Sketch Challenge Take Two!

Last Sunday a new sketch challenge posted at Sunday Stamps.  I posted my project for the Design Team on Sunday, but I promised you another take on it.  Here it is...

Birthday card featuring the Celebrate Today stamp set and coordinating Balloon Framelits

For this card I once again used the new Cherry on Top DSP pack (available June 2nd in the new 2015/16 Annual Catalogue) as my starting point.  I chose two different patterns to use and then chose my colour pallette from there.  I used Cucumber Crush to mat the pennant-patterned element and Watermelon Wonder for the horizontal banner.  The card base is Bermuda Bay.  I used the Balloon Framelits to die-cut the balloon, which I stamped using the Celebrate Today stamp set and Bermuda Bay ink.

The horizontal pennant is embossed using the new Boho Chic TIEF and the background panel is embossed using the Large Polka Dot TIEF.  The only embellishments here were a bit of Crushed Curry baker's twine for the string of the balloon and some Bermuda Bay sequin trim for a little bling.

On the inside I stamped the pennant image from the Celebrate Today stamp set using Crushed Curry, Cucumber Crush and Watermelon Wonder inks.  The sentiment, also from the Celebrate Today set, is stamped in Bermuda Bay ink.

If you haven't already done so, be sure to check out the rest of the Design Team's creative ideas and then give it a go yourself...we'd love to see your creation!

Celebrate Embossed Embossing

Happy Tuesday!  In case you missed it, we are now into Day Two of five days of FREE shipping on all orders...with no minimum purchase.  Be sure to take advantage of this offer by the end of the week, or you'll miss out!

Today I have one of the projects we'll be doing at my monthly techniques class this week.  It uses the Embossed Embossing technique...

Birthday card featuring the Embossed Embossing technique and the Celebrate Today stamp set.

I have to admit, I'm a little bit addicted to this technique!  The results are so cool and differ, depending on the embossing folder one uses.  For this card I used the Decorative Dots TIEF and gold embossing powder on Blackberry Bliss card stock.  I love that the result looks like confetti.  I matted the embossed panel on a piece of gold foil card stock and then onto a Whisper White card base.  The balloons are heat embossed in gold on vellum using various images from the Celebrate Today stamp set. I die cut the balloons using the Balloon Framelits.  I added some gold baker's twine and gold sequin trim for more sparkle.

On the inside I stamped two sentiments from the Celebrate today set.  One in Blackberry Bliss ink and the other in Versamark, which I then heat embossed in gold.  I added a few more gold sequins because one can never have too much sparkle on one's birthday!

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Sweet Baby Bokeh

I seem to be on a roll with baby cards lately.  It must be because so many people I know are expecting or have just had little ones.   Today I have a baby card I designed for my techniques group this month.

Baby card featuring the Celebrate Today and Itty Bitty Banners stamp sets and using the Bokeh background technique

The cool thing about this design is that people who don't need a baby card can easily change it to a birthday card by simply switching out the sentiment...gotta love versatility!
I have been wanting to play with my new Colorbox Chalk inks (available in the Stampin' Up! Occasions catalogue) for ages and I finally got my chance.  To create my Bokeh background I began by sponging a piece of Whisper White card stock using the Aquamarine, Rose Coral and Yellow Citrus chalk inks.  I love how easily this ink goes on and the fact that it takes longer to dry gives more time to move the ink around and blend it nicely.  I actually used my heat tool to set the ink once I was finished.  Then I used a circle template I created with some scrap window sheets and the Circles Collection Framelits, a sponge dauber and Whisper White Craft ink to add my light points.  The effect is almost like irridescent bubbles...LOVE it!

To create the balloon, I heat embossed the confetti stars image from the Celebrate Today stamp set in gold on a piece of vellum.  I then die-cut the image using the Balloon Framelits...what an easy way to make a pretty focal image!  I embellished it with gold baker's twine and sequin trim.  The sentiment is from the Itty Bitty Banners stamp set, is heat embossed in gold and die-cut using the Bitty Banners Framelits.  The card front is matted on a piece of Crushed Curry card stock and mounted on a Coastal Cabana card base.

