Birthday Boy!

I'm continuing my run of masculine cards and my oldest son, Talan, will be turning 7 in June so I decided to get a head start on his card!  I used the sketch and birthday challenge at The Friday Mashup!

I haven't gotten a lot of use out of my Blue Ribbon stamp set so I decided to use it as my focal image. 

I had some leftover Summer Smooches DSP that I thought looked like birthday banners so I stamped it with the numbers from Bring on the cake in Tangerine Tango and then used my blender pen to color in the "7"s with Pacific Point ink.  I used the tip of the Pennant Builder Punch to punch out my pennants. I also had to try out the date stamp that comes in the This and That bundle so I stamped Talan's birthday on the bottom corner. This is one that I am going to have to get used to because it is so different than a regular stamp!  I stamped it about a hundred times before stamping it on my card, but as you can see it didn't end up straight. I actually only got half of it stamped and miraculously was able to line it back up and stamp the bottom half of it.  It's a lot of fun though so I am going to practice some more with it!

 

Stamp Sets: Blue Ribbon, Bring on the Cake, Remember This and That Rotary Stamp

Cardstock: Daffodil Delight, Gumball Green, Pacific Point, Real Red, Tangerine Tango, Whisper White

Ink: Pacific Point, Tangerine Tango

Tools: Pennant Builder Punch, 1 3/8" Circle Punch, blender pen

Accessories: Summer Smooches DSP, Baker's Twine, rhinestones, Dimensionals

Anything Goes!

The theme this week at Addicted to Stamps and More is Anything Goes!  That is scary for me because I don't do well starting from scratch, so I used the challenges from Create with Connie and Mary, Fab Friday and Black Tie Friday for my design team card. 

Combining three challenges into one card seems like it would be pretty easy but it was actually kind of hard to make sure everything was just right!  I lucked out though and just as I was working on my card the UPS man showed up with my brand new supplies for my This and That journals, including this amazing Epic Day DSP that coordinates perfectly with the challenge colors! 

The DSP is very distressed, so I distressed it even more by sponging the edges with Crumb Cake ink after I cut it up. I love the notebook looking piece that I stamped my flower on. I wish we could get a whole pack of just that sheet!  I will definitely be buying more packs of this DSP!  My Pool Party Seam-Binding Ribbon looked too clean so I also dirtied it up with some Crumb Cake ink before ruffling it up.  The button is Daffodil Delight, but it coordinates nicely with the Summer Starfruit. I couldn't decide where to put the sentiment so I added the little tags so it would not distract too much from the focal image. 

 

Stamp Sets: Field Flowers, Tiny Tags

Cardstock: Crumb Cake

Ink: Calypso Coral, Crumb Cake, Pool Party, Summer Starfruit

Tools:  Adorning Accents Edgelits, sponges

Accessories: Brights Designer Button, Pool Party Baker's Twine, Epic Day DSP, Pool Party Seam-Binding Ribbon, Rhinestones, Jewelry Tag Punch





Big Embellies

I don't do too many cards with big embellishments because they don't fit into envelopes well...or at all! But then I started to think about it and I hand deliver the majority of the cards that I do give away, so they don't even need an envelope!  Plus I am in LOVE with the flowers in the Pop-Up Posies Designer Kit that is in the Spring Catalog so I just had to use one on my card for this fabulous sketch at CAS(E) this Sketch!

As soon as I got my kit (which I earned free some how from Stampin' Up!...I forget how though!), I just had to put one of these puppies together to see what it would look like. It is fabulous!  And since I already had one assembled, half of my work was already done!

I had some leftover Sycamore Street DSP from Sale-a-bration and it looks perfect with that big ol' fabric brad.  A flower is not complete without a butterfly fluttering by, so I inked up this little guy with my Stampin' Write markers and easily punched him out with our little butterfly punch that I love oh so much.  His antennae are made with Pool Party Baker's Twine and adhered with the rhinestone.

