Stamps, Paper, and Ink

Bright Blossoms

Hi there! 

This has been a busy spring and I've gotten a bit slack about posting. I hope to fix that soon so you'll know you can expect to hear from me several times weekly. 

I've had lots of time to craft. As a matter of fact, I've been intensely involved in the fun of creating projects to submit for the Stampin' Up! Artisan challenge this year. It is such a stretching experience to make a variety of intensely detailed projects. I'll be mailing them in but not until I've taken photos to share with you another time.

I took a break to make a quick and easy card with the Bright Blossoms set which wil be available June 1 in the new catalog! Lots of new catty excitement for me today as I expect my pre-order in a couple of days.

I love the happy colors and coordinating Summer Smooches Designer paper. I used the Bigz Square die to make the card base. 

The sentiment is from the Short & Sweet set, which is retiring. This one is often a go-to for me.

Thanks for visiting! 

Mouthwatering!

 Good morning! 

I'm sharing the other projects we made at my club last week using the Mouthwatering and Fruits and Flowers set.

 The card is a CASE from the Idea Book & Catalog on page 99. I changed it by using punched flowers and the Berry Blossoms Designer Series Paper instead of stamped images, but kept everything else the same. Making a mock up of the card with My Digital Studio helped me get the right dimensions and placement of the squares and rectangles for the layout. I printed it out on copy paper and then measured the shapes. What a help to take the guesswork out if it!

The water bottle topper has been around awhile but was fun to revisit with the Cherry Scented Embossing Powder. My Digital Studio enabled me to create a sheet of printed tags to be punched with the Curly Label punch. 

Hope you have a cheery day!

  All supplies by Stampin' Up!

Stamps: Mouthwatering, Fruits & Flowers, Petite Phrases

Paper: Lucky Limeade, Whisper White, Berry Blossom DSP,

Ink: Lucky Limeade, Real Red Craft

Accessories: Stampin' Write Markers, 2-3/4" Circle punch, 1-1/4" Square punch, Scallop Punch, 1" Circle Punch, Wild Wisteria Ruffled Ribbon, Brads (silver), Lucky Limade Baker's Twine, Cherry Scented EP

A Fresh Start

Happy April! Hello to you!

I love the fresh start that a brand new month brings. I appreciate your patience as my break stretched into more than a month. Thanks to those who left such kind comments of encouragement and for all of your understanding.

I have a card to share with you today. I do have to say that it's hard jumping back into stamping after a break. The best thing is to just jump in and make something! With Easter just a week away, I pulled out the He is Risen stamp set.

This is one of those sets I thought I'd LOVE because of the detailed lily and wonderful religious sentiments. But I've found the lily is too detailed to really color in so I chose to stamp it boldly in Rich Razzleberry. I used my heat tool to set the ink, then added a hint of pink with my marker. I stamped the pretty floral border in Old Olive ink.

The label is layered onto a white card stock panel with rounded corners to add simple detail. Now to get this in the mail for my Mom. Hope it brightens her day and yours too. Thanks for letting me share with you!

 Tomorrow I'll let you know some things I've been up to during my break.

 

  All supplies by Stampin' Up!

Stamps: He is risen

Paper: Whisper White, Designer Prints Paper Stack (Brights)

Ink: Old Olive, RIch Razzleberry

Accessories: marker, Pretty in Pink Satin Ribbon, Brights buttons

 

Polka dots and More!

Here is Take 2 of my entries for the Freshly Made Sketch Challenge. It was such a fun sketch and I wanted to try again with a simpler card. I like the balance and colors of this card better, what do you think? If you missed my other sample, you'll find it HERE.

I've actually enjoyed making more than one sample from the same sketch for quite a long time here on my blog. I call this feature Twice is Nice, and you will find a collection of these listed under Twice is Nice in my categories section. 

This card features the Awash With Flowers set, and the DSP is Berry Blossoms. Using the out of the box technique, I stamped the flower image in Early Espresso ink, and cut around the flower before cutting out the rectangular panel. The blooms were cut out and paper pieced over the first stamped image.

With this bright and happy card I hope to have brightened your day. 

 

  All supplies by Stampin' Up!

Up in the Air is So Sweet

 I love seeing butterflies. Today we had temps in the 70's and tomorrow it will be high 70's so spring is on its way for sure! Pairing butterflies with daisies in the Up in the Air set is so sweet!

My color combo of Tangerine Tango, Marina Mist and Early Espresso allowed me to combine patterns from Paisley Petals DSP and Mocha Morning DSP. I embossed the white panel with the Elegant Bouquet Embossing Folder, and added a pretty DSP border using the Adorning Accents Edgelits. 

I'm up in the air over a decision I need to make any day now. My ASUS laptop has seriously cracked at the hinge and is separating from the screen so it's time for a new purchase. Should I get a MacBook Air or stay with Windows 7? Feel free to give me input but I have to tell you that I don't grasp techy stuff too quickly!

 I'm playing along with this lovely sketch from Stampin 411.

  All supplies by Stampin' Up!

Stamps:  Up in the Air

Paper:  Paisley Petals DSP, Mocha Morning DSP, Whisper White, Early Espresso, Marina Mist

Ink:  Early Expresso

Accessories:  Stampin' Write markers, Boho Blossoms and Itty Bitty flower punches, Framelits Labels Die, Marina Mist Taffeta Ribbon, Adorning Accents Edgelts, Basic Jewels - Rhinestones

Party Girl

 I pulled out this sweet girl from the Greeting Card Kids stamp set for today's card. I had actually colored her for THIS card but decided to use more subdued shades, so this little darling was sitting on my desk. In my mind, she was all prettied up as if she was going to a party for Valentine's Day. Instead she fit right on this card made for the challenge at Freshly Made Sketches.

