrilled to see the amazing things my fellow demonstrators come up with and draw inspriration from their creativity.  Today's post is an example of a card that was inspired by a swap card I received at regionals.  You can see the original card here.  I loved the colour combination in this card.  the Night of Navy, Old Olive and Whisper White are just a great, unconventional combo for Christmas.  So, with this in mind here is what I came up with (along with the help of my 3-year old son who was "helping" Mommy "do stamps" yesterday!)

Another CAS holiday card!

The snowflakes where created using the Northern Frost decorative strip die from the Holiday Mini.

The sentiment is from the Word Play stamp set in the main catalogue.  LOVE this set!

Inside sentiment from Occasional Quotes Hostess Level 3 set.

Isn't this a great colour combo?!?  I love how the Old Olive just pops against the Night of Navy.  The snowflakes are just gorgeous.  I don't know if it shows in the photo, but I covered them in Dazzling Diamond glitter and they just sparkle like crazy.  I coloured the two-tone sentiment using my markers in Real Red and Old Olive.  Besides the glitter, the only other embellishment on this card is the Old Olive satin ribbon...so rich looking.  The snowflakes inside the card are from the Snow Swirled stamp set and are stamped in Night of Navy.  I layered the sentiment on top and in the bottom corner to allow lots of space to write a greeting. 
I'm not sure why I love this card so much...but it is certainly another Stamp-A-Stack candidate!

Let it snow?

Okay...well not YET, but eventually it will...and hopefully in time for a white Christmas!  Today's post is a different twist on a Christmas card.  No red and green here!  I've entered this card in the Moxie Fab Scallop challenge here


The scalloped background on this card was inspired by a card on the cover of Paper Crafts magazine!



Close-up of sentiment detail.

Inside of card

This card is all about blue.  I used the following shades of blue cardstock:  Night of Navy, Not Quite Navy, Marina Mist and Bashful Blue.  I punched 1" circles of each colour and layered them in a scallop pattern.  The top rows of scallops are punched from brushed silver cardstock.  I used a Whisper White base to glue my circles to.  I wrapped a piece of Whisper White satin ribbon around the middle of the cardfront and then layered a piece of Marina Mist 1/8" taffeta ribbon over top.  The snowflake is cut using the Snowflake #2 die and my Big Shot.  After I cut the snowflake I ran it through the Big Shot again using the perfect polka dots embossing folder.  I then misted it with Vanilla Shimmer Smooch to give it some sparkle.  The sentiment comes from the Perfect Punches stamp set in the main catalogue.  I heat embossed it using Versamark ink and silver embossing powder.  I punched the sentiment out using my 1 3/4" scalloped circle punch and then layered it on a 2" circle punched from brushed silver cardstock.  I adhered the snowflake to the cardfront and then added the sentiment using dimensionals. I layered  the whole thing on a Whisper White mat and then adhered that to a Night of Navy card base.
For the inside of the card, I ran a 5 1/4" x 4" piece of Whisper White cardstock through my Big Shot using the Northern Flurries embossing folder.  I matted that on a piece of brushed silver cardstock and glued it to the inside of my card.  I added some basic rhinestone jewels for some shine.  The sentiment is from the Occasional Quotes Level 3 hostess set and is stamped in Night of Navy ink.  I punched it out using my decorative label punch.  It is adhered using dimensionals.
I am having so much fun designing Christmas cards!  I am going to have to start sending cards to random people from the phone book if I am ever going to use them all!!

Here comes the bride...

I'm posting this card in the hopes my friend ( who will be the recipient next weekend) doesn't see it.  I know she is really busy with wedding preparations so I'm trusting that she won't have time to read my blog!

Shower card for a friend who is being honoured next weekend.

Close-up of sentiment.

Inside of card

Here is what I did to put this card together...it's actually really easy!
I started by running a 5 1/4 x 4" piece of Very Vanilla cardstock through my Big Shot using the Elegant Lines embossing folder.  (I absolutely adore our embossing folders...so much WOW for so little effort!)  Then I sponged the entire thing with Champagne Mist shimmer paint.  I adhered the blue pearls, which came from our local dollar store.  The ribbon is just a scrap that I adhered on either end on the back of the Very Vanilla panel.  I gathered it in the middle and tied it using Linen Thread.  I stamped the sentiment from the For The Bride set in Soft Suede ink on Very Vanilla cardstock.  I then punched it out using my word window punch.  Then I punched a modern label from Soft Suede, a wide oval from Elegant Soiree Designer Series Paper, and a decorative label from Baja Breeze.  I layered them all, added some more blue pearls and adhered using dimensionals.  Then I layered the front panel on a 5 3/8 x 4 1/8" piece of Elegant Soiree DSP and mounted the whole thing to a Baja Breeze card base.
The inside is pretty self-evident based on the picture...no fancy techniques or secrets here!  The Love sentiment is from the Level 3 hostess set called Occasional Quotes and the Congratulations is from the Perfect Punches set.  The patterned paper is also from the Elegant Soiree pack.