 

Stamp Sets: Friendly Phrases, Papillon Potpourri

Cardstock: Pool Party, Tangerine Tango

Ink: Island Indigo, Summer Starfruit

Tools: Butterfly Punch

Accessories: Sycamore Street DSP (retired from SAB), Pop-Up Posies Designer Kit, Pool Party Baker's Twine, Rhinestone, Adhesive Sheet to adhere flower



It's Raining Men...er, Boys

lol Crazy how easy it is to come up with a masculine card when you actually try!  This is my third in a row!  It does help when you have a few challenges to help you along. :) I used the baby theme from Stampin' Royalty along with the color scheme at Dynamic Duos and the sketch at Freshly Made Sketches. 

Now that we know which Stampin' Up! colors will be retiring, I am glad to see some of them used in the challenges!  Bashful Blue was one of my favorite blues at one time.  It is kind of sad to see it go since it is a true powder blue, which is perfect for baby boy cards. Oh well, out with the old, in with the new! :)

In less than 10 days we will know what stamps will be on the retiring list. I am praying that Hello Doily is not one of them! I am still mourning the loss of my beloved Medallion (which would have been PERFECT on this baby boy card!) and cannot deal with the loss of another background stamp. :) 

 

Stamp Sets: Hello Doily, Perfectly Penned, Rain or Shine

Cardstock: Bashful Blue, Very Vanilla

Ink: Bashful Blue, Pumpkin Pie

Tools: Ovals Collection Framelits, Hole Punch

Accessories: Brights Collection Brads, Dimensionals



Stocking up on the MAN cards

lol After the card I made yesterday, I realized I have NO masculine cards ready in case of an "emergency."  So I am challenging myself to make at least one a day for the next week.  Here is the second one in as many days, using challenges from The Play Date Cafe and Try Stampin' On Tuesday.

 

I love, love, LOVE these colors together. I am glad that Pool Party has been introduced as one of the core colors in the Stampin' Up! family so I can continue to use it with this combination. It is not one I probably would have come up with on my own. Thank goodness for challenges! :)

Countryside is a great masculine stamp and I REALLY hope they don't retire it yet!  It is one of those stamps that looks great colored in OR just stamped plain, I think.  Which is good for me because I am not a big fan of coloring. lol I also used Clockworks down at the bottom for some extra texture on the card base.  I know banners are really hot right now and they are perfect for a masculine card because they don't have to look too girly so that is why I added the strip of three.  I did add a little bit of ribbon inside the button, which might be a little girly but hopefully not too much! 

 

Stamp Sets: Clockworks, Countryside, Perfectly Penned

Cardstock: Midnight Muse, Pool Party, Tangerine Tango

Ink: Midnight Muse, Tangerine Tango

Tools: Square Lattice Embossing Folder

Accessories: Natural Designer Button, Sycamore Street Ribbon (retired from SAB)



It's Raining...Again

I don't know what happened to the sunshine and 67 degrees they said we were supposed to get today, but it is about 45 degrees and raining!  I had big plans to be outside today. :( At least this weather gives me excuse to stay inside and make a card while Brett is outside working with the kids on their baseball skills before Talan's practice this afternoon. :)  I chose to work with the challenges at CASology and clean&simple today.

I thought the travel theme would make a great masculine card so I decided to take that route. I had lots of ideas for the sketch, but they all involved butterflies and flowers at first. :)  I chose one of my favorite masculine stamp sets to work with instead.



Crumb Cake is my absolute favorite neutral and I love using it on masculine cards. I did a layer so I could distress the edges with my new distressing tool from the Spring Catalog and wrap the ribbon around it.  I didn't have any twine left so I cut strips of the Natural Cotton Ribbon that carried over from the Holiday Catalog and then pull the edges off to get this net-like sort of look. I thought it looked very cool with the aquatic theme!  My finally step was to spritz some ink with my Color Spritzer and flick some ink drops with my Aqua Painter. Had to dirty it up a bit to make it look more masculine. :)

Stamp Sets: The Open Sea, Petite Pairs
Cardstock: Crumb Cake, Very Vanilla
Ink: Always Artichoke, Crumb Cake, Marina Mist
Tools: Distressing Tool, Aqua Painter, Color Spritzer, 1 1/4" Circle Punch
Accessories: Natural Cotton Ribbon, Dimensionals

Hello Baby

I don't make many baby cards because most of my friends are past the "baby-making stage." lol But when I saw this color combination at colourQ I thought it would be perfect for a baby girl card.  I paired it with the sketch at Nacho Average Challenges.