I stamped the image on a Label from the Framelits Collection. I decided to add a pop of color by punching twice with the Decorative Label punch and adding the pieces on either side of the Label. For embellishments, the Vanilla Velvet ribbon and Vanilla Rosettes (retired) teamed up with the ribbon from the Everyday Enchantment pack.

Thanks for taking a peek! I'm posting this on Sunday night so I don't miss entering before the challenge deadline.

 

 

MOJO or Tea?

 

My morning cup is filled to the brim with tea, so it's a given that the Tea Shoppe set suits my tastes as well. Today's card is my take on the MOJO sketch for this week.

I LOVE the crisp teacup images in this set, and the sweet sentiment quote from Louisa May Alcott. The Attic Boutique DSP makes me think of a tea party, so it seems the perfect choice. Punching a lacy border and adding a sheer ribbon bow complete the dainty look.

There's a lovely sentiment for the inside of the card: "A Cup of Thanks." I think the thoughts are lovely. I'm glad you "stay" by my blog, dear friends, and hope your day is charming. I think the first day of a new month deserves a tea party!

 

 

  All supplies by Stampin' Up!

Stamps:  Tea Shoppe

Paper:  Attic Boutique DSP, Whisper White, Poppy Parade, Pool Party

Ink:  Poppy Parade, Early Espresso

Accessories:  Lace Ribbon Border and Curly Label punches, Ribbon and Brad Pack, white ribbon

Elegant Vintage Background

 The Fresh Vintage set is my absolute favorite!! For today's card I discovered how easy it is to make a lovely vintage background paper with the large floral image.

I stamped the image repeatedly using Concord Crush ink on Whisper White card stock. The shapely layered borders come from the Adorning Accents Edgelits. I also embossed the main panel, you may better see the detail if you click to enlarge the photo. Stamping the trio of flowers in Concord Crush ink with the small flower image, I then punched them out.

I combined Concord Crush with a Peach Parfait tag die cut with the Labels Collection. Pearls dress up this clean and simple card. I included a tag to play along with Jaydee's Clean and Simple challenge at The Paper Players. I had fun with this one!

 

  All supplies by Stampin' Up!

Stamps:  Fresh Vintage

Paper:  Whisper White, Peach Parfait, Concord Crush

Ink:  Concord Crush, Peach Parfait

Accessories:  Basic Pearls, Adorning Accents Edgelits and Embossing Folders, Labels Collection Dies, Peach Parfait Twill Ribbon, Basic Pearls, hole punch, Itty Bitty Flower Punch

Soft Sympathy

I need a sympathy card for a man whose mother passed away and the color combo challenge at SCS gave me just the soothing shades for a serene winter card.

The Beautiful Season set is intended for Christmas but I think it can be used for many occasions. I really like it for the sympathy theme and even thought about using just the "Thinking of you" portion and omitting the "at Christmas." But since I am playing along with the great Sweet Sunday Sketch Challenge, I added the banner strip and chose the sentiment from Thoughts and Prayers.

I stamped the image on Whisper White card stock with Basic Brown ink (it's retired, but I LOVE it for it's soft look) and colored with inks and my Aquapainter.

I really resisted adding a bow or even a button, but that was not without trying a bit of Linen thread and twine. No sparkles either. Now you know why this is not my favorite card,lol!

  All supplies by Stampin' Up!

Stamps: Beautiful Season, Thoughts and Prayers

Paper: Whisper White, Crumb Cake, Pear Pizzazz

Ink: Pear Pizzazz

Accessories: Taffeta ribbon, Lattice Squares EF, Antique brads, Northen Frost die

O Christmas Tree

If I had known I'd be MIA from my blog for a couple or three weeks, I would have given you advance  notice. But it took me by surprise too.

Quite honestly, I was busy at first with work for my stamping club and classes, and just couldn't get time to make projects or blog. But that's only half of the story.

The main reason is that I've been discouraged by my stamping for my blog. Ever feel like maybe you're losing your MOJO? Have you felt as if you can never come up with another original creative idea? Or do you see all the fresh new stampers blogging and on design teams out there and wonder if you are crazy to try to keep up? I'm here to say that I'm not giving up yet and hopefully my little break has eased the burnout a bit. Just sayin' in case you'd want to know!

Now for today's card which I humbly share. Time to sing along..."O Christmas Tree.... how lovely are thy branches."

The focal image features the tree from the Christmas Lodge stamp set and is decorated with some die cut Little Leaves. The small flower from Fabulous Florets was stamped with Early Espresso ink on Real Red Textured card stock and cut out. Looks a bit like a poinsettia, do you think? I layered an embellishment of silver Glimmer Paper punched with the Triple Blossom punch, and added a button and Baker's Twine. Rhinestone jewels brighten the circle panel and the treetop for a bit of sparkle.

My choice of a Christmas tree was inspired by the challenge at Our Creative Corner. For sketch inspiration, I played along with the versatile and pretty layout from Freshly Made Sketches.

That's all from me today. If you have a moment, won't you pop in and let me know what you think of today's card? I'd love to hear from you!

 

  All supplies by Stampin' Up!

Stamps:  Christmas Lodge, Fabulous Florets

Paper:  Real Red Textured, Berry Bouquet DSP, Glimmer Paper, Whisper White, Crumb Cake, Garden Green

Ink:  Early Espresso, Garden Green

Accessories:  Button, Baker's Twine, Triple Blossom Punch, Little Leaves Sizzlet, Big Shot, Basic Jewels Rhinestones