Inside view with sentiment from Cuddles and Kisses (retired)

On the inside, I stamped a couple of the banners from the Celebrate Today set using the Rose Coral and Yellow Citrus chalk inks.  The sentiment is from the (retired) Cuddles and Kisses set and is also stamped in Yellow Citrus.  I have to say I really enjoyed playing with the chalk ink...can't wait to play some more!

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Irresistibly Happy Birthday

Happy Monday!  Hard to believe it's come around again...I'm pretty sure it was just Friday an hour or so ago!
Today I have one of the projects I designed for my team to make at our meeting tonight.  I wanted to showcase the Irresistibly Yours Specialty paper from the Sale-a-bration catalogue:

Birthday card featuring the Celebrate Today and Crazy about You stamp sets

Now it is hard to tell from this photo, but the coloured strip down the length of the card is masked and sponged.  The rest of the white space has the embossed stars on it too!  I used Melon Mambo, Tangelo Twist and Crushed Curry as my colour scheme.  I masked a 1-1/4 section before sponging so that I would have the bold stripe highlighting the star pattern.  The balloon is from the Celebrate Today set and is stamped in Melon Mambo ink on vellum.  I then heat embossed the confetti stars in white on the reverse side...I love the way it looks like a real balloon that you can see through!  I die cut the balloon with the Balloon Framelits and added some Crushed Curry baker's twine.

The word "happy" is die cut using the Hello You Thinlits from Melon Mambo card stock.  The word "birthday", from the Crazy about You set, is stamped in Tangelo Twist ink.  I added one of the Best Year Ever Sale-a-bration buttons so that it looked like the balloon was tied to the button.  The front panel is matted on Melon Mambo card stock and mounted on a Tangelo Twist card base.

Inside view with sentiment from Big News.

On the inside I stamped the balloon again in Melon Mambo and then used a sentiment from the Big News stamp set in Tangelo Twist ink.

I hope my team likes this project tonight!

Sending Love Your Way

Happy Tuesday!  Today feels more like a Monday here...we had a snow day yesterday!!  We got upwards of a foot of snow in just 12 hours, which pretty much ground everything to a halt.  Both my son and I had a day off school...only my poor hubby had to trek through the snow to get to work.  Poor guy :(  I made it up to him with a crock pot full of chilli, a pan of homemade corn bread and fresh-from-the-oven apple crisp for dinner.  I think he enjoyed it ;)

Now for today's project...Valentine's Day is just around the corner and I have a class coming up this weekend where we will be making some projects to let the special people in our lives know just how much we love them.  This is one of the projects we'll be making.

Valentine's card featuring the Perfect Pennants and Celebrate Today stamp sets.

To create the cloudy sky background layer I punched a post-it note with the 2-3/8" circle punch and then used it as a mask to create the puffy clouds.  I started with a piece of Whisper White card stock, adhered the scalloped circle and then sponged with a dauber and Soft Sky ink.  Then I moved the mask and sponged some more, repeating this process until I had covered the entire piece of card stock.  The basket of the balloon is from the Celebrate Today stamp set and is stamped in Basic Black ink.  The balloon is die-cut using the Balloon Framelits from Stacked With Love DSP.  I also die-cut the little banner from silver glimmer paper using the same framelit set.

The words Sending...your way are from the Perfect Pennants set.  I simply omitted the "good thoughts" portion of the stamp by inking the words I wanted with my Basic Black marker.  The blank space left was perfectly-sized for the die-cut "love", cut from Real Red card stock using the Expressions (retired) Thinlits.  The background Real Red mat is embossed using the Happy Heart TIEF.  I added some little silver glimmer hearts, punched with the Confetti Hearts Border punch, spilling out of the basket.  The card base is Soft Sky card stock.

Inside view with sentiment from Good Greetings (retired) stamp set.

On the inside I stamped the sentiment from the Good Greetings (retired) stamp set in Real Red ink and added some little hearts in Soft Sky ink using the Perpetual Birthday Calendar stamp set.