Since I don't make baby cards, my supplies are quite limited, so I pulled out some oldie but goodies, Button Button and Circle Circus. These are two of my favorite sets for making backgrounds. These are two of the few sets I have in wood mount so I can easily stamp and clean them without having to constantly switch blocks.



After I stamped my images I spritzed the whole thing with some homemade Champagne Shimmer Mist. I really wish it showed up in the picture because it is really cool  The piggy's nose is a Vintage Faceted Button, adhered with Crystal Effects so you can't see the adhesive. That stuff is like cement when it dries and great for heavier embellishments like this!

 

Stamp Sets: Button Buddies, Button Button, Circle Circus, Teeny Tiny Wishes

Cardstock: Basic Gray, Blushing Bride, Whisper White

Ink: Basic Gray, Black StazOn, Blushing Bride, Crumb Cake

Tools: Scallop Oval Punch, Word Window Punch, Modern Label Punch, Ovals Framelits, Paper Piercing Pack

Accessories: Vintage Faceted Buttons, Dimensionals, Champagne Shimmer Mist

 

 

I was the Top Nacho at Nacho Average Challenges!





Forgotten Lime

All week I have been thinking that I could not play in the "Lime and Black" challenge at Less is More this week because I don't have any lime.  Then it hit me when I was lying in bed this morning...Lucky Limeade!  DUH!  It is retiring at the end of this catalog too, so I might as well use it up while it is still current!  I decided to make a gender neutral card for today's challenge. Well, it has a little bit of bling on it, but guys need a little bling every now and then too, right?  I know what Brett would say to that! lol

My rectangles were made by rubbing Certainly Celery ink (which is also retiring) and then Lucky Limeade ink directly across Whisper White cardstock with my ink pad. I saw this in our most recent issue of Stampin' Success and thought it looked pretty cool!  I then stamped the splotches from Hey There (the stamp from My Paper Pumpkin) over the top before cutting it up into different sizes of rectangles.  The arrows are from Designer Typeset, my only Photopolymer stamp set. :) There is a new one out that I may have to scoop up, with some humor if you like the quirky kind of sets.  I don't typically, but I am having fun with these two sets that are different from my usual taste, so you never know until you try it!

Stamp Sets: Designer Typeset, Hey There
Cardstock: Lucky Limeade, Whisper White
Ink: Black StazOn, Certainly Celery, Lucky Limeade
Tools: Stripes Embossing Folder
Accessories: Rhinestones, Dimensionals

Simply Simple

Still feeling a little under the weather, but I just HAD to make a card for the challenge at Dynamic Duos before it closed. :) Those of you who are true stamping addicts will know exactly how this feels. lol

Since I am not feeling well (okay, and short on time too!), I decided to keep this one very simple. In fact, I woke up from a short nap with the card in mind and it only took me about 10 minutes to put together. I love it when that happens!

The hardest part of this card was trying to decide if I wanted to use the polka dot or the plain side of the ribbon. lol Obviously, I settled on the plain side.  It's hard to tell but my little butterflies are covered in Dazzling Diamonds. Every card needs a little bling!  Here you can see them a little better:

I don't use this embossing folder very much but it really does make a very simple card!  It doesn't take many "extras" to make it look good.  Some butterflies, ribbon and sentiment and you're done!  Can't get much better than that. :)

 



Stamp Sets: Papillon Potpourri, Teeny Tiny Wishes

Cardstock: Pool Party, Whisper White

Ink: Cherry Cobbler

Tools: Small Butterfly Punch, Word Window Punch, Flower Garden Embossing Folder

Accessories: Dazzling Diamonds, Cherry Cobbler Scallop Dots Ribbon





Water Stamping

I just love the techniques that are shared at Technique Time Tuesday. They share techniques that are new to me as well as techniques that I have tried in the past but have forgotten about!  This month the technique is water stamping. I have tried this before and it is really lovely.  All of the directions are right on their site too, which is especially helpful!  I used this technique with the colors from Hand Stamped Sentiments and the sketch from Fab Friday, two more of my favorite challenge sites! 

I almost feel like I am cheating when I make cards for challenges because they are giving me such a great starting point.  I mean, with such wonderful techniques, colors and sketches, how could you mess up a card?! lol

I used the water stamping technique for my background. I started by sponging ink on Whisper White cardstock and then water stamped a floral image from Mixed Bunch over the top. You have to make sure that your stamp is VERY clean before you stamp it or you will get a muddy brown image on your beautifully sponged cardstock and have to start over, possibly two or more times. Ask me how I know. :)  For the stamped panel I colored the large image from Just Believe with my Stampin' Write markers and stamped it several times to get a variety of colors.  I then punched a circle out of scrap cardstock and used the negative a a mask to sponge my sun. Finally, I added the sentiment banner with Dimensionals and some butterfly embosslits with rhinestone centers.   This card makes me so ready for summer with all these happy colors!

 

Stamp Sets: Just Believe, Mixed Bunch, Pursuit of Happiness

Cardstock: Daffodil Delight, Island Indigo, Lucky Limeade, Whisper White

Ink: Daffodil Delight, Island Indigo, Lucky Limeade

Tools: 1 1/4" Circle Punch, Beautiful Wings Embosslit, sponges

Accessories: Rhinestones, Dimensionals



Under the Weather

Well, our family has already had one round of the stomach virus and it took about three weeks to finally get everyone healthy.  We had exactly ONE healthy week before everyone started to get sick again. Today just happens to be MY day to get to be sick. I say that like it is an honor or something but that it definitely is not!  I was bummed to not get to make any cards today, but I did have this card for our challenge at Addicted to Stamps and More! that I get to share, so at least this day isn't completely unproductive!  This is the first time that we have a photo inspiration challenge and I am really excited about it!

Just looking at this relaxing scene makes me feel a teensy weensy bit better. What I wouldn't give to remove myself from my current state of BLAH and end up on this beach!  Can you believe that I don't have a single beach stamp though?!  I decided to focus on the weaving on the hat, the color scheme and the flower in the drink.  I used the sketch from retro sketches on my card to get me started. 

retro sketches has some amazing sketches and this one is no exception!  I love what I was able to come up with using this sketch!



I did a lot of embossing on this card. The clouds are dry embossed and the flowers, leaves and sentiment are all heat embossed.  It's amazing the extra oomph it adds when you emboss instead of just stamp!




Stamp Sets: Secret Garden, Teeny Tiny Wishes
Cardstock: Daffodil Delight, Real Red, Tangerine Tango, Tempting Turquoise, Whisper White
Ink: VersaMark
Tools: Heat Tool, Clouds Embossing Folder, Word Window Punch
Accessories: Brights Buttons, Wild Wasabi and Tangerine Tango Embossing Powder, Dimensionals

Goodbye Certainly Celery and Bashful Blue!

When these two colors were first introduced into the Stampin' Up! color pallet I absolutely loved them and used them all the time.  But as other colors were brought in, these two got used less and less. So when the Color Refresh was recently announced, I wasn't TOO disappointed to see them go. I was glad to see a challenge at Pals Paper Arts using Bashful Blue and Certainly Celery so I can use up some of my stash that is just sitting here collecting dust. :) I paired the color combination with the challenge at The Friday Mashup, which is to make a Double Z Fold card with an umbrella. 

My first thought was to make a baby card but I don't know anyone expecting a baby boy, nor do I like to have cards sitting around that I don't think I will use for a while, so I decided to just do a general "Thinking of You" card.  I thought these colors went great with the umbrella theme!

The Certainly Celery cardstock is a band that slides over the top. When it is removed the inside looks like this:

I don't usually make cards with different folds but I had a lot of fun with this one!  I am thinking that I might do some fun fold cards at my next Stamp Camp!

Stamp Set: Rain or Shine, Oh Hello
Cardstock: Bashful Blue, Certainly Celery, Whisper White
Ink: Bashful Blue, Certainly Celery, Marina Mist
Tools: Oval Framelits, Edgelits, Chevron Embossing Folder, Clouds Embossing Folder, Piercing Pack, tool and mat
Accessories: Subtles DSP Stack, Rhinestones

Yay, I was a Glamette at The Friday Mashup!

 

Poor little neglected Henry!

I hate it when I buy a stamp set and then hardly use it AT ALL. This tends to happen to me a lot with the cutesy stamp sets that have lots of little details that you can add to them, such as the one that I chose to use today, Henry Says. He is such a cute little elephant too!  I decided to use poor little neglected Henry for the challenges at Create with Connie and Mary and Freshly Made Sketches.

I thought these colors would be great for Henry and would make a great birthday card.

This was also a great chance to use my Designer Typeset Photopolymer stamp set. It coordinates quite nicely with Henry. :) I stamped it on the cardstock and the DSP and then cut out the triangles so they would fit perfectly on the banner that I stamped on my background.  I used an Aqua Painter to color in Henry and then I spritzed the whole card with all three colors for some birthday confetti.

 

Stamp Sets: Henry Says, Designer Typeset

Cardstock: Calypso Coral, Whisper White

Ink: Calypso Coral, Island Indigo, Real Red

Tools: Aqua Painter, Color Spritzer

Accessories: Summer Smooches DSP, Rhinestones, Dimensionals, Pool Party Baker's Twine



A Lil' Bit Vintage?

I am always saying that I am no good at making vintage cards, but I think I made a card that is a lil' bit vintage today! I was in love with the colors at the colourQ this week and as soon as I saw them I thought they would be great for a vintage card so I attempted to make one.  I paired it with the sketch at Handstamped Sentiments and the ribbon and pearl challenge at Stampin' Royalty. 

I am so excited that Stampin' Up! is bringing back Blushing Bride as part of the Color Refresh in the 2013-2014 catalog. I think it is the perfect vintage pink.  Luckily I already had some left from when it was an In Color so I started with that for my card base, along with a layer of it embossed with the Vintage Wallpaper Embossing Folder and sponged with ink. 

 

When I think vintage, I think distressed, so I first stamped En Francais in Blushing Bride on the doily, then rubbed the ink pad across the doily to "dirty" it up a bit. I also did this to the embossed back panel to make it pop.  The flowers are stamped on Watercolor Paper in Soft Suede and colored with Blushing Bride, Calypso Coral and Daffodil Delight. I used my Blender Pen to make the colors look soft and muted.  I am plum out of Calypso Coral ribbon so I sponged my Whisper White Organza with Calypso Coral ink to add some color.







 

Stamp Sets: Bordering on Romance, En Francais, Feel Goods

Cardstock: Blushing Bride, Soft Suede

Ink: Blushing Bride, Calypso Coral, Daffodil Delight, Soft Suede

Tools: Vintage Wallpaper EF, Apothecary Accents Framelits, Sponge, Blender Pen

Accessories: Doily, Whisper White Organza Ribbon, Pearls, Dimensionals 

Back into the Swing of Things

For the past couple of months I have let life get in the way of what I really love...making cards.  I have been hit and miss with challenges and I really hate that feeling!  When I was doing challenges every day I felt like I was accomplishing something and now that I haven't been as consistent with it I have felt kind of sad!  So today is the start of a new week and I am starting it out by getting back into a few of my favorite challenges...Black Tie Fridays and clean&simple. 

I was actually going to participate in the Black Tie Fridays challenge last week but the challenge was to use paint and no ink. Since I only use Stampin' Up! products and we do not sell paint, I didn't have any to participate!  Bummer!  I was so glad to see a bright and cheery color combination for this week and new right away that I wanted to use Pleasant Poppies with the sketch.

I don't know why I waited so long to get this stamp. It is so much fun to use and easily makes a pretty card. I love stamping it on Designer Series Paper and then coloring the flowers in with my blender pens.  It's a great way to use up scraps of DSP that are lying around too!

 

Stamp Sets: Curly Cute, Pleasant Poppies

Cardstock: Basic Black, Daffodil Delight

Ink: Black StazOn, Daffodil Delight

Tools: Square Punch, Dotted Scallop Ribbon Border Punch, Blender Pen

Accessories: Rhinestones, Daffodil Delight Stitched Grosgrain Ribbon, Summer Smooches DSP, Dimensionals 



ATCAS Friend

It's time for another challenge at Addicted to CAS and this week's code word is FRIEND. Awe, how sweet. :) I used another sketch from CAS(E) this Sketch! because they are just always so perfect for a CAS card! 

My first thought when I saw the word FRIEND was these cute little critters from I Dig You.

I don't know what it is about this dump truck but no matter how clean it looks it ALWAYS looks dirty when I color it with my marker. I have found instead that it is better to ink up the truck with my Daffodil Delight ink pad and then color the wheels with my Basic Black marker. I used the Stamp-a-ma-jig to put my friends in the back of the truck so they would be in there just right. I thought the score lines o the sides looked kind of line highway lines so I just had to add those in there too. :)

 

Stamp Sets: I Dig You, Itty Bitty Banners

Cardstock: Daffodil Delight, Whisper White

Ink: Basic Black, Daffodil Delight, Island Indigo, Lucky Limeade, Real Red, Tangerine Tango

Tools: Oval Framelits, Simply Scored and Borders Scoring Plate, Bitty Banners Framelits

Accessories: Summer Smooches DSP



fun.

Oh I am so addicted to fun. right now. Best. Band. Ever!  Okay, maybe not quite as fabulous as New Kids on the Block YET, but they are definitely #2 on my list. :) I love Nate Reuss's voice and am currently addicted to their song "Carry On." So of course I had to make a card about it, even though it is 10:00 pm and I should be packing or our mini vacay that we are taking tomorrow. lol I have been wanting to use this sketch from retro sketches all week and am glad I finally found a minute to fit it in!

I have been telling myself for a few weeks that I needed to use my new photopolymer stamp set but I didn't quite know what to do with it. :) I love the arrows so I decided to use those on my card tonight.

 

I was looking at someones blog yesterday and she was asking if it was okay to be in love with your own card and I definitely think it is okay because  am in love with my card! lol I think mostly because it is simple and I love that I have the Carry On stamp to go with my song. :) I used all of the retiring In Colors, which we found today aren't all retiring after all so that is some exciting news!

 

Stamp Sets: Carry On, Designer Typeset

Cardstock: Lucky Limeade, Whisper White

Ink: Calypso Coral, Island Indigo, Lucky Limeade, Pool Party, Wisteria Wonder

Accessories: Rhinestones, Pool Party Baker's Twine, Dimensionals

 



ATSM Clean and Simple

My favorite type of challenge!  I was able to pair our challenge at Addicted to Stamps and More! with the challenges at The Paper Players, Less is More and Stampin' Celebration.

For The Paper Players I used the top row of Spring, Yellow & Green and Pearls. The challenge at Less is More is to use scallops and the Stampin' Celebration is a picture challenge! I just recently got Field Flowers so I thought it would make the perfect spring card.

All of the leaves on the stem did not fit inside the jar so I used my Stampin' Write Marker to selectively color which parts of the stamp I wanted.  The flowers are first stamped in So Saffron and then Daffodil Delight over the top with the shadow stamp.  The centers are stamped in So Saffron, cut out, adhered with Dimensionals and then painted with Dazzling Details.  My flowers looked like they were just floating so I added some pebbles at the bottom with one of the flower center stamps.

Stamp Sets: Field Flowers, Perfectly Preserved
Cardstock: So Saffron, Whisper White, Wild Wasabi
Ink: Daffodil Delight, So Saffron, Wild Wasabi
Tools: Tasteful Trim Bigz Die, Cannery Framelits (I used the negative as a mask to stamp the pebbles)
Accessories: Pearls, Dimensionals, Dazzling Details